the predominant religion in the region until the Muslims conquered Persia. Zoroastrians in Iran have had a long history reaching back thousands of years, and are the oldest religious community of Iran that has survived to the present day. Prior to the Muslim Arab invasion of Persia (Iran), Zoroastrianism had been the primary religion of Iranian peoples. Zoroastrians mainly are ethnic Persians and are concentrated in the cities of Tehran, Kerman, and Yazd. The Islamic Republic government estimates the number of Zoroastrians is 20,000, Zoroastrian groups in Iran say their number is approximately 60,000. According to the Iranian census data from 2011 the number of Zoroastrians in Iran was 25,271. This oppression has led to a massive diaspora community across the world, in particular, the Parsis of India, whose numbers significantly higher than the Zoroastrians in Iran. Mithra ( Miθra, Miça) is the Zoroastrian Divinity (yazata) of Covenant, Light, and Oath. In addition to being the divinity of contracts, Mithra is also a judicial figure, an all-seeing protector of Truth, and the guardian of cattle, the harvest, and of the Waters. Manichaeism Manichaeism was a major religion founded by the Iranian prophet Mani (Middle Persian Mānī, New Persian: Mānī, Syriac Mānī, Greek , ) in the Sasanian Empire but has been extinct for many centuries. It originated in third century Mesopotamia and spread rapidly throughout North Africa to Central Asia during the next several centuries. Mani was a Babylonian prophet born in 216 C.E. near the city of Ctesiphon. Not long after his birth, Mani's father, Pattikios, heard a voice commanding him to join a communitarian sect that resided in the marshes south of the city and so he abandoned his former life and took his son with him. Mani grew up in the sect and occasionally experienced “revelations” meditated through an angelic figure. These revelations led to his increasingly disruptive behavior and he was eventually forced to leave the sect and start a new phase of his life. Inspired by the messages he received from the angelic figure, Mani began his missionary journeys to spread his new religion. Gaining the favor of the Sasanian ruler in Mesopotamia was an important factor for the early success of his work. Over time, Mani built a following and a number of his trusted disciples were dispatched to the West to Syria, Arabia, and Egypt and added more converts to this rapidly expanding