Avesta

  • The Avesta is the main Book of Zoroastrianism, written in the Avestan language (also called Zend), which developed in Bronze Age Persia.
  • The oldest surviving manuscript dates from 1,323 CE.

Description

  • The last complete manuscript appears to have been burnt in during the occupation of Persepolis by Alexander the Great in 330 BCE.
  • A master copy was produced under the Sassanid Empire (224-651 CE) and is known as the Sassanian Archetype. It is also now lost.
  • The oldest surviving manuscript of the Avesta now dates from 1,323 CE. It would appear to have preserved the original canonical texts, but three quarters of the original texts have been lost, mainly those concerning law, history and myth.

The Books of the Avesta

  • The following are some of the main works of the 21 books of the Avesta:
    1. Yasna
    2. Visperad
    3. Vendidad
    4. Yashts
    5. Siroza
    6. Nyayeshes
    7. Gahs
    8. Afrinagans
    9. Fragments
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