Sources, Volume VI
The Persian World
How to weigh the evidence for this room, where to read the texts, and what survives for each of its four bays.
How to read the evidence
Evidence for the Avestan, Middle Persian, and epic traditions of the Iranian religious world should be read in a hierarchy: dated and provenanced primary objects first; critically edited literary or ritual texts second; ancient reception and interpretation third; modern synthesis last.
Read the texts online
Further reading
- Boyce, Mary. A History of Zoroastrianism. 3 vols. Brill, 1975–1991.
- Boyce, Mary. Textual Sources for the Study of Zoroastrianism. University of Chicago Press, 1984.
- Davis, Dick, trans. Shahnameh: The Persian Book of Kings. Viking, 2006.
- Hintze, Almut. Zoroastrianism: A Guide for the Perplexed. Bloomsbury, 2012.
- Humbach, Helmut, Josef Elfenbein, and Prods Oktor Skjærvø. The Gāthās of Zarathushtra and the Other Old Avestan Texts. 2 vols. Winter, 1991.
- Malandra, William W. An Introduction to Ancient Iranian Religion. University of Minnesota Press, 1983.
- Rose, Jenny. Zoroastrianism: An Introduction. I.B. Tauris, 2011.
- Skjærvø, Prods Oktor. The Spirit of Zoroastrianism. Yale University Press, 2011.
- West, E. W., trans. Pahlavi Texts. Sacred Books of the East, vols. 5, 18, 24, 37, 47. Clarendon Press, 1880–1897.
- Williams, Alan. The Zoroastrian Myth of Migration from Iran and Settlement in the Indian Diaspora. Brill, 2009.
Ahura Mazda and the Cosmic Dualism
What survives
- Old Avesta
- The Gathas and Yasna Haptanghaiti are linguistically early and conceptually difficult; translation choices should be exposed.
- Younger Avesta
- Yashts, Videvdad, and liturgical collections preserve diverse materials and later redaction.
- Achaemenid inscriptions
- Royal declarations are direct imperial witnesses but not a complete catechism of Iranian religion.
- Middle Persian books
- Bundahišn, Dēnkard, Zādspram, and related texts provide systematic cosmology centuries after the earliest Avestan poetry.
- Epic and romance
- The Shāhnāmeh and related traditions preserve heroic memory through literary transformation.
- Ritual manuscripts and living practice
- Recitation, calendar, and community transmission provide essential context without erasing historical change.
- Gathas
- Earliest and most linguistically difficult witness; translations differ substantially.
- Videvdad and Younger Avesta
- Ritual-purity and anti-demonic materials from later layers.
- Bundahišn
- Systematic Middle Persian cosmology with older materials and late antique redaction.
Entry by entry (5)
- Ahura Mazda §1.1 Ahura Mazda is the central figure of the Zoroastrian Avesta.
- Angra Mainyu §1.2 Angra Mainyu is named in the Gathas (most explicitly Yasna 30.3-6, the great passage on the choice of the two primal spirits), throughout the Yashts and Yasna, and in the Vendidad (where he is the supreme demonic adversary).
- Spenta Mainyu §1.3 Spenta Mainyu is the central concept of Yasna 30 and 45 in the Gathas.
- Druj §1.4 Druj appears throughout the Avesta in opposition to Asha.
- Zurvan §1.5 The Zurvanite myth is preserved chiefly by external sources: Eznik of Kolb's Refutation of the Sects (ed. and trans. by Louis Mariès, 1924), the Armenian historian Yeznik whose fifth-century treatise is our fullest account; the Syriac writer Theodore bar Konai (c. 800 CE); Manichaean texts from Central Asia (which adopted and adapted Zurvanism); and a few internal Pahlavi references.
The Amesha Spentas
What survives
- Old Avesta
- The Gathas and Yasna Haptanghaiti are linguistically early and conceptually difficult; translation choices should be exposed.
- Younger Avesta
- Yashts, Videvdad, and liturgical collections preserve diverse materials and later redaction.
- Achaemenid inscriptions
- Royal declarations are direct imperial witnesses but not a complete catechism of Iranian religion.
- Middle Persian books
- Bundahišn, Dēnkard, Zādspram, and related texts provide systematic cosmology centuries after the earliest Avestan poetry.
- Epic and romance
- The Shāhnāmeh and related traditions preserve heroic memory through literary transformation.
- Ritual manuscripts and living practice
- Recitation, calendar, and community transmission provide essential context without erasing historical change.
- Yasna and Gathas
- Grammar and poetic context should govern early interpretation.
- Yashts and liturgy
- Show invocation and grouping in Younger Avestan worship.
- Pahlavi cosmology
- Primary for the fully systematized sevenfold order and material correspondences.
Entry by entry (7)
- The Amesha Spentas §2.1 The Amesha Spentas are named throughout the Avesta.
- Vohu Manah §2.2 Vohu Manah is described in the Gathas (Yasna 28.1, 30.7, 31.4, 43.16, etc.) and throughout the Yasna and Yashts.
- Asha Vahishta §2.3 Asha is invoked throughout the Avesta; among the most important passages are Yasna 28.1, 31.4, 43.1-3, 47.1, and Yasht 17 (the Ashi Yasht, which is technically to a different yazata but draws on Asha-imagery extensively).
- Khshathra Vairya §2.4 Khshathra Vairya is invoked throughout the Avesta.
- Spenta Armaiti §2.5 Spenta Armaiti is invoked throughout the Avesta.
- Haurvatat §2.6 Haurvatat is invoked throughout the Avesta in pair with Ameretat.
- Ameretat §2.7 Ameretat is invoked throughout the Avesta in pair with Haurvatat.
The Yazatas
What survives
- Old Avesta
- The Gathas and Yasna Haptanghaiti are linguistically early and conceptually difficult; translation choices should be exposed.
- Younger Avesta
- Yashts, Videvdad, and liturgical collections preserve diverse materials and later redaction.
- Achaemenid inscriptions
- Royal declarations are direct imperial witnesses but not a complete catechism of Iranian religion.
- Middle Persian books
- Bundahišn, Dēnkard, Zādspram, and related texts provide systematic cosmology centuries after the earliest Avestan poetry.
- Epic and romance
- The Shāhnāmeh and related traditions preserve heroic memory through literary transformation.
- Ritual manuscripts and living practice
- Recitation, calendar, and community transmission provide essential context without erasing historical change.
- Yashts
- Primary hymnic witnesses, individually layered and sometimes composite.
- Calendrical liturgy
- The day-name system shows institutional grouping and repeated worship.
- Inscriptions and iconography
- Useful for historical cult but often difficult to identify without labels.
Entry by entry (12)
- Mithra §3.1 Mithra is the central figure of Yasht 10 (the Mihr Yasht), the great Avestan hymn; he is invoked also throughout the Yasna and in numerous Achaemenid royal inscriptions (Artaxerxes II particularly invokes Mithra alongside Ahura Mazda and Anahita).
- Anahita §3.2 Anahita is the central figure of Yasht 5, the Aban Yasht, the great Avestan hymn to her — over thirty kardas (sections) of considerable poetic richness.
- Atar §3.3 Atar is invoked throughout the Avesta.
- Tishtrya §3.4 Tishtrya is the central figure of Yasht 8, the Tir Yasht; the name is also used in the Avestan Yasna and in the Pahlavi books.
- Verethragna §3.5 Verethragna is the central figure of Yasht 14, the Bahram Yasht.
- Sraosha §3.6 Sraosha is the central figure of Yasna 57 (the Sraosha Yasht in the standard liturgy) and of Yasht 11.
- Ashi §3.8 Ashi is the central figure of Yasht 17.
- Daena §3.9 Daena is invoked in Yasht 16 (the Din Yasht).
- Nairyosanha §3.10 Nairyosanha is invoked throughout the Avesta in messenger-roles; the Pahlavi Bundahishn (chapter 26) describes his function.
- Khvarenah §3.11 Khvarenah is the central concept of Yasht 19, the Zamyad Yasht.
- Haoma §3.12 Haoma is the central figure of Yasna 9-11 (the Hom Yasht).
- The Fravashis §3.13 The Fravashis are the central concern of Yasht 13, the Fravardin Yasht — one of the longest and most comprehensive Yashts.
Heroes, Adversaries and the Final Renewal
What survives
- Old Avesta
- The Gathas and Yasna Haptanghaiti are linguistically early and conceptually difficult; translation choices should be exposed.
- Younger Avesta
- Yashts, Videvdad, and liturgical collections preserve diverse materials and later redaction.
- Achaemenid inscriptions
- Royal declarations are direct imperial witnesses but not a complete catechism of Iranian religion.
- Middle Persian books
- Bundahišn, Dēnkard, Zādspram, and related texts provide systematic cosmology centuries after the earliest Avestan poetry.
- Epic and romance
- The Shāhnāmeh and related traditions preserve heroic memory through literary transformation.
- Ritual manuscripts and living practice
- Recitation, calendar, and community transmission provide essential context without erasing historical change.
- Yashts and Videvdad
- Early Iranian heroic names and deeds in liturgical or legal-ritual settings.
- Pahlavi eschatology
- Primary for the ordered final renovation narrative.
- Shāhnāmeh
- A major epic source whose names and plots reflect long transmission and literary design.
Entry by entry (5)
- Yima §4.1 Yima appears in the Avesta in Yasna 9.4-5 (the Hom Yasht, where his father's invocation of Haoma produced him), in Yasht 19 (the Zamyad Yasht, the great Khvarenah catalog, which describes the threefold loss of the Khvarenah), in Vendidad chapter 2 (the longest single narrative about Yima, including the vara-building), and in numerous other Avestan and Pahlavi passages.
- Thraetaona §4.2 Thraetaona is invoked throughout the Avesta, particularly in Yasht 5 (the Aban Yasht) and Yasht 13 (the Fravardin Yasht).
- Aži Dahāka §4.3 Aži Dahāka is the central adversary in Yasht 5, Yasht 19 (Zamyad), and numerous other Avestan passages; the imprisonment beneath Damavand is in the Pahlavi Bundahishn (chapter 29).
- Aeshma §4.4 Aeshma is invoked throughout the Avesta, particularly in pair with Sraosha.
- Saoshyant §4.5 Yasht 19 (the Zamyad Yasht) ends with a substantial description of Astvat-ereta's coming (verses 88-96).