Note 407 — Chapter I · (continued 2)

Zoroaster, according to the concurring account of several authors, retired from the world and lived in a cavern of the mountain Alborz, or in the mountains of Balkhan. According to the Rauzat us Sufa (Shea’s transl., p. 286) it was in the mountains near Ardebil, a city of Azarbijan (the ancient Media). This cavern is said to have been consecrated by him to Mithra. Pliny states (H. N. l. xi. c. 42), the prophet lived 20 years in deserts, upon cheese so tempered that he should not feel the effects of age. This was probably before he appeared at the court of Gushtasp.—A. T.