00:00This fire is 1554 years old. It burns continuously since 470 and was moved in 1939 in this particular temple in Yazd, in Iran.
00:07For Zoroastrians, the fire is a symbol of light and wisdom.
00:10Iran is now a mostly Shiite Muslim country, and long before that, Zoroastrianism was once dominant through the Persian Empire.
00:16The oldest monotheistic religion in the world was founded more than 3,500 years ago by Zoroastrians.
00:20It has three main pillars, well-thought, well-said and well-done.
00:24The history of this fire dates back to the year 470,
00:26when the Zoroastrian priests gathered the sacred flames of 16 temples to create an eternal fire.
00:31It was then transported through Iran for centuries before finding its permanent sanctuary in Yazd.
00:35This temple, built in the 1930s, was specially designed to house this fire,
00:39where it is still maintained today by a person named Irbod, ensuring that it never goes out.
00:43Strongly influencing the culture, philosophy and governance of the region,
00:46the Persian kings, such as those of the Sassanid dynasty,
00:48were often zealous Zoroastrians and used religion to legitimize their reign.
00:52It should be noted that the veneration of fire finds its roots in the oldest practice,
00:55consisting of maintaining a home fire,
00:57especially during the cold winters of the steppes of Central Asia,
01:00when the Indo-Europeans led a nomadic life,
01:01and the fire was a source of warmth, light and comfort.
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