Mazdak & Mazdakism - Ancient Persian Communism?

About this episode

This episode explores the life and teachings of Mazdak and the radical movement of Mazdakism in ancient Persia.

Who was Mazdak, and did he really preach a form of “ancient communism”? In this video, we explore Mazdakism—a radical movement in Sasanian Persia that challenged wealth, power, and social inequality over 1,500 years ago. Find me and my music here: https://linktr.ee/filipholm Support Let's Talk Religion on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/letstalkreligion Or through a one-time donation: https://paypal.me/talkreligiondonate Sources/Recommended Reading: Boyce, Mary (2000). "Zoroastrians: Their Religious Beliefs and Practices". Routledge; 2nd edition. Crone, Patricia (2012). “The Nativist Prophets of Early Islamic Iran: Rural Revolt and Local Zoroastrianism”. Cambridge University Press. Moazami, Mahnaz (ed.) (2016). "Zoroastrianism: A collection of Articles from the Encyclopedia Iranica". ENCYCLOPAEDIA IRANICA FOUNDATION. 2 Volumes. Rose, Jenny (2019). "Zoroastrianism: An Introduction". I.B. Tauris Introduction to Religions. Bloomsbury Academic. Yarshater, Ehsan (1983). “Mazdakism”. In “The Cambridge History of Iran”, vol. 3. Cambridge University Press. https://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/mazdak-crossref/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

People in this episode

Host: Filip Holm

Topics covered

• Mazdak
• Mazdakism
• ancient communism
• Sasanian Persia
• social inequality
• wealth and power

Keywords

• Mazdak
• Mazdakism
• ancient communism
• Sasanian Persia
• social inequality
• wealth
• power
• religion
• Zoroastrianism

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Patreon, ENCYCLOPAEDIA IRANICA FOUNDATION, Cambridge University Press, Bloomsbury Academic, Acast

Books & works: Zoroastrians: Their Religious Beliefs and Practices, The Nativist Prophets of Early Islamic Iran: Rural Revolt and Local Zoroastrianism, Zoroastrianism: A collection of Articles from the Encyclopedia Iranica, Zoroastrianism: An Introduction, Mazdakism

Places: Sasanian Persia

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