See Avesta Municipality for the Swedish town Avesta is a Municipality in Dalarna County, in central Sweden. ...

Yasna 28.1 (Bodleian MS J2)

The Avesta is a collection of the sacred texts of ancient Persia belonging to the Zoroastrian religion. They are preserved in two languages, the more ancient, referred to as Zend Avesta in the Avestan language, the oldest attested Iranian language still very closely related to Sanskrit. The younger texts are in Pahlavi, a Middle Iranian language. Persian art is conscious of a great past, and monumental in many respects. ... Zoroastrianism was adapted from an earlier, polytheistic faith by Zarathushtra (Zoroaster) in Persia very roughly around 1000 BC (although, in the absence of written records, some scholars estimates are as late as 600 BC). ... Yasna 28. ... The Iranian languages are a part of the Indo European language family. ... The Sanskrit language ( संस्कृता वाक्) is one of the earliest attested members of the Indo-European language family and is not only a classical language, but also an official language of India. ... Pahlavi is a term that refers: (1) to a script used in Iran derived from the Aramaic script, and (2) more broadly, to Middle Persian, the Middle Iranian language written in this script. ...

The Avestas were collated over several hundred years. The oldest portion, the Gathas are the hymns thought to have been composed by Zoroaster himself. The later portions constitute elaborations of Zoroastrian thinking along with detailed descriptions of ritual practices. The texts were transmitted orally for centuries, with the earliest written fixation known dating to 1278. The Gathas form the oldest part of Avesta, the holy scripture of the Zoroastrian faith, possibly composed by Zarathushtra himself, making them the oldest attestation of an Iranian language. ... Zoroaster was a Iranian prophet, one of the great teachers of the East and the founder of Zoroastrianism, which was the national religion of Persia from the time of the Achaemenidae to the close of the Sassanid period. ... Events August 26 - Ladislaus IV of Hungary and Rudolph I of Germany defeat the Bohemians in the Battle of Marchfield. ...

According to a Parsi legend the full text of the Avesta was burned by Alexander the Great at Ecbatana when he invaded Persia. It was later only partly reconstructed from the memories of Zoroastrian priests. This story is not generally accepted by scholars now, but it is acknowledged that the existing text of the Avesta is a fraction of the full texts that existed in antiquity, before the decline of the Zoroastrian faith. a person from Pars (the middle-Persian word for Fars), a region now within the geographical boundaries of Iran, and is roughly the original homeland of the Persian people. ... Bust of Alexander III in the British Museum. ... Ecbatana (Hañgmatana in Old Persian, Agbatana in Aeschylus, written Agamtanu by Nabonidos, and Agamatanu at Behistun) was the capital of Astyages (Istuvegü), which was taken by Cyrus the Great in the sixth year of Nabonidos (549 BC). ... Persian art is conscious of a great past, and monumental in many respects. ...

History

The term Avesta or Apasta (Old Persian cuneiform Abastâ) dates to Sassanian times, probably meaning "law". The word Zend or Zand originally meant "commentary" or "translation", i.e. referring to Pahlavi glosses added to the Avestan text. Therefore, the Zend language was properly Pahlavi. The fact that the more ancient text is now referred to as Zend is a modern misunderstanding. Sir William Jones (in 1789) was told by a brahmin that the letters (the script) of the books was called Zend, and the language Avesta, and Anquetil Duperron (in 1759) was told that Zend was the name of the language of the more ancient writings. The confusion became then too universal in Western scholarship to be reversed, and Zend Avesta, although a misnomer, is still used to denote the older texts. Sketch of the first column of the Behistun Inscription Old Persian is the oldest attested Persid language. ... Head of king Shapur II (Sasanian dynasty A.D. 4th century). ... William Jones is a common name, especially in Wales, and there have been several well-known individuals of this name, including: William Jones (judge) (1566-1640) William Jones (Great Britain statesman), Attorney General for England and Wales during the 17th century Sir William Jones (mathematician) (~1675-1749), father of Sir... 1789 was a common year starting on Thursday (see link for calendar). ... Young Indian brahmachari Brahmin A Brahmin (less often Brahman) is a member of the Hindu priestly caste. ... Events January 11 - In Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the first American life insurance company is incorporated. ...

The texts became available to European scholarship comparatively late. Anquetil-Duperron travelled to East India in 1755, and discovered the text in Parsi communities, and published a French translation in 1771, based on a Farsi translation supplied to him by a Parsi priest. The Republic of India is the second most populous country in the world, with a population of more than one billion, and is the seventh largest country by geographical area. ... Events January 25 - Moscow University established. ... a person from Pars (the middle-Persian word for Fars), a region now within the geographical boundaries of Iran, and is roughly the original homeland of the Persian people. ... Events January 22 - Spain cedes the Falkland Islands to England. ... This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. ...

The manuscripts of the Zend Avesta were chiefly collected by Rasmus Rask on a visit to Bombay in 1820, who handed them to the University library of Copenhagen. Other manuscripts are preserved in the East-India-house, the British Museum, Oxford and in Paris. Rask's examination of the Avestan language (Über das Alter und die Echtheit der Zendsprache, 1826) first established that the texts must indeed be considered the remnants of a much larger literature of sacred texts of ancient Iran and Bactria. Rasmus Christian Rask Rasmus Christian Rask (November 22, 1787 - November 14, 1832), Danish scholar and philologist, was born at Brandekilde in the island of Funen or Fyn in Denmark. ... Mumbai, formerly known as Bombay, is the capital of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the most populous Indian city. ... 1820 was a leap year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar). ... City nickname: none Location in Denmark Area  - Total  - Water 526 km² xxx km² xx% Population  - City ( 2004)  - Metropolitan  - Density 502,204 1,116,979 954/km² [including water] xxx/km² [land only] Time zone Eastern: UTC+1 Latitude Longitude 55°43 N 12°34 W Copenhagen ( Danish: København) is... The main entrance to the British Museum The British Museum is one of the worlds greatest and most famous museums. ... This article is about the city of Oxford in England. ... The Eiffel Tower has become the symbol of Paris throughout the world. ... Events February 11 - University College London is founded, under the name University of London. ... Iran (Persian: ایران) is a Middle Eastern country located in southwestern Asia. ... Bactria (Bactriana) was the ancient Greek name of the country between the range of the Hindu Kush (Caucasus Indicus) and the Amu Darya (Oxus), with the capital Bactra (now Balkh). ...

Contents

There are two compendia, called Venidad sadah (consisting of the Yasna, Vispered and Venidad) and Khurdah Avesta (the "short Avesta"), who between them contain all Zend writings, but their contents is by no means fixed or canonical as in the case of the Bible, and they are rather collections for liturgical use, so that there is no received ordering of the different books. The texts themselves are in good correspondence across the various manuscripts, although the spelling varies significantly. There are three distinct books, the Yasna, the Vispered and the Venidad. The Yasna seem to be the oldest of these, and are quoted in the others. Individual hymns are called Yashts (the Hom Yasht is part of the Yasna, forming chapters 9–11). The Gathas form the oldest part of the Yasna. See Soma (disambiguation) for other uses. ... The Gathas form the oldest part of Avesta, the holy scripture of the Zoroastrian faith, possibly composed by Zarathushtra himself, making them the oldest attestation of an Iranian language. ...

Yasna

The Yasna (Pahlavi Izeschneh) or "oblations" (Sanskrit yajna) consist of 72 chapters called Hâ. They are mainly invocations of various deities. Chapters 28–53 are the oldest part of the text, containing the Gâthâs (songs), the only remaining direct testimony of the religion taught by Zoroaster. This article needs cleanup. ...

• 9–11 Hom Yasht
• 28–34 Ahunavaiti Gatha
• 35–42 Yasna Haptanghaiti
• 43–46 Ushtavaiti Gatha
• 47–50 Spentamainyush Gatha
• 51 Vohukhshathra Gatha
• 53 Vahishtoishti Gatha

Vispered

The Vispered (from vîspe ratavo, "all lords") consists of 23 sections (kards). They are prayers, similar to the Yasna, but much shorter.

Venidad

The word Venidad is a corruption of Avestan vî-daêvô-dâta, "given against the devs (demons)", rendered in Pahlavi Juddivdad). The text consists of 22 Fargards. They are fragments with various scopes, arranged in the form of dialogues between Ahura Mazda and Zoroaster. The first Fargard contains a creation myth, the second the legend of Yima and the Golden Age, the remaining Fargards are mainly concerned with laws of religious purity and the pencances required to atone for various sins.

Yashts

The 24 Yashts are invocations of individual deities. They are an important source of Persian mythology (The older Hom Yasht is part of the Yasna and not counted among the 24 Yashts.) The beliefs and practices of the culturally and linguistically related group of ancient peoples who inhabited the Iranian Plateau and its borderlands, as well as areas of Central Asia from the Black Sea to Khotan (modern Ho-tien, China), form Persian mythology. ...

• 1. Ormazd
• 2. Haptan
• 3. Ardibehisht
• 4. Khordaud
• 5. Abaun
• 6. Khurshied (Hymn to the Sun)
• 7. Mauh (Hymn to the Moon)
• 8. Tishter (Hymn to the Star Sirius)
• 9. Gosh
• 10. Mihir (Hymn to Mithra)
• 11. Serosh
• 12. Rashnu
• 13. Fravardean (Hymn to the Guardian Angels)
• 14. Bahram
• 15. Ram
• 16. Din
• 17. Ashi
• 18. Ashtad
• 19. Zamyad
• 20. Vanant (Hymn to the Star Vega)
• 21. (Fragment, MS K20)
• 22. (Fragment)
• 23. Afrin-Paighambar-Zartusht (corrupt)
• 24 Vishtasp (K4, L5, corrupt)

Ahura Mazda (Persian هرمز (Hormoz) also transcripted as Ormazad, Ormuzd, Hormuz, Ormus, Ohrmizd) - The Wise Lord - is the god of the Zoroastrian religion in Persia. ... A Sun is the star at the centre of a solar system. ... Crust composition Oxygen 43% Silicon 21% Aluminium 10% Calcium 9% Iron 9% Magnesium 5% Titanium 2% Nickel 0. ... This article is about the star. ... Mitra is an important deity of Persian and Indic culture; he appears in the Vedas as one of the Adityas, a solar deity and the god of honesty, friendship, and contracts. ... This article is about Vega, the star. ...

Other texts

Other, partly fragmentary, texts of the Khorda Avesta.

• Nyaish
  • 1. Khurshied
  • 2. Mihir
  • 3. Mauh
  • 4. Abaun
  • 5. Atäsh
  • 6. Neiräng
• Afrigans 1–3
• Gahs
• Sirozeh

References

• N. L. Westergaard, Zendavesta, or the religious books of the Zoroastrians, Copenhagen, 1852–54.

External links

• avesta.org