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54-532: Airyanem Vaejah ( Avestan : 𐬀𐬫𐬭𐬌𐬌𐬀𐬥𐬆𐬨 𐬬𐬀𐬉𐬘𐬀𐬵 , romanized:  Ayriianəm Vaēǰah ; Middle Persian : Ērān-wēz ; Persian : Irānwēj ; Parthian : Aryānwēžan , 'the Arya Expanse') is considered in Zoroastrianism to be the homeland of the early Iranians and the place where Zarathustra received the religion from Ahura Mazda . The Avesta also names it as

108-465: A 9th-century text, the Vendidad includes all of the 19th nask , which is then the only nask that has survived in its entirety. The Vendidad 's different parts vary widely in character and in age. Although some portions are relatively recent in origin, the subject matter of the greater part is very old. In 1877, Karl Friedrich Geldner identified the texts as being linguistically distinct from both

162-641: A description of the penances that have to be made to atone for violations thereof. Such penances include: Most of the Zoroastrians continue to use the Vendidad as a valued and fundamental cultural and ethical moral guide, viewing their teachings as essential to Zoroastrian tradition and see it as part of Zoroastrianism original perspectives about the truth of spiritual existence. They argue that it has origins on early oral tradition, being only later written. The emergent reformist Zoroastrian movement reject

216-776: A number of reasons for this shift, based on both the Old Avestan and the Young Avestan material. As regards Old Avestan, the Gathas show strong linguistic and cultural similarities with the Rigveda , which in turn is assumed to represent the second half of the second millennium BC. As regards Young Avestan, texts like the Yashts and the Vendidad are situated in the eastern parts of Greater Iran and lack any discernible Persian or Median influence from Western Iran. This

270-520: A prominent place among the Iranian countries from verses Yt. 10.13-14. The second term is the Middle Persian Ērān-shahr ( 𐭠𐭩𐭥𐭠𐭭𐭱𐭲𐭥𐭩 ) and Ērān ( 𐭠𐭩𐭥𐭠𐭭 ). This word is the origin of the modern Persian term Iran . However, a possible Old Iranian origin [*aryānām xšaθra-] Error: {{Lang}}: Non-latn text/Latn script subtag mismatch ( help ) has not been established and

324-462: Is a mythological rather than a specific historical place. The Avestan Airyanəm Vaējah and the Middle Persian Ērān-wēz are compound terms, where the first part is the adjective or genitive plural of Arya ( Avestan : 𐬀𐬌𐬭𐬌𐬌𐬀 , airiia ; Middle Persian : 𐭠𐭩𐭫 ‎ , er ), respectively. This term also appears in Vedic Sanskrit as the self designation of

378-502: Is always performed between nightfall and dawn, though a normal Yasna is performed between dawn and noon. Because of its length and complexity, the Vendidad is read, rather than recalled from memory as is otherwise necessary for the Yasna texts. The recitation of the Vendidad requires a priest of higher rank (one with a moti khub ) than is normally necessary for the recitation of the Yasna . The Vendidad should not be confused with

432-462: Is attested in roughly two forms, known as "Old Avestan" (or "Gathic Avestan") and "Younger Avestan". Younger Avestan did not evolve from Old Avestan; the two differ not only in time, but they are also different dialects. Every Avestan text, regardless of whether originally composed in Old or Younger Avestan, underwent several transformations. Karl Hoffmann traced the following stages for Avestan as found in

486-566: Is classified as Eastern Old Iranian. But the east–west distinction is of limited meaning for Avestan, as the linguistic developments that later distinguish Eastern from Western Iranian had not yet occurred. Avestan does not display some typical (South-)Western Iranian innovations already visible in Old Persian, and so in this sense, "eastern" only means "non-western". Old Avestan is closely related to Old Persian and largely agrees morphologically with Vedic Sanskrit . The Avestan language

540-469: Is dualistic creation myth , followed by the description of a destructive winter. The second chapter recounts the legend of Yima ( Jamshid ). Chapter 19 relates the temptation of Zoroaster , who, when urged by Angra Mainyu to turn from the good religion, turns instead towards Ahura Mazda . The remaining chapters cover diverse rules and regulations, through the adherence of which evil spirits may be confounded. Broken down by subject, these fargards deal with

594-485: Is faced with the fact that many references appear in a clearly mythical context, while others may point to a specific historical location. Airyanem Vaejah has, therefore, been compared to Mount Hara , a mountain that both appears in Zoroastrian mythology and has been variously identified with real geographical locations. Modern scholarship is thus trying to distinguish between these mythical and historical elements in

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648-489: Is interpreted such that the bulk of this material, which has been produced several centuries after Zarathustra, must still predate the sixth century BC. As a result, more recent scholarship often assumes that the major parts of the Young Avestan texts mainly reflect the first half of the first millennia BC, whereas the Old Avestan texts of Zarathustra may have been composed around 1000 BC or even as early as 1500 BC. The script used for writing Avestan developed during

702-630: The c.  12th century texts of Neryosang Dhaval and other Parsi Sanskritist theologians of that era, which are roughly contemporary with the oldest surviving manuscripts in Avestan script. Today, Avestan is most commonly typeset in the Gujarati script ( Gujarati being the traditional language of the Indian Zoroastrians). Some Avestan letters with no corresponding symbol are synthesized with additional diacritical marks, for example,

756-524: The /z/ in zaraθuštra is written with j with a dot below. Avestan has retained voiced sibilants, and has fricative rather than aspirate series. There are various conventions for transliteration of the Avestan alphabet , the one adopted for this article being: Vowels: Consonants: The glides y and w are often transcribed as < ii > and < uu >. The letter transcribed < t̰ > indicates an allophone of /t/ with no audible release at

810-508: The Sasanian period ". The Avestan language is only known from the Avesta and otherwise unattested. As a result, there is no external evidence on which to base the time frame during which the Avestan language was spoken and all attempts have to rely on internal evidence. Such attempts were often based on the life of Zarathustra as the most distinct event in the Avestan period . Zarathustra

864-414: The 3rd or 4th century AD. By then the language had been extinct for many centuries, and remained in use only as a liturgical language of the Avesta canon. As is still the case today, the liturgies were memorized by the priesthood and recited by rote. The script devised to render Avestan was natively known as Din dabireh "religion writing". It has 53 distinct characters and is written right-to-left. Among

918-508: The 53 characters are about 30 letters that are – through the addition of various loops and flourishes – variations of the 13 graphemes of the cursive Pahlavi script (i.e. "Book" Pahlavi) that is known from the post-Sassanian texts of Zoroastrian tradition. These symbols, like those of all the Pahlavi scripts, are in turn based on Aramaic script symbols. Avestan also incorporates several letters from other writing systems, most notably

972-687: The Airyanem Vaejah, by the good river Daitya; with the Haoma and meat, with the Baresman , with the wisdom of the tongue, with the holy spells , with the speech, with the deeds, with the libations , and with the rightly-spoken words. ... Unto her did the holy Zarathushtra offer up a sacrifice in the Airyanem Vaejah, by the good river Daitya; with the Haoma and meat, with the Baresman, with

1026-461: The Airyanem Vaejah. The first of the good lands and countries which I, Ahura Mazda , created, was the Airyanem Vaejah, by the good river Daitya. Thereupon came Angra Mainyu , who is all death, and he counter-created the serpent in the river and winter, a work of the Deavas . There are ten winter months there, two summer months; and those are cold for the waters, cold for the earth, cold for

1080-478: The Airyoshayana ( Avestan : airyō.šayana , 'Iranian lands'). This term is usually interpreted to refer to the entire land inhabited by Iranians which would make it an umbrella term for the Iranian regions mentioned in the following verse Yt. 10.14. However, Gherardo Gnoli notes the ambiguity of the text, such that Airyoshayana, like Airyanem Vaejah, may only refer to a specific country, one that occupies

1134-483: The Ard Yasht (Yt. 17.45). In the Vendidad, however, Airyanem Vaejah appears as the first of the sixteen best lands and countries that Ahura Mazda had created for the Zoroastrian community: I have made every land dear (to its people), even though it had no charms whatever in it: had I not made every land dear (to its people), even though it had no charms whatever in it, then the whole living world would have invaded

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1188-508: The Avesta, the Vendidad is an ecclesiastical code, not a liturgical manual. The name of the texts is a contraction of the Avestan language Vî-Daêvô-Dāta , "Given Against the Daeva s (Demons)", and as the name suggests, the Vendidad is an enumeration of various manifestations of evil spirits, and ways to confound them. According to the divisions of the Avesta as described in the Denkard ,

1242-493: The Avestan term 𐬎𐬞𐬀𐬯𐬙𐬁𐬬𐬀𐬐𐬀 , upastāvaka , 'praise'. The language was sometimes called Zend in older works, stemming from a misunderstanding of the Zend (commentaries and interpretations of Zoroastrian scripture) as synonymous with the Avesta itself, due to both often being bundled together as "Zend-Avesta". Avestan and Old Persian are the two attested languages comprising Old Iranian , and while Avestan

1296-581: The Old Avestan language texts as well as from the Yashts of the younger Avesta. Today, there is controversy over historical development of the Vendidad. The Vendidad is classified by some as an artificial, young Avestan text. Its language resembles Old Avestan. The Vendidad is thought to be a Magi (Magi-influenced) composition. It has also been suggested that the Vendidad belongs to a particular school, but "no linguistic or textual argument allows us to attain any degree of certainty in these matters." Some consider

1350-604: The Vendidad a link to ancient early oral traditions, later written as a book of laws for the Zoroastrian community. The writing of the Vendidad began - perhaps substantially - before the formation of the Median and Persian Empires, before the 8th century B.C.E.. In addition, as with the Yashts, the date of composition of the final version does not exclude the possibility that some parts of the Vendidad may consist of very old material. Even in this modern age, Zoroastrians are continually rewriting old spiritual material. The first chapter

1404-554: The Vendidad are either in the spirit or the letter of the Gathas, and so they are not to be followed. The reformists prefer to regard the Vendidad as a document which has no religious value but is only of historic or anthropological interest. Many Zoroastrians, in Iran, India, and the world diaspora, inspired by reformists, have chosen to dispense with the Vendidad prescriptions entirely or only to follow those which they believe are not against

1458-422: The Vendidad today? And how many of the laws of the Vendidad are still followed? This depends, as so many other Zoroastrian beliefs and practices do, on whether you are a "reformist" or a "traditionalist." The reformists, following the Gathas as their prime guide, judge the Vendidad harshly as being a deviation from the non-prescriptive, abstract teachings of the Gathas. For them, few if any of the laws or practices in

1512-544: The Zoroastrian sources and to find out how the early Iranians conceived of their world in each respective context. Since the Bundahishn (29.12) specifically places Airyanem Vaejah near Adarbaygan , it is clear that during Sassanian times Iranians believed it to be located in Western Iran. Some early modern scholars tended to accept this localisation, assuming that it also reflected the understanding of Iranians at

1566-415: The center of the 16 lands mentioned in the Vendidad - an area now in the central Afghan highlands (around Bamyan Province ). He also concludes that the idea of finding the "Aryan homeland" in the Avesta should be abandoned and one should rather focus on how both the earlier (Yasht 32.2) and later Avestan texts themselves regarded their own territory. Finally, some scholars like Skjaervo have concluded that

1620-541: The early " Eastern Iranian " culture that is described in the Zoroastrian Avesta . It is not known what the original speakers of Avestan called the language. The modern term "Avestan" comes from the Avesta , a collection of Zoroastrian religious literature composed in the language, the name of which comes from Persian اوستا , avestâ and is of obscure origin, though it might come from or be cognate with

1674-471: The end of a word and before certain obstruents . According to Beekes, [ð] and [ɣ] are allophones of /θ/ and /x/ respectively (in Old Avestan). The following phrases were phonetically transcribed from Avestan: Vendidad The Vendidad /ˈvendi'dæd/ or Videvdat or Videvdad is a collection of texts within the greater compendium of the Avesta . However, unlike the other texts of

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1728-513: The extant texts. In roughly chronological order: Many phonetic features cannot be ascribed with certainty to a particular stage since there may be more than one possibility. Every phonetic form that can be ascribed to the Sasanian archetype on the basis of critical assessment of the manuscript evidence must have gone through the stages mentioned above so that "Old Avestan" and "Young Avestan" really mean no more than "Old Avestan and Young Avestan of

1782-413: The first cattle was created (Bd. 13.4) and where Zarathustra first received the religion from Ahura Mazda (Bd. 35.54). The Bundahishn furthermore states that Eranwez is located near Adarbaygan (Bd. 29.12) and that it is connected by the river Daitya to a country called Gobadestan (Bd. 11A.7). The identity of Gobadestan is not known, but its name has been interpreted as a distortion of Sugdestan . Likewise,

1836-581: The first of the "sixteen perfect lands" that Ahura Mazda created for the Iranians. Based on these descriptions, modern scholarship initially focused on Airyanem Vaejah in an attempt to determine the homeland of the Iranians or Indo-Iranians in general. Among these early attempts, the region of Khwarezm emerged as a likely locale. More recent scholarship, however, no longer agrees as to where Airyanem Vaejah might have been located or to what extent it

1890-404: The following topics (chapters where a topic is covered are in brackets): There is a degree of moral relativism apparent in the Vendidad, and the diverse rules and regulations are not always expressed as being mystical, absolute, universal or mandatory. The Vendidad is mainly about social laws, mores, customs and culture. In some instances, the description of prescribed behaviour is accompanied by

1944-421: The later writings in the Avesta as being corruptions of Zarathustra's original teachings and thus do not consider the Vendidad as an original Zoroastrian scripture. They argue that it was written nearly 700 years after the death of Zarathustra and interpret the writing as different from the other parts of the Avesta. An article by Hannah M. G. Shapero sums up the reformist perspective: "How do Zoroastrians view

1998-431: The localization of Airyanem Vaejah is insolveable. Avestan language The Avestan text corpus was composed in the ancient Iranian satrapies of Arachosia , Aria , Bactria , and Margiana , corresponding to the entirety of present-day Afghanistan as well as parts of Tajikistan , Turkmenistan , and Uzbekistan . The Yaz culture of Bactria–Margiana has been regarded as a likely archaeological reflection of

2052-525: The meaning of "extent" or "expanse". It may also be related to Vedic Sanskrit vej/vij (to move with a quick darting motion, speed, heave (said of waves)), suggesting the region of a fast-flowing river. Zoroastrian tradition knows at least two other terms that associate the Iranian people with a geographical region. The first is found in the Avesta specifically in the Mihr Yasht . Vers Yt. 10.13 describes how Mithra reaches Mount Hara and overlooks

2106-511: The much earlier time of the Avesta , i.e., the time when the earliest sources were produced. However, this notion has been criticised due to the observation that all place names in the Avesta that can be reliably identified with modern places are found in the eastern and northeastern part of Greater Iran . As a result, more recent scholarship mostly favours an eastern localisation of Airyanem Vaejah. One hypothesis that has attracted considerable interest identifies Airyanem Vaejah with Khwarezm . It

2160-504: The notion of Khwarezm as an important center of early Iranian civilization is not substantiated by recent evidence and places Airyanem Vaejah in the general region of Transoxiania . Frantz Grenet has interpreted the cold of Airyanem Vaejah as referring to a mountainious rather than a northern region and places it in the upper course of the Oxus river at the pre- Pamirian highlands. According to Michael Witzel , however, Airyanem Vaejah lies at

2214-549: The original spirit of the Gathas." Although the Vendidad is not a liturgical manual, a section of it may be recited as part of a greater Yasna service. Although such extended Yasna s appears to have been frequently performed in the mid-18th century (as noted in Anquetil-Duperron's observations), it is very rarely performed at the present day. In such an extended service, Visparad 12 and Vendidad 1-4 are inserted between Yasna 27 and 28. The Vendidad ceremony

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2268-610: The people of the Vedas . Within the context of Iran, however, this term simply means Iranian. However, the exact meaning of the second part vaējah or wēz is uncertain. Friedrich Carl Andreas derives it from a hypothetical Old Iranian *vyacah which he connects to Vedic Sanskrit vyacas "territory, region". On the other hand, Émile Benveniste connects it to the Avestan term vaig (brandish, throw (a weapon)) which would be cognate to Vedic Sanskrit vega (vehement movement, irruption, flow) and, therefore, would give vaējah

2322-538: The place occupied by Khwarezm in the Mihr Yasht seems to be occupied by Airyanem Vaejah in the Vendidad. Taken together, these reasons have made the Khwarezm hypothesis very popular and scholars like Mary Boyce , Nasser Takmil Homayoun , and Elton L. Daniel have endorsed it more recently. However, this hypothesis has also seen a number of criticisms and counter proposals. For instance, Vogelsang has noted that

2376-454: The positive assessment given in Vd. 1.1. This has led some to speculate that the third verse is a later insertion, while others think that it could be a fragment of an originally longer description, and the text in Vd. 1.3 refers only to the upper headwaters of the river Daitya. In middle Iranian sources, Airyanem Vaejah appears as Eranwez. The Bundahishn describes how Eranwez was the place where

2430-496: The river Daitya is often identified in the literature with the Oxus . This apparent conflict between a western and an eastern localization in Greater Iran has been explained as a westward shift in geographic place names that may have taken place parallel to the rise of political power in the western regions, in particular Media and Persis . When investigating the historical reality behind Airyanem Vaejah, modern scholarship

2484-598: The search for "the traditional homeland" or "the ancient homeland" of the Iranians , perpetuating interpretations of the Airyanem Vaejah as Urheimat des Awestavolkes , Urland of the Indo-Iranians or the Wiege aller iranischen Arier . Another argument builds on a comparison between the list of Iranian countries in the Vendidad (Vd. 1.1.-1.19) and the Mihr Yasht (Yt. 10.13-14). As Christensen has argued,

2538-586: The term may be an innovation of the Sassanians . The earliest mentions of Airyanem Vaejah are found in the Avesta , in particular in the Vendidad and several of the Yashts . In the Yashts, Airyanem Vaejah is most prominently named in the Aban Yasht as the place where both Ahura Mazda and Zarathustra sacrifice to Anahita : Unto her did the Maker Ahura Mazda offer up a sacrifice in

2592-411: The trees. Winter falls there, with the worst of all plagues. This connection between Airyanem Vaejah and winter is further described in Vd. 2.20-23. In these verses, Ahura Mazda is meeting there with Yima and instructs him to build a shelter for the winter that Angra Mainyu would soon unleash upon the material world. The harsh description of Airyanem Vaejah in Vd. 1.3, however, seems to conflict with

2646-432: The vowels, which are mostly derived from Greek minuscules. A few letters were free inventions, as were also the symbols used for punctuation. Also, the Avestan alphabet has one letter that has no corresponding sound in the Avestan language; the character for /l/ (a sound that Avestan does not have) was added to write Pazend texts. The Avestan script is alphabetic , and the large number of letters suggests that its design

2700-535: The wisdom of the tongue, with the holy spells, with the speech, with the deeds, with the libations, and with the rightly-spoken words. The other verses in which Airyanem Vaejah occurs in the Yashts follow the same structure, differing only in the deity to whom the sacrifice is offered. While in Yt. 5.104, Zarathustra is sacrificing to Anahita, this is changed to Drvaspa in the Drvasp Yasht (Yt. 9.25), and to Ashi in

2754-462: Was due to the need to render the orally recited texts with high phonetic precision. The correct enunciation of the liturgies was (and still is) considered necessary for the prayers to be effective. The Zoroastrians of India, who represent one of the largest surviving Zoroastrian communities worldwide, also transcribe Avestan in Brahmi -based scripts. This is a relatively recent development first seen in

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2808-401: Was localized in the northeastern parts of Greater Iran according to Paul Maximilian Tedesco  [ de ] (1921), other scholars have favored regarding Avestan as originating in eastern parts. Scholars traditionally classify Iranian languages as "old", "middle" and "new" according to their age, and as "eastern" or "western" according to geography, and within this framework Avestan

2862-460: Was proposed early on by Wilhelm Geiger and Josef Markwart and a number of arguments have been voiced in its favor over the years. First, Airyanem Vaejah is described as having long and cold winters and Khwarezm is among the coldest regions of Greater Iran . Next, Airyanem Vaejah is described as the original homeland of the Iranians and Khwarezm has been proposed as an early center of Iranian civilization . This point has been widely discussed within

2916-556: Was traditionally based in the 6th century BC meaning that Old Avestan would have been spoken during the early Achaemenid period . Given that a substantial time must have passed between Old Avestan and Young Avestan, the latter would have been spoken somewhere during the Hellenistic or the Parthian period of Iranian history. However, more recent scholarship has increasingly shifted to an earlier dating. The literature presents

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