纪录片《大英博物馆世界简史》 043沙普尔二世银盘(3)（在线收听）

So far, you might think that this is all pretty predictable stuff: kings have always shown themselves dominating animals, and overdressed. But as we'll see, this is much more than a conventional display of prowess and privilege. For the Sasanian kings were more than just secular rulers. They were agents of God, and Shapur's full titles emphasise his religious role: "the good worshipper of God, Shapur, the King of Iran and non-Iran, of the divine race of God, the King of Kings". The god here is of course the god of Zoroastrianism, the religion of the state. Historian Tom Holland tells us about the great prophet and poet Zoroaster:

也许你觉得这一切不足为奇。国王的形象从来都是装饰华贵的，动物也永远对他俯首帖耳。但这幅图的意义远远超出了普通的财富与权力展示。因为萨珊国王不只是俗世的统治者，也是神的代言人。沙普尔的完整封号表现出他的宗教身份：“神的虔诚信徒，沙普尔，统管伊朗与非伊朗，神之后裔，万王之王。”这里的神当然就是国教琐罗亚斯特教的神。 历史学家汤姆?霍兰德向我们介绍了伟大的诗人及先知琐罗亚斯特：

"Zoroaster is the very first prophet, in the sense that you would describe Moses or Mohammed as a prophet.

如果你对先知的定义是摩西或穆罕默德，那么琐罗亚斯特便是人类的第一位先知。

No one is entirely sure when, or indeed if, he lived, but if he really did exist then he probably lived in Central Asian steppes in around 1000 BC. And gradually, over the course of the centuries and then the millennia, his teachings became the focus for what we could probably call a Zoroastrian church.

他的生卒年不详，甚至有人认为他不曾真正存在过。但如果真有这个人存在，他一定生活在公元前一千年的中亚。经过千百年的发展，他的教诲成为琐罗亚斯特教的核心。

And this increasingly became the state faith of the Iranian people, and therefore of the Sasanian Empire when it was established.

琐罗亚斯特教逐渐成为伊朗人的国教，在萨珊帝国成立之后，又被立为帝国的国教。

"The teachings of Zoroaster will sound very familiar to anyone who has been brought up as a Jew, or a Christian or a Muslim. Zoroaster is the first prophet to teach that the universe is a battleground between rival forces of good and evil. He is the first to teach that time will not go round in an endless cycle, but will come to an end-that there will be an end of days; there will be a day of judgement.

凡是犹太教、基督教或伊斯兰教家庭出身的人，对琐罗亚斯特的基本教义都不会陌生。琐罗亚斯特是第一位提出宇宙是善恶两种势力斗争的战场的先知，也是他首次提出时间并非永无止境的循环, 终会有世界末日，人类将面临最终审判日。