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RISE OF THE MAGI. limited extent. Darius placed a symbolical picture of the god on his inscriptions; Artaxerxes II. Rise of the erected statues and a temple to Anahita, at Magi. Ecbatana. How the Magians became the priests of the Avesta religion we have no clear account. They appear to have been a tribe or caste of the Medes, and probably they were the inheritors of the primitive Aryan tradition, who accepted the Zoroastrian development of it, and acquired great influence in the Persian empire, becoming not only teachers of religion, and priests, but also political administrators and advisers; and they appear to have become combined or amalgamated with the priestly families of old Persia. The Sacred fire was carried before the kings by Magians, and the king's sons were instructed by them in the religion of Zoroaster. It is doubtful whether at this time they occupied themselves with soothsaying, prophecy, the interpretation of dreams, etc. ; it is probable that these offices were performed by the Chaldæan priests. The Greek historians represent that no one could sacrifice in Persia without a Magian. They offered sacrifices at high places, first praying to fire (or rather, looking towards the sacred fire). They sacrificed animals, striking them down with a club; but no part of the flesh was set apart for the deity, the soul of the animal only being required. “As far west as Cappadocia," says Strabo, “there were enclosed places, in the midst of which was an altar heaped up with ashes. On this the Magians kept up the unquenchable fire. Each day they went and sang for an hour before the fire, holding in their hands a bundle of twigs." The Magian religion extended even to the cities of Lydia, where Pausanias observed their worship.
The exposure of corpses was but partially practised by the ancient Persians, and may have been restricted to the priests. Certainly the kings were buried: but under the Sassanian monarchy, the dead were exposed according to the modern custom.
There can be little doubt that the Avesta anciently consisted of many more books than we have at present. Various traditions speak of their number (twenty-one)
