Sasanian Avesta

Sasanian period anthology of sacred literature of Zoroastrianism

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The Sasanian Avesta or Great Avesta refers to the anthology of Zoroastrian literature produced during the Sasanian period.[1] Most of this work is now lost,[2] but its content and structure can be reconstructed from references found in a number of texts from the 9th century onward.

Compared to the extant Avesta, the Sasanian Avesta was much larger and organized into 21 distinct volumes called nasks (Avestan: naska; Middle Persian: nask, 'bundle').[3] Of those, only one is preserved in its entirety, while others are either lost or only preserved in fragments.[4]

## Sources

[edit]

The most important source on the Sasanian Avesta is the Denkard, a 9th-10th century compendium of Zoroastrianism.[5] The 8th and 9th book of the Denkard give an overview of the Avesta as it was available at the time. Whereas the 8th book lists the content, the 9th book provides a lengthy summary on a number of its nasks[6] In addition, the Rivayats, a series of epistles from the 15th - 17th century, also list its content but do not provide further summaries. In general, the information provided by the Denkard is considered to be more reliable than the Rivayats.[7]

## Name

[edit]

The Sasanian Avesta is never called Avesta in the sources. Instead, it is called the "collection of the Den".[8] Its modern name was coined due to its connection to the extant Avesta. To distinguish both, authors have used terms like Sasanian Avesta[9] or Great Avesta.[10][11]

## Content

[edit]

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

The Sasanian Avesta was organized into 21 nasks, i.e., volumes,[3] with each nask being in turn divided into several chapters. These 21 nasks are grouped into 3 divisions; the Gāhānīg (Gathic nasks), Hada Mānsrīg (manthras connected with the ritual), and Dādīg (legal nasks).[12] This threefold division of the 21 nasks was modelled after the three lines and 21 words of the Ahuna Vairya manthra, the most important Zoroastrian prayer.[13]

### Gathic (Gāhānīg) nasks

[edit]

The Gathic nasks contain commentaries on the Gathas of Zarathustra and are consequently named after them. The Denkard also associates the Gathic nasks with the menogic world, i.e., the ideal and invisible aspect of existence.[14] Not all content can be identified with certainty, but some of the nasks seem to have contained additional material on Zarathustra's life.[9]

Contents of the Gathic nasks of the Sasanian Avesta[9] No | Name | Chapters | Surviving texts | Topic

|
|
|
|

21\.  | Stōd-yasn | - | Staota Yesnya | \-
1\.  | Sūdgar[15] | 22 | fragments | commetaries on the Gathas
2\.  | Warštmānsr[16] | 22 | unknown | commetaries on the Gathas
3\.  | Bag[17] | 22 | Y. 19-22 | commetaries on the Gathas
11\.  | Waštag | unknown | lost | unknown
20\.  | Hādōxt[18] | 133 (134) | Y. 58 | various texts
13\.  | Spand | - | fragments | legend of Zarathustra

Although the Stōd-yasn is placed as the first nask of the Gathic group, book 8 of the Denkard places it last in the list of all the 21 nasks of the Sasanian Avesta. It has been speculated that this may have been to convey the cyclical and interconnected nature of the texts within the Sasanian Avesta.[14] The Waštag nask is not described in any of the sources, indicating that it was already lost in its entirety by the 9th century.[19]

### Ritual (Hada Mānsrīg) nasks

[edit]

The ritual nasks, called Hada Mānsrīg, form the second division of the Sasanian Avesta.[12] They are placed between the Gathic nasks, dealing with the menogic world of thought, and the legal nasks, dealing with the getic world of action. Their purpose has therefore been interpreted as connecting both these worlds by virtue of the ritual.[14]

Contents of the Gathic nasks of the Sasanian Avesta[9] No | Name | Chapters | Surviving texts | Topic

|
|
|
|

4\.  | Dāmdād[20] | 32 | fragments | cosmogony
5\.  | Nāxtar | - | lost | unknown
6\.  | Pāzag | - | Gah and Siroza | division of night and day
7\.  | Raθβištāiti | - | fragments | arrangement of the sacrifice
8\.  | Bariš[21] | - | fragments | religious ethics
9\.  | Kaškaysraw | - | fragments | how to annul a badly made sacrifice
10\.  | Wištāsp-sāst | - | fragments | legends of Vishtaspa

None of these ritual nasks have survived in its entirety and most are considered lost or highly fragmentary. In addition, the Denkard does only provide short summaries for most of the nasks, which makes a reconstruction of their original content difficult. The Denkard, furthermore, states that no Zand exists for the Nāxtar nask, indicating that by the 9th century it had already been lost.[22]

### Legal (Dād) nasks

[edit]

The legal nasks, called Dād, form the third division of the Sasanian Avesta.[12] The Denkard associates the legal nasks with the getig world, i.e., the tangible and visible aspect of existence. This division, therefore, forms the complement to the menogic world covered in the Gathic nasks.[14]

This division contains five actually legal (dādīg) nasks (Nikātum, Duzd-sar-nizad, Huspāram, Sakātum, and the Juddēvdād) as well as two miscellaneous nasks (Čihrdād and Bagān Yašt). The Čihrdād Nask contains a mythical history of Iran, which makes it particularly stand out from the others. Its inclusion may have been due to a misinterpretation of the second element of its name as dād (law), whereas a derivation from *čiθrō.dāti (the establishment of the origins) is considered more likely.[23]

Contents of the legal nasks of the Sasanian Avesta[9] No | Name | Chapters | Surviving texts | Topic

|
|
|
|

15\.  | Nikātum[24] | 30 | fragments | law book
16\.  | Duzd-sar-nizad[25] | 18 | fragments | law book
17\.  | Huspāram[26] | 30 | Nīrangestān, Hērbedestān | law book
18\.  | Sakātum[27] | 30 | fragments | law book
19\.  | Juddēwdād[28] | 22 (23) | Videvdad | law book
12\.  | Čihrdād[23] | - | fragments | mythical history of Iran
14\.  | Bagān Yašt[29] | 17 | Y. 9-11, 57; Yt. 5-19 | hymn to deities

According to the listing in the Denkard, the 12th chapters of the Juddēwdād was already lost at the time. Despite this, it is the only nask that has remained intact since then. This survival may be due to its use in the corresponding ceremony.[30] The other two longer texts that survive are the Nīrangestān and the Hērbedestān from the Huspāram nask.[31]

## Connection to the extant Avesta

[edit]

There is no consensus on the relationship between the Sasanian Avesta and the extant Avestan texts.[32] Both show several differences. First, comparing the number of chapters, the Sasanian Avesta seems to have been substantially larger. Edward William West, for example, estimates, that all 21 nasks combined added up to ca. 345,700 words of Avestan text plus ca. 2,094,200 words of Middle Persian commentary.[33] The text in Avestan alone would therefore have been about four times as large as the one still preserved today.[34] Next, the Sasanian Avesta is structured into nasks which seem to be grouped according to their thematic content, whereas the extant Avestan texts are grouped according to the rituals they are used in.[35] Finally, only the Gathic nasks show a clear relationship to the texts we have today, whereas most of the material in the legal nasks as well as almost all of the material in the ritual nasks can not be identified in the extant texts and is considered lost.[36]

The traditional view is that the ritually-oriented Avesta we have today formed as remnants of the Sasanian Avesta, mostly the portions contained in the Gathic nasks. According to this view, the Sasanian Avesta formed the so called Sasanian archetype and some portions of it were regularly used in the liturgies.[37] The surviving texts are, therefore, those which were in regular use, whereas the exegetically-oriented Sasanian Avesta became lost when the scholarly tradition deteriorated as Zoroastrianism became increasingly marginalized.[30][38]

While the loss of the Sasanian Avesta is not disputed, the view that the extant Avesta formed as remnants of it has been challenged.[39] Kellens for instance points out that the extant manuscripts do not appear to be fragments but are organized according to a proper liturgical structure. Likewise Stausberg has argued that the Sasanian Avesta is never called Avesta in the sources, which weakens any direct connection between the two. Instead, this view argues that a ritually oriented Avesta already existed long before the Sasanian period, in oral form, and its written tradition evolved simultaneously with that of the Sasanian Avesta.[40]

## References

[edit]

### Citations

[edit]

1. ^ 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".
2. ^ Duchesne-Guillemin 1962, p. 31.
3. ^ a b Kellens 1987, "The Sasanian collection of the Avesta and its commentary (zand) is described in chap. 8 of the Dēnkard; it was probably composed of three books of seven chapters [...]".
4. ^ Malandra 2000, "Why did the Vendīdād survive almost intact, while so much else of the Sasanian Avesta was lost or has been preserved only in the countless citations of the 9th century books? ".
5. ^ Gignoux 1994.
6. ^ Shapira 1998, Chap. II - The Way of Zand.
7. ^ West 1892, chap. Introduction: "With regard to the names of the Nasks, it is evident that several of the Persian names, used in the Rivayats, are more or less irreconcileable with the Pahlavi names in the Dinkard, and some others are improbable readings of the Pahlavi forms".
8. ^ Cantera 2024, "Die mittelpersischen Beschreibungen dieser Sammlung bezeichnen sie nie als das Avesta, sondern als eine Sammlung der dēn.".
9. ^ a b c d e Kellens 1987.
10. ^ Boyce 1984, p. 3.
11. ^ Cantera 2015.
12. ^ a b c Shaki 1993.
13. ^ Shapira 1998, p. 5.
14. ^ a b c d Shapira 1998, p. 7.
15. ^ Vevaina 2024.
16. ^ Vevaina 2010.
17. ^ Skjærvø 1988a.
18. ^ Kellens 2002.
19. ^ Cereti 2009, "[T]he Waštag was by then completely lost [...]".
20. ^ MacKenzie 2012.
21. ^ Skjærvø 1988b.
22. ^ Cereti 2009, "[O]nly the Avestan text of the Nāxtar was still preserved, for teaching, studying, and worship (pad čāšišn ud ōšmurišn ud ēzišn [Dk. VIII.6.1; West, 1892, p. 15])".
23. ^ a b MacKenzie 1991.
24. ^ Shaki 1993, chap. Nikātum Nask.
25. ^ Shaki 1993, chap. Duzd-sar-nizad Nask.
26. ^ Shaki 1993, chap. Huspāram Nask.
27. ^ Shaki 1993, chap. Sakātum Nask.
28. ^ Malandra 2000.
29. ^ Skjærvø 1988c.
30. ^ a b Malandra 2000, "Why did the Vendīdād survive almost intact while so much else of the Sasanian Avesta was lost or has been preserved only in the countless citations of the 9th century books? The answer lies, most probably, in its ritual use for the nocturnal Widēwdād-ceremony [...]".
31. ^ Kotwal 2003.
32. ^ Cantera 2022, "Western scholarship has found difficulties in explaining the exact relationship between this “Great Avesta” and extant Avestan texts".
33. ^ West 1892, chap. Introduction.
34. ^ Boyce 1984, p. 3: "[I]t appears that the extant Avestan texts amount to about a quarter of the whole canon".
35. ^ Cantera 2022, "[T]he extant texts do not appear in the same arrangement as described in the Dēnkard".
36. ^ Cantera 2022, "Most non-ritual Avestan texts were therefore lost at an unspecified time.
37. ^ Hoffmann & Narten 1990.
38. ^ West 1892, chap. Introduction: "[B]ut when, through conversion and extermination, the Mazda-worshippers had become a mere remnant, and then fell under the more barbarous rule of the Tartars, they rapidly lost all their old literature that was not in daily religious use".
39. ^ Hintze 2014, p. 6:"The relationship between the Avesta of 21 Nasks described in the Dēnkard and the Avesta of the extant manuscripts is subject to ongoing investigation".
40. ^ Cantera 2022, "In Sasanian times, there were two parallel collections: the Great Avesta and the Ritual Avesta. The extant Avesta known from the manuscripts derives from the latter and has no relationship with the former.".

### Bibliography

[edit]

* Boyce, Mary (1984). Textual Sources for the Study of Zoroastrianism. Textual Sources for the Study of Religion. Manchester UP.
* Cantera, Alberto (2015). "AVESTA ii. Middle Persian Translations". Encyclopædia Iranica. New York: Routledge and Kegan Paul.
* Cantera, Alberto (2022). "On the Edge between Literacy and Orality - Manuscripts and Performance of the Zoroastrian Long Liturgy". Oral Tradition. 35 (2).
* Cantera, Alberto (April 18, 2024). "Das Avesta: heiliges Buch oder akademische Konstruktion, Vortrag: Köln, 18.04.2024". www.academia.edu. Köln: Karl Rahner Akademie. Retrieved January 10, 2025.
* Cereti, Carlo G. (2009). "MIDDLE PERSIAN LITERATURE i. PAHLAVI LITERATURE". Encyclopædia Iranica. New York: Routledge and Kegan Paul.
* Duchesne-Guillemin, Jacques (1962). La religion de l'Iran ancien. Paris: Presses Universitaires de France.
* Gignoux, Philippe (1994). "DĒNKARD". Encyclopædia Iranica. Vol. VII. New York: Routledge and Kegan Paul. pp. 284–289.
* Hintze, Almut (2014). "Avestan Research 1991–2014, Part I". Kratylos. 59 (1): 1–52\. doi:10.29091/KRATYLOS/2014/1/1.
* Hoffmann, Karl; Narten, Johanna (1990). Der sasanidische Archetypus : Untersuchungen zu Schreibung und Lautgestalt des Avestischen. Wiesbaden: Reichert Verlag. ISBN 978-3882264708.
* Kellens, Jean (1987). "AVESTA i. Survey of the history and contents of the book". Encyclopædia Iranica. Vol. III. New York: Routledge and Kegan Paul. pp. 35–44.
* Kellens, Jean (2002). "HĀDŌXT NASK". Encyclopædia Iranica. Vol. XI. New York: Routledge and Kegan Paul. pp. 457–458.
* MacKenzie, David N. (1991). "ČIHRDĀD NASK". Encyclopædia Iranica. Vol. V. New York: Routledge and Kegan Paul. p. 561.
* MacKenzie, David N. (2012). "DĀMDĀD NASK". Encyclopædia Iranica. Vol. VI. New York: Routledge and Kegan Paul. pp. 631–632.
* Kotwal, Firoze M. (2003). "HĒRBEDESTĀN". Encyclopædia Iranica. Vol. XII. New York: Routledge and Kegan Paul. pp. 227–228.
* Malandra, William W. (2000). "VENDĪDĀD i. Survey of the history and contents of the text". Encyclopædia Iranica. Vol. V. New York: Routledge and Kegan Paul.
* 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.
* Skjærvø, Prods O. (1988a). "BAG NASK". Encyclopædia Iranica. Vol. III. New York: Routledge and Kegan Paul. pp. 400–401.
* Skjærvø, Prods O. (1988b). "BARIŠ NASK". Encyclopædia Iranica. Vol. III. New York: Routledge and Kegan Paul. pp. 799–800.
* Skjærvø, Prods O. (1988c). "BAGĀN YAŠT". Encyclopædia Iranica. Vol. III. New York: Routledge and Kegan Paul. p. 406.
* Vevaina, Yuhan Sohrab-Dinshaw (2010). "SŪDGAR NASK and WARŠTMĀNSR NASK". Encyclopædia Iranica. New York: Routledge and Kegan Paul.
* Vevaina, Yuhan Sohrab-Dinshaw (2024). The "Sudgar Nask" of "Denkard" Book 9 - Text, Translation and Critical Apparatus (PDF). Iranica. Vol. 31\. Harrassowitz Verlag. doi:10.13173/9783447121057. ISBN 978-3-447-12105-7.
* 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.

## External links

[edit]

English Wikisource has original text related to this article:

Avesta

* Book 8 of the Denkard: translation by Edward William West from the Sacred Books of the East series
* Book 9 of the Denkard: translation by Edward William West from the Sacred Books of the East series
* Summary of the Sasanian Avesta in the Rivayats: edited by Joseph H. Peterson

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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
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* Sih-rozag

Yashts|

* Aban Yasht
* Ard Yasht
* Ardwahisht Yasht
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* Den Yasht
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Sasanian Avesta|

* Bag nask
* Bagan yasht
* Barish nask
* Chihrdad nask
* Damdad nask
* Duzd-sar-nizad nask
* Hadoxt nask
* Husparam nask
* Juddewdad nask
* Nikatum nask
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* Spand nask
* Stod-yasn
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