Ormuzd's Living Word to Zoroaster

...degenerated more and more, and took on a much
uglier appearance. Based on this
historical truth, I consider it a
mistake that—when one speaks of the first
foundation of religious knowledge original: "Religionserkenntnisse," referring to the fundamental understanding of the divine. un-
der mankind, in order to
observe the progress or the standstill or the
decline of this knowledge—one
takes as the basis of this investigation
the reports gathered from the
ancient Scythians An ancient nomadic people of Central Eurasia, often used in 18th-century literature as a prototype for "primitive" or "noble savage" societies., Greeks, Germans,
and even perhaps from the current state of wild,
barbarian peoples in America or
the newly discovered lands:
since all reports regarding the
origin of these tribes original: "Völkerschaften" are missing:
from which people did they descend?
How great was their culture Culture: Here used in the 18th-century sense of "Kultur," meaning the degree of social, intellectual, and moral refinement.?
What had they already
lost or gained? This makes it impossible
to determine: whether these were the first seeds of the re-