Some time before the Achaemenid dynasty began to rule in Iran, and even some time before the Medes began to rule in Iran (in the north-west and west), Iran had a king named Gath. We do not know whether Gath is the same Zoroaster who composed the Gathas, which have survived to this day, or whether he was another person. There is no doubt about the existence of Zoroaster and Gath, but it is possible that ancient historians confused these two names with each other. Richard Frye, the Iranologist and current professor of Iranian history at Harvard University, who also travelled to Iran this year (the year 1345 in the Iranian calendar), tried very hard to determine the exact time of the reign of Gath or Zoroaster, but he was unable to do so. His estimate ranges from six thousand years before Christ to six hundred years before Christ, and […]
