نقش مذهبي و اجتماعي مغان در ايران باستان

The Magi and Their Religious and Social Role in Ancient Iran

This article investigates the magians and their religious, social and political role and functions in ancient Iran. Magians were the clergy class who played an important role in religious and social evolution of pre-Islamic Iran. The authors discuss the magians in Avesta and the views of Iranian and foreign authors about the word "maga" in "gahan" and its relationship with magians as discussed and explained in ancient Iranian epigraphs . The semantic evolution of the words "magus" and "moʹbed" from ancient to new Persian is discussed as well. Part of the paper is devoted to the religious and social role of magians at the time of Medians, Achaemenids, Ashkanids and Sassanids. The views of some researchers on the influence of the evolution of Zoroastrian religion is explained as well.