Pahlavi literature
Encyclopedia
Middle Persian
literature also called Pahlavi literature is Persian literature
of the 1st millennium AD, especially of the Sassanid period.
Some major Pahlavi books of this kind are:
Major 9th-century texts include the encyclopedic Denkard
; Manushchihr's Dadestain-i Denig ("Religious Decisions") and Epistles
; the treatises of Manushchihr's heretical brother, Zat-Sparam; and Bundahishn
("Original Creation")http://www.iranchamber.com/religions/articles/zurvanism1.php.
Some other Pahlavi books of this kind are:
Some major Pahlavi books of this kind are:
We have to add several other Pahlavi books which are now lost, and of which we are only aware through references in other Arabic and Persian texts, such as Ayyatkar-i Anushirvan the Arabic translation of which can be found in 'Tajarob-al Omam' of 'Ibn-i Muskuye', or 'Khvatay Namak' that is completely lost.
Middle Persian
Middle Persian , indigenously known as "Pârsig" sometimes referred to as Pahlavi or Pehlevi, is the Middle Iranian language/ethnolect of Southwestern Iran that during Sassanid times became a prestige dialect and so came to be spoken in other regions as well. Middle Persian is classified as a...
literature also called Pahlavi literature is Persian literature
Persian literature
Persian literature spans two-and-a-half millennia, though much of the pre-Islamic material has been lost. Its sources have been within historical Persia including present-day Iran as well as regions of Central Asia where the Persian language has historically been the national language...
of the 1st millennium AD, especially of the Sassanid period.
Literature of Pahlavi
Pahlavi Literature can be divided in three parts:- the Pahlavi version of the AvestaAvestaThe Avesta is the primary collection of sacred texts of Zoroastrianism, composed in the Avestan language.-Early transmission:The texts of the Avesta — which are all in the Avestan language — were composed over the course of several hundred years. The most important portion, the Gathas,...
, generally known as the 'Zend-Avesta'. - Pahlavi texts on religious subjects.
- Pahlavi texts on non-religious subjects.
Pahlavi translations of Avesta texts
This includes several major Pahlavi texts which are translations of Avesta texts. It includes also some Afringan, Yasht and Niyayishn.Some major Pahlavi books of this kind are:
- VendidadVendidadThe Vendidad or Videvdat is a collection of texts within the greater compendium of the Avesta. However, unlike the other texts of the Avesta, the Vendidad is an ecclesiastical code, not a liturgical manual.-Name:...
- Afringan-i Gahanbar
- YasnaYasnaYasna is the name of the primary liturgical collection of texts of the Avesta as well as the name of the principal Zoroastrian act of worship at which those verses are recited. The Yasna, or Izeshne, is primarily the name of the ceremony in which the entire book is recited and appropriate...
- Haptan Yasht
- Nirangistan
- Srosh Yasht Hadokht
- Vishtasp Yasht
- Sirozak I, II
- VisperadVisperadVisperad or Visprad is either a particular Zoroastrian religious ceremony, or the name given to a passage collection within the greater Avesta compendium of texts....
- Frahang-i Oim-evakFrahang-i Oim-evakFrahang-i Oim-evak is an old Avestan-Middle Persian dictionary. It is named with the two first words of the dictionary: Oim in Avestan means 'one' and evak is its Pahlavi equivalent. It gives the Pahlavi meanings of about 880 Avestan words, either by one word or one phrase or by explaining...
- Khurshet Nyayish
- Ahuramazd Yasht
- Aban Nyayish
- Bahram Yasht
- Afringan-i Dahman
- Hadokht Nask
- Afringan- Gatha
- Aogemadaecha
- Khurshet Yasht
- Chitak avistak-i gasan
- Mah Yasht
- Ataxsh Nyayish
- Vichirkart-i Denig
- Afaringan Fravartigan
- Mah Nyayish
Pahlavi texts on religious subjects
It includes several major Pahlavi texts about different Zoroastrian religious subjects such as cosmogony, cosmology, eschatology, creation of the world, ceremonies, rituals, Andarz, Pandnamak, Patit etc.Major 9th-century texts include the encyclopedic Denkard
Denkard
The Dēnkard or Dēnkart is a 10th century compendium of the Mazdaen Zoroastrian beliefs and customs. The Denkard is to a great extent an "Encyclopedia of Mazdaism" and is a most valuable source of information on the religion...
; Manushchihr's Dadestain-i Denig ("Religious Decisions") and Epistles
Epistles of Manushchihr
The Epistles of Manushchihr are a response to comments made by the author's brother on the subject of purification in Zoroastrianism....
; the treatises of Manushchihr's heretical brother, Zat-Sparam; and Bundahishn
Bundahishn
Bundahishn, meaning "Primal Creation", is the name traditionally given to an encyclopædiaic collections of Zoroastrian cosmogony and cosmology written in Book Pahlavi. The original name of the work is not known....
("Original Creation")http://www.iranchamber.com/religions/articles/zurvanism1.php.
Some other Pahlavi books of this kind are:
- Rivayat accompanying
- Shikand-gumanic VicharShikand-gumanic VicharShikand-gumanic Vichar is a Zoroastrian theology book of 9th century Iran, written by Mardan-Farrukh. Part apology, part polemic, the book contains nascent elements of an academic discipline: comparative religion.-The Author:...
- Shayast ne-shayastShayast ne-shayastShayast ne-Shayast .'proper and improper'.one of the Middle Persian books which is written about 8th century B/C and containing about 13,700 words .this book is a compilation of miscellaneous laws and customs regarding sin and impurity, with other memoranda about ceremonies and religious subjects...
- Bundheshn the creation
- Dana-i Menog KhratDana-i Menog KhratThe Dana-i Menog-i khrat, or 'opinions of the spirit of wisdom', a Middle Persian book which was written about 8th century....
- Mah farvardin Ruz khordadMah farvardin Ruz khordadMah farvardin Ruz khordad is a book written in Middle Persian in the 7th century AC. It was written ca. 607-608 AD, during the reign of Khosrau II....
a notable evidents in a date - Arda-Viraf NamagBook of Arda VirafThe Book of Arda Viraf is a Zoroastrian religious text of Sassanid era in Middle Persian language,contains about 8,800 words. It describes the dream-journey of a devout Zoroastrian through the next world. Due to the ambiguity inherent to Pahlavi script, 'Viraf' may also be transliterated as...
- Jamasp Namag
- Zand-i Wahman yasnZand-i Wahman yasnZand-i wahman yasn is a middle Persian book, written in the 6th century. The Bahman Yasht, usually called the 'Zand of the Vohûman Yast', professes to be a prophetical work, in which Ahura Mazda gives Zoroaster an account of what was to happen to the Persian people and their religion in the...
- Matigan-i Yosht-i Fryano
- ShabuhraganShabuhraganThe Shabuhragan , which means the book of Shapur, was a sacred book of the Manichaean religion, written by the founder Mani himself, originally in Middle Persian, and dedicated to Shapur I , the contemporary king of the Sassanid Persian Empire...
- Andarz Ushnerdanak
- Andarz-i Bozorgmehr Bukhtegan the advices by BurzoeBurzoeBorzūya was a Persian physician in the late Sassanid era, at the time of Khosrow I.He translated the Indian Panchatantra from Sanskrit into the Middle Persian language of Pahlavi. But both his translation and the original Sanskrit version he worked from are lost...
. - Matigan-i gujastak Abalish
Pahlavi texts on non-religious subjects
This includes several major Pahlavi texts which fall into the categories of Pahlavi glossaries, stories, poems, Geographies, etc.Some major Pahlavi books of this kind are:
- Matigan-i Hazar DatistanMatigan-i Hazar DatistanThe Matigan-i Hazar Datistan was the judicial code of the Magistan, the imperial parliament of the Arsacid Dynasty of the Parthian Empire and, for a while, of the Sassanid Empire ....
(Judicial code) - Cities in the land of Iran
- Karnamak-i Artaxshir-i PapakanKarnamak-i Artaxshir-i PapakanThe Kārnāmag-ī Ardaxšīr-ī Pābagān or Book of the Deeds of Ardashir, Son of Papag, is a mythological Middle Persian tale written in the Sassanid period ....
- Shahrestanha-ye EranshahrShahrestanha-ye EranshahrŠahrestānīhā ī Ērānšahr is a surviving Middle Persian text on geography, which was completed in the late eighth or early ninth centuries AD. The text gives a numbered list of the cities of Eranshahr and their history and importance for Persian history...
- Vizarishn- i Chatrang ud nahishn-i new Ardashir (invent of chess)
- Yatkar-i Zariran
- Drakht-i AsurigDrakht-i AsurigDrakht-i Asurig is a Parthian language poem from the Arscacid era.The poem is framed as a dialogue between a goat and a palm tree. It is one of the oldest existing texts in Arscacid Middle Persian, and of the few remaining examples of the Parthian language....
- Khusro-i Kavatan and his Page
- Frahang-i PahlavigFrahang-i PahlavigFrahang-i Pahlavig is a dictionary of Aramaic language ideograms with Middle Persian translations and transliterations...
- Wonders of the land of Sagastan
- Forms of Epistles
- Namak-i Tenser the letter by Tenser
- Shah zanan the king of women
We have to add several other Pahlavi books which are now lost, and of which we are only aware through references in other Arabic and Persian texts, such as Ayyatkar-i Anushirvan the Arabic translation of which can be found in 'Tajarob-al Omam' of 'Ibn-i Muskuye', or 'Khvatay Namak' that is completely lost.
External links
- Gilbert Lazard, The Poetics of Middle Persian, Encyclopedia Iranica (accessed August 2010)
- Avesta-Zoroastrian Archives, includes Middle Persian writings in English translation
- Scholar Raham Asha's website, includes many texts in original and English translation (some also on the parsig.org)