The Persian Empire

by Kia, Mehrdad;

  See also: Religion: Avesta; Vendidad

  Further Reading

  Boyce, Mary. Textual Sources for the Study of Zoroastrianism. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1990.

  Boyce, Mary. Zoroastrians: Their Religious Beliefs and Practices. London: Routledge Kegan and Paul, 2001.

  Bundahishn. Edited by Mehrdad Bahar. Tehran: Tus Publications, 1991.

  Bundahishn: The Sacred Books of the East; Pahlavi Texts. Translated by E. W. West. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, 1965.

  The Zend-Avesta, Part I: The Vendidad. Translated by James Darmesteter. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, 1965.

  The Zend-Avesta, Part III: The Yasna, Visparad, Āfrīnagān, Gāhs, and Miscellaneous Fragments. Translated by L. H. Mills. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, 1965.

  Avesta

  The Avesta, the sacred book of Zoroastrianism, constitutes the principal source for our understanding of the teachings of the Iranian prophet Zarathustra (Zoroaster), who lived and preached in great antiquity. According to the Zoroastrian tradition, the 21 books of the Avesta, which were created by the great god Ahura Mazda, were introduced by the prophet Zarathustra to King Vishtaspa of the Kayanian dynasty. Two copies of the Avesta were written down and deposited, but a large segment of the original text was destroyed and scattered when Alexander the Macedon invaded and conquered the Persian Achaemenid Empire. During the reign of the Arsacid dynasty (247/238 BCE–224 CE), King Valakhsh (Vologeses) ordered the remaining fragments of the holy book to be collected, but this goal was not completed until the establishment of the Sasanian dynasty by Ardashir I in 224 CE. Ardashir I (r. 224–239/240 CE) ordered the high priest Tansar (Tōsar) to complete the work of collecting the fragments of the Avesta that had commenced under the Arsacids. During the reign of Ardashir’s son and successor Shapur I (r. 239/240/241/242–270/272 CE), a search was conducted for all the scientific documents that had been dispersed by Alexander with the goal of reintegrating them into the main text of the Avesta. Under Shapur II (r. 309–379 CE), the Avesta was thoroughly reviewed and revised to ensure that its original and orthodox core had not been infected by the existing heresies and deviations. Finally, during the reign of Khosrow I (r. 531–579 CE), “a revision of the Pahlavi translation took place” (Kellens: “Avesta i”). What remains of the Avesta today is a very small section of the original text.

  The Avesta consists of several sections, which include the Gathas, the Yasna, the Yashts, and the Vendidad (Vīdēvdāt). The Gathas are the personal hymns and meditations of Zarathustra, which are believed to have been composed by the Iranian prophet himself. The Gathas were “piously preserved by being made part of the liturgy of the Yasna, the ‘Act of Worship,’ which was solemnized daily” (Boyce: Textual Sources for the Study of Zoroastrianism, 2). This, also “in Gathic Avestan, appears to be made up of what are in essence even more ancient texts, composed to accompany the traditional offerings to fire and water, and revised in the light of Zarathustra’s teachings” (Boyce: Textual Sources for the Study of Zoroastrianism, 2). Next are the Yashts, the 21 hymns dedicated to the veneration of a group of yazatas (holy beings) and lesser gods. For example, Mihr Yasht is dedicated to Mithra, the protector of oaths, contracts, and covenants as well as the sun god, while Aban Yasht is dedicated to the veneration of the goddess of waters, Anahita. The section of the Avesta known as the Vendidad contains Zoroastrian laws, rituals, and religious practices and includes an important narrative on creation. Described by Zoroastrians as their book of laws, the Vendidad focuses primarily on the issue of pollution and provides a set of rules regarding purification. The Visperad constitutes a long liturgy divided into 24 chapters and contains homages to a group of Zoroastrian spiritual and religious leaders. Finally, the Khordeh Avesta [Little Avesta], a book of common prayer, comprises a collection of short prayers and hymns that are used during special ceremonies, feasts, and celebrations.

  The Avesta was composed in an eastern Iranian language called the Avestan in two separate linguistic stages, which are referred to as Old Avestan and Younger Avestan. The Old Avestan texts, such as the Gathas, are probably several centuries older than the Young Avestan texts. The language of the Gathas, called by some “Gathic Avestan,” is closely related in form to the language of the Indian Rig Veda and thus is generally assigned to the second millennium BCE (Boyce: Textual Sources for the Study of Zoroastrianism, 1). Since the Avestan belongs to the family of eastern Iranian languages, most scholars of ancient Iran have concluded that the prophet Zarathustra hailed from the Iranian-populated regions of Central Asia.

  DOGS IN AVESTA

  As reflected in the Avesta, the Zoroastrian holy book, dogs occupied a prominent role in the daily life of ancient Iranians. Dogs were highly prized, valued, and appreciated for guarding homes, protecting sheep and cattle, and watching for thieves, wolves, and other predatory animals. According to the teachings of the Avesta, harming or killing dogs was considered among the gravest of all sins. In the Pahlavi literature, we read that dogs were enemies of wolves and had been created to protect domesticated animals against attacks by wild beasts. No house could function and survive without a shepherd dog and a house dog. Dogs and roosters were close companions, and together they assisted Sraosha (Sorush), the deity of obedience and observance, in his struggle against the lie. Without the dog and the rooster, no house could be properly organized and protected. By its barking, a dog warned the members of the household against any predator approaching the house, just as a rooster sounded a distinctive alarm call when danger approached him and his family.

  The Avesta distinguishes between a shepherd’s dog, a house dog, a trained or hunting dog, and a vagrant dog. Regardless of the category they belonged to, however, dogs were viewed as friends of man and necessary to human life and security. They could not therefore be harmed, injured, or killed. The Avesta warned that the souls of those who either injured or killed a shepherd’s dog, a house dog, a trained dog, or even a stray dog were condemned to excruciating pain and suffering as they passed to the other world. Dogs were believed to have highly complex personalities. They had the characteristics of eight categories of people, namely a priest, a warrior, a husbandman, a strolling singer, a thief, a disu (wild beast), a courtesan, and a child:

  He eats broken food, like a priest; he is grateful, like a priest; he is easily satisfied, like a priest; he wants only a small piece of bread, like a priest. …

  He marches in front, like a warrior; he fights for the beneficent cow, like a warrior; he goes first out of the house, like a warrior. …

  He is watchful and sleeps lightly, like a husbandman; he goes first out of the house, like a husbandman; he returns last into the house, like a husbandman. …

  He sings like a strolling singer; he is intrusive, like a strolling singer; he is meagre, like a strolling singer; he is poor, like a strolling singer. …

  He likes darkness, like a thief; he prowls about in darkness, like a thief; he is a shameless eater, like a thief; he is an unfaithful keeper, like a thief. …

  He likes darkness, like a wild beast; he prowls about in darkness, like a wild beast; he is shameless eater, like a wild beast; he is an unfaithful keeper, like a wild beast. …

  He sings, like a courtezan; he is intrusive, like a courtezan; he walks about the roads, like a courtezan; he is meagre, like a courtezan; he is poor, like a courtezan. …

  He likes sleeping, like a child; he is apt to run away, like a child; he is full of tongue, like a child; he goes on all fours, like a child. …

  Source: The Zend-Avesta, Part I: The Vendidad, Fargard XIII, translated by James Darmesteter (Delhi: Molital Banarsidass, 1965), 45–49.

  See also: Prophets: Zarathustra (Zoroaster); Religion: Ahura Mazda; Primary Documents: Document 1; Document 2

  Further Reading

  Boyce, Mary. “Ahura Mazda.” Encyclopaedia Iranica, 1984, http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/ahura-mazda.

  Boyce, Mary. Textual Sources for the Study of Zoroastrianism. Chicago: Universit
y of Chicago Press, 1990.

  Boyce, Mary. Zoroastrians: Their Religious Beliefs and Practices. London: Routledge, 2001.

  Duchesne-Guillemin, Jacques. The Western Response to Zoroaster. New York: Praeger, 1973.

  Gnoli, Gherardo. Zoroaster’s Time and Homeland: A Study on the Origins of Mazdaism and Related Problems. Naples: Istituto Universitario Orientale, 1980.

  Henning, W. B. Zoroaster: Politician or Witch-Doctor. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1951.

  Jackson, A. V. William. Zoroaster: The Prophet of Ancient Iran. London: Forgotten Books, 2012.

  Kellens, J. “Avesta i: Survey of the History and Contents of the Book.” Encyclopaedia Iranica, 1987, http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/avesta-holy-book.

  West, M. L. The Hymns of Zoroaster. London: I. B. Tauris, 2010.

  Yamauchi, Edwin M. Persia and the Bible. Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1990.

  Bahram

  An ancient Iranian warrior god and the god of victory who fights and defeats his opponents, including the evil spirit and its allies. His name appears as Verethragna (Victory) in the Avesta, the Zoroastrian holy scripture, and Wahram, Wahran, or Warahran in Middle Persian. In the Avesta, the Bahram Yasht is dedicated to the veneration of Verethragna. The warrior god is portrayed as the best armed of the heavenly deities created by the great god Ahura Mazda. Here, Verethragna assumes 10 different and distinct forms, in this order: (1) the shape of “a strong, beautiful wind” (The Zend-Avesta, Part II: Bahram Yasht, 2); (2) the shape of “a beautiful bull, with yellow ears and golden horns” (The Zend-Avesta, Part II: Bahram Yasht, 7); (3) the shape of “a white beautiful horse, with yellow ears and a golden caparison” (The Zend-Avesta, Part II: Bahram Yasht, 9); (4) the shape of “a burden-bearing camel, sharp-toothed, swift, stamping forward, long-haired, and living in the abodes of men” (The Zend-Avesta, Part II: Bahram Yasht, 11); (5) the shape of “a boar, opposing the foes, a sharp-toothed he-boar, a sharp-jawed boar, that kills at one stroke, pursuing, wrathful, with a dripping face, strong, and swift to run, and rushing all around” (The Zend-Avesta, Part II: Bahram Yasht, 15); (6) the shape of “a beautiful youth of fifteen, shining, clear-eyed, thin-heeled” (The Zend-Avesta, Part II: Bahram Yasht, 17); (7) the shape of “a raven[,] … the swiftest of all birds, the lightest of the flying creatures” (The Zend-Avesta, Part II: Bahram Yasht, 19); (8) the shape of “a wild, beautiful ram, with horns bent around” (The Zend-Avesta, Part II: Bahram Yasht, 23); (9) the shape of “a beautiful, fighting buck, with sharp horns” (The Zend-Avesta, Part II: Bahram Yasht, 25); and (10) the shape of “a man, bright and beautiful, made by Mazda,” holding “a sword with a golden blade, inlaid with all sorts of ornaments” (The Zend-Avesta, Part II: Bahram Yasht, 27). As a strong and victorious warrior god, Verethragna smashes all obstacles and triumphs over armies, displaying his overwhelming strength in defeating and destroying the resistance of men, the Daevas (demons), the Yatus (wizards), the Pairikas (witches), and the oppressors (The Zend-Avesta, Part II: Bahram Yasht, 62). The prophet Zarathustra sacrifices to Verethragna, asking him “for victorious thinking, victorious speaking, victorious doing, victorious addressing, and victorious answering” (The Zend-Avesta, Part II: Bahram Yasht, 32). The victorious deity is also credited as the powerful force who carries “the chariot of Kavi Usa [the Kayanian monarch Kay Kavus] upon his wings” (The Zend-Avesta, Part II: Bahram Yasht, 39) and allows the “gallant Thraetaona [Fereydun]” to ride him in his battle against “Azhi Dahaka [Zahhak], the three-mouthed, the three-headed, the six-eyed” monster and “the strongest Druj [the lie]” (The Zend-Avesta, Part II: Bahram Yasht, 40). But Verethragna does not only defeat armies and break their columns asunder. The great warrior god also bestows sexual potency, “fountains of virility,” as well as “the strength of arms, the health of the whole body,” and “the eye-sight of the vulture with a golden collar” (The Zend-Avesta, Part II: Bahram Yasht, 33).

  Classical sources, including Herodotus, wrote of the popularity of Ares, the god of war and the spirit of battle, among the Scythians of Central Asia. In his Histories, Herodotus stated that “the only gods the Scythians” worshipped were “Hestia (their chief deity), Zeus, and Earth (whom they believe to be the wife of Zeus), and, as deities of secondary importance, Apollo, Celestial Aphrodite, Heracles, and Ares” (Herodotus: 4.59). Herodotus also wrote that the Scythian god Ares, to whom the Scythians sacrificed prisoners of war, had his own temple (Herodotus: 4.62). The association of Verethragna with Ares continued during the Seleucid period. In an inscription in the sanctuary of Nimrud Dagh (present-day eastern Turkey) dating back to the first century BCE, King Antiochus I of Commagene lists the three divinities, namely Artagnes (Verethragna), Herakles, and Ares together. The veneration of Verethragna was also popular in the eastern regions of Greater Iran. The Kushans, who established a vast and powerful empire in the second half of the second century BCE in Central Asia and the territory of present-day Afghanistan, Pakistan, and northern India, venerated the war god, who appeared on their coins “with a winged headdress, a characteristic motif in Iranian symbolism,” which likens him to khvarnah, “i.e., to the Farro of the Kushans” (Gnoli: Bahram).

  The significance of Wahram/Bahram and his popularity during the reign of the Sasanian dynasty (r. 224–651 CE) was such that six Persian kings were named Bahram/Wahram. Wahram was also used as an adjective for the sacred fires of the Sasanian era. In his inscription at the Ka’ba-ye Zardosht (Ka’ba of Zoroaster), the Zoroastrian high priest Kartir, who rose to power and prominence during the reigns of Shapur I, Hormozd I, Bahram I, and Bahram II, used “Wahram” as an adjective for the sacred fires he had established. Kartir stated that at the command of the Sasanian king of kings Shapur I, religious services had been multiplied in every province of the Persian Empire, and many Wahram (Bahram) Fires had been founded. He also boasted that during the reign of the Sasanian monarch Bahram II, with support from the Persian king of kings, he had founded many Wahram Fires in the land of Iran and at his own cost “in different places” (Boyce: Textual Sources for the Study of Zoroastrianism, 112–113). In the Zoroastrian religious texts, the planet Mars was called “Vahram” (Pahlavi Texts, Part I: Bundahishn, 5.1).

  See also: Religion: Ahura Mazda; Avesta; Mithra

  Further Reading

  Bahar, Mehrdad. Bundahishn. Tehran: Tus Publications, 1991.

  Biruni, Abu Rayhan. Athar ul-Baqiya. Translated by C. Edward Sachau as The Chronology of Ancient Nations. London: W. H. Allen, 1879.

  Boyce, Mary. A History of Zoroastrianism, Vol. 1, The Early Period. Leiden: Brill Academic, 1996.

  Boyce, Mary. Textual Sources for the Study of Zoroastrianism. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1990.

  Boyce, Mary. Zoroastrians: Their Religious Beliefs and Practices, London: Routledge Kegan and Paul, 2001.

  Gnoli, G. “Bahram.” Encyclopaedia Iranica, 1988, http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/bahram-1#pt1.

  Herodotus. The Histories. Translated by Aubrey De Sélincourt. London: Penguin, 2003.

  Malandra, William. An Introduction to Ancient Iranian Religion. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1983.

  Pahlavi Texts, Part I: The Bundahishn. Translated by E. W. West. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, 1965.

  Pahlavi Texts, Part III: Dina-i Mainog-i Khirad. Translated by E. W. West. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, 1965.

  The Zend-Avesta, Part II: The Sirozahs, Yashts and Nyayish. Translated by James Darmesteter. 1883; reprint, Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, 1965.

  Birds. See Sacred Birds

  Bushyasta

  A demon who is depicted in the Avesta, the Zoroastrian holy book, as the demonic force that brings lethargy, laziness, and untimely sleep. He is an intelligent, wise, and devious yellow demon who is sent by the evil spirit Angra Mainyu (Ahriman) to lure humans to oversleep, neglect their religious duties, and prevent them from working. He is a member of the large army of demons organized by Ahriman against the wise lord and the god of good, Ahura Mazda. His principal opp
onent in the Avesta is Mithra, the lord of wide pastures, the guarantor of covenants and alliances, and the god of light (The Zend-Avesta, Part II: Mihr Yasht, 133–134).

  See also: Religion: Ahriman; Ahura Mazda; Amesha Spentas; Mithra

  Further Reading

  Pahlavi Texts, Part I: The Bundahishn. Translated by E. W. West. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, 1965.

  Pahlavi Texts, Part III: Dina-i Mainog-i Khirad. Translated by E. W. West. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, 1965.

  The Zend-Avesta, Part I: The Vendidad. Translated by James Darmesteter. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, 1965.

  The Zend-Avesta, Part II: The Sirozahs, Yashts and Nyayish. Translated by James Darmesteter. 1883; reprint, Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, 1965.

  The Zend-Avesta, Part III: The Yasna, Visparad, Āfrīnagān, Gāhs, and Miscellaneous Fragments. Translated by L. H. Mills. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, 1965.

  Fravashis and Fravardigan

  In Zoroastrianism, fravashi referred to a soul of a dead person. Fravashi was also the inner “power in every being that maintains it and makes it grow and subsist” (The Zend-Avesta, Part II: 179). Originally, the fravashis were “the everlasting and deified souls of the dead, but in course of time they gained a wider domain, and not only men, but gods and even physical objects, like the sky and the earth, had each a fravashi” (The Zend-Avesta, Part II: 179). In the Avesta, the great god Ahura Mazda speaks to the prophet Zarathustra about the “vigor and strength, the glory, the help and the joy that are in the fravashis of the faithful” (The Zend-Avesta, Part II: Farvardin Yasht, 1). The fravashis were perceived as an enormous army of hundreds, thousands, and even tens of thousands of supernatural beings who assisted the architect of the universe, the great god Ahura Mazda, with the creation and maintenance of the world (The Zend-Avesta, Part II: Farvardin Yasht, 65). It was through the brightness and glory of the fravashis that Ahura Mazda could maintain the sky, Earth, the stars, etc. In the Avesta, Yasht 13, or Farvardin Yasht, is dedicated to the fravashis, who are also associated with the cult of the dead. Ancient Iranians celebrated an All-Souls festival at the end of the year prior to the celebration of Nowruz (New Year). This festival was called Fravardigan. Fravardigan was a 10-day festival during which the people honored the spirits of the dead (Malandra: Frawardigan). The popular belief was that during these 10 days the souls (fravashis) of all the dead returned to Earth and visited their former homes. The souls of the righteous celebrated their return, while the souls of the evildoers trembled in fear. It was therefore necessary for everyone during these particular days to “put fragrant perfumes on fire and … praise the souls, … and recite the Avesta so that those souls may be in comfort, joy and delight. And … during those … days they should not engage themselves in any other thing except in doing duties and good works, so that the souls may go back to their places with delight and pronounce benediction” (Boyce: Iranian Festivals).