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[[File: AhuraMazda-Relief.jpg|300px|thumbnail|right|Relief of the Persian-Zoroastrian God Ahura Mazda]]

The Achaemenid Persians followed a religion that can best be described as an early form of Zoroastrianism, or proto-Zoroastrianism. <ref> Clark, Peter. <i> Zoroastrianism: An Introduction to an Ancient Faith.</i> Brighton, United Kingdom: Sussex Academic Press, 2001), pg. 56</ref> Zoroastrianism was a dualistic religion where many different gods were acknowledged, both good and evil, but the chief god, Ahuramazda, was the primary object of veneration. Besides being the source of all earthly good and purity, Ahuramazda was also associated with the sun and fire. Following in the dualistic aspects of Zoroastrianism, it was the duty of the Achaemenid kings to promote the truth or <i>asha</i> over the lie or <i>drugh</i>, which was the result of the evil god Angramianu’s influence in the world. <ref> Malandra, William W. <i>An Introduction to Ancient Iranian Religion: Readings from the Avesta and Ancient Achaemenid Inscriptions.</i> (Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1983), pg. 13</ref> Although Cyrus and the early Achaemenid kings worshipped Ahuramazda as their primary god, primary sources from the period show that they were willing to accept other gods.

The details of the text are probably not entirely factual – it seems difficult to believe that the Babylonian King Nabonidus would have defiled the god of his city – but it was politically important for the conquering Achaemenid king to patronize Marduk to some extent. <ref> Krebsbach, Jared. “Achaemenid Persian Patronage of Egyptian Cults and Religious Institutions in the Twenty-Seventh Dynasty: A Study of Political Acumen in the Ancient World.” In <i>Religion in the Achaemenid Persian Empire: Emerging Judaisms and Trends.</i> Edited by Diana Edelman, Anne Fitzpatrick-McKinley and Philippe Guillaume. (Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2016), p. 330</ref> The concept of religious tolerance for political gain established by Cyrus was followed and expanded by Darius the Great during his long reign.

===Darius the Great and Religion===

Based on the texts from Persia, it is clear that Darius the Great was a pious follower of Ahuramazda, but a number of texts from outside of Persia show that the king, like Cyrus before him, was willing to acknowledge other peoples’ gods. Darius the Great gave particular attention to Egypt, where three stelae inscribed in Egyptian hieroglyphs and Elamite and Akkadian cuneiform demonstrate that he complete a canal that went from the Red Sea to the Nile River thereby giving access to the Mediterranean Sea. The language on the Suez stelae is very similar to that on a statue of Darius the Great that was discovered in the ruins of Susa in 1972. The statue, which was probably originally in Egypt, is important for several reasons. It is the only known example of Achaemenid Persian royal statuary, but equally important are the inscriptions on the robes of the statue, which were in Egyptian hieroglyphs and Old Persian, Elamite, and Akkadian cuneiform. The Egyptian language inscriptions describe Darius the Great as “born of Atum, the living image of Re” and that “Neith gave to him her bow that was in her hand to throw don all his enemies.” <ref> Yoyette, Jean. “Les Inscriptions Hiéroglyphiques Darius et l’Égypte.” <i>Journal Asiatique.</i> 260 (1972) pgs. 254-6</ref> Atum and Re, like Ahuramzada, were both Egyptian solar gods associated with kingship, while Neith was a goddess who was particularly venerated by the Egyptian dynasty the Achaemenid Persians vanquished. Clearly Darius the Great was employing a bit of the same political strategy Cyrus used when he patronized the Marduk cult after he conquered Babylon. Interestingly, the cuneiform texts on the statue make no mention of the Egyptian deities and instead invoke the Persian/Zoroastrian god in typical formulaic fashion.

===Conclusion===

===References===