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(Selected precepts of the ancient sages), a post-Sasanian compendium of apothegms intended to instruct every Zoroastrian male, upon his attaining the age of fifteen years, in fundamental religious and ethical principles, as well as in the daily duties incumbent upon him. A version of this article is available in print Volume V, Fascicle 5, pp. 559-560 ČĪDAG ANDARZ Ī PŌRYŌTKĒŠĀN (Selected precepts of the ancient sages), a post-Sasanian compendium of apothegms intended to instruct every Zoroastrian male, upon his attaining the age of fifteen years, in fun…

philosophy in the pre-Islamic period. For philosophy in the Islamic period, see also articles under individual authors and schools, e.g., AVICENNA, FĀRĀBĪ, ILLUMINATIONISM, ISFAHAN SCHOOL OF PHILOSOPHY, and MOLLĀ ṢADRĀ. A version of this article is available in print Volume IX, Fascicle 2, pp. 176-182 FALSAFA, philosophy. i. PRE-ISLAMIC PHILOSOPHY Pre-Islamic philosophy, which may be called Mazdean philosophy, is a syncretic system incorporating various Greek thought, predominantly Peripatetic and Neo-Platonic. Historical evidence traces its or…

i. In pre-Islamic period. ii. Babylonian and Egyptian documents in the Achaemenid period. iii. In the modern period. A version of this article is available in print Volume VII, Fascicle 5, pp. 457-461 i. IN PRE-ISLAMIC PERIODS The function of a notarial institution is not explicitly set forth in the extant records for all pre-Islamic periods, but allusions to procedures for drawing up and executing documents suggest the existence of some sort of notarial practice. The Achaemenid period. In the Achaemenid period documents related to private and social affairs were registe…

(< Ar.-Pers. dahr “time, eternity”), a theological term referring either to an atheist or to an adherent of the doctrine that the universe had no beginning in time. A version of this article is available in print Volume VI, Fascicle 6, pp. 587-590 i. In Middle Persian Literature Dahrī, in the sense of “atheist” or “materialist,” one who derives the universe from Infinite Time (in the abstract), occurs in a few Middle Persian texts of the 9th century. The term appears, together with those for other skeptics, in Dēnkard 3.225 (ed. Madan, p. 250; de Menasce, 1973, p. 237): “He who does not believe ( a…

Middle Persian term, in Mazdean theological and philosophical texts as “material becoming, genesis,” the counterpart of āfrīdag “spiritually/ideally created." A version of this article is available in print Volume IV, Fascicle 5, pp. 489-490 BŪDAG, a Middle Persian philosophical and legal term with specialized meanings. Formally it is a nominal derivative in - ak/g of the perfect participle of būdan “to become,” meaning “be/become (liable), becoming.” The philosophical aspect. Būdag occurs in Mazdean theological and philosophical texts in the sense of “material b…

This series of articles covers children and child-rearing in Iran and Iranian lands. A version of this article is available in print Volume V, Fascicle 4, pp. 403-423 CHILDREN i. Childbirth in Zoroastrianism The Zoroastrian community has traditionally regarded marriage as having a threefold function: to propagate the human race, to spread the Zoroastrian faith, and to contribute to the victory of the good cause (Sanjana, p. 508). The birth of a child is viewed as of intrinsic benefit to the whole community because it furthers e…

(Mid. Pers. diz ī nibišt “fortress of archives,” lit. “writing”), supposedly one of two repositories in which copies of the Avesta and its exegesis ( zand) were deposited for safekeeping. A version of this article is available in print Volume VII, Fascicle 4, pp. 348-350 DEŽĪ NEBEŠT (Mid. Pers. diz ī nibišt “fortress of archives,” lit. “writing”), supposedly one of two repositories (the other being ganj ī šāhīgān, ms.: špykʾn “royal treasury”) in which copies of the Avesta and its exegesis ( zand) were deposited for safekeeping. Five somewhat different versions of this legend…

( dād “law,” with the formative suffix - stān), a Middle Persian term used with denotaꏂtions and connotations that vary with the legal, reliꏂgious, philosophical, and social context. A version of this article is available in print Volume VI, Fascicle 5, pp. 549-550 DĀDESTĀN ( dād “law,” with the formative suffix - stān), a Middle Persian term used with denotations and connotations that vary with the legal, religious, philosophical, and social context. As a legal term it has four referents. First, it refers to civil law, as distinct from dād (canon law) or kardag (traditional orthodox la…

respectively judge, administrator of justice, lawgiver, lit., “bearer of law.” A version of this article is available in print Volume VI, Fascicle 5, pp. 557-559 DĀDWAR, DĀDWARĪH (respectively judge, administrator of justice, lawgiver, lit., “bearer of law”; Man. Mid. Pers. dʾywr, Man. Parth. dʾdbʾr, Inscr. Mid. Pers. dʾtwbl, dʾtwbry, Inscr. Parth. dʾtbr, dtbr, OIr. dāta-bara-, Arm. lw. datavor, Aram. lw. dtbr, Talmudic dwʾr, dwwr; and legal decision, judgment, e.g., pad dādwarīh andar ēstādan “to sit in judgment”). Judges were supposed to be well versed not only in the …

i. In Zoroastrianism. ii. In Manicheism. iii. In Persian. A version of this article is available in print Volume VIII, Fascicle 4, pp. 357-360 ELEMENTS i. IN ZOROASTRIANISM In Mazdean cosmogony two diverse accounts are presented regarding the elements of the material world, the traditional and the syncretic. Both proclaim creation to be an emanation from the divine essence, the Endless Light ( asar rōšnīh), through the omnipresent fire. The traditional accounts are set out mainly in the first and third chapters of the Bundahišn (q.v.). The first chapter is a general description…

(law book), one of the three divisions of the Avesta, comprising seven nasks, subdiꏂvided into the five strictly legal ( dādīg) nasks ( Nikātum, Duzd-sar-nizad, Huspāram, Sakātum, and Vidēvdād) and the two disparate nasks, Čihrdād and Bagān Yašt. A version of this article is available in print Volume VI, Fascicle 5, pp. 546-549 DĀD NASK (law book), one of the three divisions of the Avesta, comprising seven nasks, subdivided into the five strictly legal ( dādīg) nasks ( Nikātum, Duzd-sar-nizad, Huspāram, Sakātum, and Vidēvdād) and the two disparate nasks, Čihrdād and Bagān Yašt ( Dēnkard,…

a Middle Persian legal term denoting a widow who at the death of her “authorized” ( pādixšāyīhā) husband without issue was obliged to enter into a levirate marriage ( čakarīh) in order to provide him with male offspring ( frazand). A version of this article is available in print Volume IV, Fascicle 6, pp. 647-649 ČAKAR, a Middle Persian legal term denoting a widow who at the death of her “authorized” ( pādixšāyīhā, q.v.) husband without issue was obliged (see ayōkēn; būdag) to enter into a levirate marriage ( čakarīh) in order to provide him with male offspring ( frazand). (The pādixšāyīhā marr…

in the Sasanian period dastwar had a wide range of meanings, primarily denoting “one in authority, having power”; from that time, the semantic range was increasingly widened to convey different meanings at different times. A version of this article is available in print Volume VII, Fascicle 1, pp. 111-112 DASTŪR (Pahl. dstwbl, Man. Mid. Pers. dstwr, Man. Parth. dstbr, Pāzand and NPers. dastūr, all < OIr. * dasta-bara-(?), the first element of which seems to be cognate with Av. dąstvā- “dogma, doctrine” < dąh-, *OIr. dans- “to teach”; cf. Man. Pers. dastan “powerful,” Man. Parth. dast “cap…

legal termination of marriage. In the following series of articles only those communities are taken into consideration which are either Iranian or are focused in Persia. For this reason Jewish and Christian practices have not been included. A version of this article is available in print Volume VII, Fascicle 4, 5, pp. 443-451 i. IN THE ACHAEMENID PERIOD There is hardly any available information on divorce in Persia itself during the Achaemenid period; there is evidence only for certain of the western satrapies of the Achaemenid empire. It can be presum…

veterinary medicine. A version of this article is available in print Volume VI, Fascicle 6, pp. 619-623 i. In the Pre-Islamic Period Widespread and developed animal husbandry, which was a prominent feature of Iranian economic and social life in ancient times, could not have prospered as it did without commensurate veterinary practice. The horse (see asb), ox (see cattle), and dog (see also domestic animals) were venerated allies of the Iranian horseman and herdsman. The cow, as the benign source of livelihood, and th…

(usually ʿaqd), legally enforceable undertakings between two or more consenting parties. A version of this article is available in print Volume VI, Fascicle 2, 3, pp. 221-226 i. In the Achaemenid Period Contracts from the Achaemenid period have not yet come to light in Persia proper, though they are quite common from Achaemenid territories in Mesopotamia and Egypt. These contracts are written in Babylonian, Aramaic, and demotic Egyptian and generally conform to the legal terminology current in those places. The absence of any …

(Av. dāta- “law, right, rule, regulation, statute, command, institution, decision”), in the Zoroastrian tradition the most general term for law. A version of this article is available in print Volume VI, Fascicle 5, pp. 544-545 DĀD (Av. dāta- “law, right, rule, regulation, statute, command, institution, decision” [ AirWb., col. 726]; Mid. Pers. dād “law, canon, regulation, rule, principle, justice, decree, ordinance, attribute”), in the Zoroastrian tradition the most general term for law, in contrast to dādestān “civil law, justice, judicial decision, judgment” and kardag “tra…

(Exposition [of Zoroastrian doctrines] by Ēmēd, son of Ašawahišt), a major 10th-century Pahlavi work comprising forty-four questions (pursišn). A version of this article is available in print Volume VIII, Fascicle 4, pp. 413-414 ĒMĒDĪ AŠAWAHIŠTĀN, RIVĀYATĪ (Exposition [of Zoroastrian doctrines] by Ēmēd, son of Ašawahišt), a major 10th-century Pahlavi work comprising forty-four questions ( pursišn) put by a priest ( āsrōn), Ādur Gušnasb, son of Mihr-ātaš, grandson of Ādur Gušnasb, to the saint ( hufraward) Ēmēd, son of Ašawahišt, the high priest ( mōbedān mōbed) of the Zoroastri…

hell. A version of this article is available in print Volume VII, Fascicle 6, pp. 613-615 DŪZAḴ (Av. dužaŋhu: Yt. 19.44, daožahu-: Vd. 19.47; OIr. *daušaxva-; Mid. Pers. dwšḥwˈ/ došaxw/ dušox; Inscriptional Middle Persian dwšḥwy; Man. Mid. Pers. dwšwx/dušox; Man. Parth. dwjx/dōžax; Arm. lw. džox; lit., “evil existence”) “hell”. In the Zoroastrian doctrine of the future life dūzaḵ; consists of a series of grades, extending to the restoration ( frašegird), in which the damned are punished for their earthly misdeeds, in order to bring about their spiritual and corpo…

theological and metaphysical term with a variety of meanings: “the sum of man’s spiritual attributes and individuality, vision, inner self, conscience, religion.” A version of this article is available in print Volume VII, Fascicle 3, pp. 279-281 DĒN (Av. daēnā, trisyllabic in Old Av., disyllabic in Young Av.; Mid. Pers. dēn; NPers. dīn), theological and metaphysical term with a variety of meanings: “the sum of man’s spiritual attributes and individuality, vision, inner self, conscience, religion.” In the Gathas daēnā (which is only “ahuric”) denotes “vision, conscience, …