I think this is inaccurate:

"like Muslims, they recognize one god "

Although monotheistic, it is not rigorously so as the major Abrahamic religions. It has elements of dualism and other gods.

https://www.britannica.com/topic/Zoroastrianism

As an aside, there are very few lifeless deserts (and the ones that do exist are often in unexpected areas like the poles).

However, in my experience, it takes living in one for awhile to really get an appreciation for the life there.

Biocrust / cryptobiotic soil exists all over the South-West US, including in my front yard. Stay on the trail!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biological_soil_crust

The place name, Afrasiyab, of/in Samarkand immediately reminded me of that guy Afrasiabi who left Blizzard Entertainment under a cloud. Checks... yes, he's of Iranian descent. Name checks out. Kind of cool.

What I learned from the article was that Zoroastrians see Fire as sacred. It brings to my mind that the Martians in "Stranger in Strange Land" held Water as sacred. Holy Water, yes that is a commmon notion. Just my random thought.

For many ancient people, water and fire were associated as opposites that nonetheless had some shared properties, and they were usually both objects of respect, with various associated deities.

An interesting example is how in the Ancient Rome the most severe punishment except death, was named the "interdiction of water and fire", which meant banishment, because one could not live in a place without having access to water and fire.

Some death poems from Zen tradition mention 'water from fire'.

  Three and seventy years
  I've drawn pure water from the fire--
  Now I become a tiny bug
  With a touch of my body
  I shatter all worlds

By Ingo, died 1281

  A drop of water freezes instantly--
  My seven years and seventy.
  All changes at a blow
  Springs of water welling from fire

By Kaso Sodon, died 1428.

From "Japanese Death Poems" by Yoel Hoffman. I recommend this book as a good memento mori.

Western world thought such things, too.

> Flames were considered to be a mix of phlogiston and water

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phlogiston_theory

You see the same thing in early Jewish culture. The oldest book in the Bible, Job, discusses YHWH slaying Leviathan - embodiment of the sea and chaos. God often appears in the form of fire (the burning bush, the pillar of flames) while "defeating" water - setting ablaze the drenched bull, changing the Nile.

Great images the black-white/grey against white background

Initially I thought they wanted to get that "old newspaper" feel, but most pictures in the second half of the article are colored.

So I'm not sure what's the point then.

I’m piecing together through their website, online articles, etc. that the photographer shoots a lot of film. So perhaps other than a deliberate stylistic choice, the magazine used whatever photo made sense for that block of text.

In any case, they’re all quite nice photos so I don’t mind too much!