Taq-e Bostan - High-relief of Ardeshir II investiture

A barsom is a ritual implement used by

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

priests to solemnize certain sacred ceremonies. The word ''barsom'' derives from the

Avestan language Avestan ( ) is the liturgical language of Zoroastrianism. It belongs to the Iranian branch of the Indo-European language family and was originally spoken during the Old Iranian period ( – 400 BCE) by the Iranians living in the eastern p ...

''baresman'' (trisyllabic, '), which is in turn a substantive of ''barez'' "to grow high.". The later form – ''barsom'' – first appears in the 9th–12th-century texts of Zoroastrian tradition, and remains in use to the present day. The ''baresman'' is not related to the ''baresnum'', which is a purification ceremony. The ''baresman'' should also not be confused with the "mace", the ''varza'' (Avestan, MP ''gurz''). The ''varza'' is a metal rod, about one centimeter in thickness, often crowned with a bull's head. It has been suggested that the ''baresman'' may have a

Zagros The Zagros Mountains are a mountain range in Iran, northern Iraq, and southeastern Turkey. The mountain range has a total length of . The Zagros range begins in northwestern Iran and roughly follows Iran's western border while covering much of s ...

ian origin..

Physical characteristics

Material

In present-day use, the ''barsom'' is a bundle of short metal wires or rods, each about 20 cm in length. and made of brass or silver. The use of metal wires or rods is a relatively recent development: Until at least the 16th century, the ''barsom'' was made of twigs or stems, and there was an elaborate ritual surrounding their collection. There is no indication in scripture or older tradition as to which plant was to be used, and ''Yasna'' 25.3 eulogizes the plant without being specific. One indication of which plant was used comes from the 16th century, where the authors of the '' Rivayat'' epistles reprimand their Indian co-religionists for not using twigs of the

tamarisk The genus ''Tamarix'' (tamarisk, salt cedar, taray) is composed of about 50–60 species of flowering plants in the family Tamaricaceae, native to drier areas of Eurasia and Africa. The generic name originated in Latin and may refer to the Tamb ...

(''R.'' 329.). The twigs of the

pomegranate The pomegranate (''Punica granatum'') is a fruit-bearing deciduous shrub in the family Lythraceae, subfamily Punica, Punicoideae, that grows between tall. Rich in symbolic and mythological associations in many cultures, it is thought to have o ...

tree also figure in other late sources.

Strabo Strabo''Strabo'' (meaning "squinty", as in strabismus) was a term employed by the Romans for anyone whose eyes were distorted or deformed. The father of Pompey was called "Gnaeus Pompeius Strabo, Pompeius Strabo". A native of Sicily so clear-si ...

(XV.3.14) speaks of "a bundle of slender myrtle rods."

Dimensions

Both scripture and tradition are precise with respect to the dimensions of the twigs required. ''

Yasna Yasna (;"Yasna"
''

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 ...

'' 19.19 (supported by the ''Nirangistan'') requires each rod to be at most the length of an ''aesha'' and the thickness of the width of a ''yava''. Darmesteter translates ''aesha'' as "ploughshare" and ''yava'' as barley-corn. A twig/rod was thus at most about 7 mm thick. The ''Nirangstan'' further adds that the thickness may not be less than that of a human hair. The ''barsom'' that appears in Achaemenid and Sassanid art "was of impressive size, about long, made up apparently of stiff straight rods."

Number

The number of twigs/rods depends on the ritual being performed, and the ''Shayast-na Shayast'' (14.2) unambiguously states that this number must be adhered to. A recitation of the ''

Yasna Yasna (;"Yasna"
''

'' requires 33 twigs in the bundle with two other placed as for the ''Yasna''. A recitation of the '' Visperad'' requires 35 twigs, with none left over. The number similarly varies for other rituals, all of these however only requiring between 3 and 15 twigs.

Binding

In present-day use, the rods almost always remain unbound. The one exception comes near the end of the ''baj'' ceremony for the dead, when they are bound with a strip of

date palm ''Phoenix dactylifera'', commonly known as the date palm, is a flowering-plant species in the palm family Arecaceae, cultivated for its edible sweet #Fruits, fruit called dates. The species is widely cultivated across North Africa, northern A ...

leaf.

Use in ritual

In ritual, the ''barsom'' bundle is either held in the left hand, or placed across a pair of metallic stands about 20 cm in height, with one stand at each end of the bundle. These stands have a crescent-shaped brace at the top, so (also) preventing the rods from rolling off. The crescent shape gives them their name, ''mah-rui'', literally "moon-faced." ''Dadestan-i Denig'' 48.17. states the stands must be of metal. A ''barsom'' has no immediate practical purpose. At Zoroastrian ritual it represents plant creation, accompanying the other symbolic tokens that represent other facets of creation, and each of which then also represent the presence of an

Amesha Spenta In Zoroastrianism, the Amesha Spenta (—literally "Immortal (which is) holy/bounteous/furthering") are a class of seven divine entities emanating from Ahura Mazda, the highest divinity of the religion. Later Middle Persian variations of the ter ...

at the ritual. In the case of the ''barsom'', it is

Ameretat () is the Avestan language name of the Zoroastrianism, Zoroastrian divinity/divine concept of immortality. Amerdad is the Amesha Spenta of long life on earth and perpetuality in the hereafter. The word ' is grammatically feminine and the divini ...

"immortality." The crescent-shaped brace of the ''barsom'' stand is likewise identified with vegetation: '' mah'', the moon, is in Zoroastrian scripture and tradition the cosmogonical protector of plants and encourages their growth. "The object of holding the barsom and repeating prayers is to praise the Creator for the support accorded by nature and for the gift of the produce of the earth, which supplies the means of existence to the human and the animal world. The object of selecting the ''barsom'' from the twigs of a tree is to take it as a representative of the whole vegetable kingdom, for which benedictions and thanks to the Creator are offered, and there is further proof to show that the performance of the ''barsom'' ritual is intended to express gratitude to the Creator for His boundless gifts.". The ''barsom'' is also held by a priest during the abbreviated ''Yasna'' recitation before meals. An episode of the

Shahnameh The ''Shahnameh'' (, ), also transliterated ''Shahnama'', is a long epic poem written by the Persian literature, Persian poet Ferdowsi between and 1010 CE and is the national epic of Greater Iran. Consisting of some 50,000 distichs or couple ...

recalls that when

Yazdegerd III Yazdegerd III (also Romanized as ''Yazdgerd'', ''Yazdgird'') was the last Sasanian Empire, Sasanian King of Kings from 632 to 651. His father was Shahriyar (son of Khosrow II), Shahriyar and his grandfather was Khosrow II. Ascending the throne a ...

(the last Sassanid emperor, but like his forefathers, also a priest) was in hiding, his request for a ''barsom'' gave him away to the enemy.. In Zoroastrian tradition, the second chapter of the ''Yasna'' liturgy is named the ''Barsom Yasht''.. As a part of the liturgy, it is not however part of the '' Yasht'' collection. In the Avesta categorization of Kellens,. ''Yasna'' 2 – the ''Barsom Yasht'' – complements the other 7 of the first 8 ''Yasna'' chapters, the purpose of the 8-chapter set being an invitation of the divinities to the ceremony. After ''Yasna'' 1's initial invitation of

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 ...

, the

s and the remaining ''yazata''s, the ''baresman'' and libation are presented to them in ''Yasna'' 2.

References

;Notes ;References ;Works cited * * * * * * * {{refend Zoroastrian rituals Religious objects