Reassessing the Zoroastrian Other World

Zoroastrian tradition offers one of the most detailed and interesting examples of otherworld. In particular. Middle Persian literature holds a bunch of texts that describe Hell, hanwslaf-an (intermediary place) and Paradise as abodes that are organized and structured according a precise and ethical architecture and system of punishment and reward. This article aims to provide a historical and religious reassessment of the development of the architecture of the otherworldly abodes according to Pahlavi sources, and to cast new light on their eschatological function, ethical organization and temporal duration.