Avesta

Zoroastrian compendium of sacred literature

For other uses of the word "Avesta", see Avesta (disambiguation). For the Swedish town, see Avesta (locality).

Avesta

French translation of the Avesta by Polish Orientalist Ignacy Pietraszewski, Berlin, 1858.

Information
Religion| Zoroastrianism
Language| Avestan
Period| Avestan period (c. 1500–c. 400 BCE)
Part of a series on

Zoroastrianism

Primary topics

* Ahura Mazda
* Zarathustra
* Asha
* Vohu Manah
* Persia/Iran
* Faravahar
* Avestan

Divine entities

* Amesha Spentas
* Yazatas
* Ahuras
* Daevas
* Fravashi
* Angra Mainyu

Scripture and worship

* Zoroastrian literature
* Avesta
* Ashem Vohu
* Ahuna Vairya
* Yenghe hatam
* Airyaman ishya
* Fire Temples
* 101 Names of Ahura Mazda
* Adur Burzen-Mihr
* Adur Farnbag
* Adur Gushnasp
* Cypress of Kashmar
* Gathas
* Yasna
* Vendidad
* Visperad
* Yashts
* Khordeh Avesta
* The Rivayats
* Ab-Zohr

Accounts and legends

* Dēnkard
* Bundahišn
* Book of Arda Viraf
* Book of Jamasp
* Story of Sanjan
* Chinvat Bridge
* Frashokereti

History and culture

* Zurvanism
* Mazdakism
* Khurramites
* Gayomarthians
* Azarkeivanian

* * *

* Calendar
* Festivals
* Initiation
* Kushti
* Sedreh
* Marriage
* Burial

Adherents

* Afghanistan
* Armenia
* Azerbaijan
* China
* Sichuan
* India
* Iranis
* Iran
* Iraq
* Pakistan
* Parsis
* Russia
* United States
* Uzbekistan
* Persecution of Zoroastrians

Related topics

* Criticism of Zoroastrianism
* Zoroastrian cosmology
* Religious influences on Zoroastrianism

Religion portal

* v
* t
* e

The Avesta (/əˈvɛstə/, Book Pahlavi: ʾp(y)stʾk' (abestāg), Persian: اوستا (avestâ)) is the text corpus of religious literature of Zoroastrianism.[1] All its texts are composed in the Avestan language and written in the Avestan alphabet.[2] Modern editions of the Avesta are based on the various manuscript traditions that have survived in India and Iran.[3]

The individual texts of the Avesta were originally oral compositions.[4] They were composed over a long period of several centuries during the Old Iranian period (possibly ranging from 15th century BCE – 4th century BCE).[5] The written transmission began during the Sassanian period, with the creation of the Avestan alphabet. The resulting texts were then compiled into a comprehensive edition of the Avesta in 21 volumes.[6] 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.[7]

Unlike the Sasanian Avesta, which was organized thematically, the surviving Avestan manuscripts correspond to the different ceremonies in which they are used.[8] It is assumed that it was their regular use which ensured their survival to this day.[9] The principal text is the Yasna, which takes its name from the corresponding ceremony, in which it is recited. The most important portion of the Yasna texts are the five Gathas, consisting of seventeen hymns attributed to Zoroaster 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 and the Visperad.[10] The Visperad extensions consist mainly of additional invocations of the divinities (yazatas),[11] while the Vendidad is a mixed collection of prose texts mostly dealing with purity laws.[11] Even today, the Vendidad is the only liturgical text that is not recited entirely from memory.[11] Some of the materials of the extended Yasna are from the Yashts,[11] which are hymns to the individual yazatas. Unlike the Yasna, Visperad and Vendidad, the Yashts and the other lesser texts of the Avesta are no longer used liturgically in high rituals. Aside from the Yashts, 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 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.[10]

## Name

[edit]

The term Avesta originates from the 9th/10th-century works of Zoroastrian tradition in which the word appears as Middle Persian abestāg,[12][13] Book Pahlavi ʾp(y)stʾkʼ. In that context, abestāg texts are portrayed as received knowledge and are distinguished from the exegetical commentaries (the zand) 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); but this word is not actually attested in any text. In Pashayi, the westernmost Indo Aryan Dardic language spoken primarily in Eastern Afghanistan, the word Avesta means ‘invitation’.

## The author

[edit]

### Yasna

[edit]

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 Gathas. 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.[14]

William W. Malandra says when talking about Gathas that Yasna chapter 53 is a later addition.[15] also Helmut Humbach said that Yasna 42 is a later addition.[16]

### Visperad

[edit]

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). The text was completed in the middle or late Sassanian period.[17]

### Yashts

[edit]

Arthur Christensen 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 believes that Yashts existed before Zoroastrianism but was later introduced into the Avesta, Prods Oktor Skjaervo points out that the Yashts were composed by the Achaemenids in order to consolidate their power.[18]

### Vendidad

[edit]

William W. Malandra stated that scholars generally agree that the author's of the Vendidad were Magians, in the Achaemenid era or after it.[19]

### Khordeh Avesta

[edit]

It was composed in the middle and late Sassanian period.[20]

## Avesta manuscripts

[edit]

The Avesta consists of 5 parts, which are, Yasna, Vispered, Yashts, Vendidad, The oldest surviving fragment of a text dates to 1323 CE[21] A. V. Williams Jackson says that no single manuscript contains the entire Avesta.[22] The earliest passage composed in the book is the Gatha, and there is a gradual general consensus in favour of placing the Gatans, around 1000 BC.[23] 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 another[24]

## History

[edit]

### Zoroastrian tradition

[edit]

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"). The legends run as follows: The twenty-one nasks ("books") of the Avesta were created by Ahura Mazda and brought by Zoroaster to his patron Vishtaspa (Denkard 4A, 3A).[25] Supposedly, Vishtaspa (Dk 3A) or another Kayanian, 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).[26] 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).[27] Several centuries later, one of the Parthian 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).[27]

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 under Ardashir I, r. 224–242 CE, and Shapur I, 240/242–272 CE), who had the scattered works collected – of which he approved only a part as authoritative (Dk 3C, 4D, 4E).[28] Tansar's work was then supposedly completed by Adurbad Mahraspandan (high priest of Shapur II, 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).[29] A final revision was supposedly undertaken in the 6th century CE under Khosrow I (Dk 4G).[30]

### Early Western scholarship

[edit]

Texts of the Avesta became available to European scholarship comparatively late, thus the study of Zoroastrianism in Western countries dates back to only the 18th century.[31] Abraham Hyacinthe Anquetil-Duperron travelled to India in 1755, and discovered the texts among Indian Zoroastrian (Parsi) 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, but he was vindicated in the 1820s following Rasmus Rask's examination of the Avestan language (A Dissertation on the Authenticity of the Zend 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 Bibliothèque nationale de France ('P'-series manuscripts), while Rask's collection now lies in the Royal Library, Denmark ('K'-series). Other large Avestan language manuscript collections are those of the British Museum ('L'-series), the K. R. Cama Oriental Library in Mumbai, the Meherji Rana library in Navsari, 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 (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-derived Pahlavi scripts.[n 1] 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.[32] Hoffmann identifies[33] these changes to be due,[34] in part, to modifications introduced through recitation;[n 2] 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;[n 3] and in part due to the influence of phonetic developments in the Avestan language itself.[n 4]

### Modern scholarship

[edit]

The notion of an Arsacid-era collation and recension is generally rejected by modern scholarship.[38] 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.[38] Based on linguistic aspects, scholars like Kellens, Skjærvø and Hoffman 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.[39][40][41]

#### Oral transmission

[edit]

The first phase comprises the creation of the Old Avestan texts, like the Gathas. Today, scholars consider a time frame between 1500 and 900 BCE to be possible,[42] with a date close to 1000 BCE being considered likely by many.[43] They must have crystallized early on, meaning their transmission became unchanged.[41] During their long history, the Gathic texts seem to have been transmitted with the highest accuracy.[11]

Geographical horizon of the toponyms found in the Young Avestan texts

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 separated from the Old Avestan time by several centuries.[44] Scholars nowadays assume that this phase corresponds to a time frame from ca. 900–400 BCE.[45] Due to a number of geographical references, there is a wide consensus that they were composed in the eastern portion of Greater Iran.[46] 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 which was still fluid. This means they were composed partly afresh with each generation of poet-priests, sometimes with the addition of new material.[11]

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.[47] This second crystallization must have taken place during the Old Iranian period, as Young Avestan does not show any characteristics of Middle Iranian.[48] The subsequent transmission took largely place in Western Iran as evidenced by alterations introduced by native Persian speakers.[49] Scholars like Skjærvø and Kreyenbroek correlate this second crystallization with the adoption of Zoroastrianism by the Achaemenids.[50] As a result, Persian\- and Median-speaking priests would have become the primary group to transmit these texts.[51] Having no longer an active command of Avestan, they would have decided to preserve both Old and Young Avestan text as faithfully as possible.[52] Some Young Avestan texts, like the Vendidad, 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.[53] 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 language.[41]

#### Written transmission

[edit]

Main article: Sasanian Avesta

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.[7] This is seen as a turning point in the Avestan tradition since it separates the purely oral from the written transmission.[54] 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)[n 5] of an Avestan language text is dated 1323 CE.[7]

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.[10] 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

[edit]

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

### The Sasanian Avesta

[edit]

Main article: Sasanian Avesta

According to the Denkard, the Avesta of the Sasanian period was organized into 21 nasks (volumes). This division was to mirror the structure of the 21-word-long Ahuna Vairya prayer: each of the three lines of the prayer consists of seven words.[55] Correspondingly, the nasks are divided into three groups, of seven volumes per group.[56] Originally, each volume had a word of the prayer as its name, which so marked a volume's position relative to the other volumes.[55]

First page of a Vendidad manuscript (called Juddēwdād in the Sasanian Avesta), the only nask which has remained intact until today

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, the Waštag, the Hadoxt and the Spand nask.[57] Of these nasks, the Stod-yasn is extant in the Staota Yesnya, 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.[58] It comprised the Dāmdād, the Nāxtar, the Pāzag the Raθβištāiti, the Bariš, the Kaškaysraw and the Wištāsp-sāst nask.[57] Only the Wištāsp-sāst nask may be extant in the Wištāsp Yasht manuscripts, which are part of several fragments collections (see below).[59] 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.[57] 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.[60]

### The extant Avesta

[edit]

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 nasks 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, below).

#### The Yasna

[edit]

Main article: Yasna

Yasna 28.1 (Bodleian MS J2)

The Yasna (from yazišn "worship, oblations", cognate with Sanskrit yajña), 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 sacred thread worn by Zoroastrians, represent these sections. The central portion of the Yasna is the Gathas, 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 ("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, the Fravashi, Fire, Water, and Earth. The younger Yasna, though handed down in prose, may once have been metrical, as the Gathas still are.

#### The Visperad

[edit]

Main article: 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

[edit]

Main article: 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 Fargards, fragments arranged as discussions between Ahura Mazda and Zoroaster. The first fargard is a dualistic creation myth, followed by the description of a destructive winter (compare Fimbulvetr) on the lines of the Flood myth. The second fargard recounts the legend of Yima. The remaining fargards deal primarily with hygiene (care of the dead in particular) [fargard 3, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 16, 17, 19] as well as disease and spells to fight it [7, 10, 11, 13, 20, 21, 22]. Fargards 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, 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 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 Yashts

[edit]

Main article: Yasht

Faravahar, believed to be a depiction of a Fravashi, as mentioned in the Yasna, Yashts and Vendidad

The Yashts (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 yashts, but are not counted among the Yasht collection since the three are a part of the primary liturgy. The Yashts 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

[edit]

Main article: Sih-rozag

The Sih-rozag ("thirty days") is an enumeration and invocation of the 30 divinities presiding over the days of the month. (cf. Zoroastrian calendar). 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 yazatas 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 Nyayeshes

[edit]

Main article: Niyayishn

The five Nyayeshes, abbreviated Ny., are prayers for regular recitation by both priests and laity.[10] They are addressed to the Sun and Mithra (recited together thrice a day), to the Moon (recited thrice a month), and to the Waters and to Fire.[10] The Nyayeshes are composite texts containing selections from the Gathas and the Yashts, as well as later material.[10]

#### The Gahs

[edit]

Main article: Gāh

The five gāhs are invocations to the five divinities that watch over the five divisions (gāhs) of the day.[10] Gāhs are similar in structure and content to the five Nyayeshes.

#### The Afrinagans

[edit]

Main article: Afrinagan

The Afrinagans 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

[edit]

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"; and the Hadoxt nask "volume of the scriptures" with two fragments of eschatological significance.

## See also

[edit]

* Avestan, the language of the Avesta
* Avestan geography, the geographial horizon of the Avesta
* Avestan period, the time period of the Avesta
* Zoroastrian literature

## References

[edit]

### Notes

[edit]

1. ^ For a summary of Andreas' theory, see Schlerath (1987), pp. 29–30.
2. ^ For example, prefix repetition as in e.g. paitī ... paitiientī vs. paiti ... aiienī (Y. 49.11 vs. 50.9), or sandhi processes on word and syllable boundaries, e.g. adāiš for *at̰.āiš (48.1), ahiiāsā for ahiiā yāsā, gat̰.tōi for *gatōi (43.1), ratūš š́iiaoθanā for *ratū š́iiaoθanā (33.1).[35]
3. ^ e.g. irregular internal hw > xv as found in e.g. haraxvati\- 'Arachosia' and sāxvan- 'instruction', rather than regular internal hw > ŋvh as found in e.g. aojōŋvhant\- 'strong'.[36]
4. ^ e.g. YAv. -ō instead of expected OAv. -ə̄ for Ir. -ah in almost all polysyllables.[37]
5. ^ K1 represents 248 leaves of a 340-leaf Vendidad Sade manuscript, i.e. a variant of a Yasna text into which sections of the Visperad and Vendidad are interleaved. The colophon of K1 (K=Copenhagen) identifies its place and year of completion to Cambay, 692Y (= 1323–1324 CE). The date of K1 is occasionally mistakenly given as 1184. This mistake is due to a 19th-century confusion of the date of K1 with the date of K1's source: in the postscript to K1, the copyist – a certain Mehrban Kai Khusrow of Navsari – gives the date of his source as 552Y (= 1184 CE). That text from 1184 has not survived.

### Citations

[edit]

1. ^ Vevaina 2013, p. 996: "The Avesta, conventionally referred to as the “Sacred Book of the Persians” is, in fact, an orally transmitted, liturgically based, corpus redacted by the Zoroastrian priesthood".
2. ^ Boyce 1984, p. 1.
3. ^ Hintze 2012, p. 419.
4. ^ Skjaervo, P. Oktor (2012). "The Zoroastrian Oral Tradition as Reflected in the Texts". In Cantera, Alberto (ed.). The Transmission of the Avesta. Iranica. Vol. 20\. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz. pp. 3–48\. ISBN 978-3-447-06554-2.
5. ^ Cantera 2012, "The Avestan texts were probably composed in Eastern Iran between the second half of the 2nd millennium bce and the end of the Achaemenid dynasty".
6. ^ Kellens 1987, "The Sasanian Avesta. It has now been established beyond any doubt that the known Avestan Vulgate originates from a canon which was arranged and written down under the Sasanians".
7. ^ a b c Boyce 1984, p. 1.
8. ^ Cantera 2012, "Almost all Avestan texts preserved in the manuscripts are ritual texts performed in the different Zoroastrian rituals".
9. ^ West 1892, chap. Introduction: "[B]ut when, through conversion and extermination, the Mazda-worshippers had become a mere remnant, [...] they rapidly lost all their old literature that was not in daily religious use".
10. ^ a b c d e f g Boyce 1984, p. 3.
11. ^ a b c d e f Boyce 1984, p. 2.
12. ^ Kellens 1987a, p. 239.
13. ^ Cantera 2015.
14. ^ "YASNA". Encyclopaedia Iranica. Retrieved 2025-05-30.
15. ^ "GATHAS ii". Encyclopaedia Iranica. Retrieved 2025-06-04.
16. ^ "GATHAS i". Encyclopaedia Iranica. Retrieved 2025-06-04.
17. ^ "VISPERAD". Encyclopaedia Iranica. Retrieved 2025-05-30.
18. ^ "YAŠTS". Encyclopaedia Iranica. Retrieved 2025-05-31.
19. ^ "VENDĪDĀD i. Survey of the history and contents of the text". Encyclopaedia Iranica. Retrieved 2025-05-30.
20. ^ "KHORDEH AVESTĀ". Encyclopaedia Iranica. Retrieved 2025-06-28.
21. ^ Boyce, Mary (1984), Textual Sources for the Study of Zoroastrianism, Manchester UP.
22. ^ Aragona, Jared. ""Avesta, The Bible of Zoroaster"". `{{cite journal}}`: Cite journal requires `|journal=` (help)
23. ^ Foundation, Encyclopaedia Iranica. "AVESTA i. Survey of the history and contents of the book". iranicaonline.org. Retrieved 2024-12-29.
24. ^ Humbach, Helmut (1991), The Gathas of Zarathushtra and the Other Old Avestan Texts, Part I, Heidelberg: Winter.
25. ^ Humbach 1991, pp. 50–51.
26. ^ Humbach 1991, pp. 51–52.
27. ^ a b Humbach 1991, pp. 52–53.
28. ^ Humbach 1991, pp. 53–54.
29. ^ Humbach 1991, p. 54.
30. ^ Humbach 1991, p. 55.
31. ^ Boyce 1984, p. x.
32. ^ Humbach 1991, p. 57.
33. ^ Hoffmann 1958, pp. 7ff.
34. ^ Humbach 1991, pp. 56–63.
35. ^ Humbach 1991, pp. 59–61.
36. ^ Humbach 1991, p. 58.
37. ^ Humbach 1991, p. 61.
38. ^ a b Humbach 1991, p. 56.
39. ^ Hoffmann 1987, "Every Avestan text, whether composed originally in Old Avestan or in Young Avestan, went through several stages of transmission before it was recorded in the extant manuscripts. During the course of transmission many changes took place".
40. ^ Kellens 1998.
41. ^ a b c Skjaervø 2009, p. 46.
42. ^ Daniel 2012, p. 47: "All in all, it seems likely that Zoroaster and the Avestan people flourished in eastern Iran at a much earlier date (anywhere from 1500 to 900 B.C.".
43. ^ Hale 2004, p. 742: "Current scholarly consensus places his life considerably earlier than the traditional Zoroastrian sources are thought to, favoring a birth date before 1000 BC".
44. ^ Hintze 2015, p. 38: "Linguistic, literary and conceptual characteristics suggest that the Old(er) Avesta pre‐dates the Young(er) Avesta by several centuries.".
45. ^ Skjaervø 2009, p. 43.
46. ^ Witzel 2000, p. 10: "Since the evidence of Young Avestan place names so clearly points to a more eastern location, the Avesta is again understood, nowadays, as an East Iranian text, whose area of composition comprised – at least – Sīstån/Arachosia, Herat, Merw and Bactria.".
47. ^ de Vaan & Martínez García 2014, pp.5-6.
48. ^ Kreyenbroek 2022, p. 202: "Still, the language of these Old Iranian texts stopped well short of evolving to a “Middle Iranian” stage, which suggests that they became “fixed” a long time before they were committed to writing in their present form".
49. ^ Schmitt 2000, pp. 24–25.
50. ^ Kreyenbroek 2022, p. 202: "The only way such a process is imaginable is a scenario where a small, authoritative group of priests taught these texts to another group of transmitters who had no prior knowledge of them. This would have been the case when Zoroastrianism first became influential in Western Iran, under Darius I".
51. ^ Hoffmann 1989, p. 90: "Mazdayasnische Priester, die die Avesta-Texte rezitieren konnten, müssen aber in die Persis gelangt sein. Denn es ist kein Avesta-Text außerhalb der südwestiranischen, d.h. persischen Überlieferung bekannt[...]. Wenn die Überführung der Avesta-Texte, wie wir annehmen, früh genug vonstatten ging, dann müssen diese Texte in zunehmendem Maße von nicht mehr muttersprachlich avestisch sprechenden Priestern tradiert worden sein".
52. ^ Skjaervø 2011, p. 59: "The Old Avestan texts were crystallized, perhaps, some time in the late second millennium BCE, while the Young Avestan texts, including the already crystallized Old Avesta, were themselves, perhaps, crystallized under the Acheamenids, when Zoroastrianism became the religion of the kings".
53. ^ Schmitt 2000, p. 26: "Andere Texte sind von sehr viel geringerem Rang und zeigen eine sehr uneinheitliche und oft grammatisch fehlerhafte Sprache, die deutlich verrät, daß die Textverfasser oder -kompilatoren sie gar nicht mehr verstanden haben".
54. ^ Schmitt 2000, p. 22.
55. ^ a b Shapira 1998, p. 5.
56. ^ Kellens 1987, "The Sasanian collection of the Avesta [...] was probably composed of three books of seven chapters [...]".
57. ^ a b c West 1892, chap. Introduction p. XLV.
58. ^ Shapira 1998, p. 7.
59. ^ West 1892, p. 24: "'The last number refers, no doubt, to the eight fargards still extant under the corrupt name Vishtasp Yasht, which probably consist of fragments of the Avesta text of this Nask".
60. ^ Shaki 1993.

### Works cited

[edit]

* Boyce, Mary (1984), Textual Sources for the Study of Zoroastrianism, Manchester UP.
* Cantera, Alberto (2012). "Preface". In Cantera, Alberto (ed.). The transmission of the Avesta. Iranica. Vol. 20\. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz. ISBN 978-3-447-06554-2.
* Cantera, Alberto (2015), "Avesta II: Middle Persian Translations", Encyclopedia Iranica, New York: Encyclopedia Iranica online.
* Daniel, Elton L. (2012). The History of Iran. Greenwood. ISBN 978-0313375095.
* Hale, Mark (2004). "Avestan". In Roger D. Woodard (ed.). The Cambridge Encyclopedia of the World's Ancient Languages. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-56256-2.
* Hintze, Almut (2012). "On Editing the Avesta" (PDF). In Cantera, Alberto (ed.). The Transmission of the Avesta. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz. ISBN 978-3-447-06554-2.
* Hintze, Almut (2015). "Zarathustra's Time and Homeland – Linguistic Perspectives". In Stausberg, Michael; Vevaina, Yuhan S.-D.; Tessmann, Anna (eds.). The Wiley Blackwell Companion to Zoroastrianism. John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. ISBN 9781118785539.
* Hoffmann, Karl (1958), "Altiranisch", Handbuch der Orientalistik, I 4,1, Leiden: Brill.
* Hoffmann, Karl (December 15, 1987). "AVESTAN LANGUAGE i–iii". Encyclopædia Iranica. Brill Academic Publishers.
* Humbach, Helmut (1991), The Gathas of Zarathushtra and the Other Old Avestan Texts, Part I, Heidelberg: Winter.
* Hoffmann, Karl (1989). Der Sasanidische Archetypus – Untersuchungen zu Schreibung und Lautgestalt des Avestischen (in German). Reichert Verlag. ISBN 9783882264708.
* Kellens, Jean (1987), "Avesta", Encyclopædia Iranica, vol. 3, New York: Routledge and Kegan Paul, pp. 35–44.
* Kellens, Jean (1987a), "Characters of Ancient Mazdaism", History and Anthropology, vol. 3, Great Britain: Harwood Academic Publishers, pp. 239–262.
* Kellens, Jean (1998). "Considérations sur l'histoire de l'Avesta". Journal Asiatique. 286 (2): 451–519\. doi:10.2143/JA.286.2.556497.
* Kreyenbroek, Philip G. (August 2022). "Early Zoroastrianism and Orality". Oral Tradition among Religious Communities in the Iranian-Speaking World. Cambridge: Harvard University.
* Shaki, Mansour (1993). "DĀD NASK". Encyclopædia Iranica. Vol. VI. New York: Routledge and Kegan Paul. pp. 546–549.
* Shapira, Dan (1998). Studies in Zoroastrian Exegesis – Zand (PhD thesis). Jerusalem.
* Schlerath, Bernfried (1987), "Andreas, Friedrich Carl: The Andreas Theory", Encyclopædia Iranica, vol. 2, New York: Routledge and Kegan Paul, pp. 29–30.
* Schmitt, Rüdiger (2000). "Die Sprachen der altiranischen Periode". Die iranischen Sprachen in Geschichte und Gegenwart. Dr. Ludwig Reichert Verlag Wiesbaden. ISBN 3895001503.
* Skjaervø, P. Oktor (2009). "Old Iranian". In Windfuhr, Gernot (ed.). The Iranian Languages. Routledge. ISBN 9780203641736.
* Skjaervø, P. Oktor (2011). "Avestan Society". In Daryaee, Touraj (ed.). The Oxford Handbook of Iranian History. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0199390427.
* de Vaan, Michiel; Martínez García, Javier (2014). Introduction to Avestan (PDF). Brill. ISBN 978-90-04-25777-1.
* Vevaina, Yuhan Sohrab-Dinshaw (2013). "Avesta". The Encyclopedia of Ancient History. Blackwell Publishing Ltd. doi:10.1002/9781444338386.wbeah12023. ISBN 978-1-4051-7935-5.
* West, Edward William (1892). Müller, Friedrich Max (ed.). Pahlavi Texts IV: Contents of the Nasks. The Sacred Books of the East. Vol. 37\. Oxford university press. ISBN 1-139-41083-0. `{{cite book}}`: ISBN / Date incompatibility (help)
* Witzel, Michael (2000). "The Home of the Aryans". In Hinze, A.; Tichy, E. (eds.). Festschrift für Johanna Narten zum 70. Geburtstag (PDF). J. H. Roell. pp. 283–338\. doi:10.11588/xarep.00000114.

## Further reading

[edit]

* Alberto Cantera & Céline Redard. Avestan Manual: A Handbook for Teaching and Self-Learning. Trans. Richard Tahmaseb Nirouman. Otto Harrassowitz, 2023.
* UESUGI, Heindio; CATT, Adam Alvah, eds. (2024). Old Avestan Dictionary (Thesis). Asian and African Lexicon. Vol. 67\. Research Institute for Languages and Cultures of Asia and Africa; Tokyo Language of Foreign Studies. ISBN 9784863375420.

## External links

[edit]

Look up Avesta in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

Wikiquote has quotations related to Avesta.

English Wikisource has original text related to this article:

Avesta

* avesta.org: translation by James Darmesteter and L. H. Mills forms part of the Sacred Books of the East series, but is now regarded as obsolete.
* "Zend-Avesta" . Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). 1911.
* The British Library: Discovering Sacred Texts – Zoroastrianism Archived 2021-11-11 at the Wayback Machine

* v
* t
* e

Zoroastrian literature

Avestan|

| Long Liturgies|

* Visperad
* Vendidad
* Vishtasp Yasht
* Yasna

|

Staota Yesnya|

* Ahuna Vairya
* Airyaman ishya
* Ashem Vohu
* Gathas
* Yasna Haptanghaiti
* Yenghe hatam

Khordeh Avesta|

* Afrinagan
* Gāh
* Niyayishn
* Sih-rozag

Yashts|

* Aban Yasht
* Ard Yasht
* Ardwahisht Yasht
* Ashtad Yasht
* Bahram Yasht
* Den Yasht
* Frawardin Yasht
* Gosh Yasht
* Haft Amahraspand Yasht
* Hom Yasht
* Hordad Yasht
* Mah Yasht
* Mihr Yasht
* Ohrmazd Yasht
* Ram Yasht
* Rashn Yasht
* Srosh Yasht
* Tishtar Yasht
* Vanand Yasht
* Xwarshed Yasht
* Zamyad Yasht

Sasanian Avesta|

* Bag nask
* Bagan yasht
* Barish nask
* Chihrdad nask
* Damdad nask
* Duzd-sar-nizad nask
* Hadoxt nask
* Husparam nask
* Juddewdad nask
* Nikatum nask
* Sakatum nask
* Spand nask
* Stod-yasn
* Sudgar nask
* Vishtasp Yasht
* Warshtmansr nask
* Wishtasp-sast nask

Fragments|

* Hadoxt fragments
* Vaetha nask
* Vishtasp Yasht

Middle Persian/Pahlavi|

* Book of Arda Viraf
* Bundahishn
* Dadestan-i Denig
* Menog-i Khrad
* Letter of Tansar
* Denkard
* Frahang-i Pahlavig
* Frahang-i Oim-evak
* Dana-i Menog Khrat
* Shikand-gumanig Vizar

Other|

* Sad-dar
* Jamasp Namag
* Dasatir-i-Asmani
* The Rivayats
* Qissa-i Sanjan

* Religion portal
* Category

* v
* t
* e

Religious texts (List)

Antiquity|

* Pyramid Texts (Egyptian religion)
* Vedas (Hinduism)
* Agamas (Jainism)
* Avesta (Zoroastrian)
* Tao Te Ching and Zhuangzi (Taoism)
* Tripiṭaka (Buddhism)
* Pali Canon (Theravada Buddhism)
* Paracanon (Theravada Buddhism)
* Atthakatha (Theravada Buddhism)
* Tika (Theravada Buddhism)
* Bible (Judaism, Christianity)
* Tanakh (Judaism)
* Samaritan Torah (Samaritanism)
* Deuterocanon (Roman Catholicism, Eastern Christianity)
* New Testament (Christianity)
* Bhagavad Gita (Hinduism)
* Metamorphoses (Roman polytheism)
* Nag Hammadi library (Gnosticism)
* Talmud (Judaism)
* Theogony (Greek polytheism)
* Upanishads (Hinduism)
* Enneads (Neoplatonism)
* Divine Liturgy (Eastern Christianity)

Medieval|

* Puranas (Hinduism)
* Puya (Sanamahism)
* Quran (Islam)
* Kojiki (Shinto)
* Ambrosian Hymnal (Roman Catholicism)
* Hadith (Islam)
* Summa Theologica (Roman Catholicism)
* Chinese Buddhist canon (Han Buddhism)
* Tripitaka Koreana (Korean Buddhism)

Early modern|

* Guru Granth Sahib (Sikh)
* Luther's Large Catechism (Lutheranism)
* Augsburg Confession (Protestantism)
* Heidelberg Catechism (Protestantism)
* Book of Common Prayer (Anglicanism)
* Roman Missal (Roman Catholicism)
* Roman Catechism (Roman Catholicism)

Modern|

* Book of Mormon (Mormonism)
* Ofudesaki (Tenrikyo)
* Kitáb-i-Aqdas (Baha'i)
* Barahin-e-Ahmadiyya (Ahmadiyya)
* Liber AL vel Legis (Thelemite)
* Taishō Tripiṭaka (Mahayana Buddhism)
* Book of Shadows (Wiccan)
* Dianetics (Scientologism)
* The Satanic Bible (Satanism)
* Geniocracy (Raelian)
* Catechism (Roman Catholicism)

Authority control databases: National |

* France
* BnF data
* Poland

|

*[c.]: circa
*[v]: View this template
*[t]: Discuss this template
*[e]: Edit this template