The ''Wizīdagīhā-ī Zādspram'' (or ''Vizīdagīhā-ī Zādspram''), also known as the ''Anthology'' or ''Selections'' ''of Zadspram'', is a

Pahlavi language Middle Persian, also known by its endonym Pārsīk or Pārsīg ( Inscriptional Pahlavi script: , Manichaean script: , Avestan script: ) in its later form, is a Western Middle Iranian language which became the literary language of the Sasanian ...

composition of

Zoroastrian literature Zoroastrian literature is the corpus of literary texts produced within the religious tradition of Zoroastrianism. These texts span the languages of Avestan, named after the famous Zoroastrian work known as the Avesta, and Middle Persian (Pahlavi), ...

from the 9th-century scholar and high priest Zadspram, who was primarily active ca. 880 AD. His works were composed closely in time to the

Denkard The ''Dēnkard'' or ''Dēnkart'' (Middle Persian: 𐭣𐭩𐭭𐭪𐭠𐭫𐭲 "Acts of Religion") is a 10th-century compendium of Zoroastrian beliefs and customs during the time. The ''Denkard'' has been called an "Encyclopedia of Mazdaism" an ...

and the

Bundahishn The ''Bundahishn'' (Middle Persian: , "Primal Creation") is an encyclopedic collection of beliefs about Zoroastrian cosmology written in the Book Pahlavi script. The original name of the work is not known. It is one of the most important extant ...

and treats similar subjects, but is independent of them. The primary subject matters of the book include a description of

Zoroastrian cosmology Zoroastrian or Iranian cosmology refers to the origins (cosmogony) and structure ( cosmography) of the cosmos in Zoroastrianism. Zoroastrian literature describing cosmographical beliefs include the Avesta (especially in its description of Avestan ...

, the life of the prophet

Zoroaster Zarathushtra Spitama, more commonly known as Zoroaster or Zarathustra, was an Iranian peoples, Iranian religious reformer who challenged the tenets of the contemporary Ancient Iranian religion, becoming the spiritual founder of Zoroastrianism ...

, and then the eschatological end. The work also delves into matters of medicine, astrology, and zoology. Some sections of the work derive from the

Zend Zend or Zand () is a Zoroastrian term for Middle Persian or Pahlavi versions and commentaries of Avestan texts. These translations were produced in the late Sasanian period. ''Zand'' glosses and commentaries exist in several languages, including ...

, an earlier Zoroastrian commentary. Alongside the Bundahisn, the ''Selections of Zadspram'' is one of the two primary systematic treatments of Zoroastrian cosmology known from Zoroastrian literature.

Zoology

The third chapter of the Anthologies fixates on enumerating the different types of living species. This section is likely reliant on the lost '' Dāmdād nask'' (Division on Creation) from the

Avesta The Avesta (, Book Pahlavi: (), Persian language, Persian: ()) is the text corpus of Zoroastrian literature, religious literature of Zoroastrianism. All its texts are composed in the Avestan language and written in the Avestan alphabet. Mod ...

. Zadspram also refers to a zoological book of his which is now lost. The

Haoma (; Avestan: ) is a divine plant in Zoroastrianism and in later Persian culture and Persian mythology, mythology. has its origins in Indo-Iranian religion and is the cognate of Vedas, Vedic . Etymology Both Avestan and Sanskrit derived from Pr ...

, a sacred Zoroastrian plant, also figures in the text.

Astrology

The thirtieth chapter discusses what is part of what has been called the microcosm and macrocosm theory, namely, the idea that there is a structural semblance between the human being (microcosm) and the cosmos (macrocosm). ''Zād'' 30.5–12 posits that the human body has seven innermost to outermost layers, and that each one of these is governed by one or two heavenly bodies, of the seven total heavenly bodies (the sun, moon, and the five known planets besides the Earth at the time). For the

bone marrow Bone marrow is a semi-solid biological tissue, tissue found within the Spongy bone, spongy (also known as cancellous) portions of bones. In birds and mammals, bone marrow is the primary site of new blood cell production (or haematopoiesis). It i ...

, this is the descending lunar node and the moon. Mercury governs the moon,

Venus Venus is the second planet from the Sun. It is often called Earth's "twin" or "sister" planet for having almost the same size and mass, and the closest orbit to Earth's. While both are rocky planets, Venus has an atmosphere much thicker ...

governs the flesh, the sun governs the nerves,

Mars Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun. It is also known as the "Red Planet", because of its orange-red appearance. Mars is a desert-like rocky planet with a tenuous carbon dioxide () atmosphere. At the average surface level the atmosph ...

governs the veins,

Jupiter Jupiter is the fifth planet from the Sun and the List of Solar System objects by size, largest in the Solar System. It is a gas giant with a Jupiter mass, mass more than 2.5 times that of all the other planets in the Solar System combined a ...

covers the skin, and

Saturn Saturn is the sixth planet from the Sun and the second largest in the Solar System, after Jupiter. It is a gas giant, with an average radius of about 9 times that of Earth. It has an eighth the average density of Earth, but is over 95 tim ...

governs the hair. This type of description reflects what is known as

melothesia Medical astrology or astrological medicine (traditionally known as iatromathematics) is an ancient applied branch of astrology based mostly on ''melothesia'' (Gr. μελοθεσία), the association of various parts of the body, diseases, and ...

or medical astrology, a subbranch of astrology that seeks to explain the influences of the seven signs of the zodiac onto the different parts of the human body, and has its roots in earlier forms of

Greek astrology Hellenistic astrology is a tradition of horoscopic astrology that was developed and practiced in the late Hellenistic period in and around the Mediterranean Basin region, especially in Egypt. The texts and technical terminology of this tradition ...

. The seven parts of the human body here are also listed in other examples of Pahlavi literature, like the Bundahishn.

Structure

The text contains 35 chapters. According to Tavadia, the book involves a three-fold division covering the cosmological/creation phase, a phase covering the life of Zoroaster, and finally the eschatological end. Gignoux-Tafazzoli propose a four-fold division to the work: * Chapters 1–3: Mazdean cosmogony and the phases of creation. * Chapters 4–26: Legendary events of the life of Zoroaster. * Chapters 27–28: The five characters of priests, the ten counsels for pious men, and the threefold division of religion. * Chapters 29–30: A separate third section. The composition of a human person according to a fourfold scheme. * Chapters 34–35: General eschatology and the events of the end of times.

Editions

* Anklesaria, B.T. ''Vichitakiha-i Zatsparam with Text and Introduction''. Part I. Bombay. 1964. * Rāšed-Moḥaṣṣel, M. T. ''Gozidehā-ye Zādsparam elections of Zādsparam'' Teheran. 1987. * Gignoux and Tafazzoli, ''Anthologie de Zādspram'', Studia Iranica, Cahier 13, Paris, 1993. * Sohn, P. 1996. ''Die Medizin des Zādsparam. Anatomie, Physiologie und Psychologie in den Wizīdagīhā ī Zādsparam, einer zoroastrischmittelpersischen Anthologie aus dem frühislamischen Iran des neunten Jahrhunderts''. Wiesbaden (Iranica 3). An earlier edition was published by M.B. Davar in 1908, but all known copies were lost in a 1945 fire. The edition by Anklesaria was based on the manuscripts K35 (16th c.), BK, and TD. These manuscripts are all incomplete. The more recent edition by Gignoux and Tafazzoli is based on K35 and Anklesaria's earlier edition. In addition, a glossary has been published of the text: * Bahār, M. ''Vāže-nāme-ye Gozīdehā-ye Zādesparam lossary of the Selections of Zādspram'' Teheran. 1972.

Translations

Several sections of the Anthologies have been translated in different volumes of the 50-volume

Sacred Books of the East The ''Sacred Books of the East'' is a monumental 50-volume set of English translations of Asian religious texts, edited by Max Müller and published by the Oxford University Press between 1879 and 1910. It incorporates the essential sacred texts ...

collection as well as other volumes: * Chapters 1–3 in Volume 5 of Sacred Books of the East * Chapters 4–27 in Volume 47 of Sacred Books of the East * Chapter 28 in Volume 37 of Sacred Books of the East * Chapters 1 and 24 by Zaehner * Chapters 29 and 30 by Bailey

References

Citations

Sources

* * * * * * * * * {{Cite journal , last=Zaehner , first=R.C. , date=1938 , title=Zurvanica II , url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/608223 , journal=Bulletin of the School of Oriental Studies , volume=9 , issue=3 , pages=573–585, doi=10.1017/S0041977X00078381 , jstor=608223 , url-access=subscription Middle Persian literature Zoroastrian texts 9th-century Persian books