The ZAH Library, FIRES and the Society of Scholars of Zoroastrianism (SSZ) co-sponsored a three-day seminar from October 11-13, 2019, at the Zoroastrian Heritage and Cultural Center in Houston. The program attracted many community leaders and students of Zoroastrianism from out-of-town. The entire seminar was live streamed (thanks go to Arzan Wadia) and can be seen and heard at http://fires-fezana.org/video/
Almut Hintze, recognized worldwide as a scholar of Indo-Iranian studies and Zoroastrianism gave two fascinating talks. In The Past in the Present: The Ancient Zoroastrian Ritual of the Yasna in Sound and Written Word she talked about the Multimedia Yasna project that for the first time will use Virtual Reality (attendees were fascinated to watch a four-minute clip of the ceremony through virtual reality goggles) to understand the words and the rituals associated with these hymns of Zarathushtra. The second talk, A Zoroastrian Vision, focused on the fate of the soul after death and its imagery in our Zoroastrian sacred texts.
Kersi Shroff has participated in expeditions led by Russian archaeologists at three ancient pre-Islamic sites in Tajikistan and Uzbekistan and gave us first-hand accounts of these expeditions in his talk titled Central Asian Arts & Archeology: Selected Zoroastrian Themes and Sites
A panel discussion by our young Mobeds, Noshir Khumbatta, Zubin Kotwal and Bahrom Firozgary, moderated by Khusrav Nariman, gave the audience an interesting perspective on what is required for our religion and culture to thrive and grow in the future.
The group reassembled in the evening for dinner and an enjoyable entertainment program that included songs by the ZAH Choir, a Mexican dance by Mahtab Dastoor and Natasha Dungor, and musical performances by Chloe and Tate Choudhry.
Pictures of Agyaris and Atash Behrams in India, Pakistan, and Iran and Dar-e-Mehrs in North America (curated by Darayus Kolah, Yezdi Engineer, and Cyrus Rivetna) were displayed beautifully on the walls of the Purvez Rustomji Room where the seminar was held. There were also displays of the artifacts/implements for Yasna ceremony, curated by Vehishta Kaikobad.
