Reminder: Online Lecture – The Rituals of the Zoroastrians from Antiquity to the Present Day – March 10

Submitted by Claudia Pörschmann:

Dear Friends of the Museum für Islamische Kunst,

Please join us for our next online lecture accompanying our special exhibition:

"Iran. Five Millennia of Art and Culture":

The Rituals of the Zoroastrians from Antiquity to the Present Day | Prof. Dr. Alberto Cantera

Thursday, 10 March 2022, 6:30 pm (CET)
Webex link: https://spk-berlin.webex.com/spk-berlin/j.php?MTID=mc5c488d74435198e43428e2f45f9dc8c
Language: English

Zoroastrian rituals are still accompanied by the recitation of texts in Avestic, an ancient Iranian language, in India, Iran and the diaspora. These texts were probably written before the 5th century BCE for the performance of similar rituals. Zoroastrianism is thus characterised by one of the longest ritual continuities in the world.

The lecture will discuss the arguments that support this thesis, contrary to the previously held position that rituals were reinvented in Late Antiquity.

Alberto Cantera is a professor at the Institute for Iranian Studies at the Free University of Berlin. The Avestic texts, their transmission and their performance in the Zoroastrian rituals are the focus of his research.

The lectures will be broadcasted live via the link above. Registration for the lectures is not required.

The lecture is supported by the Sarikhani Foundation, the Freunde des Museums für Islamische Kunst im Pergamonmuseu e.V. and the Peter und Irene Ludwig Stiftung Aachen.

We look forward to seeing you!

Museum für Islamische Kunst im Pergamonmuseum

Staatliche Museen zu Berlin - Preußischer Kulturbesitz

Geschwister-Scholl-Straße 6

10117 Berlin

isl@smb.museum