Boyce discusses Zoroastrianism, one of the world's oldest religions and one which dominated much of the Middle East as the state religion of Iranian empires from the sixth century BCE to the seventh century CE.  She presents its origins in the Indo-Iranian stone age, its prophet Zarathushtra (Zoroaster) who lived between 1700 and 1500 BCE, his teachings, which were only written down under Sassanian rule, and the history of the religion and its followers in Iran and India, from the beginnings through a tradtional view of the Islamic conquest.  Zoroastrianism beliefs -  in one god and an evil adversary, angels, heaven and hell, and a final day of judgement - and practices, such as regular prayers, fire temples and burial practices, are discussed, and Zoroastrian influence on Judaism, Christianity, Islam and even Buddhism is suggested.

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