The Avesta (,

Book Pahlavi Book Pahlavi is the cursive variant of the Pahlavi scripts, Pahlavi script, which was derived from the Aramaic alphabet, Aramaic script during the Sasanian Empire, Sassanid period to write the Middle Persian, Middle Persian language. Book Pahlav ...

: (),

Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...

: ()) is the text corpus of

religious literature {{Commons Literature by genre Literature Literature is any collection of Writing, written work, but it is also used more narrowly for writings specifically considered to be an art form, especially novels, Play (theatre), plays, and poetry, ...

Zoroastrianism Zoroastrianism ( ), also called Mazdayasnā () or Beh-dīn (), is an Iranian religions, Iranian religion centred on the Avesta and the teachings of Zoroaster, Zarathushtra Spitama, who is more commonly referred to by the Greek translation, ...

. All its texts are composed in the

Avestan Avestan ( ) is the liturgical language of Zoroastrianism. It belongs to the Iranian languages, Iranian branch of the Indo-European languages, Indo-European language family and was First language, originally spoken during the Avestan period, Old ...

language and written in the

Avestan alphabet The Avestan alphabet ( transliteration: , Middle Persian: transliteration: , transcription: , ) is a writing system developed during Iran's Sasanian era (226–651 CE) to render the Avestan language. As a side effect of its develo ...

. Modern editions of the Avesta are based on the various

manuscript A manuscript (abbreviated MS for singular and MSS for plural) was, traditionally, any document written by hand or typewritten, as opposed to mechanically printed or reproduced in some indirect or automated way. More recently, the term has ...

traditions that have survived in

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

and

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

. The individual texts of the Avesta were originally

oral The word oral may refer to: Relating to the mouth * Relating to the mouth, the first portion of the alimentary canal that primarily receives food and liquid **Oral administration of medicines ** Oral examination (also known as an oral exam or ora ...

compositions. They were composed over a long period of several centuries during the Old Iranian period (possibly ranging from 15th century BCE – 4th century BCE). The written transmission began during the

Sassanian period The Sasanian Empire (), officially Eranshahr ( , "Empire of the Iranians"), was an Iranian empire that was founded and ruled by the House of Sasan from 224 to 651. Enduring for over four centuries, the length of the Sasanian dynasty's reign ...

, with the creation of the Avestan alphabet. The resulting texts were then compiled into a comprehensive edition of the Avesta in 21 volumes. This edition was lost sometime after the 10th century CE and only a small part survived through a series of different manuscript traditions. The oldest surviving fragment of such a manuscript dates to 1323 CE. Unlike the Sasanian Avesta, which was organized thematically, the surviving Avestan manuscripts correspond to the different ceremonies in which they are used. It is assumed that it was their regular use which ensured their survival to this day. The principal text is the ''

Yasna Yasna (;"Yasna"
''

Gathas The Gathas () are 17 hymns in the Avestan language from the Zoroastrian oral tradition of the Avesta. The oldest surviving text fragment dates from 1323 CE, but they are believed by scholars to have been composed before 1000 BCE and passed dow ...

, consisting of seventeen hymns attributed to

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 ...

himself. These hymns, together with five other short Old Avestan texts that are also part of the ''Yasna'', are in the Old (or 'Gathic') Avestan language. The remainder of the ''Yasna'''s texts are in Younger Avestan, which is not only from a later stage of the language, but also from a different geographic region. Extensions to the Yasna ceremony include the texts of the ''

Vendidad The Vendidad /ˈvendi'dæd/, also known as Videvdat, Videvdad or Juddēvdād, is a collection of texts within the greater compendium of the Avesta. However, unlike the other texts of the Avesta, the ''Vendidad'' is an ecclesiastical code, not a ...

'' and the ''

Visperad Visperad or Visprad or Vispered is either a particular Zoroastrian religious ceremony or the name given to a passage collection within the greater Avesta compendium of texts. Overview The Visperad ceremony "consists of the rituals of the Yasna, vi ...

''. The ''Visperad'' extensions consist mainly of additional invocations of the divinities (''

yazata Yazata () is the Avestan word for a Zoroastrian concept with a wide range of meanings but generally signifying (or used as an epithet of) a divinity. The term literally means "worthy of worship or veneration",.. and is thus, in this more general ...

''s), while the ''Vendidad'' is a mixed collection of prose texts mostly dealing with purity laws. Even today, the ''Vendidad'' is the only liturgical text that is not recited entirely from memory. Some of the materials of the extended Yasna are from the ''

Yashts A Yasht (, ) is a hymn of praise composed in the Young Avestan language and dedicated to specific Zoroastrian divinities. The term commonly applies to the collection of 21 Yashts, although it may also refer to other texts within the wider Avesta ...

'', which are hymns to the individual ''yazata''s. Unlike the ''Yasna'', ''Visperad'' and ''Vendidad'', the ''Yasht''s and the other lesser texts of the Avesta are no longer used liturgically in high rituals. Aside from the ''Yasht''s, these other lesser texts include the ''Nyayesh'' texts, the ''Gah'' texts, the ''Siroza'' and various other fragments. Together, these lesser texts are conventionally called ''

Khordeh Avesta Khordeh Avesta, meaning 'little, or lesser, or small Avesta', is the name given to two different collections of Zoroastrian religious texts. One of the two collections includes the other and takes its name from it. * In a narrow sense, the term ...

'' or "Little Avesta" texts. When the first ''Khordeh Avesta'' editions were printed in the 19th century, these texts (together with some non-Avestan language prayers) became a book of common prayer for lay people.

Name

The term ''Avesta'' originates from the 9th/10th-century works of Zoroastrian tradition in which the word appears as

Middle Persian 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 Sasania ...

''abestāg'',

''ʾp(y)stʾkʼ''. In that context, ''abestāg'' texts are portrayed as received knowledge and are distinguished from the

exegetical Exegesis ( ; from the Greek , from , "to lead out") is a critical explanation or interpretation of a text. The term is traditionally applied to the interpretation of Biblical works. In modern usage, exegesis can involve critical interpretations ...

commentaries (the ''

zand Zand may refer to: * Zend, a class of exegetical commentaries on Zoroastrian scripture * Zand District, an administrative subdivision of Iran * Zand Boulevard, in Shiraz, Iran * Z And, a variable star As a tribal/clan and dynastic name * Zand trib ...

'') thereof. The literal meaning of the word ''abestāg'' is uncertain; it is generally acknowledged to be a learned borrowing from Avestan, but none of the suggested etymologies have been universally accepted. The widely repeated derivation from *''upa-stavaka'' is from Christian Bartholomae (''Altiranisches Wörterbuch'', 1904), who interpreted ''abestāg'' as a descendant of a hypothetical reconstructed Old Iranian word for "praise-song" (Bartholomae: ''

Lobgesang ''Lobgesang'' (''Hymn of Praise''), Op. 52 ( MWV A 18), is an 11-movement "Symphony-Cantata on Words of the Holy Bible for Soloists, Choir and Orchestra" by Felix Mendelssohn. After the composer's death it was published as his Symphony No. 2 i ...

''); but this word is not actually attested in any text.

The author

Yasna

William W. Malandra, an Orientalist, states that the Yasna was not composed until long after Zoroaster's death, since the text is in the later Avestan dialect, not the Avestan-Gatans dialect spoken by Zoroaster like the one in. He says that it is not possible to determine when a text was composed, but it can be argued that the text may have been the product of an editorial project completed at a particular point in history, or a process of consolidation, where the text was gradually expanded over a long period of time. William W. Malandra says when talking about

that Yasna chapter 53 is a later addition.also

Helmut Humbach Helmut Humbach (* December 4, 1921 in Munich; † April 3, 2017 in Mainz) was a German linguist and Iranist. He was a professor of Indo-European philology at University of Mainz. He is recognized particularly for his work on the Gathas of Zarathu ...

said that Yasna 42 is a later addition.

Visperad

The Visperad is not considered an independent section, but rather an extension of the Yasna section. The purpose of the Visperad is to embellish the Yasna ceremonies during the five main festivals (

Zoroastrian festivals Zoroastrianism has numerous festivals and holy days, all of which are bound to the Zoroastrian calendar. The ''Shahenshahi'' and ''Kadmi'' variants of the calendar do not intercalate leap years and hence the day of the Gregorian calendar year on w ...

). The text was completed in the middle or late

Yashts

Arthur Christensen Arthur Emanuel Christensen (9 January 1875 – 31 March 1945) was a Danish orientalist and scholar of Iranian philology and folklore. He is best known for his works on the Iranian history, mythology, religions, medicine and music. Biography Ch ...

believes that some parts of Yashts existed before the emergence of Zoroastrianism and some parts of Yashts were added after the emergence of Zoroastrianism, Almut Hintze comments that it is impossible to distinguish between pre-Zoroastrian and post-Zoroastrian texts, while

Ilya Gershevitch Ilya Gershevitch, FBA (24 October 1914 – 11 April 2001) was a noted Iranologist. Gershevitch was born in Zürich to Russian parents Arkadi and Mila, who raised him in Smolensk, migrated to Germany and later fled from Germany to Switzerland a ...

believes that Yashts existed before Zoroastrianism but was later introduced into 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 ...

Prods Oktor Skjaervo Prods Oktor Skjærvø (sometimes written P.O. Skjaervo in English) is Emeritus Professor of Iranian Studies in the Department of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations at Harvard University, where he succeeded Richard Frye as Aga Khan Professo ...

points out that the Yashts were composed by the Achaemenids in order to consolidate their power.

Vendidad

William W. Malandra stated that scholars generally agree that the author's of the Vendidad were

Magians Magi (), or magus (), is the term for priests in Zoroastrianism and earlier Iranian religions. The earliest known use of the word ''magi'' is in the trilingual inscription written by Darius the Great, known as the Behistun Inscription. Old P ...

, in the Achaemenid era or after it.

Avesta manuscripts

The Avesta consists of 5 parts, which are,

Yasna Yasna (;"Yasna"
''

Vispered Visperad or Visprad or Vispered is either a particular Zoroastrian religious ceremony or the name given to a passage collection within the greater Avesta compendium of texts. Overview The Visperad ceremony "consists of the rituals of the Yasna, vi ...

Yasht A Yasht (, ) is a hymn of praise composed in the Young Avestan language and dedicated to specific Zoroastrian divinities. The term commonly applies to the collection of 21 Yashts, although it may also refer to other texts within the wider Avest ...

, The oldest surviving fragment of a text dates to 1323 CE A. V. Williams Jackson says that no single manuscript contains the entire Avesta. The earliest passage composed in the book is the

Gatha ''Gāthā'' is a Sanskrit term for 'song' or 'verse', especially referring to any poetic metre which is used in legends or folklores, and is not part of the Vedas but peculiar to either Epic Sanskrit or to Prakrit. The word is originally derived ...

, and there is a gradual general consensus in favour of placing the Gatans, around 1000 BC. There is a now wide consensus that for most of their long history the Avesta's various texts were handed down orally and independently of one anotherHumbach, Helmut (1991), ''The Gathas of Zarathushtra and the Other Old Avestan Texts'', Part I, Heidelberg: Winter.

History

Zoroastrian tradition

The Zoroastrian history of the Avesta, lies in the realm of legend and myth. The oldest surviving versions of these tales are found in the ninth to 11th century texts of Zoroastrian tradition (i.e. in the so-called "

Pahlavi books Middle Persian literature is the corpus of written works composed in Middle Persian, that is, the Middle Iranian dialect of Persia proper, the region in the south-western corner of the Iranian plateau. Middle Persian was the prestige dialect dur ...

"). The legends run as follows: The twenty-one ''nask''s ("books") of the Avesta were created by Ahura Mazda and brought by

to his patron

Vishtaspa Vishtaspa ( ; ; ; ) is the Avestan-language name of a figure appearing in Zoroastrian scripture and tradition, portrayed as an early follower of Zoroaster, and his patron, and instrumental in the diffusion of the prophet's message. Although V ...

(''

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 ...

'' 4A, 3A). Supposedly, Vishtaspa (''Dk'' 3A) or another

Kayanian The Kayanians (; also Kays, Kayanids, Kaianids, Kiyani, Kayani, or Kiani) are a legendary dynasty of Persian/Iranian tradition and folklore which supposedly ruled after the Pishdadians, each of whom held the title Kay (such as Kay Khosrow), mea ...

, Daray (''Dk'' 4B), then had two copies made, one of which was stored in the treasury and the other in the royal archives (''Dk'' 4B, 5). Following Alexander's conquest, the Avesta was then supposedly destroyed or dispersed by the Greeks, after they had translated any scientific passages of which they could make use (''AVN'' 7–9, ''Dk'' 3B, 8). Several centuries later, one of the

Parthian Parthian may refer to: Historical * Parthian people * A demonym "of Parthia", a region of north-eastern of Greater Iran * Parthian Empire (247 BC – 224 AD) * Parthian language, a now-extinct Middle Iranian language * Parthian shot, an archery sk ...

emperors named Valaksh (one of the Vologases) supposedly then had the fragments collected, not only of those that had previously been written down, but also of those that had only been orally transmitted (''Dk'' 4C). The ''Denkard'' also records another legend related to the transmission of the Avesta. In this story, credit for collation and recension is given to the early Sasanian-era priest Tansar (

high priest The term "high priest" usually refers either to an individual who holds the office of ruler-priest, or to one who is the head of a religious organisation. Ancient Egypt In ancient Egypt, a high priest was the chief priest of any of the many god ...

under

Ardashir I Ardashir I (), also known as Ardashir the Unifier (180–242 AD), was the founder of the Sasanian Empire, the last empire of ancient Iran. He was also Ardashir V of the Kings of Persis, until he founded the new empire. After defeating the last Par ...

, ''r.'' 224–242 CE, and

Shapur I Shapur I (also spelled Shabuhr I; ) was the second Sasanian Empire, Sasanian King of Kings of Iran. The precise dating of his reign is disputed, but it is generally agreed that he ruled from 240 to 270, with his father Ardashir I as co-regent u ...

, 240/242–272 CE), who had the scattered works collected – of which he approved only a part as authoritative (''Dk'' 3C, 4D, 4E). Tansar's work was then supposedly completed by Adurbad Mahraspandan (high priest of

Shapur II Shapur II ( , 309–379), also known as Shapur the Great, was the tenth King of Kings (List of monarchs of the Sasanian Empire, Shahanshah) of Sasanian Iran. He took the title at birth and held it until his death at age 70, making him the List ...

, ''r.'' 309–379 CE) who made a general revision of the canon and continued to ensure its orthodoxy (''Dk'' 4F, ''AVN'' 1.12–1.16). A final revision was supposedly undertaken in the 6th century CE under

Khosrow I Khosrow I (also spelled Khosrau, Khusro or Chosroes; ), traditionally known by his epithet of Anushirvan ("the Immortal Soul"), was the Sasanian King of Kings of Iran from 531 to 579. He was the son and successor of Kavad I (). Inheriting a rei ...

(''Dk'' 4G).

Early Western scholarship

Texts of the Avesta became available to European scholarship comparatively late, thus the study of

in Western countries dates back to only the 18th century.

Abraham Hyacinthe Anquetil-Duperron Abraham Hyacinthe Anquetil-Duperron (7 December 173117 January 1805) was the first professional French Indologist. He conceived the institutional framework for the new profession. He inspired the founding of the École française d'Extrême-Ori ...

travelled to

in 1755, and discovered the texts among Indian Zoroastrian (

Parsi The Parsis or Parsees () are a Zoroastrian ethnic group in the Indian subcontinent. They are descended from Persian refugees who migrated to the Indian subcontinent during and after the Arab-Islamic conquest of Iran in the 7th century, w ...

) communities. He published a set of French translations in 1771, based on translations provided by a Parsi priest. Anquetil-Duperron's translations were at first dismissed as a forgery in poor

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; stem form ; nominal singular , ,) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in northwest South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cultural ...

, but he was vindicated in the 1820s following

Rasmus Rask Rasmus Kristian Rask (; born Rasmus Christian Nielsen Rasch; 22 November 1787 – 14 November 1832) was a Danish linguist and philologist. He wrote several grammars and worked on comparative phonology and morphology. Rask traveled extensively ...

's examination of the Avestan language (''A Dissertation on the Authenticity of 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 ...

Language'', Bombay, 1821). Rask also established that Anquetil-Duperron's manuscripts were a fragment of a much larger literature of sacred texts. Anquetil-Duperron's manuscripts are at the ('P'-series manuscripts), while Rask's collection now lies in the

Royal Library, Denmark The Royal Library () in Copenhagen is the national library of Denmark and the academic library of the University of Copenhagen. It is among the largest libraries in the world and the largest in the Nordic countries. In 2017, it merged with the ...

('K'-series). Other large Avestan language manuscript collections are those of the

British Museum The British Museum is a Museum, public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is the largest in the world. It documents the story of human cu ...

('L'-series), the K. R. Cama Oriental Library in

Mumbai Mumbai ( ; ), also known as Bombay ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial capital and the most populous city proper of India with an estimated population of 12 ...

, the Meherji Rana library in

Navsari Navsari is the ninth biggest city in the state of Gujarat in India. It is the administrative headquarters of Navsari District. Navsari is between Surat and Mumbai. It is a twin city of Surat, 37 km to the north. At the 2011 Census of Ind ...

, and at various university and national libraries in Europe. In the early 20th century, the legend of the Parthian-era collation engendered a search for a 'Parthian archetype' of the Avesta. According to the theory of

Friedrich Carl Andreas Friedrich Carl Andreas (14 April 1846 in Batavia – 4 October 1930 in Göttingen) was an orientalist of German, Malay, and Armenian parentage (descendant of the Bagratuni royal family). He was the husband of psychoanalyst Lou Andreas-Sa ...

(1902), the archaic nature of the Avestan texts was assumed to be due to preservation via written transmission, and unusual or unexpected spellings in the surviving texts were assumed to be reflections of errors introduced by Sasanian-era transcription from the

Aramaic alphabet The ancient Aramaic alphabet was used to write the Aramaic languages spoken by ancient Aramean pre-Christian peoples throughout the Fertile Crescent. It was also adopted by other peoples as their own alphabet when empires and their subjects und ...

-derived

Pahlavi scripts Pahlavi may refer to: Iranian royalty * Seven Parthian clans, ruling Parthian families during the Sasanian Empire * Pahlavi dynasty, the ruling house of Imperial State of Persia/Iran from 1925 until 1979 ** Reza Shah Pahlavi (1878–1944), Shah ...

. The search for the 'Arsacid archetype' was increasingly criticized in the 1940s and was eventually abandoned in the 1950s after Karl Hoffmann demonstrated that the inconsistencies noted by Andreas were actually due to unconscious alterations introduced by oral transmission. Hoffmann identifies these changes to be due, in part, to modifications introduced through recitation; in part to influences from other Iranian languages picked up on the route of transmission from somewhere in eastern Iran (i.e. Central Asia) via Arachosia and Sistan through to Persia; and in part due to the influence of phonetic developments in the Avestan language itself.

Modern scholarhip

The notion of an Arsacid-era collation and recension is generally rejected by modern scholarship. Instead, there is now a wide consensus that for most of their long history the Avesta's various texts were handed down orally and independently of one another. Based on linguistic aspects, scholars like Kellens, Skjærvø and

Hoffman Hoffman is a surname of German origin. The original meaning in medieval times was "steward", i.e. one who manages the property of another. In English and other European languages, including Yiddish and Dutch, the name can also be spelled Hoffma ...

have also identified a number of distinct phases, during which different parts of the Avestan corpus were composed, transmitted in either fluid or fixed form, as well as edited and redacted.

''Oral transmission''

The first phase comprises the creation of the Old Avestan texts, like the

. Today, scholars consider a time frame between 1500 and 900 BCE to be possible, with a date close to 1000 BCE being considered likely by many. They must have crystallized early on, meaning their transmission became unchanged. During their long history, the Gathic texts seem to have been transmitted with the highest accuracy. Young avestan geography

The second phase comprises the creation of the Young Avestan texts. These texts, which form the majority of the extant Avesta, originated in a later stage of the

Avestan period The Avestan period () is the period in the history of the Arya (Iran), Iranians when the Avesta was produced. It saw important contributions to both the Zoroastrianism, religious sphere, as well as to Persian mythology, Iranian mythology and its ...

separated from the Old Avestan time by several centuries. Scholars nowadays assume that this phase corresponds to a time frame from ca. 900–400 BCE. Due to a number of geographical references, there is a wide consensus that they were composed in the eastern portion of

Greater Iran Greater Iran or Greater Persia ( ), also called the Iranosphere or the Persosphere, is an expression that denotes a wide socio-cultural region comprising parts of West Asia, the South Caucasus, Central Asia, South Asia, and East Asia (specifica ...

. While the Old Avestan material was handed down as a fixed liturgical corpus, the Young Avestan texts appear to have been transmitted during this time in an

oral tradition Oral tradition, or oral lore, is a form of human communication in which knowledge, art, ideas and culture are received, preserved, and transmitted orally from one generation to another.Jan Vansina, Vansina, Jan: ''Oral Tradition as History'' (19 ...

which was still fluid. This means they were composed partly afresh with each generation of poet-priests, sometimes with the addition of new material. At some time, however, this fluid phase must have stopped as well and the process of transmission of the Young Avestan texts became fixed similar to the Old Avestan material. This second crystallization must have taken place during the Old Iranian period, as Young Avestan does not show any characteristics of Middle Iranian. The subsequent transmission took largely place in Western Iran as evidenced by alterations introduced by native Persian speakers. Scholars like Skjærvø and Kreyenbroek correlate this second crystallization with the adoption of Zoroastrianism by the

Achaemenids The Achaemenid dynasty ( ; ; ; ) was a royal house that ruled the Achaemenid Empire, which eventually stretched from Egypt and Thrace in the west to Central Asia and the Indus Valley in the east. Origins The history of the Achaemenid dy ...

. As a result,

- and

Median The median of a set of numbers is the value separating the higher half from the lower half of a Sample (statistics), data sample, a statistical population, population, or a probability distribution. For a data set, it may be thought of as the “ ...

-speaking

priests A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in particular, ...

would have become the primary group to transmit these texts. Having no longer an active command of Avestan, they would have decided to preserve both Old and Young Avestan text as faithfully as possible. Some Young Avestan texts, like the

, show non-Avestan influence and are therefore considered to have been redacted or otherwise altered by non-Avestan speakers after the main corpus became fixed. Regardless of such changes and redactions, the main Avestan corpus was now transmitted by people for whom Avestan was no longer a native but a purely liturgical languange.

''Written transmission''

It was not until around the 5th or 6th century CE that Avestan corpus was committed to written form, which lead to the creation of the

Sasanian Avesta The Sasanian Avesta or Great Avesta refers to the anthology of Zoroastrian literature produced during the Sasanian period. Most of this work is now lost, but its content and structure can be reconstructed from references found in a number of t ...

. This is seen as a turning point in the Avestan tradition since it separates the purely oral from the written transmission. The surviving texts of the Avesta, as they exist today, derive from a single master copy produced by that collation. That master copy, now lost, is known as the 'Sassanian archetype'. The oldest surviving manuscript (''K1'') of an Avestan language text is dated 1323 CE. The post-Sasanian phase saw a pronounced deterioration of the Avestan corpus. Summaries in the texts of the Zoroastrian tradition from the 9th/10th century indicate that the Sasanian Avesta was much larger than the Avesta that exists today. Only about one-quarter of the Avestan sentences or verses referred to by the 9th/10th century commentators can be found in the surviving texts. This suggests that an indeterminable number of juridical, historical and legendary texts have been lost since then. On the other hand, it appears that the most valuable portions of the canon, including all of the oldest texts, have survived. The likely reason for this is that the surviving materials represent those portions of the Avesta that were in regular liturgical use and therefore known by heart by the priests and not dependent for their preservation on the survival of particular manuscripts.

Structure and content

In its present form, the Avesta is a compilation from various sources, and its different parts date from different periods and vary widely in character. Both its extant as well as historical manuscripts seem to have consisted of the Avestan text jointly with translations, commentaries, glosses and instructions in

. The term Avesta, however, only refers to the Avestan text itself, whereas the Middle Persian additions are referred to as

The Sasanian Avesta

According to the ''

'', the Avesta of the Sasanian period was organized into 21 ''nask''s (volumes). This division was to mirror the structure of the 21-word-long ''

Ahuna Vairya Ahuna Vairya (Avestan: 𐬀𐬵𐬎𐬥𐬀⸱𐬬𐬀𐬌𐬭𐬌𐬌𐬀) is the first of Zoroastrianism's four Gathic Avestan formulas. The text, which appears in ''Yasna'' 27.13, is also known after its opening words yatha ahu vairyo. In Zoro ...

'' prayer: each of the three lines of the prayer consists of seven words. Correspondingly, the ''nask''s are divided into three groups, of seven volumes per group. Originally, each volume had a word of the prayer as its name, which so marked a volume's position relative to the other volumes. Vendidad fol 1r

The first group of the nasks was the Gathic group. It contained the Gathas as well as long commentaries on them. It comprised the Stōd-yasn, the Sudgar, the Warshtmansr, the

Bag A bag, also known regionally as a sack, is a common tool in the form of a floppy container, typically made of cloth, leather, bamboo, paper, or plastic. The use of bags predates recorded history, with the earliest bags being lengths of animal s ...

, the Waštag, the Hadoxt and the

Spand nask The Spand or Spend nask was one of the Gathic ''nasks'' (volumes) of the Sasanian Avesta. The work is lost but based on later descriptions it contained the details of the life of Zarathustra and is considered to be the source of later biographies ...

. Of these nasks, the Stod-yasn is extant in the

Staota Yesnya The Staota Yesnya (, ''Sacrificial Eulogy''), also known as Stod Yasn, refers to the editorial arrangement of the central liturgical texts of Zoroastrianism. It contains all Old Avestan texts like the Gathas and the Yasna Haptanghaiti and may ha ...

, which forms the central portion of the High Liturgies like the Yasna and Visperad (see below). However, the other nasks only survive as fragments or are lost. The second group was the manthric group. Its content has been interpreted as connecting the first and third group. It comprised the Dāmdād, the Nāxtar, the Pāzag the Raθβištāiti, the Bariš, the Kaškaysraw and the Wištāsp-sāst nask. Only the Wištāsp-sāst nask may be extant in the Wištāsp Yasht manuscripts, which are part of several fragments collections (see below). All the other nasks are considered lost. The third was the legal group, meaning its content covered topics of Zoroastrian jurisprudence. It comprised the Nikātum, the Duzd-sar-nizad, the Huspāram, the Sakātum, the Juddēwdād, the Čihrdād and the Bagān Yašt. The Bagān Yašt contained most of the Yashts of the extant Avesta (see below), whereas the Huspāram nask contained the Herbedestan and Nirangestan texts, which are extant in the fragments collections (see below). The Juddēwdād nask ist the only nask of the Sasanian Avesta which has survived intact as the Vendidad manuscripts (see below), meaning that both its Avestan and Middle Persian content as well as their arrangement have remained the same. Of the other nasks, only fragments may have survived.

The extant Avesta

The extant Avesta does no longer follow the division into nasks as described for the Sasanian Avesta. Instead, it is divided ritually (even though the organization of the ''nask''s was not), but these are not fixed or canonical. Some scholars prefer to place the categories in two groups, one liturgical, and the other general. The following categorization is as described by Jean Kellens (see

bibliography Bibliography (from and ), as a discipline, is traditionally the academic study of books as physical, cultural objects; in this sense, it is also known as bibliology (from ). English author and bibliographer John Carter describes ''bibliograph ...

, below).

The ''Yasna''

The ''Yasna'' (from ''yazišn'' "worship, oblations", cognate with Sanskrit ''

yajña In Hinduism, ''Yajna'' or ''Yagna'' (, ɐd͡ʒɲə ) also known as Hawan, is a ritual done in front of a sacred fire, often with mantras. Yajna has been a Vedic tradition, described in a layer of Vedic literature called Brahmanas, as well a ...

''), is the primary liturgical collection, named after the ceremony at which it is recited. It consists of 72 sections called the ''Ha-iti'' or ''Ha''. The 72 threads of lamb's wool in the ''

Kushti The ''kushti'' () also known as kosti, kusti and kustig is the sacred girdle worn by invested Zoroastrians around their waists. Along with the sedreh, the kushti is part of the ritual dress of the Zoroastrians. Origin The Avestan term for ...

'', the sacred thread worn by Zoroastrians, represent these sections. The central portion of the Yasna is the ''

'', the oldest and most sacred portion of the Avesta, believed to have been composed by Zarathushtra (Zoroaster) himself. The ''Gathas'' are structurally interrupted by the ''

Yasna Haptanghaiti The ''Yasna Haptanghaiti'' () (YH), Avestan for "Worship in Seven Chapters," is a set of seven hymns within the greater '' Yasna'' collection, the primary liturgical texts of the Zoroastrian Avesta. It is generally believed that the YH spans ''Yas ...

'' ("seven-chapter ''Yasna''"), which makes up chapters 35–42 of the ''Yasna'' and is almost as old as the ''Gathas'', consists of prayers and hymns in honor of Ahura Mazda, the

Yazatas Yazata () is the Avestan word for a Zoroastrian concept with a wide range of meanings but generally signifying (or used as an epithet of) a divinity. The term literally means "worthy of worship or veneration",.. and is thus, in this more general ...

, the

Fravashi Fravashi (, ) is the Avestan term for the Zoroastrian concept of a personal spirit of an individual, whether dead, living, or yet-unborn. The ''fravashi'' of an individual sends out the ''urvan'' (often translated as ' soul') into the material wo ...

, Fire, Water, and Earth. The younger ''Yasna'', though handed down in prose, may once have been metrical, as the ''Gathas'' still are.

The ''Visperad''

The ''Visperad'' (from ''vîspe ratavo'', "(prayer to) all patrons") is a collection of supplements to the ''Yasna''. The ''Visparad'' is subdivided into 23 or 24 ''kardo'' (sections) that are interleaved into the Yasna during a Visperad service (which is an extended Yasna service). The ''Visperad'' collection has no unity of its own, and is never recited separately from the Yasna.

The ''Vendidad''

The ''Vendidad'' (or ''Vidēvdāt'', a corruption of Avestan ''Vī-Daēvō-Dāta'', "Given Against the Demons") is an enumeration of various manifestations of evil spirits, and ways to confound them. The ''Vendidad'' includes all of the Juddēwdād ''nask'', which is the only ''nask'' of the Sasanian Avesta that has survived in its entirety. The text consists of 22 ''Fargard''s, fragments arranged as discussions between

Ahura Mazda Ahura Mazda (; ; or , ),The former is the New Persian rendering of the Avestan form, while the latter derives from Middle Persian. also known as Horomazes (),, is the only creator deity and Sky deity, god of the sky in the ancient Iranian ...

and Zoroaster. The first ''fargard'' is a dualistic

creation myth A creation myth or cosmogonic myth is a type of cosmogony, a symbolic narrative of how the world began and how people first came to inhabit it., "Creation myths are symbolic stories describing how the universe and its inhabitants came to be. Cre ...

, followed by the description of a destructive winter (compare Fimbulvetr) on the lines of the

Flood myth A flood myth or a deluge myth is a myth in which a great flood, usually sent by a deity or deities, destroys civilization, often in an act of divine retribution. Parallels are often drawn between the flood waters of these Mythology, myths and the ...

. The second ''fargard'' recounts the legend of '' Yima''. The remaining ''fargard''s deal primarily with hygiene (care of the dead in particular) 'fargard'' 3, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 16, 17, 19as well as disease and spells to fight it

, 10, 11, 13, 20, 21, 22 The comma is a punctuation mark that appears in several variants in different languages. Some typefaces render it as a small line, slightly curved or straight, but inclined from the vertical; others give it the appearance of a miniature fille ...

''Fargard''s 4 and 15 discuss the dignity of wealth and charity, of marriage and of physical effort and the indignity of unacceptable social behaviour such as assault and

breach of contract Breach of contract is a legal cause of action and a type of civil wrong, in which a binding agreement or bargained-for exchange is not honored by one or more of the parties to the contract by non-performance or interference with the other part ...

, and specify the penances required to atone for violations thereof. The ''Vendidad'' is an ecclesiastical code, not a liturgical manual, and there is a degree of

moral relativism Moral relativism or ethical relativism (often reformulated as relativist ethics or relativist morality) is used to describe several Philosophy, philosophical positions concerned with the differences in Morality, moral judgments across different p ...

apparent in the codes of conduct. The ''Vendidad''s different parts vary widely in character and in age. Some parts may be comparatively recent in origin although the greater part is very old. The Vendidad originally was one of the legal nasks of the Sasanian Avesta and therefore, unlike the Yasna and the Visparad, is a text dealing with laws rather than the record of a liturgical ceremony. However, the text is used within the so called ''Videvdat'' ceremony, in which the Yasna is recited with all the chapters of both the Visparad and the Vendidad inserted at appropriate points. This ceremony is only performed at night.

The ''Yasht''s

The ''

''s (from ''yešti'', "worship by praise") are a collection of 21 hymns, each dedicated to a particular divinity or divine concept. Three hymns of the Yasna liturgy that "worship by praise" are—in tradition—also nominally called ''yasht''s, but are not counted among the ''Yasht'' collection since the three are a part of the primary liturgy. The ''Yasht''s vary greatly in style, quality and extent. In their present form, they are all in prose but analysis suggests that they may at one time have been in verse.

The ''Sih-rozag''

The ''

Sih-rozag The Sih-rozag also known as Siroze are two closely related collections of short Avestan invocations and prayers dedicated to a number of Zoroastrian divinities, which in turn are connected to the thirty days in the Zoroastrian calendar. Name ''S ...

'' ("thirty days") is an enumeration and invocation of the 30 divinities presiding over the days of the month. (cf.

Zoroastrian calendar Adherents of Zoroastrianism use three distinct versions of traditional calendars for Zoroastrian festivals, liturgical purposes. Those all derive from Middle Ages, medieval Iranian calendars and ultimately are based on the Babylonian calendar a ...

). The ''Sih-rozag'' exists in two forms, the shorter ("little ''Sih-rozag''") is a brief enumeration of the divinities with their epithets in the genitive. The longer ("great ''Sih-rozag''") has complete sentences and sections, with the ''yazata''s being addressed in the accusative. The Sih-rozag is never recited as a whole, but is a source for individual sentences devoted to particular divinities, to be inserted at appropriate points in the liturgy depending on the day and the month.

The ''Nyayesh''es

The five '' Nyayesh''es, abbreviated ''Ny.'', are

prayers File:Prayers-collage.png, 300px, alt=Collage of various religionists praying – Clickable Image, Collage of various religionists praying ''(Clickable image – use cursor to identify.)'' rect 0 0 1000 1000 Shinto festivalgoer praying in front ...

for regular recitation by both priests and laity. They are addressed to the

Sun The Sun is the star at the centre of the Solar System. It is a massive, nearly perfect sphere of hot plasma, heated to incandescence by nuclear fusion reactions in its core, radiating the energy from its surface mainly as visible light a ...

and

Mithra Mithra ( ; ) is an ancient Iranian deity ('' yazata'') of covenants, light, oaths, justice, the Sun, contracts, and friendship. In addition to being the divinity of contracts, Mithra is also a judicial figure, an all-seeing protector of Truth ( ...

(recited together thrice a day), to the

Moon The Moon is Earth's only natural satellite. It Orbit of the Moon, orbits around Earth at Lunar distance, an average distance of (; about 30 times Earth diameter, Earth's diameter). The Moon rotation, rotates, with a rotation period (lunar ...

(recited thrice a month), and to

the Waters ''The Waters'' (stylized as ''The Water ') is the fourth mixtape by American rapper Mick Jenkins. It was released on August 12, 2014, by Cinematic Music Group. Background ''The Waters'' is a concept mixtape. Jenkins' lyrics are immersed in the ...

and to

Fire Fire is the rapid oxidation of a fuel in the exothermic chemical process of combustion, releasing heat, light, and various reaction Product (chemistry), products. Flames, the most visible portion of the fire, are produced in the combustion re ...

. The ''Nyayesh''es are composite texts containing selections from the Gathas and the Yashts, as well as later material.

The ''Gah''s

The five ''gāh''s are invocations to the five divinities that watch over the five divisions (''

gāh Gāh () is a period of time which is dedicated to a Yazata in Zoroastrianism Zoroastrianism ( ), also called Mazdayasnā () or Beh-dīn (), is an Iranian religions, Iranian religion centred on the Avesta and the teachings of Zoroaster, Z ...

''s) of the

day A day is the time rotation period, period of a full Earth's rotation, rotation of the Earth with respect to the Sun. On average, this is 24 hours (86,400 seconds). As a day passes at a given location it experiences morning, afternoon, evening, ...

. ''Gāh''s are similar in structure and content to the five ''Nyayesh''es.

The ''Afrinagan''s

The ''

Afrinagan Afrinagan is an Avestan term referring to either a collection of Zoroastrian prayers which are part of the Khordeh Avesta or to the ceremonies in which these prayers play a central role. Delineation of the term The word Afrinagan is believed to be ...

''s are four "blessing" texts recited on a particular occasion: the first in honor of the dead, the second on the five epagomenal days that end the year, the third is recited at the six seasonal feasts, and the fourth at the beginning and end of summer.

Fragments

All material in the ''Avesta'' that is not already present in one of the other categories is placed in a "fragments" category, which – as the name suggests – includes incomplete texts. There are altogether more than 20 fragment collections, many of which have no name (and are then named after their owner/collator) or only a Middle Persian name. The more important of the fragment collections are the ''Nirangistan'' fragments (18 of which constitute the ''Ehrbadistan''); the '' Wištāsp Yasht'' (see Sasanian Avesta), the ''Pursishniha'' "questions," also known as "Fragments

Tahmuras Tahmuras or Tahmures (, ; from Avestan "Strong Fox" via ) was the third Shah of the mythical Pishdadian dynasty of Iran according to Ferdowsi's epic poem, the ''Shahnameh''. He is considered the builder of Merv. Tahmuras in the ''Shahnameh'' ...

"; and the ''

Hadoxt nask The Hadoxt nask is the sixth ''nask'' (volume) of the Sasanian Avesta. The work is no longer extant, but the Hadoxt nask 1 and 2 fragments as well as possibly other parts of the extant Avesta are considered to have been part of this nask. Source ...

'' "volume of the scriptures" with two fragments of eschatological significance.

References

Notes

Citations

Works cited

*. * * . * * * * * . * * . * * . * . * * * * * . * * * * * * *

External links

avesta.org
translation by

James Darmesteter James Darmesteter (28 March 184919 October 1894) was a French author, orientalist, and antiquarian. Biography He was born of Jewish parents at Château-Salins, in Lorraine. The family name had originated in their earlier home of Darmstadt. He was ...

and L. H. Mills forms part of the

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 ...

series, but is now regarded as obsolete. *
The British Library: Discovering Sacred Texts – Zoroastrianism
{{Authority control

Name

The author

Yasna

Visperad

Yashts

Vendidad

Avesta manuscripts

History

Zoroastrian tradition

Early Western scholarship

Modern scholarhip

''Oral transmission''

''Written transmission''

Structure and content

The Sasanian Avesta

The extant Avesta

The ''Yasna''

The ''Visperad''

The ''Vendidad''

The ''Yasht''s

The ''Sih-rozag''

The ''Nyayesh''es

The ''Gah''s

The ''Afrinagan''s

Fragments

See also

References

Notes

Citations

Works cited

Further reading

External links