where was zoroaster's native place?
TRANSCRIPT
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Where Was Zoroaster's Native Place?
Author(s): A. V. Williams JacksonSource: Journal of the American Oriental Society, Vol. 15 (1893), pp. 221-232Published by: American Oriental SocietyStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/592356 .
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ARTICLE
VII.
WHERE
WAS
ZOROASTER'S
ATIVE
PLACE
BY PROFESSOR. V. W1LLIAMS JACKSON,
OF COLUlEBIA
COLLEGE, NEW YOR1l
CITY.
Presented
to the Society May 15th,
1891.
WITHegard
o thenativeplace
of the
founders f three
of
the
great Oriental eligions
Buddhism,Confucianistrl,
Mo-
hamlnedaniszllhe authoritiesremostly n agreement;with
reference
o Zoroastrianism,
owever,
he case is far
di:fferent.
Among
he ancientGreeks
and
Romanswe are told
thatseven
cities
claimed
o be the
birth-placef the
poet EIomer;
f we
take
into account
he
variousopinionson
the question
f the
native
country
f the prophetZoroaster,
he samemay also
be
said
of him. The question
n regard
o Zoroaster's
olne s
one
of illterest,
or with it
is connected
he question
wherewe
are
to place he cradle
of the
Wfazdeaneligion.
The
subject
has
given
rise to theliveliest
dispute.
Arguments ave heenbroughtorward y some o show hat
we onustplace
the holne
of Zoroastern
the east
of Iran, n
Bactria;he is
accordingly
ften styled
"the Bactrian
age."
By others
t is
claimed hat he
came rom
the westof Irail,
or
rather
roTnMedia, ome
say from
Persia. In spite
of these
contradictory
iews, he
difflculty
may be overcome,
t is
be-
lieved,andtile
probletn
may be solved, f
the subject
be looked
at in
its right
ight. Both
sides- re in part
wrong,
both sides
in part
right.
The fallacy, t may
at the
outsetbe stated,
ies
iil assuming
hat the scene
of the
prophet's
ealactivity
and
of hisrnissionmust likewisehavebeenhisnativeplace. It is
with
this wordof caution
n mind
hat all the statements
nd
theories n the
subject
will herebe examined,
nd he
endeavor
willbe made o
clearaway
he difficulty.
Theauthorities
f antiquity
o whom
we may
look for
in-
formation
n thesubject
andwhose
tatementsorm
he source
frolnwhich
OUr views
are deduced, re- -
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222
A.
E.
W.
Ja(3kson,
a.
C:lassical
t.
Oriental.
The principal passageshave alreadybeen collectedby Win-
discllmann,
Zoe
oawf>?,sche
t?hdiyen,
.
270
ff.;
but
some
points
in
the
later
tradition
have
b-een
overlooked.
As
important
deduc-
tions
may
be
drawn
froln
these
latter
it
is
useful
to
add
them,
and
to
arrange
anew
all
the
nlaterial
that
bears
as
evidence
on
the
subject.
The
allusions
o
the
country
of
Zoroaster
we
may
therefore
take
up
in
detail,
presenting,
first,
statements
refer-
ring
to
Bactria,
or
the
east
of
Iran;
second,
allusiorls
o
Zoro-
aster
as
belonging
in
the
west,
in
lKedia
or
Persia.
A.
CLASSICAL
ND
NON-
RANIAN.
1.
Bactria
Eastern
Iran.
The
following
allusions
in
the
classic
writers
of
Greece
and
Rome
show
that
Zoroaster
was
thought
of
as
a
Bactrian,
or
at
least
as
exercisirlg
his
activity
in
the
east
of
Iran.
The
authority
of
the
historian
Ktesias
(E;.
C.
400)
is
quoted
by
Diodorus
Siculus
(lst
century
A.D.)
ii.
6,
for
the
statement
that
Winus,
with
a
large
army,
invaded
Bactria,
and
with
the
aid
of Semiramisgained a victory over Eing Oxyartes. See Fraym.
of
the
Persika
of
Xt
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Tfthere
c6s
Zoroaster's
WNve
Place
2
22g
et qnthndi
rincipia
sidertbqnqtze
notmbs
iligenti,ssime
pectasse.
See Gilmore,
Xtesias'
Peqsika,
p. 29.
In like manner Arnobius (A.D. 297), Advers?s Gentesi. 5, men-
tions
a
battle between
the
Assyrians
and the
Bactrians,
under
the
leadership
respectively
of Ninus
and
Zoroaster,
inter
Assyrios
et
Bactrianos,
Xino
quo?zdam
Zoroastreqme
d?ctoribus.
See
Gil-
more, Ktessas,
p. 36.
A parallel
statement,
Zoroastres
. .
. Bac-
trsa?zus
in
Adv.
Gent.
i. 52,
confirms
the
view
that Arnobius
regarded
Zoroaster
as a Bactrian.
Two later
but independent
classical
authors
rightly
place
Zoro-
aster under
a King
Htrstaspes
(i. e.
Vishtaspa,
Gushtasp),
and
one
of these
distinctly
calls
him a
Bactrian.
These
are Ammianus
Marcellinus (5th century A. D.), and Agathias (Bth century A.D.).
Ammianus,
xxiii. 6.
32,
p. 294, ed.
Ernest,
says:
C?hi
czentiaqn
ecu-
tis
priscis
qnutta
ex
ChGlldoeorum
rcanis
Bactrianus
addidit
Zorovstres;
deir2de
Xystaspes
rex
prudentissim?ss
l9ssrSi
jpater.
Agathias,
ii.
24, writes:
Z@poa¢rpov
ov
'Op,ma¢8ezs
.
. ouros
E;e
ZGopoaE;os
o Zapa87Rs
88Ttr}
yap
e7r'avTso
e7rzzov,^a),
o7rr)vtfca
L4evRfc,L4ae
rRv
pXXv
fcab
rovs
vo',movs
t?ero,
orfc
eve¢z
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224
A. V. W. Jackson,
of his followers: Zzpoavtprre vor Maq:or or Hep¢rro
UvfWafyotpasrr)tffev. The accuracy of the statement in re-
gard to Pythagoras is of course extremely que,stionable. See
Windischmann, oroastrtchetudien,p. 263. Onanother ccasion
Clemens identifies Zoroasterwith Er, the son of Armenius, a
Pamphylian. This would place Zoroaster n Asia Minor. See
Windischmann,Zor. St?sd., . 273 note, referring to Stromata
v. 711, o 8' avtos El)tavv)
r
vco8czav vrRsroBlvelasHpos
vov Ap,uelotov,o eyerosla,ufv)tovueHlox7val,'s evTl Zopo-
avtprRssic) avTosyovpZopoavTprRsypa+ela8e¢v^efypaSrer
ZopoavtprRs'Ap,uelotovoeyeros a,ufv)tos
.7".\.
Pliny the Elder (A.D. 23-79), in his
Ziss. fiat. xx.1,
2, makes
Zoroastel'snative land even fulther west, in Proconessus, he
island n the Propontus. See VVindischmann,or.Stud., .299.
Hermodorus,he discipleof Plato, quotedhy DiogenesLaertes,
Proem.2 ad init., speaksof Zoroaster s a Persian: ZzpoavTprr
vor HepSv^.
Suilas in his Lexicon (s. v. Z@poavtprRs)erms Zoroaster a
" Perso-Median (Elep¢o,ur8osofos). This point also is worth
noticing.
The ArmenianMosesof Chorene (A.D. 431), i. 16, makes Zo-
roastera contemporary f Semiramis, nd calls him "a Magian,
the sovereignof the Medes." F;eeGilmore,Xtesias'Perszka,p. 30
ote, and Spiegel, EranischeAlterth?smsk?bnde. 682.
Argumentshave furthermorebeen blought forward to show
that in the fragmentsthat have been preservedof Berosus of
Babv]on(B.C. 250) mention s made of the name Zoroasteras a
Mediall; but whether he founderof the religion s to be under-
stood by this remainsuncertain.
'rhe classical referencesabove, f viewed alone, appearon the
surface extremely contradictory;and from them it would seem
as if little could with certaintybe deduced. Laying aside these
authorities, owever,recoursemay now be had to the more direct
Iranian radition. To this may be added one or two quite ex-
plicit statements romother Oriental, hough non-lranian ources.
If these be carefullvexamined,we shall be surplised o find that
there really is an agreement n referenceson the one handtothe
field of Zoroaster's reaching,and on the other to his probable
home. This will give us a new light in which to criticise the
classical statements.
B. IRANIANTHE TRADITION.
1. Bactria-Scene of Prophetic Career.
A study of the Avesta showsthat most of the scenesdescribed
in that book areto be located n easternIran; in the later Persian
epic, the Shah-Namah, lso, it is in the east that Zoroaster'smis-
sion is carriedon. Traditionalso has it that the prophet ended
his life in Balkh. These points all become significant when
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Where
?wGbS
oroGbster's
Gsttte
Ptace
2
225
viewed
in their
right
light.
Before
proceeding
o draw
conclu-
sions,
however,
we
must examine
in
detail
what
is
said in
the
Avesta and other Zoroastrianworks with regard to the first
appearance
f the
prophet.
This
pointis
of importance.
2. Media,
Atropatene-Scene
of
the
Prophet's
Appearance.
Turning
to the
Zoroastrian
books
themselves,
we
find
state-
ments
which plainly
leadus
to
inferthat
the
prophet
really
{irst
appeared
n
the
west
of Iran,
either in
Atropatene
or
in Media
proper.
The
Bundahish
places
the home
of Zoroaster
n Iran
Vej
(Air-
yana Tzaejah),y the river Darja and adds the fact that his
father's
house
stood
on a mountainby that river. For instance:
Bd. xx.
32:
I)araja
rud
pavan
Atran
Vej,
mmnast
man-?>
or?stasp
bs.dar-t
Zaratust
pavan
bar
yehevund
' The
Daraja
river
is in Airan
Vej, on
a hill
(bar)
by
which
was
the
houseof
Porushasp,
he
father
of
Zaratusht.'
See
alsoWest,
Pahlavi
Tezts
transl.,
S.B.EM.
. 82.
Again,
Bd. xxiv.
15:
I)araja
r?d rudbaran
rad,
mamanast
enan-z
btdar-?>
aratusvt
avan
baMb;
Zaratusvt
amman
zad
' The
Daraja
river
is the
chief
of exalted
rivers,for
the
dwelling
of
Zaratusht
was
upon
its
banks;
and
Zoroaster
wasborn
there.'
There
can
be
little doubt
that
these
unequivocal
tatements
of
the
Bundahish
rest
upon
good
old tradition.
The
statements
carry
out in
detail
the lines
found
in
the
Avesta
itself.
In
Vd.
xix.
4, 11,
we a]so
leain
that
the
temptation
of
Zoroaster
y
Ahri-
man
on
the
orlehand,
and the
prophet's
communings
with
Or-
mazd
on the
other,
took
place
on a mountain
by the
river
I)arja,
where
was the
house
of his
father
Pourushaspa.
Vd. xix.4: darejyapaiti zbarahinmanahePourusas-
pahe
'by
the Darja,
upon
a
mountain,
at
the
home
(loc.
gen.)
of
Pourushaspa.'
Vd.xix.
11:
peresat
Zarathustro
Ahurem
Mazdawb
. .
[darejya
paiti
zbarahi
Ahurai
vanhave
vohumaidhe
aonhano,
Asai
Vahistai,
Xhstathrai
Vaiqvyai,
7ventayai
Arr)eatee]
'Zoroaster
questioned
Ahura
Mazda
. .
upon
the
hill
by the
Darja, praying to Ahura Mazda, the good, who is endowed
with
good,
to
Asha
Vahishta,
Khshathra
Vairya,
and Spenta
Armaiti.'
The
reference
to
the
'hill,'
Av.
zbarah
(Skt.
hearas,
Phl.
bar
Bd.
xx.32),
is
quite in
accord
with
the
tradition
that
Zoroaster
retired
o amountain
ormeditation:
cf.
Vd. xxii.
19:
gairszrn
vi
spento-frasnao,
aresterrz
bVi
pento-frasnao
toward
he
mountain
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226 A. V.
W. Jaokson,
of the holy communion, toward
the forest of the holv communion.'
Sitnilar]y elsewhere (see below) reference is made to Zoroaster's
communings upon a mountain. Such prophetic meditations are
thoroughly Oriental.
This river Darja we may perhaps
localize; it may be identical
with the river Darya, which flows
from Mount Savellan (Sebllan)
in Adarbljan (Atropatene) into
the Aras or Araxes. So also Dar-
mesteter, Zend-Avestatransl., S.B.E. iv.,
Introd. p. xlix. For
the Aras (Araxes) see de Harlez, Avestatraduit, p. viii, tnap, and
Phillip and Son's (London) map of Persia. If this identification
be correct, the ancient Darja was
in Media Atropatene.
lKnotherexplicit, although late
and non-Iranian, tradltion con-
necting Zoroaster with the region of Atropatene is found in Kaz-
wini. In this Arabic writer,
Zoroaster is associated with Shlz,
the capital of Atropatene. Consult
Darmesteter,
Zend-Avesta
trallsl., oS.B.X. iv., lntrod. p. xlix, where Kawlinson's identifica-
tion of Shlz with Takht-i Suleiman
is noted. The passage from
Kazwini (quoted from Rawvlinson)
reads: "In Shiz is the fire-
temple of Azerekhsh, the most celebratedof the Pyrsa of the Magi;
in the days of the fire-worship,
the kings always came on foot,
upon pilgrimagre. The temple
of Azerekhsh is ascribed to Zera-
tusht, the founder of the Magian
religion, who went, it is said
from Shiz to the mountain of Sebllan and, after remaining there
some time in retirement, returned with the Zend-Avesta, which,
although written in the old Persiall
language, could not be under-
stood without a commentary. After this he declared himself to
be a prophet." Thus far Kazwini.
The account here given, we
observe, tallies accurately with the
statements and suggestions
made immediately above. In the
Avesta, as above quoted, it was on a hill by the river Darja that
Zoroaster communed with God. The hill (zbarah)or mountain
(gatri) thus referred to by the
Avesta would answer to Kazwini's
Mount Sebllan; the proposed identification of the Avestan Dalja
with the modern river Darya would be confirmed, as this latter
river flows from Mt. Sebllan into
the Aras.
For the region of Atropatene
speaks also the authority of
Yaqut (see Spiegel,
Edran?>sche
lterth?mskunde,. 684), who, like
Abulfeda, points to the town of Urumia as the native place of
Zoroaster. See also foot-note
below, p. 231.
At this point we must furthelmore take up the tradition which
directly connects the opening
of Zoroaster's prophetic career
with Airyana Vaejah or Iran
Vej. This latld is often regarded
as mythical; it may originally
have been so, but there is good
reason for believing that the fact of the later localization of this
region in the west of Iran points to the common belief that Zoro-
aster originally came from that direction. The 33undahish xxix.
12 connects Iran Vej directly with Atropatene: Ajran Vejpavan
kost-?> taro-patakan. The river
Darja, Ilear which stood the
house of Zoroastel's father, is
especially stated in Bd. xx. 32 to
have been in Iran Vej. In the
Avesta, moreover, Zoroaster is
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Where
qwas
Z0t0C6steq's
atz?ne
tace
227
familiarly
called
"the
renowned
n
Airyana
Vaejah":
Ys.
ix.
14,
sruto
atryene
vaejahe.
The
prophet
s
there
also
represented
s
offeringsacrificen Air.yanaVaejahby the river Daitya: Yt. v.
]04;
ix.
25;
xvii.
45,
airyene
vaejahi
vanhuya,o
da,ityaycz,o.
n
the later
Persian
Zartusht-Namah
see
Wilson,
Parsi
Religion,
p.
491-it
is
the waters
of the
Daitl
that
Zoroaster
crosses
in
a
miraculous
manner
after
he
has
hadthe
vision
of
the
conflict
with
the
demons
and of
the
final
conversion
of
Medyo-mah.
After
passing
D>iitl, e
receives
the
visions
of God
(with
which
com-
pare
Ys. xliii.
3-15),
and
thence
he
proceeds
o
King
Vishtaspa.
The
Daitya
was
perhaps
border
stream;
it
is to
be remembered
that it
was on
the
other
side
of it
(cf.
pasne,
Yt.
xvii.
49)
that
Vishtaspasacrificed. The Bundahishikewise alludesto Zoroas-
ter's
firstoffering
worship
n
Iran
Vej,
and
receiving
Medyo-mah
as
his first
disciple:
Bd.
xxxii.
3:
Zara,tusk,
matas
dtn cZa,ttvand,
rat?sm
#,en
Atrctaw
ej
fraj
yask
parsmad;
Me.dyok-nxah
M^n
mtnas
mekadZund
'
Zoroaster,
when
he
brought
he
relition,
frst
celebrated
worship
in Airan
Vej,
and
Medyok-mblh
eceived
the religion
from
him.'
Cf. Justi,
Bundahtsh,
p.
79,
and
West,
Pahlavi
Texts
trans].,
S.B.E. v. 14]. This Medyok-mahs the Maidhyo-mah f the
Avesta,
Yt.
xiii.
95;
Ys.
li. 19,
the
cousin
of
Zoroaster;
and
he
seems
o
have
been
a
man
of influence.
That
hewas
the
prophet's
first
disciple
s
distinctly
recognized
alsoby
the
Avesta,
Yt. xiii.
95:
yo
paoiryo
Zarathusvtr(>i
athrenzea
mska
asnaoscv.
All
these
traditional
Oriental
allusions
areunanimous
n
placing
Zoroaster
n
Adarbljan
rMedia
Atropatene.
There
s
yet another
passage
drawn
from
the
Avesta
that
connects
his
name
with
Ragha
(Rai)
in
the
same
region,
or
more
particularly
n
Media,
properly
o
called.
This
allusion
s
in the
Pahlavi
version
of Vd.
i. 16. The Avestatext reads:
dvadasem
asanhamca
svoithrarwamca
ahiskem
rath-
weresere
zem
?f°
ahuro
mazd,o,
Ragham
thrizant?i>m
[vaedhanho
noit
uzois
(dfahakaz)].
'As
the
twelfth,
I created
Ragha
of
thethree
races.'
The
Pahlavi
commentary
adds
'triple-raced
Rak,
of
Ataro-patakan
Atropa-
tene);
some
sayit
is
Ral; .
. .
somesay
Zaratust
belonged
here.'
This
connection
of
the name
of Zoroaster
with
Ragha
is
also
given
elsewhere
n the
Avesta.
In
Ys. xix.
18,
mention
is made
of the five lords," the lordof the house, he village,the province,
and
the
country,
and the
Zarathushtra
s
the
fifth."
By
Zara-
thuRro
pgkAdRho,
high-priest
or Iranian
pope
s
apparently
n-
tended.
This
order
of lords
holds
good
for
all
countries
" except
the
Zarathushtrian
Ragha."
"The
Zarathushtrian
Ragha
has
four
masters,
he
master
of
the
house,
the
village,
the
province,
and
the
Zarathushtra
s
the
fourth";
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228
A.
V.
W.
Jackson,
aonham
azaAyunam
ao
anyao
Rajoit
Zarath?4sh>troit.
Cathru-ratusv
aghnz
Zardcthushtris
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TEhere as Zoroaster'sXg?e Place ?
229
Rets,qion,p. 490. He sets out, as described in the narrative, with
a company of followers crosses a seaSjourneys during the month
of Spendarmat (February) and on the last day of the month he
finds himself upon the confines of Iran. It is there that he has
the vision that Medyo-mah will receive his religion, and he dreams
of the army of demons from the east. It is with this point we
may connect Zoroaster's first attempt at preaching ill Ragha.
If the view here adopted be correct, the vision of the army of
demons may have been a forecast of Zoroaster's ill success at first
in Ragha and elsewhere misfortune, however, that was destined
ultimately to turn out successfully and in victory. There is good
reason for believing that Zoroaster's teaching did not at first meet
with success. The statement of Zad-sparam (see West, Pahtavi
Y'ezts, ransl., S.B.E:. v. 187) would carry out this view. It is there
noted that during the {irst ten years Zoroaster obtained one dis-
ciple, Medyok-mah. This might apply well to Ragha.
A polemical allusion to Ragha, as shrewdly suggested by Geld-
ner, KZ. xxviii. o()2-2()3, is perhaps to be found in the Gathas,
Ys. liii. 9. Unfortunately the passage is not quite clear, and the
reading of the text is somsewhatuncertain. Manuscript authority,
however gives the following text (Ys. liii. 9):
dqxzearenc6istaestorast?>oi narepzst ajts
aestasa dejt-aretc6peso-tanvo
ku asvavaahura, yo ?>eyate?s hEmithyut vase-itoisecb
ku ma$rda avc6hcheathrem ct erezejyotdahb drigaove vahyo .9
This may provisionally be rendered (cf. Geldner, loc. cit.): 'To
the evil-believers hell (lit. poison, i. e. of hell) belongs. Those
man-banishing(?) Raghians, . . . theunrighteons (dejet-aretcs)are
accursed (peso-tanvo) \Vhere is the righteous one; O Ahllra
who will deprive them of their life and freedom ? Where is that
kingdom of thine, O Ahura, by which thou wilt give to the
right-living man, though
pOOl',
the best reward
?
The text and
the passage, as stated, are obscure; but there certainly seems to
be contained in it the reminiscence of an imprecation against
the Raghians, the generation of vipers that shall not escape dam-
ation. This Capernaum, though now exalted, shall be thrust
down to hell. Cf. St. Luke x. 1a, St. Matthew xi. 30ff.
Zoroaster, cast out from Ragha in Media, may have tllrned to
Bactria, where at last lle was received by King Vishtaspa. Ac-
cording to the Zartusht-Namah, Zoroaster seems to have jour-
lleyed for a month or so, after his first vision of the army of
fiends, and then to have crossed the Daitl, whichn according to
the sllggestion above (p. 227) appears to have been a border river.
There he receives the visions of God and the archangels, before
proceeding to Balkh. The book of Zad-sparam (cf. West, Pah-
tav?> Newts,ransl., v. 187) allows two years to have elapsed from
the time of Medyo-mah's conversion to the time that Zoroaster
won Vishtaspa over to the faith. The latter event, it assumes,
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230
A. F. W. Jackson,
took place twelve years after Zoroasterhad entered upon his
ministry. All this is consistent with the idea of wanderingand
meditation,when we take into accountalso the thousandor more
miles that separatedBalkh from Atropateneand Ragha.
Assuming he supposition o be true that Zoroasteroriginated
in Atropateneand was then drawn toward Ragha but thence
rejected, how are we to reconcile with this curse against the
Raghians (Ys. liii. 9) the fact that the same city became the
acknowledged eadof the Zoroastrianaith ? A solutionmay be
ofered. It is not at all impossible hat, after successwas won in
in the east, in Bactria, a religious crusade was begun toward
the west, especially against Ragha. Hystaspes himself may
have Joined n the movement; his name is sometimesmentioned
in connectionwith Media * and, accordingto the Shah-Namah
his son Isfendiyarpromulgated he faith of Zoroaster n severai
countries. Ragha, we can imagine,may have been among hese;
and we may suppose that this Jerusalem-if we may with all
reverenceadoptthe phraseof our own Scriptures the city which
had stoned the prophet, at last received and blessed him that
came in the nameof Ormazd. Ragha was at last glad to claim
Zoreaster Ys. xix. 18) as its head.
The assutnption f the reminiscence f a severestruggleagainst
unbelief,andof a changeof heart in the people?would make clear
why heresy
aghenea x4paro-utmanohem
s the counter-creationf
Ahriman, should be so markedlyassociatedwith Ragha, Vd. i.
16; and it would explain why the scholiast in the Pahlavi ver-
sion of the passageshouldadd the saving clause,vaedhanho noit
uzois, Ragha belongs no longer to heresy,but to the faith. It
has become he "ZarathushtrianRagha."
Resllmse.-If the above views be correct,Zoroasterndeedarose
in the west, most probablfTomewhere n Atropatene. He then
presumablywent to Ragha, but, finding this an unfruitful field,
turned at last to Bactria, where the prophet was destined nolonger to be without honor. He met with a powerful patron in
the king; churchand state becameone. From Bactria, he now
organized tate-religion preadbacktowardsMedia; thencedown
to Persia.
It can hardly be said that thus to reconcile the conflicting
statements s begging the question; authoritycan be given for
* In the Yatkar-i Zarlran, ed. W. Geiger, Sitz. bayer. Akad., 1890,p. 50,
there also lurks, perhaps, in the words Hutos-i Rajur, an allusion to
:Ragha; and fronl them it rnight possibly be suggested that Vishtaspa's
interest in Media was partly through his marriage, as well as on politi-
cal grounds. If there
i#
such an allusion to Hutaosa's having come
from Ragha, we might perhaps conjecture that the new prophet Zoro-
aster was originally .attracted from Ragha to Balkh through the queen's
alliance. Let us then recall Augustine in connection with Emma and
wiEthelbert. But the passage requires further study bef-oremere fanciful
conjectures are made, especially in the light of some apparently con-
tradictory passages in the Avesta and the Zartusht-Namah.
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everypoint that
has been
made.
All the
difficulties
disa;ppear.
The references o
Bactria
in the Avesta
and in the
classicsare
quitecorrect; there was the sceneof the greatteacher'sa(3tivity.
'lthereferences o
Media
n the classics and
in the
traditionare
equally colrect;
Media in
its broadest
sense was
the
original
homeof
the
prophet; thence came
the
priests, or there, as
Mar-
cellinus
xxiii. 6
latertellsus, were
"the
fertile fieldsof the
Magi."
The hint,
moreover, hat
Zoroaster
after
the conversion f
Vish-
taspa
visitedhis
own native and
again,but
wasat last
murdered t
Balkh in
Bactria, s
furthermore
iven
according o tradition
also
by
Anquetil du
Perron,
Zend-Avestcs, i. 2, p. 52;
ii. p.
807-808,
Index. The
latter fact
about Zoroaster's
death
may not
have
beenuntrue.
The
conclusionarrived
at is
that, though
Zoroaster
originally
came
from the
west, he taught
and
elaboratedhis
religion in
Bactria; its
blossoms
ater borefruit in
the west.
The uphold-
ers of each side
of the
much-mootedquestionare
in part
right,
and yet in part
wrong;
the horns of the
dilemma
are at last
united,
the
question is at last
solved.
Honor to the
tradition
where
honor s
due.*
APPENDIX.
Av.
vaedAconho zoit
uzois
Vd. i. 16.
In the Avestan
account
of the creation
and
counter-creationy
Ormazd
ndAhriman, he
text at
Vd. i. 16reads:
dvadasem
asanhG6m
oithrarzamca
vahistem
f'rathwere-
sens azem yo
ahuro
1Saazda0
agham
thrizantqzm vaed-
hanho noit uzois ]; aat ahe pttycirem frakerentat anro
mainytes
pouru-mahrko
aghemca
uparo-v?>rnanohtn.
'As the
twelfth, the
best of
regions and of
jvlaces,
Ahura
Mazda,
reated
riple-racedRagha
liof
.... ]- Thellas a
coun-
ter-creation he
banefulAngra
Malnyu
created
also the evil of
excessive
skepticism.'
The words
vaedAc6nhonoit
uzois are
apparently
a gloss;
the
Pahlaviversion
does not
render
hem. They have
excellent
man-
uscript
anthority,
however,and
there mllst
havebeen some
good
reason
or adding
them. As yet
they seem
llOt o
have beensat-
isfactorilyexplained. A suggestionmay perhaps entatively be
put forward.
* Mr. A.
Yohannan writes
me that
at a place about a
mile from
his
hotne in
Oroomiah there is a
pile of
ashes from the
fire-worshipers,
and
that the
p]ace is generally
admitted
by the people to
have been
the
abode of
Zeradusht.
Wherezwas
oroaster's
atee lDlace?
231
30
VOL. IV.
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232
A. V. W. Jackson.
In codex K2the worddahakas is added afterz4zois. This ad-
dition is of no value, however,as dahakcii is evidentlydue only
to a mistake occasionedby the resemblance n sound between
uzois and azois. The manuscript n fact itself has the word
afterwards tricken out. See notes on the variants n Spiegel's
editionof the texts,
ad loc.
We may therefore dismiss
dahakai
without consideration. There remain
vaedhanho
and
uzois
still
to be interpreted.
The genitivevaedhanho comesevidelltly rom a stemvasdhah.
An identificationwith Skt. vedhas adj. subst.,from Skt. >/vidh
' worship, erve,piouslyhonor,'at once suggests itself. On the
usage of the root, see the Pstersburg Lexicon,s. v. The word
Av. vaedRhahs
probablybest taken as a neuter substantive. Its
aneaningwouldbe ' worship, ervice,piety.' To the sameradical,
Skt. vidh, belongs also the familiar form Av. nseaedhwayemsn
the invocation of the Yasna sacrifice. Perhaps also here the
form Av. vaethahu. The root requires further investigation,
however.
For the unexplained
uzois
I would also suggest a connection
with the secondary oot in Skt.
ujh '
forsake,abandon,' f. Whit-
ney, Skt. Geam,. Verb Supplenzerbt. v. The signification f uzz
would be ' apostasy,heresy,backsliding.' For the religioussense
compare lso Skt.
bahmoShata.
The gloss
vaedhanho noit uzois,
as an added attribute of ra-
gharn thrtzalti6}n,
becomes tlll of meaning. Viewed in the light
of the above (p. 230), we may well believe that Ragha, which
had cast out Zoroaster,-may have been a hot-bed of heresy,
uparo-vtmanohtm,
the creationof Ahriman, n opposition o its
being the chosen spot (vahtstem) of God. In the ultimate tri-
umph of the faith, it became he chief seat of the %oreastrian
religion. The scholiast, therefore, n adding vaedhanho noit
vzozs, is anxious o assureus of the triumph; the city is not alone
' triple-racedRagha,'but also Ragha ' of the faith, not of herestT.'
The attribute, moreover, mphasizes he distinction from Ahri-
man'suy?aro-vtmanohtm,.It carriesout more perfectly the dual-
istic system. The passage hus is interestingfrom the historical
point of view as well as from that of text-criticism.