Recent research conducted in northern Michoacan, west Mexico, has yielded significant new datasets that can be used to reconsider the occupation of this region in the Postclassic period (a.d. 900–1541), prior to and during the rise of the Tarascan state. LiDAR data, in particular, has facilitated reassessment of the archaeological record and its implications concerning the population and social dynamics of this region. In this article, I combine data collected through traditional field-based research with LiDAR-derived data to reassess the population aggregation that occurred during a.d. 1250–1450 in the Zacapu Basin, resulting in the formation of a large urban system. Compared to prior population estimates and interpretations regarding the urban structure of the Zacapu Malpaís sites, the integration of these datasets enables both an increased scale of analysis and finer resolution, thus providing a clearer picture of one of the earliest episodes of urbanization in west Mexico.

There are two schemes of creation in Zoroastrianism. According to one, Ohrmazd fashions the world in the manner of a skilful craftsman. According to the second, Ohrmazd gestates and gives birth to the world. This article is about the latter. The relevant Pahlavi texts are presented and discussed. The article argues that Pahlavi authors used macrocosm-microcosm correspondence theory to elaborate the doctrine from Avestan rudiments.

The main scheme of creation in Zoroastrian Pahlavi literature is adopted from the Young Avesta. In this scheme Ohrmazd creates the world in the manner of a skillful craftsman who conceives of the form of his product and then fashions it in matter. The number of the constituents of the world and the sequence in which they are created are already fixed in the Avesta. Pahlavi authors draw on Greek philosophical tradition to rationalise their account of the creation of the world. The article also explores some of the complications that their philosophical elaboration of the Avestan scheme occasions.

The article is an attempt to answer the question why Wednesday has the status of a holy day in Yezidism. Wednesday can be seen as a commemoration of the fourth day of creation, when the life on earth began and the Peacock Angel became its ruler. The article points to the Yezidi worship of the Moon and the Sun and related angels (Melek Fakhradin and Melek Sheikh Shams) and connects it with the Pythagorean concept concerning the movement of the planets and the Music of the Spheres. Two sacred Yezidi instruments, def and shibab, appear as allegories of celestial bodies in the Yezidi sacred hymns in the cosmogonic context of the creation of the macrocosm and microcosm (Adam). The article also points out the meaning of Wednesday in Judaism as the day when God created the sun, moon and stars and briefly discusses relationships with planet worship in Harran, Zoroastrianism and Mandaeism, especially in the context of the Yezidi Çarşemiya Sor festival which takes place on the first Wednesday of the month of Nisan.