The University of Bergen is a public research university in Bergen, Norway. As of 2021, the university had over 4,000 employees and 19,000 students. It was established by an act of parliament in 1946 consolidating several scientific institutions that dated as far back as 1825. It is Norway's second-oldest university, and is considered to be one of the nation’s four so-called "established universities." It has faculties and programmes in all the academic fields typical of a classical university, as well as such degree programmes as medicine and law that, traditionally, only the “established universities” are authorized by law to offer. It is also one of Norway's leading universities in many of the natural sciences, including marine research and climate research. It has consistently been ranked in the top 200 or top one percent of universities in the world, and as one of the best 10 or best 50 universities worldwide in some fields, such as earth and marine sciences. It is part of the Coimbra Group and of the U5 group of Norway's oldest and highest-ranked universities.
Zarathushtra Spitama more commonly known as Zoroaster or Zarathustra, was an Iranian religious reformer who challenged the tenets of the contemporary Ancient Iranian religion, becoming the spiritual founder of Zoroastrianism. Variously described as a sage or a wonderworker; in the oldest Zoroastrian scriptures, the Gathas, which he is believed to have authored, he is described as a preacher and a poet-prophet. He also had an impact on Heraclitus, Plato, Pythagoras, and the Abrahamic religions, including Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.
A dakhma, also known as a Tower of Silence, is a circular, raised structure built by Zoroastrians for excarnation, in order to avoid contamination of the soil and other natural elements by the decomposing dead bodies. Carrion birds, usually vultures and other scavengers, consume the flesh. Skeletal remains are gathered into a central pit where further weathering and continued breakdown occurs.
Touraj Daryaee is an Iranian Iranologist and historian. He currently works as the Maseeh Chair in Persian Studies and Culture and the director of the Dr. Samuel M. Jordan Center for Persian Studies at the University of California, Irvine.
Einar Thomassen is a Norwegian religious studies scholar.
Visperad or Visprad is either a particular Zoroastrian religious ceremony or the name given to a passage collection within the greater Avesta compendium of texts.
Eva Lundgren is a Norwegian-Swedish sociologist. She is an expert on violence against women and sexual violence, particularly in religious contexts. She is professor emerita of sociology at Uppsala University.
Steven Joseph Engler is a Canadian scholar of religion, Professor at Mount Royal University, Professor Colaborador in the Graduate Program in Ciêncas da Religião at the Pontifical Catholic University of São Paulo (Brazil), and affiliate Professor in the Department of Religion at Concordia University.
Hjalmar Sundén (1908–1993) was a Swedish psychologist, known for his contributions to the psychology of religion and for his development of "role theory".
The Ashem Vohu is the second most important mantra, and one of the most important prayers in Zoroastrianism. It is dedicated to Asha, a Zoroastrian concept denoting truth, order or righteousness.
Olaus or Olof Verelius was a Swedish scholar of Northern antiquities who published the first edition of a saga and the first Old Norse-Swedish dictionary and is held to have been the founder of the Hyperborean School which led to Gothicism.
Axel Michaels is a Professor of Classical Indology and Religious Studies at Heidelberg University, former Co-Director of the Cluster of Excellence "Asia and Europe in a Global Context" (2014-2019) and since 2014 the Director of the research project Documents on the History of Religion and Law of Pre-modern Nepal. He also was the Speaker of the Collaborative Research Centre SFB 619 “Ritual Dynamics” from 2002 until 2013.
Ferdinando Sardella, born 1960, is a Swedish scholar of the history of religions, Hinduism, and religious studies, the former director and coordinator of the Forum for South Asia Studies at Uppsala University.
Oliver Krüger is a German professor in Religious studies at the University of Fribourg (Switzerland).
Criticism of Zoroastrianism has taken place over many centuries not only from the adherents of other religions but also among Zoroastrians themselves seeking to reform the faith.
Terje Tvedt is a Norwegian academic, author and documentary film maker.
Knut Axel Jacobsen is a Norwegian scholar of the history of religions and professor at the University of Bergen. He is a member of the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters.
Peter Larsen is professor of media studies at the University of Bergen, Norway.
Anders Hultgård is a Swedish theologist and religious studies scholar who is Professor Emeritus and former Chair of Religious History at Uppsala University. He specializes in the study of Indo-European religions.
Helmut Humbach was a German linguist and Iranist. He was a professor of Indo-European philology at University of Mainz. He is recognized particularly for his work on the Gathas of Zarathustra.
