Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-wg55d Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-05-01T03:19:36.877Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

A Gāthic Rite? A Critique of the Cosmological Interpretation of the Gāthās I

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 January 2022

Amir Ahmadi
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

In the last few decades ritual interpretation of the Gāthās has replaced the biblical one as the dominant paradigm. The emphasis on the central role of ritual in the Avesta is well justified. This realization has given rise to the question of the role and meaning of ritual in the Gāthās. Marijan Molé had tried to argue that the Gāthās in fact describe and accompany a rite whose purpose was the preservation/renovation of the cosmic order. Students of the Gāthās working within the new paradigm have taken up Molé’s general frame. They have tried to show that the Gāthās, collectively or individually, is the text of a particular rite that served, among others, to preserve the cosmic order, especially the daily rise of the sun. The article questions the validity of this thesis. Its focus is on the version of the thesis we find in a number of recent publications by Jean Kellens. He tries to show that the first Gāthā (Ahunauuaitī) describes a unitary pre-dawn ritual that comprised a haoma rite and an animal sacrifice, and had cosmological and eschatological pretensions. His textual analyses and arguments are examined in some detail. The article concludes that Kellens's attempt must be deemed unsuccessful.

Type
Articles
Information
Iranian Studies , Volume 50 , Issue 2 , March 2017 , pp. 199 - 221
Copyright
Copyright © Association For Iranian Studies, Inc 2017

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Ahmadi, A. “Avestan xratu-.” Iranian Studies 47, no. 6 (2014): 1–11. doi: 10.1080/00210862.2014.942564CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ahmadi, A. The Daēva Cult in the Gāthās: An Ideological Archaeology of Zoroastrianism. London: Routledge, 2015.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ahmadi, A. “haṇt- and haiθiia- in the Old Avestan Texts.” Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society 26, no. 4 (2016): 741–755.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ahmadi, A. “What is aa-?.” Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies 78, no. 2 (2015): 293–315. doi: 10.1017/S0041977X1500004XCrossRefGoogle Scholar
Assmann, J. Religion and Cultural Memory. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 2006.Google Scholar
Bartholomae, C. Altiranisches Wörterbuch. Berlin: Walter de Gruyter, 1961.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bottéro, J. Religion in Ancient Mesopotamia. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press, 2001.Google Scholar
Boyce, M. A History of Zoroastrianism. Vol. 1. Leiden: Brill, 1975.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bremmer, J. Greek Religion and Culture, the Bible and the Ancient Near East. Leiden: Brill, 2008.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Burkert, W. Greek Religion. Oxford: Blackwell, 1985.Google Scholar
Cantera, A. “Ethics.” In The Wiley Blackwell Companion to Zoroastrianism, edited by Stausberg, M. and Vevaina, Y. S., 315–332. Oxford: Wiley Blackwell: 2015.Google Scholar
Cantera, A. “How Many Chapters Does the ‘Yasna of the Seven Chapters’ Have?” Iranian Studies 45, no. 2 (2012): 217–227.Google Scholar
Cantera, A. “Repetitions of the Ahuna Vairiia and Animal Sacrifice in the Zoroastrian Long Liturgy.” Estudios Iranios y Turanios 1 (2014): 25–29.Google Scholar
Cantera, A. “Talking with God: The Zoroastrian Ham.parsti or Intercalation Ceremonies.” Journal Asiatique 301, no. 1 (2013): 85–138.Google Scholar
Dalley, S. Myths from Mesopotamia: Creation, The Flood, Gilgamesh, and Others. New York: Oxford University Press, 2008.Google Scholar
De Blois, F. “The Persian Calendar.” Iran 34 (1996): 39–54. doi: 10.2307/4299943CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Doniger O'Flaherty, W. The Rig Veda: An Anthology. London: Penguin, 1981.Google Scholar
Eliade, M. Cosmos and History: The Myth of the Eternal Return. New York: Harper, 1985.Google Scholar
Erkoth, G. “Meat in Ancient Greece: Sacrificial, Sacred or Secular?” Food & History 5, no. 1 (2007): 249–272. doi: 10.1484/J.FOOD.1.100193Google Scholar
Graf, F. “What Is New about Greek Sacrifice?” In Kykeon: Studies in Honour of H. S. Versnel, edited by Horstmanshoff, H. F. J., Singor, H. W., van Straten, F., and Strubbe, J. H. M., 113–126. Leiden: Brill, 2002.Google Scholar
Heesterman, J. C.The Broken World of Sacrifice. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press, 1993.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Henrichs, A. “Animal Sacrifice in Greek Tragedy: Ritual, Metaphor, Problematizations.” In Greek and Roman Animal Sacrifice: Ancient Victims, Modern Observers, edited by Faraone, C. A. and Naiden, F. S., 180–194. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2012.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Herrenschmidt, C. “Zarathustra's Ritual: Conserving a Charismatic Domination?” History of Religions 43, no. 1 (2003): 1–17. doi: 10.1086/381320CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hintze, A. “Kümmel, Martin, Stativ und Passivaorist im Indoiranischen.” Indo-Iranian Journal 44 (2001): 269–274.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hintze, A. “The Return of the Fravashis in the Avestan Calendar.” In Literarische Stoffe und ihre Gestaltung in mitteliranischer Zeit, edited by Durkin-Meisterernst, D., Reck, C., and Weber, D., 99–121. Wiesbaden: Reichert, 2009.Google Scholar
Hintze, A. A Zoroastrian Liturgy. The Worship in Seven Chapters (Yasna 35–41). Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz, 2007.Google Scholar
Hoffner, H. A.Hittite Myths. Atlanta, GA: Scholars, 1998.Google Scholar
Kellens, J. “L'Airiiaman Išiia.” In Munus amicitiae Norbert Oettinger, edited by Melchert, H. C., Rieken, E., and Steer, T., 121–125. Ann Arbor, MI: Beech Stave Press, 2014.Google Scholar
Kellens, J. “Un avis sur vieil-avestique mainiiu-.” Münchener Studien zur Sprachwissenschaft 51 (1990): 97–123.Google Scholar
Kellens, J. Essays on Zarathustra and Zoroastrianism. Translated and edited by Skjærvø, P. O.. Costa Mesa, CA: Mazda Publishers, 2000.Google Scholar
Kellens, J. “La Gâthâ Ahunauuaitī dans l'attente de l'aube.” Journal Asiatique 302, no. 2 (2014): 259–302.Google Scholar
Kellens, J. “Le jour se lève à la fin de la Gâthâ Ahunauuaitī.” Journal Asiatique 301, no. 1 (2013): 53–84.Google Scholar
Kellens, J., and Pirart, É.. “La strophe des jumeaux,” Journal Asiatique 285, no. 1 (1997): 31–71. doi: 10.2143/JA.285.1.556527CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kellens, J., and Pirart, É.. Les textes vieil-avestiques, vol. 1: Introduction, texte et traduction. Wiesbaden: Reichert, 1988.Google Scholar
Kotwal, F., and Boyd, J.. A Persian Offering, the Yasna: A Zoroastrian High Liturgy. Paris: Peeters, 1991.Google Scholar
Lincoln, B. “The Indo-European Myth of Creation.” History of Religions 15, no. 2 (1975): 121–145. doi: 10.1086/462739CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Malamoud, C. Cooking the World. Delhi: Oxford University Press, 1996.Google Scholar
Mayrhofer, M. Etymologisches Wörterbuch des Altindoarischen. 3 vols. Heidelberg: Carl Winter, 1992–2001.Google Scholar
Molé, M. Culte, mythe et cosmologie dans l'Iran ancien. Paris: PUF, 1963.Google Scholar
Naiden, F. S. “Blessèd Are the Parasites.” In Greek and Roman Animal Sacrifice: Ancient Victims, Modern Observers, edited by Faraone, C. A. and Naiden, F. S., 55–83. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2012.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pakzad, F. Bundahišn: Zoroastrische Kosmogonie und Kosmologie. Tehran: Centre for the Great Islamic Encyclopaedia, 2005.Google Scholar
Pirart, É. L'Aphrodite iranienne. Paris: L'Harmattan, 2006.Google Scholar
Pirart, É. “Le sacrifice humain: réflexions sur la philosophie religieuse indo-iranienne ancienne.” Journal Asiatique 284, no. 1 (1996): 1–35. doi: 10.2143/JA.284.1.556542CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Razmjou, S. “The Lan Ceremony and Other Ritual Ceremonies in the Achaemenid Period: The Persepolis Fortification Tablets.” Iran 42 (2004): 103–117. doi: 10.2307/4300666CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Redfield, J. “Animal Sacrifice in Comedy: An Alternative Point of View.” In Greek and Roman Animal Sacrifice: Ancient Victims, Modern Observers, edited by Faraone, C. A. and Naiden, F. S., 167–179. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2012.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Scheid, J. “Roman Animal Sacrifice and the System of Being.” In Greek and Roman Animal Sacrifice: Ancient Victims, Modern Observers, edited by Faraone, C. A. and Naiden, F. S., 84–95. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2012.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Skjærvø, P. O. “Ahura Mazdā and Ārmaiti, Heaven and Earth, in the Old Avesta.” Journal of the American Oriental Society 122, no. 2 (2002): 399–410. doi: 10.2307/3087636CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Skjærvø, P. O. “The Avestan Yasna: Ritual and Myth.” In Religious Texts in Iranian Languages, edited by Pedersen, C. V. and Vahman, F., 53–80. Copenhagen: Det Kongelige Danske Videnskabernes Selskab, 2006.Google Scholar
Skjærvø, P. O. “Gifts, Debts, and Counter-Gifts in the Ancient Zoroastrian Ritual.” In Classical Arabic Humanities in Their Own Terms, edited by Gruendler, B. and Cooperson, M, 493–520. Leiden: Brill, 2008.Google Scholar
Skjærvø, P. O. “Truth and Deception in Ancient Iran.” In Ātaš-E Dorun. The Fire Within, edited by Vajifdar, F. and Cereti, C., 383–434. Bloomington, IN: 1st Books Library, 2003.Google Scholar
Skjærvø, P. O. “The Videvdad: Its Ritual-Mythical Significance.” In The Age of the Parthians, edited by Curtis, V. S. and Stewart, S., 105–140. London: I. B. Tauris, 2007.Google Scholar
Smith, J. Z.Drudgery Divine. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press, 1990.Google Scholar
Smith, J. Z.Map Is Not Territory: Studies in the History of Religions. Leiden: Brill, 1978.Google ScholarPubMed
Traunecker, C. The Gods of Egypt. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 2001.Google Scholar
Tremblay, X. “Les prépalatales indo-européennes devant dentale en iranien.” In Zarathushtra entre l'Inde et l'Iran, edited by Pirart, É. and Tremblay, X., 327–359. Wiesbaden: Reichert, 2009.Google Scholar
Versnel, H. S. “Greek Myth and Ritual: the Case of Kronos.” In Interpretations of Greek Mythology, edited by Bremmer, J., 121–152. London: Croom Helm, 1987.Google Scholar
West, M. L. “On Editing the Gāthās.” Iran 46 (2008): 121–134.CrossRefGoogle Scholar