The course studies the religious life of the Sasanian empire (224-651 CE). It studies the diversity of the Sasanian Zoroastrian religious beliefs, and the interplay between religion and politics in the Sasanian period, the period during which Zoroastrianism was the state religion. The course also studies various religious traditions that enjoyed popularity in different phases of Sasanian history and in different areas of the Sasanian empire. Among these traditions, it mainly focuses on Manicheism, Christianity, Judaism, and Mazdakism. In the course, these religious traditions are studied on the basis of an analysis of relevant primary and secondary textual sources, as well as of material sources.