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diff --git a/38209.txt b/38209.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..a5943cb --- /dev/null +++ b/38209.txt @@ -0,0 +1,12022 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The History of Antiquity, by Max Duncker + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The History of Antiquity + Vol. V. + +Author: Max Duncker + +Translator: Evelyn Abbott + +Release Date: December 4, 2011 [EBook #38209] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE HISTORY OF ANTIQUITY *** + + + + +Produced by Adrian Mastronardi and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was +produced from images generously made available by The +Internet Archive/American Libraries.) + + + + + + + + + + THE + HISTORY OF ANTIQUITY. + + FROM THE GERMAN + OF + PROFESSOR MAX DUNCKER, + + + BY + EVELYN ABBOTT, M.A., LL.D., + _FELLOW AND TUTOR OF BALLIOL COLLEGE, OXFORD._ + + + VOL. V. + + + LONDON: + RICHARD BENTLEY & SON, NEW BURLINGTON STREET, + Publishers in Ordinary to Her Majesty the Queen. + 1881. + + + + Bungay: + CLAY AND TAYLOR, PRINTERS. + + + + +CONTENTS. + + +BOOK VII. + +_THE ARIANS OF EASTERN IRAN._ + + CHAPTER I. PAGE + THE LAND AND THE TRIBES 3 + + CHAPTER II. + THE KINGDOM OF THE BACTRIANS 19 + + CHAPTER III. + THE SCRIPTURES OF IRAN 49 + + CHAPTER IV. + ZARATHRUSTRA AND THE DATE OF THE COMPOSITION OF THE AVESTA 68 + + CHAPTER V. + THE GODS OF THE ARIANS IN IRAN 106 + + CHAPTER VI. + THE REFORM OF THE FAITH 129 + + CHAPTER VII. + THE DOCTRINE OF THE AVESTA 149 + + CHAPTER VIII. + THE PRIESTHOOD OF IRAN 184 + + CHAPTER IX. + THE LAW OF THE PRIESTS 201 + + CHAPTER X. + THE LATER DEVELOPMENT OF EASTERN IRAN 239 + + +BOOK VIII. + +_THE EMPIRE OF THE MEDES AND PERSIANS._ + + CHAPTER I. + THE FOUNDATION OF THE MEDIAN KINGDOM 267 + + CHAPTER II. + THE EMPIRE OF THE MEDES 292 + + CHAPTER III. + THE TRIBES OF THE PERSIANS 319 + + CHAPTER IV. + THE FALL OF THE MEDIAN KINGDOM 335 + + CHAPTER V. + THE RISE OF THE PERSIAN KINGDOM 382 + + + + +BOOK VII. + +THE ARIANS OF EASTERN IRAN. + + + + +EASTERN IRAN. + + + + +CHAPTER I. + +THE LAND AND THE TRIBES. + + +Between the valley of the Indus and the land of the Euphrates and +Tigris, bounded on the south by the ocean and the Persian Gulf, on the +north by the broad steppes which the Oxus and Jaxartes vainly attempt +to fertilise, by the Caspian Sea and the valley of the Aras, lies the +table-land of Iran. Rising to an average height of 4000 feet above the +level of the sea, it forms an oblong, the length of which from east to +west is something more than 1500 miles. The breadth in the east is about +1000 miles, but at the narrowest point, from the Caspian Sea to the +Persian Gulf, it is not much more than 500 miles; while the western +edge, reaching from the Persian Gulf to the mountains of Aderbeijan, +again extends over a distance of about 750 miles. + +In this seclusion, neither penetrated by bays of the sea nor traversed +by mighty rivers, the region exhibits a certain similarity to the +highlands of Arabia. The centre of the Iranian land, like that of +Arabia, is occupied by a great desert where only nomadic life is +possible. But the soil of Iran is more diversified in regard to +elevation and depression. The northern half of the land is higher than +the southern, the centre is hollowed out in the form of a trough, so +that in the east, at any rate, the waters from the inner slopes of the +mountainous rim fall into the depression, and collect in fructifying +lakes. The oases and fertile valleys are more numerous and extensive +than in Arabia, and though the rivers of the inner table-land, like the +streams of the northern edge, which flow to the north, are lost in the +sand or end in unimportant lakes, they nevertheless render agriculture +possible over wide tracts of country. + +The northern side is more diversified and superior in formation to +the south. The southern edge, which sinks down to the ocean, closely +resembles Arabia in the climate and the nature of the country; the +mountains of the north, on the other hand, exhibit green pastures and +splendid forests where Arabia has nothing but bare peaks: in the Hindu +Kush, and Elburz on the Caspian Sea, as well as in Aderbeijan, they rise +into vast Alpine districts. The eastern edge, extending over a distance +of 900 miles, rises like a steep wall out of the valley of the Indus; a +few long and difficult passes lead from the Indus to the high ground, +which on the north commences with cold bare flats, and on the south with +slopes still more desolate and barren, and at the same time intolerably +hot. Only the terraces of the valley of the Cabul, which flows down into +the Indus, allow a convenient exit towards the north, and present a soil +to a great extent so fertile that three harvests can be reaped in the +year. The western edge of Iran, on the other hand, is formed by parallel +ridges running from the north-west to the south-east, between which, +beside extensive mountain pastures, lie narrow and well-watered valleys. +In the north-west the low-lying regions are rich in meadows and forest; +while those between the abutting ridges of the western and southern edge +are warm, and even hot, in climate, rich and luxuriant in vegetation. + +On this table-land the heat is softened, though not entirely, by the +elevation of the soil. After violent storms in the spring, no cloud +darkens the sky from May to September; the atmosphere is peculiarly dry +and clear, and through the fine air can be seen, bright and sharp, the +outlines of the mountains and the whole country, while at night the +star-lit sky almost replaces the light of day. The changes in +temperature are sudden and severe. From cold, snow-covered terraces, +8000 feet in height, we suddenly descend to the glowing heat of the +plains, lying barely 2000 feet above the sea. In the north-east +oppressive heat alternates with great cold; the north suffers from a +severe winter, with heavy falls of snow and icy storms, blowing over the +Caspian Sea and the broad steppes; in the south the air is filled with +the dust of the desert, here extraordinarily fine, and the hot winds +give the heaps of sand the appearance of changing waves, and roll masses +of it to the sky.[1] + +As far back as our information extends, we find the table-land of Iran +occupied by a group of nations closely related to each other, and +speaking dialects of the same language. On the edges of that great +desert, which occupies the centre of the land, are tracts of pasture, +and further inland, treeless steppes, which, however, are watered here +and there by brackish pools, and produce a salt vegetation barely +sufficient to provide buffaloes and camels with sustenance, until the +soil becomes entirely barren. In the western part of these steppes +wandered a pastoral people, whom Herodotus calls Sagartians. They were +horsemen, but, according to the historian's statement, carried no +weapons of attack beyond a dagger and a rope of twisted straps, at one +end of which was a loop. In this they placed their confidence in battle; +they threw it over men and horses, and so dragged them down and +strangled them. In the inscriptions of the Achaemenids this nation is +called _Acagarta_.[2] + +Close to the Indus, and beyond the bare, hot, treeless shores of the +ocean, the southern part of the plain consists of sandy flats, in which +nothing grows but prickly herbs and a few palms. The springs are a day's +journey from each other, and often more. This region was possessed by a +people whom Herodotus calls Sattagydae, and the companions of Alexander +of Macedonia, Gedrosians.[3] Among the nations of the East who were +subject to them, the inscriptions of the Achaemenids mention the +"_Thataghus_," which the Greeks understood as Sattagush and Gadrush. +Neighbours of the Gandarians, who, as we know, dwelt on the right bank +of the Indus down to the Cabul, the Gedrosians led a wandering, +predatory life; under the Persian kings they were united into one +satrapy with the Gandarians.[4] To the south of the Gedrosians, on the +coast, there dwelt, according to the Greeks, a miserable race, eaters of +fish and tortoises, who built their houses of the bones of whales +thrown up by the sea. They wove their nets from the bark of palms, and +their weapons were javelins hardened in the fire.[5] The edge on the +south allows no streams of any size to flow to the sea, so that even to +this day this coast presents only a few small fertile spots. About +equally distant from the northern and southern edge of the table-land, +to the east of the desert of the interior, lies a considerable lake, now +called Hamun, but known to the Greeks as Areios. It forms the centre of +a cultivated district, though the storms from the west often drive the +sand of the desert to its shores. This basin is formed by and receives +important streams flowing from the inner slopes of the northern and +eastern edge. From the southern spurs of the Hindu Kush comes the +Hilmend, the Haetumat of the Avesta, _i.e._ rich in bridges, the +Etymandros of the Greeks, which has a course of about 400 miles, and +before falling into the lake is joined by the Arghandab. The Lora, which +flows from the east, but further to the south, does not now reach the +lake. From the north flow the Harut and Chashrud. Round this lake, and +on the banks of the Hilmend, the Arghandab, and the Lora, lies a +fruitful region; higher up the walls of the valleys are covered with +forests, until towards the east the upper course of the rivers is +enclosed by bare cliffs. On the shores of the Hamun, and in the valley +of the Hilmend, dwelt a people whom the inscriptions of the Achaemenids +call _Zaraka_, i.e. dwellers on the lake. A lake in Old Persian is +_Daraya_; in the ancient language of the East, _Zarayanh_; in modern +Persian, _Zareh_. Hence we understand why Herodotus calls this nation +Sarangians, the later Greeks, Zarangians and Drangians. According to the +Greeks the Zarakas were a warlike nation, armed with Median bows and +spears, unsurpassed in battle on horseback; and a tribe of them which +lived under good and equitable laws bore the name of Ariacpians.[6] The +ruins of cities and works of irrigation testify to the former prosperity +of this region. East of the Zarakas, up the valley of the Arghandab, +dwelt the Arachoti. In the inscriptions of the Achaemenids they are +called _Harauvati_; in the Avesta, _Harahvaiti_, i.e. the rich in +water. These names the Arachoti received from the river on which they +were settled, the older name of which was Arachotus (_Sarasvati_).[7] +Herodotus does not designate the Arachoti by this name derived from the +river of their land, but by the tribal name of Pactyes; he tells us that +they wore peculiar bows, daggers, and skins.[8] The Afghans, who in +ancient times occupied the region from the Suleiman mountains on the +east as far as the Arghandab on the west, Shorawak on the south, the +Cabul and the range of the Sefid-Kuh on the north, and in the middle +ages forced their way to Cabul and Peshawur, still call themselves +Pashtun and Pakhtun, or Rohilo, _i.e._ mountaineers. They still speak +their old rough mountain language, which is closely connected with the +dialects of the Arian tribes on the Indus.[9] + +Eastward of Elburz, the point where the northern edge of Iran again +rises into a lofty range to the west (Demavend is more than 18,000 feet +in height), and then sinks down to the Caspian Sea, lay the Hyrcanians. +In the inscriptions of the Achaemenids their land is known as _Varkana_; +the modern name is Jorjan. Here, according to the Greeks, the mountains +were covered with forests of oaks, where swarms of wild bees had their +hives; in the valleys vines and fig-trees flourished, and the soil down +to the sea was so luxuriant that corn grew from the fallen grains +without any special sowing.[10] The description is hardly exaggerated. +The waters pouring from the heights and snow-fields of Elburz water the +soil of the coast so thoroughly, that a tropical growth flourishes in +Jorjan, Taberistan, and Ghilan, the luxuriance of which is assisted by +the volcanic heat of the earth. The lagunes of the coast are succeeded +by marsh forests; higher up are fields of rice and plantations of +sugarcane, and beyond these fertile meadows, above which splendid +forests of oaks, planes, and elms clothe the heights of Elburz. There is +abundance of water fruits, figs and mulberries, olives and oranges, and +the vigorous creepers of the vines run even to the summits of the +trees.[11] Nevertheless, these favoured regions have a darker side. +Frequent earthquakes disturb the soil; in the winter furious north winds +blowing over the Caspian rage along the walls of Elburz, and even on the +outlying spurs the snow falls to the depth of several fathoms; the +rain-clouds, hemmed in by the mountain ranges, often burst in +water-spouts, which lay the land far and wide under water, and roll as +torrents down the gorges; the marsh air blanches the inhabitants, while +in the summer the hot and moist climate breeds deadly fever. + +Further to the east, where the Caspian Sea ends and the mountains of +Iran descend towards the desolate, pathless steppes of the Oxus, is a +wild, hilly country. In the depressions, and there only, the region of +the Parthians (_Parthava_ in the inscriptions of the Achaemenids[12]) +exhibits fruitful lands, and, further eastward still, agriculture is +favoured by the long, narrow valley of the Areios (Herirud). Springing +from the southern slope of the Hindu Kush, the river flows towards the +west along the inner edge of the table-land, till it bursts through the +northern barrier in order to lose itself in the sand of the steppes. In +this valley the district of the modern Herat, lay the Areians, who are +called _Haraiva_ in the inscriptions of the Persian kings. The name +points to the possession of water. To the north of the Areians, in the +valley of the Margos (now Murghab), which rises in the northern edge of +the table-land, and flows to the north-west, where it also ends in the +sands of the desert, in Margiana (Old Persian, Marghush; Bactrian, +Mouru; modern Merv), lay the Margiani, in a well-cultivated region, rich +in vineyards, with numerous cities and a large population. But the +fertility only extends so far as the soil can be watered from the Margos +and the neighbouring streams. + +At the foot of the mountain barrier, towards the northern steppes, and +on the edge of the steppes of the Oxus, to the north of the Hyrcanians, +Parthians, and Margiani, in a land which only partially admits of +agriculture, lay the Chorasmians, a people partly stationary and partly +migratory--the _Uvarazmiya_ of the Achaemenids, the _Hvairizem_ of the +Avesta. Further to the east, where the edge rises to the lofty Hindu +Kush, there lies on its northern slope a favoured district in the region +of the Upper Oxus. That river flows from the table-land of Pamire, which +lies more than 15,000 feet above the sea, exactly at the point where the +Hindu Kush abuts on the Belurdagh, the western edge of the central +table-land. On the banks of the river, which flows in a north-westerly +direction, extend broad mountain pastures, where support is found in the +fresh mountain air for numerous herds of horses and sheep, and beneath +the wooded hills are blooming valleys. On these slopes of the Hindu +Kush, the middle stage between the table-land and the deep plain of the +Caspian Sea, lay the Bactrians--the _Bakhtri_ of the Achaemenids, the +_Bakhdhi_ of the Avesta. Curtius, following the accounts of the +companions of Alexander, tells us of the land of the Bactrians that it +was much diversified in character; in one part were pastures, another +was rich in beautiful fruit-trees and vines, and frequent springs +watered the rich soil, on which corn was cultivated. These districts +supported a large number of oxen and horses. Under the range of +Paropanisos (_i.e._ on the slope of the Hindu Kush) lay the city of +Bactra, on the river of the same name, which washed its walls. But a +great part of the country was covered with waste tracts of sand. If the +winds blew from the Caspian Sea, they swept the sand into high hills, +under which not only did every trace of the road disappear, but +travellers were at times overwhelmed; and, as if voyaging by sea, it was +necessary to guide the course by the stars.[13] Strabo remarks, after +Apollodorus of Artemita, that Bactria was the best part of East Iran +(Ariana). In ancient times the Bactrians were hardly distinguished from +nomads; but their land was extensive, and produced fruits of all kinds, +with the exception of the vine. The fertility of the land enabled the +Hellenic princes to make great conquests. Their cities were Bactra, +traversed by the river of the same name, Darapsa, Aornus (_avarana_, +_i.e._ protection), Kariata, and many others, and besides these cities, +the Bactrians had citadels on lofty rocks.[14] According to Strabo, +Bactra was also called Zariaspa, and Pliny asserts that at any rate in +earlier times it was called by that name. In Arrian Zariaspa is the +largest city of Bactria, while Ptolemy places Zariaspa to the north of +Bactra, on the bank of the Oxus. Zariaspa means golden horse. A river +might possibly be known by such a name, but hardly a city, unless it +belonged to a tribe of the name of Zariaspians, and was inhabited by +them. In fact Ptolemy places the tribe of the Zariaspians in his +Zariaspa.[15] + +The air on these north-western terraces of the Hindu Kush is warm, and +the soil sufficiently vigorous, under irrigation, to produce rice and +southern fruits. Eight leagues below the snow-fields of the mountains, +which resist even the hottest months of the year, two good leagues to +the north of the place where the Dehas, after forcing a passage through +the last heights, reaches the plains, lies the city of Balkh, on the +banks of that river. At this day it is a town only partially inhabited; +but the ruins of the ancient city are said to cover a circuit of several +leagues. The adjacent soil is now well cultivated; the fields are +thickly planted with trees, and beside old water-courses, now dried up, +and extensive ruins of yet older aqueducts, eighteen channels still +convey their rills to fields under active cultivation.[16] + +North of the Bactrians, beyond the Oxus, on the western slope of +Belurdagh, in the valley of the Polytimetus (Zarefshan, _i.e._ strewing +gold), which flows towards the Oxus from the east, but, instead of +joining it, ends in Lake Dengiz, lay the Sogdiani of the Greeks, the +_Suguda_ of the Old Persian inscriptions, and _Cughdha_ of the Avesta, +in the region of the modern Sogd. As the Oxus in its upper course +separates the Bactrians from the Sogdiani, the Jaxartes, further to the +north, separates the latter from the Scyths. According to Strabo, the +manners of the Bactrians and Sogdiani were similar, but the Bactrians +were less rude.[17] Maracanda (Samarcand), the chief city of the +Sogdiani, on the Polytimetus, is said to have had a circuit of 70 +stades in the fourth century B.C. The soil is not without fertility, but +the climate varies between great heat and severe cold. + +Herodotus observes that the Bactrians, who carried bows of reed and +short lances, closely resembled the northern Indians in armour, +clothing, and mode of life, and then informs us that the Areians, +Parthians, Sogdiani, and Chorasmians resembled the Bactrians. All these +tribes of the east, according to the account of Herodotus, carried the +Indian bow of reed; the Areians alone used the Median bow, which +Herodotus states to have been in vogue not only among the Medes, but +also among all the nations of Western Iran. He adds that in ancient +times the Medes were called Areians by all men. Strabo uses the name +Ariana for the land of all the nations of Iran, except that of the Medes +and Persians, _i.e._ for the whole eastern half of Iran.[18] In +Diodorus also the nations of Eastern Iran are Arians.[19] The Avesta, +which, as we shall show, belongs to the east of Iran, calls its native +land _Airyao Dahvyu_, i.e. abode of the Airyas; or _Airyao Danhavo_, +_i.e._ land of the Airyas, in contrast to the _Anairyao Danhavo_, i.e. +the non-Arian lands.[20] In his inscriptions king Darius styles himself +"a Persian, son of a Persian, an Arian (_ariya_) of an Arian tribe,"[21] +and therefore the name must have held good of the west of Iran also, and +have included all the nations of Iran, though afterwards it continued in +use more especially for the tribes of the east. The inhabitants of the +modern Persian kingdom call their kingdom by the general name of Iran. +Iran is only the regular new Persian form of the old name, which in the +west was pronounced Ariyana, and in the east Airyana. + +We remember that the ruling nation of India called themselves Arya, and +this name compared with Airya and Ariya shows us that the nations of +Iran assumed the same title with very little difference. Among the +Greeks Ariya and Airya became Areioi and Arioi, and the name of the +land, Ariyana and Airyana, became Ariana. We have learnt the meaning of +the names Aryas, Ariyas, Airyas; they signify "the noble or ruling +people" (IV. 8). Much the same is the sense of the name Artaeans,[22] +which, according to the assertion of Herodotus, was the title by which +the Persians called themselves; it signifies "the exalted," or "mighty." +The Persians may have assumed it after they became the ruling people in +Iran and Hither Asia. + +These distinctions show us that the Aryas whom we found on the Indus and +in the Panjab, and who forced their way from thence to the conquest and +colonisation of the valley of the Ganges, and then extended their +dominion over the Deccan, and imported their religion and their +civilisation into those wide regions, were closely connected with the +group of nations which occupied the table-land of Iran. It is obvious +that this relationship was most strictly maintained and most strongly +marked where the intercourse between the neighbouring nations was most +lively, _i.e._ among the nations of Eastern Iran. The conclusion drawn +from the common title of the two nations on the west and east of the +Indus, and from the statements of Herodotus about the manners of the +eastern and the name of the western nations of Iran, is confirmed by the +examination of the existing remnants of the ancient languages of Iran, +whether spoken in the east or the west. This evidence derived from the +names and the language is confirmed yet further by the coincidence in +certain traits of religion and worship. + +We are not in a position to fix the place from which and the time when +the Arian tribes entered the table-land of Iran and peopled it. That +Iran was not their native country is clear from the divergence of the +Arian stock from the common stem of the Indo-Europeans (IV. 4). Still +less can we decide whether the Arians found an older population already +settled in Iran. So far as the ancient monuments of east and west allow +us to form an opinion, there exist no elements of an alien language from +which we could deduce the existence of an earlier population, which the +Arians conquered. Yet we cannot deny that tribes of an alien origin and +character were settled on the western spurs of the mountain wall of +Iran, in the north no less than in the south.[23] The foreign elements +which the later forms of the language of Iran have adopted are due to +the influence which the Semitic neighbours of the Arians on the west, +and the dominion of the Arabs, exercised on Iran. As to the direction in +which the Arians entered Iran, we can only conclude, from their close +relationship to the Arians of India, that they peopled the east of Iran +before the west. If the Arians of India came into the Panjab, as we +assumed, soon after 2000 B.C., the Arians of Iran entered the eastern +part of that country at a date certainly not later. According to the +list of dynasties furnished by Berosus, the Arians about 2500 B.C. were +not only settled in Iran, but already possessed the western part of the +country. He represents the Medes as conquering Babylonia in 2458 B.C., +and from this date down to 2224 B.C. mentions eight Median kings as +ruling over Babylon (I. 241, 247). + +In spite of their cruel treatment, the nucleus of the ancient Arian +population of Iran has not succumbed to the alien dynasties, the +Seleucids, Arabs, and Mongols who have invaded the land since the fall +of the Achaemenids; and the ancient territory has been maintained, with +some losses, even against the incursions and immigrations of the Sacae, +Yuechis, and Turkish hordes. As in the vast regions of the Indus and the +Ganges, so in Iran the ancient language still lives on the lips of the +modern population. Yet the changes have been great. Under the Arsacids +the Old Persian passed into Middle Persian, which at a later time was +known by the name of the Parthians, the tribe at that time supreme in +Persia. Pahlav and Pehlevi mean Parthian, and, as applied to language, +the language of the Parthians, _i.e._ of the Parthian era.[24] In the +west this older Middle Persian grew up out of the Old Persian, in the +east out of the Old Bactrian. In the latest period of the dominion of +the Sassanids, the recent Middle Persian or Parsee took the place of +Pehlevi. When the kingdom of the Sassanids succumbed to the Arabs, and +Arabic became the language of the ruling people in Iran, the reaction +which took place in the eastern districts of the country against the +dominion of the Abbasids brought about the formation of the new Persian, +which was finally completed when the national reaction broke out in the +beginning of the eleventh century of our era. Beginning from Merv, +Balkh, and Sejestan (the ancient Haetumat), that rising found its +strongest point in Ghasna and Cabul. It did not preserve the religion, +but it saved the language, nationality, and independence of Iran. The +change from the Middle Persian to the modern began with the +north-eastern dialects; in the south-east the Afghans and Beluchees +still speak in ancient forms, closely akin to the dialects of the +peasants of the Panjab. To this day the greater part of the entire +population of Iran consists of the descendants of the Arians, in spite +of all the distress and ruin which the land has suffered,[25] though the +residuum of foreign elements is larger here than beyond the Indus, +especially in the north-west, in Aderbeijan, and above all in Bactria +and Sogdiana, in the north-east. The descendants of the Arians are still +recognised by the formation of their bodies, which appeared so striking +to Western nations in antiquity--the slender growth, the semicircular, +united eyebrows, and the yellow skin, which becomes browner towards the +east. The Persians and Afghans still possess a sound judgment, a keen +intelligence, and lively sense of poetry--characteristics which, as we +saw, belonged in a pre-eminent degree to the Arians of India. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[1] Ritter, "Erdkunde," 7, 234-240; 8, 721. + +[2] Herod. 1, 125; 7, 85; Lassen, "Z. D. M. G." 6, 55. Herodotus reckons +the Paretaceni among the tribes of the Medes (1, 101); the Sagartians, +whom he represents as armed partly like Persians, partly like Pactyans, +with the Carmanians, he places among the Persians. Yet the nomad +Sagartians seem rather to have had relations with the Medes than the +Persians; for, according to the inscription of Behistun, a rebel obtains +a following among the Sagartians by giving himself out to be a +descendant of Cyaxares, the Median king. Ptolemy places the Sagartians +in Media; cf. Plin. "Hist. Nat." 6, 29. + +[3] Arrian, "Anab." 6, 22 ff.; "Ind." 25, 26; Curtius, 9, 10, 5. + +[4] Behistun, 1, 6; Persep. 1, 17; Herod. 3, 91. + +[5] Strabo, p. 711; Arrian, "Ind." 25, 26; "Anab." 6, 23. + +[6] Arrian, "Anab." 3, 27; Diod. 17, 81; Strabo, p. 724. + +[7] Vol. IV. p. 33. + +[8] The city of Kapisakani, which Darius, according to the inscription +of Behistun (3, 9, 1), conquered in the land of the Arachoti, is no +doubt the Capissa of Pliny, in the district of Capissene; "Hist. Nat." +6, 25. Pliny speaks of the city and river of Cabul as belonging to the +Arachoti. The inhabitants of the southern slope of the Hindu Kush are +known to the Greeks as Paropanisadae. The explanation of the name by +Paropanisos (Paropamisus), Paropanishadha, given by Lassen, is quoted in +Vol. IV. p. 21, _n._ 2. In the Babylonian text of the inscription of +Behistun, the Gandaras of the Persian text are called Parupanisana. In +the narrower sense the name denotes the south-western part of the range +of the Hindu Kush, the group which forms the cradle of the Herirud and +Hilmend, the modern Ghuristan, to the west of the plateau of Ghasna. + +[9] Lassen, "Indische Alterthumskunde," 1, 428. Fr. Mueller ("Ueber die +Sprache der Afghanen") is of the opinion that the Afghan does not come +between Indian and Persian, but belongs to the Iranian stem, and the +Afghan has preserved the old Bactrian relations of sound more faithfully +than the Persian, and thus shows itself to be a direct descendant of the +old eastern dialect of Iran. Trump proves that Afghan is an ancient +independent language of strong Indian type. "Z. D. M. G." 21, 10 ff. + +[10] Strabo, pp. 508, 514, 724; Plin. "Hist. Nat." 6, 29; Diod. 17, 75. + +[11] Ritter, "Erdkunde," 8, 425 ff. + +[12] Isid. "Charac. Mans. Parth." 10-14. The Parthians rose with the +Hyrcanians against Darius; Parthians and Hyrcanians formed one satrapy. +The Parthians are the Pahlav of Moses of Khorene, the Pehlew of later +writers. The mention of them in the inscriptions of Darius proves that +they are not a later immigrant Scythian, _i.e._ non-Arian, nation, as +Justin, Strabo, and others maintain. The cities which the inscription of +Behistun mentions in Parthia (2, 95; 3, 4), Vicpauzatis and Patigrabana, +we cannot fix more definitely; Ammian (23, 6) mentions Patigran in +Media. Parthunisa, with the graves of the Parthian kings, mentioned in +Isidorus, "which the Greeks call Nisaea," is Parthava-Nicaya, and must be +sought for near the modern Nishapur. It must be the Nica which the +Vendidad places between Mouru and Bakhdhi. Justi, "Beitrage," 2, 6 +compares Isidorus' [Greek: Batzigraban, ho esti telonion]. + +[13] Curt. 7, 4. + +[14] Strabo, pp. 118, 516, 682; Arrian, "Anab." 3, 29. On Aornus, cf. +Vol. IV. p. 395. + +[15] Ptolem. 6, 11; 8, 7; Strabo, pp. 514, 516; Arrian, "Anab." 3, 29; +4, 1, 16, 22; Plin. "Hist. Nat." 6, 17, 18; Steph. Byz. _sub voc._ +Firdusi mentions a hero Zarasp. + +[16] Elphinstone, "Kabul," 2, 213, 214. + +[17] Strabo, _loc. cit._ + +[18] Herod. 7, 62; Strabo (pp. 516, 517, 724) includes in Ariana, +Gedrosia, Arachosia, Drangiana, Paropanisus, Aria, Parthia, and +Caramania. Cf. Pausan. 2, 3, 8. + +[19] Diod. 1, 94. Damascius ("De Primis Principiis," p. 384) speaks of +the [Greek: Magoi de kai pan to arion genos]. + +[20] "Vendid." 19, 132; "Mihr Yasht," 4, 13; "Tistar Yasht," 9, 56, 60. + +[21] Naksh-i-Rustem, a., 14. + +[22] Herod. 7, 61. Cf. Steph. Byz. [Greek: Artaia]. + +[23] On the tribe of the Brahuis in the south-east, on this side of the +Indus, cf. Vol. IV. p. 10. + +[24] Haug, "The book of Arda Viraf," p. xxv. Mordtmann has shown on the +coins of the Arsacids and Sassanids the stages between the older forms +and the language of Firdusi; "Z. D. M. G." 4, 84 ff., 8, 9 ff. On the +forms of the Old Bactrian on the coins of the Graeco-Bactrian and +Indo-Scythian princes: Lassen, "Indische Alterthum." 2^2, 834 ff. +Spiegel, "Parsigrammatik," s. 116 ff. + +[25] It has been recently proved that the inhabitants of the mountain +country between Cabul and Herat, the Aimaks and Hazares, speak Persian. + + + + +CHAPTER II. + +THE KINGDOM OF THE BACTRIANS. + + +Among the ruins of the residence of the kings of Asshur at Chalah, on +the confluence of the Greater Zab and the Tigris, was discovered the +obelisk which Shalmanesar II., who reigned from 859 to 823 B.C. over +Assyria, erected in memory of his successes. In the tribute offered to +him we find the rhinoceros, the elephant, the humped ox, and the camel +with two humps (II. 320). This species of camel and the yak are found +in Bactria, on the southern edge of the Caspian Sea, and in Tartary, +and we afterwards find elephants in the possession of the rulers of +Bactria.[26] Hence, in order to obtain these animals for tribute, the +armies of Shalmanesar must have advanced as far as the eastern tribes +of the Iranian table-land. From the inscriptions of Tiglath Pilesar II., +it is clear that he advanced along the same table-land as far as the +Hilmend and the Arachoti, if not as far as Bactria. Among the lands +subjugated in 745 B.C., he enumerates Nisaa, Zikruti, and Arakuttu. In +Nisaa we cannot mistake Nisaea in the east of Media (p. 31). The Zikruti +were no doubt the Sagartians of Herodotus, the Acagarta of the old +Persian inscriptions.[27] Arakuttu represents in a Semitic form the +name of the Arachoti, the Harauvati of the Achaemenids (p. 8). So far as +we can at present judge from inscriptions, the successors of Tiglath +Pilesar did not carry their campaigns further to the east of Iran, and +we can assert with certainty of both the sovereigns who raised the power +of Assyria to its summit, Esarhaddon and Assurbanipal (681-626 B.C.), +that they made no conquests in this direction. + +If the inscriptions of the Assyrians leave us in almost total darkness +about Bactria, the Medo-Persian epic poetry can give us full information +about the country. When Ninus, king of Assyria, had subjugated all the +nations of Asia as far as the Nile and the Tanais, he made an attempt +upon Bactria, but without success. The entrance into the land was +difficult, the number of warriors great, and they knew how to fight +bravely. Then Ninus collected an army of two millions of soldiers, which +was opposed by Oxyartes, the king of the Bactrians, with 400,000 men. +When the Assyrian army came in detachments out of the passes, Oxyartes +attacked and drove them back into the mountains with the loss of 100,000 +men. The army of Ninus then combined, outnumbered and overcame the +Bactrians, and scattered them into their cities, which Ninus took with +little trouble. But Bactra, where was the palace of the kings, was large +and well supplied, and had a very strong citadel in a high position, +while the city extended over the plain. It resisted for a long time, +till Semiramis ascended the citadel, and Ninus was enabled to take +possession of the treasures of gold and silver which were in Bactra. At +a later time Semiramis collected her vast army for the invasion of India +in Bactria, and returned to Bactra after she had been defeated on the +Indus, and had lost two-thirds of her army (II. 10). Such are the +descriptions given by the epic poetry of the Medes and Persians, in the +account of the rise of Assyria and subjugation of Bactria. The Bactrians +are again brought forward in the narrative of the overthrow of Assyria, +which was the proper theme of these poems. When Sardanapalus has already +thrice defeated the Medes and Babylonians, a strong force comes to his +assistance from Bactria. The leader of the Medes determines to attack +this first, if it would not join in the contest for freedom against +Assyria. The Bactrians joined the Medes, the power of Assyria was +broken, and Nineveh destroyed (III. 253). + +From these poems it follows that in the first half of the sixth century +B.C., in which the Medo-Persian epic attained its original form, the +tradition, or at any rate the opinion, existed among the minstrels of +Media that a powerful kingdom and large metropolis once existed in +Bactria, the situation of which is correctly described. This kingdom +possessed a strong citadel and abundant treasures, and could put in the +field a large army of brave warriors. Without such a conception they +could not represent the first attack of the Assyrians on Bactria as a +failure, the second as successful only after considerable time and +trouble had been spent, and the conquest as the last and greatest +achievement of Ninus, the mightiest sovereign of Assyria, which he only +performed with the aid of Semiramis. + +The inscriptions of the Assyrians have already informed us that no +dominion of Assyria over Eastern Iran existed in the earliest period of +the kingdom; on the contrary, even when her power was at the highest +Assyria could only carry on temporary excursions into that region. The +western part of the country was first trodden by the armies of +Shalmanesar II.; his inscriptions mention tribute of the Medes, and +from the inscriptions of his successors it is distinctly clear that only +the nations of Western Iran were tributary dependants of the kings of +Asshur from the period of Tiglath Pilesar, _i.e._ from the middle of +the eighth century B.C., till the period of Phraortes and Cyaxares of +Media, _i.e._ till the middle of the seventh century B.C.[28] + +The conquests of Cyrus, who overthrew the power of the Medes, founded +the Persian empire, and extended it to the east, would give us more +accurate information about Eastern Iran if connected accounts of these +were in existence. Herodotus contents himself with stating that Cyrus, +after subjugating the Lydians, determined to march against the Bactrians +and Sacae. He conquered all the nations of Upper Asia, one after the +other, without omitting any.[29] Ctesias relates that the Bactrians +after a doubtful battle submitted voluntarily to Cyrus. According to the +account of Xenophon, the Hyrcanians, Cadusians, and Sacae joined Cyrus, +and in the fragments of Nicolaus also the Hyrcanians, Parthians, and +"the other nations" passed over to Cyrus immediately after the conquest +of the Medes. However this may be, there is no doubt that the east of +Iran was subject to Cyrus. He marched through the land of the Arachoti, +entered into relations with the Ariacpas (p. 8), and subjugated the +Gandarians on the south of the Cabul. He is also said to have imposed +tribute on the Acvakas to the north of the river (IV. 384). The +Sogdiani, in any case, were his vassals. On a stream which flows into +the Jaxartes he built a fortress called by his own name, known to the +Greeks as Cyresbata (_ultima Cyra_, or with others Cyropolis), _i.e._ +the furthest Cyrus. The walls and citadels were strong and spacious, and +in the neighbourhood were six other citadels.[30] The value placed by +Cyrus on the regions of Eastern Iran is not only clear from these +fortresses, but may be deduced from the statement that his second son +Bardya, whom the Greeks call Smerdis, was intrusted with the government +of Bactria, if indeed the statement is genuine.[31] + +The nations and condition of Eastern Iran can be ascertained more +clearly from the inscriptions of Darius. According to his inscription at +Behistun, his empire in that direction comprised the Parthians, +Sarangians, Areians, Chorasmians, Bactrians, Sogdiani, Gandarii, +Sattagydae, Arachoti, and Sacae; and to these the Idhus, _i.e._ the +Indians on the right bank of the upper course of the Indus, are added in +the inscriptions of Persepolis and Naksh-i-Rustem.[32] Further +information is preserved by Herodotus with respect to the tribute +imposed by Darius on these nations. As these statements are undoubtedly +derived from Persian tribute lists, they serve to throw a side light on +the state of civilisation existing in the east of Iran at the division +of the sixth and fifth centuries B.C. The Sarangians, who, as we have +seen (p. 7), inhabited the fertile land round Lake Areios (Hamun), +together with the Sagartians and some neighbouring nations on the south, +paid yearly 600 Babylonian talents into the treasury of the king. The +Areians (Haraivas), Parthians, Sogdiani, and Chorasmians, who formed the +sixteenth satrapy of the Persian empire, had to pay 300 talents; the +Gedrosians and Gandarians together paid 170 talents; the Caspiani +(_i.e._ no doubt, the Tapurians and other tribes on the southern shore +of the Caspian Sea) and the Sacae, who traversed the steppes of the Oxus, +_i.e._ the fifteenth satrapy, paid 250 talents; and the Bactrians, the +twelfth satrapy of the empire, paid 360 talents.[33] These sums, which +do not include the whole of the burdens of the provinces, but are only +the land taxes which they had to pay,--in addition, tolls were levied +and contributions in kind to the court of the king and the satraps, as +well as for the maintenance of the army,--show that at the time of +Darius agriculture and wealth had proceeded far beyond the earliest +stages in the eastern districts of Iran. The Babylonian silver talent +amounts to more than 2000 thalers (6000 shillings).[34] If a sum of more +than 1,200,000 thalers (L180,000) could be raised every year in land tax +from the districts round Lake Hamun, extensive though they were, and +720,000 thalers (L108,000) in a similar manner from the land of the +Bactrians, the gardens, fields, and pastures of these regions must have +been considerable in breadth, and of great fertility. + +Beyond this indication of the state of the civilisation in these +districts, we learn but little of their fortunes under the dominion of +the Persians. Darius (521-485 B.C.) informs us, at the beginning of his +reign, that his father Hystaspes (Vistacpa), his viceroy in Persia, the +native land of the kingdom, and with him Vivana the Persian, the satrap +of Arachosia, and Dadarshis the Persian, the satrap of Bactria, had +quelled the rebellions of the Parthians, Hyrcanians, and Margiani; that +the Mede Takhmacpada had conquered the rebellious Sagartians, and +captured their leader, Chitratakhma, whom he, Darius, had crucified at +Arbela. The army of the second Pseudo-Smerdis, which attempted to gain +possession of Arachosia, Vivana had defeated at the fortress of +Kapisakani, in Arachosia, and the leaders, with their chief associates, +had been captured in the fortress of Arsada and put to death. Hystaspes +had slain 6560 men of the Parthians and Hyrcanians, and taken 4182 of +them captives. Dadarshis had subjugated the Mardians by slaying 4203 of +them in battle, and taking 6562 of them captive.[35] Xerxes, the +successor of Darius, successively intrusted two of his brothers, +Masistes and then Hystaspes, with the government of Bactria.[36] In the +great campaign against Hellas, the Bactrians, like all the other nations +of the kingdom, had to furnish their contingent; and when Mardonius had +to select the best troops in the army in Hellas, in order to winter with +them in Thessaly, he retained, besides the Persians and Medes, the +infantry and cavalry of the Bactrians, Sacae, and Indians.[37] The +Bactrians, under their viceroy Hystaspes, revolted against Artaxerxes, +the brother of Hystaspes. The first battle was not decisive; in the +second Artaxerxes conquered, "because the wind blew in the face of the +Bactrians," and subjugated the land.[38] To the army of Darius III. with +which he met the Macedonians in Assyria, the Bactrians contributed +30,000 cavalry; and in the battle of Arbela they fought with the +Arachoti on the left wing. Accompanied by Bactrian horsemen, Darius +escaped from the field of battle to Media, and sought afterwards to +maintain his position in their country. The Caspian gates, the pass of +Damaghan, were gained, when the satrap of Bactria got possession of the +king, and put him to death before he reached Bactria. The satrap hoped +to establish an independent power there,[39] but without success. Though +Alexander at first overcame the Bactrians, who were astonished at his +rapid approach, he soon found a stubborn resistance in Sogdiana and +Bactria, which occupied him for two years.[40] Not till then could he +make his preparations in Bactria for the invasion of India, and collect +at Bactra the army intended for the subjugation of that country, in +order to pass over the Hindu Kush into the valley of the Cabul. + +In the contests which the successors of Alexander carried on for the +supremacy after his death, the valley of the Euphrates and Tigris, and +the table-land of Iran, finally fell to the lot of Seleucus. But in the +middle of the third century (256 B.C.), Arsaces in Parthia and the +satrap Diodotus in Bactria rebelled against the second successor, +Antiochus Theos. The descendants of Arsaces not only succeeded in +maintaining their independence against the Seleucids, in spite of severe +reverses, but Mithridates I., the sixth Arsacid (174-136 B.C.), united +all Iran under his dominion. The Greeks lost their supremacy, and Iran +again became subject to native princes. + +Meanwhile Diodotus had founded an independent supremacy in Bactria. His +son, of the same name, was succeeded by Euthydemus, against whom, +towards the year 200 B.C., Antiochus III. marched, in order to force +Bactria to submission. Euthydemus was defeated at the river Areios (p. +10), and fled to Zariaspa. By the surrender of his elephants he obtained +an established recognition from Antiochus. Demetrius and Eucratides, the +successors of Euthydemus (after 180 B.C.), extended the sphere of their +dominion to the east over the land on the Cabul to the Indus. The +kingdom of Chandragupta, Vindusara, and Acoka, which, as we know, +included the east of Iran, and has left us inscriptions at Peshawur +(IV. 525), fell to pieces under Acoka's grandsons. Apollodorus of +Artemita told us above that the fertility of the Bactrian soil enabled +the Greek rulers to make important conquests (p. 12); he informs us that +Eucratides founded the city of Eucratideia in Bactria, and subjugated a +thousand cities in India. We may assume that Bactria under these princes +was not merely powerful, but prosperous. According to the statement of +Justin, a thousand cities were at that time enumerated in Bactria,[41] +and we possess satisfactory evidence that these rulers and their courts, +and the Greek settlements which Alexander founded in the distant East, +were able permanently to establish the style and art of Hellas. The +coins of these princes, who are designated in Greek as "kings," "great," +"invincible," rival the best work which proceeded from Greek mints. The +faces present the heads of the princes, in characteristic and individual +portraits; the reverses exhibit Heracles, Athena, Apollo with a crown of +rays, the Dioscuri on horseback, lance in hand. But by degrees the +national types of the East are again employed on these coins. The +reverse presents the galloping horse, the animal of Bactria, the +elephant, and the humped ox.[42] The head of Demetrius, who first +conquered territory in India, and that of some of his descendants, is +covered by a helmet adorned with the tusks and trunk of an elephant. +Besides the round, numbers of rectangular coins have also been found, +from which we can discover the native traditional form of the Bactrian +coinage. After the reign of Eucratides these rectangular coins present +on one side Greek inscriptions, which are repeated in other characters +on the reverse. To the inscriptions of king Acoka at Kapur-i-Giri, and +to these coins, together with those of the Graeco-Indian kings, and some +later coins belonging to the Arsacids and the Indo-Scythian princes, we +owe the information that the east of Iran possessed a peculiar alphabet +and mode of writing, while the Medes and Persians of the west borrowed +their earliest letters from the Assyrio-Babylonian cuneiform writing, +and afterwards, from about the fourth century B.C., adopted the cursive +character of the Aramaeans. + +Although, as we may conclude from these indications, the Greek +sovereigns of Bactria resolved to pay a certain respect to the +civilisation of their subjects, their kingdom was short-lived. The +nations of the steppes of the Oxus, themselves under pressure, began to +advance to the south (after 160 B.C.); in the west the Parthians rose +into power. Mithridates I. of Parthia incorporated Bactria in his +kingdom about 140 B.C., and Bactria subsequently became a part of the +Parthian empire. Heliocles, the son of Eucratides, was thus limited to +the land of the Cabul and Indus, but on the borders of India the power +and influence of the Greeks remained unbroken. Greek captains--Menander, +and after him Apollodotus, who had previously no doubt been subject to +the Bactrians--issued from the southern slope of the Hindu Kush in the +last decades of the second century B.C., and conquered the land of the +Indus as far as the mouth of the river, and the Panjab. They advanced to +the Yamuna, and reduced Surashtra (Guzerat) and Cashmere to dependence. +Even at the end of the first century B.C. coins of these princes were +current on the coast of Surashtra, and they are still found on the +banks of the Yamuna.[43] + +On the western coast of India, from the Gulf of Cambay to Bombay, we +find from one hundred to one hundred and fifty thousand families whose +ancestors migrated thither from Iran. The tradition among them is, that +at the time when the Arabs, after conquering Iran and becoming +sovereigns there, persecuted and eradicated the old religion, faithful +adherents of the creed fled to the mountains of Kerman. Driven from +these by the Arabs (in Kerman and Yezd a few hundred families are still +found who maintain the ancient faith[44]), they retired to the island of +Hormuz (a small island close by the southern coast, at the entrance to +the Persian Gulf). From hence they migrated to Din (on the coast of +Guzerat), and then passed over to the opposite shore. In the +neighbourhood of Bombay and in the south of India inscriptions have been +found which prove that these settlers reached the coast in the tenth +century of our era.[45] At the present time their descendants form a +considerable part of the population of Surat, Bombay, and Ahmadabad; +they call themselves, after their ancient home, Parsees, and speak the +later Middle Persian (the Parsee, p. 17). Their worship and life they +regulate by the rules given in certain scriptures which they brought +with them from their ancient home. These are fragments of a much larger +whole, part of a book of law, and a collection of sacrificial songs and +prayers. The Parsees no longer speak or understand the language of these +scriptures (the Avesta), and even the priests, who use them every day, +ascertain the meaning through an accompanying translation into the later +language. + +That these scriptures arose in the east of Iran is clear from the +language of the Avesta. It exhibits a close relationship with the forms +of the Veda and Sanskrit, the ancient language of the Arians in India. +If, on the other hand, we compare the language of the Avesta with the +ancient language of Western Iran as we possess it in the inscriptions of +the Achaemenids, we find that both are merely different dialects of one +language, but they differ in such a manner that the language of the +inscriptions of Darius and Xerxes is less closely connected with +Sanskrit than the language of the Avesta. This language then we may +regard as the ancient speech of Eastern Iran, and this assumption is +raised into evidence by the contents of the Avesta. These prove that the +Avesta arose in the east of Iran, with even greater certainty than the +songs of the Rigveda prove that that collection arose in the land of the +Indus and the Panjab. The Avesta entirely ignores the west of Iran. No +mention is made of Ecbatana and Pasargadae, the abode of the Median and +the Persian kings, though they reigned over the whole of Iran and Hither +Asia; nor even of the nations of the west, the Medes and Persians. It +speaks of the land of the seven streams, _i.e._ India (IV. 12), and +the heat which prevails in that land;[46] it mentions the beautiful +Harahvaiti (Arachosia) and Haetumat (afterwards Sejestan[47]): the +latter is extolled as a beaming, glowing, brilliant country.[48] The +knowledge of the Avesta is most accurate in the north-east. Here we +find Airyana Vaeja, _i.e._ home or canton of the Airyas,[49] Cughdha +(Sogdiana), Bakhdhi (Baktra), Mouru (Margiana, Merv[50]), Nica, between +Bakhdhi and Mouru, Haraeva (Haraiva in the inscriptions; Herat, the land +of the Areians), and Vehrkana, _i.e._ land of wolves (Hyrcania).[51] +The furthest point known to the west is Ragha in Media, which, +according to the Avesta, consists of three citadels or tribes.[52] These +statements carry us very distinctly to the east of Iran, the region +from Ragha to the Indus. Mouru is "the high," "the holy," and Bakhdhi's +"high banner" is extolled. In this way this city was no doubt marked out +as the seat of an important dominion, the centre of a kingdom. + +If we might assume that in these fragments of the sacred books of the +Parsees we have not only the ancient language, but also the ancient +religion of Eastern Iran before us, we might also hope that we should +meet in them with remnants of the tradition, with native accounts of the +fortunes of the country, enabling us to supplement the scanty +information which we could glean from the inscriptions of the Assyrians +and Darius, and the accounts of Western writers. Leaving out of sight +for the present the question, At what period did these writings come +into existence? we may collect what we can find in them on the early +history of Iran. + +In the Avesta the god Haoma says, Vivanghana was the first who crushed +out the juice of the Haoma. As a reward there was born to him the +brilliant Yima, the lord of the nations, the most famous of all who +have seen the sun. While Yima Kshaeta (Yima the king) reigned there was +neither cold nor excessive heat, neither age nor death, nor envy, caused +by the evil spirits: fathers and sons equally had the vigour of men +of fifty years. Yima caused the means of support for mankind to be +inexhaustible; he liberated the waters and trees from drought, and the +herds from death.[53] In an invocation to the goddess Ardvicura, the +giver of water, to whom Yima sacrifices a hundred horses, a thousand +oxen, and ten thousand head of small cattle on Hukairya, the summit of +the divine mountain, he prays, "Grant to me, Saviour Ardvicura, that I +may be the sovereign of all lands, that I may carry away from the Daevas +(the evil spirits) increase and health, fodder and herds, joy and +glory." To the goddess Ashi vanguhi, Yima also offers a prayer "that he +may bring food and flocks to the creatures of Mazda, and immortality, +and may remove hunger and thirst, age and death, the hot wind and the +cold from the creatures of Mazda for a thousand years." And the morning +wind, Vayu, is entreated that "Yima may be the most merciful of all +creatures, and that under his dominion he may make cattle and mankind +immortal, that the waters and trees may never dry up and wither." In the +fragments of the book of the law in the Avesta, Zarathrustra inquires of +Auramazda to whom he (the god) had first revealed the true doctrine. +Auramazda answers, "I spoke first with Yima, the excellent one. I said +to him, Yima, thou beautiful son of Vivanghana, be thou the preacher and +bearer of my doctrine. But Yima answered, I am not fitted to be the +preacher of the doctrine. Then I, Auramazda, spoke and said, If thou +wilt not obey me, Yima, to be the bearer of my law, yet make my world +fruitful; be the keeper of my earthly creatures, their protector and +lord. And Yima, the excellent one, answered, I will cause thy creatures +to prosper and increase; I will be the keeper, protector, and lord of +them. Therefore I, Auramazda, gave to him two instruments, a golden +staff and an ox goad adorned with gold, and three hundred years passed +by. And the land was full of herds and beasts of draught, of men, and +dogs, and birds, and red flaming fires. And there was no more any room +for the flocks, and men, and beasts of draught. Then I warned Yima: O +Yima, excellent one, son of Vivanghana, there is no more any room for +the herds, and beasts of draught, and men. And Yima went forth to meet +the stars and the path of the sun (_i.e._ towards the east). He struck +with the golden staff upon the earth, and smote it with the goad, and +said, Cpenta Armaiti (O holy earth), arise, part thyself asunder, thou +bearer of animals and of men. And Yima pushed the earth asunder so that +it was a third part greater than before. Then the flocks found a home, +the beasts of draught, and men, according to their wish and desire." +Again three hundred years passed, and there was no more any room for +herds, beasts, and men; and at Auramazda's command Yima again caused the +earth to stretch asunder, and it became two-thirds greater than before; +and after another three hundred years Yima caused the earth to become as +large again as before.[54] Then a thousand years passed, and Auramazda +said to Yima, "Bitter cold and sharp frost will fall upon the earth, and +the snow will lie deep on the summits of the mountains and in the clefts +of the valleys. Make an enclosure (_vara_) of the length of a horse's +course on each of the four sides. Bring into it a stock of herds and +beasts of draught, of men and dogs, and birds and red flaming fires, and +make the enclosure to be a dwelling for men and a stall for the cattle. +Carry water thither, and build houses and tombs, and a fortification and +palisade round about, and drive them with the golden staff into the +citadel, and shut to the door. And Yima made a citadel of the length of +a horse's course. Thither he brought a stock of all men and women who +were the tallest, best, and most beautiful of earth, and a brood of all +animals which were largest, best, and most beautiful, and the seeds of +all fruits and growths which were best and most beautiful. And he +provided that a pair were ever together. There was no evil speaking +there, nor strife, nor injury, nor deception, nor meanness; nothing +crooked, no mal-formation of teeth, no crippled form, nor any other of +the signs which are the signs of Angromainyu. In this enclosure which +Yima made men lived the happiest life. A year was a day, and every forty +years two children, a male and a female, were born from each pair of +human creatures, and so also of each kind of animal."[55] + +In an invocation in the Avesta we are told that the bright gleaming +majesty in the form of the bird Varaghna had passed from Yima when he +began to love lying speech. Yima fell terrified to earth, and Mithra, +the lord of wide pastures, seized the majesty. When it passed a second +time from Yima, Thraetaona seized it, and when it passed a third time, +Kerecacpa seized it. + +The second who crushed the juice of the Haoma was Athwya. Hence there +was born to him a son, Thraetaona, in the land of Varena. The evil +spirit Angromainyu had created a wicked being, "with three heads, three +throats, six eyes, and a thousand strengths"--the Azhi dahaka, _i.e._ +the biting serpent, which swallowed horses and men, and threatened to +desolate the world. But Thraetaona sacrificed a hundred horses to +Ardvicura, a thousand oxen, and ten thousand head of small cattle, and +called on the goddess, and with bound bundle of rods, on Vayu on his +golden throne, with golden footstool and golden canopy, to grant that he +might smite the strong Druj, which Angromainyu had created as the +strongest to bring death upon the pure world; and he overcame the +monster, because Verethraghna was with him, the most victorious of +mortals.[56] And Thraetaona obtained the splendour of the dominion when +it departed a second time from Yima. In the prayers of the Avesta, +Thraetaona, who has slain the great serpent, is invoked as helper +against the "pain which is caused by the serpent," against fever and +sickness.[57] + +The third who crushed the juice of the Haoma for the sacrifice was +Thrita, of the race of Cama. Thrita was the first who by skill in +medicine kept back sickness and death from the bodies of men. He wished +for means to withstand the pains, the sickness, the death, the hot and +cold fever which Angromainyu had created for the bodies of men. "Then I, +Auramazda, caused healing plants to grow by hundreds, by thousands, by +tens of thousands around the one Gaokerena." And in reward for his +offering of Haoma two sons were born to Thrita--Urvakshaya, who put in +order the law, and Kerecacpa (_i.e._ having slim horses), the youth of +beautiful form, the bearer of the weapon Gaecu.[58] Kerecacpa smote the +poisonous green serpent Cruvara, on which flowed poison to the thickness +of a thumb, and it swallowed men and horses. Afterwards, after he had +sacrificed to Ardvicura on the shore of Lake Picano (_i.e._, no doubt, +in the valley of Pishin in Sejestan), he smote the giant Gandarewa, who +dwelt in Lake Vourukasha, and the descendants of the nine robbers, and +Cnavidhaka, who had attempted to overcome Auramazda and Angromainyu. And +when his brother Urvakshaya had been slain by Hitacpa, Kerecacpa +besought the wind, who works on high, to grant to him to slay Hitacpa in +revenge for the death of his brother. And he conquered him, and yoked +him to his chariot. When for the third time the majesty departed from +Yima, Kerecacpa seized it, the strongest of men after Zarathrustra. In +the prayers of the Avesta, Kerecacpa's help is invoked against robbers +and hostile hosts.[59] + +Yima, Thraetaona, Kerecacpa, and the forms which are genealogically +connected with them, Vivanghana, Athwya, Cama, Thrita, and Urvakshaya, +are collected by the Avesta under the name _Paradhata_, i.e. those who +first exercised dominion.[60] Indications in our fragments show that +other names were also included in them. Thraetaona's son was Airyu, and +Airyu's son was Manuschithra.[61] These most ancient sovereigns were +followed by a second group, whose distinguishing mark is the surname +_Kava_. The first of these Kavas, whom the Avesta mentions merely as the +wearer of the divine majesty, is Kava Kavata.[62] He is succeeded by the +agile, brilliant Kava Uca, who sacrifices to Ardvicura on Mount Erezifya +in order to obtain the dominion over all lands, over Daevas and men, +wizards and Pairikas, and this favour the goddess granted him. After Uca +the royal majesty united itself, to use the phrase in the Avesta, with +the beautiful pure body of Kava Cyavarshana. He died by a violent +death.[63] His son was Kava Hucrava, "the brave uniter of the Arian +lands into one kingdom," as the Avesta tells us, which then goes on to +relate that he was without sickness or death. He had to contend against +the destructive Franghracianas, the Turanians (_tura_, _tuirya_). He +besought Ardvicura that it "might be granted to him to put an end to the +long dimness, and bind the Franghracianas in their abundance and pride." +This prayer the goddess granted. Haoma himself desired "to bind the +destructive, murderous Franghraciana and carry him away as a captive of +the king Hucrava, and that Kava Hucrava should slay him behind the lake +Chaechacta, the deep lake with broad waters."[64] Kava Hucrava was +followed by king Aurvatacpa, the son of Naotara, the son of +Manuschithra, the son of Airyu; and Aurvatacpa was succeeded by his son +the strong and warlike Vistacpa.[65] Of the twenty-nine sons of this +king, the Avesta mentions the strong Cpentodata, and informs us that +Frashaostra and his brother Jamacpa, of the race of Hvova, were men of +importance with the king. Like Hucrava, Vistacpa had to contend with a +Turanian, Arejatacpa, _i.e._ the winner of horses, who sacrificed to +Ardvicura in order to obtain the victory over Kava Vistacpa and the +warrior on horseback, Zarivairi (the brother of Vistacpa). The goddess +heard him not, but heard Vistacpa when he sacrificed to her behind the +water of Frazdana, in order to overcome the hostile Arejatacpa, born of +darkness, skilled in evil, who sought to smite the lands of the +Arians.[66] But Zarathrustra, the son of Pourushacpa, of the race of +Haechatacpa, sacrificed to Ardvicura that he might unite with the mighty +Vistacpa, the son of Aurvatacpa, and to Drvacpa, "that he might unite +with Hutaoca, and she might impress on his memory the good law."[67] +Zarathrustra proclaimed a new law, the law of Auramazda. The heroes and +kings before him were known in the Avesta by the name _Paoiryotkaesha_, +i.e. the men of the earliest custom, the earliest law. + +These are all the traits and pictures of the antiquity of East Iran, of +any importance, which can be gathered from the remaining fragments of +the Avesta. Of the antiquity and genuineness of the narrative there is +no doubt. The close relationship and coincidence which they exhibit with +the form and views of the Veda are proved on both sides. As we saw, the +Veda distinguishes the sacrificers and sages of the ancient time, the +earlier time, and the present (IV. 29.) The god Haoma is the well-known +god Soma of the Arians in India, the variation in the name being due to +the change of sounds which distinguishes the Old Bactrian from the +language of the Veda. Here, as there, he is the sacrificial libation, +and at the same time the god who pours the libation, and is its power. +The great heroes Yima, Thraetaona, Kerecacpa and Zarathrustra were born +to their fathers as a reward for offering the libation of Soma. King +Yima (Yima Kshaeta) in the Avesta is no other than the Yama (Yama Rajan) +of the Veda. Yama is the son of Vivasvat, the brilliant, the shining, +the giver of light; and in the Avesta Yima is the son of Vivanghana. In +the Veda he is the assembler of the people, the first king, the first +mortal who shows to men the way which leads from the depths to the +height of heaven; who first experiences death, but returns into heaven +as the son of the god of light, where he gathers round him the brave and +pious for new life in imperishable joy (IV. 61). Yima is also the +assembler of men, the first king; he rules with the golden staff; he +founds the religious worship, a merit which in the Veda belongs to Manu. +Under Yima the earth is filled with red-glowing fires; he worships Vayu +and Ardvicura. He is the representative of the golden age; in his reign +there is neither heat nor cold, age nor death, hate nor strife; and his +dominion continues a thousand years. It was the first happy period of +the world, which men passed under the dominion of the son of the god of +light. At what an elevation Yima must have been placed in the oldest +form of the mythus of East Iran is clear from the fact that creative +acts and the triple extension of the earth are ascribed to him. After +the close of this golden period, winter comes upon the earth, heat and +cold, strife, sickness, and death. The happy life of the golden age +only continues within certain limits, in the enclosure of Yima, where he +carries on the blessed and immortal life with selected men, trees, +animals, and food. Here Yima is to live till the end of all things, when +his companions will again people the earth. As in this garden of Yima +the sun, moon, and stars shine together,[68] it must be sought in the +sky, or at any rate on the bright, divine mountain Hukairya, where there +is neither night nor gloom, and which is at the same time described as +Yima's place of sacrifice. + +If the Indians have placed the old Arian legend of a golden age on earth +in the days of Yima's reign, they have also, after their manner, +depicted his heavenly kingdom with brighter colours, while among the +Iranians this part of the legend is combined with the heavenly garden +into which Yima receives the men he has selected as the best. +Nevertheless, a reminiscence of Yima's garden has remained beyond the +Indus in the story of the Uttara Kurus, who dwell beyond the holy +mountains to the north.[69] + +The most striking variation from the common Arian myth in the Avesta is +the statement that Yima is subordinate to a deity, Auramazda, of whom +the Arians of India knew nothing. The old legend is thus brought within +the sphere of new views, which must have exercised still further +influence upon it. It is Auramazda who places in the hand of Yima the +control, superintendence, and protection of animals and men. It is not +through Yima's own desire, as was certainly the case in the old legend, +but at Auramazda's bidding, that the enclosure is made, and the selected +men, animals, and trees brought into it. The main reason for this change +was the necessity of giving an answer to the question, Why did not the +golden age continue? and if, long after Yima, Zarathrustra proclaimed a +new and better law, why had not Auramazda revealed this law to the +favoured Yima? In order to answer this riddle, the Avesta represents +Auramazda as asking Yima to become "the preacher and bearer of his +doctrine," and Yima refuses to accept this mission. Hence Yima becomes +guilty of a fault, and a reason is given why the golden age, the +thousand years of the reign of Yima, came to an end. Without the good +doctrine, the invasion of evil spirits, and with them of heat and cold, +sickness and death, strife and blight, could not be kept back from the +earth. This trait of the guilt of Yima, which is entirely unknown to the +earlier legend, is carried out still further. According to the prayer in +the Avesta (p. 34) blessing and immortality continued in the kingdom of +Yima, "till he began to love lying speech." When he had rejected +Auramazda's law he cannot himself resist the seduction of evil spirits. +The first offence brings on the second, and this causes the triple loss +of majesty, which at length ends in the fall and violent death of Yima, +an incident already indicated in the Avesta.[70] How this form of the +legend allowed the garden of Yima to be placed on the divine mountain, +and whether the contradiction was removed or not, our fragments do not +enable us to decide. + +In the Veda it was Indra who had to contend against Vritra and Ahi, +_i.e._ the serpents, and the black spirits, which desired to drink up +the water of the sky and veil its light. In Iran, as we shall see, this +office is transferred to other spirits, and also to Thraetaona. The Azhi +dahaka of the Avesta is the Ahi of the Veda. Ahi and Azhi are the same +word, with the same meaning; the addition _dahaka_ refers to the +destructive power of this demon. Verethraghna, _i.e._ the slayer of +Vritra, stands in the Avesta at the side of Thraetaona in his struggle +with Azhi (p. 35), and the morning wind supports him just as in the Veda +the winds assist Indra against Ahi and Vritra. Among the Indians, +Traitana is a spirit of the air, who dwells in the remotest regions of +the sky, who hews off the head of a giant from his shoulders, and in the +Veda, Trita, the son of Aptya, drinks the draught of Soma, in order to +win strength for the slaying of Vritra; he slays the snake with three +heads and seven tails; with his iron club he splits the hollows in the +rock in which the demons have hidden the cows of the heaven (the rain +clouds).[71] In the Veda, Aptya is the father of Trita; in the Avesta, +Athwya is the father of Thraetaona. Of Trita, whom it represents as +sprung from Cama, the Avesta declares that he was the first physician; +in the Veda we are told of Trita he knew how to heal sickness as the +gods had taken his sickness from him; that he bestowed long life.[72] +The two figures of Trita and Traitana gradually unite in the Veda; in +the Avesta, Thrita and Thraetaona remain separate persons. The Kerecacpa +of the Avesta seems to correspond to the Kricacva of the Indians, whom +we first find in the Epos, where he is celebrated as a warlike +Rishi.[73] + +If the Paradhatas, Yima, Athwya, Thraetaona, Thrita, and Kerecacpa in +the original conception are spirits of the sky, if the monsters with +which Thraetaona and Kerecacpa struggle are not to be sought on earth +but in the heavens, if in these dragons we find once more the +cloud-serpents, against which Indra and his company have to contend--we +do not at once set foot upon earth, when we come to the Kavanians. +According to the later tradition of Iran, Kava Kavata was fetched from +the divine mountain in order to reign over the country; two white +falcons bring him a golden crown. The Rigveda mentions Kavya Ucanas, +_i.e._ Ucanas, the son of Kavi, who brings the cows of the sky, _i.e._ +the clouds, to the pasture.[74] In the Avesta, Kava Uca sacrifices not +only to rule over the whole earth but also over the spirits. According +to a later tradition this sovereign--now called Kai Kaus--causes +beautiful castles to be built on the divine mountain by the demons, and +is then carried by four eagles into heaven. Kava Hucrava, for whom in +the Avesta the god Haoma contends, is without sickness and death +(p. 37). In the later tradition, in which he is known as Kai Chosru, he +begins a pilgrimage to heaven after conquering and slaying his opponent +the Turanian Franghaciana, like the sons of Pandu in the Mahabharata +after their victory over the Kurus and their happy reign. Like them +also, Kai Chosru climbs the mountains and disappears from his companions +at a well. Against his command they seek him in the mountains, and are +all buried in a great snow-storm. From the name Manuschithra (p. 37), +_i.e._ scion of Manu, we may conclude that the twin brother of Yama, +"father Manu," was not unknown to the Arians of Iran. But the genealogy +in which the Avesta has preserved these names has no greater claims to +historical value than the figures which have passed in review before us. +Airyu is the son of Thraetaona; _i.e._ from the mightiest hero, the +slayer of the great dragon, are sprung the sovereigns and the nation of +the Airyas; the son of Airyu is Manuschithra; from whose son, Naotara, +are derived the two last Kavas, Aurvatacpa and Vistacpa. + +If the coincidence of the forms from Yima to Kava Hucrava with the Veda +is a proof of the antiquity and genuineness of the tradition of the +Avesta, the gain for history becomes less instead of greater. No one +would take mythical persons for historical. Yet the style and form in +which we find these traditional statements in the fragments of the +Avesta supply certain guides for the lost history of Eastern Iran. The +splendour of the royal majesty is so often and so distinctly brought +into prominence, that the conclusion forces itself upon us, that the +regions in which the Avesta arose, _i.e._ the north-east of Iran, must +have been acquainted with a powerful and highly-respected monarchy. The +ancient spirits of the sky are changed in the Avesta into mighty +warriors and far-ruling kings, a circumstance in favour of the +supposition that an empire once existed here, the image of which is +reflected on prehistoric times. It is in Epic poems that the spirits of +the first sky become heroes, and Epic poetry only arises in and follows +on periods of war and conflict. The fact that the forms of the spirits +thus changed into heroes by Epic song are turned into the forefathers of +the kings and progenitors of the nation, further establishes the +conclusion that a military monarchy must have been in existence here; +only warlike princes could appear as the heirs of heroes. Moreover, the +Avesta extols the high banner of Bakhdhi and speaks of the neighbouring +regions as favoured; the later tradition of Iran marks out Bactria very +clearly as the abode of Aurvatacpa and Vistacpa; in the third century +B.C. Bactria supplied its princes with means not merely to achieve their +own independence, but to maintain it against the great kingdom of the +Seleucids and to subjugate the land of the Indus (p. 25 ff.); and if, in +addition to these facts, we bear in mind the conceptions found in the +Median poems of the great power of the kings of the Bactrians, their +treasures in gold and silver, their fortified city, the conquest of +which was the greatest achievement of Ninus--we may venture to assume +that before the days of the Medes, _i.e._ before the year 650 B.C., +there must have existed an important monarchy in the north-east of Iran. + +With the assistance of the Avesta we may go a step further. We saw that +Kava Hucrava no less than Vistacpa is represented as fighting against +the Turas or Tuiryas. Who were these enemies? In Old-Bactrian the word +means the enemy, the oppressor. Strabo speaks of a region of Turuia in +the north of Parthia, towards the steppes of the Oxus.[75] In the later +tradition of Iran the Turanians are the constant and most dangerous +enemies of the kings of Bactria. The steppes of the Oxus and Jaxartes +were inhabited by nations to whom the Persians gave the collective name +of Sacae, while the Greeks called them Scythians. They found but scanty +pasture on the steppes, and it was natural that they should look with +longing eyes on the more fertile regions of Bactria and Sogdiana. It has +already been mentioned how careful Cyrus was to protect these countries, +when he had conquered them, against the nations of the steppes. At a +later time, from the middle of the second century B.C. downwards (p. +28), we have definite information of the pressure of these nations on +Parthia, Margiana, and Bactria. When freed from the attacks of the +Seleucids on the west, the Arsacids had to defend the east of the +kingdom. Phraates II. and Artabanus II. fell in battle against the +nomads; Mithridates II. succeeded in protecting Parthia, but about the +year 100 B.C. the Sacae were able to force a way through Bactria. They +possessed themselves of the best land in the east of Iran, the valleys +of the Hilmend (p. 7), bequeathed their name to the country (Sikashtan, +Sejestan), and from the valley of the Cabul extended their dominion +beyond the Indus. The white Huns, or Yuechis, followed the Sacae; and +they also reached the Indus. Is there any reason to doubt the Avesta +that even before the Medes and Cyrus the princes of Bactria and Sogdiana +were occupied with beating back the tribes of the steppes? + +In ancient times, as Strabo tells us, the Bactrians and Sogdiani were +little removed from wandering shepherds. The Avesta exhibits them in +close connection with horses. The names compounded with _acpa_ (horse) +are common; Kerecacpa, Aurvatacpa, Vistacpa, Haechatacpa, Jamacpa, +Pourushacpa. Of Zariacpa and the Zariacpians we have already spoken. The +most important source of wealth must have consisted in horses, for which +the mountains supplied ample pasture. The horse-sacrifice is the chief +sacrifice of the Avesta. One hundred horses were equal to 1000 oxen, +and 10,000 head of small cattle. We found that Bactria could furnish the +last Darius with 30,000 cavalry, and the horse was the symbol of Bactria +on the coins of the Greek princes of the land (p. 27). + +From all these indications we may assume that when the Arians had +settled in Margiana, Bactria, and Sogdiana, and agriculture became of +importance beside the breeding of cattle, the necessity of protection +against the migratory tribes of the endless plains stretching to the +north, created among the Arians a warlike nobility who took upon +themselves the duty of defence. The valley of the Zarefshan (Sogdiana), +the terrace of Bactria, the region of Merv, became in the hands of the +Arians advanced posts of civilisation in the desert. If Western Iran was +protected in the north by the Alps of Aderbeijan and the Caspian Sea +against attacks from that quarter, Eastern Iran lay open to the nomads +of the steppes, and had nothing but arms to defend its cultivated lands. +We have already seen that Bactria even in the sixth century had passed +beyond the earliest stages of civilisation (p. 24). But even a less +degree of prosperity was sufficient to excite the sons of the desert to +invasion. Hence we may assume that the incursions and raids of the +nomads of the steppes began with the increase of the flocks and the +prosperity of agriculture in the valleys of Merv, Bactria, and Sogdiana. +The increasing severity of these attacks compelled the Bactrian soldiery +to collect their forces for more successful resistance, and to place the +best warriors at the head of the community. Thus it was not by +spontaneous development, but rather by the opposition to the nations of +the steppes, that the north-east of Iran first outgrew the tribal life, +and became transformed into a larger state. Of this kingdom Aurvatacpa +and Vistacpa became the rulers; in the Avesta they are distinguished +from the Paradhatas and from Kava Kavata, Kava Uca, and Kava Hucrava, by +a new addition to the name and other peculiar traits, and form a third +group. The progress of our investigation will show that the formation of +this Bactrian kingdom cannot be placed later than 1100 B.C.; the date of +Vistacpa must be put about 1000 B.C., and it was the successors of +Vistacpa who sent to Shalmanesar II. the tribute of camels with two +humps, and yaks (about 850 B.C.), who found themselves menaced once more +by the advances of Tiglath Pilesar II. to Arachosia in the year 745 +B.C., and at length succumbed to Cyrus. We shall find that this kingdom +was not without its warlike races and priestly families, that Zariacpa +and Bactria were the centres of it, and that the sovereigns attained +despotic power. Yet the old warlike families must have preserved a +certain importance under the monarchy, unless they regained it when lost +under the viceroys of the Achaemenids. It was the chieftains of the +Bactrians whom Alexander summoned to Zariacpa, and who with the Sogdiani +at their side took the lead in resistance. The most powerful of them +stubbornly defended their rocky citadels against the Macedonians. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[26] Polyb. fragm. 34 f.; below, p. 26. + +[27] Above, p. 6; Vol. III. p. 3, "Zikruti in rugged Media I added to +the land of Assyria;" _ib._ p. 4. + +[28] Vol. III. p. 77. + +[29] Herod. 1, 153, 177, 201, 204. + +[30] Strabo, p. 517; Arrian, "Anab." 4, 23; Plin. "H. N." 6, 18; Ptolem. +6, 12. + +[31] Ctes. fragm. Pers. c. 12. + +[32] Behist. 1, 6; Persep. 25; Naksh-i-Rustem, 12-14. + +[33] Herod. 3, 91, 92. + +[34] Vol. I. p. 285. The amount is about 2096 thalers. + +[35] Behist. 2, 14-16; 3, 10-12. + +[36] Herod. 7, 64, 82; 9, 113. + +[37] Herod. 8, 93. + +[38] Diod. 11, 69; Ctes. Pers. ecl. 31. + +[39] Arrian, "Anab." 3, 21. + +[40] Arrian, _loc. cit._ 3, 29. + +[41] Justin. 41, 4. + +[42] As was shown in Vol. IV. p. 278, the Vishnu Purana represents the +sacrificial horse of Pushpamitra, who sat on the throne of Magadha +between 178 and 142 B.C. (Vol. IV. p. 550), to have been carried off by +an army of Yavanas on the right bank of the Indus, and then restored. +The dominion of the Graeco-Bactrian princes in the East existed from 200 +to 150 B.C. + +[43] Strabo, p. 516. I need not prove that [Greek: Iomanes] must be +read here for [Greek: Isamos], or that [Greek: Saraostou paralia] is +Surashtra; cf. Wilson, "Ariana antiq." p. 281. Apollodotus, Apaladata +on the Arian legends of his coins, is no doubt the Bhagadatta of the +Mahabharata, just as the Dattamitra there mentioned is Demetrius; Vol. +IV. p. 80, _n_. Among the Indians Menander appears in the form Milinda. + +[44] In the year 1843 there were about 1000 Guebre families in Yezd, and +a hundred in Kerman. Westergaard, "Avesta," 1, 21: the persecution of +1848 considerably reduced their numbers. + +[45] Haug, "Pahlavi-Pazand Glossary," pp. 80, 81. + +[46] "Vendid." 1, 73-76. + +[47] "Vendid." 1, 46. + +[48] "Vendid." 19, 130; 1, 50. + +[49] Burnouf, "Jour. Asiat." 1845, pp. 287, 288. It seems to me doubtful +whether we should look for Airyana Vaeja on the sources of the Oxus. +The statement in the Bundehesh that Airyana Vaeja was situated beside +Atropatene is, however, of very little weight against the fact that the +Arians of East Iran are nearest to the Arians of India. I shall return +to this point below. The remark in Stephanus, "[Greek: Ariania], a +nation among the Cadusians," would be of some importance if it were +taken from Apollodorus of Artemita, and not from the grammarian of that +name. The district of Arran on the Kur may possibly be meant. + +[50] "Vendid." 1, 14-18. + +[51] "Vendid." 1, 30, 42. + +[52] "Vendid." 1, 60. + +[53] "Yacna," 9, 4. + +[54] "Vendid." 2, 1-21, after Karl Geldner's translation. [Cf. +Darmesteter's translation in M. Mueller's 'Sacred Books of the East,' +Vol. IV.] + +[55] "Vendid." 2, 21-43. + +[56] "Aban Yasht," 9; "Farvardin Yasht," 131; "Bahram Yasht," 40; "Ram +Yasht," 23. + +[57] "Farvardin Yasht," 131 ff. + +[58] "Yacna," 9, 30; "Vendid." 20, 11 ff. + +[59] "Vendid." 20; "Yacna," 9, 32, 39; "Ram Yasht," 7, 28; "Farvardin +Yasht," 136; "Zamyad Yasht," 41 ff. According to the "Mainyo-i-Khard," +Kerecacpa, besides slaying the serpent Cruvar, slew the wolf Kapod, the +water demon Gandarsi, the bird Kamak, and kept back much oppression from +the world. West, "Mainyo-i-Khard," c. 27. + +[60] Justi, "Handbuch," _s. voc._ + +[61] "Farvardin Yasht," 131. + +[62] "Farvardin Yasht," 132; "Zamyad Yasht," 71. + +[63] "Gosh Yasht," 18; "Ashi Yasht," 38. + +[64] "Aban Yasht," 49; "Gosh Yasht," 18; "Ashi Yasht," 38; "Afrin +Zartusht," 7; "Zamyad Yasht," 77; "Ram Yasht," 32. + +[65] "Aban Yasht," 76, 98; "Ashi Yasht," 46; "Farvardin Yasht," 102; +"Ram Yasht," 36. + +[66] "Aban Yasht," 109, 117; "Farvardin Yasht," 38; "Gosh Yasht," 29, +30; "Ashi Yasht," 50, 81; "Zamyad Yasht," 87. + +[67] "Aban Yasht," 104-106; "Farvardin Yasht," 142; "Gosh Yasht," 26; +"Ram Yasht," 36. + +[68] "Vendid." 2, 39, 40. + +[69] Vol. IV. 21 _n._ Spiegel, "Avesta," 3, Einl. s. 58. The favourite +comparison of the enclosure of Yima with the deluge of the Hebrews +appears to me anything but apposite. Iran, and still more Bactria, is +unsuited to give rise to the legend of a flood. Nor is there any +question of the destruction of evil men (if there had been, Yima would +have been the most guilty and the least deserving of pardon), but of the +end of the golden age, as is shown in the Vendidad, the Yacna, and the +Yashts: the earth becomes more thickly peopled, men and animals do not +grow old or die. If we must bring together things which have really no +relation to each other, it would be more apposite to compare the +paradise of the Hebrews. The reason for the end of the golden age is the +guilt of Yima. [Cf. Kuenen, "Religion of Israel," 3, c. 9, E. T.] + +[70] "Zamyad Yasht," 46. + +[71] "Rigveda," 1, 158; 10, 8, 5. + +[72] Westergaard in Weber's "Ind. Studien," 3, 413 ff., 426 ff. Kuhn +combines Trita with Triton and Tritogeneia; Hofer's "Zeitschrift," 1, +276, 289. + +[73] Haug, "Essays," pp. 235, 236. + +[74] Kuhn, "Beitraege," 4, 44; Haug, "Essays," pp. 235, 236. + +[75] Strabo, p. 517. [[Greek: Toriouan] is a _v. l._ for +[Greek: Tapurian].] + + + + +CHAPTER III. + +THE SCRIPTURES OF IRAN.[76] + + +The statements of the Avesta concerning the ancient rulers of Eastern +Iran were proved to be without historical value, yet we found in them an +ancient and genuine tradition, the form of which allowed us to draw +certain conclusions about the political condition of that region in a +period for which we have no other records except the poetry of Western +Iran. But what the Avesta tells us of the rulers of ancient days is of +secondary importance for the book, which comprises the doctrines and +ordinances of the faith proclaimed by Zarathrustra, and the rules of +life which he is said to have laid down. May we assume that we possess +these in a genuine and unaltered form in the Avesta, though they have +only come down to us in fragments? + +A book of the Parsees of India, which tells the story of their flight +from their ancient home, relates that Iskander (Alexander of Macedon) +burned the revealed scriptures, and the faithful were persecuted for 300 +years. When Ardeshir (the first Sassanid) ascended the throne, the true +faith was restored, under the superintendence of Arda Viraf. After this +the true religion was again suspended till king Shapur (Shapur II.) rose +and once more made the faith famous, and Aderbat Mahresfant girded his +loins in the good cause. The same account is given in the Book of Arda +Viraf, also a book of the Parsees of India. From this we learn that the +religion received by the pious Zarathrustra lasted for 300 years in +purity. Then the evil one stirred up Iskander Rumi, so that he spread +war and devastation over Iran, and slew the rulers of the land. The +Avesta which was preserved at Stakhar Papakan (Persepolis), written on +cow-skins with golden ink, he burned, and put to death many priests and +judges, pillars of the faith, and spread hatred, strife, and confusion +among the people of Iran. They had now no lord, guide, and high priest, +who knew their religion; they were full of doubts and had different +modes of belief and worship of various kinds, and different laws +prevailed in the world till the time when Ardeshir came to the throne +and listened to the words of the holy Arda Viraf and believed him. But +after Ardeshir's death a schism broke out, and more than 40,000 souls +fell away from the true faith, till the day when the holy Aderbat +Mahresfant arose.[77] An older writing of the Parsees, the Dinkart +(composed under the Sassanids), tells us, apparently on the ground of a +proclamation of the Sassanid Chosru Parvez (590-627 A.D.) that king +Vistacpa of Bactria had commanded that all books which were written in +the language of the Magians should be collected, in order that the faith +of the worshippers of Auramazda might have some support, and all men +were to go to Frashaostra (whom the Avesta mentions as a companion of +Zarathrustra) to be instructed in the faith. And Darai, the son of Darai +(Darius Hystaspis is meant), commanded that two copies of the entire +Avesta, precisely as Zarathrustra had received it from Auramazda, should +be preserved, the one in the treasury at Shapikan, and the other in the +city of scriptures. Then Valkosh (Vologeses), the descendant of Ashkan +(Arsaces), gave orders that so much of the Avesta as had escaped +destruction and the ravages of Iskander and the warriors of Rum, and +existed in fragments or in oral tradition, should be sought out and +brought from every city. And king Artakshatr (Ardeshir) summoned the +Herbedh (_i.e._ the priest)[78] Tosar with the holy scriptures, which +were scattered, to his residence, and when Tosar came he gave command to +the other priests that everything, which differed from that which was +now considered to be knowledge and wisdom, should be suppressed. The son +of Artakshatr, Shapuhar (241-272 A.D.), the king of kings, gave command +that all writings on medicine or astronomy or other subjects in +Hindostan, Rum, and other lands, should be collected, and again united +with the Avesta, and that an exact copy should be deposited in the +treasury of Shapikan. Lastly Atropat (Aderbat) in the reign of Shapuhar +(Shapur II, 309-379 A.D.), the son of Auharmazdi, purified the sayings +of Zarathrustra and enumerated the Nosks (chapters) of the sacred +scriptures.[79] + +In the rivayats of the Parsees in India, _i.e._ in the collections of +the sayings of the priests on their doctrine, we find an enumeration of +these sections of the scriptures. At each book this list notes how many +chapters were re-discovered "after Alexander." According to this +enumeration the scriptures of Iran consisted of twenty-one books.[80] +The first book contained the songs of praise to the supreme spirits in +33 chapters; the second (22 chapters) treated of good works; the third +(22 chapters) of the sacred word; the fourth (21 chapters) of the gods; +the fifth (22 chapters) of the earth, of water, of trees, of wild +animals; the sixth (35 chapters) of the heavens and the stars; the +seventh (22 chapters) of pure and impure kinds of food, and of the +celebration of the great festivals; the eighth (50 chapters) of the +kings and priests, of pure and impure animals; the ninth (60 chapters) +of the laws according to which the kings and judges were to give +sentence; the tenth (60 chapters) of virtue and wisdom; the eleventh (60 +chapters) of the reign and conversion of king Vistacpa; the twelfth +taught agriculture in 22 chapters, the planting of trees, the duty of +the priests and laity, and treated of the orders; the thirteenth (60 +chapters) was occupied with the sacred sciences, the teachers and +pupils, and the miracles which Zarathrustra worked; the fourteenth book +(22 chapters) spoke of the life of men from birth to death; the +fifteenth (17 chapters) contained songs of praise; the sixteenth (54 +chapters) laid down rules for what was permitted and what was not; the +seventeenth (64 chapters) contained the doctrines of medicine and +astronomy; the eighteenth (65 chapters) the doctrine respecting animals +and their treatment; the nineteenth (52 chapters) contained the civil +and criminal law; the twentieth (22 chapters) the rubrics for the +removal of impurity; the twenty-first gave in 30 chapters the history of +creation.[81] + +According to this list the scriptures of Iran must have been of very +considerable extent. The Arabian author Masudi, who lived about the +middle of the tenth century A.D., also puts the number of books at +twenty-one. "Zartusht," he says, "gave the Parsees the book which is +called the Avesta. It consisted of twenty-one sections, of which each +amounted to 200 pages. This book was written in the character which +Zartusht invented and which the Magians call the religious character, on +12,000 cow-hides, and these were kept together by bands of gold. It was +composed in the old Persian language, which no one now understands."[82] +From the list of the books and chapters it is clear that these writings +comprised not only the religious doctrine and law, together with the +rules for correct conversation, but also the rubrics for the liturgy and +ritual. They were at the same time the code of criminal and civic law, +and in them was deposited what was known of medicine and agriculture, +and the sum total of the science of their authors. + +Can we assume that writings of this importance, nature, and extent +existed in Iran before Alexander of Macedon overthrew the kingdom of the +Achaemenids? Herodotus tells us that the Magians or priests of the +Persians recited the theogony, _i.e._ long poems, at their sacrifices. +The disciples of the sophist Prodicus are said to have asserted that +they were in possession of writings of Zoroaster, who taught the +Persians their religion.[83] Hermippus of Smyrna, who wrote in the +second half of the third century B.C., and devoted especial attention to +the religions of the east, stated that the Magians maintained two +principles, a good and an evil deity; the one they called Zeus and +Oromasdes, the other Hades and Areimanius.[84] Zoroaster, who founded +the doctrine of the Magians, had composed twenty books, each of 100,000 +lines, and Hermippus gave the contents of the various books and quoted +regulations from them. Pliny tells us: "The doctrine of the Magians +prevails to this day among a great part of the nations, and in the East +is supreme over the king of kings" (_i.e._ the Arsacids); and vouches +for Hermippus that he had written with great care about the Magians,[85] +from whose work no doubt he quotes some particulars of the doctrine of +Zoroaster. According to Zoroaster's rule the sowing of the fields should +take place when the moon is in the sign of Taurus; and it was forbidden +to expose the person before the sun or moon, or to defile a man's +shadow. Pliny also mentions the precious stones, of which Zoroaster had +extolled the brilliance; the herbs, used by the Magians; and enumerates +a number of remedies, which they applied. Finally, he speaks of the +Nyktegertos, a herb growing in Gedrosia, which the Magians used when +making vows.[86] Philo of Byblus quotes a passage, apparently from "the +sacred collection of Zoroaster," on the nature of the deity, and assures +us that the Persian Osthanes maintained the same in the Octateuch.[87] +Plutarch gives us a short but accurate account of the system of +Zoroaster; his contemporary Dio Chrysostom asserts that Zoroaster and +the sons of the Magians had sung of the balance of Zeus and the +constellation of the day in strains more sublime than those of Homer or +Hesiod;[88] and Pausanias relates that at the kindling of the +sacrificial fire the invocation was sung by the Magians from a book in a +barbarous language wholly unintelligible to the Greeks.[89] + +This evidence from the West confirms the existence of sacred writings +in Iran after the time of Alexander, and also indicates that they +existed previously to that date; it contradicts the story of their +destruction by the Macedonians. The books must have been in existence +when Hermippus could speak of their extent, and quote rules from them; +and writings of the kind must have been known when, in the days of +Pausanias, the Magians could sing their invocations from a book. From +other sources we are sufficiently informed that Alexander's efforts were +not directed towards destroying the national character and traditional +religion of the Persians. Arrian tells us that Magians no less than +Greek soothsayers took part in their festivals.[90] Nor were the +Seleucids more desirous than Alexander to effect the destruction of the +Iranian nationality; just as the Ptolemies never attempted to set aside +the Egyptian religion and life. Even if they had cherished such views, +they were far from being strong enough to carry them out, for the Greek +empire over Iran lasted in its integrity only eighty years. The Arsacids +also, who recovered Iran from the Seleucids, were not averse to the +Greek nation. They called themselves friends of the Hellenes, and not +only was Greek spoken, but even the tragedies of Euripides were acted at +their courts. The scanty remains of the monuments present us with echoes +of Greek;[91] their coins, with few exceptions, bear Greek legends like +those of the Bactrian princes whom they overcame. But though the +influence of the Hellenic character continued under the Arsacids, and at +the same time the Aramaean language and manners obtained even greater +recognition than Hellenism during their dominion, the reign of the +Arsacids was a restoration and revivification of the Iranian +nationality. According to the evidence of western writers the Magians +together with the members of the royal race formed the council of the +Arsacids.[92] Pliny has already told us that these princes obeyed the +rules of the Magians, and we also find that they invoked Mithra as the +Achaemenids had done, and "saluted the sun."[93] Like the Achaemenids, +too, they would not permit their armies to fight by night, and we are +told that in their time the greatest weight was given to the love of +truth and fidelity, _i.e._ to the virtues which, according to Herodotus, +the Persians of his time considered the most important, and on which the +Avesta insists above all others.[94] We also learn from western writers +that the founder of the kingdom (Arsaces I.) was a descendant of +Phriapites (Friyapaiti), and with his brother Tiridates and five others +he slew the satrap of Antiochus Theos, and drove out the +Macedonians;[95] just as Darius with the six Persian princes overthrew +the dominion of Gaumata; and the Arabs relate that the Arsacids trace +back their stock to Cyavarshana, the son of Kava Uca, a story which +cannot have been invented in Arabia.[96] In the list of the Arsacids we +also find the name Chosru (108-130 A.D.), the Kava Hucrava of the old +legend (p. 37); on the coins we find a Vologeses and a Phraates before +the fire-altar, the characteristic symbol of the ancient worship of +Iran. Just as the old Arian character appears beside the Greek on the +coins of the Greek princes of Bactria, the Greek character on the coins +of the Arsacids gradually degenerates until at length it gives way to a +new Iranian character and language. The tradition sketched in the +Dinkart, as we have seen, represents the Arsacid Vologeses (which of the +four princes of the name is meant is not clear)[97] as collecting what +fragments remained of the holy scriptures in the memory of the priests. +The burning of the scriptures by Alexander, as related in the books of +the Parsees on their exodus and the Arda Viraf, is merely a transference +to him of the conduct of the Moslems on their conquest of Iran. Of the +continuance of the ancient religion of Iran under the Arsacids there can +be no doubt, though it is true that along with it, in the Greek cities +which Alexander and the Seleucids founded, and which were independent +within their walls even under the Parthians, Hellenic rites were +practised. In these cities Syrian modes of worship were also permitted, +and the Aramaic language and culture found entrance into Iran.[98] + +In the land of Persia, among the Persians whom Mithridates I. subjugated +to the dominion of the Arsacids, reminiscences of the ancient time, of +the splendour and glory of the Achaemenids, were naturally more lively +than in Parthia, which was formerly subject to the Persians, and now +under the Arasacids stood at the head of Iran. In Persia, Artakshatr +(Ardeshir), the son of Papaki, the grandson of Sassan, rebelled against +king Artabanus IV. In three great battles the Persians contended with +the Parthians; the latter were conquered, and Artabanus fell, and with +him the kingdom of the Arsacids after a continuance of 476 years (225 +A.D.). With the reign of Ardeshir began a more energetic restoration of +Iran. He and his successors after him revered the memory of the +Achaemenids, and strove to continue their achievements[99]. We again hear +of seven houses, and seven princes who had the right to wear diadems +beside the king, like the seven tribal princes of the old Persian +kingdom;[100] we find the fire-altar before the tent of the Sassanids as +well as the Achaemenids; and in the army of the Sassanids, no less than +in that of Darius and Xerxes, was a troop of "immortals." Ardeshir, like +the founder of the Persian empire, caused a portrait of himself on +horseback to be cut in a rock-wall to the north-west of Persepolis +(Naksh-i-Rustem) in remembrance of the achievements which established +his kingdom--the rock on which 700 years before Darius had marked his +tomb by a portrait and inscription. The inscription under this portrait +(in the Pehlevi of East and West Iran, with a Greek translation) runs +thus: "Portrait of the worshipper of Mazda, the god Artakshatr +(Artaxares in the Greek), the king of kings of the Arians (of the kings +of Airan, in the Pehlevi texts), the scion of the sky (_minu chitri_), +the son of the god Papaki, the king."[101] Ardeshir's son, Shapur I. +(241-272 A.D.), caused his victory over Valerian and his capture of the +emperor to be recorded on the same rock; we see Shapur on horseback, and +Valerian kneeling before him, a representation which recurs at the old +Persian city of Darabgerd. At Naksh-i-Rejeb, between the rock-wall of +Naksh-i-Rustem and Mount Nachmed, on which abutted Persepolis, the proud +citadel of the Achaemenids, and in the grotto of Haiyabad, we find in the +one case a portrait of Shapur, and in the other inscriptions which +mention this ruler and king Varahran. At Kermanshah, on the western side +of Mount Behistun, on the eastern side of which mountain Darius +inscribed the proudest memorial of his achievements, we see king +Ardeshir, and beneath him the corpse of Artabanus; behind the king is +Mithra with the club which gave him victory, and before him Auramazda +who presents the ring of empire to Ardeshir. Not far from this portrait +Shapur II. (309-379 A.D.) caused a grotto to be excavated in the rock. +In the sculpture of this cave we see the goddess Anahita, who presents +to the king the ring of empire; at some distance are the hunting +expeditions of the king; a second grotto close to this exhibits the +pictures of king Auharmazdi II., the father of Shapur II., and of Shapur +III. his second successor.[102] + +Though the Sassanids sought to restore the kingdom of the Achaemenids, +and immortalise their own achievements beside those of the early kings, +the religious revival which they undertook was far more thorough than +the political. In this direction they went further than the Achaemenids; +they caused the forms which the old faith of Iran had retained and +forced on the East, to be current throughout the whole kingdom. Agathias +assures us that Ardeshir was eagerly devoted to the study of the +doctrine of the Magians, who since his accession had gained an +importance such as they never enjoyed before. The business of the State +was decided upon their advice and predictions; they assisted individual +persons in their private matters and suits at law, and the Persians did +not regard anything as legal and right which was not confirmed by a +Magian.[103] At the head of the Magians, we are told in another account +coming from a western source, a Grand Magian was placed under the +Sassanids,[104] and as a fact the Magians now received a thorough +organisation. At the head of their caste was the High Magian (_Magupat_, +Mobedh); and over all the High Magians was the Grand Magian (_Magupatan +magupat_); to the Magians belonged the judicial power; and the Grand +Magian performed the coronation of the king. The Sassanids erected +fire-temples in Persia no less than in Aderbeijan; their coins always +exhibit the fire-altar, and as a rule two priests before it. They +carried their genealogy beyond Sassan through Cpentodata (p. 38) to +Vistacpa of Bactria, who is now said to have established the seven +princes; they call themselves by the names of the ancient heroes who met +us in the Avesta; Kavadh (Kava Kavata) and Chosru (Kava Hucrava). While +styling themselves the worshippers of Mazda (Auramazda) like the +founders of their empire, they went so far as to assume the names of the +gods of the Avesta; some even called themselves after Verethraghna +(Varahran, Bahram), others Auharmazdi after Auramazda himself. The +numerous Christians on the Euphrates and Tigris as well as in Armenia +had to undergo severe persecutions; especially under Shapur II., +Varahran V., and Yezdegerd II. (438-457 A.D.), whose viceroy declared to +the Armenian Christians that the Daevas (Dews) of Ahriman had deceived +them; it was not the good God who had created evil and death but the +wicked spirit. Defection from the faith of Auramazda was punished with +death. In the treaties of the years 422, 533, and 563 A.D. Theodosius +II. and Justinian obtained the concession that the Christians in the +kingdom of the Sassanids should not be compelled to conform to the rules +of the Magians; they were to be at liberty to bury their dead,[105] +whereas the doctrine of Zarathrustra required that the corpses should be +exposed. + +As such was the attitude of the house of the Sassanids, we may believe +the books of the Parsees that Ardeshir eagerly took in hand the revival +of the true faith, and that he was assisted in this by competent +Magians; by Arda Viraf, according to the book of the Exodus and of Arda +Viraf (p. 50); according to the Dinkart, by the Herbedh Tosar. The book +of Arda Viraf relates at length how he fell asleep in the assembly of +priests before Ardeshir, and his soul was carried by the god Craosha +through heaven and hell. And when the Dinkart represents a standard of +true religion as being set up under Ardeshir, there is no reason to +doubt the statement. After the reign of Ardeshir, we are told in the +Book of the Exodus, the true religion was again suspended, or, as the +Book of Arda Viraf tells us, a schism arose. The cause of this division +is sufficiently known from other sources. In the reign of Shapur I. +(241-272 A.D.) a native of Ctesiphon, of the name of Mani, came forward +with a new doctrine which attempted to mingle Chaldaean, Jewish, and +Christian elements in the faith of Iran, and to resolve it into +abstractions. He found numerous adherents.[106] Varahran II. (276-293 +A.D.) allowed him to dispute with the Magians, and then put him to +death. Under Shapur II., who succeeded his father Auharmazdi II. as a +posthumous child (309-379 A.D.), in order to check Manicheism and the +advance of Christianity, it was necessary to go back to the principles +of the old faith, and to invigorate these by the collection and +establishment of the sacred scriptures. We may therefore have the +fullest confidence in accepting from these three books of the Parsees +the facts that Shapur "made the sacred faith to be famous;" that +Aderbat, whose work under Shapur is confirmed by Hamza of Isfahan, +collected the scriptures, purified the sayings of Zarathrustra, and +enumerated the chapters. It is on this redaction of the canon by Aderbat +Mahresfant under Shapur II. that the list of the books and chapters +rests, distinguishing what were originally in existence and what were +then preserved. What was not discovered "after Alexander" means what was +not discovered or not accepted at this redaction. Instead of the 815 +chapters which the Avesta is said to have previously contained, the new +canon amounted to only 348 chapters. That Aderbat was the founder of +this canon is clear not only from the epithet which the books of the +Parsees give him (Mahresfant, Old Bactrian Manthracpenta, meaning "the +sacred word,") but also from the confession of faith still in use among +the Parsees: "I abide in the law which Zarathrustra taught to Vistacpa, +to Frashaostra, to Jamacpa, and Cpentodata, which came in the succession +of generations to Aderbat, who duly corrected and purified it."[107] It +was shown above that the language of the sacred books thus again +collected was that of Eastern Iran (p. 30). When Aderbat revised the +canon it had long ceased to be spoken. But there were already +translations of the sacred books into the later forms which the language +of Iran had received in the time of the Parthians, or at any rate such +translations were made after the revision of the canon.[108] Masudi +informed us that the Avesta was composed in the old Persian language, +which at that time (tenth century A.D.) was no longer understood. Ibn +Haukal, who travelled in Persia in the same century, tells us: "In Fars +three languages are in use; the Farsi, in which the inhabitants converse +with each other; the Pehlevi, which was the language of the ancient +Persians, and in which the Magians wrote their historical books, but +which in our time is no longer understood by the inhabitants of Fars +without a translation; and the Arabian.[109]" When Aderbat revised the +Avesta in the middle of the fourth century B.C., the Parsi (Farsi), +_i.e._ the later Middle Persian, was still in formation; the older +Middle Persian or Pehlevi was still intelligible, but translations of +the Avesta into this language did not make clear to every one the +meaning of the ancient language in which the scriptures were composed. +In the time of the Parthian empire the old mode of writing was given up +in the West as well as in the East of Iran, and exchanged for new +methods. In the West a cuneiform character derived from the writing of +Babylon and Assyria had been adopted; the East used the Arian alphabet. +Under the Arsacids the Pehlevi became common. Like the old Persian +cuneiform this is borrowed from a Semitic pattern. The chief city of the +Parthians lay on the Tigris in the midst of a Semitic population. The +cursive character of the Aramaeans, as we find it on the coins of the +satraps of the Achaemenids of the fourth century B.C., with a few +modifications, forms the base of the Pehlevi; and the earlier shapes of +this character are seen in the coins of the Arsacids of the first +century A.D. But it is not the character which forms the peculiar mark +of Pehlevi. Along with the Aramaic letters the Parthians took the +Aramaic vocabulary; they wrote the Aramaic word instead of the Persian, +and to this they attached the termination or case-ending of the +corresponding Persian word; the reader must understand Aramaic and +substitute the Persian word for the Aramaic when reading.[110] Hence +Pehlevi was in reality a secret mode of writing, intended exclusively +for the learned, _i.e._ for the priests. It is a proof of the close +connection between the priests of the East and West that this character, +which arose in the West out of the contact with the Aramaic population +on the Euphrates and Tigris, spread to the East also and was adopted by +the scholars there. Nor was this all. The variations in the Eastern +dialect brought about certain modifications in the forms of the letters, +and thus there arose an Eastern alphabet of Pehlevi beside the Western +alphabet. When Ardeshir destroyed the empire of the Parthians in the +year 226 A.D. these two alphabets were in existence. The Eastern +alphabet finally triumphed over the Western. It became the royal mode of +writing, and as such was used on the coins. The letters in the +manuscripts of the Pehlevi translation of the Avesta in the possession +of the Parsees agree throughout with the characters on the legends of +the coins of the Sassanids about the year 600 A.D.[111] The characters +also, in which the text of the Avesta is written in the manuscripts of +the Parsees, belong to the later East-Pehlevi alphabet, which, owing to +the greater wealth of the old Bactrian alphabet in sounds, especially in +vowels, possesses a greater number of letters.[112] The coincidence of +the letters in the manuscripts of the Parsees with those on the coins of +the later Sassanids, proves beyond contradiction that although the +oldest existing manuscripts belong to the fourteenth century of our +era,[113] they are nevertheless true copies of the characters in which +the Avesta was written in the last century of the empire of the +Sassanids. + +All that the Parsees of India now possess are some not very extensive +remains of the revision of the sacred scriptures made in the reign of +Shapur II. The existing part of the laws corresponds in the title, the +divisions and their arrangements, with the twentieth book of the text +(p. 52). It contains the rubrics for purification, for repelling and +removing the evil spirits. The title is the Vendidad, or, in the older +form, the Vidaevodata, _i.e._ "given against the Daevas," or evil +spirits. Obviously this book was regarded as the most important and +valuable part of the law, and to this circumstance it owes its +preservation. Besides this we have invocations and prayers, chiefly +belonging to the liturgy. They form a considerable collection, known by +the title of Yacna, _i.e._ worship. The remainder of the 348 chapters +was lost in the invasion of the Arabs into Iran, owing to their +fanatical zeal for conversion.[114] + +Though we were able to establish the fact that these fragments belonged +in their language, their contents, and their written character to +Eastern Iran, and the evidence of Western writers proved to us that at +the time when Alexander of Macedon overthrew the kingdom of the +Achaemenids, there were sacred scriptures of considerable extent in +Iran--this does not enable us to decide the date of the origin of these +scriptures. We have to inquire whether these writings were known in the +West of Iran also, before the date of the Sassanids; whether the new +collection and revision about the year 350 of our era was satisfied with +faithfully representing the old condition of the scriptures, so far as +it could be discovered, or whether it altered their contents; whether +the influence exercised by Hellenic and Aramaic elements in the time of +the Seleucids and Parthians--so obvious in the one case and so searching +in the other--affected the contents of the Avesta.[115] This question +cannot be set aside, because even under the Sassanids, in spite of their +zeal for the Avesta and for Iran, these elements were not unknown. We +are aware that Greek and Jewish schools flourished in Syria and +Mesopotamia at the date of the Sassanids, that Chosru Nushirvan (531-578 +A.D.) gave his protection to Damascius and the Platonists in his +kingdom, and caused Greek works to be translated. However much other +virtues, required in the Avesta, were extolled in this ruler, such as +the foundation of fire-temples, and appointment of sacristans for them, +the promotion of agriculture (no temple was to be without cultivated +lands) and of marriages--nevertheless sects sprung up within the true +religion. Even in official documents of the fifth century we find a +certain deviation from the doctrine of the Avesta; under king Kavadh +(488-453 A.D.), Mazdak, who proclaimed the community of goods and women, +found adherents, and the Arabs speak of sects in Iran which opposed the +teaching of the Magians.[116] They mention the Zarvanites, the +Gayomarthians, and others, of whom the Zarvanites sought to derive the +good and evil deity from some higher abstraction,[117] while the +Gayomarthians represented the evil deity as proceeding from the thought +of the good deity. Had conceptions of this kind, and other later views +which we find in their doctrines, influence on the restoration of the +canon? The fact that the sacred writings were composed in a language no +longer current, when the canon was restored, is not a complete safeguard +against changes and interpolations, for the priests at that time may +have understood the language, and therefore may possibly have been able +to compose in it. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[76] [Cf. Darmesteter, "Zend-Avesta," Introduction, c. iii.] + +[77] Haug, "The Book of Arda Viraf," p. 142 ff. + +[78] Herbedh is the old Bactrian _athrapaiti_. + +[79] Haug, "Pahlavi-Pazand Glossary," p. 144, 146. + +[80] It is found in the so-called "Great Rivayat." + +[81] Vullers, "Fragmente ueber die Religion Zoroasters," s. 15-42; Haug, +"Essays," p. 125. + +[82] Quatremere, "Journ. des Savants," 1840, p. 413. + +[83] Clemens Alex. "Strom." p. 598. + +[84] Diogen. Laert. prooem. The corrupt passage in Athenaeus (p. 478) is +not a sufficient reason for refusing to accept Hermippus of Smyrna as +the author of the treatise on the Magians. Pliny could not quote the +Berytian Hermippus. + +[85] Plin. "H. N." 30, 2. + +[86] "H. N." 37, 49, 55, 58; 26, 9; 27, 35; 28, 19, 27; 29, 38; 21, 36. + +[87] Philon. Bybl. fragm. 9, ed. Mueller. + +[88] Dio Chrysost, ed. Dind. 2, 60. + +[89] Pausan. 5, 27, 3. + +[90] "Anab." 7, 11, 8. + +[91] _E.g._ the bas-relief on Mount Behistun in the winged victory, +which refers to the battle between Vardanes and Gotarzes, between 40 and +50 A.D. [Cf. Rawlinson, "Sixth Monarchy," p. 389, where a sketch of the +relief is given.] + +[92] Poseidonius in Strabo, p. 515; Justin, 42,1. + +[93] Herodian, 4, 30. + +[94] Plut. "Crassus," c. 29; "Anton." c. 47; Joseph. "Antiq." 18, 9, 3; +Justin (12, 3), and Horace ("Ep." 1,2, 112), are of another opinion in +regard to the latter point. + +[95] Above, p. 26. Arrian, "Parth." 2, ed. Mueller; Eunap. p. 222. + +[96] Al Biruni in Droyson, "Hellenismus," 3^2, 372. + +[97] Vologeses I. reigned 50-80 A.D.; Vologeses II. 130-149 A.D.; +Vologeses III. and IV. 149-208 A.D.; the son of the fourth, also +Vologeses, reigned beside Artabanus IV. + +[98] Joseph. "Ant." 18, 9, 1; "Bell. Jud." Prooem. 1, 2; Ammian. +Marcell. 23, 6. + +[99] Ammian. Marcell. 17, 5. + +[100] Noeldeke, "Tabari." s. 437. + +[101] De Sacy, "Memoires de l'institut Cl. Hist." 2, 162-242. +[Rawlinson, "Seventh Monarchy," p. 70, 606.] + +[102] Rawlinson, _loc. cit._ p. 602, 607, 92 ff. + +[103] Agathias, 2, 26. + +[104] Sozomen, "H. Eccl." 2, 10, 12. + +[105] Menandri Protect. fragm. 11, ed. Mueller. + +[106] [Cf. Rawlinson, "Seventh Monarchy," p. 96 ff.] + +[107] Spiegel, Avesta, 3, 214, 218, 219, 227. + +[108] Above, p. 17. On the date of these translations, Haug, +"Pahlavi-Pazand Glossary," p. 147. + +[109] Quatreinere, "Journal des Savants," 1840, p. 412. + +[110] Haug, "Pahlavi-Pazand Glossary," p. 120 ff.; 128 ff. West, +"Pahlavi Texts," part 1. Introd. Sec. 2. + +[111] Lepsius, "Zendalphabet, Abh. B. Akad." 1862, s. 338; Lenormant, +"Sur l'alphabet Pehlevi Journ. Asiat. 1^{er}." 6, 6, 180 ff.; Levy, +"Beitraege Z. D. M. G.", 21, 459 ff. From Ardeshir down to Narses, _i.e._ +from 226 to 302 A.D., the writing on the coins agrees with the West +Pehlevi of the monuments of the Sassanids. From 302 to 600 A.D. the +character on the coins is different. From 600 the writing on the coins +agrees with the MSS. of the Parsees; Mordtmann, "Z. D. M. G." 8, 12 ff. + +[112] Lepsius, _loc. cit._ s. 306. + +[113] Westergaard, "Avesta," 1, 4 ff. + +[114] That the author or authors of the Bundehesh,--for the work +consists of a collection of fragments of various character,--had before +them larger remains of the Avesta, or a commentary which included more +than our fragments, may be conceded. The composition of the work cannot +be placed before the time of the Arabs, for the whole period of the +Sassanid empire is given, and even on an extended scale (p. 82), mention +is made of the empire of the Arabs, and Arabian words occur. Cf. Justi, +"Bundehesh," p. ix. ff; cf. below, p. 73. [West, "Pahlavi Texts," 1, +Introd. p. xci. ff]. + +[115] On the Aramean sketch of the dialectic of Aristotle which was +written for Ohoeru, cf. Renan, "Journ. Asiat." 1852, p. 311. + +[116] [Cf. Rawlinson, _loc. cit._ 448 ff.; 342 ff.] + +[117] "Sharastani," by Haarbruecker, 2, 284. The son of Mihr Narses is +called Zarvandadh. + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + +ZARATHRUSTRA AND THE DATE OF THE COMPOSITION OF THE AVESTA.[118] + + +The examination of the difficult questions, whether, from what period, +and to what extent, the Avesta was known in Western Iran before the time +of Alexander, when the book came into existence, whether its contents +have come down uninjured from an ancient period, or whether it underwent +alterations in the time of the Parthians and the Sassanids, will be best +opened by collecting and testing the accounts which have been preserved +in the West about Zarathrustra and his work. Herodotus does not mention +him, but Xanthus the Lydian is said to have spoken of him, before the +date of Herodotus. Plato describes Zoroaster as the founder of the +doctrine of the Magians, and calls him a son of Oromazes.[119] With +Hermodorus, a pupil of Plato, Zoroaster is a Persian, the first +Magian.[120] Deinon concludes from the name that he was a worshipper of +the stars. Hermippus of Smyrna speaks of him as a Bactrian, and is said +to have described him as a pupil of Azonakes (or Agonakes).[121] +Diodorus informs us that Zoroaster gave out among the Arians that the +good spirit had revealed to him the laws which he published.[122] Trogus +Pompeius relates that Ninus finally carried on war with Zoroaster the +king of the Bactrians, who discovered the art of the Magians, and +inquired accurately into the primal forces of the world, and the +movements of the stars; he was slain by Ninus.[123] Pliny observes that +Zoroaster, the founder of the doctrine of the Magians, smiled on the day +of his birth, and beat his head vigorously as a symbol of his wisdom; +for thirty years he lived in the desert on cheese. Plutarch's account is +that Zoroaster took no other food or drink all his life but milk, and +like Lycurgus and Numa, he associated with the Divine Being.[124] Dio +Chrysostom tells us that Zoroaster from his love for wisdom and justice +lived remote from men in solitude on a mountain, which had been kindled +by fire from above, and burned continuously, and when the king +approached the mountain with his leading men to offer prayer to the god, +Zoroaster came unharmed out of the fire, and bade them offer sacrifice +for the god had visited the place. After this Zoroaster did not +associate with all men, but only with those who were most adapted to +receive the truth and converse with the god, whom the Persians called +Magians, _i.e._ those who have skill to serve the Divine Being.[125] +Kephalion asserted that Zoroaster the Magian, the king of the Bactrians, +fought with Semiramis and was vanquished by her.[126] Theon of +Alexandria also speaks of the conflict between Semiramis and the +Bactrian Zoroaster. Arnobius is aware of the battle of Ninus with +Zoroaster and the Bactrians,[127] and in Eusebius Zoroaster, the Magian, +the king of the Bactrians, fights against Ninus.[128] According to the +treatise of Eubulus of Athens on Mithras, Porphyrius related that +Zoroaster had consecrated a natural cave, in which were flowers and +springs, in the neighbouring mountains of Persia, in honour of Mithra, +the creator and father of all, and since that time the favour of the god +had been sought in a cave.[129] Ammianus Marcellinus calls Zoroaster a +Bactrian, and tells us that Hystaspes, the father of Darius, spread +abroad the doctrine of the Magians.[130] Agathias remarks that the +Persians of his time asserted that Zoroaster, or Zaradus, as they called +him, who gave them their religious doctrine and law, the son of +Oromasdes, lived at the time of Hystaspes; but they made the assertion +in such a manner that no man knew whether this Hystaspes was the father +of Darius or some other of the name. But whatever the date of his life, +he changed the earlier forms of worship, and was the discoverer of the +doctrine of the Magians.[131] Suidas distinguishes between the +Perso-Mede Zoroaster, the chief of the Magians, and the astronomer of +the same name, an Assyrian, who lived at the time of Ninus.[132] In +Syncellus, Zoroaster is the first of the eight Median kings, who, +according to the statement of Berosus, reigned over Babylonia from 2458 +to 2224 B.C.[133] + +These statements do not amount to much. Yet we find the tradition +maintained from the pupils of Plato down to Agathias, that Zoroaster +founded the doctrine of the Magians; Diodorus, Plutarch, and Dio mention +the intercourse of Zoroaster with the good spirit or the deity. +Diodorus calls him an Arian, _i.e._ an inhabitant of Eastern Iran. +Hermippus, Trogus Pompeius, Kephalion, Theon, Arnobius, and Eusebius +speak of him as a Bactrian, and the king of the Bactrians, and represent +him as fighting with Ninus or Semiramis, which is also asserted by Moses +of Khorene.[134] Hence in the last two centuries B.C. it must have been +known in the West that Zoroaster belonged to the East of Iran, and thus +he was brought into connection with the most prominent fact known in the +history of Bactria, the contest of the Bactrians against Ninus and +Semiramis. This story, as we said, comes from the Medo-Persian Epos, and +moreover the Epos did not authorise this connection of Ninus and +Zoroaster. The opponent of Ninus, who reigned over Bactria, was, +according to Diodorus, Oxyartes or Exaortes (p. 20). The fact that +Zoroaster was the most important name in the antiquity of Iran among +western nations obviously induced Syncellus to put him at the head of +the supposed ancient Median dynasty. If Zoroaster, as Pliny and Plutarch +think, lived only on milk and cheese, and passed thirty years in the +wilderness, these are merely traits taken from the lives of the Brahman +ascetics. The story in Dio Chrysostom, that Zoroaster came unharmed from +the fire, and the opposite statements of the Chronicle of Alexandria and +of Suidas, that he brought down fire from heaven and was consumed by it, +or struck by lightning, contain traits which have obviously sprung from +the importance which the doctrine of Zoroaster and the Magians ascribe +to the worship of fire, and from the division between the fire of +lightning and earthly fire, of which we shall speak below. The narrative +of Eubulus is founded on the mysteries of Mithra, which came into the +West in the first century B.C.[135] These mysteries are due to the +confusion of the Mithra of the Iranians with the sun-god of the Syrians; +the mystae were consecrated in caves, or in places called caves, and +there underwent their probation. As the god of light and the soul Mithra +slays in the cave, that is in the world of gloom and matter, the bull +which is the symbol of matter, as opposed to light, in its creative +power, and conveys the soul, the side of man akin to light, out of the +gloom of matter through the heaven of the fixed stars, and then through +the heaven of the planets, to the light.[136] Ammianus Marcellinus and +Agathias have better information about Zoroaster. They are aware that he +stands in some relation to Hystaspes. Ammianus, though he expressly +describes Zoroaster as a Bactrian, puts Hystaspes the well-known father +of Darius, as the supporter of the doctrine of the Magians, in the place +of the Vistacpa of the Avesta, who opens a wide path for the teaching of +Zoroaster; Agathias, on the other hand, expresses himself with greater +circumspectness; he cannot decide whether the father of Darius or some +other Hystaspes is meant. + +The result is this: Before the time of Alexander of Macedon, at the +latest in the first half of the fourth century B.C., the Greeks were +aware that Zoroaster had founded the doctrine of the Magians; in the +last centuries B.C. and onwards it was known that he belonged to Bactria +and Eastern Iran; but it was not till the fourth century A.D. that he +was known to have lived under king Hystaspes; at any rate we have no +older evidence on this point. + +Much more recent in date, and of far less value, is the information +derived from the East, with the exception of the Avesta, on +Zarathrustra. It does not go back beyond the period of the Arabian +empire over Iran. The Bundehesh, written in this period (p. 65, _n._ 3), +contains a genealogy, which carries Zarathrustra's origin beyond +Pourushacpa and Haechatacpa, from whom, according to the Avesta, he was +sprung (p. 38), through twelve generations to Manuschithra (Minocher). +In the Avesta, the soul of the pure Manuschithra, the son of Airyu, is +invoked;[137] it has been observed above that the national genealogy in +Iran placed Thraetaona, and not Manu, at the head; Airyu, the son of +Thraetaona, was the proper progenitor of the Airyas. With the name +Manuschithra, _i.e._ scion of Manu, who is now the son of Airyu, this +table passed back into the old Arian conception of the father Manu (p. +44). In the Avesta, Zarathrustra is connected by his father, the fourth +sacrificer of the Haoma, with the old sacrificers; and by deriving his +family from Manuschithra the Bundehesh places him in the closest +relation to the progenitors of the Airyas. For the rest this book has +little to say about the life of Zoroaster. It informs us that the house +of Pourushacpa lay on a hill on the river Daraja, a river which we +cannot identify;[138] the Bundehesh places it in Airyana Vaeja +(Airanvij), in a district which we must place in the high region of the +Hindu Kush, on the sources of the Oxus (p. 31, _n_. 2), though the +Bundehesh informs us that "it lay by the side of Atropatene." According +to another passage in the book, Airyana Vaeja lay near the garden of +Yima and Cashmere. In a third passage the garden of Yima, which we are +compelled by unmistakable indications in the Avesta, to seek on the +divine mountain, lies in the centre of Iran, under Mount Damkan.[139] +Atropatene, as a name for the Alpine land in the north-west of Iran (now +Aderbeijan), came into use in the time of the Greek empire; at any rate +we cannot trace it earlier.[140] _Athrapaiti_ means "lord of fire"; +_athrapata_, "one protected by fire"; in the remote mountains of this +district the old fire-worship was preserved with peculiar zeal under the +Seleucids; from the time of Ardeshir the Sassanids venerated the +fire-temple Adar Gucasp (near Takht-i-Soliman), which lay in this +region, above all others, and this was the reason why in the time of the +Arabs it was thought that Airyana Vaeja must be sought there.[141] In +any case it is impossible, out of regard to the Bundehesh and even later +statements of the Moslem period, to place Zarathrustra in the north-west +of Iran in order to represent him as a foreigner, reforming the religion +of the north-east, when the Avesta, which distinctly places him in the +east and puts him among the sacrificers and heroes of the east and +rulers of Bactria, together with the older and more important evidence +of the West, is on the opposite side. + +The "Book of Zartusht," one of the most recent books of the Parsees (it +dates from the thirteenth century of our era), can only tell us of the +marvellous preservation of Zarathrustra and the miracles which he +wrought. The first miracle recorded in it is the fact that Zoroaster +smiled at his birth. But the wicked king Duransarun sought to murder the +newly-born child in his cradle. His arm is paralysed, and he cannot +strike the blow home. Then the evil spirits steal the child, kindle a +great fire in the desert, and throw him into it. But he sleeps +peacefully in the fire, and his mother recovers him without injury. A +herd of cattle are about to trample him on a narrow path, when the +largest one stands over and protects him, till the herd have passed by. +In a similar manner he is preserved when a pair of wild horses are +driven over him. Even the wolves will not eat him. When he has reached +his thirtieth year these trials are over, and Zarathrustra emigrates +with his followers. On reaching Iran the good spirit Vohu mano appeared +and conducted him to Auramazda. He had to pass over a fiery mountain, +but the fire did not singe a hair; molten metal was poured on his +breast, and he felt it not; his entrails were removed and then replaced +without injury to him. Auramazda gave him the Avesta and commanded him +to go to king Vistacpa (now Kai Gushtacp) to Balkh, and proclaim it to +him. In Balkh Zoroaster overcame the sages of the king in argument, but +they maligned him before their master as a wizard, and he was put in +prison. Then the feet of the king's horse were drawn up into its belly, +and the king bade Zarathrustra heal his horse. He required the king to +believe in him and his doctrine; and when the king had acknowledged the +new faith, one of the horse's feet was restored to it. Zarathrustra +further demanded that Vistacpa's son Cpentodata (Isfendyar) should +consecrate himself to the defence of the new faith, that the king's +consort should adopt the law, and those who maligned him should be +punished. When these three requests had been complied with, the horse +recovered all its four feet. After this Vistacpa did nothing without the +advice of Zarathrustra, and built fire-altars and fire-temples. And +Zarathrustra showed the king the place he would one day occupy in +heaven, and made Cpentodata invulnerable.[142] + +Hence from the Bundehesh we obtain no more than the genealogical tree of +Zarathrustra, which though characteristic for the place allotted to him, +is without historical value; and from the Zartusht Nameh, Sharastani, +and Mirkhond, which repeat some miracles more or less similar to those +quoted, we gather nothing beyond certain traits: the smiling at birth, +the fiery mountain, the preservation of Zarathrustra in the fire, which +Pliny and Dio Chrysostom had already made known to us, and which belong +to the ancient tradition of Iran. In the miracles which take place by +means of oxen and horses, we can merely recognise the ancient and close +relation of the Arians in Iran to these animals, a relation which has +already been remarked (p. 46). We might perhaps add that Firdusi +represents Zarathrustra, whom he puts beside Vistacpa, as having been +killed at a fire in Balkh when the city was captured by Turanians. The +intercourse of Zarathrustra with Auramazda was known to Western writers, +as we saw, at a far earlier date. + +If we can hardly glean anything worth notice from these accounts about +Zarathrustra's life and work, we may perhaps gain some information about +his date. The evidence of Ammianus Marcellinus and Agathias, when they +represent him as a contemporary of Hystaspes, in whom we recognise +Vistacpa of Bactria, carries us no further than the Avesta, which places +him in the closest relation to this prince (p. 38), because his date is +equally uncertain. Trogus Pompeius, Kephalion, Theon, and Eusebius make +Zarathrustra an opponent and therefore a contemporary of Ninus and +Semiramis. But as neither Semiramis nor Ninus ruled over Asshur, and +they are to be regarded as the personification of the rise of the power +and dominion of that country (II. 23), we must substitute for this king +and queen the ruler or rulers of Asshur of whom it is certain that their +campaigns reached the east of Iran. We found that so far as we can at +present judge from the monuments it was only Shalmanesar II. who +received tribute from the Eastern lands, and that the armies of Tiglath +Pilesar II. trod the soil of Arachosia (p. 19). If we could assume that +the contests of Ninus and Semiramis have taken the place of the +achievements of these rulers in the East of Iran, the date of Vistacpa +and Zarathrustra would have to be placed between 860 and 740 B.C. But +this supposition is really without any basis. + +The more ancient statements of the Greeks carry us much further back +than the reasoning of Trogus Pompeius and his successors. If we set +Pliny aside, who asserts "that the kind of Magism established by +Zoroaster was many years older than that taught by Moses," Hermippus of +Smyrna puts Zoroaster 5000 years before the Trojan war. Even before +Hermippus, Theopompus of Chios, and Hermodorus, the pupil of Plato, had +ascribed the same date to him. Eudoxus of Cnidus, the contemporary of +Plato, placed him still higher; he thought that Zoroaster lived 6000 +years before the death of Plato. According to Pliny, Aristotle ascribed +to him the same antiquity, and, as we learn from Diogenes Laertius, +maintained that the Magians were older than the Egyptians. And even in +the fifth century B.C., Xanthus the Lydian is said to have written that +from the time when Zoroaster lived to the march of Xerxes against Hellas +a period of 6000 years had elapsed.[143] + +Through these statements there runs, beyond all doubt, a system, the +knowledge of which began in the fifth century B.C. among the Greeks and +continued beyond the time of Alexander. Whether we take 5000 years +before the Trojan war, or 6000 years before Plato's death, we are +equally brought back into the seventh millennium B.C. If the later +statements of the West, which make Zoroaster a contemporary of Ninus and +Semiramis, are the results of combining the most prominent name in +Bactria with the conquest of Bactria by the founder of the Assyrian +power, as related in the Medo-Persian Epos, the fixing of Zoroaster's +date so many thousand years previously must have been taken by the +Greeks from the Persians. In these dates we seem to be dealing with +certain cyclic periods. We learn from Theopompus of Chios, that +according to the doctrine of the Magians, one of the two gods Oromazdes +and Areimanius would reign and the other be subject for 3000 years; for +another 3000 years they would be in conflict, and one destroy the works +of the other, until at length Areimanius would succumb and men become +happy.[144] From this we may with certainty conclude that periods of +3000 years were in use among the priests of Iran to denote certain +spaces of time, and that these cycles form the base of the statements of +the older Greeks, if we can prove the use of such periods in the Avesta +or in the books of the Parsees. + +In the fragments of the Avesta which have come down to us we find +invocations addressed to the "time without beginning," "the time that +rules the long periods."[145] But the fact that Yima's reign is fixed +at 1000 years shows that the priests of Iran reckoned by long periods, +and other expressions in the Avesta (p. 33) prove that triple +multiplications were in use,[146] which agrees with the periods given by +Theopompus. If, therefore, the Greeks of the fifth and fourth century +B.C. relate that Zarathrustra lived about 6000 years before their time, +a system must by that time have been current among the priests of Iran +in which two cycles of 3000 years were supposed to have elapsed since +the time of the prophet, and the third cycle had commenced. A book of +the Parsees, the Mainyo-i-Khard, which appears to have been written +towards the close of the empire of the Sassanids,[147] tells us that +Angromainyu made a compact with Auramazda for 9000 winters, and when +these winters were past, Angromainyu would be destroyed, and the +creation and all creatures would be as Auramazda had made them.[148] The +Bundehesh also speaks of a similar compact, but divides the years in a +different manner. All time consists of 12,000 years. In the first 3000 +Auramazda reigned alone with the creatures which he had created in an +invisible manner; for the first 3000 of the next 9000 everything went +according to the will of Auramazda; for the second 3000 the will of +Auramazda was crossed by that of Angromainyu, but for the last 3000 +Angromainyu will be powerless. The Bundehesh goes into yet further +detail in these matters: in the first 3000 years the heavenly creation +was secure from attack; in the next 3000 Gayo maretan and the ox, +_i.e._ the first man and the first bull, came into existence. After +these 6000 years the enemy arose and slew the first man and the first +bull. The reign of Yima is placed by the Bundehesh in the first +millennium of the new period, but this reign extends only to 716 years, +the first 284 years of the thousand being filled with creatures prior to +Yima. The second millennium of the period is occupied with the reign of +Thraetaona, Manuschithra, Kava Kavata, Uca, Hucrava, and Aurvatacpa, and +the early part of the reign of Kava Vistacpa, whose thirtieth year +coincides with the end of the second millennium.[149] At the beginning +of the third millennium, _i.e._ a thousand years after the death of +Yima, Zarathrustra appears; and the period of more successful opposition +to the evil spirits begins. According to the more ancient conception, +which may still be plainly traced in the Avesta, the world began with +the happy age of Yima; it is owing to later views formed within priestly +circles that earlier creatures such as the first man and first bull are +placed before this period; but it will be shown below that these views +existed when the Avesta was written down. A later book of the Parsees, +the Sad-der-Bundehesh, puts the period of the conflict between the good +and evil deity at 6000 years, and places Zarathrustra exactly in the +middle of it; he was created 3000 years after the period of Gayo +maretan, and 3000 years before his own resurrection.[150] Hence it is +clear that the formation of these cycles rose among the priests of Iran +from the necessity of limiting the period of the old and new law, and of +conflict between the good and evil spirits, and the desire to fix the +date of the more successful repulse of evil which came in with +Zarathrustra. The abbreviation of the period of Yima shows us that the +cycles in the Bundehesh do not throughout agree with those of the +Avesta. But it is sufficient to establish the fact that periods of 3000 +years were in use, and that Zarathrustra appeared at the beginning of a +new millennium, in order to understand that the Persians could speak to +the Greeks of millenniums in this sense, and of one or two cycles which +had elapsed since Zarathrustra's time. + +The idea and tendency of such a scheme for the history of the world are +easily understood: these periods of 3000 years, which can be increased +or diminished without alteration of the sense, have only a dogmatic +value. We cannot obtain from them any chronological date for the +appearance of Zarathrustra, nor can we obtain such a date by the attempt +to go back from the chronological statements in recent Parsee works to +the older periods. We may leave unnoticed the assertion in the book of +Arda Viraf that the true faith had existed in purity for 300 years down +to the time that Alexander came into Iran (p. 50), which would thus +bring Zarathrustra into the seventh century B.C. The Bundehesh allows +460 years for the reigns of the Sassanids, 246 for the Askanids, _i.e._ +the Arsacids, 16 for Alexander, before whom come Darai the son of Darai +with 14 years, Darai Chirazatan with 12, Huma (a queen) with 30, +Vohumano with 112, and Vistacpa with 90,--all subsequent to the +appearance of Zarathrustra.[151] According to this, 996 years elapsed +between Zarathrustra and the fall of the Sassanids, and he would thus, +if we reckon from the battle of Nahavend (640 A.D.), be placed in the +year 356 B.C., in the reign of Artaxerxes Ochus. But even if we alter +the incorrect items in the text of the Bundehesh in accordance with our +better knowledge, we do not arrive at any result which is even +apparently certain. The dominion of the Sassanids, down to the date of +the battle, did not last 460 but only 414 years; on the other hand, the +Arsacids reigned for 476 years, not for 264.[152] The empire of +Alexander, if we add the reigns of the Seleucidae to his own, occupied 80 +years instead of 14, and if in the place of the 26 years of the two +Darais of the Bundehesh, who represent the kingdom of the ancient +Achaemenids, we put the old Persian kingdom with 229 years, and add to +these items the numbers given in the Bundehesh for Huma, Vohumano, and +Vistacpa, after the appearance of Zarathrustra, which amount to 232 +years, Zarathrustra would have commenced his work 1431 years before the +battle of Nahavend, _i.e._ in the year 791 B.C. But who can guarantee +that Cyrus, the Persian, overthrew the empire of the Medes in the year +when Huma, the supposed daughter of Vohumano, died; or that Huma reigned +for 30 years? How could Vohumano, the grandson of Vistacpa, and son of +Cpentodata (p. 38), have reigned 112 years, and Vistacpa himself 90 +years after the appearance of Zarathrustra? Huma is not merely a +doubtful person, she is altogether fictitious. She is said to have been +the mother of Darai Chirazatan, _i.e._ Darius I., and to have been +called Shamirain, _i.e._ Semiramis, but her brother was the first +Sassan, the ancestor of the Sassanids. As the later Arabs and Persians, +including Firdousi, are no better informed,[153] we see clearly that the +remembrance of the Achaemenids had almost entirely died out at the time +when these writings were composed; only the name of Darius remained, +and an attempt was made to connect this name with Vistacpa by two +fictitious names, Vohumano, _i.e._ the good spirit, and Huma. Besides +Vistacpa's son Cpentodata (Isfendyar) and Hutaoca, the wife of Vistacpa, +the Avesta mentions a woman, "the pure Huma,"[154] out of whom this +queen must have been formed. It is clear that the tradition of the East, +like the Avesta, broke off in the generation after Vistacpa, and that in +the Arabian period only the names Darai and Iskander could be placed +between Vistacpa and the Arsacids. + +We must attempt to reach the goal by another path. I have already shown +what was the condition of the sacred scriptures in Iran at the date of +Alexander and the Seleucids (p. 55). Even before Hermippus of Smyrna, +Aristotle had taught that the Magians considered that to be the best in +the first instance which was first created, and maintained two +principles, a good and evil deity, Oromazdes and Areimanius.[155] +Theopompus mentioned both these deities and the strife between them, and +when he adds that there would one day be a time when the dead would rise +again, and men would be immortal and able to withstand everything by +their prayers--that after the victory of Oromazdes men would be happy +and need no longer any sustenance, and would cast no shadow[156]--it +will be seen below how definitely and exactly the doctrine of the Avesta +is here reproduced. Hermodorus mentions a series of teachers, who +succeeded the first teacher of the Magians, the "Persian Zoroaster," +down to the campaign of Alexander of Macedon.[157] With Eudoxus of +Cnidus Zoroaster was the founder of the most beneficent wisdom; the +pupils of Prodicus claimed to be acquainted with the writings of +Zoroaster (p. 53). Plato calls him the son of Oromazdes, and adds that +the heir to the throne was instructed in Magism as well as in the duty +of being true during the whole of his life.[158] The importance which +the Avesta ascribes to truthfulness will become clear hereafter. If the +Greeks of the fourth century could speak of Zoroaster as the teacher of +the Persians, and put him in the closest relation with Auramazda, if +they could reproduce correctly the names of the good and evil spirits +and the main doctrines of the Avesta, it is an inevitable conclusion +that the religion of Zarathrustra must have prevailed in the kingdom of +the Achaemenids. + +This result is confirmed by all the further information which we obtain +from the Greeks. In Plutarch the last Darius calls on an eunuch, "to +tell the truth in reverence for the great light of Mithra"; the eunuch +replies that the king has no reason to accuse the evil spirit, and +entreats "Lord Oromazdes," "that he may cause the light of the king to +shine again."[159] Artaxerxes II. was informed by his mother Parysatis +that the Persians had received the law which distinguished good and evil +from god. He swears "by Mithra," and Plutarch tells us how some related +that when Darius, the eldest son of Artaxerxes, who sought his life, was +slain, Artaxerxes went into the court of the palace and cried aloud to +the Persians: "Rejoice, ye Persians, and tell it to others, that the +great Oromazdes has executed judgment on those who imagined crime and +wickedness."[160] In Plutarch, Artaxerxes I. says to Themistocles: "May +Areimanius ever implant such a disposition in my enemies that they may +drive from themselves their best and bravest men."[161] According to +Deinon the Magians prophesied with branches in their hands, sacrificed +under the open sky, and looked on fire and water as the only symbols of +the divinity.[162] Xenophon represents Cyrus as praising the gods and +sacrificing to them every morning according to the instructions of the +Magians.[163] Though Herodotus does not mention either the name of +Zarathrustra or of Auramazda, what he says of the rites of the Medes and +Persians agrees exactly with the rules given in the Avesta. "Temples, +images, and altars," he says, "are not erected by the Persians, because, +as it seems to me, they do not believe like the Hellenes that the gods +have the form and nature of men. They call the whole circle of heaven +Zeus, and offer sacrifice to him after ascending the summits of +mountains. Besides Zeus they have from ancient days sacrificed to the +sun, the moon, the earth, water, winds, and fire, which among the +Persians is a deity:[164] the winds they also charm by songs. When +offering sacrifice they build no altar and kindle no fire, nor pour +libations, nor make any use of flutes, or cakes, or barley meal. If any +one wishes to offer sacrifice he brings the victim to an open space, and +calls on the god, after crowning his tiara with branches of myrtle. +After cutting the animal in pieces, and cooking the flesh, he spreads +out the most delicate grass, chiefly trefoil, and lays the flesh upon +it. The Magian who stands by sings the theogony over it, for such, +according to the Persians, is the nature of the prayer. After some time, +the person who has made the sacrifice carries the flesh away and uses it +for a feast. The Magians, in whose control is the worship by sacrifice, +make it a great object to kill ants, serpents, and other creeping winged +things: dogs and men only do they spare. No Persian may pollute a river, +nor even wash in it, nor will they allow any one else to do so, for they +have a great reverence for rivers. The bodies of the dead may not be +burned; it is said indeed that the corpse of a Persian cannot be buried +till it has been torn by a dog or a bird, and among the Magians this is +an acknowledged practice. It is a meritorious act among the Persians to +have many children, and he who can show the most receives gifts each +year from the king. Each man celebrates the day on which he was born +above all other days. What may not be done, may not be spoken of amongst +the Persians: the most shameful action is lying, and the next to this is +borrowing, for the reason that a man who has debts is generally +compelled to lie. Any one afflicted by the itch or the leprosy may not +come into the cities or mix with other Persians; and it is believed that +such persons have sinned against the sun-god. Lepers from foreign lands +are driven out of the country." When Xerxes came to the Hellespont, and +was about to cross the bridge, Herodotus represents him as praying to +the sun-god, pouring libations from a golden cup, and throwing it with a +golden goblet and a Persian sword into the sea.[165] We shall see +hereafter to what a degree the killing of noxious animals, the reverence +for rivers, the expulsion of lepers, the delight in life and the +increase of life, the exposing of dead bodies, and singing of the +theogony at sacrifices, correspond to the rules and doctrines of the +Avesta. In one point only is Herodotus mistaken: he states that the +Persians worshipped a female deity called Mithra. + +From this array of witnesses belonging to the West it follows that the +doctrines of the Avesta, and the religion of Zarathrustra, were current +among the Persians and in Western Iran at any rate after the beginning +of the fifth century B.C., and they must therefore have been in +existence in Eastern Iran at a still earlier date. The inscriptions of +the Achaemenids prove that the doctrine of the Avesta was maintained +among the Persians with even greater clearness and for a period more +ancient. Artaxerxes Ochus prays to Auramazda, Anahita, and Mithra for +their protection, and in like manner Artaxerxes Mnemon prays to +Auramazda and Mithra. In the inscriptions on Mount Behistun, Darius I., +the son of Hystaspes, styles Auramazda "the greatest of the gods" +(_mathista baganam_). Besides Auramazda, "the rest of the gods" are +repeatedly mentioned, and denoted by the name Baga. Of Auramazda, Darius +and Xerxes say in their inscriptions: "A great god is Auramazda; he has +created the heaven and the earth; he has created man and all that is +good for men." After crushing in the beginning of his reign the +rebellion of nearly all the lands which Cyrus had reduced, Darius +repeatedly records his thanks: "that Auramazda had granted him +assistance; that his army had been victorious by the grace of +Auramazda." He and his successors acknowledge that they have received +their throne and their kingdom from Auramazda; by his grace they are +kings.[166] The reason why Auramazda has assisted him Darius finds in +the fact that he has not been a "liar," and has committed no sin. He +entreats Auramazda to protect the land against the invasion of hostile +armies, against blight, and "the lie" (_drauga_). He asserts that "the +lie" caused the provinces which had revolted to be rebellious, and +declares that the land of Persia, which Auramazda has granted to him, +which is beautiful, rich in horses, and well populated, has no fear of +enemies owing to Auramazda's grace, and his own. He commends his +inscription at Behistun to the protection of his successors, with the +words: "If thou destroyest not this tablet then may Auramazda be thy +friend; may thy descendants be numerous, and thy life be long, and +whatsoever thou undertakest, may Auramazda cause it to succeed. But if +thou destroyest it, may Auramazda smite thee, and thy house perish; and +whatever thou doest, may Auramazda render it of no effect."[167] On his +tomb Darius says: "What I have done I have done by the grace of +Auramazda. O man, this is the prayer of Auramazda; think no evil, leave +not the right way, sin not." The inscriptions of Xerxes regularly end +with the invocation: "May Auramazda protect me, with all the gods; me, +my kingdom, and my work." + +As we shall see, the fundamental principle of the religion of +Zarathrustra is that a supreme god stands over all gods, and to him is +ascribed the work of creation. In entire belief in the power of this +supreme deity, whom the Achaemenids invoke by the name which is given to +him in the Avesta, "who has created heaven and earth and all that is +good for men," Darius ascribes to Auramazda victory in battles, the +power of granting or refusing success to the king's undertakings, of +protecting the land against hostile invasions, blight, and lies. To +those who live according to his commands he grants long life and +numerous descendants. The rebellion of the provinces is with Darius the +work of the lie, the lie of him who had given himself out to be the son +of Cyrus, and the lie of those who had claimed to be the descendants of +Nebuchadnezzar and Cyaxares. We have already observed what "the lie" +meant in the Avesta. In the same spirit--the spirit of the principal +rules of the Avesta--Darius adjures his Persians to think no evil, and +not to leave the right path. + +Nicolaus of Damascus assures us that the Persians were acquainted with +the sayings of Zoroaster. He and others relate that Cyrus or his father +was called Atradates, _i.e._ given by fire,[168] and that he had given +to the Areians (p. 11), who provided his famished army with sustenance, +the honourable title of Orosangians, i.e. _Huverezanha_ (benefactors). +It is in harmony with the doctrine of the Avesta that Cyrus should be +represented by such a descent or name as the gift and nursling of fire, +and we shall see with what emphasis the Avesta marks and distinguishes +good thoughts, words, and actions. From these facts and the inscriptions +of Darius there can be no doubt that Zarathrustra's doctrine was current +among the Persians at the time of Cyrus. But if it was in force in the +West of Iran in the sixth century B.C. the fact that Herodotus, in his +account of the period during which the Medes obtained the dominion, down +to the time of Cyrus, speaks of no change in religion, either among the +Persians or the Medes, is evidence that this religion existed at any +rate before the time of Phraortes. The statement found in Herodotus that +Deioces had forbidden any one to spit in his presence, reminds us of the +rules of the Avesta, by which no one was allowed to approach the sacred +fire and gods with uncovered mouth, and on the sculptures of Persepolis +the bearer of the fan stands with covered mouth beside Darius. The +seven walls which Herodotus represents Deioces as building round +Ecbatana, the seven tribes of the Persians, remind us of the seven +girdles of the earth in the Avesta; the king of the Persians surrounded +by the six tribal princes is the symbol of Auramazda and the six gods +who are about him. + +Hence we may assume that the doctrine of Zarathrustra had reached the +West of Iran at the time when Phraortes united the tribes of the Medes +(about 650 B.C.), and was known among the Medes when they were still +living under their tribal chiefs and paid tribute to Asshur, or, in case +of refusal, were attacked by the Assyrian armies, which, as we +ascertained from the inscriptions of the kings of Asshur, was the case +from the time of Tiglath Pilesar II. to the time of Assurbanipal, _i.e._ +from the middle of the eighth to the middle of the seventh century B.C. +A statement in Herodotus seems to lead us still further back. He calls +the Magians a race or tribe of the Medes. According to his narrative +this tribe was in existence in the time of Deioces, _i.e._ about the +year 700 B.C. Herodotus could only speak of the Magians as a tribe or +family when they had become an hereditary order. At that time, +therefore, there must have been among the Medes a priesthood who +perpetuated in their families their worship by sacrifice, their doctrine +and wisdom, as well as their social importance. Like all Greeks, +Herodotus ascribes the discharge of the religious functions among the +Persians and Medes to the Magians, and we find that what Herodotus +quotes of their rites agrees with the rules of the Avesta. The rise and +separation of a peculiar order of priests, their more or less sharply +marked distinction from the remaining orders, can never be the work of a +short space of time, and such separation can only take place when the +worship of the gods requires a knowledge which is not easily accessible +or obtainable, when doctrine has obtained a place by the side of belief, +when ritual has become developed, and particular duties and rules are +prescribed for the life of the priests. When the worship of the gods +requires the use of long and definite prayers, the knowledge of +complicated usages, on which depends the effect of the sacrifices, and +the observation of numerous rules of purification,--such knowledge is +only perpetuated in families of hierophants or priests, or in schools +which take the place of such families. The formation of a distinct +hereditary order on such grounds can hardly have occupied less than a +century from the time when the doctrine, on which it is formed, was +introduced. Hence we may assume that the doctrine known as +Zarathrustra's reached the Medes before the year 750 B.C., _i.e._ before +the date of Tiglath Pilesar II. of Assyria. + +Let us hold firmly to the facts that the worship of Auramazda was +current among the Persians about the middle of the sixth century B.C., +that the same worship was in force among the Medes at least a century +earlier, about 650 B.C., and that if an hereditary priesthood was in +existence about this time among the Medes who performed and conducted +the worship, the doctrine which this priesthood represented must have +been adopted before the year 750 B.C. In this way we obtain a proof that +the doctrine of Zarathrustra was not only in existence in the East of +Iran about the year 800 B.C., but was the dominant creed there, and had +force enough to penetrate to the West, and win over the neighbouring +tribes of the Medes and Persians. + +We cannot explain more exactly how the doctrine of Zarathrustra reached +the nations of the West of Iran. Pliny, it is true, exclaims: "Who knows +the Medes, who were taught by Zoroaster, Apusorus, and Zaratus, even by +hearsay, for no memorials of them are left?"[169] According to this the +religion of Zoroaster spread even in the West by the influence of +eminent men among the Medes. But the date of the persons mentioned +cannot be fixed, though Porphyry represents Pythagoras as going to the +Chaldaeans and Zabratus, by whom he was purified from the evil of his +former life, and instructed as to the things from which the disciple +should restrain himself, and about the nature and beginning of all +things,[170] and this Zaratus or Zabratus may be intended for +Zarathrustra himself. Hermodorus tells us that Zarathrustra had been +followed by many Magians as teachers, one after the other, down to the +time when Alexander marched against Persia: these teachers were +Osthanes, Astrampsychus, Gobryas, and Pazates.[171] Others also assert +that Zoroaster was followed "by Osthanes and Astrampsychus."[172] Pliny +observes that so far as he could discover, Osthanes who accompanied +Xerxes in the war against the Hellenes, was the first who had written on +the doctrine of the Magians. The second Osthanes, whom Alexander had +received among his followers, had caused this religion to be of great +importance. From the work of one of these two persons, Philo of Byblus +quotes a passage--the work he calls the Octateuch--and Pliny notes down +apparently some of the doctrines of the first Osthanes. If then there +were men under the Achaemenids in the West of Iran who could write on the +doctrine of Zarathrustra from the beginning of the fifth century B.C., +we can without hesitation believe the statement that long before this +time there were prophets and teachers of the doctrine among the Medes +and the Persians. + +Can we go beyond the result thus gained by our investigation?--that the +doctrine of Zoroaster flourished in Eastern Iran about 800 B.C., and +advanced towards the West from this period; may we assume that at this +date it was already in possession of written monuments, and even that +the fragments of the Avesta which still remain were in existence then? +We must first answer the question whether the use of writing in Iran, +especially in the East, goes back so far. + +According to the statements of Herodotus, the West of Iran was not only +in possession of the art of writing by the year 700 B.C., but made +considerable use of it. He tells us that Deioces required complaints to +be sent in to him in writing, and gave out his decisions also in +writing. If processes at law were conducted in writing in Media about +the year 700 B.C., it cannot be surprising that Herodotus should also +inform us that letters passed between Media and Persia about the year +560 B.C.[173] We learn from the Hebrew Scriptures that when Cyrus +allowed the Jews, whom Nebuchadnezzar had removed to Babylon, to return +to their homes, he gave his permission for the restoration of the temple +in writing. This document was afterwards discovered in the archives of +Ecbatana.[174] We know it for a fact that Darius I. gave his orders to +the satraps in writing, and we are acquainted with the seal of Darius by +which they were authenticated. The oldest inscriptions which have come +down to us from the Achaemenids, not to mention a seal of Cyrus from +Senkereh, belong, if not to Cyrus himself, to Darius, and begin about +the last quarter of the sixth century B.C. It is the cuneiform writing +of Assyria and Babylon which forms the basis of the writing in these +inscriptions, but with considerable alterations. The highly complicated +syllabarium of the Eastern Semites is reduced to a phonetic system; we +might almost say to an alphabet of about 40 letters. A change of this +kind can hardly have been made at one stroke. If it was after they +entered into closer combination with Assyria, _i.e._ after their +dependence on the king of Asshur, which began with the accession of +Tiglath Pilesar II. (745 B.C.), that the Medes became acquainted with +the Assyrian system of writing, this must have been completely mastered +before it could be abbreviated and altered, as it was altered by the +Medes, whose changes were adopted by the Persians. The cuneiform writing +of Western Iran, as we find it in the inscriptions of Darius, can +therefore hardly have been established before the year 600 B.C. However +this may be, the facts mentioned prove that the writing of the Assyrians +in the seventh century B.C. was not unknown in the West of Iran. This +would therefore have passed into the East of Iran in its original or +simplified form, either at some earlier period, or when the East came +under the dominion of the Achaemenids. But it did not, and this is a +plain proof that the East, when the cuneiform writing of the West came +in that direction, was already in possession of another kind of writing. +This Eastern mode of writing, the Arian, which rests on an entirely +different basis from the cuneiform, is first known to us from coins and +inscriptions of the third century B.C.; but it certainly would not have +maintained its ground under the Achaemenids against the writing of the +West, and of the rulers, magistrates, and dominant nation, unless it had +been in vigorous use before, this period. We must therefore assume that +the Arian character was in use in the East of Iran a considerable time +before the date of Cyrus, and hence we have no reason to deny the +existence of it in that region in the eighth century B.C., since we must +allow the neighbouring Arians of India to have been in possession of +their written characters from the year 800 B.C. at the least (IV. 155). + +If we may assume that the Arian character was in use in the East of Iran +about the year 800 B.C., the prayers and sayings of Zarathrustra might +have been written down about this date, and the doctrine might have +passed on to the West supported by written documents. But the fact that +the prayers might have been written down is in no way a proof that they +were so written. + +It is true that at first sight it seems that the part of the law which +has come down to us (the Vendidad) leads to the conclusion that it was +written down long before the Persians gained the dominion over Iran, and +Media became a powerful state under Cyaxares. The book does not mention +the name of the Persians or the Medes, of Ecbatana or Persepolis, while +Bactria is spoken of as the seat of the empire; the most westerly +district mentioned in the Vendidad is Ragha in Eastern Media.[175] If we +add that the book reproaches certain districts in the East, the land of +the Arachoti and others, with deviations from the doctrine of +Zarathrustra, and that Ragha is indeed Zoroastrian but wavering in its +fidelity, we may easily conclude that the Vendidad was written when the +doctrine of Zarathrustra had not as yet thoroughly penetrated the East, +and was still unknown in the West, when it had just reached, but had not +yet completely conquered, the district of Ragha. The Medes were still +dependent on Asshur, living separately according to their tribes, +Ecbatana was not yet the centre and metropolis of Media, and the kingdom +of Bactra was still in existence in the East. This points to a date +about 750 B.C. as the time when this doctrine must have spread widely +over Media; at any rate to a date before the rise of the Median power, +_i.e._ before 650 B.C. This conclusion is not, however, absolutely +certain. The silence of the Vendidad and of the Avesta generally on +Ecbatana and Persepolis, the Medes and the Persians, can be explained in +another though a more artificial manner. The nations and chief cities of +the West were unknown to the tradition of Eastern Iran, and the royal +abodes of the Medes and Persians were not consecrated by the action of +Zarathrustra. In the accounts given by the Greeks of the worship of +these nations, in spite of much agreement, points are found at variance +with the rules of the Avesta, and as a fact certain distinctions did +prevail. The doctrine had arisen in the East, and the priesthood there +was in possession of the purer and more orthodox dogma. If Persia and +Media did not follow this in all respects, it was convenient to be +silent about the differences in the time of the Achaemenids, or if any +one desired to brand them, to mark out the Median Ragha as the seat of +heresy, rather than Pasargadae or Persepolis. This explanation it is true +is somewhat far fetched. The result that the religion known by the name +of Zarathrustra had reached the Medes and Persians by the middle of the +eighth century B.C. is in no way weakened by it, though the assumption +that at this period written documents of this doctrine were in +existence, and that the book of the law of which we have fragments arose +in the first half of the eighth century B.C., is rendered more doubtful +if such a mode of interpretation is admitted. + +The forms of language preserved in the Avesta have not survived with +sufficient distinctness to assist us in fixing the time at which it was +written down. As was shown above (p. 65), the manuscripts date from the +later period of the Sassanids; they are written in the later +East-Pehlevi character, and at a time when the old forms must have +undergone changes owing to the language which had come into use in the +mean time, and can in fact be proved to have undergone them. The old +sounds are obviously modified and confounded,[176] so that the language +of the Avesta, when compared with that of the inscriptions of the +Achaemenids, exhibits forms less ancient and fixed, and indeed in some +cases it is more recent than the language of the legends of the +Graeco-Bactrian coins (p. 27). Nor can any certain conclusions be drawn +from the condition of political and social life shown in the Avesta. It +is only the splendour of regal power in general, the old sacrificers, +heroes, and kings that are extolled in it; a sacrificial prayer to +Mithra speaks of the abode of the Arians, where "horse-guiding rulers +govern noble troops;" for the rest we hear only of lords of villages, of +tribes or cantons, and provinces, and of three orders into which the +people are divided. The Vendidad, it is true, reckons by winters and +nights, not by years and days; the amount of fines and punishments is +computed in animals, goats, sheep, oxen, horses, or camels; and these +facts point to an ancient period, but they may have been handed down by +tradition. We also hear of the value of these animals and of money +(_shaeta_).[177] This is the less surprising as the Vendidad speaks of +palaces and pillars and various works of art, and mentions +smelting-ovens and even ovens for making glass. We found that the Greek +princes of Bactria struck square coins, which they would not have done +if this had not been the traditional form in Bactria (p. 28). The +Achaemenids did not strike coins of this kind, and this shape must +therefore have come down from a period anterior to them. The frequent +mention of the physician, on the other hand, ought not to be regarded as +a proof of later composition, for we hear of the physician and his +remedies in ancient poems of the Veda (IV. 35). + +In regard to the antiquity of the Avesta, then, we can only build upon +the simple facts that it cannot have been written down for the first +time when the Buddhists found adherents in Bactria (IV. 542), or when +the kingdom of the Greek princes arose in Bactria, or when the Seleucidae +and Alexander, before them, reigned over Iran. It has been proved that +the Avesta was in existence before Alexander overthrew the kingdom of +the Achaemenids. The series of the successors of Zarathrustra, which +western writers could trace backwards from this point--Osthanes II., +Pazates, Gobryas, Osthanes I., Astrampsychus, Apusodorus--plainly shows +that even under the Achaemenids the West was seriously occupied with +religious questions. As Osthanes I. had written on the doctrine of +Zoroaster about the time of Xerxes (p. 92), it is at least more probable +than not that the Avesta was already in existence at that time. If in +the West there was a series, and as the Greeks point out, a continuous +series, of priestly teachers, round whom naturally pupils and schools +grew up, and after the beginning of the fifth century a theological +literature, similar teachers and schools must have existed long before +in the East, and this greatly strengthens the conclusion drawn from the +contents of the Vendidad, that it must have been written down before the +rise of the Medes. But for any more precise determination of the date of +the Avesta between the two limits obtained--the year 750 B.C., _i.e._ +the beginning of the formation of a priesthood in the West and the +contemporary use of writing in the East, and the year 350 B.C.--we are +confined wholly to internal evidence. + +Scriptures of such extent as the Avesta is shown to have been, by the +accounts of the Greeks and Arabs, and the list of contents (p. 51), and +the existing fragments, could not have been written down at once or +within a brief space of time. We saw (p. 33) that it set up a religious +canon, which not only regulated the doctrine and the worship, the duties +of priests and laity, but also comprised the law, and in a word all the +relations of life. A codification of this kind is only possible when +belief and doctrine, culture and ritual, have arrived at fixed and +complete formulae, have been arranged in a system and developed, and the +consequences bearing on life, morality, and law have been drawn from +them by an active and influential priesthood. Hence before the Avesta +was written down and collected there must have been a priestly order in +the East, in the circles of which the doctrine and practice went through +this developing, revising, and fixing process. Various sketches, lists +of prayers for certain offerings, collections of rules belonging to this +or that priesthood or school, must have been in existence, and +combinations of the traditional material must have been made, before a +canon comprising the whole wisdom of the priests, and far exceeding in +extent the law of Manu, could have been compiled. + +Among the existing invocations of the Avesta we find sacrificial +prayers of a primitive character; but the greater part of the prayers +and thanksgivings are without religious feeling or poetical power, and +very far removed from the richness and abundance, the beauty and +freshness of conception, which streams through the majority of the hymns +of the Veda. There are not wanting _naive_ and poetical pieces which +have obviously been handed down and preserved by their use at +sacrifices, but these are frequently spoiled by later interpolations, +and the form of the whole is generally dry and prosaic. We find but +scanty relics of any vigorous conception of the gods, of a living +mythology; on the whole the mythical element is faded, and the sacrifice +of animals thrown into the background. The greater part of the prayers +receive their value from a certain system and completeness; the object +is to bring forward all the characteristics of the deity to which they +are addressed, and to invoke him by all his names. Thus laudations and +epithets are repeated without end. A good many of the prayers are mere +nomenclatures, and repeat the same forms in varying order. Besides this +tendency, which is far removed from the original simplicity of religious +meditation, a value is ascribed to the repetition of certain prayers. +Some are to be said a hundred, or a thousand times. In the same way the +liturgies are long and full of detail, and sometimes take the form of +responses between the celebrant and the ministering priest; they are +extremely careful to neglect none of the heavenly spirits or genii, or +to injure them by omission, or treat them with less respect than others. + +Beside the faded colours of the mythology, the decreasing importance of +animal sacrifice, and the formalism of the prayers, we observe in the +five Gathas, the invocations which alone have preserved the +verse-measure, and present older forms of language than the rest, a +tendency to speculation. Not only are the good and evil spirits combined +under one head, as is always the case in the Avesta, but the Gathas +attempt to resolve the contrast of the beneficial and harmful sides of +nature, of the good and evil spirits, into the reciprocal play of two +fundamental forces; they identify the prosperity and destruction of +nature with moral good and evil, and combine the one with truth, the +other with falsehood. The good spirits are the truth, the evil are the +lie. The life of appearance and of falsehood is distinguished from the +true life, and the service of truth promises life not in this world only +but in the next. It is in harmony with these tendencies to abstraction +that, according to other passages of the Avesta, heaven is filled with a +multitude of the most lifeless personifications of ideas and realities. +Could the doctrine of a new religion in an early period come forward +with such a spiritualised system, with such elevated moral demands, such +abstract conceptions? Could prayers of such a kind have been composed or +written down in a primitive age? + +The existing fragment of the book of the law is composed in the form of +a dialogue, and is for the most part filled with conversations which +Zarathrustra carries on with Auramazda. Zarathrustra inquires what is to +be done in certain cases against the evil spirits, the Daevas, on the +commission of certain sins and impurities. What must be done when a +woman is in labour, etc., or when any one has made himself impure by +touching a corpse, or has slain a water-dog (otter)? Is the rain impure +which has fallen on a corpse and then runs off from it, etc.? These +questions Auramazda answers very precisely, and when it is a matter for +expiation and purification, he fixes the number of stripes with the +horse-whip or the whip of the sacred Craosha (Craosha-charana) which the +penitent is to receive. It is a theory and practice of purity, on a +level with the analogous rules in the laws of Manu, and in some points +even more subtle and casuistical. The offences have already been brought +under definite categories, and in like manner the purifications and +punishments fall into a number of distinct classes. Not only are +expiations required for all sins and prescribed down to the minutest +details, but the offences must also be repented of; certain formulae of +confession and repentance are prescribed. + +We need not stop to prove that a book of laws in this form could not +have been written down _a priori_. The rules for punishment and +purification must have grown up in long practice, before they could be +put in the mouth of the deity; difficulties and doubts must have been +weighed before solutions could be proposed. The book contains the +dialogues and inquiries which were held in the schools of the priests on +questions of this kind, the practice which prevailed in the schools and +the catechisation of the pupils. The answer is naturally placed in the +mouth of Auramazda, for it was the answer which he once gave to the +question when asked by Zarathrustra. The fragments of the Vendidad are a +catechism, the result of the labour of the priestly schools, a system of +rules and regulations which marks and postulates the same stage of +development for Iran as was reached for the Indians on the Ganges by the +law of Manu. Many periods in the religious life must have been passed +through before the religious consciousness was no longer shocked by the +fact that the supreme deity in person answered petty questions of +ritual, and dictated in the most exact gradation and with regard to +every possible variety of circumstance, the number of stripes required +for the criminals. + +This faded mythology and formalised worship, these speculative attempts +and casuistry of law, are accompanied by a completely-arranged scheme of +certain abstract categories already established. Throughout the whole +Avesta runs the division between this world and the next, between the +corporeal and incorporeal world, truth and falsehood, and the triple +distinction of thinking, speaking, and acting, of thought, word, and +deed. And when we further consider that rewards are attached to the +reading of sections of the Avesta, that the "long study" of the +"thoughts of the pure man," "the excellent knowledge, thought, and +conception" are praised and invoked as divine powers, no one will be +inclined to see in the Avesta the product of _naive_ religious feeling, +or the deposit of a priestly civilisation which is as yet in its early +stages. + +Still, if we wish to avoid making any false steps in the conclusions to +be drawn from the nature of the Avesta about the time of its +composition, we must bear in mind that it contains some conceptions +which are the exact opposite of the characteristics just noticed. The +myth of Yima, the form of Mithra, the descent of plants, prove older +traits in the Avesta than we find in the Veda; the old gods still occupy +a large space beside Auramazda and the abstract forms of heaven, and +strict unity of system is not yet attained. We must remember also at +what an early date the neighbours of Eastern Iran, the Arians of India, +arrived at meditation and abstraction; how quickly and entirely they +allowed animal sacrifice to pass into the background; with what breadth +and detail they developed the rules for purification; how numerous were +the daily prayers and repetitions, before the religious feeling became +weakened. In the Avesta the time without limit is frequently invoked; +among the Indians the gods of light are even in the oldest hymns of the +Veda the sons of Aditi, _i.e._ of the Eternal or the Infinite. And if +the attitude of the Avesta is for the most part by far more flat and +prosaic than that of the Veda, the Arians of Iran were of a more logical +nature, and the glow of imagination which the land of the Ganges kindled +in their kindred tribes did not exist in Iran. For this reason the +consideration of the character of the Avesta can only lead us to the +result that a period of several centuries must have elapsed between the +rise of the religion named after Zarathrustra and the writing down of +the Avesta; that lists of prayers and rubrics must have been in +existence about the year 800 B.C.; that the extensive books which then +formed the Avesta may have been written in the first half of the period, +which we ascribed to them, extending from 750 to 350 B.C. In any case we +can maintain that the Gathas were composed, and that the Avesta existed +in its essential parts in the East of Iran, before Cyrus put the empire +of the Persians in the place of the empire of the Medes, and all the +various parts were collected together before the "Enlightened" began to +preach on the Ganges, _i.e._ about the year 600 B.C. + +We have already remarked the importance which the Achaemenids ascribed to +the possession of Bactria (p. 23); and we were able at any rate to guess +at the civilisation of that district about the year 500 B.C., from the +amount of the tribute imposed upon it by Darius. That the economic +civilisation was not behind the material was shown by indications in the +Avesta. The kingdom which grew up there, as we saw (p. 47), long before +the days of the Medes, and in which about the year 800 B.C. the +doctrine of Zarathrustra was current, succumbed to Cyrus, the great +founder of the Persian empire. If we place the beginning of the doctrine +of Zarathrustra, which first made its appearance there, before the +middle of the ninth century B.C., at which time the armies of +Shalmanesar II. reached the East of Iran, and assume that it came +forward about 1000 B.C., we shall hardly place its rise too high. We +remember that about this time occurred the great change in the religious +conceptions of the Arians in India, the repression and degradation of +the old gods by Brahman. It was an analogous development when the good +and evil spirits of Bactria were combined into unities, and placed under +leaders, when the chief of the deities of light was made the creator of +the heaven and the earth, and surrounded with abstract forms, which +contest the traditional place and honour of the old god. It is the same +religious impulse, the desire to grasp the unity of the divine nature, +the same line of combination that we observed in its beginning and +progress in India, which comes to the surface in the doctrine of +Zarathrustra. We have no reason to contest with the Avesta the fact that +Vistacpa ruled over Bactria when this change took place, or that +Zarathrustra, a man of the race of Haechatacpa, gave the impulse to the +reform, and that the leading idea in it belongs to him. If Vistacpa +ruled over Bactria about the year 1000 B.C. the growth of the Bactrian +monarchy must be placed at least a century before this time, _i.e._ +about the year 1100 B.C. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[118] [Cf. Darmesteter, "Zend-Avesta," Introduct., c. iv. Sec. 40, and c. +iii.] + +[119] Plato. "Alcib. I." p. 122. + +[120] Diog. Laert. prooem. + +[121] Plin. "H. N." 80, 2. + +[122] 1, 94. + +[123] Justin, 1, 1. + +[124] "Numa," c. 4; "Quaest. Sympos." 4, 1. [The reading [Greek: +Zoroastren] is doubtful; cf. Wyttenbach.] + +[125] Dio Chrys. 2, 60, ed. Dind. + +[126] Euseb. "Chron." ed. Auch. p. 43; cf. Georg. Syncell. p. 167. +[Greek: Batou] after Zoroaster should here be changed into [Greek: +Baktrou] rather than [Greek: Magou]. + +[127] Arnob. "Adv. Gent." 1, 5. + +[128] Euseb. _loc. cit._ p. 35. + +[129] Porphyr. "De antro nymph." c. 6. + +[130] Ammian. Marcell. 23, 6. + +[131] Agathias, 2, 24. + +[132] Suidas, [Greek: Magoi, Zoroastres]. + +[133] Above, p. 17. Georg. Sync. p. 78, 79. Vol. I. p. 241, 247. + +[134] Yet with Moses Zoroaster is a Mede, I. p. 87. + +[135] Plut. "Pomp." c. 24. + +[136] Cf. Von Gutschmid, "Die Sage vom heiligen Georg;" Saechsische +Gesellschaft d. W., 1861, s. 175. + +[137] "Farvardin Yasht," 131. + +[138] C. 20 in Justi, [c. 20; Sec. 32 West]; cf. "Vend." 19, 15. + +[139] C. 30, cf. above, p. 40. [C. 29, Sec. 14, West.] + +[140] Strabo, p. 515, derives it from Atropates, whom Alexander made +satrap there. + +[141] Still less important than the Bundehesh is the gloss on "Vend." 1, +60. "Many say that Zartusht was from Rak in Atropatan." Ragha is not in +Atropatene. + +[142] Spiegel, "Eran," 1, 684 ff. + +[143] Plin. "H. N." 30, 2. Diogen. Laert. prooem. The different readings +of 500 years in Suidas and 600 in Diogenes, as compared with 5000 and +6000 in the other MSS., can hardly be maintained against the uniform +evidence of other witnesses. + +[144] Plut. "De Isid." c. 47. + +[145] "Vend." 19, 33; Spiegel, "Avesta," 3, 9, 201, 206. + +[146] "Ashi Yasht," 17; "Vend." 2, 20 ff. + +[147] West, "Mainyo-i-Khard," p. x. + +[148] West, _loc. cit._ c. 8. + +[149] Justi, "Bundehesh," c. 1, 3, 34. [Cf. West's commentary on c. 34.] + +[150] Spiegel, "Eran," 1, 507. + +[151] Justi, "Bundehesh," c. 34. + +[152] If the rise of Arsaces is put in the year 250 B.C. It makes no +difference in the total if we choose the year 248 B.C. for the beginning +of the Arsacids. + +[153] Blau, "Z. D. M. G." 18, 686. Von Gutschmid, _ibid._ + +[154] "Farvardin Yasht," 139. + +[155] Aristot. "Metaph." 13, 4. Diogen. Laert. prooem. + +[156] Theopom. Fragm. 71, 72, ed. Mueller. + +[157] Diogen. Laert. prooem., cf. Suidas, [Greek: Magoi]. + +[158] "Alcib. I." p. 121. + +[159] Plut. "Alex." c. 30. + +[160] Plut. "Artax." c. 4, 23, 29. + +[161] "Themistocl." c. 28. + +[162] Dinon, Fragm. 9, ed. Mueller. + +[163] "Cyri Instit." 8, 1, 21. + +[164] Herod. 3, 16. + +[165] Herod. 1, 101, 131-140; 7, 40, 43, 113, 191; 3, 84. + +[166] Inscription of Darius at Elvend in Spiegel, "Keilinscriften," s. +45, 47. + +[167] Behistun, 4, 73-80; 56-61; Persop. + +[168] Strabo, p. 719; Nicol. Damasc. fragm. 66, ed. Mueller. + +[169] Plin. "H. N." 30, 2; 28, 19. + +[170] "Vita Pythag." 12. + +[171] Diogen. Laert prooem. + +[172] Suidas, [Greek: Magoi]. + +[173] Herod. 1, 100, 124, 125. + +[174] Ezra, c. v., vi. + +[175] The Nica of the Vendidad is the Eastern Nica, Parthorum Nisaea, not +very far from Merv; above, p. 10, _n._ 1. + +[176] Lepsius, "Ueber das ursprungliche Zendalphabet," Abh. B. Akad. +1862, s. 298, 306, 381. + +[177] "Vendid." 4, 120; Astad Yasht, 1. + + + + +CHAPTER V. + +THE GODS OF THE ARIANS IN IRAN. + + +The examination of the traditions of the East and West has simply led to +the confirmation of the result, which we gain from the Avesta--that the +name and the doctrine of Zarathrustra belong to Bactria. With regard to +the antiquity of the doctrine, the inscriptions of Darius and the +statements of the Greeks allowed us to draw the conclusion that it +became current and dominant in Bactria about the year 800 B.C.; and from +the analogy of the development of the Arians on both sides of the Ganges +we assumed that it was possible to place the date of Zarathrustra +himself about two centuries earlier. That the Arians of Iran were not +without gods and religious worship before Zarathrustra, if the fact +needed proof, might be shown from the statements in the Avesta regarding +the time previous to Zarathrustra. The examination of the legends of +this time established kindred forms and traits in the Avesta and the +Veda, and if, following this path further, we find in the Avesta views +of the nature and character of the gods corresponding to those of the +Veda, we might be confident in regarding them as the traditional +possession of the Arians, and their earliest forms of religion. If, in +fine, the coincidence of the Avesta with the Veda, on the one hand, and +with the accounts of the Greeks on the other, extended to all the +essential points in the doctrine and the law, the question stated +above--whether in the restoration of the canon of the sacred writings in +the midst of the fourth century of our era, under king Shapur II., the +Avesta underwent material alterations, would have to be answered in the +negative. + +The poems of the Veda showed us in what directions the religious feeling +of the Indians in the Panjab moved. Drought, gloom, and night were +numbered among the injurious forces; the clear sky, the light, and +fertilising water were beneficent. The high spirits of light, which gave +new courage to the heart each morning, and exhibited the world in fresh +brilliance, were praised with thanksgivings; the spirits of the highest +heaven, Mitra and Varuna, the guardians of the world, the protectors of +purity and justice, were invoked earnestly, but less frequently than the +warlike victorious god who gave water, the god of storm and tempest, who +defeated the demons which obscured the sky and wished to carry away the +water (IV. 48). His comrades in the fight were the morning wind which +drove away the clouds of night, the winds which shattered the gloomy +clouds, and swept them from the sky. The spirit of fire, who by his +brilliant glow in the darkness of night kept off the beasts of prey and +fiends, who gathered men round the hearth, and summoned the gods to the +sacrifice, and carried up to them the food of the sacrifice, received +zealous worship in the hymns of the Veda. + +We can call to mind the invocations of the Rigveda to Ushas, the goddess +of the dawn, who drives forth on the sky with red cows; to Surya and +Savitar, the spirits of the sun (IV. 45, 46). In the Avesta, prayers are +addressed to Ushahina and Hvare Kshaeta, the bright sun-god. Ushahina +is here the pure spirit of the celestial dawn, "who is possessed of +bright horses." Of the sun-god we are told: "Mount, bright sun, with thy +swift horses, and shine for all creatures on the way which Auramazda has +created in the air, the way rich in water which the gods have +created;"[178] just as in the Veda the sun is invoked to approach on his +ancient firm paths in the air, which are free from dust (IV. 46). +Sacrifice is offered to the sun, according to the Avesta, when he rises +above Hara berezaiti (the divine mountain).[179] The prayer to Mithra is +as follows: "To the mighty Yazata (_i.e._ the worthy of prayer), the +strong one, who brings good, will I offer sacrifice with libations; I +will encompass him with songs of thanksgiving. With libations we offer +sacrifice to Mithra, the lord of wide pastures, who speaketh true +things, the wise one, comely in shape, of a thousand ears and ten +thousand eyes, standing on a broad tower, strong, sleepless, and +watchful, who mounts above Hara berezaiti before the immortal sun, the +guider of horses--he who first in a form of gold ascends the beautiful +summits. For him the creator Auramazda has prepared a dwelling above +Hara berezaiti, where is neither night, nor darkness, nor winds chilling +nor scorching, nor the corruption of the slain; no filth created of +demons nor vapours ascend Hara berezaiti. From thence the giver of good +beholds the abode of the Arians, whose horse-guiding lords govern +splendid hosts, whose high mountains, rich in water and in pastures, +supply nourishment for the ox, where are deep lakes with broad streams, +and wide navigable rivers burst forth in tumult, on Iskata and +Pourata,[180] on Mouru (Merv), Haraeva (p. 11), and Gao, Cughdha +(Sogdiana), and Hvairiza (Choaresm). Where first they sacrifice to him, +there Mithra, the lord of wide pastures, descends with the victorious +wind. From anguish and pain, O Mithra, carry us, undeceived. Come to us +for our protection; come to us with joy; come to us with mercy; come to +us with healing; come to us with purification, the mighty, the strong, +the all-knowing, the tamer of dragons, the undeceived. Never lulled to +sleep, Mithra protects with his weapon the creatures of Auramazda. On +him the lord of the land, of the canton, the village, the house, calls +for help with uplifted hands, whose voice of woe, whether his voice be +loud or soft, reaches up to the stars and down to the earth. He to whom +Mithra is favourable, to him he cometh with aid; but with whomsoever he +is angry he destroys his house and village and canton and land, and the +glory of the land. Mithra gives swift horses to those who do not deceive +him; to the habitation in which he is satisfied he gives troops of +cattle and men. The fire of Auramazda gives the straightest path to +those who do not deceive Mithra. But if the lord of the house, the +village, the canton, the land deceives him, then Mithra in anger +destroys house and village, canton and land. Not all evil deeds, not all +deception, are seen by Mithra, saith the wicked man. But Mithra sees all +that is between heaven and earth. With ten thousand eyes he beholds the +man who hates and deceives him. His long arms with the might of Mithra +grasp what is in Eastern India (Hendu), and what is in Western, and what +is in the midst of this earth. The swiftest deceivers of Mithra do not +reach the goal; they do not escape on horseback, nor reach the goal in +chariots. + +"Mithra, the lord of lands, whose countenance beams like the star +Tistrya, travels forth to the right end of the earth from the brilliant +Garonmana (the abode of the gods), equipped with golden helmet, and +silver coat of mail, with sharp long-shafted lance and swinging arrow, +on a beautiful chariot with a golden wheel and silver spokes, which four +white horses draw, their fore-hoofs shod with gold, their hinder hoofs +with silver, harnessed in the yoke which is bent over them. In his hand +is a club with a hundred studs, and a hundred blades, heavy at the end, +making havoc of men; bound with brass on the handle, mighty and golden, +the strongest and most victorious of weapons. Before him goes +Verethraghna in the form of a boar, sharp of tusk, fat, enraged, +striking at once with feet, claws, tail, and back of brass.[181] Next to +him goes the kindled fire, the strong, royal grace. As a protection of +the chariot are a thousand bows of bone, whose strings are made of the +sinews of oxen, a thousand arrows plumed with feathers of the Kahrkaca, +with golden points and wooden shafts, and flakes of bone and iron, a +thousand lances with sharp points, a thousand missiles of copper, a +thousand two-edged swords. Strong as spirits they travel onward, strong +as spirits they fall on the skulls of the Daevas. + +"Before him of a truth, Angromainyu (the evil spirit) trembles, the +deadly one; before him trembles Aeshma, the wicked-minded, and +body-destroying; before him trembles Bushyancta, the long of hand, and +all invisible Daevas and the sinners from Varena. When the evil one, who +works wickedness, runs forth with swift step, Mithra, the lord of wide +pastures, swiftly harnesses his chariot, and Craosha, the pure and +strong, and Nairyocangha, the herald, beats him and his ranks. When +Mithra comes where the lands are against him (_i.e._ do not honour him) +he brings down his club on horse and rider. Against them he brings +mighty destruction and terror; he bears away the heads of the men who +deceive Mithra. Their arrows, swift-feathered, sent swiftly forth by the +string from the well-stretched bow, strike the air only; the lances, +sharp and running out with long shafts from the arm, strike the air +only; the missiles from the strings strike the air only; the +well-directed swords and well-slung clubs beat the air only; meanwhile, +angry, enraged, and not propitiated, Mithra approaches, the lord of wide +pastures. Thou, O Mithra, angry and mighty, takest the force from their +arms; thou takest the force from their arms, and the sight from their +eyes, and the hearing from their ears. The wind carries away the lances +which the opponents of Mithra throw; even though he throws well and hits +the body he inflicts no wound. Standing on the field of battle Mithra +annihilates the ranks; the wings quake, and he makes the centre to +tremble. They say: Our war-horses were led away by Mithra; by him were +our strong arms and swords annihilated. Mithra scares men before and +behind; Craosha, the pure, assists in slaying on all sides. Mithra +sweeps them away, slaying them by fifties and by hundreds; by hundreds +and by thousands; by thousands and tens of thousands, and without +number. We cannot sustain the weight of the angry lord who with the +force of a thousand meets the foe; who dashes on in his rage, and rests +not from the slaughter; who destroys all at a blow. May not the +mightiest, the swiftest, the most victorious of the Yazatas fall upon +us. Come to our help, O Mithra, high lord, when the arrow hisses aloud +and the horse neighs in his nostrils, and the missiles whizz, and the +strings speed forth the sharp, bony arrows. Whomsoever Mithra protects, +him the well-sharpened lance cannot reach, nor the arrow flying past +him. + +"In his might Mithra approaches; in power he goes forth to dominion, and +beholding from afar directs his glance with his eyes. Thou protectest +the lands which seek after the beneficence of Mithra, lord of wide +pastures; thou destroyest the lands which are wicked. O Mithra, lord of +wide pastures, master of the house, of the villages, the land!--let us +be protectors of thy fields, not the destroyers of them. As the sun +arises above Hara berezaiti so may I obtain my desires over the evil +Angromainyu. With uplifted arms, Mithra, the lord of wide pastures, +conveys us to immortality. With sacrifice named by name, with becoming +speech, O strong Mithra, will I make offerings to thee with libations. +Listen, O Mithra, to our sacrifice. Come to our sacrifice; come to our +libations. Carry them away to the place of meeting (_chinvat_); deposit +them in Garonmana. Thou, O Mithra, art the saviour and helper of lands +and men. Thou makest the dwellings, from which impurity is removed, +famous for women and chariots. Thou hast power over the peace and the +disquiet of lands; prosperous art thou in the battle, and strong. Give +us the gifts for which we entreat thee; abundance and power, prosperity +and purity, renown and bravery, and victory given by Ahura, the +overwhelming power of the highest purity (_asha vahista_), and +instruction in the sacred word, that so we may slay all enemies and +haters, and annihilate the hate of men and Daevas, of magicians and +Pairikas, of the violent, blind, and deaf. Stretch out thy widely +grasping hand, O Mithra; thou art the protector of the dwelling, and of +them that deceive not. Protect us in both worlds, the corporeal and +incorporeal, from the evil death, the evil Aeshma, the evil hosts, who +seek to raise their cruel banners, from the attacks which Aeshma may +make with Vidhatu the Daeva-created."[182] + +The modern traits which have been introduced into this poem are easily +distinguished and removed. The relation in which Mithra is placed to +Auramazda, the chief of the good spirits, to the corporeal and +incorporeal world and the maintenance of the law, to Rashnu, the spirit +of justice, and other spirits of an abstract nature, and to the +instruction in the sacred word, are like the "Western and Eastern +India," obviously of the later origin. Setting them aside, the old form +of the god of light of the Arians in Iran meets us in vigorous and +powerful outlines. Indeed we have here more original conceptions of +Mithra than in the Veda, and find that idea of the god which formed part +of the yet undivided stock of the Arians in Iran and on the Indus (IV. +51). In the Avesta Mithra is still in direct conflict with the evil +spirits, from which in the Veda he is displaced by the storm-god, who +first came into prominence in the Panjab. That Mithra was once the +supreme deity of the Arians of Iran, is clear, not only from his +position as the most victorious opponent of the demons, but also from +the difficulty--which the Avesta betrays in more than one passage--of +subordinating him to Auramazda, who subsequently became supreme, and +establishing the precedence of the latter. In Mithra's habitation it is +never night. Highest of the spirits of light, he goes before the sun, +and first plants himself on the summits of the mountains. He is the +mightiest warrior against night and the spirits of night who tremble +before him. His light overpowers and destroys them. Thus he is able to +give victory in the battle to the army which worships him in truth; the +host with which he fights he fills with courage and power; that with +which he is angry he fills with terror, and causes their arrows to fly +forth in vain. In brilliant armour he travels onward, his club in his +hand; before him is victory, and beside him is fire. Mithra's club is +called Vazra, Indra's club is Vajra; the word is the same, the +distinction is due to the change of sound which separates the old +Bactrian from the language of the Veda and Sanskrit.[183] Lord of the +lands and nations, he looks down on the abode of the Arians; most +brilliant of deities, he sees all that is between heaven and earth. He +cannot be deceived and beguiled; the most secret wickedness is not +hidden from him; the swiftest criminal does not escape from him, and the +strongest succumbs to his anger. God of purity and truth, he watches +over purity and truth among men, punishes falsehood, rewards justice and +fidelity; he blesses the nations and houses which worship him with +goodly increase in men and flocks. + +We saw what importance the Veda ascribed to the conquest over Vritra, +the cloud serpent, the black demon. The Arians in Iran also are +acquainted with the slaying of Vritra. The prayer to Mithra represents +Verethraghna as going before Mithra's victorious car (p. 110). +Verethraghna means slayer of Verethra, or Vritra, and is the same word +as Vritrahan. Hence the attribute of Indra, which denotes the most +important achievement among his actions, is among the Iranians an +independent spirit. As the club of Indra belongs in the Avesta to +Mithra, so is Verethraghna his companion. No doubt at one time Mithra +had himself the surname Verethraghna in Iran, the attribute signifying +the conqueror of the worst and strongest of the evil spirits. But just +as in the Panjab, owing to the tropical storms of that region, the form +of Vritra came into prominence, and with it the form of Indra, so in the +Avesta did Verethraghna fade away when separated from Mithra. Here +Verethraghna is only the victorious strength, the conquest and slaughter +of the enemy,--victory itself. Verethraghna is the best armed of the +heavenly spirits, the strongest in might, the most victorious. Yet even +in the Avesta the Soma is offered to Verethraghna before the battle, as +in the Veda it is offered to Indra. Auramazda says to Zarathrustra: +"When the armies meet in battle, the orderly ranks are not defeated in +which sacrifice is liberally offered to Verethraghna, whom Ahura +created. The Arian lands should offer him sacrifice, and strew +sacrificial branches for him. They should offer beasts to him, bright +and gold-coloured." "To him the pure Zarathrustra offered sacrifice, and +Verethraghna came to him in the form of a strong wind, in the form of a +beautiful bull with golden ears and golden hoofs, in the form of a +shining horse, of a large, biting, and fierce camel, in the form of a +boar with strong tusks (as also in the prayer to Mithra), in the form of +a youth, in the form of a man carrying a sword with a golden handle, in +the form of the swiftest and largest of birds, in the form of a ram, and +a fighting goat. And Verethraghna gave Zarathrustra strength of arms, +health and vigour of body, and power of vision, like that of the horse +which sees in the night, and the gold-coloured vulture." In the battle +Verethraghna hastens through the ranks and inquires with Mithra and +Rashnu: "Who lies against Mithra? to whom shall I give death and +destruction, for I have the power?" "Verethraghna, the created of +Ahura, the bearer of splendour, I will praise"--such is a prayer in the +Avesta--"with audible praise, with offering. To Verethraghna will I +sacrifice. I will bring Haoma in order that I may conquer this army, +which comes up behind me. Verethraghna holds back the hands of the ranks +of the men who lie against Mithra; he veils their sight, and dulls their +ears, and suffers not their feet to advance. Verethraghna brings the +ranks together in battle; he destroys the ranks, and annihilates +them."[184] + +In the Veda, the winds, the swift and strong Maruts, aided Indra against +the demons; Vayu, _i.e._ the blowing, the morning wind which chases away +the dark clouds, was Indra's charioteer (IV. 49). In the Avesta also, +Vayu, who blows before the morning light and the sun, and scares away +the goblins of the night, who first drinks "the Soma draught at the +morning sacrifice," takes a prominent position, and under his Vedic +name. The heroes of ancient days cried aloud to Vayu for victory, and he +brought help to them all. He is the strongest of the strong, the +swiftest of the swift, girded up and active, higher in stature, broader +in the hips and shoulders, than the rest of the gods. He sits on a +golden throne (p. 35); wears a golden helmet, golden armour, a girdle +and neckband of gold, and rides on a golden chariot. He says to +Zarathrustra: "I am called the beneficent, because I do good for +Auramazda. I am called the pure, the strong-winged, the mightiest, the +swiftest, the powerful for defeat, the expeller of the Daevas. I am +called the Hurling one, the Biting one, the sharp lance, the flashing +lance. I am called the Conqueror. These names must thou invoke at the +shock of the ranks in battle, in the stress of the conflict."[185] In +the Avesta, as we saw, Verethragna also appears in the form of the wind. +The "pure swift winds," the air, "which works on high, which purifies +the heaven from the right hand," are frequently invoked; the "strong +wind, created by Ahura," brings the rain-clouds which Tistrya (p. 120) +has liberated over the earth; the wind carries away the lances, which +those hurl who are hostile to Mithra. We saw above, how the Bactrians +were defeated by Artaxerxes I., "because the wind blew in their faces" +(p. 25). If in the Avesta, in accordance with the character of the +doctrine, the purifying force of the winds and fresh air is made +prominent, the other traits quoted are sufficient to permit us to +recognise the original conception formed by the Iranians of the spirits +of the winds. + +The pure waters, the well-flowing, the waters of the springs, pools, and +rivers are often mentioned in the Avesta and highly extolled. As with +the Arians in India, so in the Avesta, the great waters are placed high +up in the sky. The stars contain the seed of water; just as among the +Arians in India certain constellations at the appearance of which rain +fell, were considered to be the home of the waters. In the Avesta also +the water of the sky is the source and origin of the waters on earth. In +that book a female deity is the guardian of these waters, the goddess +Ardvicura Anahita, _i.e._ the lofty, stainless one, "to whom Auramazda +gave the waters in charge." She is at one and the same time the source +of the heavenly water, which springs up on the golden height of +Hukairya, the summit of the divine mountain, and the spirit of this +source and of the water coming from it. At the height of a thousand men, +the spring Ardvicura flows down from the golden Hukairya; it has a +thousand basins, and a thousand streams, each stream is forty days' +journey in length for an active traveller.[186] The goddess who pours +out this water is a strong, well-grown maiden of brilliant countenance, +and beautiful arms, which are more brilliant and larger than horses. On +her brow she bears a golden diadem, adorned with a hundred stars; she +has golden ear-rings and neck-band, a flowing lower garment with many +folds of gold, and golden shoes on her feet. Her breasts fall down over +her girdle; her upper robe is of bright otter skins, _i.e._ of the +smooth skins of the animal of the water. She carries a golden Paitidana, +and holds the reins of her chariot which is drawn by four white beasts +of draught. The deity of the water of the sky is in the Avesta the most +beneficent of the goddesses; the source of water is also the source of +fruitfulness and life. She cleanses the seed of men, and gives a happy +delivery to women; those who are with child entreat her assistance. To +men she gives swift horses and strong comrades, if duly invoked and +worshipped. We have already seen how the heroes of old days, Yima, +Thraetaona, Kerecacpa, Kava Uca, Kava Hucrava, Vistacpa, sacrificed +horses, cows, and smaller cattle to Ardvicura, in order to win victory +over the evil spirits, the dragons, the giants, and the enemies of Iran +(p. 32, 34 ff.). Zarathrustra asks the stainless Ardvicura what +sacrifice he must offer to her, in order that Auramazda may not hold +back his course in the height above the sun, that serpents may not +injure the water by their sweat and poison. And Ardvicura gave command +that prayer and sacrifice should be offered to her from the ascent of +the sun till daybreak; the sacrifice was to be consumed by the +sacrificers and priests in honour of the goddess; the impure, blind, +dumb, and all afflicted with infirmities were to be kept far from it. +"Come to me, come down, Ardvicura," is the invocation, "from the stars +to the earth which Auramazda made; to thee, the excellent, mighty lords +of the lands, the sons of the lords of the lands, will offer +sacrifice."[187] + +The divine mountain, on which the Ardvicura rises, is in the Avesta "the +mighty navel of water (_apam napal_)," "in a course swift as the horse, +Auramazda causes the water to stream forth from it." On this mountain is +the deep lake Vourukasha, _i.e._ having wide shores, in which the waters +collect together. Out of this lake the water-clouds rise, which are to +bring the fertilising rain to the earth. Though the tropic storms are +wanting in Iran, the fertilising of the land by the water of the +springs, rivers, and lakes, and by rain was of no less importance there +than in the Panjab. Hence in the Avesta we again meet with the contest +of the good spirits against Vritra, and in Iran also these spirits are +opposed to the demons of blight. It is demons of this kind, which, +according to the Avesta, keep back the rain-clouds above Vourukasha, and +men say: "When will Tistrya (Sirius) rise, the bright, the majestic, +the lord of the stars? When will the streams of water flow which are +stronger than horses?" And Tistrya, whom Angromainyu slays not, nor the +magicians and Pairikas, nor the magicians among men, gleams forth from +the navel of the waters; he runs to Lake Vourukasha like an arrow, in +the form of a horse, a beautiful brilliant horse, with yellow ears, and +golden horse-cloth. Auramazda and Mithra prepare the way for him. Ashi +vanguhi and Parendi follow in his wake with swift chariots. There goes +to meet him the Daeva Apaosha, _i.e._ the witherer, in the form of a +black, bald horse, with bald ears, bald back and tail, and ugly brand. +For three days and three nights they struggle; and the Daeva Apaosha +scares away the brilliant Tistrya from Lake Vourukasha for the distance +of a _Hathra_. And Tistrya speaks and says: "If men honour me with the +sacrifice named by name, with duly performed sacrifice, and prayer, then +at the appointed time I shall come to the pure men; hostile chariots and +uplifted banners will not come nigh to the Arian lands, and I shall have +gained the strength of ten horses, ten bulls, ten mountains, and ten +flowing waters." And Auramazda sacrificed to Tistrya and brought him +that strength, and Tistrya fought with the Daeva Apaosha till midday, +and conquered and overpowered him, and scared him away from Vourukasha. +And Tistrya announced blessing for the waters and the trees; the streams +of the waters will come to you without opposition, the cloud rises out +of Lake Vourukasha, and the vapours gather above on Mount Hendava in the +midst of Lake Vourukasha, and Tistrya drives forth the vapours, the pure +ones, whence clouds are formed, and the strong wind drives clouds and +rain to the villages and hamlets, to the seven Kareshvare (the seven +parts of the earth). And Auramazda gave command to Zarathrustra that the +Arian lands should offer sacrifice to Tistrya, should sprinkle +sacrificial rice, and sacrifice a bright, light-hued, Haoma-coloured +animal in order that he might withstand the Pairika Dushyairya (_i.e._ +blight). "If I had not created Tistrya," Auramazda says, "this Pairika +would have carried on war day and night, but Tistrya binds her with two +and three fetters." "We praise Tistrya, the brilliant majestic star, +which drives away the Pairika; he blows her away from Lake Vourukasha; +then the clouds draw up, spreading themselves afar, which contain the +fertilising water."[188] + +Another spirit which fights against the demons in the Avesta is called +Craosha. On the divine mountain stands "his triumphant dwelling with a +thousand pillars, on the topmost height of the great mountain, illumined +within with a light of its own, decked with stars without;" his chariot +is drawn by four spotless horses, which are swifter than clouds, swifter +than winds, swifter than storms, swifter than birds with strong wings. A +strong, well-armed, victorious youth, the strongest and swiftest among +young men, who fears not the Daevas, and before whom they fly in terror +to the darkness, Craosha is the companion of Mithra; with him he +overthrows the ranks of the hosts with whom Mithra is angry (p. 111). +Thrice in each day he comes to smite the Daevas, with the axe of a +woodman in his hand. Thus he fights against the evil Angromainyu, +against Aeshma, and the Daevas Kunda, Banga, and Vibanga; thus he forces +the conquered Daevi Druj to answer him. In the dark he is wakeful +against the evil ones; he protects the world from them when the sun has +set; in each night he comes thrice upon the earth with his weapons in +his hand. About the third watch of the night he arouses the bird +Parodarsh, _i.e._ the cock, that by his cry he may scare away the +goblins of the night, and may banish the Daevi Bushyancta, which holds +men imprisoned in sleep.[189] Craosha, moreover, protects the sacrifices +which are offered to the good gods, and which the evil one would carry +away or defile. One of the priests who took part in the sacred +ceremonies held a club, the Craosha-club, in his hand, in order to scare +the demons and keep them back. Of the two instruments which in the book +of the law are used for flagellation, and by which the evil spirits are +driven from the bodies of men, one is called the Craosha-whip (_Craosha +charana_). + +We remember the numerous hymns of the Veda which celebrate the benefits +conferred upon men by Agni, the spirit of fire, who is born from the +double wood, and descends to earth in the lightning from the water-bed +of the storm-cloud; the glow of this bright youth preserves men from +beasts of prey, from murderers and evil spirits, helps the gods to +victory, and contends in battle in the van; at the same time a royal +house-lord and priest, Agni is in the Veda the upholder of the religious +worship, the mediator between heaven and earth (IV. 40). The Avesta is +filled with similar conceptions, though less poetical in form. Here the +power as victorious of fire against the demon takes the first place. We +saw that Mithra's chariot carried the kindled fire. "The sacred, strong +fire" is invoked as a "warrior," as a "protector," as a slayer of the +evil spirits, as the giver of good. To whatever side, we are told in the +book of the law, the wind carries the smoke of the fire, it comes back +thence as a slayer of thousands. "Happy is the man," we are told in an +invocation, "to whom thou comest in strength, O Fire, son of Auramazda, +more friendly than the friendliest, worthy beyond others of +supplication. O Fire, we approach thee with perfect purity, with a good +spirit; mayest thou come down to us bringing help."[190] He who uses dry +selected wood for the fire, him the fire blesses, saying: "May herds of +cattle gather round thee, and abundance of men; may all things succeed +according to the wish of thy soul. Live out thy life happily to the full +extent to which thou wilt live. The fire speaks with all those for whom +it shines the whole night through, and cooks food; from all it demands +good nourishment. The fire looks on the hands of all who come; what does +the friend bring to the friend, he who approaches to him who sits +alone?[191]" The Gathas of the Avesta also speak of the pieces of wood +for friction, out of which springs the fire that shows the way;[192] and +in another passage we hear of the fire Urvazista which dwells in wood. +The Avesta distinguishes between the fire Cpenista, _i.e._ the +house-lord, the hearth-fire (it is the same name that is given to the +hearth-fire in India), the most victorious fire Verethraghna, which +slays all the demons, and by which, according to the custom of the +Parsees, the fires of the hearth must be renewed year by year, and the +fire of lightning, which is called Vazista. This last, which comes down +direct from heaven, is the "most sacred of all fires, which slays the +demon Cpenjaghra."[193] In the Avesta the priests are called Athravas, a +name which, no doubt, goes back to the worship of fire (_athar_); among +the Indians Atharvan entices the fire from the wood, and together with +Manu and Dadhyanch kindles the first sacrificial fire; the fourth Veda +is called after him (IV. 280). In the Avesta also the red glowing fires, +which gleamed on the earth in the days of King Yima, are repeatedly +mentioned (p. 32); it extols "the brilliance of the Arian lands," +denotes the fire-priests as possessors of the true faith, and assures us +that what is right may be known from the clear, blazing flames.[194] + +The sacrifice offered by the Arians beyond the Indus to Indra, the +Maruts, and spirits of light, to strengthen them against the demons, the +draught prepared from the Soma, is known to us; we have shown how this +Soma which strengthens the gods became itself a god in the fancy of the +Indians--a mighty nourisher and sustainer of the gods. The same custom +and deity are found in the Avesta, only the name has become Haoma, +according to the phonetic laws of the Bactrian language. The legend has +already shown us what importance was ascribed in Iran to the worship of +the god Haoma, and the sacrifice of this liquor. Yima was born to +Vivanghana as a reward because he had first poured out the Haoma and +worshipped the god. To Athwya, the second worshipper of Haoma, +Thraetaona was born; and to Thrita, the third, Kerecacpa, the hero (p. +27, 28). To Zarathrustra, who was born to Pourushacpa for a similar +service, when he is dressing the sacred fire at the break of dawn, and +singing the sacred hymns, the god Haoma appears: "Who art thou," asks +Zarathrustra, "who appearest to my sight as the most perfect in the +corporeal world, with thy brilliant, immortal body?" Haoma answered him: +"I am the pure Haoma, who protect men from evil. Call on me, press out +my juice in order to enjoy me; praise me as all other fire-priests +praise me." Then said Zarathrustra: "Supplication to Haoma! Haoma, the +good, is well-created; duly-created is he, and gives health; he bestows +kindness, is victorious, and of golden colour. Thy wisdom, O golden one, +I praise; thy strength, thy victory, thy healing power, thy greatness. I +praise the mountains, the high ones, where thou, Haoma, growest; I +praise the earth, the wide and patient, thy mother, O pure Haoma. Mayest +thou grow on the paths of the birds. To the horsemen, who spur their +horses, Haoma gives power and strength; to the maidens who have long +remained unmarried, he gives true and vigorous husbands, gifted with +good understanding, and to wives beautiful children and a pure +posterity. To those who repeat the Nackas (the chapters of the Avesta) +he gives sanctity and greatness. Praise to thee, Haoma; thou knowest the +words which are spoken with truth. Praise to thee, Haoma, who by thine +own power art a mighty king. To thee Auramazda first gave the girdle +glittering with stars; girt with this thou lingerest on the summits of +the mountains in order to maintain in sincerity the commands of the +sacred sayings. O Haoma, lord of the house, of the village, of the land, +lord of wisdom, I call on thee for greatness and victory, for favour to +my body, and rich food. O thou who art of golden colour, I entreat thee +for skill and power, passing through the whole body, for beauty and +health, for prosperity and increase, for greatness spreading over the +whole form. The first boon for which I entreat thee, O Haoma, who +removest death, is that I may attain to the excellent habitation of the +saints, the bright dwelling where there is abundance of all good things; +the second boon is that this body may endure; the third, that my life +may be long; the fourth, that I may go through the earth powerful and +glad, troubling the tormentors, and slaying the Druj; the fifth is that +I may walk victorious on the earth and slay the evil. For this thing +also, as a sixth boon, O Haoma, who removest death, I entreat thee: may +I be the first to see the thief, the murderer, and the wolf: may none of +these previously see me. Keep far from us the hatred of those who hate +us; tear out the hearts of those who give poison. If in this house, this +place, this village, this sacrifice, there is a man who does harm, take +from him the power to go, obscure his reason, break asunder his heart +with the commandment. Let him not be mighty in the feet, let him not be +mighty in the hands. O Haoma, I make a prayer to thee, that thou mayest +go a sovereign lord through the worlds, triumphing over hatred and the +evil. Thou shouldest triumph over the hatred of all who hate thee, over +the hatred of the Daevas and men, the evil spirits and magicians, the +perverse, blind, and dumb, the two-footed murderers and insidious +creatures, the four-footed wolves, and the numerous hosts which creep +and fly."[195] + +Further, we find in the Avesta that the "priest" offers Haoma to Mithra, +Craosha, and Drvacpa on the divine mountain.[196] The plant of which +this god is the genius, grows, according to the books of the Parsees, as +white heavenly Haoma only on the tree Gaokerena, _i.e._ the heavenly +tree which stands on the divine mountain or in the spring Ardvicura; the +yellow Haoma which grows upon the earth is only a copy or descendant of +the white Haoma. In Iran also the preparation and expression of the +Haoma juice is accompanied by a long and minute ritual; and the offering +of the sacrifice, which is still performed among the Parsees of India, +requires long invocations and responses between the celebrant and the +ministering priests. At the present day the Parsees send from time to +time one of their priests to Kerman in order to bring from their ancient +home twigs of Haoma for the sacrifice. + +The coincidence which we find above, in the forms of the legend, between +the Avesta and the Veda--Vivanghana, Yima, Athwya, Thrita, Kerecacpa, +and Uca are found in both--is not less marked in the conceptions of the +gods and their functions, and in the character of the worship. There can +be no doubt that the Arians of Iran believed themselves to be protected +and injured by the same spirits as the Arians in the Panjab. If on the +Indus invocations were addressed to Vritrahan, Vayu, the Maruts, and +Mitra, in Iran men prayed to Verethraghna, Vayu, and Mithra. In both +places Vritra and Ahi are the opponents of the god of light; in both +fire was worshipped; in both the power of the sacrificial liquor was +elevated into a mighty life-giving god. Among the Indians, as we saw, +the priest who addresses the invocation to the god at the sacrifice is +called Hotar; in the Avesta the Zaotar utters the prayers. Further +coincidences in the number and nature of the gods, in the worship, in +the laws and forms of purification, in the ceremonial, and even in the +shape of the universe, will show themselves as we proceed. It is true +that differences may also be found. Many of the numerous spirits of the +Rigveda are wanting in the Avesta; and again, some spirits in the +Avesta, such as Anahita, Craosha, Tistrya, are unknown to the Indians. +Variations such as these must occur where there has been a separate +development from a common root. But the factors in the coincidence of +the most important forms of the gods and heroes, and the distinctive +modes of worship, in the Avesta and the Rigveda, the very oldest +monument of the Arians in India, are so great that any doubt whether the +Avesta remained free from alterations and influences of an alien or +later nature in the revision under Shapur II., is entirely removed, and +we know that we possess in it the remains of an original document of +Iran, going back beyond the time of Cyrus. In the Avesta we have before +us the faithful expression of the ancient Iranian faith. Though not in +its original form this result is the more certain, because on the one +hand some deities, as for instance Mithra, and some myths like that of +Yima, exhibit older forms in the Avesta than in the Rigveda, while in +others we have almost an identity of language between the two. In the +Avesta as in the Veda the Soma is praised as "gold-coloured;" in both +fire is the "house-lord;" the sun goes on his "path free from dust;" the +power of the gods is increased by the sacrifice (p. 120). In both one +god offers sacrifice to another, in order to strengthen him; and the +invocations of the Avesta, like those of the Rigveda, ask for health and +long life for the suppliant; for possessions and wealth and favour, for +the power to see the thief, the murderer, and the wolf before they are +seen by him. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[178] "Gah Ushahin," 5; "Mihr Yasht," 13, 143. + +[179] "Mihr Yasht," 118. + +[180] Pouruta may be referred to the [Greek: Paryetai] of Ptolemy, whom +he places in the north of Arachosia. + +[181] Cf. "Mihr Yasht," 127, where the boar is not Verethraghna but the +"curse of the sage." + +[182] Windischmann, "Mithra; Abhl. fuer Kunde des Morgenlandes," 1, 1 ff. + +[183] Haug, "Essays," p. 185. The Sassanids also carry the club now +called _guzr_. + +[184] "Yasht Bahram," 57-62. Burnouf, "Commentaire sur le Yacna," p. +285. + +[185] "Ram Yasht," 43-57. + +[186] "Aban Yasht," 64 ff.; "Yacna," 74. + +[187] Hang, "Essays," p. 179. The passages given in the text from the +Aban Yasht, notwithstanding the swelling breasts, shows how definitely +the form of Anahita belongs to the Iranian conception, how peculiarly +this goddess of fountains is represented in this form, and how +intimately connected she is with the whole Iranian system of the boon of +water, and the legends of the heroes. A brass tablet found at Graechwyl +in the canton of Berne, which exhibits the Persian Artemis with swelling +breasts, surrounded by four lions, with a bird of prey on her head and +serpents instead of ears, and wings on the shoulders, has decided J. +Stickel ("De monumento Graechwyliano") to regard the Persian Artemis as +identical with the Semitic goddess of birth. This tablet is due to the +syncretism of Roman times. Certain similarities between the Syrian +goddess of birth and fertility, Mylitta-Derceto, and the Persian goddess +of water, might lead to such a syncretism even under the Achaemenids, and +this coincidence might determine Artaxerxes Mnemon to erect images of +Anahita in Ecbatana and Susa after the pattern of the Semites. Beros. +fragm., 16 ed. Mueller, and below. + +[188] "Tistar Yasht," 24 ff., 40, 49-58. + +[189] "Yacna," 56; "Vend." 18, 39. + +[190] "Vend." 8, 248-250; "Yacna," 26, 61, 23; "Yasht Farvardin," 77. + +[191] "Vend." 18, 57-63, 19, 134. + +[192] Roth, "Ueber Yacna, 31," Tuebingen, 1876, s. 6, 20. + +[193] "Vend." 19, 135; "Yacna," 17, 69. + +[194] "Yacna," 31, 3, 19. + +[195] "Yacna," 9, 10, according to Burnouf, "Journ. Asiat." 1844-1846. +Cf. Spiegel "Avesta," 2, 68 ff. + +[196] "Gosh Yasht," 17; "Mihr Yasht," 88; "Yacna," 56, 8. + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + +THE REFORM OF THE FAITH. + + +In the Gathas of the Avesta the spirit who keeps watch over the increase +of the flocks speaks to the heavenly powers, saying: "All creatures are +distressed; whom have ye for their assistance?" Auramazda makes answer: +"I have one only who has received my commands, the holy Zarathrustra; he +will proclaim my exhortations and those of Mazda and Asha, for I will +make him practised in speech."[197] Then Auramazda sacrificed to +Ardvicura that he might unite with Zarathrustra the son of Pourushacpa, +to the end that the latter might think, speak, and act according to the +law.[198] Pourushacpa, _i.e._ rich in horses, of the race of +Haechatacpa,[199] was the fourth who offered the sacrifice of Haoma in +Airyana Vaeja after Vivanghana, Athwya, and Thrita. For this +Zarathrustra was born to him.[200] At his birth and his growth the grass +and the trees increased, and all the creatures of Auramazda greeted each +other because the priest had been created who would sacrifice for them +and spread abroad the law of Auramazda, over the seven Kareshvare of +the earth.[201] Craosha, accompanied by the sublime Asha, appeared to +Zarathrustra, and the latter declared himself ready to swear enmity +against the liars, and to be a mighty source of help to the truth. And +the god Haoma appeared to Zarathrustra and commanded him to press out +his juice and to praise him, as other fire-priests praise him. And +Zarathrustra praised Haoma and his mother the earth, and addressed six +prayers to him (p. 125). Ashi vanguhi also came at Zarathrustra's +command on her chariot, and inquired: "Who art thou who callest on me, +whose speech is the most beautiful which I have heard from all those who +invoke me? Come nearer to me; approach my chariot." Then she surrounded +him with her right arm and her left and said: "Beautiful art thou, +Zarathrustra, well grown, with strong legs and long arms. To thy body +has been given brilliance, and to thy soul long prosperity."[202] And +when Zarathrustra sacrificed to Verethraghna, he granted him strength of +arm, health, and vigour of body, and power of vision, such as that of +the horse, which sees by night, and the gold-coloured vulture.[203] But +Auramazda taught Zarathrustra "the best words," prayers, and +invocations, and charms against the evil spirits.[204] "How," +Zarathrustra inquires of Auramazda, "how ought I to protect the +creatures from the evil spirits, from the wicked Angromainyu?" Then +Auramazda answers: "Praise Auramazda, the creator of the pure creation; +praise the victorious Mithra; praise the Amesha Cpentas (the immortal +saints), which rule over the seven parts of the earth; praise the holy +Craosha, who holds the club against the head of the Daevas; praise +Verethraghna, created by Ahura, the bearer of the splendour; praise the +shining heavens, and the glowing Tistrya; praise Vayu, the swift; praise +Cpenta Armaiti (the holy earth), the beautiful daughter of Auramazda. +Praise the tree, the good, the pure, created by Ahura, the well-grown +and strong; praise the glittering Haetumant (Etymandros); praise Yima +Kshaeta, the possessor of good herds. Praise the good laws, the law +against the Daevas, the law of the worshippers of Auramazda; praise the +splendour of the Arian land; praise the abode of the pure. Praise the +fire Vazista (p. 123), which smites the Daeva Cpenjaghra. Bring hard +wood and perfumes, and water of purification to the fire."[205] + +Zarathrustra first proclaimed the words which Auramazda had taught him +to Maidhyomao,[206] the son of Aracta, his father's brother, and spoke +to the members of his race, the Haechatacpas: "Ye holy Haechatacpas, to +you will I speak; ye distinguish the right and the wrong." The +announcement did not remain confined to the circle of the family and the +race: "To you that come," we are told in another passage, "I will +announce the praises of the all-wise lord, and the praises of Vohumano. +Look on the beams of fire with pious mind. The fair sayings of the +fire-priests are the way of Vohumano. Thou gavest ancient sayings, O +Ahura; by these will I annihilate among you the sacrifices of the lying +gods. The worshipper of fire should accurately understand the correct +words which have come from Vohumano (the good disposition and its +spirit) in order that truth may be his portion." In other poems +Zarathrustra laments: "The liar possesses the fields of the true man, +who protects the earth; none of the servants worship me; none of the +lords of the land, who are unbelievers. The dominion is in the hands of +the priests and prophets of the lying gods; whither shall I go for +refuge?--to what land shall I turn? I cry for help for Frashaostra and +myself. May the fire grant this help to both of us."[207] Frashaostra of +the race of Hvova, is mentioned in the Avesta as the closest adherent of +Zarathrustra, and often in connection with Jamacpa. The help for which +Zarathrustra cried in this invocation was granted to him by King +Vistacpa. Zarathrustra offered the Haoma draught in Airyana Vaeja to +Ardvicura, and prayed to her: "Grant to me that I may combine with the +son of Aurvatacpa, the strong Kava Vistacpa, to the end that he may +think, speak, and act according to the law;" and the goddess granted him +this favour.[208] And Zarathrustra sacrificed to the Drvacpa (the +goddess of flocks) in Airyana Vaeja, to the end that he might unite with +the good and noble Hutaoca (the wife of Vistacpa), that she might +impress the good law on her memory.[209] Finally, we read: "Who is thy +true friend on the great earth; who will proclaim it? Kava Vistacpa, the +warlike, will do this."[210] + +Of King Vistacpa and Frashaostra the Avesta then tells us, "that they +prepared the right path for the faith which Ahura gave to the +fire-priests." In the prayers Kava Vistacpa is praised because as an +arm, an assister, and helper, he has subjected himself to the law of +Ahura, the law of Zarathrustra; because he has opened a wide path for +purity, and has established the law in the world. The mighty brilliance +of the ruler supported Zarathrustra, "in establishing the law and +making it highly esteemed."[211] When Jamacpa saw the army of the +Daeva-worshippers approach, he sacrificed to Ardvicura a hundred horses, +a thousand oxen, and ten thousand head of small cattle, and Ardvicura +granted to him to fight victoriously against all the non-Arians. And +Zairivairi, the brother of Vistacpa, besought Ardvicura that he might +smite the skilful Peshana, who worshipped the Daevas, and Arejatacpa. +Kava Vistacpa himself offered sacrifice in order to obtain the victory +over Asta-aurva, over the Daeva worshippers Cpinjauruska, and Darsinika, +and the murderous Arejatacpa.[212] And Vistacpa smote Peshana and +Arejatacpa, and Zarathrustra blessed him: "I praise thee, O ruler of the +lands. May life be given to thy wives and thy children, which shall be +born from thy body. Be thou possessed of swift horses, like the sun, +shining like the moon, glowing as fire, sharp as Mithra, a conqueror of +enemies like Verethraghna, well grown and victorious as Craosha. Mayest +thou be a ruler like Yima; mayest thou be victorious and rich in cattle +like Thraetaona, bold and strong as Kerecacpa, wise as Urvakshaya, +brilliant as Kava Uca, without sickness and death, like Kava Hucrava, +stainless as Cyavarshana, rich in horses as Pourushacpa, a friend of the +heavenly ones, and conqueror of men."[213] + +The Avesta gives Zarathrustra three sons: Urvatatnara, Hvarecithra, +Daevotbi (Punisher of the Daevas); and three daughters: Freni, Thriti, +and Pourushicta.[214] His work is summed up in the fact that he +compelled the Daevas, who previously had been in human form upon the +earth, to hide themselves in the earth.[215] His doctrine prevents the +Daevas from injuring the creation, as before, and gives to all the +creatures of the good god the means of protecting themselves more +effectually against the evil. Hence Zarathrustra is the increaser of +life; in this sense he is described, invoked, and worshipped as the lord +and master of all created life. But in time Caoshyant will be born, who +will make the evil creatures wholly powerless, and bring on for man the +time of undisturbed happiness, in which there will no more be any +battle; the time of uninterrupted life, _i.e._ of immortality. In this +period all who once had life will have life again; _i.e._ the life +destroyed by Angromainyu and the evil spirits will be restored, and the +dead will rise to a new life. + +Zarathrustra's birth and growth struck terror into the evil spirit +Angromainyu. "The Yazatas" (the gods), he exclaimed, "have not forced me +from the earth, crossed with paths, round, and wide-reaching; but +Zarathrustra will drive me from it."[216] And the Daevas took counsel on +the summit of Arezura, whither they are wont to come together from their +caves with the Druj: "Alas! in the dwelling of Pourushacpa the pure +Zarathrustra has been born. He is the weapon with which the Daevas are +smitten; he takes away the power from the Daevi Druj, and the Daevi Nacu +([Greek: nekys], _i.e._ the spirit of the dead), and the false lies; how +shall we compass his death?" And from the region of the north +Angromainyu dashed forward, who is full of death, the Daeva of Daevas, +and said: "O Druj, go up and slay the pure Zarathrustra." And +"Zarathrustra said in the spirit: The wicked, evil-minded Daevas are +considering my death. And he arose and went forth, bearing in his hand +stones of the size of a Kata, which he had received from the creator +Auramazda, and he praised the good waters of the good creation, and the +law of the worshippers of Auramazda, and uttered the prayer: _Yatha ahu +vairyo_. The Druj ran round about him, and the Daeva Buiti, the deceiver +of mortals; and the Druj ran in alarm from him and said to Angromainyu, +the tormentor: In him, in the holy Zarathrustra, I see no death. And +Zarathrustra said to Angromainyu: Evil-minded Angromainyu, I will smite +the creation which is created by the Daevas; I will smite the spirit of +the dead which the Daevas have created, until Caoshyant the victorious +shall be born from the water of Kancava, in the region of the east. +Angromainyu answered him: Wherewith wilt thou smite my creatures? With +what weapons wilt thou destroy them? Then spake Zarathrustra: The +pestle, the bowl, the Haoma, these are my best weapons, and the words +which Auramazda has spoken. By this sacred word will I annihilate thy +creatures, O evil Angromainyu. Slay not my creatures, O pure +Zarathrustra, answered Angromainyu. Thou art the son of Pourushacpa, and +hast life from a mother. Curse the good law of the worshippers of +Auramazda, and attain the prosperity which Vadhaghna has attained, the +ruler of the lands. But Zarathrustra spake: I will not curse the good +law of the worshippers of Auramazda; no, not though my bones and soul +and power of life were torn asunder. Then the evil Daevas ran and took +counsel on the summit of Arezura, and Angromainyu spoke: What will the +Daevas bring thither? But they said: 'The evil eye;' and hastened to the +bottom of hell, the dark, the evil, the wicked."[217] + +With Zarathrustra, according to the Avesta, a new era begins. He is the +proclaimer of a new law. But along with this we are told that even in +Yima's time the earth glowed with red fires; the power of the old +sayings of the fire-priests is extolled; the professors of the first, +and those of the new law receive commendation. Zarathrustra is born to +his father as a reward for offering an ancient sacrifice, the sacrifice +of Haoma. He himself dresses the fire at daybreak before he comes forth +to announce his new doctrine; and even while announcing it he sacrifices +to the old gods Verethraghna and Ardvicura; the gods whom the heroes of +the old days invoke appear to him also, the prophet of the new teaching; +they demand that he shall offer sacrifice, and insist on their worship; +they grant him favour and gifts. It is precisely the ancient sacrifice +of Haoma, the common possession of the Arians in Iran and India, which +is declared by Zarathrustra to be the best means of repelling the evil +ones, and not Zarathrustra only, but also Auramazda sacrifices to an +ancient divinity that the son of Pourushacpa may be obedient to his +commands, and then directs the latter to invoke the ancient gods, +Mithra, Verethragna, Craosha, Vayu, and Tistrya, and to worship fire. +Hence it was no new religion which Zarathrustra taught; it was nothing +more than a reform of the ancient faith, and traditional modes of +worship. + +We were able definitely to ascertain from the fragments of the Avesta +that it arose in the east of Iran; the districts of the north-east are +especially prominent in it. It denotes Bactra as the abode of dominion +(p. 31). A doctrine which, as we shall see, lays the greatest stress on +the cultivation of the land, could not have grown up in the deserts of +the Gedrosians, or the steppes of the Sagartians. If, according to the +Avesta, "the evil custom of the burial of the dead prevails" in +Arachosia (Harahvaiti);[218] if Haetumat (Drangiana) is reproved for the +sins which are practised there;[219] if we are told of Haraeva (the land +of the Arians) that it is indeed rich in houses but full of poverty and +idleness,[220] and of Ragha that it is indeed Zoroastian but full of +utter unbelief[221]--if the sin of burning corpses prevails in Chakhra +(Chirhem?),[222] it is clear that these lands are distinct from the +region in which the pure doctrine of Zarathrustra, proclaimed in the +Avesta, arose, and became so firmly established as to be universally +current. Hence of all the lands in Iran, mentioned in the Avesta, only +Airyana Vaeja, Margiana, Sogdiana, and Bactria remain. In the Avesta +Zarathrustra is famous in Airyana Vaeja; in that land he sacrifices; +and, as the Avesta allots but two months of summer and ten months of +cold winter to this region, we must look for it on the high mountain +range of the North-east (p. 73). Zarathrustra stands in a close relation +to Queen Hutaoca and King Vistacpa, who fights against the worshippers +of the Daevas and Arejatacpa, and prepares a way for the new doctrine. +Among the heroes of the ancient time and the spirits of the pious who +are invoked in the prayers of the Avesta, the immortal part of King +Vistacpa is repeatedly invoked besides Zarathrustra and Frashaostra. We +have already shown in what a contrast the Bactrians and Sogdiani stood +to the nations of the steppes of the Oxus, and what a position is +allotted to King Vistacpa as repelling the Iranians. In thus celebrating +him as the protector of Zarathrustra, the Avesta plainly puts +Zarathrustra himself in Bactria. + +If we may assume the fact that the reform of the religion must have +proceeded from Bactria and Sogdiana in the north-east of Iran, the next +question to be decided is, whether it is possible to determine the +meaning and import of this reform. The forms and views, which are found +to agree in the Avesta and Rigveda, we have already established, with +complete certainty, to be the ancient possession of the Arians of Iran. +The elements of the religious conception, and several very definite +forms and traits in the belief and worship, were the same in the Panjab +and Iran. The leading principle was the contrast of the bright +beneficent powers who give life and increase and the evil spirits of +darkness, drought, and death. This possession was therefore in existence +before the reform. This principle must have become more prominent among +the Arians of Iran owing to the nature of their country. The fertile +land and the desert were in far greater proximity there than in the +Panjab. The centre of Iran was filled with a vast desert; wide and +barren table-lands spread out on north and south; the most favoured +regions were almost like oases. Closely adjacent to the most fruitful +valleys and slopes lay endless steppes; blooming plains, shaded by thick +groups of trees, were surrounded by hot deserts of sand. If the alpine +districts of the north possessed the most splendid forests and luxuriant +pastures, yet the snow fell early, and the winter was severe; if +vegetation ran riot on the fringe of the Caspian, fever and reptiles +infested the marshy plains. Close beside abundant productiveness lay +drought and desert, bare flats of rock, deserts of sand, and fields of +snow. The inhabitants of Iran had not only to suffer from the heat of +summer but also from the cold of winter, from the scorching winds of the +desert as well as from the snow-storms which came from the table-lands +of the north. On the one hand, pastures and fields were covered for many +weeks with snow; on the other, sand-storms from the desert ruined the +tillage; in one district camels succumbed to the cold of the lofty +terraces, or slipped from the icy slopes down the precipices; in +another, the desert wind dried up fountains and springs. Here the +winter, "which flies past to slay the herds, and is full of snow," as +the Avesta says, was "of endless duration;" it was "on the water, the +trees, and the field," and "its cold penetrated to the heart of the +earth;" there the herds were tormented by the fly in the heat, bears and +wolves fell upon the folds, and it was necessary to find protection +against serpents and ravenous beasts of prey.[223] In this land life was +a conflict against the heat of summer and the south, against the chill +of winter and the mountain heights, a struggle for the maintenance and +protection of the herds; and as soon as these tribes had become settled +in the more favoured regions and passed over to agriculture, there began +on the edge of those oases the struggle against the desert and the +steppe. Here water must be conveyed to the dry earth, there the tillage +must be protected against the sand-storms of the desert. To these +difficulties and contrasts in the nature of the land was added a +contrast in the mode of life of the population. The majority of the +tribes of the table-land of the interior, and a part of the inhabitants +of the mountainous rim, could not, owing to the nature of the land, pass +beyond a nomadic pastoral life, and even to this day the population of +Iran is to a considerable extent nomadic;[224] while other tribes +toiled laboriously in the sweat of their brows, these wandered with +their herds in idleness, ever ready for battle; and thus there could be +no lack of ambuscades and plunder, of attacks and raids on the +cultivated districts. + +All these contrasts are most marked on the slopes of the north-eastern +edge, in Margiana, Bactria, and Sogdiana, which lay open to the steppes +of the Caspian Sea. Here were fruitful, blooming valleys with luxuriant +vegetation on the banks of the mountain streams, yet, wherever the +mountains receded, the endless desert at once began. If the stars shone +clear through the night on mountains and table-lands, in the pure and +vapourless atmosphere of Iran, sand-storms and mist lay on the northern +desert. The winds blowing from the north brought icy cold in the winter; +in the summer they drove the sand of the deserts over the fruitful +fields, to which water has to be laboriously conveyed in the time of the +greatest heat, while eternal winter reigned in the heights of Belurdagh +and Hindu Kush. There was also the continual fear of the nomads who +dwelt on the steppes to the north, who made attacks on the fruitful +slopes and valleys. We have already shown that it was precisely on the +slopes of the Hindu Kush that the necessity of protection against the +nations of the steppes led to a combination of the forces of the tribes +who were settled there, and gave the impulse to the formation of a +larger polity. + +In such a territory, when the tribes had once become settled in the more +favoured regions, amid such struggles against nature and the plundering +neighbours, it is clear that the conception of the contrast between good +and evil spirits must become more widely developed and sharply +pointed--that it should indeed form the hinge of all religious ideas. +The good spirits had given fruit and increase to many excellent lands; +but the evil spirits destroyed these blessings with their storms of sand +and snow, their cold and heat, their beasts of prey and serpents. +Wherever the herds throve and the fields were fruitful, there the good +spirits were gracious; where the pastures withered, and the fields were +covered with sand, the wicked spirits had maliciously rendered of no +avail the labours of men. In the valleys of Bactria and Sogdiana there +was labour, industry, increase and fruit; beyond, in the steppe, all was +barren; the storms went whirling round, and wild hordes of robbers +roamed to and fro. Thus in these regions the conception of the struggle +of the good spirits, and the evil, which injure, torment, punish and +murder men, was most lively, the religious feeling of these conceptions +most completely penetrated and governed the minds of men. + +All creatures were oppressed by the evil spirits, so the Avesta told us +(p. 129); and therefore Auramazda determines to teach Zarathrustra "the +wise sayings." No new belief or new forms of worship are to be +introduced; the means of protection against the evil ones were to be +multiplied and strengthened. We know what importance the Arians in India +ascribed to the correct prayer and invocation, what power over the +spirits and indeed over the deities themselves they ascribed to the +correct words, what a defensive power they attributed to the sayings of +the Atharvan. The same ideas were current among the Arians of Iran. The +heaven of the good god and holy spirits is, in the Avesta, the "dwelling +of invocations" (Garonmana). Hence the first point in the reform was +that new formulae and prayers should be added to the old prayers and +incantations. The fire that slays demons is to burn day and night on +the hearth, and must always be tended with hard, dry, well-hewn wood; +the spirits of light, the great Mithra, the sun, the stars, are to be +earnestly invoked along with the victorious Verethraghna, and Craosha +the slayer of demons, the life-giving god, to whom Haoma is to be +offered; and the libation of Haoma is to be frequently offered to the +spirits of light. If men prayed constantly to the good spirits, and +cursed the evil, if they made use of the holy sayings when they observed +that the evil beings came, then wicked creatures would certainly remain +far from house, and farm, and field. According to the Avesta, +Zarathrustra first uttered the Ahuna vairya, and Angromainyu says that +though the deities have not been able to drive him from the earth, +Zarathrustra will smite him with the Ahuna vairya.[225] In the minds of +the priests of the Avesta, this prayer is itself a mighty being to which +worship is to be offered, just as in the Vedas the holy prayers and some +parts of the ritual--nay even the verse-measure of the hymns--are +treated as divine powers. + +It was an old Arian conception, which we have observed widely spread on +the Ganges, that filth and pollution and contact with what is impure and +dead gave the evil spirit power over those who had contracted such +defilement. This uncleanness must be removed, and its operation checked. +The reform, which bears the name of Zarathrustra, must have extended and +increased in Iran the rules for purification and the removal of +uncleanness. These regulations, carried out in long and wearisome detail +on the basis of this new movement, are before us in the Vendidad. The +Avesta says: Zarathrustra was the first who praised the Asha Vahista +(_i.e._ the best truthfulness which is at the same time the highest +purity) and represents Angromainyu as exclaiming; "that Zarathrustra +made him as hot by the Ashi Vahista as metal is made in the +melting."[226] + +Whatever gave increase and life, water and trees and good soil, and the +animals which were useful to men, were the work of the good spirits, the +good creation; the steppes, the desert, the heat, the fierce cold, the +beasts of prey, these were the work of the evil ones, the bad creation. +Did not a man increase life and growth if he industriously cultivated +his field, watered it well, and extended it towards the desert, if he +destroyed the animals and insects which did harm to the fields and +trees, if he gave room to fruitfulness against unfertility? Did he not +extend and sustain the good creation, and lessen the evil, if he planted +and watered, and diminished the harmful animals, the serpents, the +worms, and beasts of prey? By such work a man took the side of the good +spirits against the evil, and fought with them. It was in the will and +power of man by the act of his hands, by labour and effort, to +strengthen the good creation. The importance which the Avesta ascribes +to the cultivation of the land, we may regard as a prominent trait of +the reform, as an essential part of its ethical importance. Beside +warriors and priests the Avesta knows only the agricultural class. + +In the Veda the gods of the light and the highest heaven, Mithra and +Varuna, are the guardians of truth and purity, the avengers and +punishers of evil deeds. The invocation of Mithra in the Avesta, given +above, showed us that the Arians of Iran recognised in this deity the +spirit of purity, the inevitable avenger of injustice. With his +all-penetrating eye he watches, not only over purity of body, but also +over purity of soul. We may regard it as certain that the reform carried +a long step forward the ethical impulse which lay in this conception of +Mithra--a conception current on both sides of the Indus. This view is +supported by the great importance which the Avesta ascribes to +truthfulness, in the decisive value given to this virtue for the purity +of the soul, and the identification of purity with truthfulness. As +filth defiles the body, so, according to the Avesta, does a lie defile +the soul. Lying and deception are the worst sins of which a man can be +guilty. The ethical advance is obvious when the evil spirits are not +merely regarded as doing harm to men, but it is emphatically stated that +they deceive men, and a lie is the essence of the evil spirits. In the +Avesta a part of them have simply the name of the spirits of deception, +of the Druj. The suppliants of the true gods are called _Ashavan, i.e._ +the true, the pure; the worshippers of the evil spirits are liars. + +The ideas of the Veda about the hosts of the spirits of ancestors, and +the entrance of the good and pious into the heaven of light, are also +current among the Arians of Iran. These the reform could not leave +untouched. From the ethical characteristic which marks them, from the +severe inculcation of a pure, true, active life, it proceeded to the +idea of a sort of judgment on the souls after death. The detailed form +in which this idea is presented to us in the Avesta will be given below. + +In all religions, when they have reached a certain stage of development, +the impulse arises to find the unity of the divine being among the +multifarious crowd of deities. On the Ganges the Brahmans or priests +attained to this unity by elevating the power of the holy acts which +controlled the deities, and was mightier than they, into the lord of the +gods, by uniting with this conception the great breath or world-soul, +the source of life springing up in nature. In Iran the reform did not +look on nature as one, like the Brahmans on the Ganges, and owing to the +character of the land and the strong contrasts there met with it could +not easily perceive in it any single whole; on the contrary, it +comprehended in unity, on the one hand, the good beneficent side of +nature, which gives increase, light, and life to men; and, on the other, +ranged the harmful powers together in opposition to the good. Hence it +came about that the spirits which worked on either side were, so to +speak, combined, and the two totals came forward in opposition. To these +totals the reform sought to give unity by placing a chieftain at the +head of each, the good and the bad. The chief of the good was Ahura, +_i.e._ the lord, who is also denoted by the name Mazda, _i.e._ the wise, +but he is generally invoked by the united title Ahura Mazda (Auramazda +in the dialect of Western Iran), the wise lord; occasionally, in the +Avesta, he is called Cpentomainyu, _i.e._ the spirit of holy mind, the +holy spirit. In the Rigveda the name Ahura Mazda, in the form Asura +Medha, is used for more than one god of light. The chief of the evil +spirits was Angromainyu, _i.e._ he that thinks evil, the destroying +spirit. + +The good and the evil spirits are regarded as active, the one on the +beneficent, the other on the injurious side of nature. It was a step in +advance when the reform arrived at the conception, that as the good and +evil spirits ruled the life of nature and man, so in the beginning of +the world, at the time of its origin, the good and evil spirits must +have been active; the good was from the beginning the work of the good; +the evil the work of the evil. As the heavenly and infernal spirits were +regarded as in perpetual activity, the reform could not here, as in +India, look on nature and men as emanations from a being in repose--from +the world-soul--the nature of which became ever less pure and bright, +less really itself, as the emanations advanced. Instead of an emanation, +the active force and contrast of the spirits gave rise to the idea that +the world was brought into being by the will and power of the two +supreme spirits to a creation of the world. The good side of the world +must have been the work of the chief of the good spirits, the evil side +the work of the evil. Auramazda created the good, but immediately he +created it, Angromainyu created the evil in order to destroy the good. +And as at the creation, so also in the created world, the mutual +opposition of the good and evil god, the struggle of their hosts, goes +on. There is no direct contest between Auramazda and Angromainyu; they +operate against each other for increase and destruction, life and death, +and for the souls of men; the direct conflict against evil remains, even +after the reform, with the old spirits, with Mithra, Verethragna, +Craosha, and Tistrya. + +From this we may without hesitation draw the inference that Auramazda +and Angromainyu did not belong to the original belief of the Arians of +Iran. From the absence of any myth about Auramazda, and the character of +the names, "the wise lord," "the destroying spirit," it further follows +that the gods thus named could not be the creation of any primitive +religious feeling. These names belong to a period of reflection, which +strives to make a presentment of the general operation of the good and +evil powers, of their intellectual and ethical characteristics, and at +the same time seeks to express their nature, as well as their relation +to the world. Finally, the wavering position which Auramazda takes up in +the Avesta towards the old deities, shows that he is of later origin. +Though now the supreme deity, he sacrifices to Tistrya, in order to give +him strength for the victory over Apaosha (p. 120); to Ardvicura, that +Zarathrustra may be obedient to him (p. 129); and to other gods of the +old period. Beside him Mithra is praised in the old style as the highest +power; he instructs Zarathrustra to invoke the old gods, who still +continue in their traditionary activity. But we have express evidence +that Auramazda belongs to the reform. "The first man," so the Avesta +says, "who sacrificed to Auramazda was the sacred Zarathrustra."[227] +In the transformation, however loose, of the divine nature into "the +wise lord," with his change from a natural force to an ethical and +intellectual power, and elevation to be the creator "of the heaven and +the earth" (p. 87), lay the most decisive step taken by the reform; by +these conceptions it had raised the ancient possession of the Arians of +Iran to a new stage. + +It is a remarkable fact that the evil spirits in the Avesta bear the +name of Daevas. The Arians of India called their good gods, the gods of +light, Devas; from the same root has sprung the general name of the gods +among the Greeks, Italians, and the Celts. Hence among the Arians of +Iran also it must once have been in use for the spirits of light. Why +the names Bagha and Yazata became used in the Avesta for the good gods, +while the evil spirits received the name of Daevas we cannot discover; +nor can we decide whether this change of name came in with the reform. +We can only discover that an analogous change has taken place in India +also. In the Rigveda the good gods are comprised under the name Asura +(old Bactrian Ahura), _i.e._ the lord; at a later time the evil spirits +among the Indians were always called Asuras, while in Iran the name is +allotted to the highest among the good spirits. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[197] "Yacna," 29; Roth; "Z. D. M. G." 25, 6 ff. _Geus urva_ means soul +of the bull; the priests identified the soul of the first created bull +with the protectress of the flocks, the Drvacpa, _i.e._ having mighty +horses. Spiegel, "Avesta," 3, 74. + +[198] "Aban Yasht," 17-19. + +[199] "Afrin Zartusht," 4. + +[200] "Yacna," 9, 42. + +[201] "Farvardin Yasht," 93, 94. + +[202] "Ashi Yasht," 17 ff. + +[203] "Bahram Yasht," 28-33. + +[204] "Yacna," 13, 18; 64, 38; 69, 65. + +[205] "Vend." 19, 36-137. + +[206] "Farvardin Yasht," 95. + +[207] "Yacna," 28, 9, 44, 45; 46, 1-4; 49, 8; 50, 16, 18, according to +Haug's translation, which however has been called in question. + +[208] "Aban Yasht," 104-106. + +[209] "Gosh Yasht;" cf. "Ram Yasht," 36; "Farvardin Yasht," 142. + +[210] "Yacna," 45, 14 ff. + +[211] "Farvardin Yasht," 99; "Zamyad Yasht," 84 ff. + +[212] "Ashi Yasht," 49; "Aban Yasht," 112. + +[213] "Afrin Zartusht," 1-4. + +[214] "Yacna," 52, 3; "Farvardin Yasht," 98. + +[215] "Yacna," 9, 46. + +[216] "Ashi Yasht," 19. + +[217] "Vend." 3, 23; 19, 1-32, 140-147. + +[218] "Vend." 1, 46-48. + +[219] "Vend." 1, 50-52. + +[220] "Vend." 1, 30-32. + +[221] "Yacna," 19, 51, 52; "Vend." 1, 60-62. + +[222] "Vend." 1, 64-66. + +[223] "Vend." 1, 9-12, 24; 7, 69. + +[224] Herodotus states expressly that some tribes of the Persians were +nomads (1, 125); beside the Sagartians nomadic tribes are also mentioned +among the Carmanians, Areians, etc. + +[225] "Yacna," 9, 41; "Ashi Yasht," 20. + +[226] "Ashi Yasht," 20. + +[227] "Ashi Yasht," 18. + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + +THE DOCTRINE OF THE AVESTA. + + +When the tribes of the Aryas advanced from the Panjab towards the East, +and established themselves on the Ganges, the gods to whom they had +offered prayers on the Indus faded away amid the abundant fertility of +the new land; and the lively perception of the struggle of the gods of +light against the spirits of darkness made room for the conception of +the world-soul, from which nature and all living creatures were thought +to have emanated. Similar religious principles led the Arians in Iran to +a religious reform of an opposite kind. The idea of an emanation of the +world, proceeding without any opposition, could not maintain itself in a +life occupied in labour for the means of sustenance, in toiling and +struggling against nature. Luxuriant growth and dreary desolation, +scorching heat and severe winter, such as were found alternating in +Iran, could not flow from one and the same source. There man must be +active and brave, and therefore the divine being could not be regarded +as existing in repose. The nature of the table-land, divided between +fertile tillage and desert, between heat and cold, not merely caused the +old idea of the conflict between good and evil spirits to continue, but +even increased and extended it. All nature was made subject to this +opposing action of the gods, and the old conception of the conflict was +developed into a complete system. With the extension of the operation of +the beneficent and harmful power over the whole of nature, man was drawn +into the conflict as active force. He must not only invoke the +assistance of the good spirits; he must himself take part in the +struggle of the good against the evil. In this way he provided for his +soul and salvation better than by prayer and sacrifice; he strengthened +so far as in him lay the life and increase of the world, and lessened +the sphere in which the power of the evil spirits could operate. If the +Indians by the elevation of Brahman arrived only at the great contrast +between nature and spirit, between soul and body; if all nature was +regarded as something evil and to be annihilated, so that the +mortification and torturing of the body and annihilation of self became +the highest ethical aims--the Bactrians or Arians in Iran were directed +by their reform to more energetic work and activity against the harmful +side of nature, and the evil part of the soul. With the free choice of +this or that side, with the duty of working on nature, and educating +self, the conditions of a more happy and powerful development were given +them. + +It was the duty of any earnest and eminent adherents of the reform, and +afterwards of the priestly races who joined it, or grew up in it, to +guide the impulse it had given, and bring the new ideas and the rules to +be deduced from them into harmony with the old conceptions. If the +contrast between the beneficent and harmful powers once took the shape +of opposing spirits, the next object was to represent more exactly the +character and nature of these spirits, and define more closely the good +and evil Deity. As the reform tended to elevate the natural side in +these shapes into ethical qualities, it was inevitable that advance in +this direction should lead at an early time to abstract views--that both +spirits should be identified with the pure contrast of light and +darkness, of truth and lying, of moral good and moral evil. + +If the good spirit was supreme purity and truth, he must originally have +created the world in accordance with his nature. Whence then came the +injurious, the evil? Had the evil spirit also a creative power? Or was +the evil first introduced after the creation of the world? If this was +the case, and evil was not always in the world, then it must again +disappear from it; if the pure god was the more powerful, he must again +overcome the resistance of the evil. Moreover, with the subordination of +the light and dark powers to Auramazda and Angromainyu, and their +combination into these two forms, an impulse was given which gradually +forced the ancient deities into the background. The first point was, to +put the latter in the right relation to the new god, who had created +heaven and earth, and even these ancient gods. In the same way the old +Arian legend of the golden age of Yima must be harmonised with the new +doctrine of the creation, and a relation must be established between the +sacrificers of the old days, who were without the good law of +Zarathrustra, and the latter. The sayings which held in check the evil +spirits, and which the reform took from the body of ancient invocations +or added to them in their spirit, must be accurately preserved if they +were not to lose their force, especially the prayers and incantations +which Zarathrustra himself had spoken or was thought to have spoken. +Lastly, the mode of worship must be regulated in accordance with the +tendencies of the reform. Which and what kind of sacrifices, which +invocations and songs of praise were the most efficacious, was a matter +which required settling. The old customs of purification so +indispensable for keeping at a distance the evil spirits, which the +reform, as we ventured to assume, largely increased by new prescripts, +must be united with the increased importance attached to truth and +purity and combined into a comprehensive rule for the life pleasing to +Auramazda. What means were there for wiping out offences against this +rule, and sins when committed, for turning aside the anger of Mithra, +for expiating falsehood, lying, and deception? We have already indicated +(p. 101) how numerous and complicated were the duties of the priesthood +arising out of pollution and its removal. The answers which the +priesthood of Iran gave to all the questions which successively arose +have been collected in the Avesta. + +The Gathas of the Avesta, in which the metre has been retained, and +along with it the older forms of the language--poems which, according to +another part of the Avesta (the Crosh Yasht), Zarathrustra composed and +Craosha first sang[228]--are the most speculative part of the book. They +tell of the existence of the good and evil spirits, place both in the +beginning of things, identify Auramazda with the truth and Angromainyu +with the lie, bring forward Auramazda as the creator of the world and of +living creatures, as the source of what is good in man and nature, and +describe the duties of the true worshippers and the rewards which they +may expect, together with the punishments which will come upon the +worshippers of the Daevas. The ancient gods, Mithra, Haoma, Tistrya, +Anahita and Drvacpa are not mentioned in the Gathas; though emphasis is +laid on the blessing of the "imperishable red fire of Auramazda." In +their place we have Asha (Truthfulness), and Vohumano (Good +disposition), Armaiti (Piety), and Kshathra (Dominion); these are at +times merely ideas, at times they are personified beside Auramazda. + +In these poems Zarathrustra addresses a number of questions to +Auramazda: "This question I will ask of thee; answer it truly, O Ahura. +Who is the first father and begetter of truth? Who created their paths +for the sun and stars? Who causes the moon to wax and wane? Who sustains +the earth and holds the clouds above it? Who created the water and the +trees of the field? Who is in the wind and the storms that they move so +swiftly? Who created the beneficent lights and the darkness? For whom +didst thou create the imperishable cow Ranyockereti (the Earth)? Who +formed the earth with its great blessings? Who are the Daevas, which +fight against the good creation? Who slew the hostile demons? Who is the +truthful one, who is the liar? How are we to chase away the lies, how +shall I put the lies into the hand of Asha (Truthfulness)? How can I +come to your dwelling (the dwelling of the gods), and to your song? Give +me now the command, what ought to be and what ought not to be, in such a +way that we attentive ones may understand it, O Mazda, with the tongue +of thy mouth, how am I to convert all living creatures, and guide them +to the right path, which leads to him who hears the praises of the truly +pious in heaven (Garonmana). Tell me clearly, what ye command me as the +best, that I may keep it in my heart, and remember what has been +forgotten, Mazda Ahura, all that ought to be, and ought not to be. Teach +us, O True one, the way of Vohumano created by thee. Let us, O Mazda, +receive thy sayings which bring blessing." + +"On thee have I looked as the source in the creation of life, because +thou, O rich in gifts, didst establish the sacred customs and announce +the words. He who first willed that the spaces of the sky should clothe +themselves with lights, he in his wisdom establishes the law of duty for +the pious. In the spirit a man must think of thee that thou art ever the +same, Ahura. I regarded thee as the most excellent, O Mazda, whom thy +people have to worship in spirit, as the father of the pious, since I +saw thee with my eye, as the eternal law-giver of the world, living in +his works. Since thou of old, O Mazda, didst create all beings and +spirits according to thy will, and gave them reason and a material body, +all men, the wise and the unwise, cause their voices to sound, each +according to his heart and mind; he who strives after wisdom proves in +his spirit on which side is error. All gleaming bodies with their +manifestations, everything that by Vohumano has a bright eye, the stars +and the sun, the herald of the day, move for thy praise, O Mazda. In +thee the holy earth exists, and the highly-intelligent framer of the +body of the earth, O living spirit Mazda. Thou didst create the world, +the earth with the fire that rests in its bosom. With pleasant fields +thou didst adorn it, after taking counsel with Vohumano, O Mazda. Thou +didst first create the fields, and didst devise the sayings by thy +spirit, and the various kinds of knowledge; thou didst then create this +world of existence, by holy acts and speeches. To Mazda belongs this +kingdom which he causes to grow by his grace."[229] + +"To you, all ye that come, I will announce the praises of Mazda the +all-wise lord, and the hymns to Vohumano. O wise Asha, I will entreat +that friendship may display itself through the stars. Hear with your +ears the glorious, see with your spirit the clear, that every one for +himself may choose his faith before the great work begins. Those two +primaeval spirits, which are twins, represent themselves in thought, +words, and works as this dualism, the good and the evil, and between +both the virtuous know how to decide, but not the evil. When these two +deities first came together, they created the good creatures and the +bad, and (arranged) that at the last hell should be awarded to the bad +and blessedness to the good. Of these two spirits the evil one chooses +the worst way of action; but the increase-giving spirit chooses virtue, +he whose robe is the firm heaven,--and those who in faith make Auramazda +content by truthful acts. Between them the worshippers of the Daevas, +the deceived, cannot rightly decide; they chose the worst disposition, +and came to the evil ones when in council, and together they hastened to +Aeshma, that by him they might bring plagues upon the life of men. But +when the punishment of their evil deeds shall be accomplished, and thy +kingdom as the reward of piety shall come upon those who put the Druj +(the lie) in the hands of Asha (Truthfulness), then destruction overtake +the destroying Druj; but those who possess high renown will gather as +immortal in the beautiful dwellings of Vohumano, of Mazda, and Asha. +Thus then let us work to make this world eternal, O Auramazda, O Asha +that givest blessing; may our thoughts be there, where wisdom is +enthroned."[230] + +"Teach me to know both, that I may walk in the way of Vohumano, the +sacrifice, O Mazda, which is fit for a god like thee, and the pure +words of thanksgiving; give me the duration over which Ameretat +presides, and the blessings of Haurvatat.[231] May he be praised, who in +complete truth, so far as he knows it, will tell the charm of Asha, the +utterance of prosperity (Haurvatat, _i.e._ health--and afterwards the +spirit of prosperity and the waters) and of immortality (Ameretat +immortality, and afterwards the spirit of long life and good +plants)."[232] "The acts, words, and sacrifices by which I, O Mazda, +might attain immortality, purity, and power over Haurvatat, I will, so +far as I can, perform for thee.[233] Grant to me, O most holy spirit, +Mazda, thou who didst create the cow, the waters, and the plants, grant +me immortality and health, power and duration, that I may follow the +doctrine of Vohumano."[234] "From thee comes the nourishment of +Haurvatat and Ameretat; may piety (Armaiti) increase with truth +under the dominion of Vohumano, and power and continuance as a +counter-protection."[235] "Send us the blessing of a long life."[236] +"I ask thee, answer me truly, Ahura, When shall I win this reward by +truthfulness?--ten mares with their stallions and a camel, that +Haurvatat and Ameretat may be in my possession, and I make an offering +to thee of their blessings."[237] "I will proclaim what the most holy +one says to me, the best word for mortals to hear; those who for its +sake lend ear to me, to those will Haurvatat and Ameretat come." "To +every one who is a friend to him in thought and word, Auramazda has +given power over the rich Haurvatat (health), over the rich Ameretat +(freedom from death); he has given him dominion and independence and +the riches of Vohumano."[238] "Let none of you listen to the counsel +and command of the evil one, for he brings farm and community, canton +and land, into distress and ruin, but punish him with the weapon."[239] +"On the day when Asha will slay the Druj, on the day of immortality, +when that comes forth, that was denied, when the Daevas and men will +receive their reward; then, O Ahura, a mighty song of praise will be +raised to thee."[240] + +"To thy kingdom and thy truth, I offer praise, Ahura, Asha. Listen to +this with kindly spirit, Mazda; incline thine ear, Ahura. Let the +worshippers of the liar be few; may all these turn themselves to the +priests of the truthful fire! The good must rule over us, not the evil! +Ahura, the all-knowing, cannot be deceived. I will think of thee, most +glorious one, at the final departure of life. With prayers, O Mazda, +Asha, will I come forward to praise thee, and with the works of +Vohumano. In your dwelling, O wise one, sound the praises of them that +give thanks. I will be called the singer of thy praises, and will +continue to be so as long as I can, by advancing the laws of life, that +the life of the world may continue of itself. With the verses which have +been composed and handed down for your praise, I will approach both of +you, and with uplifted hands. As a worshipper I will invoke you one and +all, ye who give blessing, as well as all those who attain to the strong +bridges of your blessedness, Auramazda, Asha, and Vohumano; those +bridges which belong to you. Come ye to my aid."[241] + +These are the essential traits of the doctrine of the Gathas. Auramazda, +himself a shining one (_hvathra_), has created the shining bodies of the +heaven, the earth, the waters, the trees, and men; he has appointed +their paths for the stars. He is the sustainer of the world, inasmuch as +he devises the good sayings (_daena_) for the protection of the good +creation. He is light and truth, and therefore is not to be deceived; he +shows the right way to Zarathrustra, and gives him the proper charms +against the evil spirits. That at this stage of ideas there can be no +myth attached to Auramazda, _i.e._ to the concentrated essence of the +gods of light, is obvious. In the Gathas it is only the quite abstract +forces of Vohumano and Asha, of good disposition and truthfulness, which +stand beside him. Auramazda is simply the creator and lord; and the same +position is ascribed to him as we saw (p. 87) in the inscriptions of the +Achaemenids. In spite of the strongly-marked trait of spiritualisation +and abstraction which runs through the Gathas, there is no lack in them +of unreflecting and naive conceptions, which have come down to us from +ancient days. It is true that the contrasts in nature and men are +elevated to the opposition of truth and falsehood, and the service of +truth is proclaimed as the highest command; but on the other hand, it is +the strong fire of Auramazda which causes the right to be recognised, +and gives the decision in battle.[242] It is the good sayings which +sustain the world, _i.e._ the old magic of prayers and invocations is to +keep off the evil, and increase the strength of the good, spirits. +However high may be the conception of Auramazda, he who walks in his +way, and performs the commands of purity, not only expects his reward, +but insists on it; he desires to obtain ten mares and stallions, and at +least one camel; he wishes for the blessings of Haurvatat in order to +sacrifice from them; he desires continuance and power, health and long +life. In these traits the old contrast between powers that give +increase, blessing, and life, and powers of destruction, is plainly +retained. + +From the beginning the evil one was ranged over against Auramazda as his +twin brother. He has created all that is evil, but nevertheless he is +without any independent power of creation. If the Gathas express this +merely in such a manner that they give prominence to Auramazda as the +creator, they were as far from setting up a dualism of equally-balanced +forces, as any other religion has been from attempting such a task, and +carrying it out. The other fragments of the Avesta leave no doubt of the +fact, that Angromainyu was not in a position to create the world +according to his own will; he can only implant the form of evil in the +good creation of Auramazda; he puts desolation, destruction, and death +in the place of increase. The Vendidad quotes a whole series of lands +which Auramazda created good, and enumerates the evils which the deadly +Angromainyu brought into each:--into one winter, into another excessive +heat; in one case vermin, in another disease, in a third beasts of prey. +In the same way, in opposition to moral good, the evil one creates +idleness, lies, lust, doubt, disbelief. An equally poised power of the +two deities would have led to a direct conflict between them, which +occurs nowhere in the Avesta; God and the devil only contend for the +increase and injury of the world, and for the souls of men. The relative +inferiority of the evil deity has not escaped the Greeks. "Some are of +opinion," Plutarch says, "that there are two opposite deities, one of +which framed the good, the other the evil. Others, however, name the +better power the god, the other the demon, as Zoroaster the Magian. He +calls one Oromazdes, the other Areimanius, and states that Oromazdes +most resembles light among perceptible things, and Areimanius gloom and +uncertainty."[243] It is a later speculation, diverging from the Avesta, +which formed the good and evil spirits into simple forces, and ranged +them against each other with equal powers.[244] + +In the Gathas we have the nucleus of the conceptions from which the +reform of the ancient faith of Iran arose, but not in their original +state. On the contrary, they have been systematised in the circles of +the priests. Hence the contents and prescripts of other parts of the +Avesta, which do not present a speculative tendency, are not on that +account to be regarded as of later origin than the Gathas--least of all +the invocations to the ancient deities. It was an essential object of +priestly meditation to bring these old gods, which existed vividly +before the soul of the nation, into harmony with the new faith. On every +page of the Avesta it is clear that the priests of Eastern Iran did not +attain to an accepted system in this direction; that the old gods +remained in existence beside Auramazda, and the direct contest against +the evil spirits, after the reform as before it, was carried on by +Mithra, Verethraghna, and Vayu, Tistrya and Craosha, while Auramazda is +in the background, and sits somewhat passively on his golden throne in +the heaven of Garonmana. When the Avesta was written down and collected, +the ideas of the priests were still so naive, or still preserved such a +respect for the traditional forms of the gods of light and water, as +they obviously lived in the mind of the people, that they represent +Auramazda himself as offering sacrifice to Mithra,[245] Anahita, Vayu, +and Tistrya, with Haoma and the sacred bundle of twigs, in order to +strengthen their power or carry out his own wishes, just as the gods of +the Aryas in India offer sacrifices to one another. In India the old +gods received a subordinate position as protectors of the world after +the rise of Brahman, but in Iran this was not the case; nor were they +brought into any genealogical connection with their new head Auramazda, +though fire is occasionally spoken of in a figure as the son of +Auramazda, and the earth (Armaiti) is once or twice called his +daughter.[246] The only bond of union between the new god and the old +gods in the Avesta is the fact that Auramazda is made the creator of the +old gods, and even of Mithra. Yet the old position of Mithra appears, +when Auramazda says to Zarathrustra: "When I created Mithra, the lord of +wide pastures, I created him as mighty to pray to, mighty to worship as +myself." Tistrya also was created by Auramazda as worthy of adoration +and praise as himself.[247] We are already acquainted with Auramazda's +command to Zarathrustra to invoke and worship Mithra, Vayu, the other +ancient gods, and fire (p. 131). The existence and extent of this +worship is proved not only by the prayers of the Yacna, but also by the +accounts of western writers which we have already examined. + +As a compensation for the independent life of the ancient gods by the +side of Auramazda, the priests surrounded his throne with six spirits, +who were his associates and helpers. These are called Amesha Cpentas, +_i.e._ the holy immortals; as good and wise kings they rule with +Auramazda over the seven girdles of the earth,[248] as in India the +eight protectors of the world rule over the eight zones. The views out +of which these spirits arose are found in the Gathas, but they did not +receive their complete form till the Gathas had been composed and +generally received. Plutarch tells us that, according to the faith of +the Persians, Oromazdes had created six gods: the first, the god of good +disposition ([Greek: eunoia]); the second, the god of truth ([Greek: +aletheia]); the third, the god of order and law ([Greek: eunomia]); the +three remaining deities were the gods of wisdom ([Greek: sophia]), of +wealth ([Greek: ploutos]), and of delight in the beautiful ([Greek: epi +tois kalois hedeon]). The two first, good disposition (Vohumano), and +truth or truthfulness, we already found frequently mentioned in the +Gathas, but chiefly as ideas rather than persons. With the priests +Vohumano and Asha vahista (the most excellent truthfulness) became the +Amesha Cpentas, who stand next to Auramazda. The Avesta speaks not only +of the good way of Vohumano, but also of his acts, his dwelling, and his +kingdom. According to the books of the Parsees it is his duty to protect +the flocks. Asha vahista, as the truthful one, is the protector of fire, +which points the right path, and, according to the Gathas, gives the +decision in the contest against the liars. According to the books of the +Parsees, Asha builds the bridge of Chinvat, to which the souls come +after death, making it wide when the pious souls step upon it. Not less +correctly does Plutarch describe the third Amesha Cpenta as the spirit +of order and law. Kshathra, _i.e._ the kingdom, the dominion, is +mentioned impersonally in the Gathas; and this idea the priests have +elevated into Kshathra vairya, _i.e._ the good spirit of the desired +dominion, of good order and law, which is the third Amesha Cpenta. +Metals were allotted to him as the king of the Ameshas.[249] The fourth +figure in this circle, which Plutarch correctly describes as the spirit +of wisdom, though he is wrong in calling it a god, is the earth spirit +Armaiti. In the Rigveda Aramati (the earth) is a maiden worthy of +praise, who, morning and evening, brings butter to Agni. In the Avesta +Armaiti is "the beautiful daughter of Auramazda, the bearer +(_barethri_) of cattle, of beasts of draught, and men;" with "her hands +Auramazda performs pure actions," while the Gathas also ascribe to her +special relations to the corporeal world.[250] Among the priests the +spirit of the "patient humble earth" has become the spirit of humility +and piety. According to the books of the Parsees Armaiti gives patience +and firmness.[251] The fifth and sixth spirits also, whom Plutarch calls +the gods of wealth and delight in the beautiful, were found in existence +by the priests, and merely ranged by them in the circle of the Amesha +Cpentas. These are Haurvatat and Ameretat. We saw how earnestly the +Arians of India besought the gods for wealth and length of life; and in +this matter the Arians of Iran were not behind them. Here, as there, the +powers which could grant such gifts were elevated into special spirits, +to whom, naturally, all that gave wealth and long life, good and healing +plants and refreshing water, belonged. The good plants were the kingdom +of Ameretat, refreshing water the domain of Haurvatat. In the fancy of +the Arians of Iran good plants sprang from the tree of heaven, the +Gaokerena, which grew in Ardvicura (p. 126); the water flowed down from +this source in heaven, or came from Vourukasha, the lake on the divine +mountain. Those two spirits, who ruled over plants and water, were +brought by the system of the priests into the circle of the Amesha +Cpentas; the province over which they ruled had long been apportioned to +them. They were distinguished from the first four by the fact that those +were personifications of moral ideas, these two were personifications of +real goods.[252] With wealth, prosperity and happy life is given, with +length of life the complete enjoyment of its blessings, and so the +Greeks could arrive at the conclusion that these two spirits were gods +of wealth and delight in beauty. Thus Auramazda now ruled surrounded by +six sacred forms. The semblance of this circle on earth was the throne +of Cyrus and his successors, which was surrounded by the six tribal +princes of the Persians. + +The personification of ideas--the process of transforming old figures, +and changing them into abstractions--did not come to an end with the +Amesha Cpentas. We are acquainted with Craosha, the warrior against the +Daevas, his habitation on the divine mountain, his horses, his club, and +how he fights at the side of Mithra, and keeps watch in the dark of the +night against the demons (p. 121). Now it is he who first sang the +sacred four Gathas of Zarathrustra, who first bound the sacred withes, +"three twigs, five twigs, seven twigs;" he not only knows the sacred +word; the sacred word is the body of Craosha. Instead of the club which +he held raised against the head of the Daevas, the invocations of the +Avesta and the prayer Ahuna vairya are now the weapons with which he, +"the pure lord of the pure," "advances the world." We remember the +process by which the Arians in India came to represent Indra as smiting +Vritra, and shattering his cave, not as formerly with the lightning, but +with Brahman, the power of the prayer and the sacred acts. Obviously we +have some influence of these old Arian conceptions of the mysterious +power of prayer, and the control of the spirits possessed by the correct +invocations and sayings against gods and spectres, when we find Craosha +fighting with the prayers of the Avesta, and in the Avesta the sacred +word is praised as a Divine power--[253] when Zarathrustra offers +sacrifice to the good law.[254] More liberal creations on the part of +the system of the priests are the elevation of "excellent thought, +knowledge, and conception," of "the long study," "and the thought of the +pure man," which are invoked and praised in the Avesta, into Divine +powers. Of not less abstract nature are other forms, like Rashnu +razista, _i.e._ the most straight-forward justice,[255] which, according +to the Dinkart, tests the souls on the bridge of Chinvat; time, which is +invoked as unlimited, as the ruler of the long periods, and like the +genius of the five portions into which the priests divided the day. Of +older origin, though also modified by the reform, is the invocation of +the heights, which Mithra first illuminated with his light. In the +Avesta this invocation is mainly addressed to the high "navel of the +waters," the Divine mountain, which reaches to the sky, "on which were +asked the holy questions," _i.e._ on which Zarathrustra has received the +revelation; "by reason of the revelation of the sacred word we invoke +the height, which preserved the knowledge."[256] Many of the traditional +forms of ancient times were partly modified by the priests and partly +allowed to fade away. The goddess Drvacpa, to whom the ancient heroes +had sacrificed, they changed into the soul of the primeval bull, which +Angromainyu had slain.[257] Nairyocangha, the Naracansa of the Veda, an +ancient name of the spirit of fire, which we learned to know in the Veda +as the messenger of men to the heavenly beings, as priest and mediator +between heaven and earth (IV. 39), appears in the Avesta merely as the +messenger of the gods.[258] The form of Vayu, the more ancient +conception of which still plainly breaks through (p. 116), becomes +merely the air "whose operation is on high;" and Ashi vanguhi, whom the +ancient sacrificers and heroes invoked, together with Ardvicura, for +victory, bears traces which can hardly any longer be recognised. We +merely perceive that she could once confer power, fertility, beauty, and +wealth. We saw above how she called Zarathrustra to her chariot, and +promised splendour to his body, and long prosperity to his soul (p. +130). If the luminaries of heaven, in spite of the creation described to +Auramazda, are extolled as "having no beginning," we have in this fact a +glimpse of the old position of the spirits of light. The struggles of +Tistrya against the demons of drought were allowed to remain (p. 120). +Plutarch observes that, according to the doctrine of the Magians, +Oromazdes had placed Sirius (Tistrya) as a watchman and advanced guard. +On the other hand, the worship of the sun-god appears but faintly in the +Avesta--in our fragments at any rate. Yet Herodotus informs us that with +the Persians the neighing of horses at sunrise was regarded as a +favourable sign from the gods, and Xenophon states that the Magians +offered bulls to Zeus, but horses to the sun-god, and that on the +journeys of the Achaemenids the chariot of Zeus went first, then that of +the sun-god; both were white and crowned; and these were followed by a +third chariot covered with purple, which as it seems was the chariot of +fire. In the march of Xerxes to Hellas, according to the account of +Herodotus, a sacred car, yoked with eight white horses, went before him; +and ten sacred horses were led, clothed in the most beautiful trappings. +Curtius represents the emblem of the sun as glowing over the tent of +the last Darius, who invokes "the sun, Mithra, and the sacred eternal +fire;" and he tells us of the chariot of Zeus in the army, yoked with +white horses, behind which was led a horse of remarkable size, the horse +of the sun, with golden bridle and white covering, like those before the +chariot. Dio Chrysostom tells us that the Magians reared a yoke of +Nisaean horses for Zeus, _i.e._ for Mithra, which were the largest and +most beautiful in all Asia, and a horse for Helius.[259] We can call to +mind the battle-chariot of Mithra, "with golden wheels and silver +spokes" (p. 110). These were imitations of the divine chariots of which +the Greeks tell us, and if they were not in a position to distinguish +accurately what belonged to Mithra (Auramazda does not come into the +question), and what to Hvare Kshaeta (the sun-god)--Strabo is of opinion +that the Persians called the sun Mithras[260]--we may still conclude +with certainty from these statements, that the worship of Mithra and the +sun-god remained more vigorous and effectual among the princes and +nations of Iran than our fragments of the Avesta would allow us to +assume, if the old invocations to Mithra, Tistrya, Haoma, Vayu, and +Verethraghna had not been preserved in them. Yet the fragments do +present us with an invocation to the sun-god, though weakened, it is +true, and adapted to the new faith. "We celebrate the brilliant, +immortal sun, whose horses are unwearied. When the sun gleams in heaven, +the heavenly spirits come by hundreds and thousands, and spread the +light over the earth for the salvation of the pure world, for the +salvation of the pure bodies. As the sun rises, the earth purifies +herself, and the fructifying waters of the springs, pools and lakes; +the sun-god purifies all creatures that belong to Cpentomainyu. If the +sun came not, the Daevas would slay all that inhabits the seven girdles +of the earth, and the heavenly beings would not be able to withstand +them; they could not drive them away. He who sacrifices to the sun in +order to withstand the dark Daevas, the thieves and robbers, he +sacrifices to Auramazda, to the Amesha Cpentas and to his own +soul."[261] In the time of the Sassanids, the worship of the sun comes +definitely forward. + +Plutarch states that the demon Areimanius had created an equal number of +evil spirits to match the six good gods of Oromazdes, _i.e._ the Amesha +Cpentas. The Vendidad mentions five of them: Andra, Caurva, +Naonghaithya, Tauru, and Zairicha,[262] to which we have only to add +Akomano, which has been mentioned already in the Gathas, in order to +make up the number. They are all of them creations of the priests, +partly invented to match the Amesha Cpentas, partly borrowed from older +forms, which had lost their brightness among the Arians of Iran. +Akomano, _i.e._ Bad disposition, is naturally the counterpart of +Vohumano, or Good disposition: opposite Asha vahista, _i.e._ the most +excellent truthfulness, the priests placed the demon Andra (Indra), +_i.e._ an old Arian name which the Arians beyond the Indus had elevated +to be the best warrior against the demons, the god of the storm. No +special qualities of Andra are known or mentioned in the Avesta; the +books of the Parsees can only say that he brings care and sorrow of +heart to men, and makes narrow the bridge of Chinvat. The demon Caurva +is the opponent of Kshathra vairya, of order and law, of good dominion; +hence, according to the Sad-der-Bundehesh, he leads kings astray into +despotism, and nations into lawlessness and robbery. Naonghaithya is the +opponent of Armaiti, the spirit of humility and piety; this spirit +therefore, as the Bundehesh maintains, makes men impatient and proud; +the science of languages claims to find in this name a Vedic name for +the two Acvins,--Nasatya (IV. 42). Only the last two opposing spirits of +the Amesha Cpentas, the opponents of Haurvatat and Ameretat, display, +like these beings, real characteristics. If they are the spirits of +water and plants, of prosperity and long life or immortality, then Tauru +is the spirit of thirst and sickness, and Zairicha of hunger and +death.[263] + +If the ancient gods have preserved more lively traits than the Amesha +Cpentas, the old demons have also more definite outlines than the +opposing spirits. Such are the Daeva Apaosha, who parches up the land +and keeps back the water from the earth; Cpenjaghra, the comrade of him +who was struck by lightning; Zemaka, the spirit of the cold winter; and +finally Azhi, who seeks to steal away the fire from men in the night. +Among these evil spirits may further be reckoned a female demon +Bushyancta, with long hands and of a yellow hue, who leads men astray +into much sleep and idleness, who does not allow them to see the rise of +the sun, and shortens the joy of existence;[264] the three Daevas of +drunkenness, Kunda, Banga, and Vibanga; the Daeva Buiti, the spirit of +lies and falsehood, who deceives men;[265] the spirit of flattery, +Ashemaogha;[266] and the very wicked Ashma "of evil glance," who +attempts to slay the sleeping, and withstands Craosha by night with +terrible weapons.[267] Very evil also is Actovidhotu, _i.e._ the +destroyer of bodies, and a female goblin, the spirit of the Daevas, the +Druj Nacu. This spirit enters the body immediately after death, and +exercises power over all who come in contact with it. + +Under Auramazda are united the gods, the Amesha Cpentas, the rest of the +Yazatas (those worthy of adoration), in opposition to the troops of +hell, the Daevas, Druj, Pairikas and Jainis, which are led by +Angromainyu. The first are found in the light of sunrise, in the clear +gleam of the pure sky; the latter in the gloom of sunset, or in the +distant clouds of the north; in burial-places, and where the dead are +placed; in all corners into which the light of heaven does not pierce; +in the dark abyss under earth; in "the worst place."[268] On the summit +of the mountain Arezura (Demavend, apparently), they take counsel how +they are to turn the evil eye on men; how they can injure and slay +them.[269] To them belong gloom, cold, drought, the barren land and the +wilderness, thorns and poisonous herbs, hunger and thirst, sickness, +death, dirt, laziness, lying, sin. Theirs are the harmful beasts, the +Khrafctras; beasts of prey, wolves, serpents; all animals which live in +holes and corners, lizards, scorpions, toads, frogs, rats, mice, gnats, +and lastly mosquitoes, lice, and fleas.[270] To the good spirits belong +light, water, springs, rivers, the fruitful earth, good plants,[271] +trees, fields, pastures, good food, purity, truth, life in this world +and the next; and theirs are the good animals, the animals of the +flocks, the birds which nestle on the heights, and live in the clear +air. The dog and the cock are worshipped in the Avesta as fighting with +men against the Daevas. The first protects the flocks against the beasts +of prey of Angromainyu. Of the cock the Avesta says: "The bird +Parodarsh, which evil-speaking men call Kahzkatac (_i.e._ Kikeriki or +the like), lifts up his voice in the last third of the night, roused by +the holy Craosha at every divine dawn. He cries: 'Rise up, ye men; +praise the most excellent truth; drive away the Daevas.' Who gives a +pair of these birds to a pure man, in purity and kindness, gives as much +as if he had given a palace with a thousand pillars and a thousand +beams, ten thousand windows, and a hundred thousand turrets." "And +whoever gives to a pure man as much meat as makes the size of a +Parodarsh"--the book of Auramazda tells us in another place--"I who am +Auramazda will ask him no other question on his way to Paradise."[272] +According to the Avesta the dog and cock unite their powers against the +Druj.[273] The bird Asho-zusta fights against the Daevas, and the bird +Karshipta (the sacred hawk) announces the good law in the garden of +Yima. Two other mythical birds, the two eagles (_caena_) of the sky, +Amru and Chamru, are invoked as helpful powers.[274] They nestle on the +tree of life in the heaven. Besides the tree Gaokerena, which grows in +Ardvicura and bears the heavenly Haoma, the Avesta has also the tree +Vicpataokhma, which grows in the Lake Vourukasha, and bears all seeds. +When Amru sits on this tree, the seeds fall down, and Chamru carries +them away where Tistrya collects the water, who then rains down the seed +with the water to the earth. In the book of kings of Firdusi, Simurgh +(Cinmurv), the king of the birds, carries Rustem on his pinions over the +broad earth as far as the sea of Chin (China) to the tree of life.[275] +A prophet of the Hebrews represents Jehovah as saying of Cyrus: "I +summoned from the East the eagle, the man of my counsel."[276] Xenophon +tells us that Cyrus, and the Achaemenids who succeeded him, carried as a +standard a golden eagle on a tall lance;[277] and Curtius says, that a +golden eagle with outspread wings was attached to the chariots of the +Persian king.[278] + +The fragments of the Avesta which have been preserved do not give us +very full information on the sacrifices. The essential matters are hymns +of praise and prayers. The chief sacrifice is offered to one of the old +deities, Haoma, the supporter and protector of life. When Plutarch +represents the Magi as pounding a certain herb of the name of Omomi in a +mortar, with invocations to avert Hades, he gives a correct account of +the supposed tendency of this sacrifice. According to the Avesta the +utensils for this sacrifice--the mortar, cup and bundle of twigs--were +found in every house. The sacrifice consisted in the offering, _i.e._ +the elevation of the cup filled with the juice of the Haoma, during the +recitation of the proper prayers. Beside this offering, which even now +is offered twice each day by the priests of the Parsees, the fire is to +be kept up perpetually, and fed with good dry wood and perfumes. The +flesh of the sacrifice (_myazda_) is not often mentioned; yet the book +of the law provides that a thousand head of small cattle must be offered +in expiation of certain offences,[279] and we are told in the +invocations that the heroes of old time, from Thraetaona down to King +Vistacpa, had offered great sacrifices of animals to Ardvicura and +Drvacpa, in order to gain the victory, viz. 100 horses, 1000 cattle, and +10,000 head of small cattle. Herodotus tells us that the Magians, when +Xerxes marched into Hellas, sacrificed 1000 oxen on the summit of +Pergamus to Athene of Ilium, and at a later time white horses in Thrace; +Xenophon maintains that the Persians sacrificed beautiful bulls to Zeus, +_i.e._ to Auramazda, and horses to the sun, and burnt them whole; +Athenaeus tells that with the king of the Persians a thousand animals +were daily slaughtered as sacrifices; camels, horses, oxen, apes, deer, +and especially sheep. According to Arrian, the Magians who kept guard +over the burial-place of Cyrus received a horse every month, and a sheep +every day, for sacrifice.[280] Herodotus has already told us, that the +animals were led to a pure place, and when the sacrificer had invoked +the god were killed, cut up, cooked, and then laid out on delicate +grass. The Magian then sang the theogony, and after some time, the +person who offered the sacrifice "carried away the flesh, and used it at +his pleasure" (p. 85). Herodotus is better informed than Xenophon; +according to the Avesta only the head of the animal belongs to the +gods.[281] Obviously, as the nature of the gods became more +spiritualised--and the reform prepared the way for this--the sacrifice +of animals was restricted in this manner, so that it consisted +essentially in the offering of the animals, _i.e._ in the consecration +of the flesh. We may conclude from the statement in Athenaeus, that only +consecrated flesh could be eaten at the court of the kings. Xerxes +certainly would not have sacrificed to Athene, "a lying deity" of the +Greeks, on the summit of Ilium; but he might very well have selected the +last eminence in Asia Minor, "the many-fountained Ida," in order to +offer there a sacrifice of 1000 oxen to Ardvicura for his victory beyond +the sea--a sacrifice which corresponds exactly to the first offering +made by Kava Hucrava and Kava Vistacpa to the same goddess for victory +over the Turanians.[282] + +Temples and images are unknown to the Avesta. The reform preserved for +the nations of Iran the traditional form of worship without images, on +which it was founded. The accounts of western writers, from Herodotus +and Xenophon downwards, establish the fact that there were only +sacrificial places on the heights and consecrated fire-altars in +Iran.[283] But this must not be taken to mean that the forms of worship +and the images of the nations with which the Persians became acquainted +after the foundation of their supremacy, especially of their nearest +neighbours, the Semites on the Tigris and Euphrates, remained without +influence on them. On the monuments of Darius we see the picture of +Auramazda, cut exactly after the pattern which the Assyrian monuments +exhibit in the portraiture of their god Asshur. We are also told of +images of Anahita. Berosus maintains that Artaxerxes Mnemon erected +statues to Aphrodite Anaitis at Babylon, Ecbatana, and Susa, and taught +this form of worship to the Damascenes and Lydians.[284] From this +statement, taken in connection with the account of Herodotus that the +Persians had learnt to sacrifice to Mylitta,[285] the conclusion has +been drawn that Artaxerxes II. introduced the worship of Bilit among the +Persians. But it was not necessary to teach this worship to the +Damascenes and Lydians (I. 358, 563), and even in the Avesta, Anahita as +the goddess of the heavenly water is the goddess of fertility. Hence the +statues made by Artaxerxes were, no doubt, images of Anahita the +goddess, whom he invokes along with Auramazda and Mithra in his +inscription at Susa. Strabo describes the worship of the Magians at the +fire-altars of Cappadocia in a manner which completely agrees with the +accounts given in the Avesta, and then adds that these functions were +also performed in the enclosures ([Greek: sekoi]) which were consecrated +there to Anaitis, Amardatus, and Omanus, and the image of Omanus was +carried round in processions. He concludes with the words: "this (_i.e._ +the form of worship described) I have myself seen."[286] According to +this account, then, Amardate,[287] _i.e._ the Amesha Cpenta Ameretat, +who averts death, was worshipped there beside Anahita, and Omanus, +_i.e._ the Amesha Cpenta Vohumano, the protector of the flocks, had an +image. As this is all that we can discover about the image-worship of +the Persians, it is clear that the influence of the picture-worship of +Hither Asia and Egypt had no great influence even on the western nations +of Iran. It is limited to the facts that Darius added the symbolical +picture of Auramazda to his inscriptions without, however, building him +a temple; that a century after him Artaxerxes II. erected statues and a +temple to Anahita at Ecbatana; and that at a later time a portable image +of Vohumano was in existence in Cappadocia. + +The nucleus of the old religious conceptions of the Arians--the desire +to obtain increase and life from the gods--has been sufficiently +disclosed; and that which could not be obtained in this world, the +continuance of the individual life, heaven was to bestow upon them. This +line was followed up by the reform; the spirits of health and long life +were added by the priests to the circle of the Amesha Cpentas. When +Zarathrustra had increased the means for the protection and support of +life; when it became a fixed maxim that purity preserved life in this +world and ensured it after death; the sharp insistence on the command of +the pure and active and truthful life which men ought to lead in this +world, became developed into the conception of a judgment on the souls +after death. He who had lived purely, and given the Daevas no room to +exercise their power on his body, became himself pure and bright, and +could therefore enter after death as a pure spirit among the spirits of +light. Thus the Avesta announces that "when body and soul have +separated," the soul on the third night after death, as soon as the +brilliant sun arises, and the victorious Mithra seats himself with "pure +brilliance" on the mountains, comes over the Hara berezaiti to the +bridge of Chinvat, _i.e._ the bridge of assembly or of assembling, which +leads to Garonmana, _i.e._ to the dwelling of hymns, the abode of the +good gods. Here the Daevas and the gods contend for the soul;[288] the +judgment of the souls takes place;[289] here Auramazda asks the souls +about their conduct.[290] The pure soul, whose odour the Daevas +dread,[291] which approaches with virtue and sanctity, is joined by the +other pure souls and by the souls of the dogs which keep watch over the +bridge of Chinvat,[292] and the host of the heavenly Yazatas brings the +soul of the good over the bridge into heaven. In contentment the pure +soul goes to the golden throne of Auramazda, to the thrones of the +Amesha Cpentas, to the dwelling of the pure. And Vohumano rises from his +golden throne and inquires of the pure one: "How hast thou, O pure one, +come hither out of the perishable to the imperishable world?"[293] But +the souls which come to the bridge full of terror and sick, find no +friend there; the evil spirits, Vizaresha by name, lead them bound down +into the place of the bad, into the darkness, the dwelling of the +Druj.[294] + +In the Veda the spirits of the fathers are invited to the sacrificial +meal; they are to enjoy the gifts which are laid for them on the grass, +to support the prayers of their descendants, to keep away the evil +spirits, and to increase wealth. Each day water was poured there for the +forefathers, and corns of rice were scattered for them; on the new moon +the clans held the funeral feast for the dead; and we are acquainted +with the consequences which attended expulsion from this banquet.[295] +The belief in the spirits of the ancestors, and their continued relation +to their descendants, existed also among the Arians of Iran, and the +Avesta alters it only so far as to limit consistently the assistance +given by the spirits of the fathers to the souls of those who have lived +in truth and purity, and have thus found entrance into heaven. According +to the Avesta the Fravashis of the pure--this is the name given to the +Pitaras, or fathers of the Indians--protect their descendants against +the Daevas, help them in distress and danger, and fight for their +families on the day of battle, if they are honoured and satisfied by +their descendants. It is only an old conception, repeated in the Avesta, +when we are told: "We invoke the good, strong, holy Fravashis. Where +strong men fight in severe conflict, there come the Fravashis with +strong shield, iron helmet, and iron weapons; with Mithra and the +victorious wind they go forward; strong warriors against the enemies, +they are mighty saviours; strong conquerors, they destroy the victory of +the enemy--the Turas (Turanians)."[296] It is due to the additions and +modifications introduced by the priests that we hear that the hosts of +the Fravashis watch the body of Kerecacpa till the resurrection, and the +seed of Zarathrustra, and protect the sleepers from the rising of the +stars till midnight.[297] As among the Arians of India the ancient +belief in the fathers was retained in spite of all changes of the +religious system, so also in Iran. At the close of the year, on the +intercalary days which were added to it, the Fravashis come to their +families, abide among them for ten nights, and ask: "Who will receive +us, and sacrifice to us, and praise us?" and "if any one offers to them +prayers and flesh and clothes, him they bless, and in his dwelling there +will be abundance of oxen and men, swift horses and a strong car."[298] +The Greeks had therefore reason to say that according to the doctrine of +the Magians the air was full of spirits.[299] + +In another direction the system of the priests deviated far more widely +from the ancient conception of the spirits of the ancestors. They held +that only the pure and bright part of the soul could live on after +death. Hence, even in the living they distinguished this part from the +polluted part, and in the pure immortal half they saw the side created +by the good gods, its true being, the Fravashi or protecting spirit +allotted to each man. In the Avesta therefore rules can be given for the +invocation of this pure part and nature of the individual soul, of the +separate Fravashis. The priests then transferred this notion to the +heavenly spirits, and even to Auramazda himself. His purest nature, his +best self, must be praised and invoked for aid. Auramazda says to +Zarathrustra in the book of the law: "O Zarathrustra, praise thou my +Fravashi, the Fravashi of Auramazda, the greatest, best, most +intelligent, best-formed, highest in holiness, whose soul is the holy +word."[300] And in the prayers we are told: "We praise the Fravashis of +the Amesha Cpentas, of the holy Craosha, of Mithra, together with all +the Fravashis of the heavenly Yazatas. I invoke the Fravashi of the holy +Zarathrustra, the Fravashis of the men of the ancient law, and the +Fravashis of the men of the new law, the good mighty Fravashis of the +pure, of the nearest relations, and of my own soul."[301] The Persians +at the king's gate, according to the Greeks, set apart a separate table +at each meal with bread and food for the "demon" of the king, and at a +Persian banquet the host, according to Plutarch, calls on his guests, +"to honour the demon of king Artaxerxes." Hence it clearly follows that +the priestly doctrine of the Fravashis of the living was current even in +Western Iran under the Achaemenids.[302] + +Zarathrustra had increased the means for keeping off the evil ones, and +had made the struggle against the wicked spirits easier for men. But the +time will come when the struggle will be no longer necessary, and the +bright spirits alone will rule. This doctrine is indicated even in the +Gathas.[303] In the book of the law Zarathrustra says to Angromainyu: he +will smite the Daevas till Caoshyant is born from the water of Kancava +in the eastern region.[304] Caoshyant, _i.e._ the useful, the saviour, +is called in the Avesta, "the sublime, the victorious;" he will smite +the Druj, and Aeshma will bow before him. He will make the world to live +for ever, without age and death; the dead will rise again, and the +living will be immortal. Vohumano will smite Akomano, Asha will kill the +lies. Haurvatat and Ameretat will destroy thirst and hunger: "The +evil-doer Angromainyu, robbed of his dominion, bows himself."[305] This +doctrine of the Avesta also was well known to the western world. In +Herodotus Prexaspes tells Cambyses that when the dead rise again he will +see Smerdis and Astyages.[306] Theopompus of Chios tells us: Zoroaster +had proclaimed that there would be a time in which the dead will arise, +and men will be immortal, and everything will be done by their +invocations. Last of all, Hades will pass away; men will then be happy; +they will need no nourishment, and throw no shadows, and the god who +will accomplish this rests for a time, but not a long time for a +god.[307] It is true that men required no nourishment when Caoshyant had +appeared, in the meaning of the Avesta, for Haurvatat and Ameretat had +overcome hunger and thirst as well as sickness and death; and as the +dark side of man was taken away, and only the bright side remained, they +could not cast any shadows. + +As already remarked, it was part of the duty of the priests to bring the +ancient legends of the old time into harmony with the new doctrine. We +saw that the legends of Iran began with the happy age of Yima, and his +reign of a thousand years full of increase and blessing. This conception +of a perfect age for the creatures of earth at the very beginning of +things did not suit with the struggle, which, according to the new +doctrine, Angromainyu commenced immediately after the creation. The +priests, therefore, conceived the beginning of things in a different +manner. In their system Auramazda first created the heaven, then the +water, then the earth and the trees, and after these the four-footed +bull, and the two-legged pure man Gayo maretan.[308] In the Avesta the +primeval bull and man are at the head, and time extends from Gayo +maretan to Caoshyant.[309] The books of the Parsees then tell us that +Angromainyu killed the primeval man and bull, but from the seed of the +bull proceeded a pair of oxen, and then all kinds of good animals; and +out of the seed of Gayo maretan grew up the first man and the first +woman. As we have already remarked, our fragments of the Avesta identify +the soul of the first created bull with the Drvacpa, the ancient +guardian spirit of the flocks; next to Gayo maretan they place +Haoshyangha, the Paradhata (p. 36), and represent him as sacrificing to +Ardvicura, Vayu, and Ashi vanguhi, in order to obtain the dominion over +the evil spirits.[310] After him Takhmo urupa rules the earth of seven +parts; he sacrifices to Vayu in order to obtain grace to restrain +Angromainyu for thirty years.[311] Then, according to the system of the +priests, follows the dominion of Yima the son of Vivanghana, during +which there was no cold and no heat, no age and no death, as was +represented in the old views. Yima kindles the red-glowing fire. Flocks +and men, _i.e._ life, increase; and the earth must be made larger. The +end of this happy period, and the death of Yima, is brought about, +according to the priests, by the fact that Yima refused to be the +preacher of the doctrine of Auramazda, that he was unable to maintain +purity and truth, and began to "love lying speech" (p. 41). As Yima was +born to Vivanghana as a reward for his Haoma sacrifice, there follows a +series of those who have offered the sacrifice: Athwya, Thrita, +Pourushacpa, and their sons. To the first Thraetaona was born, who +smites the serpent Dahaka; to Thrita Kerecacpa, who smites the serpent +Cruvara; and to Pourushacpa was born Zarathrustra, who receives the law +of Auramazda and proclaims it; by this law the Daevas will be warded off +till Caoshyant appears, when everything which has once had life will +come to life again. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[228] "Yacna," 56, 3, 1-3. + +[229] "Yacna," 28, 29, 42, 43, 44, 46, according to Haug's translation, +which is not universally accepted; "Yacna," 31 after Roth. "Z. D. M. G." +25, 6 ff. + +[230] "Yacna," 30, after Huebschmann's rendering. + +[231] "Yacna," 33, 8. + +[232] "Yacna," 31, 6. + +[233] "Yacna," 34, 1. + +[234] "Yacna," 50, 7. + +[235] "Yacna," 34, 11. + +[236] "Yacna," 41, 10, 11; cf. 57, 20. + +[237] "Yacna," 43, 18. + +[238] "Yacna," 44, 5. The passages in the text concerning Haurvatat and +Ameretat are given after Darmesteter, "Haurvatat et Ameretat," p. 35 ff. + +[239] "Yacna," 31, 18. + +[240] "Yacna," 47, 1. + +[241] "Yacna," 47-49, according to Haug's translation. + +[242] "Yacna," 31, 3, 19; 33, 3; 46, 7. + +[243] Plut. "De Isid." 46. + +[244] From the invocation of the time without limit, _Zrvana akarana_, +in the Avesta (p. 79), some have sought to draw the conclusion, that +this is the supreme principle, and that Auramazda and Angromainyu +proceeded from it. This is no less incorrect than if it were maintained +that according to the Christian dogma God and the devil owed their +origin to eternity. In the Avesta Zrvana akarana does not assume an +important place either at the creation or in the worship. I have already +remarked above, that the spirits of light are called in the Rigveda sons +of Aditi, _i.e._ of the unlimited, the eternal. Parallel similitudes +which, however, mean no more than the eternity of the gods, could be +made even among the Arians of Iran. But there is a difference between +speaking in similes, and derivation from a principle. The faith of Iran +was not a philosophical system, but a religion; a religion cannot +combine the good and evil god into one unity. It is only when +speculation becomes master over religion, that conceptions of this kind +can find a place; and this speculation, which sought for primeval +cosmical unity, arrived as a fact at an identical origin for the good +and evil spirit; but this was not the case with the Avesta. Centuries +after the establishment of the canon we find the oldest form of such +teaching in a demand made to the Armenian Christians that they should +join the faith of Auramazda. In this we are told that the great deity +Zrovan had sacrificed for a thousand years, and had received two sons, +Ormuzd and Ahriman. The first had created heaven and earth, the other +had opposed him with evil works. About the same time Theodorus of +Mopsuestia in Cilicia (Phot. "Biblioth." p. 63, ed. Bekker), tells us: +"Zoroaster called the creator of all things Zaruam, and described him as +fate;" and in the sixth century Damascius ("De prim. princip." p. 384) +writes: "The Magi and the whole Arian nation call the Whole and One in +thought, space and time respectively; from this One arose the good and +evil god, Oromasdes and Areimanius, or as others say light and darkness +were divided before these." The sect of the Zarvanites, who deviated +from the faith of Zoroaster, inasmuch as they carried these principles +still further, has been already mentioned (p. 67). + +[245] "Mihr Yasht," 123. + +[246] Ashi vanguhi is in one passage called the daughter of Auramazda +and Armaiti; "Yacna," 44, 4; "Vend." 19, 45; "Ashi Yasht," 16. + +[247] "Tistar Yasht," 50. + +[248] "Vend." 19, 40; "Yacna," 56, 10, 2. + +[249] "Vispered," 23, 1. + +[250] "Yacna," 44, 4; 46, 2; 13, 6; "Vend." 19, 45; Haug, "Essays," p. +231. + +[251] Spiegel, "Eran," 1, 435. + +[252] Darmesteter, "Haurvatat et Ameretat," p. 68, 81 ff. + +[253] "Vend." 19, 30-34, 54. + +[254] "Din Yasht," 2. + +[255] "Rashnu Yasht," 8. + +[256] Burnouf, _l. c._ p. 417, 468. + +[257] "Gosh Yasht;" Yacna, 29; 39, 1. + +[258] "Vend." 19, 111, 112; 22, 22. + +[259] Herod. 7, 40, 55; Xenoph. "Cyr. inst." 8, 3, 12; Curtius, 3, 3, 8; +4, 48, 12. Dio Chrysost. 2, 60, ed. Dindorf. + +[260] p. 732. + +[261] "Khorshed Yasht," in De Harlez, "Avesta," p. 34. + +[262] 10, 17, 18. + +[263] "Zamyad Yasht," 96; Darmesteter, _l. c._ p. 10. + +[264] "Vend." 18, 38. + +[265] "Vend." 19, 6, 146. + +[266] Burnouf, "Journ. Asiatic," 1845, p. 433. + +[267] "Vend." 10, 23. Windischmann, "Zoroastrische Studien," s. 138. + +[268] "Vend." 19, 147. + +[269] "Vend." 4, 139. + +[270] "Vend." 12, 65, 71; 14, 9 ff.; Plut. "De Isid." c. 46; Agath. 2, +24. + +[271] Plut. "De Isid." c. 46. + +[272] "Vend" 18, 34-37; 64-69. + +[273] Cf. "Bundehesh," c. 19. + +[274] "Yasht Farvardin," 109; "Yasht Bahram," 19-21. + +[275] Kuhn, "Herabkunft des Feuers," s. 125; Darmesteter, _loc. cit._ p. +55. Cinmurv has arisen out of _Caena (Cin), i.e._ eagle, and _meregha_, +"bird;" Middle Pers. _murv_; New Pers. _murgh_. In New Pers. Cinmurv +becomes Simurgh. + +[276] Isaiah xlvi. 11. In Aeschylus also an eagle represents the +Persians and a falcon the Hellenes; "Pers." 205-210. + +[277] "Cyri instit." 7, 1, 4. + +[278] 3, 7. + +[279] "Vend." 18, 137, 138, 149. + +[280] Xenophon, "Cyri instit." 8, 3, 11, 24; Athen. p. 145; Arrian, +"Anab." 6, 29. + +[281] "Yacna," 10. 38, 11, 16. Strabo, p. 732, tells us that the deity +of the Persians received nothing from the sacrifice. + +[282] What Herodotus tells us of the sacrifice of girls and boys by the +Magi in Thrace contradicts his own statement that the Magi did not +venture to kill any one, and the whole conception of the Avesta. If +Cambyses is said to have caused twelve Persians to be buried alive, this +is not to be regarded as a sacrifice, but as a barbarous form of +execution, which occurs also under the Sassanids. What Herodotus says of +the fourteen boys offered by Amestris as a sacrifice, if true, must have +its origin in some other superstition, not in the Avesta; and the +actions of Amestris and Parysatis in this direction, as recorded by +Ctesias, were in any cases crimes, not sacrifices. + +[283] Strabo, p. 732. + +[284] Fragm. 16, ed. Mueller. + +[285] 1, 131. + +[286] Strabo, p. 733. + +[287] Windischmann has shown, "Abh. Bair. Akad. phil. philol. Kl." 8, +90, 120, that, [Greek: Amardatos] must be read for [Greek: Anandatos]. + +[288] "Vend." 7, 132-136; 19, 90-100. + +[289] "Vend." 19, 89. + +[290] "Vend." 18, 68, 69. + +[291] "Vend." 19, 108. + +[292] "Vend." 13, 22, 25. + +[293] "Vend." 19, 100-108. + +[294] "Vend." 8, 252, 310; 19, 94; cf. 3, 118-121. In the Dinkart the +proceedings on the bridge are related at greater length. + +[295] Vol. IV., 61, 163, 230. + +[296] "Farvardin Yasht," 35-48, 70, 71. + +[297] "Farvardin Yasht," 61, 62. + +[298] "Farvardin Yasht," 50-52. + +[299] Diogen. Laert. "Prooem." 6. + +[300] "Vend." 19, 46, 48. + +[301] "Yacna," 1, 47; 23, 6; Burnouf, "Commentaire," p. 571. + +[302] Plut. "Artax." 15; Theopomp. Fragm. 135, ed. Mueller. + +[303] "Yacna," 45, 3; 47, 1; above, p. 156. + +[304] "Vend." 19, 17-19; above, p. 135. + +[305] "Zamyad Yasht," 89, 95, 96. + +[306] 3, 62. + +[307] Theopomp. Fragm. 71, 72, ed. Mueller. + +[308] "Yacna," 19, 16-18. + +[309] "Yacna," 26, 32; "Farvardin Yasht," 135. + +[310] "Aban Yasht," 21-23; "Farvardin Yasht," 157; "Ashi Yasht," 24; +"Zamyad Yasht," 26. + +[311] "Ram Yasht," 11; "Zamyad Yasht," 28. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + +THE PRIESTHOOD OF IRAN + + +In the form in which we have them the books of the Avesta are the work +of the priests of Eastern Iran. According to the evidence repeatedly +furnished by them, there were three orders in Sogdiana and Bactria: +priests, warriors, and husbandmen. This sequence, which is uniformly +preserved both in the invocations and in the book of the law, shows that +the priests had risen above the warriors, and claimed to be the first of +the three orders.[312] + +In considering the civilisation of the Bactrian kingdom we found +ourselves compelled by the proximity of the nations of the steppes to +assume, that when the Arians had become established there, the tribes +which had a capacity or love for battle, undertook the protection of the +land, the flocks and fields, against the incursions of the nomads of the +north, and made battle and strife their special vocation. Such attacks +increased with the increasing culture of Bactria, and led to a +consolidation of powers; these clans raised one of their number +distinguished in battle to be their leader, or followed him, and thus +was laid the basis for the foundation of a great state. The importance +ascribed in the Avesta to the splendour of majesty--we find the +personification of good government in the Avesta among the Amesha +Cpentas--in combination with the battles which, as we learn from the +book, the princes of Bactria carried on against the Turanians, and with +the statements in the West Iranian Epos about the kingdom of the +Bactrians, together with the later condition of the country, allowed us +to draw the conclusion that at one time the kings of Bactria were not +without power and importance. They reigned, surrounded by the families +of the warriors, who were enabled by their possessions in lands and +flocks, to devote themselves to the practice of arms and to battle. The +invocations to Mithra, Verethraghna, and Vayu, bear upon them very +evident traces of a war-like spirit (p. 110, 114). That the spirits of +the sky, which once fought with the cloud-dragons, have become mortal +heroes in the Avesta, also proves--since even among other nations the +Epic poetry which follows periods of warlike excitement transforms +shapes of the sky into heroes of old time--that once on a time Bactria +had experienced a period of warfare, when difficulties arose which it +was mainly the business of the monarchy and the nobles to settle. The +Avesta can tell us of arms and robes as well as of palaces with pillars +and turrets; of earthen, iron, silver and golden vessels; of mats, +carpets, and adornments of gold,[313] such as are found among noble +families; and those hecatombs of horses, cattle, and sheep which the +heroes in the Avesta sacrifice to Anahita and Drvacpa, in order to +obtain their favour by victory, are no doubt borrowed from the +sacrifices which princes and nobles were wont to offer in cases where +the numbers must be enlarged in honour of the heroes. Yet we see that +Xerxes orders a thousand oxen to be sacrificed at one time. We have +already shown (IV. 390), how important and pre-eminent was the position +which the races of the warriors, "the princes," occupied on the Indus +and the Ganges, and what respect they commanded among "the free Indians" +in the Panjab, even in the fourth century B.C. That a warlike nobility +of a similar character, attitude, and position, existed in Eastern Iran, +is the less to be doubted, as the order of warriors in the Avesta is +denoted by a name (_rathaestar_) which goes back to the chariots of war. +The husbandmen, who were settled beside and among them, bear in the +Avesta the name of Vactrya,[314] but the word Vaecu is also used for +them, which simply repeats the name of the Indian Vaicyas. + +Like the Arians of India, the Arians of Iran believed in the power of +the correct invocations, prayers, and sacrifice; among them also the +sacrifice strengthens the gods and increases their power. In India too, +the priests, and minstrels, and sacrificers handed down in their +families the knowledge of the effective invocations and ceremonies which +exercised compulsion on the gods, and the same was the case in Eastern +Iran; priestly families arose at a very early period. They did not here +retain the name of supplicators, as in India; but are called Athravas in +the Avesta. In the Veda Atharvan kindles the sacrificial fire, and among +the Arians of India the incantations of the race of Atharvan passed from +the most powerful. In a similar way powerful invocations and sentences +were handed down in Iran from father to son in the race of the +Athravas. These families preserved the ancient invocations to Mithra, +Verethraghna, Anahita, Tistrya, which are preserved to us in the Avesta, +though in a modified form. The god Haoma instructs Zarathrustra to +praise him, as the other fire-priests had done (p. 124). The reform +which bears the name of Zarathrustra cannot have left the condition of +the priests unchanged. The doctrine may, as invocations in the Avesta +would seem to show, have first found adherents in the race of +Haechatacpa, to which Zarathrustra belonged, and to which he first +proclaimed his law (131), and next in the race of Jamacpa and +Frashaostra, who are spoken of as Zarathrustra's most zealous followers. +According to the creed of the Parsees the good law also came to Aderbat +Mahresfant by family descent (p. 62). These new races of priests, who +knew the sayings, invocations, and prayers of Zarathrustra, would then +be joined by those among the races of the old fire-priests who approved +of the reform, and the priesthood thus formed would be further +strengthened by those who, deeply impressed by the new doctrine, sought +and found reception as pupils into a family of the priests, thus +entering into their circle, and becoming members of their families. +United by a new doctrine and settled tenets, the priests who represented +the reform would become united together more firmly than the priestly +families of the old time. + +The priesthood could very well claim precedence of the warriors; on +their prayers and sayings, their knowledge of the custom of sacrifice, +depended the favour of the gods, the power of averting evil spirits, the +removal of pollution, salvation in this world and the next. Yet they +could not obtain such a position as the Brahmans held on the Ganges +after the reform of the ancient faith, and the victory of Brahman over +Indra. For in Iran there was no order of Cudras, no vanquished remnant +of an old population, which created a sharp line of division even among +the orders of the Aryas; and moreover the Brahmans were the first-born +of Brahman, a purer incarnation of the divine nature than any other +order. The world had not emanated from Auramazda; there were in Iran no +gradations of beings in which the divine essence existed in a more or +less pure condition. All had to fight against evil deities and against +evil; the priests were the leaders in this struggle--this leadership and +nothing more could they claim. In their lives they studied especial +purity of body and mind; and they were pre-eminently "the pure men." +Only by their means, at any rate with their assistance, could sacrifice +be offered; from their mouths alone could the correct invocations be +uttered to the gods, and the evil ones be driven away. Men were +compelled to submit to the rules of the life acceptable to the gods of +light, of pure conversation, which were accurately known to the priests +only; they had to take upon themselves the expiations which the priests +prescribed, in order to wipe out offences and sins and their +consequences--but they had not to reverence in them, as was the case +beyond the Indus, a class of creatures raised by birth to a higher +level. Hence the sharp separation of the priesthood from the rest of the +orders, in the Brahmanic fashion, was at once placed out of the +question. The priesthood of Iran perpetuated their knowledge and wisdom +in their families; but they had not the right to bar all entrance into +their families or their order on the score of higher birth, or to +prohibit the marriage of priests with women of other orders, on the +ground of their superior nature. + +From our fragments of the Avesta we may assume that although, as is +obvious, the precedence of the priests above the remaining orders was +strongly marked, and they were especially denoted as "pure men," the +limits of their political and social position were far more modest than +those of the Brahmans. So far as we can see, the Avesta allots no +special income to the priests beyond the camels, horses, or small cattle +given to them by warriors and husbandmen in quittance for the +purifications they have performed. The penalties also which have to be +paid in expiation of certain offences are to be given to "the pure men," +and the Avesta repeatedly recommends the presentation of gifts to them. +On the other hand, the priests do not possess the exclusive right to +perform purifications. The Vendidad merely says that any one who wishes +to perform purifications must have learned the law from one of the +purifiers, _i.e._ it is only the instruction of the priest which is +indispensable in this matter. Any one who performs purification without +such instruction (except in the case of necessary purifications, p. +230), will take away from the places where it is performed, "food and +fatness, health and all remedies, prosperity, luxuriance and growth, and +increase of corn and fodder; and corn and fodder will not return to such +places until for three days and nights the holy Craosha has been praised +at the burning fire with bound withes and uplifted Haoma." The +uncertified purifier is to be put in chains, his clothes taken from him, +and his head cut off.[315] If it was permitted to learn the +purifications, it follows that men not of priestly descent could enter +the order of the Athravas, and the boundary line between this order and +the rest was not impassable. Among the Parsees of India any one can +become a priest. The duties of the priest, according to the book of the +law, consist in watching and tending the sacred fire, in praising the +good spirits, in offering sacrifice, and performing purifications, and +in the ceaseless study of the holy scriptures. The priest is to be +provided with a mortar made according to certain rules, a cup (for the +Haoma sacrifice), the snake-switch (a stick for killing impure animals), +and the Paitidana, _i.e._ a piece of cloth for veiling the mouth, in +order that he may not approach the sacred fire with breath that is +possibly impure. For the rest, the Vendidad lays down the rule that the +priests are to be patient and content, and satisfied with a little +bread, and they ought to eat what is offered to them.[316] Auramazda +says; "Many men, O Zarathrustra, carry the Paitidana, the +serpent-switch, the sacred bundle of twigs, without being guided +according to the law. These are wrongly called priests; do not thou call +them priests, O Zarathrustra. He who lies the whole night without +praising or hearing, or reciting, or learning, or teaching--call not +such an one a priest. Call him a priest, O pure Zarathrustra, who +inquires of the pure intelligence the whole night, of the wisdom which +purifies from sins and makes the heart wide, which has merits in store +on the bridge of Chinvat, and causes us to attain the purity and bliss +of Paradise."[317] The Avesta distinguishes different classes of +priests, but the distinction only rests on the various acts which they +perform in the sacred rites. The first rank is taken by the Zaotar, who +utters the prayers and invocations (the Hotar, _i.e._ the Repeater of +the Veda); next to him apparently is the Craoshavareza, "who speaks very +wise and truthful things;"[318] he bears the club of Craosha, in order +to keep the evil spirits at a distance from the sacred acts; then comes +the Atarevaksha, _i.e._ the priest who causes the fire to increase, and +attends to the worship of it; then the Acnatar (the Washer), who has to +cleanse the instruments of sacrifice to keep them from pollution; the +Frabaretar, _i.e._ the Carrier, etc. In the modern ritual of the Parsees +all the duties of the sacred service have been transferred to the Zaotar +and the Racpi, which latter discharges the functions of ministering +priest. + +If we were only approximately correct in placing the date of +Zarathrustra and the reform of the ancient faith at 1000 B.C., the +formation of this priestly order, which took place on the basis of the +new doctrine, may have come to an end about the year 800 B.C. We saw +that from this date onwards the spread of the new doctrine must have +begun in the west of Iran towards the Medes and Persians, since there +existed among the Medes from 700 B.C. an hereditary priesthood, charged +with the worship of the gods according to the regulations of +Zarathrustra, and in this century it was already sufficiently numerous +to be placed as an equal division beside the tribes of the Medes. + +We have no better information about the priests of the West than we have +on the political and social position of the priests of Eastern Iran. +They are not called Athravas but Magush. This name is first found in the +inscription which Darius caused to be cut on the rock-wall of Behistun; +afterwards it was consistently used by Western writers, from Herodotus +to Agathias, for the priests of Iran. The Avesta has the words _magha_ +and _maghavan_, i.e. the powerful, the great,[319] but does not use it +of the priests, which are always called Athravas. If the last title is +taken from the fire-worship, the first allows us to see the importance +of the priests. He who can use incantations to the gods and spirits--can +summon or remove them--is the mighty one, the powerful. If in this name +we have evidence of the respect with which the laity of Western Iran +looked up to the priests, the difference between the names in the East +and West shows that there were priestly races among the Medes and +Persians before the religion of Zarathrustra reached them. Had not such +existed before the reform, and had they not possessed a definite name in +the West--had priestly families become known there for the first time at +the rise of the reform--they would never have had any other name than +that of Athravas. Even without this positive proof we might assume that +from all antiquity there had been priests among the Medes and Persians +who understood how to invoke the gods of light in the old Arian +faith--Mithra and Verethraghna, Vayu and Tistrya--and tend the fire +which destroyed demons. When the new doctrine reached from the East to +Ragha and then to Media (p. 96), the old races who passed over to the +new faith united with the families the members of which were the +prophets of the new doctrine. The teachers of the Medes in old times, +which Pliny called successors of Zarathrustra, might have stood at the +head of this transformation of the ancient priestly families, of the +creation of the Median priesthood on the basis of the new religion (p. +92). However this may have been, the priestly families among the Medes +were so numerous, their connection and union so close and firmly fixed, +that they could be counted as a sixth tribe beside the other five Median +tribes. + +Among the tribes of the Persians Herodotus mentions no tribe of Magi. It +would be a mistake to conclude from this that there were originally no +priests among the Persians, and to put faith in Xenophon's statement +that Cyrus was the first to give the Magians the care of the sacred +fire, "because he preferred to go on board with the pious rather than +the impious."[320] No one will maintain that the Persians in ancient +times were without worship and religious rites, or that when they +accepted the doctrine of Zarathrustra, which did not permit sacrifice +without Magians, they used the services of none but alien priests. Such +a proceeding would be absurd. The proper conclusion from the fact that +Herodotus does not mention a tribe of Magians among the Persians is that +the priestly families there were less numerous; they had not broken away +from the tribal connections to which they originally belonged, and +formed themselves into a separate community. Further, from the fact that +the priestly families of the Persians in old times had not formed +themselves into a separate community, we may conclude--and indeed the +conclusion follows from the position of Media and the notice in the +Avesta about Ragha, and the observation about the ancient teachers of +the Medes, who are said to have been followers of Zarathrustra--that the +reform of the faith first came from Bactria to the Medes, that it was +adopted and more strongly represented among them, and so passed on to +the Persians. We cannot doubt that there were Persians belonging to the +order of Magians. If Plato and his pupils call Zoroaster the "teacher of +the Magians," and at the same time "a Persian," they must assume that +there were Magians among the Persians; if, according to Plato's +statement, the four teachers of the heirs to the Persian throne, of +which one had to teach the Magism of Zoroaster, were selected out of +"all the Persians;"--if at the time of Xerxes there were Persians who +wrote on the doctrine of Zoroaster, they must have been initiated in the +wisdom and knowledge of the Magians, and have known their invocations +and customs; the contents of the holy scriptures and the scriptures +themselves can hardly have been hidden from them. In order to prove that +the Magians, _i.e._ the priests, belonged exclusively to the Medes, the +fact has been brought forward that the Persians, after Darius had +dethroned the Pseudo-Smerdis, celebrated each year the feast of the +slaughter of the Magians, at which no Magian allowed himself to be seen, +but all were obliged to remain at home.[321] The Magophonia was not the +celebration of a victory over the Magi generally, but over the removal +of a usurper, and the restoration of the dominion to the Achaemenids, +which had been taken from them by one who happened to be a Magian. +Herodotus at any rate calls this Magian a Mede.[322] Darius contents +himself with calling him the "Magian." Hence there is no ground to doubt +that both before and after the reform, families of the Persians were +charged with the worship of the gods; the less so because Plato, as +already remarked, represents the heirs to the throne in Persia as being +instructed in the doctrine of Zoroaster, while Strabo and Pausanias +speak expressly of "Persian Magi," and the chief Magian is enumerated +among the tribes "which dwell in the districts of Persis."[323] + +When the dominion of the Achaemenids had been established over Iran, the +priestly families of all the West must have been united into one +community. There is no doubt that this remained an order in which the +priestly wisdom and knowledge were traditional. Strabo, like Herodotus, +calls the Magians a tribe; he adds that the members of it sought after a +holy life. The tribe was large, he tells us in another place; Magians +could be found even in Cappadocia. Ammianus also informs us that the +Magians handed down their doctrines to later times, each by his +descendants. Growing up through centuries from a small number, the +Magians became a nation, and being regarded as dedicated to the service +of the gods, they had acquired respect through their religion. They +inhabited open villages, lived according to a law of their own, and +possessed fruitful fields in the district called Nisaea. Agathias also +calls the Magians a tribe.[324] But the separation of the priestly order +in the West cannot have been more strict than that of the Athravas in +the East. Marriage with the women of other orders was not forbidden, nor +transition from other orders into that of the Medes. The Avesta speaks +of the teacher and the pupil (p. 203); and it is expressly said--though +the statement comes from the beginning of the third century of our +era--that the Magians among the Persians, _i.e._ the Magians under the +Arsacids, instructed even those who were not Persians in their doctrine, +but only at the special command of the king.[325] + +We find the Magians in close proximity to the rulers of the Medes and +Persians; they were not without importance and influence. In Herodotus +they tell Astyages that they had and would have great honours from +him.[326] Xenophon speaks of them as determining, at the time of Cyrus, +which god is to be honoured on each day.[327] Cambyses charges Magians +with the duty of watching the grave of Cyrus, and this office became +hereditary in their families;[328] he also entrusts a Magian with the +care of the royal household, while he marches with the army into the +remote parts of Egypt and Nubia. The inscriptions of Darius showed us +how much in earnest he was with the doctrines and regulations of the +religion--how lively was his faith. On his march to Hellas, Xerxes was +accompanied by Osthanes, a man skilled in the priestly dogmas, and by +Magians; they offer sacrifice, and charm the storms.[329] The sacred +fire which was carried before the kings[330] was conducted by Magians, +and so also were the sacred chariot, the sacred horses of Mithra and the +sun-god, in the campaigns of the Achaemenids (p. 167). Of greater +importance was it that the heirs to the throne in Persia were +instructed, as Plato tells us, in the Magism of Zoroaster,[331] which +could only be done by Magians. Nicolaus of Damascus relates that the +Persian princes were instructed by the Magians in truthfulness, justice, +and the laws of their country;[332] and, according to Plutarch, Magians +were the educators of the Persian princes; Magians also under the +Achaemenids performed the consecration at the accession of a new +king.[333] We are also told that this king of the Medes and that of the +Persians, took the advice of the Magians on important occasions. Under +the Arsacids they formed, along with the members of the race of the +kings, the supreme council of the kingdom; in the time when this dynasty +was at its height they ruled, as Pliny told us, "over the king of +kings;" and we have seen (p. 60) that their influence under the +Sassanids, at court, in the administration of law, and in politics, was +even more powerful. + +Herodotus maintains that the Magians also occupied themselves with +soothsaying and prophecy; like Ctesias, he ascribes to the Medes the +interpretation of certain dreams and other miraculous acts. Of such +interpretations and prophesying on the part of the priests the Avesta +knows nothing, and those Greeks who were better informed, warmly +contested the assertion that the Magians were occupied with such things. +Plato tells us: "The Magism of Zoroaster is the worship of the gods;" +and Aristotle assures us that the Magians knew nothing of +soothsaying.[334] What Herodotus tells us, on the other side, he +certainly did not invent, but repeats after his informants. The +Medo-Persian Epos, which, though indirectly, forms the basis of +Herodotus' account of the rise of Cyrus and the death of Cambyses, +allowed a wide field, even in the account of the fall of the Assyrian +empire (III. 264), to the astrological and prophetic wisdom of the +Chaldaeans. From this we may conclude that prophecies of the Chaldaeans +were not left out of sight at the overthrow of Astyages. In Nicolaus of +Damascus it is a Chaldaean of Babylon who expounds her dream to the +mother of Cyrus,[335] and possibly the kings of the Medes followed the +example of the Assyrian and Babylonian courts in having astrologers and +interpreters of dreams from Babylon about them. + +Whatever was the influence employed by the Magians at the court of the +Achaemenids, the Arsacids and Sassanids, their influence was of a moral +nature; it was only through the effect of religion on the heart and +conscience of the king, that they could work; their position did not +rest on any hierarchical institutions. In Iran the priesthood had no +real means of power which permitted it to come forward in opposition to +the power of the State. The priest was a subject of the king like any +one else. It was within the king's power to proceed at his pleasure with +the severest corporal punishment against the Magi, and it is abundantly +clear that the kings did not shrink from inflicting such punishments, +even if we do not regard as established facts the stories that Astyages +impaled the Magians who had given him a false report, and that Darius +caused forty Magians to be executed at once.[336] + +Diogenes Laertius relates that the Magians lived on lentils, bread and +cheese, which agrees with the Avesta to the extent that the priests are +there commanded to be content with a little food.[337] What Herodotus +tells us of the duties and occupation of the Magians agrees entirely +with the rules given in the Avesta for the Athravas. No one could +sacrifice without a Magian; the sacrifices were offered on high places +(in this Xenophon agrees[338]) or in "pure places;" the most delicate +grass was spread--we remember the importance of the Kuca-grass in the +Veda and the Brahmanas--on this grass the flesh of the sacrifice was +laid; the Magians sang the theogony, _i.e._ long sacrificial prayers, +and the sacred rite is fulfilled. Herodotus also asserts that the +Magians took great pride in killing serpents, ants, and other winged and +creeping things with their own hands; that human life was greatly +respected by them; that the dog was held in high honour (p. 86); and the +corpses of the Magians were exposed to dogs or birds of prey. This he +declares that he knows to be the truth; Xenophon represents the Magians +as beginning their songs of praise with the break of day, and as +offering their sacrifices at certain places, which were selected for the +gods. Curtius relates that they sang native songs.[339] Strabo told us +above that the Magians sought after a holy life; he observes also that +whatever was the god to which they sacrificed they first prayed to fire. +At every sacrifice the Magians conducted the sacred rite; the victims +were not slain with the knife but struck down with a club. No part of +the flesh of the victim was set apart for the deity, for they declared +that the god required only the soul of the animal; yet according to some +they placed a small portion of the fat in the fire. "In Cappadocia there +were enclosed places," Strabo continues, "in the midst of which was an +altar, heaped up with ashes. On this the Magians kept up the +unquenchable fire. Each day they went and sang for an hour before the +fire, holding in their hands a bundle of twigs. On their heads they +wore tiaras of felt, which fell down on both sides so far that the +side-pieces covered the lips."[340] Pausanias, who observed the worship +of the Magians in the cities of Lydia, says: "At both places there was a +shrine with a cell, and in the cell is an altar; on this are ashes the +colour of which is not the ordinary colour of ashes. When the Magian +comes into the cell, he lays the dry wood on the altar, puts the tiara +on his head, and sings the invocation to some god or another, in a +barbarian manner, quite unintelligible to the Hellenes; but he sings +from a book. Then the pieces of wood, without being kindled, ought to +become lighted, and a flame from them should flash all round the +cell."[341] + +FOOTNOTES: + +[312] "Vend." 2, 87-89; "Yacna," 14, 4-6. If in "Yacna," 19, 46 four +occupations are mentioned instead of the four orders, and artisans are +added to the husbandmen, this is only another theory, which does not, +however, alter the series and system; in India the order of Vaicyas +comprises husbandmen, merchants, and artisans. + +[313] "Vond." 8, 254. + +[314] Under the Sassanids we find a chief of the husbandmen +(_vactriosan_), and a chief of the warriors (_arthestaran_); Noeldeke, +"Tabari," s. 110. + +[315] "Vend." 9, 172-180, 187-196. + +[316] "Vend." 13, 126-129. + +[317] "Vend." 18, 1-17. + +[318] "Vispered," 3, 13, 14. Above, p. 165. + +[319] The Mobedh of Middle Persian is _magupat_, i.e. lord of the +Magians (p. 60). The derivation of the name Magus from the Turanian +_imga_ (apparently = honourable) can only be adopted by those who regard +the Magians as descendants of the Turanians, or at any rate as +containing a strong admixture of Turanians; a view which rests on the +theory that the second series in the inscriptions of the Achaemenids is +the Median translation of the Persian inscriptions. With this view I +cannot agree; all that we learn from the Greeks of the customs, manners, +and names of the Medes bears the mark of an Arian origin, and is in +harmony with what is attributed to the Persians. In the inscription of +the second class at Behistun, Gaumata is not called _imga_ but _magush_. + +[320] "Cyri instit." 8, 1, 23. + +[321] Herod. 3, 79. + +[322] Herod. 3, 73. + +[323] Strabo, p. 727; Pausanias, 5, 27, 3. + +[324] Ammian. 23, 6, 32-35; Agathias, 2, 26. + +[325] Philostratus in Rapp, "Z. D. M. G." 20, 71. + +[326] Herod. 1, 120. + +[327] "Cyri instit." 7, 5, 20; 8, 1, 8. + +[328] Arrian, "Anab." 6, 29. + +[329] Herod. 7, 191. + +[330] Curtius, 3, 7; Ammian. 23, 6, 34. + +[331] "Alcibiad. I." p. 122. + +[332] Nic. Dam. fragm. 67, ed. Mueller. + +[333] Plut. "Artaxerxes," c. 3. + +[334] Diog. Laert. prooem. 6. + +[335] Fragm. 66, ed. Mueller; cf. infra Bk. 8, c. 4. + +[336] Herod. 1, 128; Ctes. "Pers." 15. The excerpt says 40 Chaldaeans, +but obviously Magi are here meant. + +[337] Prooem. 7. Above, p. 190. The further statements of Diogenes about +the white robes of the Magians, their avoidance of all ornament and +gold, of their lying on the ground, and staff of reed, deserve little +notice, inasmuch as the source whence they are derived is unknown. + +[338] "Cyri instit." 8, 7, 3. + +[339] "Cyri instit." 8, 7, 3; 7, 5, 20; 8, 1, 8; Curtius, 3, 3, 8. + +[340] Strabo, p. 733. + +[341] Pausan. 5, 27, 5, 6. + + + + +CHAPTER IX. + +THE LAW OF THE PRIESTS. + + +The rules concerning purity and purification, the expiations and +penances necessary to avert the Daevas, which we possess in the Vendidad +of the Avesta, are only the remnant of a far more comprehensive law. +From the list of books and chapters traditional among the Parsees, we +can see that it was intended to include not only all the invocations and +prayers which the worship required, the rules of sacrifice, and the +entire ritual, together with the Calendar of the year of the Church, but +also the arrangement of the process of law, the civil and criminal code, +and, moreover, rules for agriculture and medicine. If to this we add the +statements and quotations of the Greeks (p. 53), we may assume that the +scriptures of Eastern Iran comprised the whole sum of the knowledge of +the priests. In the Avesta the Athravas had sketched the ideal picture +of the correct conduct pleasing to Auramazda in every department of +life. How far the princes of Bactria and the viceroys of Cyaxares and +the Achaemenids, or even these princes themselves, and the judges, wished +or allowed themselves to be bound in their decisions by these +regulations of the priests, may be left out of the question. The priests +here, like the Brahmans in India, could only influence the action of +the State and those charged with it, so far as the reverence for the +principles of religion and the force of their own authority extended. + +The existing part of the law has obviously arisen out of the questions +and considerations sketched above, which in consequence of the reform +must have forced themselves into the circles of the priests. The reform +also required above all things purity from men, but no supernatural +purity, such as the Brahmans demanded. The body is not in the Avesta, as +it was to the Brahmans and after them to the Buddhists, the impure +prison of the soul which must be abandoned; on the contrary the Avesta +rejoices in its health and vigour. It requires that the body should be +kept pure from filth, from contamination by the impure, which gives the +Daevas power over mankind, _i.e._ it demands the exclusion of the +harmful side of nature; it desires that the soul should be pure from +pollution, freed from untruthfulness, lying, and deceit, which are +contradictory to the nature of the clear bright gods, and Auramazda, and +make men companions of the Daevas, and sharers in their nature. In other +words, it demands the invigoration of the light and wholesome side of +man. The kingdom of the good spirits is truth, increase, and life; the +kingdom of the evil is deception and falsehood, lying, destruction, and +death. The Avesta praises Auramazda as purity itself; and next to him +Asha vahista, _i.e._ the best purity; the gods are chiefly extolled as +"the pure," and Zarathrustra as the master and teacher of purity. The +Avesta repeatedly declares "that purity after birth is the best thing +for men." Hence it is the foremost of all duties to keep the soul and +body pure. The worshipper of Auramazda must preserve his purity by good +thoughts, words, and works; truth is required in thinking, speaking, +and acting; uprightness and honesty in all the relations of life; the +sacredness of promises and pledges, and solemn assurances, at which +Mithra is summoned to bear witness. It is an old function of the god +which appears here. He is the guardian of the word, and the compact. +"Mithra is twenty-fold between friends and kinsmen, thirty-fold between +tradespeople, forty-fold between companions who live together, +fifty-fold between man and wife, sixty-fold between associates in +sacrifice, seventy-fold between scholar and teacher, eighty-fold between +step-son and step-parents, ninety-fold between brothers, a hundred-fold +between son and father." "Miserable are the houses, without descendants +the dwellings, inhabited by those who deceive Mithra. Miserably does the +cloven-footed cow go on the wrong path, which is oppressed by the burden +of Mithra-deceiving men."[342] In accordance with this view deception is +in the eyes of the law the worst offence; worse than robbery or theft. +Evil-speaking and calumny also are, according to the Vendidad, "lies and +sins" against Mithra. The gravest offence of this kind is the calumny by +which "a pure man" is disparaged "with a man of another religion," for +this sin is committed with full knowledge, and by a man's own +intelligence; and the worst of all lies is teaching a false law. "One +who teaches such a law," says the Vendidad, "does no better than if he +killed a thousand horses, slew the men in a village inhabited by +worshippers of Auramazda, or carried off the cows on the wrong +way."[343] + +It is not the least proof of the currency of the doctrines of the Avesta +in the West of Iran that their ethical side, which gathers round the +command of truthfulness, was there most distinctly recognised. King +Darius has already told us that "the lie" had brought his kingdom into +rebellion; the leaders of the rebellious lands, who gave themselves out +to be descendants of the ancient royal families, he calls "liars against +the kingdom." From their youth up, Herodotus tells us, the children of +the Persians were instructed in truthfulness. He adds: Among the +Persians it was forbidden to speak of that which it was forbidden to do; +the Avesta requires truth "in thought, speech, and action." Lying and +borrowing, Herodotus says, passed with the Persians for the most +disgraceful acts, for they were of opinion that any one who contracted +debts was generally compelled to tell lies. The Avesta says: "He who +does not restore that which has been borrowed, seeks day and night to +deceive the creditor." Plato states that the heirs to the Persian throne +had, besides three others, a teacher whose special business it was to +instruct them in truth. Xenophon assures us that pledges and oaths were +religiously kept among the Persians; and Diodorus, that the pledge of +hands was the strongest security among them.[344] Practice in Persia +was, it is true, not equal to these injunctions, however sharply +expressed; on the contrary, we often find the two in the most glaring +contradiction. + +Not falsehood and lies only, but also laziness and sloth pollute the +soul of man. The pious man must rise early. Craosha awakes the bird +Parodarsh, we are told in the book of the law. At the return of the +divine Ushahina, _i.e._ of the morning (p. 108), this bird speaks to +those who are in their beds: "Friend, up, arise. Praise purity, and the +Daevas will fly away. Long sleep, O man, is not good for thee. The +Bushyancta runs up to thee, who lays again in sleep the whole corporeal +world. Turn yourselves not away from the three best things: good +thinking, speaking, and acting. He who rises first will come into +Paradise; he who first brings pure, dry, old, well-hewn wood to the fire +of Auramazda, him will the fire bless (p. 122)."[345] The pious man +should be industrious and work; the best work is that which increases +nourishment and fruit for men and animals, which furthers the increase +and life of the world, and thus diminishes the kingdom of the evil, the +power of the dark spirits. For this reason running water and growing +fruits should be spread over the earth; "the field should be tilled, and +trees planted which produce food." "When there are shoots," the law-book +says, "the Daevas are in alarm; when there are stalks, the Daevas weep; +when there are ears, the Daevas hiss; when there are grains, the Daevas +fly."[346] "In the house where there are most ears, the Daevas are +smitten most heavily." "The earth is not glad which lies untilled. The +greatest pleasure is given to the earth where a pure man builds his +house, provided with fire and cattle, and good flocks, with wife and +child, where most corn, fodder, and grain is produced by husbandry, +where the dry land is most watered, where fruit-bearing trees are +planted, where cattle and beasts of draught leave the most urine."[347] +"He who plants fruits and trees, who gives water to the earth where it +is needed, and takes it away where too abundant, he worships the earth." +When a man tills the earth she bestows life upon him; "as a friend to a +beloved friend, she gives him descendants and wealth." To him who tills +her, the earth says: "O man, who tillest me with the left arm and the +right, with the right arm and the left, in love will I bear thee all +kinds of fruit." But to him who tills her not the earth says: "Thou wilt +go to the doors of others and there stand, in order to beg for food; in +idleness thou wilt ask for it and get but little." He who sows corn, +sows purity; the law of Auramazda increases with the fruits of the +field; they extend the law of Auramazda by 100, 1000, and 10,000 +meritorious works. + +These regulations of the Avesta were fully accepted in the West. The +great reverence paid to splendid trees by the Achaemenids is shown by +Herodotus' story of Xerxes, that he furnished a beautiful plane tree, +which he saw in Lydia, with golden ornaments, and appointed a perpetual +guardian for it.[348] Ameretat, as already observed, was the special +protecting spirit of trees (p. 164). Xenophon tells us that the Persian +kings gave special attention to agriculture; on their journeys they +inquired into the tillage of the land, and demanded similar attention +from their satraps. Round their palaces and wherever they came they +caused the most beautiful gardens to be laid out, planted with trees and +all the most excellent shrubs in the world.[349] The satraps also had +gardens of this kind (_pairidaeza_) round their residences, and the +younger Cyrus assures Lysander, "in the name of Mithra," that he never +took food before he had induced perspiration by work in the garden or +exercise in arms.[350] The satraps, says Xenophon, whose provinces were +found deficient in population and poorly cultivated, were punished and +removed from their office, while those whose provinces were in good +order, were rewarded by presents. When the king of the Persians +conferred distinctions, those were summoned first who had distinguished +themselves in war, and next came those whose districts were best +cultivated.[351] Respect and reverence for trees was so deeply rooted in +Iran, that even Islam did not extirpate the feeling. To this day in +Shiraz old trees are presented with dedicatory offerings, and hung with +amulets; and the pious prefer to pray under tall trees rather than in +the neighbouring mosques; while in the barren regions of Iran even +groups of bushes receive offerings.[352] + +Besides the care of trees, plants, and the soil, the labour of mankind +must be directed to the care of the flocks, to the increase of the +animals of the good god, and the destruction of the Khrafctras, or +animals belonging to the evil spirit (p. 171). Cows are not held in such +veneration in Iran as beyond the Indus, yet even here the "cow is not to +be driven on the wrong way," and gomez (the urine of oxen) is the most +effectual means of purification; in the theory of the priests Auramazda +began the creation of living things with the bull. We have already +mentioned the rank taken among the animals of Auramazda by the cock and +dog. In the Vendidad Auramazda says: "I have created the dog with +clothes and shoes of his own, with keen scent and sharp teeth, attached +to men, savage against the enemy, for the protection of the flocks. No +thief or wolf comes to the village or the fold and carries away anything +unobserved, if the dog is healthy, in good voice, and among the flocks. +The houses would not stand firm upon the earth if there were not dogs in +the villages and flocks. The dog is patient, contented, and satisfied +with little food, like a priest; he goes forward, and is before and +behind the house, like a warrior; he sleeps less than the husbandmen, is +talkative like a child, and friendly as a mistress."[353] The dogs are +to receive good food, "for of all the creatures of Auramazda old age +comes upon them the most quickly;" especially must the watch-dog be +provided with milk, fat, and flesh, "the proper food" for a dog; and a +dog must never be among those who are eating without receiving something +to eat. Any one who gives unbroken bones or hot food to a sheep-dog or +house-dog, and the bones injure him, and the hot food burns his mouth +and tongue, so that he dies--is worthy of death.[354] Dogs with young +are treated with the same care as pregnant women. It is a sin to chase +or beat a dog which has brought forth; if she is injured or dies in +running the sinner is worthy of death; and any one who beats a pregnant +dog is to receive twice seven hundred stripes. It is the duty of every +man to bring up for six months the dogs born on his ground, until they +are able to run round in a circuit of twice seven houses.[355] Sick dogs +are treated with the same remedies as rich men; and to the question of +Zarathrustra--"If the dog will not take the remedies?" Auramazda answers +that in this case "the dog can be tied, and its mouth opened with a flat +piece of wood."[356] Wounds inflicted on dogs are to be punished with +stripes to the number of twice eight hundred;[357] and besides this, +compensation is to be given for the damage which thieves or wolves do to +the village so long as the dog is prevented by his injuries from keeping +watch. The book of the law everywhere threatens all those men who beat +dogs that their souls will go from this world full of terror, and sick. +To kill a water-dog is the greatest crime;[358] and is menaced with the +worst penalties and expiations known to the Vendidad. As a general rule +punishments do not go beyond 2000 stripes, or the necessity of killing +2000 noxious animals; but the slayer of the water-dog is to receive +10,000 stripes. Besides this, if he would save his soul, he must give +10,000 parcels of hard wood, well hewn and dried, for the fire of +Auramazda, and also 10,000 parcels of soft, fragrant wood; he must kill +10,000 snakes, and an equal number of tortoises, lizards, and +water-lizards, ants, flies, and rats. He must fill up 10,000 impure +holes in the earth; give to the priests all the utensils required for +the holy rites; to a warrior a complete set of armour; to a husbandman +he must give all that is needed for agriculture: a house, provided with +a beautiful mat, and arable land for tillage. In addition, he must give, +as an expiation for his soul, fourteen head of small cattle to the "pure +men," and bring up fourteen young dogs, and build fourteen bridges over +running water. He must cleanse eighteen dogs from fleas, and make +eighteen bones into edible food; and satisfy eighteen "pure men" with +wine and flesh. If he does not perform these expiations he will go into +the dwelling of the Druj, and "the heat which is injurious to the +pasture will not depart from his dwelling until he has offered sacrifice +for three days and nights for the pure soul of the water-dog, on the +burning fire, with bound rods and uplifted Haoma."[359] + +In order to extirpate the animals of Angromainyu, the priest is to be +provided with a stick, the Khrafctra-killer. Herodotus has already told +us, that the Magians held it a duty to kill serpents, ants, and other +creeping and winged insects. For the expiation of sins the Avesta +universally requires the killing of serpents, lizards, and ants; rats +and mice, which do harm to the crops; flies, midges, fleas, lice, and +other vermin. Plutarch tells us that the Persians count him a happy man +who slays most water-mice; Agathias observes that in honour of the chief +festival in Persia every one killed as many snakes, and beasts of prey, +and animals living in the desert, as possible, and then brought them to +the Magians as a proof of his piety. In this way they believed that they +did what was pleasing to the good god, while they injured and distressed +Arimanes.[360] + +According to the Avesta, the soul of man is kept pure by truthfulness, +industry, and diligence, by good thoughts, good words and acts, which +advance the kingdom of life; the body is to be kept free from dirt and +the house from filth and dead creatures; from all that belongs to the +evil spirits and is in their power. The soul of man is created pure; but +from the first the body has certain impure parts, and the defilement +which Angromainyu brought into the bodies of men. This defilement +consists in the spittle, the excrements, dead skin, sores, etc; in +everything that has an unpleasant smell, or is removed from the living +body, like the hair and nails. These when cut are dead, and therefore +belong to the kingdom of darkness; hence in Iran as in India they are +impure things. "Wherever cut hair and nails lie," says the book of the +law, "there the Daevas gather to these unholy places; there the impure +animals come, which men call lice. Therefore carry away--so saith +Auramazda--cut hair and nails, ten paces from the pure men, twenty from +the fire, thirty from the water, fifty from the sacred bundle of rods. +Dig a hole below the house in the earth, pronounce the prayer +Ahunavairya thrice, six times, nine times, and then say: To thee, O +bird, Asho-zusta, I show these nails. These nails I dedicate to thee; +may they be thy lances, thy swords, thy bow, thy swift-flying arrows, +thy sling-stones against the Mazanian Daevas. If these nails are not +announced to the bird Asho-zusta, they are weapons for, not against, the +Daevas."[361] Spittle is among the worst impurities. The priests could +only approach the fire with veiled mouth, and even now the Parsees +invariably cover the mouth in praying. They eat in silence, and two +never use the same spoon, because the food would then be polluted by +spittle. The removal of the excrements requires as much care in the +Avesta as it did in the Brahmanic law, and the Vendidad gives minute +regulations in regard to these matters.[362] A man is rendered impure by +excess and debauchery; a woman by her courses, "by marks and blood," and +by the birth of a child. She must be carried to an elevated place in the +dwelling, which is strewn with dry sand, fifteen paces from the fire, +from water, and the sacred bundle of rods, "at a distance also from the +trees," and so placed that she cannot see the fire on the hearth. No one +may touch her. Only a definite amount of certain kinds of food can be +given to her, and that in metal jars, because these contract the least +amount of impurity, and are most easily cleansed; the person who brings +the food must remain three paces distant from her bed. After childbirth +a woman is unclean for three days; then she must wash her body with +water and gomez. If she has had a miscarriage her body is also polluted +by the dead child: she must be placed thirty paces away from the fire +and the sacred objects of the house, and must pass a longer period on +her dust-bed--at the present time forty-one days are required. The first +thing she is allowed to taste is ashes mixed with gomez--three, six, and +then nine drops. The nine apertures of her body--that number is common +to the Indians and Iranians--must be washed with ashes and gomez. She +may not drink any water out of her impure hand; if she does so, she must +receive two hundred blows with the rod, and two hundred with the +whip.[363] Fire and water, springs, streams and rivers, the best gifts +of the good gods, must, like the human body, be carefully preserved from +all filth and defilement. The accounts of Western writers prove that the +Persians and Medes observed the rules of purification given in the Book +of the Law; it was not the custom among the Persians to spit in the +presence of another, still less to sneeze, etc. They avoided the +defilement of a river, or of the shadow of a man; and it was forbidden +to uncover in the sight of the sun or moon.[364] + +"The sun, the moon, the stars shine unwillingly," we are told in the +Vendidad, "on the polluted man."[365] "The impure takes away prosperity +and increase; he brings sickness and death; after death he will not go +into heaven."[366] "But whatever pollution a man has contracted, and +whatever sin he has committed, the good law quenches all impurity and +sin, if the purifications, expiations, and penalties which it +prescribes are performed and paid; for the good law of Auramazda +surpasses all others in greatness, goodness, and salvation, as far as +the heaven rises above the earth, and as the sea of Vourukasha includes +all other waters."[367] "The good law of Auramazda takes from the man +who praises it and commits no evil actions afterwards, his deception; it +takes away the murder of the pure man, and the burial of the dead; it +takes away inexpiable actions, and accumulated guilt; it takes away all +evil words, thoughts, and actions, even as the strong swift wind +purifies heaven from the right side."[368] + +Slight pollution is removed by washing with pure water accompanied by +certain prayers and imprecations on the Daevas, such as: "I contend with +thee, O evil Angromainyu; away from this dwelling, away from the fire, +the water, from this place, from all the blessings which Auramazda has +created. I contend against pollution, direct and indirect; against the +unclean spirits; I contend against the Daeva Andra, Caurva, Zairicha (p. +169); against the Pairika, who goes to the water, the earth, cattle, and +trees," etc.[369] More serious impurities require ablutions with gomez, +which in certain cases have to be repeated thirty times, with various +prayers.[370] The most efficacious purification, which removes even the +worst taint, is that of the nine nights. This can only be performed by a +priest, who knows the law accurately, can repeat the sacred word by +heart, and speaks the truth. A special place must be constructed for it; +thirty paces (which are equal to ninety times the length of the foot) +from the fire, the water, and the sacred bundle of rods. In the middle +of this space nine pits are dug in the earth, and round them twelve +furrows are drawn with a metal instrument. The purifier sprinkles the +person who requires cleansing (who is entirely naked) with gomez, from a +leaden vessel, with many prayers. He is then rubbed fifteen times with +earth; he must then wash himself at each of the nine pits once, twice, +thrice with water, after which he is fumigated with fragrant wood. Then +follow washings with water and gomez in the third, sixth, and ninth +night. "After this," says the book, "the purified person shall bring +water of purification to the fire, hard wood, and perfumes; he is to +utter praises to Auramazda, to the Amesha Cpentas, and to the rest of +the pure ones--so will the man be purified." The purifier must be +rewarded for this purification; according to the measure of the man's +property the payment rises from small cattle and cows to camels; "in +order that the purifier may go away contented and without hatred." +Instead of cattle, goods of another description can be given. "But if +the purifier goes away discontented, the wicked spirit of impurity comes +again into the purified persons, and they are impure for evermore."[371] + +In the view of the Avesta impurity consists essentially in that which is +opposed to life; hence there is no worse form of uncleanness than that +caused by the corpse. The body, as soon as the soul has left it, belongs +to Angromainyu. The fiend of death, the Druj Nacu, obtains possession of +it, and from it she springs on all who touch it, or come near it. If a +man dies, or a dog--and in this matter dogs are put quite on a level +with men--and other men and women are in the same house--two, five, +fifty, or a hundred--the Druj Nacu comes immediately from the north in +the form of a fly, and settles on all the inhabitants of the house and +makes them impure with infection, pollution, and uncleanness.[372] In +the first instance she is to be met by incantations--the Gathas, +Bisamruta, Thrisamruta, Chathrasamruta, must be repeated; then the fiend +falls to pieces like grass that has been dead a year.[373] After this +the hearth-fire must be removed from the house of the dead, and the +sacred utensils--the mortar, the cup, the sacred bundle of rods, and the +Haoma. In winter the fire can be kindled again upon the hearth after +nine nights; in summer, when the need for warmth and cooked food is less +pressing, after a month; any one who does not observe these periods is +to be punished with twice two hundred stripes.[374] After purification +the kinsmen are to utter prayers for the departed, and the number of +these is fixed, in the Vendidad, in the same fanciful manner which is so +often met with in the book of Manu. The number decreases according to +the degree of relationship; for the nearest kinsmen thirty prayers are +spoken; for the most remote, five; if the dead man has led an impure +life the number of prayers is doubled in order to give efficacy to the +petition.[375] + +The preservation and increase of life is the foundation of the teaching +of the Avesta. The good life of nature is promoted by planting and +agriculture, by tending the useful and destroying the pernicious +animals; and by posterity provision is to be made for the life of men. +From this point of view the Vendidad lays especial weight on marriage. +"I declare," Auramazda says, "that the married is before the unmarried, +and he that has a house before him that has none, and the father of +children before the childless."[376] We can only ascertain very +incompletely from the remaining fragments of the Avesta the rules which +it prescribed for family life. We see that bringing about a marriage was +regarded as a meritorious work, and marriage between close relations was +considered happy. Yet maidens are not to be given in marriage before +their fifteenth year.[377] To those who have long remained unmarried the +god Haoma, the special protector of life, sends truthful, active +husbands, gifted with good understanding (p. 125). We never hear of any +difference of the orders in contracting marriage; nor is there the least +hint that the priest can only marry a wife of priestly blood, or the +husbandman a wife of his own class. On the other hand, the strictest +directions are given that the worshippers of Auramazda are only to marry +among themselves; marriage with those of an alien religion is severely +reprobated. "A man who mingles the seed of the faithful and the +unbelievers, the seed of the worshippers of the Daevas with the +worshippers of Mazda, keeps back a third part of the flowing water, a +third part of the increase of the blooming plants, and their golden +fruits; he annihilates a third part of the clothing of Cpenta Armaiti +(the Earth); he robs the just men of a third part of their power, their +merits, their purity. They who do this are more destructive than forked +serpents, than howling wolves, than the she-wolf which rushes on the +flocks, than the thousand-fold brood of the lizard, which pollutes the +water."[378] The Vendidad gives the house-father a similar power over +his wife and children to that given in Manu's law--so far as we can +conclude from certain indications. He is to be spoken of with the same +reverence as the house-father on the Ganges; the wife is to be honoured, +but is to "be watched perpetually, like the fire of Auramazda."[379] +With regard to the education of children, we can only gather from the +Vendidad they were to be tended for seven years; "protect dogs for six +months, children for seven years;"[380] and boys are to be invested in +their fifteenth year with the sacred girdle.[381] We remember the sacred +girdle which the three upper castes wore and still wear beyond the +Ganges; the investiture with this, and adoption into the family and +caste--"the second birth" takes place, according to Manu's law, among +the Brahman boys in the eighth year, among the Kshatryas, in the +eleventh, and the Vaicyas in the twelfth. The habit of wearing the +girdle, which prevails on both sides of the Indus, proves that this +custom was in use before the two branches of the Arians separated. +Originally the girdle was intended to be a protection or amulet against +the evil spirits.[382] In the girdle which the priests prepare with +traditional ceremonies, and put on boys in their seventh or tenth year, +the modern Parsees see the bond which encloses and unites the +worshippers of Auramazda. + +If I attempt to supplement the scanty hints of the Avesta on family life +from the accounts preserved to us on this subject by Western writers, it +must be remembered that the more ancient of these statements hold good +only of the West of Iran. But as we have hitherto found the worship and +manners of the Persians and Medes, as described by the Greeks, agreeing +with the rules of the Avesta, we may suppose that in this province also +East and West were in agreement. Herodotus states that the Persians +married many wives, and had concubines in addition. They considered it +honourable and right to have as many children as possible; next to +bravery in war it was the greatest merit to have many children, and the +king sent presents every year to the man who had most.[383] Of all days +the Persians celebrated most the day on which they were born. A more +abundant meal was served on this day: among the wealthy an ox, a horse, +or a camel was roasted whole; and smaller animals among those who were +poorer. Plato adds: "When the first son, the heir of the kingdom, was +born to the king of Persia, all the subjects of the king celebrated the +day, and on the birthday of the king there were festivals and sacrifices +throughout all Asia."[384] Herodotus observes, that the respect of +children for their parents was great. The Persians regarded the murder +of parents by a son as impossible; if such a thing happened they +believed that the child was supposititious.[385] Aristotle tells us that +the power of the father over the sons among the Persians was tyrannical, +_i.e._ unlimited; he treated them as slaves.[386] That the mother was +also treated with respect follows from the statement that the son might +not remain seated when the mother entered, and could only resume his +seat at her permission. At the court of the Achaemenids the mother of the +king had the first place, the king the second.[387] That the +queen-mother often exercised great influence is shown by the history of +this ruling family. Of the careful education of the heir to the throne, +the other princes, and the sons of the wealthy Persians, both in the +exercise and strengthening of their bodies and in moral training, the +Western writers had much to tell. + +What the Greeks narrate respecting the celebration of the birthday among +the Persians, the distinction of the satraps whose provinces were best +cultivated and populated, and the rewards given to those who had most +children, agrees entirely with the delight in life which runs through +the Avesta, and the exhortations to increase life everywhere present in +that book. The Avesta always speaks of one wife only. The polygamy +noticed by the Greeks was limited to the rich (the number of wives among +the Persians, says Ammian, was regulated by property[388]); in +consequence of the religious feeling just noticed, it prevailed, no +doubt, far more extensively among the Arians of Iran than among the +Indians. Yet the harems of the Indian princes were large. However +numerous the harems of the Achaemenids, only one wife was the lawful +wife; and she alone, as in India, bore the name of queen: only her sons +could be considered heirs to the throne. The other wives greeted the +queen on their knees: the queen must belong to the race of the +Achaemenids, or at any rate to one of the six tribal princes.[389] The +same was the case among the rest of the Persians who had several wives; +one only was the house-wife. The Avesta told us above that the wife must +be watched. According to Plutarch the Persians were more strict in this +matter than the rest of the barbarians; they kept not only the wife but +the concubines shut up, and they left the houses in covered cars +only.[390] Manu's law also requires that women should be watched (IV. +263). The power of the father, and the respectful attitude of the +children to the mother, correspond to the principles of family life +which we have seen beyond the Indus. Yet, so far as we can see, marriage +was not in Iran so close and firmly established a relation as among the +Arians of India, where the wife belonged absolutely to the man, and +surrendered herself in complete devotion to him; nor did the relation of +children to parents in Iran experience that excellent and happy +development which on the whole attended it in India, and of which we can +still perceive the results. If Western writers maintain that it was the +custom among the Persians to take the nearest relations in marriage, so +that even the brother married the sister (of which Herodotus gives an +example in Cambyses) and the son the mother after the father's death +(the latter is said to have prevailed especially among the +Magi)[391]--the Avesta, as we have seen, declared marriages between near +relations to be good, and the history of the Achaemenids mentions +marriage with sisters more than once. The more extreme assertions, +especially in regard to the Magi, are to be regarded as exaggerations of +the Greeks, and owed their origin to their astonishment at a custom +which was more than revolting. On the relation of the sexes both before +and after marriage, and other matters connected with procreation, the +Vendidad supplies a number of minute regulations.[392] + +The preservation of life also receives great attention in the Avesta. We +remember the incantations of the Rigveda which banish sickness into +thrushes and woodpeckers, and the sentences of the Atharvaveda against +sickness and death (IV. 281). The remedies of the Veda are water and +plants. All remedies are in water; the waters of the springs and the +waters of the rivers drive away sickness. The plants said, when they +came from heaven, that they descended from the water of the sky. "The +mortal whom we touch will suffer no harm." "May Agni protect me with the +waters, and Soma with the plants," we are told in the Veda; and again: +"The plants whose king is Soma, have rescued me from death."[393] The +priest who knows the sentences is at the same time the physician, though +the Rigveda has a separate name for the latter (IV. 35). How highly the +Indians respected doctors and physicians at a later time, in spite of +the theory of the Brahmans of the unworthiness of the body, and how it +was the custom there in the sixth century B.C. to send for the physician +in every sickness, has been mentioned in its place (IV. 323). Proceeding +from precisely the same conceptions, the Avesta went on to fill several +books with medical remedies. The best mode of healing is that by charms, +and the sacred word. In such incantations of the Avesta we are told: "I +contend against sickness, I contend against death, I contend against +pain, I contend against fever, I contend against the corruption and +pollution which Angromainyu has created in the body of men. Sickness, I +curse thee; fever, I curse thee; death, I curse thee."[394] The sacred +word is invoked to heal by its power. "Mayst thou heal me, O Manthra +Cpenta. As a recompense I will give to thee a thousand stall-fed oxen, a +thousand spotless cattle, a thousand swiftly-running horses, a thousand +camels, swift and with strong backs. I will bless thee with beautiful, +pious blessings; with dear, pious blessings, which make the deficient +full, and the full to overflow, which bind the friend and make the bond +firm."[395] As in the Veda, the remedies are water and plants, "Draw up, +ye clouds, draw up," we are told in the Vendidad; "Let the water fall as +thousand-fold, ten thousand-fold rain, to drive away sickness, to drive +away corruption, to drive away death. May it rain for the renewal of the +waters, the earth, the plants, the means of healing."[396] As in the +Veda Soma is the king of plants, so in Iran Haoma, the god of life, is +the lord of plants.[397] The white heavenly Haoma grows, as we have +seen, on the Gaokerena, the tree of heaven; from it springs the earthly +Haoma and all plants of which the seed falls from the tree Vicpotaokhma +in Vourukasha, which the bird Chamru carries where Tistrya collects the +clouds, in order to let the seed fall down from them to the earth.[398] +"I, who am the giver of all blessings," says Auramazda, "created this +dwelling (the earth), the beautiful, brilliant, and noteworthy; then +Angromainyu, who is full of death, created nine diseases, ninety +diseases, nine hundred diseases, nine thousand diseases, nine and ninety +thousand diseases. Thrita desired as a favour a means to withstand +death, to withstand pain, to withstand the heat of fever, and the evil +corruptions and filth which Angromainyu has brought into the body of +men. Then I, who am Auramazda, brought forth the healing plants, many +hundreds, many thousands, many tens of thousands, around the one +Gaokerena." The invocation then follows: "We bless thee, we invoke thee, +we worship thee for the healing of the body of men, in order to drive +away sickness, in order to drive away death, the hot fever and the cold +fever."[399] + +Thrita, a spirit of heaven, who has a place among the sages and +sacrificers of old time (p. 42) was, in the Avesta, the first physician +who kept back disease and death; and every one who follows in his +course, every physician, must appear as a willing combatant, an active +co-operator against the evil spirits, from whom death and disease +proceed. According to the Vendidad, those have the first place among the +physicians who heal by charms, _i.e._ by the sacred word, the words of +the law; these are the "physicians of physicians;" next come the +physicians who heal by remedies; and last of all, those who heal by the +knife.[400] These latter must first use the knife on the worshippers of +the Daevas; when they have done so three times, and the patient has died +each time, they are incapable for ever of practising the art of healing. +But if they have healed three worshippers of the Daevas, they are +capable of "healing the worshippers of Auramazda, and they can try their +skill upon them as they please." The physician is not only to heal sick +men, but sick animals also, and above all the sick dog. The Vendidad +fixes the sum which the physician is to receive for his services. He is +to heal a priest, and ask for no more than his blessing. For healing the +overseer of a district he is to receive a yoke of four oxen, and for his +wife a she-camel; the overseer of a canton is to pay a large beast of +draught, and his wife a mare; the head of a village pays a smaller +beast, and his wife a cow; the head of a house a small beast, and his +wife a she-ass. For healing a large beast of draught the price is a +beast of moderate size; and for one of moderate size, a head of small +cattle, etc.[401] Pliny quotes a number of remedies and means of cure +used by the Magi, some of them of an extraordinary character; indeed, +the impression made on Pliny by the importance ascribed to medicine in +the doctrine of Zarathrustra was so great, that he maintained that the +Magism of Zoroaster had arisen out of the art of healing, and had +introduced, as it were, a higher and sacred medicine. To this was +subsequently added the power of religion, and the mathematical arts of +investigating the future by the heavens, so that Zoroaster's doctrine +had taken possession of the mind of men by a three-fold bond.[402] How +greatly he is mistaken in ascribing to the Magians the astrology of the +Chaldaeans, has been remarked above; the mistake is explained by the +fact, that the Avesta includes the astronomical knowledge of the priests +of Iran in the books which treated of medicine (p. 52). + +The astronomical chapters are lost as well as those on medicine. From +our fragments we cannot so much as fix the year by which the Avesta +reckons. We merely perceive that it counted by nights, not by days. It +is from the Bundehesh that we first learn that the year of Eastern Iran +is made up of 360 days in twelve months of thirty days, with five +additional days. This year is said to have begun with the vernal +equinox, _i.e._ the period when the vigour of nature again shows itself. +In the last five nights of the old year, and the first five nights of +the new one, the spirits of the forefathers, the Fravashis, come to +their descendants in the houses; they awake with nature to new life (p. +179). The first month is called Farvardin after these spirits; of the +remaining eleven, six are called after the Amesha Cpentas, and the +remaining five, which are inserted between the six, after Mithra, +Tistrya, the spirits of fire and water, and lastly after the law (Din). +The inscriptions of the Achaemenids give us nine names of months entirely +different from these. Hence the West had its own calendar, as well as +its own alphabet, and made use of it as early as the year 500 B.C. In +the East the calendar of the Avesta was in use; and this seems to have +been current in the West also in the first half of the fourth century +B.C. There is no doubt whatever that it was the standard for all Iran at +the time of the Sassanids.[403] + +We have already set forth in detail what weight the Avesta lays on +purity, and the avoidance of contact with dead matter, which has fallen +into the power of the Daevas. From these points of view, in consequence +of the reform, the priests in Iran came to adopt a peculiar mode of +burial. Among the Arians of the Panjab the oldest form of burial was +interment, and in time cremation came into use (IV. 62). But could the +Athravas allow anything so unclean as a corpse to be laid on fire, the +pure "son of Auramazda"? If the corpse was thrown into water the pure +water was defiled; if buried in the earth pollution was cast on the +beautiful, submissive daughter of Auramazda. Nothing therefore remained +for the priests but to leave the corpse above the earth; in this case it +served the pure animals, the birds and dogs, for nourishment, and was +thus destroyed in the best manner. To throw a corpse into water, to bury +or burn it, are great sins, actions which do not admit of +expiation,[404] and those who do such things "help the drought which +destroys the pasture, and the evil onsweeping winter, which kills the +flock, and is full of snow; such men are impure for ever."[405] Any one +who buries a dead dog or a dead man in the earth, and does not dig the +body up again within half a year, is to receive twice five hundred +stripes; any one who allows it to remain in the earth for a year, is to +receive twice a thousand stripes; but if a man leaves a corpse in the +earth for more than two years, there is for him neither penalty, nor +expiation, nor purification.[406] + +The dead are to be carried away on peculiarly dry paths, little trodden +by cattle, beasts of draught, and pure men, and laid on the driest and +barest places in the earth, on the highest eminences where carnivorous +birds and dogs may most easily see them.[407] The soil is to be dug out, +waist deep, if the earth is soft; if hard, to the depth of half a foot, +and this depression is to be filled with tiles, stones, and dust; for +damp earth contracts pollution most readily, whereas stones, tiles, and +dust contract it very slowly. To this place (Dakhma) the naked corpse is +to be taken on a bier, which has a foundation of stones or tiles, by +two strong men--never by one: one bearer would pollute himself for ever, +and the Druj Nacu would never leave him. Any one who throws a cloth on +the dead must be punished with twice four hundred, or twice a thousand +stripes, according to the size of the cloth. The corpse is to be placed +on the Dakhma, with the face turned to the sun (any one who does not +place the body with its face to the sun, is to pay the same penalty as +is prescribed for the murder of a pure man[408]): the corpse is then to +be secured in its place by iron, stones, or lead, attached to the feet +or hair, in order that the birds and dogs may not carry away the bones +and remains to water and trees: the neglect of these fastenings is to be +punished with twice two hundred stripes.[409] If it rains or snows, or +the wind is strong, so that the necessary preparations cannot be made on +the day of death, the corpse can be carried on its own bed and mat to +the Dakhma.[410] + +At these burial-places the Daevas hold their meetings; there they +propagate and assemble, "in order to bring to death, fifty, a hundred, a +thousand, ten thousand, an innumerable host of men;" there the Daevas +are most dangerous and deadly to men: for in the places of burial are +"infection, disease, fever, impurity, ague, trembling, and old hair." A +Dakhma is not pure till the body has been eaten by dogs and birds, till +the remains have entirely changed into dust, and become utterly mixed up +with the foundation of mortar, tiles, and stones. When this point has +been reached, the Dakhma should be levelled. Such destruction of the +place of burial is regarded by the law-book as the annihilation of death +itself; as one of the highest virtues of the faithful. "He who levels +only so much as the size of his own body of a burial-place," says the +book of the law, "has repented of all his sins which he has committed in +thought, speech, and action; he has not only repented of them, but he +has expiated them, and the two heavenly powers will not begin a contest +about his entrance into paradise."[411] + +The prescriptions of the law for the purification of the vessels and +clothes which have touched the corpse, are given from regard to utility, +and from the point of view of a certain simple rationalism, which forms +an advantageous contrast between Iran and India. Vessels of lead, wood, +and earth, are impure for ever; vessels of gold and silver can be taken +into use again after a number of washings with gomez. Garments on which +spittle, moisture, or dung have fallen are to be cut in pieces and +buried; in other cases they can be purified with gomez, water, and +earth, and aired, and then again taken into use for women at the time of +impurity. The house of the dead is pure when the period for the +extinction of the fire is over, when the prayers appointed for the dead +have been said, and the inhabitants of the house have had their bodies +and clothes washed three times, and the sacred hymns have been sung (p. +215). + +For the bearers, who have carried a corpse to the Dakhma, and those who +in any way have come into contact with a corpse, special forms of +purification are necessary. The washing of the bearers must be begun +immediately after the corpse has been deposited. For this purpose the +gomez of the nearest male and female relation of the dead is required as +well as that of "cattle and beasts of draught." At the last washing the +Druj Nacu springs out of the forehead between the eyebrows, from thence +to the shoulders and under the arms, until at length by continued +ablutions she is driven into the left toes, and is compelled to pass +away from there to the north in the form of a fly.[412] In order to +purify the way on which the dead has been carried to the Dakhma, a dog +must be led along it, three times, six times, and nine times. Then a +priest must walk along it, who pronounces the "victorious words," _i.e._ +certain exorcisms. "I drive back the Daevi Druj, so that she flies to +the North. Avaunt! She must not slay the corporeal world of the pure. +May Auramazda and Cpenta Armaiti protect us from our enemies; may +Craosha come, and Vohumano."[413] The worst of all forms of pollution is +that contracted by touching a corpse in a distant place in solitude, for +here the power of the demon was greatest. Any one to whom this has +happened, is to wash himself fifteen times with water, and rub himself +an equal number of times with earth, to hurry away from the spot, and +call out to every one whom he meets: "I have touched a dead body, +without wishing it in thought, word, or deed; my desire is +purification." Every one is to avoid him unless he wishes to bring on +himself the guilt of the impure man.[414] + +Pools and streams are polluted by corpses till the corpses have been +removed and rain has thrice fallen upon the water; after this cattle and +men can again drink of the water. So long as the corpse lies in a river, +the fiend of death extends over nine paces above and three paces below +it, and six paces on either side; in a pool the domain of the fiend is +six paces in every direction; in snow and ice-water it is three paces. +When Zarathrustra asks, whether the water which falls from heaven on the +corpse is impure, the god answers, "I, Auramazda, allow the water to go +forth from Lake Vourukasha, with storms and clouds, and to fall on a +corpse; I, Auramazda, and to flow upon a burial-place, and upon a +dung-heap, and carry away a bone, and wash all into Lake Puitika (the +pool of purification in heaven). When purified the waters flow from Lake +Puitika into Lake Vourukasha. I, Auramazda, rain down herbs of all +kinds, to be food for the pious men, food for the useful cattle. With +such speeches Auramazda appeased the just Zarathrustra."[415] +Zarathrustra further inquires, whether corpses which have been carried +by dogs, wolves, and panthers to a field make the field and men impure? +Auramazda, as frequently happens in such cases, argues from the point of +view of the possible and attainable. "If such corpses," says the god, +"rendered men impure, all mankind would quickly be rendered impure owing +to the multitude of the corpses which are upon the earth." But +Zarathrustra is not satisfied; he says: "A man dies in the hollow of a +valley; from the heights of the mountains a bird flies down to the +valley, and then back to the summit of a mountain, and alights on a tree +of hard or soft wood. There he is sick and voids excrements. Then a man +goes up from the valley to the summit of the mountain, and comes to the +tree, on which the bird has sat, and seeks fuel for his fire. He cuts +the tree down, splits it up, and kindles a fire with it. What is his +penalty?" Auramazda again replies that nothing carried away by wolves, +dogs, birds, flies, or winds pollutes men. But now it occurs to +Zarathrustra, or rather to the priests who have written these things +down, whether the animals which have eaten the corpses are not impure. +This difficulty Auramazda solves by declaring the animals pure; but no +flesh of such animals is to be eaten within a year, or offered for +sacrifice.[416] + +With the exception of Herodotus, Strabo, and Agathias, the Western +writers give us only very exaggerated accounts of the peculiar mode of +burial in use among the Persians. Herodotus has already told us that the +corpses of the Magians were exposed to dogs and birds; with regard to +the corpses of the rest he had no accurate knowledge, for a mystery was +made of the matter.[417] Onesicritus relates that those Bactrians, who +were weakened by disease and age, were thrown to dogs brought up for the +purpose and called buriers of the dead; and Strabo says that among the +Caspians, parents, when they had reached seventy years of age, were shut +up by their children, and so killed by starvation;[418] though he also +observes that the Magians gave over the corpses to birds.[419] Cicero +narrates that it was not the custom of the Magians to bury the corpses +of their dead before they had been torn by wild animals: in Hyrcania a +peculiar kind of dog was reared--by the lower classes in common; of the +wealthier men each had his own--by which they might be torn after death, +and this was considered the best kind of burial.[420] From Eusebius we +hear that the Medes gave the dying to carefully-reared dogs; the +Hyrcanians and Caspians those who were still alive; the Bactrians the +old; others the dead.[421] Agathias, on the other hand, tells us, that +the dead among the Persians were carried out before the gates of the +cities naked and without a coffin, and eaten by dogs, so that the bones +lay about in the fields. If any man's corpse was not at once eaten, the +Persians believed that he had been of an unholy mind, that his soul was +unjust and wicked, and so had come into the power of the evil spirits, +and would be carried into hell. Such men were lamented by their friends, +because they had no part in the better lot. Those who were most quickly +eaten up, the Persians praised as fortunate; they called their souls the +best, and like the gods, and said of them that they had gone into the +good land.[422] + +The Greeks maintained that the Achaemenids were buried at Pasargadae and +Persepolis, and that the corpse of Cyrus rested at Pasargadae.[423] Of +Darius we are told that even in his lifetime he caused his tomb to be +prepared on the summit of a mountain. The corpses of Artaxerxes I. of +Damaspia, and of his son Xerxes, were buried, according to Ctesias, in +Persia.[424] The last Darius was buried by Alexander in the royal +sepulchre, when he had already given the honours of burial to the +Persian queen Statera.[425] Diodorus tells us that these tombs were on +the eastern side of the citadel of Persepolis, at a distance of four +hundred feet, in the "royal mountain." The rock was hewn out, and +contained several chambers. But these tombs had no entrance; the corpses +were drawn up by machines to the summit, and so laid in them.[426] + +The burial-places of the rulers of ancient Persia can still be +recognised. Some hundred paces to the east of the remains of the royal +palace at Persepolis, towards the rising of the sun, precisely as +Diodorus describes the place, are three stone pictures in Mount Rachmed. +Sculptures which begin three hundred feet above the ground on the +perpendicular front of the mountain form three high facades, with +pillars, which present a gateway with woodwork, supporting a large +canopy, on which are seen several rows of dogs; the same animals are to +be seen on the lower lines of ornamentation. Within this framework are +the pictures of the buried sovereigns. In the left hand is the bow +without a string; the right is raised in an attitude of prayer, and the +figures are standing before an altar of burning fire. The king is +supported on a foundation upheld by the arms of several rows of men, who +represent the conquered lands. Two leagues to the north of Persepolis +are four great sculptures, now called Naksh-i-Rustem, _i.e._ pictures of +Rustem, of a similar kind, but beginning only sixty or seventy feet from +the ground, deeply cut in the perpendicular wall of two hundred feet in +length. Three of these pictures are close together; the fourth is on a +spur of the rock, at right angles to the other three. The centre of the +three marks the tomb of Darius, the son of Hystaspes. It is the only one +among the seven monuments which has inscriptions.[427] + +The corpses of the princes might have been exposed to the sun, the dogs, +and birds on the summit above these pictures. In that case they would +merely mark the place of exposure, and these rocks would be +burial-places like those of the modern Parsees in Bombay. But behind the +sculptures, though not accessible from them, sepulchral chambers have +been discovered. From this, and from the description which the Greeks +give us of the tomb of Cyrus, we must draw the conclusion that the +Persian custom of burial did not agree with the rule of the Avesta--with +the exception of the priests, whose corpses, as Herodotus expressly +states, were exposed. The Vendidad laments that in certain districts of +the East, Arachosia and Chakhra, the dead were burned, or buried.[428] +Under the Sassanids exposure was strictly observed both in the East and +West, as is clear from the account of Agathias already quoted, and all +the statements which relate to this later period. + +The regulations of the book of the law with regard to the burial of +corpses and the places of exposure are still strictly observed by the +Parsees. Great care is taken at the erection of a Dakhma that the +rain-water can run off from the bier of the corpse. At the last moment a +dog is brought into the presence of the dying person, so that its eye +may be directed on him; and when a woman with child dies two dogs are +brought, because two lives are in question. The eye of the dog has the +power to keep the evil spirits at a distance. But every one must remain +at nine paces distance from the dying person. After death the two +corpse-bearers at once strip the body--their hands are protected from +immediate contact by napkins made of old clothes--and carry it on a bier +of iron--for metal contracts less pollution than wood--accompanied by +the prayers of the priests, to the place of burial. The kinspeople +follow the corpse in silence to within ninety paces of the Dakhma. For +the first three nights the priests and kinsmen repeat continually the +prescribed prayers for the soul of the dead; in the third night the +decision is made at the bridge of Chinvat (p. 178). The burial-places of +the Parsees at Bombay are situated on a mountain on the coast, on the +summit of which several hollows have been cut. From a distance the +relatives look eagerly to this summit, to see whether the vultures are +already attacking the corpse, and which part of it they first consume. +For the first year after death a prayer is said daily before meals for +the soul of the dead to the Fravashis of the pure,[429] and a service is +held on the day of the month on which the death took place. In the years +that follow, on the fourth, tenth, and thirtieth day of each month, as +the book prescribes, but above all on the festival of all souls--_i.e._ +on the feast of the ten nights during which the Fravashis come down (p. +224)--prayers are said for the dead. + +It is hardly possible to ascertain the arrangement and life of the state +from the very scanty and obscure traits in the existing fragments of the +law. We have no rules on the rights and duties of the monarchy, though +these were included in the Avesta, if we may trust the list of +contents.[430] But the splendour of majesty as it dwelt with the rulers +of old time, with Yima, Thraetaona, and Kerecacpa, and was imparted to +Cyavarshana and Vistacpa, is brought strongly into prominence; and among +the Amesha Cpentas we found the spirit of good order, of good +government. Of the position of the orders so much only is clear--that +the priests claimed precedence over the warriors and husbandmen; that +the Avesta allows them certain privileges of moderate extent (p. 187); +and that the priestly families did not form exclusive castes, though the +priestly functions were hereditary in them. Still less can we learn of +the families of the warriors. We do not hear that they enjoyed a +favoured position; they are merely mentioned before the husbandmen; and +the Vendidad also gives us some information about their armour. It +should consist of a coat of mail and helmet, a girdle and greaves, a bow +with thirty arrows, a sling with thirty stones, a sword, a club, and a +lance.[431] Under the Achaemenids there were rich families in Bactria and +Sogdiana, in which we may no doubt venture to find descendants of the +old military families, enjoying an influential position in politics; +under the Sassanids the knightly nobility of Iran comes plainly to the +front. The Avesta speaks of great and intermediate houses, of important +and unimportant inhabitants of the villages. We also read of rich and +poor, men who have property and beggars; and mention is made of +tradespeople and slaves. The Avesta rises from the lord of the house to +the lord of the village or community (_vic_), then to the lord of the +tribe or canton (_zantu_) and to the lord of the province (_danhu_); an +arrangement which corresponds to the Indian government as fixed by +Manu's regulations. When Alexander of Macedon forced his way to Bactria +and Sogdiana, he met with resistance from the native overseers of +cantons or chieftains, whom he had summoned to Zariaspa, "the largest +city" in Bactria (p. 12).[432] When the castles of the most powerful had +been taken, and their lords had submitted, he sought to gain them by +marrying their daughters to the captains of his army, while he himself +took to wife the daughter of the Bactrian Oxyartes. + +The protection of property is obviously a matter of great importance in +the Avesta. The utility of dogs is frequently mentioned, which protect +flocks and villages from thieves and wolves. Theft is looked on as +especially wicked, because the thief leads a roving life, eats raw and +unprepared food, and carries on his evil work in the darkness.[433] In +regard to contracts the Vendidad distinguishes six kinds, according as +they are concluded by word, by the pledge of hands, and are concerned +with the value of a head of small cattle, a beast of draught, a man +(_i.e._ a slave), and a piece of land. Anyone who violates the first +kind is to receive 300 blows with the rod, and 300 with the whip, and +the punishment increases in the violation of the other kinds up to 1000 +stripes with both instruments.[434] To check injury of the person the +Vendidad lays down the rule, that anyone who lifts up his weapon against +a man without beating him, is to receive twice five stripes the first +time, and twice two hundred on the seventh occasion of committing the +offence, if he has not expiated the preceding six offences; if he has +expiated them, the measure of the first offence is dealt out on each +occasion. Anyone who attacks another not in anger but with malice, is to +be punished with twice fifteen, and on the sixth occasion with 200 +stripes, in case he has not expiated the former offences. Anyone who +inflicts a wound on another, is punished the first time with twice +thirty, the fifth time with twice two hundred stripes. The same +punishment is inflicted on a man who breaks the bones of another, if he +does not expiate the offence. If the wound proves fatal, he is to be +punished with twice ninety stripes, and on a second offence with twice +two hundred.[435] + +We have but few indications in the Avesta from which to draw conclusions +as to the state of civilisation. The amounts to be paid to the purifier +and the physician are given in animals; the series of contracts is +determined according to the value of small cattle, beasts of draught, +slaves, and landed property. But other property may be given in place of +the animals; we find mention of money (_shaeta_),[436] and, as has been +observed, of tradespeople; of mats and carpets, vessels of earth, +silver, and gold, rich garments, palaces with pillars and turrets, ovens +for smelting and for glass. The art of the physician cannot have been in +a primitive stage, when so much space is devoted to remedies (p. 223), +and the physicians who heal with the knife are designated as a separate +class. So far as I can see, the Avesta betrays a state of civilisation, +which, beginning from the pastoral condition, has remained in close +connection with cattle-breeding and agriculture, but has also reached a +more advanced stage. The unions of the tribes seem dissolved, and +neither the previous importance of the warlike families nor their +present position is brought prominently forward. This, no less than the +liberal imposition of bodily punishment, shows that long before the +dominion of the Achaemenids, the East of Iran must have been in the hands +of princes who ruled with despotic power. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[342] "Mihr Yasht," 38, 116, 117. + +[343] "Vend." 1, 18, 20; 18, 22-32. + +[344] Herod. 1, 136; Plato, "Alcib. I." p. 122; Xen. "Cyri instit." 8, +8, 2; Diod. 16, 43. + +[345] "Vend." 18, 35-42; 53-57. + +[346] "Vend." 3, 105 ff. + +[347] _Loc. cit._ 3, 1-20. + +[348] Herod. 7, 31. + +[349] "Oeconom." 4, 13 ff. + +[350] Ibid. 4, 20-24. + +[351] Ibid. 4, 8-12; "Cyri instit." 8, 6, 16. + +[352] Darmesteter, "Haurvatat et Ameretat," p. 64 ff. + +[353] "Vend." 13, 125-162. + +[354] "Vend." 15, 2, 3, 4. + +[355] "Vend." 15, 5, 20, 21, according to Goldner's translation. [Cf. +Darmesteter.] + +[356] "Vend." 13, 97-105. + +[357] "Vend." 13, 26-47. + +[358] It is not certain whether the _udra_ of the Vendidad is the +water-dog (spaniel?) or the otter. + +[359] "Vend." 13, 169-174; 14, 4-75. + +[360] Agath. 2, 24. + +[361] "Vend." Farg. 17. + +[362] "Wer den Urin mit vorgestrecktem Fusse laesst macht die Drudsch +schwanger," so dass sie neue Unholde gebaeren. + +[363] "Vend." 5, 45-55, 136-157; 7, 158-182. + +[364] Herod. 1, 133; Xen. "Cyri instit." 1, 2, 16; 8, 9, 11; Plin. "H. +N." 28, 19. + +[365] "Vend." 9, 161. + +[366] "Vend." 9, 187. + +[367] "Vend." 5, 23-25. + +[368] "Vend." 3, 140-147; 8, 87. + +[369] "Vend." 10, 11, 12, 17, 18, 26-28. + +[370] "Vend." 8, 275, 276. + +[371] "Vend." 9, 119-158; 19, 69-80. + +[372] "Vend." 5, 83-108; 7, 4 ff. + +[373] "Vend." 9, 168-171; Farg. 10. + +[374] "Vend." 5, 124-135. + +[375] "Vend." 12, 1-59. + +[376] "Vend." 4, 130-133. + +[377] "Vend." 14, 64-66. + +[378] "Vend." 18, 123-133, after Harlez' translation. [Cf. Darmesteter.] + +[379] "Vend." 15, 126. + +[380] "Vend." 15, 125. + +[381] "Vend." 18, 115. + +[382] "Vend." 18, 23. + +[383] Herod. 1, 135, 136. + +[384] Plato, "Aloib. I."; p. 121. + +[385] Herod. 1, 137. + +[386] "Ethic. Nicom." 8, 10, ed. Zell. + +[387] Curt. 5, 9; Plut. "Artax." c. 5. + +[388] Ammian, 23, 6. + +[389] Herod. 3, 70, 88; Dinon. fragm. 17, ed. Mueller; Ctes. "Pers. Ecl." +44. + +[390] Plut. "Themist." c. 26. + +[391] Herod. 3, 31; Diogen. Laert. Prooem. 6; Plut. "Artax." c. 26; +Ctes. "Pers. Ecl." 44; Agathias, 2, 23; Heracl. Cum. fragm. 7 ed. +Mueller. + +[392] The regulations respecting sexual intercourse, abortion, etc., +which here follow in the German text will be found in "Vend." 16, 33-40; +18, 100-122, 136, 152; _ib._ 15, 9-17, 60; 18, 115; _ib._ 18, 115-119; +_ib._ 8, 74-82; _ib._ 8, 96-106. + +[393] "Rigveda," 10, 97, 17; "Atharvaveda," 2, 10, 2; 8, 1, 18 in +Darmesteter _loc. cit._ 73, 76. + +[394] "Vend." 20, 19, 25. + +[395] "Vend." 22, 7-38. + +[396] "Vend." 21, 3-19. + +[397] Justi, "Bundehesh," c. 24. + +[398] West, "Mainyo-i-Khard," c. 62. Above, p. 172. + +[399] "Vend." 20, 11-20. + +[400] "Vend." 7, 118, 121. + +[401] "Vend." 7, 105, 117. + +[402] "H. N." 30, 1. + +[403] Von Gutschmid ("Das iranische Wandeljahr, Berichte der K. +Saechsischen Gesellschaft der Wiss." 1862) places the establishment of +the cycle, by which, in order to bring the year of 365 days into +agreement with the natural time, a month was inserted every 120 years, +and consequently the introduction of the East Iranian calendar into the +whole kingdom, in the year 411, or between 428 and 381 B.C. That the +beginning of the year was universally placed in the spring after the +introduction of this calendar, and fixed between March and the middle of +June, would follow from the importance of the Farvardin festival, even +if it were not sufficiently vouched for by other evidence. The Bundehesh +(c. 25) speaks of the year as fixed, inasmuch as it reckons the +shortening of the days from a certain day in the month of Tir, and puts +the shortest day on the 20th of the month of Din, yet it adds that the +priests reckoned on this basis, and that the lunar year did not +correspond to the year thus calculated. The Cappadocian names for the +months are those of the East Iranian calendar; and the Cappadocians +cannot have obtained these till the calendar was current throughout the +whole kingdom of the Achaemenids. On this ground also Von Gutschmid's +dates do not seem to be too high. + +[404] "Vend." 1, 48; 6, 6 and _loc. cit._ + +[405] "Vend." 7, 65-71. + +[406] "Vend." 3, 122-136. + +[407] "Vend." 6, 93-95; 8, 13; 3, 50-54. + +[408] "Vend." 5, 13, 14, 47, 48. + +[409] "Vend." 6, 98 ff. + +[410] "Vend." 6, 106. + +[411] "Vend." 7, 126-147. + +[412] "Vend." 8, 34-36; 130-228. + +[413] "Vend." 8, 38-64. + +[414] "Vend." 8, 271-310; 9, 164-166. + +[415] "Vend." 5, 15-21, according to Geldner's rendering. + +[416] "Vend." 5, 1-22; 7, 189-191. + +[417] Herod. 1, 140; 3, 16. + +[418] Strabo, p. 517. + +[419] Strabo, p. 735. Cf. p. 520. + +[420] "Quaest. Tuscul." 1, 45. + +[421] Euseb. "Praep. Evang." p. 277. + +[422] Agath. 2, 23. + +[423] Diod. 17, 71; Arrian, "Anab." 3, 22; 6, 29. + +[424] Ctes. "Pers. Ecl." 44, 46; Strabo, p. 730. + +[425] Arrian, l. c.; Justin, 11, 15; Aelian, "Var. Hist." 6, 8; Plut. +"Alex." c. 30. + +[426] Diod. 17, 71; cf. Ctes. "Pers. Ecl." 15. + +[427] K. Niebuhr, "Reise," 2, 150 ff. + +[428] "Vend." 1, 46, 48, 60, 64; cf. above, p. 137, 138. + +[429] "Yacna," 26. + +[430] Above, p. 52. The Mainyo-i-Khard contains some rules on the duties +of the king. The prince is to defend the city and land against enemies +and risings, to respect water and fire, to keep at a distance bad laws +and customs, and promote the worship of Auramazda, and good works, and +to bring back to the right way those who have left it. A king of this +kind is like the Yazatas and Amesha Cpentas: c. 15, 20, 33, 68, ed. +West. + +[431] "Vend." 14, 32-40. + +[432] Arrian, "Anab." 4, 1, 5. + +[433] "Vend." 13, 143-145. + +[434] "Vend." 4, 4-53 according to Harlez. + +[435] "Vend." 4, 54-113. Even after all that has been advanced by De +Harlez, "Avesta," p. 101, I cannot convince myself that the stripes +appointed here and elsewhere in the Vendidad are to fall, not on the +guilty, but on animals of Angromainyu. If animals are to be killed, we +are told so expressly in the Vendidad, and this duty is often mentioned +along with the stripes (p. 209). To kill twice 90 or 200 flies or +lizards is no equivalent for murdering a man. I allow that no one could +endure blows by thousands, if they were given in earnest, yet in running +a "muck" five and six hundred very severe blows have been endured. In my +opinion the punishments of the Avesta are not intended for legal +penalties; they mark what was needed, in the opinion of the priests, to +expel the evil disposition, which could recur again and again. + +[436] "Vend." 4, 120; "Astad Yasht," 1; Justi, "Handbuch," _sub. voc._ + + + + +CHAPTER X. + +THE LATER DEVELOPMENT OF EASTERN IRAN. + + +Of the tribes of the Arians occupying the table-land called by their +name, those which had their habitations on the northern slope of the +Hindu Kush, in the valleys of the Murghab and Zarefshan, outstripped the +rest in combining their forces, and uniting into a larger community. In +these regions they held advanced posts over against the steppes and the +migratory nations of the low plains stretching before them without limit +towards the north. We had good reason to suppose that it was the +repulsion of the attacks of the nomads from the steppes of the Oxus and +Jaxartes, which brought these tribes, whose possessions consisted of +flocks and pastures, into the habit of living in arms, and of +undertaking the protection of the country. From their midst arose the +monarchy intended to lead and combine the defence, the formation of +which we placed about the year 1100 B.C., and having its centre at +Bactria and Zariaspa. The tribes of the West, on the other hand, for +four centuries after this time lived in isolation under their +chieftains. The continuance of the struggles which Bactria had to +undergo, even after the formation of the monarchy, is proved, not only +by the proximity of the nomads of the steppes, but also by the traits of +warlike feeling preserved in the Avesta; by the order of warriors which +existed beside the orders of priests and husbandmen; by the chieftains +and their citadels, which we found here in the fourth century B.C.; and +lastly, by the circumstance, that the old shapes of the myth of the +Arians, the spirits of the sky which smite the demons, are changed in +the Avesta not merely into ideal patterns, but even into ancestors of +the Bactrian kings, and connected with the genealogical tree of the +nation. Yima, Thraetaona, Manuschithra, Airyu, Uca, and Hucrava, are +changed into ancestors of the kings and the people. + +Like the Aryas in the Panjab, the tribes of the Airyas in Iran prayed to +Mithra, to the spirits of light, the clear air, the wind, and fire, +which protected them against the demons of the night and gloom, and gave +increase to their pastures and flocks, and recovered the water of the +sky which the demons sought to carry away. As in India, the juice of the +Soma plant was the principal offering presented to the gods; as Soma was +not only the king of plants, the lord of nourishment and life--so the +liquor which gave strength to the gods was here also a god, Haoma. The +belief in the opposition of the spirits of light and the spirits of +destruction, in the power of the correct sacrifice, in the influence of +the good sayings, the sacred words, was on both sides of the Indus, the +starting-point of religious ideas, and in Iran it became the hinge on +which they turned. + +Iran was divided into fertile land and deserts; next to the most +luxuriant growth lay wide tracts, in which heat or cold, morass or +drought, storms of sand or of snow, made life and agriculture +impossible. These contrasts were most striking on the upper Oxus, in +Sogdiana and Margiana. Hence it came to pass that in Bactria the +ancient belief in the struggle of the good and evil spirits made an +essential advance. The old gods and spirits, the ancient worship of +fire, were not indeed overthrown by the doctrine of Zarathrustra; on the +contrary, the struggle between the good and evil powers was spread over +the whole of nature, and the means of repelling the evil ones were +increased. The good and evil spirits were respectively ranged under +chiefs, on the counter-operation of whom and their spirit-armies rests +the life of nature; and on this life depends the life of man. Henceforth +man must not merely keep the evil ones from himself, he must take part +in the struggle of the good against the evil powers, increase so far as +he can the good creation which now belongs to Auramazda and has +proceeded from him; and thus restrict the sphere in which the evil +spirit exercises his power. After death he will receive the reward of +his conflict; and if in and through this struggle he has been made a +participator in the nature of the pure and bright deities, he will +continue to live in their heaven of light. + +This development of the old Arian views and reform of the religion +received the impulse which eventually called it into life at the time +when Vistacpa was king of Bactria. It must have taken place about the +year 1000 B.C., _i.e._ about the time when the Brahmans on the Ganges +came to reform their ancient faith, and exalted Brahman above Indra and +the ancient deities. From the idea of this new god, in which the power +of the Holy and the world-soul were equal factors, the Brahmans arrived +at a sharp distinction between spirit and matter. Their ethics, +beginning with the rejection of nature, could not but require the +annihilation of the body as their final goal, and this led to the vain +pursuit of impossibilities, to the ascetic suicide of body and soul. +The doctrine of Zarathrustra does not recognise the contradiction of +spirit and matter. The good God has not created the world in order to +entangle men in evil and wickedness, but in order to give to it and to +mankind life and increase. It is only one side of nature, not the whole +of it, and that side harmful to men, which has proceeded from evil, and +this evil does not come from the good, but from the wicked spirit. Evil +is here limited to gloom, desolation, drought and death. As it is this +part, and this only in nature, which has to be removed, man is not +called upon to lay aside his whole nature, but on the contrary to +rejoice in the beneficial side of it. This he must tend and strengthen +in himself, while he keeps the harmful side at a distance, struggles +against and annihilates it so far as possible both in himself and all +around him. He must strengthen the light side of his soul against the +dark, and make it the master of the dark; he must banish from his soul +lying and deceit, idleness and filthiness; purity of soul consists in +truthfulness. Thus must a man watch and work with the good gods and +under their eyes. It is not contemplation, meditation, or asceticism, as +in the doctrine of the Brahmans; it is practical activity and inward +effort that the teaching of Zarathrustra requires from men; the object +it placed before men was not self-annihilation, but the purification of +soul and body, and true assertion of self. If a man kept his body and +soul pure; if he was truthful in word and work, and increased the good +creation in meadow, field, and forest; if he slew the animals of the +evil spirits, then all would be well with him; he would have abundance +of cattle and descendants, long life in this world, and eternal life in +the heaven of the spirits of light. + +This reform had been accomplished in its fundamental principles in +Bactria, and Auramazda had been elevated above Mithra as the creator of +heaven, of the gods, and the earth, when about the middle of the ninth +century B.C. the armies of Shalmanesar II. of Asshur invaded the East of +Iran. About this time, or soon after, the order of Athravas was formed. +It rose, on the one hand, out of the ancient families of the +fire-priests, who understood the custom of sacrifice, and had preserved +the efficacious prayers to Mithra, Verethraghna, Haoma, and Tistrya, to +Ardvicura and Drvacpa down to the period of the reform, so far as they +came over to the new doctrine; and on the other hand, out of the race of +Zarathrustra, and the families of the zealous adherents of the new +doctrine, who devoted themselves to the service of religion. This order +of priests, which handed down in its families the sayings of +Zarathrustra and those of old days, the ancient invocations as well as +those of the new teaching, took precedence of the families of the +nobles, warriors, and husbandmen, though they were not separated from +them by any rights of connubium or other privileges. From the whole +tendency of the reform there could not be any thought of acquiring such +a position as that which the Brahmans--the first created of +Brahman--attained among the orders of India. When the army of +Tiglath-Pilesar II. entered Arachosia about the middle of the eighth +century B.C. the new doctrine had already advanced to the West. It was +represented among the Medes by eminent teachers. In this region, at the +time when the Medes were under the supremacy of Assyria, a priestly +order grew up out of the old families of the priests or Magians, _i.e._ +the powerful, and adherents of the new doctrine; the families of this +order abandoned their tribal connection among the Medes, and thus +formed an hereditary caste, which preserved the name already in use in +the West for the priests, and became so numerous that it could be ranked +as a tribe among the other tribes of the Medes. The formation of this +order was already complete when, after the middle of the seventh century +B.C., the Medes rebelled against the kings of Asshur. + +Meanwhile the Athravas of the East were busily occupied in developing +and fixing the contents and meaning of the new idea of God, and of the +ethics resulting from it. They ranged the old gods under the new +doctrine, and determined their relation to the new supreme deity; they +peopled heaven with shapes corresponding to the reformed teaching, and +brought mythology into harmony with it; from the commands of purity they +developed in the spirit of the reformed religion the rules of +purification and the removal of impurities as required in every +occurrence of life. Thus, beside the old invocations of the gods, arose +theories of a speculative cast which sought to regard the gods as +ethical forces, and prayers of a formal character; from the dialectic of +the priestly schools was developed a very complicated system of purity +of life, of rubrics for expiation and purification, in which formalism +and casuistry were not wanting. Enquiries arose how law and justice +should be shaped so as to conform to the rules of religion; while, on +the other hand, the old sacrificial songs were collected, the liturgy +was fixed, as well as the order of the festivals and sacrifices for the +new moon and full moon, and the course of the year; the prescriptions of +medicine were written down, and those cycles formed which comprised the +battle between Auramazda and Angromainyu down to the last and eternal +victory of light and life. After various attempts at compilation, the +priests of the East finally succeeded in uniting the sum of these +labours into one great whole, which was the canon of the sacred +scriptures. We may assume that the labours of the priesthood of Bactria, +which came to an end with this result, may have occupied the same space +of time as the growth and writing down of the Brahmanas on the Ganges. +There are good reasons for supposing that the canon was finally +established about the year 600 B.C., and therefore, on the calculation +given, the labours of the priests upon it must have commenced about the +year 800 B.C. + +Like the kindred tribes in India, the Arians in Iran were not destitute +of imagination and a tendency to abstraction. But from the first these +qualities were restrained within narrower limits owing to the nature of +the land,--while the scenery and phenomena of the Ganges tended to +develop them,--and the teaching of Zarathrustra provided a counterpoise +in the practical requirements which it set up. Labour took the place of +idle dreaming, conflict and energetic activity the place of asceticism, +and the imagination received impulses to simple and great conceptions. +The ethics of this religion guaranteed the conditions of a healthy human +existence; man's effort was essentially directed to this present world, +and the duties imposed upon him were such as he could fulfil. Thus they +led to results different from the introspection, quietism, and +asceticism of the Indians, and the relapse into sensuality which was the +inseparable concomitant of the latter. The doctrine of Zarathrustra +contributed essentially to educate the tribes which followed it in +truthfulness and manliness, and to qualify them for energy and action. +In their sensible, intelligent view of the world, in putting theory +below practice, and aiming at an active life, the Iranians are as far +before the Indians as the Romans are before the Greeks. + +If Eastern Iran, in the first instance, discharged a religious mission, +the duty of politics was undertaken by the West. The empire of the Medes +and of the Persians rose and fell, but the religion of Auramazda +survived the fall of the Achaemenids. It rose to renewed life with the +empire of the Arsacids and Sassanids. The national reaction against the +dominion of the Seleucids began with the Parthians; the empire of the +Sassanids, which subsequently took the place of that of the Arsacids, +was supported in the first place by the tribes of the Persians, and was +connected with the remembrance of the Achaemenids. Yet from the first the +Sassanids were prepared to deal equal measure to the East and West of +Iran; in opposition to any attempt at religious innovation they held +firmly to the tradition of the East. When after a rule of more than four +centuries the Sassanids succumbed to the invasion of the Arabs, +Yezdegerd III. attempted to maintain himself in Merv, as Darius III. had +attempted to maintain himself in Bactria. The attempt failed. Iran +succumbed to Islam. Yet it was the East from which, not quite two +centuries after the fall of the Sassanids, a reaction commenced against +the Arabs, and this gradually increased till it rescued the nationality +and the language of Iran. It was the viceroys in the districts of the +East who rebelled against the Chalifate, and they found support in the +population of their provinces. A process similar to that which had +previously broken down the dominion of the Seleucids over Iran shattered +the empire of the Abbasids. The impulse to this movement rose in +Taberistan, where the Taherids appeared, as independent princes soon +after the death of Harun-al-Rashid; some decads later the Soffarids +rebelled in Sejestan, and towards the end of the ninth century the power +of the Samanids sprang up in Sogdiana, Balkh, and Merv, and founded +seats in Samarcand and Bokhara. Not long after the Ziads obtained an +independent position in Dilem and Jorjan (the ancient Hyrcania). Towards +the end of the tenth century the Ghasnavids, who had hitherto been the +servants and captains of the Samanids, threw off their allegiance; and +united under their dominion all the lands which had been subject to the +Soffarids, the Samanids, and Ziads. Soon after the year 1000 B.C. they +ruled from their abode in Ghasna over Cabul, Balkh, Merv, and Chovaresm +to the north, and over Sejestan and Afghanistan to the south, and to the +west over the lands of Elburz, while their armies crossed the Indus to +the east, and advanced beyond the Panjab to the valley of the Ganges. +The ancient religion of Iran was not wholly lost even in the time of +Harun-al-Rashid; Magians were tolerated at the court of the Chalifs for +the sake of their skill in medicine. The Barmecides, who came from +Balkh, displayed, even under the Chalifate, a partiality for the legends +and the religion of Iran. The Samanids boasted to be sprung from the +Sassanids, the Ziads were reproached with being idolaters in heart and +Moslem in tongue. They called themselves once more by the names +celebrated in the legends of Eastern Iran: Minocher after Manuschithra, +Kai Kobad after Kava Kavata, Kai Kaus after Kava Uca, Isfendyar after +Cpentodata; and in the list of the Ghasnavids, the Afghan princes in +India, we meet at a later time with the name of Kava Hucrava (Chosru). + +The regeneration of Old Iran, in opposition to the Arabs, found its +firmest stronghold in Ghasna. The deeds of the Achaemenids were +completely forgotten in the East which had no part in them; but the +legends of Yima, Thraetaona, Kava Hucrava, and Kava Vistacpa, had lived +on under the dominion of the Achaemenids, the Seleucids, the Greek +princes of Balkh and Cabul, and under the Arsacids. Then came the +revival of the Avesta under Shapur II. about the middle of the fourth +century A.D. (p. 61). The first Chosru (531-578 A.D.) caused the legends +and traditions of the nation and the priests to be collected and copied; +a comprehensive exposition of the whole was made under the last +Yezdegerd. Thus as early as the last days of the Sassanids the tradition +of Iran was collected and fixed, and this, transcribed in Pehlevi, +outlived the fall of the kingdom, and descended as a legacy of ancient +glory to the Soffarids, Samanids, and Ghasnavids.[437] On the basis of +this "book of kings," which he possessed in an Arabic translation, +Firdusi of Tus on the Tejend, a city of which at the present day some +scanty ruins remain not far from Meshhed, undertook to restore to life +the remembrance of the past of Eastern Iran and the fame of her ancient +heroes in a great Epic poem. He gathered together the entire existing +tradition, and under the dominion of Islam cast a new glory on the +ancient belief in Auramazda, who was now known as Yazdan. This poem, the +book of kings (Shahnameh) exhibits at the same time the New Persian +language in its pure form, developed out of the Eastern dialects, and +not yet contaminated with Aramaean and Arabic elements. + +The first king in Firdusi is Gayumart. He assembles men and animals, and +teaches the first to hide their nakedness with the skins of leopards. +His son Siyamek is torn in pieces by a demon. We are acquainted with the +primeval man Gayo maretan; whom the priests placed at the beginning of +things (p. 183). Then king Hoshang taught men to harness the bull, to +tame the horse, to forge iron, to till the field, and introduced the +worship of fire. After Hoshang king Tahmurath reigned, who overcame the +Divs (Daevas), and compelled them to teach him the art of writing. He +taught his people the art of weaving, and rode round the world on +Angromainyu (now Ahriman) till the latter threw him off on Elburz, and +so killed him. In the Avesta Haoshyangha sacrifices in order to obtain +power over the evil spirits, and Takhmo urupa also sacrifices in order +to curb Angromainyu for the space of thirty years (p. 183). After +Tahmurath, Jemshid (Yima) is king. He teaches the art of forging weapons +and weaving precious stuffs, divides men into priests, warriors, +husbandmen, and artisans; discovers the art of healing, and compels the +demons to build houses, and erect for him a splendid palace and a +gorgeous throne adorned with gold and precious stones. Three hundred +years passed away while he was king, in which the Divs were bound, and +death could not approach mankind. Then Jemshid boasted that he had saved +the world by his remedies from sickness and death, and demanded divine +honours. This sin alienated from him the princes of his kingdom. Jemshid +was compelled to fly before Zohak, the king of Babylon. Zohak pursued +him. In the remote East, on the sea of China, Jemshid was overtaken and +slain. + +The old Arian legend of the happy age of Yima shows itself even yet +through Firdusi's version. Death could not approach men under his +dominion; there was no sickness, and therefore Jemshid is said to have +discovered the art of healing. The Avesta had already found a motive for +the fall of Yima in the fact that he had refused to announce the law, +and at length had begun to love lies (p. 41). The Zohak of Firdusi is no +other than the ancient cloud dragon, Azhi dahaka, which attempts to +carry away the waters of the sky, and swallows up men and horses. He is +now a foreign, hostile, bloodthirsty king, who puts an end to the +blessings of Yima's reign in order to bring the reverse of blessing upon +Iran. Azhi dahaka had three heads and three throats; Zohak has two +serpents growing from his shoulders, to which by degrees thousands fall +as sacrifices, for they are fed with the brains of men, and for this +purpose two youths are slaughtered every day. That Zohak is called king +of Babylon is due to a reminiscence of the fact that the Assyrians ruled +over Western Iran, and the Seleucids and Chalifs over the whole country. +Zohak persecutes severely the descendants of Jemshid. Abtin, the last of +these, finally falls into his power; he causes him to be slain for his +serpents; but Abtin's wife carries off his young son Feridun in safety +to Elburz. When the latter is sixteen years of age his mother discloses +to him the fate of his father; the discontented gather round him, and +the angel Serosh teaches him how to overcome the magician Zohak. In the +citadel at Babylon Feridun strikes Zohak to the ground with a blow of +the club which Kave, the smith, has forged for him. But Serosh bids him +not to kill Zohak, who is now chained in a deep cave in Elburz, under +Demavend, the highest summit on the chain. Abtin, the descendant of +Jemshid, is the Athwya of the Avesta; Feridun is Thraetaona, the son of +Athwya, the slayer of Dahaka; the angel Serosh is the well-known god +Craosha. Feridun is not permitted to slay Zohak, because Azhi dahaka is +also a demon. + +Feridun has three sons--Salm (Cairima), Tur (Tuirya), and Yrej (Airyu); +to the last, who was the youngest, Feridun gives Iran, the best part of +his dominions, while Salm receives the West and Tur the North. Filled +with envy at the favour shown to their youngest brother, Salm and Tur +slay the pious Yrej. Feridun is deeply moved; but he gives the daughter +whom Yrej has left in marriage to Pesheng. The son of Pesheng is +Minocher, who grows up to avenge his grandfather's death. In order to +prevent this, Salm and Tur invade Iran. The battle continues for three +days, till Minocher has slain Tur with his own hand. He also overtakes +Salm in flight, and slays him. Feridun can now die in peace, as he has +seen the kingdom handed over to Minocher. After the death of the latter +the kingdom descended to his son Naudar.[438] Then Afrasiab of Turan, +the great-grandson of Tur, whom Minocher had slain, invaded Iran to +avenge the death of his ancestor on the descendant of Minocher. Naudar's +army was defeated; he was taken captive with many princes of Iran, and +beheaded by the order of Afrasiab. + +Besides the race of Abtin, Jemshid had left other descendants. In union +with the daughter of the king of Cabul, whose kingdom extends from Bost +on the Hilmend to Ghasna (and consequently includes the region of +Sejestan, the ancient Haetumat),[439] he had begotten Gershasp, a mighty +hero who stood by the side of Minocher in the struggle against Salm and +Tur; the sons of Gershasp are Neriman and Sam, and his grandson is Zal. +The Gershasp of Firdusi is the Kerecacpa of the Avesta, the son of +Thrita, of the race of Cama (p. 35), who slays the serpent Cruvara and +the giant Gandarewa. The Avesta gives him the epithet Nairimanao, _i.e._ +the man-hearted, heroic, and represents him as seizing the brilliance of +majesty, when it departed for the third time from Yima (p. 36). This +hint was enough to give the royal power to Kerecacpa; his epithet and +his tribal name are personified, and become his descendants Neriman and +Sam. In accordance with their origin these princes from Zabul are in +Firdusi the most faithful adherents of the race of Feridun, which has +rewarded them with the dominion over the South. In this way the legend +of Sejestan is woven into the closest connection with the legend of the +Avesta. The power of the descendants of Feridun is extinguished with +Naudar, from whose sons "the splendour of the royal majesty shines no +longer;" thus does Firdusi repeat the metaphor current in the Avesta. +The princes of Zabul now take their place as the protectors and +guardians of Iran. The son of king Sam of Zabul is Zal. After Naudar's +melancholy fall he makes peace between Iran and Turan; the Oxus is fixed +as the boundary, Afrasiab returns to his own country, and in the place +of the sons of Naudar Zal allows Zav to be chosen king of Iran. Zav is +already aged and soon dies; Afrasiab invades Iran again. Then Zal +deliberates with the Mobedhs (_i.e._ with the chiefs of the Magians, p. +60), who is to be king of Iran. It is resolved to raise Kai Kobad to the +throne, who like Feridun before him dwells on Elburz. Zal sends his son +Rustem (Moses of Khorene is the first who mentions the Persian legend of +Rustem), a youth of great strength, who as a boy had slain an infuriated +elephant, to fetch Kai Kobad from Elburz. Rustem finds him prepared, +for he has seen in a dream two white falcons who place a golden crown +upon his head. Afrasiab's army, which opposes him, is defeated; Kai +Kobad ascends the throne of Iran, the Turanians are defeated in a great +battle, Rustem seizes Afrasiab by his girdle and drags him from his +horse; but the girdle breaks, Afrasiab falls to the ground, and is saved +by his own people. In the peace the Oxus is once more fixed as the +boundary between Iran and Turan. Kai Kobad is followed by his son Kai +Kaus. Against the advice of his vassals and of Zal he leads his army +against Mazanderan, a land inhabited by demons, which take the king +captive with his whole army. A single warrior escapes to bring the +terrible news to Zal. As Zal is now 200 years old, Rustem undertakes to +liberate the king. He has to overcome seven terrible monsters before he +can arrive at the demons. At last he makes his way to them, and on his +horse Reksh, he destroys the army of the demons. Then he slays their +chief, the white demon, in the dark cave, and liberates Kai Kaus and the +army of Iran. Kai Kaus now causes the conquered demons to build him +splendid palaces on Elburz, and resolves to fly up to heaven, in order +to see the course of the sun. Four eagles bound to his throne carry him +upwards, but then allow him to fall to earth. Ashamed at his pride he +humbles himself, and his penance appeases the wrath of heaven. When +Afrasiab breaks the peace and again invades Iran, Kai Kaus sends his son +Siavaksh, under the guidance of Rustem, against the Turanians. For three +days the battle rages at the gates of Balkh, and at length Siavaksh is +victorious. Afrasiab sues for peace, Siavaksh concludes a treaty; but +Kai Kaus will not confirm it. That he may not break his word, Siavaksh +gives himself up to the Turanians. Afrasiab receives him with honour, +and gives him his daughter Feringis to wife. Subsequently he harbours +suspicion against him, causes him to be executed, and the son, whom +Feringis bears after the execution of her husband, to be brought up +among the shepherds without any knowledge of his birth. To this son an +abode is then allotted in a remote region of Turan. + +To avenge the execution of Siavaksh Rustem invades Turan. Victorious in +the battle he causes Surkha, the son of Afrasiab, whom he captures in +the battle, to be put to death in the same way as Siavaksh, pursues +Afrasiab to the extreme border of his kingdom, and does not return till +the whole of Turan has been laid waste: the booty is immense. Many years +afterwards it was revealed in a dream to Guderz (Gotarzes), a descendant +of that Kave, who had once forged for Feridun the club used against +Zohak, that a son of Siavaksh survived. Gev, the son of Guderz, arose to +seek in Turan the right heir to the throne of Iran. For seven years he +seeks in vain. At length he discovers Kai Chosru, to whom his mother +Feringis has already revealed the secret of his birth. In spite of the +most severe persecution on the part of Afrasiab, Gev succeeds in +carrying away mother and son to Iran; they swim through the swollen Oxus +on horseback. But when Kai Kaus wishes to make the grandson so happily +discovered his successor, Tur, the son of king Naudar, opposes the +elevation of a king who has Turanian blood in his veins. Kai Chosru +proves his higher claim by capturing a citadel of the demons, and +erecting a fire-altar in its place. Then he sets himself to avenge the +death of his father on Afrasiab. But the first army of the Iranians +under Tur is defeated; and when Feriborz receives the command the +warriors of Iran are again severely beaten in the valley of Peshen; a +third army is shut up on Mount Hamaven. To liberate this Rustem sets +forth, and conquers in the most terrible battle which he has ever +fought. At length Afrasiab and Kai Chosru take the lead of their armies. +After a bloody struggle the Turanians are compelled to retire, first +beyond the Oxus, and then beyond the Jaxartes. Afrasiab flies for refuge +to his fortified city Kang Bihist; the city is taken, but he escapes +into a cave. Kai Kaus and Kai Chosru entreat the fire Adar gucasp, that +Afrasiab may not escape them. A pious penitent, Hom, who hears the +lament of Afrasiab in his cave, recognises him, overpowers and binds +him, and leads him forth. Afrasiab entreats the penitent to loose his +bonds, and then escapes once more, into a lake. The pious Hom obtains +possession of him again, and hands him over to Kai Chosru, who has his +head cut off in revenge for his father Siavaksh. Kai Kaus has now seen +the fulfilment of vengeance on Afrasiab for the death of Siavaksh; his +days draw to a close. For sixty years after him, Kai Chosru rules over +Iran in peace, and then resolves to enter on a pilgrimage to heaven. +When the angel Serosh has bidden him nominate Lohrasp as his successor, +he fulfils this injunction, establishes Rustem as general-in-chief of +the kingdom and successor of his father Zal in the kingdom of the South, +and after long meditation, accompanied by the sons of Naudar, Tus and +Gustehem, and the heroes Gev and Feriborz, he begins the pilgrimage to +the East. When high up in the mountains he advises his companions to +return; soon they will see him no more. He disappears after bathing in a +spring; his heroes, in spite of the command to return, seek for him, and +are buried in a storm of snow. + +We saw above that in the Avesta, Manuschithra and Airyu are connected +with Thraetaona, and that the group of the Paradhatas comes to an end +with these names. Hence Firdusi also represents the crown as being +brought to the first ruler of the new group, Kai Kobad, _i.e._ the Kava +Kavata of the Avesta, from the sky by two falcons; he also represents +him as being fetched from Elburz, _i.e._ from the holy mountain of the +old legend, in order to overcome Zohak, just as Thraetaona descended +from the same mountain. Kai Kaus, the Kava Uca of the Avesta, who +succeeded Kai Kobad, betrays his divine nature in Firdusi by his march +against the demons, by the castles which these demons build for him on +Elburz, and by his attempt to fly into heaven. In the Avesta Kava Uca +offers sacrifice, in order to obtain the dominion over men and Daevas, +and this favour is granted to him. That the march against the demons is +made in the direction of Mazanderan is due no doubt to the frequent +mention of the Mazanian Devs in the Avesta. Siavaksh, the son of Kai +Kaus, who honourably gives himself up to the Turanians, is the +Cyavarshana of the Avesta--from which we merely learn that he was +spotless, and that after Kava Uca the royal majesty united with the +beautiful body of Cyavarshana, and that he died by a violent death (p. +37). The destructive Turanian Franghracyana, who is now called Afrasiab, +is known to the Avesta. "Thrice," we are told, "he sought after the +royal majesty which belongs to the Arian lands, but he found it +not."[440] Kai Chosru, _i.e._ Kava Hucrava, is in the Avesta also the +son of Cyavarshana; he offers sacrifice, in order that it may be granted +to him "to put an end to the long period of dimness," "to bind the +Franghracyana filled with abundance;" he is said to be "without +sickness and death." Firdusi's poem neglects none of these traits. After +the triple war which, kindled by Afrasiab, has lasted for a long time, +Firdusi represents Chosru as invoking the fire Gucasp, that Afrasiab may +not escape him. In the Avesta the god Haoma is said himself to bind +Franghracyana, and to carry him away as a captive of king Hucrava, in +order that the latter may slay him beyond the lake Chaechacta (p. 37). +In Firdusi the pious Hom discovers the hiding-place of Afrasiab; he +binds him and carries him away a prisoner. Afrasiab escapes; but Hom +captures him once more in lake Kanyesht. As Hucrava is "without sickness +and death," Firdusi represents him as vanishing on a pilgrimage to +heaven. + +In Firdusi, Lohrasp, whom Chosru has made his successor, erects a +fire-temple at Balkh, his royal abode, and after reigning 120 years, +abdicates in favour of Gushtasp, his elder son, in order to devote his +life to pious exercises at his temple. When Zartusht proclaims the +Avesta, Gushtasp and his wife receive the new doctrine. But Arjasp, the +king of Turan, sent Gushtasp a command not to listen to the words of +Zartusht. To this request Gushtasp did not accede; a battle took place +on the banks of the Oxus, which turned in favour of Iran, owing to the +bravery of Zarir, the brother of Gushtasp. An arrow from an ambush lays +the hero low at the moment of victory. His death terrifies the Iranians; +not one of them ventures to avenge it till Gushtasp promises Isfendyar, +the strongest and bravest of his sons, that he will give him the crown +if he succeeds in avenging the death of Zarir. Isfendyar overthrows the +warriors of Iran, brings the arms and horse of Zarir into the camp of +Iran, and Arjasp retires into his land. In the place of the promised +crown, Isfendyar receives from his father the high mission of spreading +abroad the new faith. By means of a chain which he places on his neck, +Zartusht makes Isfendyar invulnerable, and surrounds him with a charm so +that anyone who slays him will himself quickly die. When Isfendyar +returns home after a long time, his mission fully accomplished, as all +have received the law of Zartusht, accusations are made against him that +he is collecting an army to dethrone his father. On this unfounded +charge Gushtasp causes Isfendyar to be cast into prison. But while he +remains in Zabul, the Turanians attack Balkh. The aged Lohrasp takes up +arms; he cannot check the Turanians; he falls; the city is taken: +Zartusht with the fire-priests is slain in the fire-temple, the sacred +fire is quenched in their blood, and two daughters of Gushtasp are +carried away to Turan. In vain does Gushtasp hasten up, when he has +collected his army; thirty-eight of his sons are slain in the battle +against the Turanians. Gushtasp takes to flight, and with his warriors +finds refuge in a mountain which is quickly invested by Arjasp. Then +Jamasp, the faithful adviser of Gushtasp, passes in disguise through the +camp of the Turanians, to fetch Isfendyar out of prison, and urge him to +save his father and Iran. Forgetting his deep injury and wrong, +Isfendyar forces a way through the camp of Arjasp, and in the subsequent +battle slaughters so many of the enemy's men that he takes to flight. +But the task is not yet accomplished; it still remains to set at liberty +the two sisters whom the Turanians had carried away from Balkh, and whom +Arjasp keeps imprisoned in "the brazen fortress." After seven conflicts, +corresponding to those which Rustem had to undergo, when he liberated +Kai Kaus from the power of the demons, Isfendyar reaches the fortress. +He sends his army back, and in the guise of a merchant obtains entrance +into the citadel. Here he asks Arjasp, to whom he is unknown, for +permission to give a feast to the principal men on the turrets of the +citadel. When the wine has done its work, Isfendyar gives the signal of +fire already agreed upon to his followers; the garrison is overpowered; +Arjasp is slain by Isfendyar in single combat, and Isfendyar returns +victorious with his sisters to Balkh. + +Here a new and yet more dangerous task awaits him. Rustem, who made Kai +Kobad ruler of Iran, and has since done such good service, and achieved +such noble acts for Kai Kaus and Kai Chosru, remains at a distance from +the court and army of king Gushtasp. He despises the doctrine of +Zartusht. At Gushtasp's bidding Isfendyar must break down this +opposition, and bring him to the king. Isfendyar marches out and +commands Rustem to follow him in chains to the court. With a heavy heart +Rustem seeks to withdraw from the contest; he treats with Isfendyar; but +the latter obstinately insists on his terms. Nothing remains for the +aged hero but to give battle against his will. Isfendyar's invulnerable +body resists his blows, and Reksh, the horse of Rustem, is wounded; +Rustem is himself wounded and compelled to retire. He has no hope of +conquering in the battle which is to begin again on the next day. In his +deep distress he calls to the bird Simurgh, who comes, sucks the blood +from his wound, and heals the horse. Simurgh is acquainted with the +future, and advises a compromise: there is indeed a way of overcoming +Isfendyar, but anyone who takes his life "must not expect salvation in +this world or the next." Rustem cannot bring himself to suffer defeat in +the battle, and therefore in the night Simurgh carries him away to the +tree of life, on the sea of China, and bids him break off the branch to +which Isfendyar's life is bound. Out of this branch is cut the +death-arrow for the conflict of the morrow. With it Rustem hits the +place in the eye in which alone Isfendyar is vulnerable. But for Rustem +also the lot of death is cast. He is invited by the king of Cabul, a +tributary prince, to hunt; and the king's son-in-law, Sheghad, prepares +a pit filled with swords and lances, for the destruction of the aged +hero. Into this Rustem falls with his horse, but even in the moment of +death his arrow hits Sheghad, who had concealed himself in a hollow +tree, in order to watch the success of his scheme. Rustem's son Feramorz +avenges the murder of his father on the king of Cabul; but Gushtasp +renounces the world, and transfers the government to his grandson +Bahman, the son of Isfendyar. + +Here also we find traces of the Avesta underlying the poem. In the +Avesta Aurvatacpa, now Lohrasp, and Vistacpa, now Gushtasp, form a group +distinct from the most ancient princes. Firdusi represents Kai Chosru as +making Lohrasp his successor in spite of the murmurs of the nobles. +Arejatacpa, now Arjasp, the Turanian, sacrifices in the Avesta in order +to obtain victory over Vistacpa, and the great equestrian, Zairivairi, +the brother of Vistacpa. In Firdusi this brother, the bravest warrior of +Iran against Turan, is Zarir. In the Avesta Vistacpa conquers +Arejatacpa; in Firdusi Arjasp finally succumbs in the conflict. In the +Avesta Jamacpa is a prince of great influence with Vistacpa; in Firdusi +he is his faithful counsellor. In the Avesta Zarathrustra offers +sacrifice that he may unite with the warlike Vistacpa, and that the +king's consort Hutaoca may impress the law on her memory (p. 37); in +Firdusi Gushtasp and his wife receive the new law. According to the +Avesta Vistacpa has given his support and protection to the law, has set +up the law in the world, and given it a high position, and made the path +broad for purity. In Firdusi Isfendyar is sent to spread abroad the new +law over the earth. The Avesta mentions twenty-nine sons of Vistacpa, +Firdusi even more; in both Cpentodata (Isfendyar) has the first place. +In the Avesta Zarathrustra pronounces a blessing on Vistacpa, in Firdusi +he pronounces it on Isfendyar. That the latter was extolled, even in the +Avesta, as supporting the faith and spreading it abroad--though our +fragments do not allow us to draw any further conclusions--is +nevertheless clear from the creed of the Parsees: "I abide in the law +which the lord Ormuzd taught to Zartusht, and Zartusht to king Gushtasp, +and Gushtasp to Frashaostra (p. 62), Jamasp, and Isfendyar, and these to +all the faithful in the world." Firdusi has made use of the spread of +the new law by Isfendyar, in order to bring to a conclusion the legend +of Sejestan which he connects with the tradition of the Avesta, and to +provide an adequate motive for the fall of the mighty Rustem of Ghasna, +the descendant of the mighty Kerecacpa. In his zeal for the faith, +Isfendyar demands more than Rustem can grant; the champion of the faith +is stronger in the conflict than Rustem; and the latter, in order to +keep his honour, avails himself of wicked magical arts. We have seen +what was the occupation of the two eagles of the sky, Amru and Chamru, +at the tree in Lake Vourukasha, which bears the seeds of all life (p. +172). To these arts the champion of the faith succumbs, but by his +success the victor has pronounced judgment on himself. + +In the form which Firdusi has given them, the legends of Ancient Iran +have to some extent continued to live among the people, and to some +extent they have failed. The Shahnameh celebrates Jemshid's (Yima's) +glittering palace and splendid throne; hence the ruins of the great +palace of the Achaemenids at Persepolis have gained the name of the +throne of Jemshid; ruins near Bamiyan in the Hindu-Kush, on the road +from Balkh to Cabul, are still called Zohak's castle. The smoke rising +out of the crater of Demavend is the breath of Zohak chained in the +depths of the mountain. Each year, on the last day of August, the +inhabitants of Elburz celebrate the festival of the overthrow of Zohak +with bonfires on every height, and demonstrations of joy. The ruins of +Takt-i-Bostan are called the garden of Kai Chosru, and in Iran Balkh is +still the mother of cities.[441] A lofty and steep rock in Lake Zirreh +in Sejestan is said to have been crowned with the castle of Rustem, and +the site of a second castle is pointed out at Aivan. Aqueducts and dams +pass for works of Rustem. In the desert of Beluchistan, the ancient +Gedrosia, the tracks of the camels of Rustem are still shown by large +stones in the sand. In Mazanderan is the battle-field where Rustem +defeated the Divs in order to liberate Kai Kaus (p. 253). The sculptures +of the Achaemenids on the tombs at Persepolis are called pictures of +Rustem (Naksh-i-Rustem), and in the bed of the Hilmend his grave is +shown. When Timour's Mongols devastated Sejestan in the fourteenth +century, the people called on Rustem to raise his head from the grave, +and behold Iran in the hand of his enemy, the warrior of Turan. By a +strange misconception the nobles in Mazanderan assume the name Div as a +title of honour. A large family of nobles in Sejestan call themselves +Kaianids, and boast of their descent from Jemshid and the ancient +kings, and to this family, down to the most recent times, the +viceroyalty of Sejestan belonged as an hereditary office. When the +holder of it died, the eldest of the family went to court in order to +apply for the office, and was duly installed by investment with the robe +of honour and armour.[442] + +While the ancient legends have lived on in Iran, the religion of +Zoroaster has passed beyond Iran, and survives on the Malabar coast. +Every day the Parsees utter their invocations before the sacred fire, +and present bowls filled with the juice of the Haoma. Each month, as we +have seen, belongs to one of the heavenly deities, who is then specially +invoked; each of the thirty days of the month has its own protecting +spirit, who is especially honoured on his own day. Six yearly festivals, +each of five days, celebrate the creation of the heaven, water, the +earth, the trees, animals, and men (p. 182); on each of which special +prayers are said. At the close of the year the Parsees purify and adorn +their houses, in order to receive worthily the souls of their ancestors: +sacrificial bread, fruits, milk, wine, and meat are put ready for them. +The Fravashis, now called Farvars, are invoked "to receive the +sacrifice, to lift up their hands to it, and depart in peace from the +dwelling."[443] On these days the priests read the liturgies appointed +as prayers for the souls of the damned, and for ten days the laity have +to repeat many thousands of times the prayers "Ahuna-vairya" and "Ashem +Vohu." Each morning, on waking, the Parsee prays: "The best purity is to +the just, who is pure. He is pure who does pure works. I pray with +purity of thought, of word, and act." When removing, and again when +putting on, his girdle (p. 217), he says, with face turned to the East: +"May Ormuzd be king; may Ahriman be defeated and destroyed; may the +enemies be confounded, and remain far off; of all my sins I repent." +Then he takes gomez for ablutions, washes his face and hands with it, +rubs himself with earth, and with gomez in his hand says: "May Ahriman +be destroyed; may the thirty-three Amshaspands and Ormuzd be victorious +and pure." After a prayer to Crosh (Craosha)--"the pure and strong, may +he increase to greater majesty, whose body is the word, and whose club +is victorious"--follows ablution with water, dressing of the fire with +wood and perfumes, and the proper morning prayer to Ushahin, the spirit +of the morning: "Praise to thee, high Dawn." When it is light, a prayer +is offered to Mithra, and two others at midday and sunset. In the +morning a prayer to Ormuzd is recited, in which all his names and +qualities are enumerated. Before eating, the Parsee must wash himself +and pronounce the prayer "Ahuna-vairya," and after eating, the prayer +"King Ormuzd." When the Parsee goes to rest he must arrange his bed in +such a way that he lies towards the fire, or the moon, or the East. +Before sleeping, a prayer is offered to Ormuzd. On turning over in bed, +sneezing, the discharge of natural or sexual functions, kindling a +light, approaching water or fire, special prayers are uttered, and the +sum of daily duties is increased on many occasions in family life--at +the time of a birth, or death, or festivals, and when impurities have +been incurred. However external and formal these numerous prayers and +rituals may appear, the Parsee forms of confession are nevertheless +evidence of the depth of their religious feeling, and their retention in +the family and social life proves that the ancient religion still +possesses a powerful influence. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[437] Fluegel, "Mani," s. 407; Mohl, "Livre des Rois," Intro. Mordtmann, +"Z. D. M. G." 19, 485 ff; Noeldeke, "Tabari," s. xv. + +[438] Nohodares in Ammian, 1, 14, 3; 1, 25, 3. + +[439] Spiegel, "Eran," 1, 557. + +[440] "Zamyad Yasht," 56 ff. Above, p. 37. + +[441] Ritter, "Erdkunde," 8, 153, 183, 491, 561. + +[442] Chanikof, in Spiegel, "Eran," 1, 556. + +[443] "Farvardin Yasht," 147. + + + + +BOOK VIII. + +THE EMPIRE OF THE MEDES AND PERSIANS. + + + + +THE EMPIRE OF THE MEDES AND PERSIANS. + + + + +CHAPTER I. + +THE FOUNDATION OF THE MEDIAN KINGDOM. + + +On the northern edge of the table-land of Iran, where the mountains +descend to the Caspian Sea, we found dwelling towards the east the +Hyrcanians (_Vehrkana_ in the Avesta, _Varkana_ in the inscriptions of +Darius).[444] Their territory may have corresponded to the modern +district of Jorjan, which has preserved their name (p. 9). To the west +of the Hyrcanians, between Elburz and the Caspian, lay the Tapurians, +whose name has survived in the modern Taberistan, and further yet, on +the sea-coast, and at the mouth of the Mardus (now Safidrud), were the +Mardians. Adjacent to these, on the shores of the Caspian Sea as far as +the mouth of the Cyrus, lay the nation whom the Greeks called Cadusians, +but whose native name was Gaels[445]--a name still preserved in the name +of the district of Ghilan.[446] To the south of these tribes--the +Tapurians, Mardians, and Cadusians--the north-west of the table-land was +entirely occupied by the Medes. + +The country of the Medes, Herodotus tells us, is very high and +mountainous in the north towards the Euxine, and covered with forests, +but the remainder of it is flat.[447] Polybius gives a more minute +description of the nature of Media. "It is difficult to speak adequately +of the natural strength and of the extent of the country of the Medes. +It lies in the centre of Asia, and in the size and elevation of the land +surpasses all other parts, while the situation enables it to govern the +strongest and most populous nations. Towards the east it is protected by +the desert which lies between Persia and Parthia, it has control of the +Caspian gates, and abuts on the mountains of the Tapurians, which are +not far distant from the Hyrcanian Sea. Towards the north it is bounded +by the Matieni and Cadusians, on the west it extends to the Saspeires, +who dwell close to the tribes which lie on the Euxine. Towards the south +it extends to Mesopotamia and abuts on Persia; on this side it is +protected by the range of the Zagrus, which reaches an elevation of one +hundred stadia, and is broken into various ranges and groups, separated +by deep valleys and open plains, in which dwell the Carchi, Cossaei, and +other warlike tribes. Media itself is traversed by several ranges in the +direction from east to west, but between them are plains filled with +cities and villages. The Medes possess corn and cattle in untold +abundance, and in horses their country is superior to the whole of Asia, +so that it takes the first place, not only in virtue of its extent, but +also owing to the number and excellence of the men and horses."[448] +Strabo allows Media an extent of 4000 stades (500 miles) in length and +breadth. It reached from the Zagrus to the Caspian gates. The greater +part of the land was high and cold, but the district below the Caspian +gates on the lower ground was very fertile. Even in the rest of the +land, with the exception of some mountain districts, there was no lack +of the means of subsistence, and everywhere on the high ground there was +excellent pasture for horses.[449] + +The nation of the Medes belongs to the group of the Arian tribes, which +occupied the table-land of Iran. This has been already proved by the +statement of Herodotus that in ancient time the Medians were called +Areans by all men (p. 14), by the religion of the Medes, and by all the +Median words and names that have come down to us.[450] According to +Herodotus the nation consisted of six tribes: the Arizanti, Busae, +Struchates, Budii, Paraetaceni, and Magi. Whether certain parts of the +land belonged to these tribes as their habitation, is not clear from +this statement. The Magians we have already found to be a hereditary +order of priests (p. 191), and therefore we can hardly assume a separate +part of the country as their habitation. The question thus becomes +limited to the remaining five tribes. The name of the Paraetaceni occurs +in the mountain district, which the later Greeks call Paraetacene. This +district separated Media from Persia, and there is therefore nothing +remarkable in the fact that the Paraetaceni are counted among the +Persians or spoken of as an independent tribe.[451] If the Paraetaceni +had a special province, we shall be all the more justified in allotting +the same to the Arizanti, the Budii, Struchates, and Busae, as the tribe +of the Matieni, which Strabo reckons among the Medes,[452] had a special +habitation and territory in the district of Matiene, _i.e._ in the +region which after the time of the Seleucids was known as Atropatene; +and the tribes of the Persians, who were closely akin to the Medes, were +also settled in special regions, or marched through them with their +flocks. The name Arizanti (_Arizantu_) might signify the noble families, +_i.e._ an eminent tribe, which tribe might nevertheless possess a +separate habitation. Among the Persians there was a privileged tribe, to +which the royal family belonged, which ruled over all the tribes, and +this tribe like the rest had a special territory. + +The districts of Media, as we know them from the accounts of later +writers, are beside Atropatene: Choromithrene, Nisaea, Rhagiana, +Cambadene, and Bagistana.[453] Atropatene is the elevated plain which +spreads round the lake which Ptolemy calls the Matienian lake (now +Urumiah). The inscriptions of the kings of Asshur call the inhabitants +of this land Mati and Mala.[454] Shut in by mighty summits which reach +a height of more than 12,000 feet, naked ridges, fields of snow, +mountain pastures, green forests and meadows here make up the wildest, +but at the same time most beautiful, Alpine landscape in the west of +Iran. The snow lies on the backs of the heights for about nine months, +but in the valleys there reigns for the most part uninterrupted spring; +in the deeper clefts the summer is hot, and the naphtha springs must +have caused this region to appear as one highly favoured by the gods in +the eyes of such zealous worshippers of fire as the Arians of Iran. We +have already seen (p. 74) that the name Atropatene, which in middle +Persian is Aturpatkan, and modern Persian Aderbeijan, means "protected +by fire." + +In the ranges of the Zagrus, which, running from the Alps of Atropatene +to the south-east, separate the table-land of Iran from the valley of +the Tigris--these summits rise above the hilly land of Assyria to a +height of 15,000 feet--we must seek the territory which Ptolemy calls +Choromithrene, _i.e._ by a name which beyond doubt goes back to the +worship of Mithra. Further to the east, beyond the isolated +mountain-group of Elvend, on the eastern foot of the mountains, lay the +territory where Ecbatana was subsequently built. To the south-east were +the "Nisaean plains" of Herodotus, on which, as he tells us, were kept +the most beautiful and largest horses, superior to those of the +Indians.[455] Polybius has already stated, that in regard to horses +Media surpassed the rest of Asia; the mares of the Parthian kings were +kept in Media owing to the excellent pastures. According to Strabo, +there were 50,000 mares on the "horse pastures" in the time of the +Achaemenids; these pastures any one going from Babylonia and Persia to +the Caspian gates, _i.e._ to the Sirdarra-pass in Elburz, would cross. +Diodorus places them seven days' march to the east of Behistun, and +tells us that at one time there were 160,000 wild horses here, though +Alexander found only 60,000. Arrian puts the previous number at 150,000, +and the number found by Alexander at 50,000, as the greater part had +been carried off by robbers.[456] That Herodotus has given the name of +this region correctly is shown by the inscriptions of Darius, which +speak of a province of Nicaya in Media.[457] To the north-east of the +region of Ecbatana, on an elevated plateau, lay the district of +Raghiana. It takes its name from the metropolis Ragha, a city on the +southern foot of Elburz, mentioned both in the Avesta and the +inscriptions. Under the Arsacids Ragha was the largest city of Media. +Its later name was Rai; the ruins (near the modern Teheran) are said to +cover the land for leagues. Besides Ragha there were at one time +numerous flourishing cities in Raghiana.[458] Campadene,[459] the +Campada of the inscriptions of Darius, we must look for in the south of +Media, to the east of the Zagrus; it is no doubt the district now called +Chamabatan.[460] According to the statement of the Greeks, the district +of Bagistana extended to a mountain which was sacred to Zeus. As +Diodorus says, it was a region fit for the gods, filled with fruit-trees +and every other kind that ministers to delight and enjoyment.[461] The +name of the mountain consecrated to Zeus, Bagistana, and the similar +name of the district, go back to the title under which the gods are +comprised in the Avesta and the inscriptions of Darius (Old Bactr. +_bagha_, Old Pers. _baga_, New Pers. _bag_); and if Diodorus tells us +that the region was a land fit for the gods, the name Bagistana means +the abode of the gods. The district may have been held peculiarly sacred +by the Medes, or the name may have been intended to express their +gratitude for its fertility and beauty. We can fix precisely the +position of this district by the hill consecrated to Zeus near the +modern Behistun. It lies south-west of Elvend, between that mountain and +the Zagrus in the valley of the Choaspes, and is the district now known +as Kirmenshah. + +According to the statements of Berosus, the historian of Babylon, the +Medes in the most ancient period had already reigned over Babylonia for +more than two centuries. They had suddenly collected an army, reduced +Babylonia, and there set up tyrants of their own people. According to +the succession of the dynasties which Berosus represents as ruling over +Babylonia, the beginning of this supremacy of the Medes fell, as has +been shown (I. 241, 247), in the year 2458 B.C. The first of the Medes +who thus ruled in Babylon is called Zoroaster by Syncellus, after +Polyhistor; according to this writer the seven Medes reign till the year +2224 B.C. Whether Berosus called the first Median king who reigned in +Babylon Zoroaster, or Polyhistor has ascribed that position to him as +the most famous name in Iran, or the only name known in antiquity, must +be left undecided, no less than the actual fact of the Median supremacy. + +The Medo-Persian epos told us that Ninus of Asshur, after subjugating +Babylonia and Armenia, attacked the Medes. Pharnus, their king, met him +with a mighty army, but was nevertheless beaten. He was crucified with +his wife and seven children by Ninus; one of his retinue was made +viceroy of Media; and for many years the Medes were subject to the +successors of Ninus on the throne of Assyria (II. 3 ff). Herodotus' +account is as follows: "When the Assyrians had reigned over upper Asia +for 520 years, the Medes were the first to revolt, and as they fought +bravely for their freedom against the Assyrians, they succeeded in +escaping slavery and liberating themselves. Afterwards the rest of the +nations did what the Medes had done. And as all the nations of the +mainland lived according to laws of their own, they again fell under a +tyranny in the following manner:--Among the Medes was a man of ability, +called Deioces, the son of Phraortes. He desired the tyranny, and did as +follows: The Medes dwelt in villages, and Deioces, who was previously a +man of importance, set himself more and more zealously to the task of +doing justice, since lawlessness reigned throughout the whole of Media. +When the Medes of his village discovered these qualities in him, they +chose him for their judge. And as his heart was already set on the +empire, he acted justly and rightly, and thus got no small credit among +his fellow-citizens, so that the men from other villages, when they +found that Deioces alone judged rightly, gladly resorted to him, since +hitherto they had had to endure unjust sentences, and at last they would +not go to any one else. As the number of the applicants became greater, +and Deioces found that everything depended upon him, he refused to sit +any longer in court and pronounce sentence, saying, that it was of no +advantage to himself to neglect his own business and spend the day in +settling the disputes of others. Then robbery and lawlessness became +more rife than ever in the villages, and the Medes gathered together and +consulted on the position of affairs. In my belief the friends of +Deioces were the first to speak: 'As things are, it is impossible to +live in the land; let us choose some one to be king, and thus the land +will obtain good government. We can occupy ourselves with our own +business, and shall not be compelled to wander from home.' With these +words they persuaded the Medes to set up a monarchy. And when they at +once began the discussion who should be king, Deioces was highly +commended and put forward by every one, so that at last he was chosen by +all to be king. Then Deioces commanded the Medes to build him a palace +suitable for a king, and strengthen his power by a body-guard. This they +did, and built a great and strong palace, on the place which Deioces +pointed out to them, and allowed him to choose his lance-bearers out of +all the nation. When he had obtained the sovereign power he at once +compelled the Medes to build him a large city, in order that, being thus +occupied, they might trouble him less about other things; and when the +Medes obeyed him in this matter also, he erected the great and strong +citadel now known as Ecbatana. The walls formed seven circles, in such a +manner that the inner was always higher by the turrets than the next +outer circle, an arrangement assisted by the locality, for the town was +situated on a hill. In the seventh wall was the palace and the +treasure-house of Deioces. After erecting this fortification for +himself, and his palace, the king commanded the people to settle round +the citadel. When the building was completed Deioces first made the +arrangement that no one should enter in to the king, but every thing was +done by messengers, in order that those who had grown up with him, and +were of similar age, equal in descent and bravery, might not envy him, +and set conspiracies on foot, but that by being invisible he might +appear a different being; it was also disgraceful to laugh or spit, or +do anything of that kind in his presence. When he had made these +arrangements, and thus strengthened his tyranny, he adhered strictly to +justice. Plaints had to be sent in to him in writing, and he sent back +the sentence. Thus he managed this and all other matters, and if he +found that any one was guilty of insolence, and did violence to others, +he punished him according to the measure of his offence, and his spies +and emissaries were everywhere in the land.[462] In this manner Deioces +united the Medes, and governed them for 53 years. After his death, his +son Phraortes succeeded to the throne. Not content with ruling over the +Medes only, he marched against the Persians, and first made them subject +to the Medes. When he had become master of these two powerful nations, +he subjugated all Asia, attacking one nation after another. Finally, he +marched against the Assyrians, who had previously ruled over all men, +but, though otherwise in excellent condition, were then abandoned by +their allies, who had revolted. In the war against these Phraortes fell, +after a reign of 22 years, and with him the greatest part of his +army."[463] + +The account of the history of the Medes given by Ctesias is wholly +different. As their subjugation to Assyria is coeval with the founding +of that kingdom, so is their liberation coeval with the fall of it. When +the Medes, after their conquest by Ninus, had been subject to the rulers +of Asshur, down to his thirty-sixth successor, Arbaces, the viceroy of +Media, with Belesys, the viceroy of Babylonia, revolted from the +Assyrian king. The kingdom of Assyria still remains unbroken; it is only +after severe struggles, and in consequence of the desertion of the +Bactrians and other nations during the conflict, that it is overthrown. +After the capture of Nineveh, Arbaces, as supreme lord, takes the place +of the king of Asshur. + +According to the dates of Herodotus Deioces ascended the throne of Media +in the year 714 or 708 B.C.[464] The time which elapsed between the +liberation of the Medes and Deioces' elevation is not given by him. +According to Ctesias Arbaces established the dominion of the Medes at +least 170 years before the date given by Herodotus for Deioces. In +Herodotus Phraortes, Cyaxares, and Astyages follow Deioces in the +dominion over the Medes, with a total of 97 years. In Ctesias the +successors of Arbaces, who reigns 28 years, are Mandaces with a reign of +50 years, Sosarmus with 30, Artycas with 50, Arbianes with 22, Artaeus +with 40, Artynes with 22, Astibaras with 40, and finally Aspadas with 38 +years. On this calculation the dominion of the Median kings lasted 320 +years, and consequently Arbaces must have overthrown the Assyrian and +established the Median Empire in the year 878 B.C.; or as Ctesias puts +the fall of the last Median king in 564, and not in 550 B.C.--in the +year 884 B.C.--_i.e._ precisely at the time when Assyria began to rise +into the position of a widely dominant power (III. 269, 270). In the +list of kings given by Ctesias Mandaces and Artycas each rule fifty +years, Arbianes and Artynes 22 years, Artaeus and Astibaras 40 years. +This uniformity points to an artificial extension of the series by +duplicates.[465] If it is reduced by striking out the three seconds in +these pairs, and Arbaces is followed by Mandaces with 50 years, Sosarmus +with 30 years, Arbianes with 22 years, Artaeus with 40 years, and +Aspadas with 38 years, we obtain a period of 178 years for the kings of +the Medes, and so arrive at a point nearer that given by Herodotus for +the commencement of the Median kingdom, the year 736 B.C. (558 + 178), +as the first year of Arbaces. Yet even so we do not find any coincidence +whatever between the two narratives. + +In the narrative of Herodotus we find with surprise that the Medes +attained their liberation without any combination in the people; without +the leadership of a single head. Yet soon after the time at which he +describes the Medes as revolting from the Assyrians, Herodotus tells us +that Sennacherib marched against Egypt, and asserts that for 75 years +after the accession of Deioces, "the Assyrians were indeed without +allies, since they had revolted, but were otherwise in a good +condition," so that Phraortes and the greatest part of his army fell in +battle against them. If after acquiring their freedom the Medes lived +isolated in villages, as Herodotus states, would not the Assyrians have +made use of this anarchy close upon their borders in order to reduce the +Medes again to subjection, rather than engage in campaigns against Syria +and Egypt? According to the account of Herodotus, it was the justice of +Deioces which won for him ever-increasing importance, and finally helped +him to the throne. But had Deioces, who sits on the throne for 53 years +afterwards, sufficient time before his elevation to make himself known +for his love of justice throughout all Media, unless we are willing to +assign him a very unusual age?[466] And if such dire anarchy did indeed +prevail among the Medes, what man in such times submits to even the most +righteous sentence? Least of all are the mighty and powerful willing to +do so. How did Deioces obtain the means of compelling the insubordinate +to obey his sentence?--how could he give protection to the accused, +oppressed, and weak against their opponents? And supposing that he was +able to do this, would he have been unanimously elected king? Herodotus +himself remarks that Deioces knew that "the unjust are the enemies of +the just."[467] Moreover, if the Medes at that time lived in the +simplest manner, how could a sovereign elected from their midst change +these conditions at a single stroke, or at any rate in the course of a +single reign, though a long one, so entirely as Herodotus supposes? +Village life is changed into city life, the Medes are settled in one +city round the royal fortress, and in the place of a patriarchal +government over a simple people, Deioces, "as the first," establishes +the whole apparatus of Oriental tyranny. Immense palaces, citadels, and +walls are built; the wide outer walls are adorned with gold and silver; +the secluded life of the sovereign in the palace becomes the established +law; the legal process is carried on by writing; and a system of +espionage is introduced over the whole country. It is obvious that in +this narrative elements, belonging to the tradition of the Medes, have +been taken by Herodotus and mingled with the views of the Greeks, who +were familiar with the combination of villages into one canton, and the +union of hamlets into a city, and had experience of the establishment of +a monarchy by setting up a tyranny in consequence of the services +rendered by the aspirant to the multitude. Herodotus expressly calls the +dominion of Deioces a tyranny. It is a fact beyond dispute that +Herodotus was influenced by such conceptions in shaping and forming the +material which came to him from tradition. + +Apart from the motives which influenced him in describing the elevation +of Deioces, Herodotus wishes to show how the nations of Asia obtained +their freedom, and subsequently lost it. He begins with the statement, +that the Medes revolted from Assyria, and all the nations of Asia +followed their example. According to his dates, which have been already +mentioned, the Medes must have revolted precisely at the time when +Tiglath Pilesar II. and Sargon reigned over Assyria, _i.e._ in the +period between 745 and 705 B.C. The liberation of the remaining nations +must therefore have taken place under Sargon or his successors, +Sennacherib and Esarhaddon, _i.e._ between the year 705 and 668 B.C. +That this general liberation from the sovereignty of the Assyrians did +not take place at this period is abundantly clear from the inscriptions +of the kings and the Hebrew Scriptures. We have seen above to what an +extent Tiglath Pilesar caused the whole of Syria to feel the weight of +the Assyrian arms; he reduced Babylonia to dependence as far as the +Persian Gulf; Sargon was sovereign of Babylonia, maintained Syria, and +received the homage of the island of Cyprus, and the islands of the +Persian Gulf. His successor, Sennacherib, though unable to protect Syria +against Egypt, yet retained Babylonia and the eastern half of Asia Minor +under his dominion. Esarhaddon united the crowns of Asshur and Babel, +restored the supremacy of Assyria over Syria, subjugated a part of +Arabia and the whole of Egypt.[468] Hence it is clear, that precisely at +the time when, according to Herodotus, the rest of the nations following +the example of the Medes threw off the Assyrian yoke, that kingdom +reached a wider extent than at any previous time. If, nevertheless, we +wish to maintain the statement that the rest of the nations followed the +example which the Medes are supposed to have set about the year 736 +B.C.,[469] we must place these events in the last decade of the reign of +Assurbanipal, _i.e._ in the period between 636 and 626 B.C. We must +therefore bring them down a full century, and this was a very late +result of the action of the Medes. + +Let us attempt, by a comparison of the statements of the Assyrian +inscriptions on the events which took place on the table-land of Iran +and the narrative of Herodotus, to ascertain the real facts of the +liberation of the Medes. We saw above (p. 19) that Shalmanesar II. of +Asshur (859-823 B.C.) carried his campaigns as far as the East of Iran. +In the year 835 B.C. he imposed tribute on twenty-seven princes of the +land of Parsua, and "turned against the plains of the land of Amadai;" +in 830 B.C. his general-in-chief, Dayan Asshur, went down into the land +of Parsua, and laid tribute on the land of Parsua, "which did not +worship Asshur," obtained possession of the cities, and sent their +people and treasures into the land of Assyria.[470] Tiglath Pilesar II. +(745-727 B.C.), in the campaign which carried him to Arachosia, +subjugated "the land of Nisaa" and "the cities of the land of Media +(Madai)." In the following year he occupied "the land of Parsua;" +"Zikruti in rugged Media, I added to the land of Assyria; I received the +tribute of Media;" and on his ninth campaign he again marched into "the +land of Media." In an inscription which sums up all his achievements, he +declares that he has imposed tribute "on the land of Parsua," the city +of Zikruti, "which depends on the land of the Medes," and on the +chieftains of "the land of Media."[471] The books of the Hebrews tell us +that after the fall of Samaria in 721 B.C. "the king of Assyria carried +Israel away, and gave them habitations in Chalah, and in the cities of +the Medes." It was Sargon (722-705 B.C.) to whom Samaria yielded.[472] +His inscriptions also tell us that he carried away the inhabitants of +Samaria, and they make mention of the cities of the Medes. According to +them, he received heavy tribute from twenty-five chiefs of the Medes in +the year 716 B.C., and set up his royal image in the midst of their +cities. In the next year he carried away captive "Dayauku with his +people and his family, and caused him to dwell in the land of Amat," +built fortresses in order to control Media, received tribute from +twenty-two chiefs of the Medes, conquered thirty-four cities in Media, +and united them with Assyria. In the year 713 B.C. he marched against +Bit Dayauku, reduced the chief districts of Media, which had cast off +the yoke of Assyria, and received tribute from forty-five Median chiefs; +4609 horses, asses, and sheep in great abundance. Sargon repeatedly +boasts that "he has reduced the distant land of Media, all the places of +distant Media, as far as the borders of the land of Bikni; that he +brought them under the dominion of Asshur; and that his power extended +as far as the city of Simaspati, which belonged to distant Media in the +East."[473] The inscriptions of his successor Sennacherib (705-681 B.C.) +tell us that on his return from his second campaign (against the land of +Ellip), he received the heavy tribute of the distant land of Media, and +subjugated the land to his dominion.[474] Esarhaddon (681-668 B.C.), the +successor of Sennacherib, according to the Hebrew Scriptures, deported +people from Persia to Samaria. He tells us himself: "The land of +Patusarra, a district in the region of ----, in the midst of distant +Media, on the border of the land of Bikni, the copper mountains. None of +the kings my forefathers had subjugated this land. Sitirparna and +Iparna, the chiefs of the fortified places, had not bowed before me. I +carried them away with their subjects, horses, chariots, oxen, sheep, +asses, as rich booty to Assyria." "The chiefs of the cities of Partakka, +Partukka, and Uraka-zabarna, in the land of Media, who lay far off, and +in the days of the kings my forefathers had not trodden the soil of +Assyria--them the fear of Asshur, my lord, threw to the ground; they +brought for me, to my city Nineveh, their great animals, copper, the +product of their mines, bowed themselves with folded hands before me, +and besought my favour. I put my viceroys over them, who united the +inhabitants of these regions with my kingdom; I imposed services upon +them, and a fixed tribute."[475] The period at which this tribute was +imposed on the most distant part of Media can only be so far fixed that +it must lie between 681 and 673 B.C. Assurbanipal, who succeeded +Esarhaddon (668-626 B.C.), tells us: "I captured Birizchadri, the warden +of the city of Madai (?); Sariti and Pariza, the sons of Gagi, the +warden of the cities of the land of Sakhi, and 75 citadels had cast off +the yoke of my dominion; I took the cities; the chiefs fell alive into +my hands; I sent them to Nineveh my metropolis." These events belong to +the period between the years 660 and 650 B.C.[476] + +To weaken the contradiction between this series of statements and the +narrative of Herodotus, we may call to mind the gross exaggerations in +which the kings of Assyria indulge in describing their acts and +successes, and the grandiloquence which we have already noticed more +than once in the statements of Assyrian history (III. 139, 200). But +however great or however small may have been the success of the +campaigns of Tiglath Pilesar II., Sargon, Sennacherib, Esarhaddon and +Assurbanipal against the chiefs of the Medes, it cannot be denied that +these campaigns took place. And if from the very frequency of such +campaigns, after the reign of Tiglath Pilesar, we are inclined to draw +the conclusion that they are a proof of the lax and nominal character of +the dominion of Assyria over Media, this conclusion proves too much. The +same repetition of warlike enterprises on the part of the kings of +Asshur takes place, as we saw, in every direction. We shall have as much +right to conclude that there was no such thing as an Assyrian empire, +either before the year 736 or after it, over the Medes or any other +nation. As I have shown (III. 185), the Assyrian kingdom never acquired +a firm dominion over the subjugated nations, still less an organisation +of the empire, like the subsequent kingdom of the Achaemenids. Their +sovereignty consisted almost exclusively in the collection of tribute by +force of arms, in the subjugation or removal of the princes who refused +it, and setting up of others, who in turn soon withheld it. At the most, +Assyrian fortresses were planted here and there; and no doubt Assyrian +viceroys were placed over smaller regions. The same procedure is seen in +the inscriptions as in use towards the Medes; and if this is not +regarded as the sovereignty of Assyria, no such sovereignty existed +before Tiglath Pilesar. If, to meet this objection, the existence of an +Assyrian dominion is allowed, in the very lax form which is everywhere +characteristic of it, we may, from the same frequency of the campaigns +against Media, draw the opposite conclusion, that the Medes had +struggled very vigorously for freedom, that in the first place the most +remote tribes acquired it, and for them the liberation gradually spread, +and the tradition of the Medes has accepted the beginning of the +movement as the completion of it. + +Setting aside any conclusions of this kind, even tradition can only have +regarded the beginning of the struggle for freedom as the beginning of +liberation, if it covered the nucleus of a firm resistance, either in +some definite district, or in a dynasty which took the lead in the +struggle and carried it on. Herodotus is not acquainted with any leader +in the struggle and does not mention any, while the campaigns of the +Assyrians are always directed against a greater or less number of +princes and cities; sometimes they fall on this chieftain and sometimes +on that.[477] If, moreover, the fact that Sargon receives tribute from +twenty-five, then from twenty-two, and then from forty-five chieftains, +is brought forward to confirm the narratives of Herodotus about the +anarchy which prevailed among the Medes, it is not the separation of the +Medes under different chiefs which constitutes the anarchy as described +by Herodotus, but actual lawlessness. His description gives us no +chieftains in Media, ruling their lands as captains in war and judges in +peace. The Medes dwell in villages, and the inhabitants choose the +village judge, though it is in their power to go for decision to another +village. Chieftains, even if they had not forbidden their tribes to seek +for justice out of the tribe, would in any case have left the decision +of Deioces unnoticed. + +However this may be, one harsh contradiction between the narrative of +Herodotus and the inscriptions cannot be removed by any exposition or +any deductions. According to Herodotus Deioces reigned from the year 708 +to 655 B.C., Phraortes from 655 to 633 B.C., over the whole of Media. +The inscriptions of Sennacherib mention the great payment of tribute by +the distant land of Media, and its subjugation under Sennacherib (p. +282); Esarhaddon removes two chieftains with their flocks and subjects +out of Media from the border of the land of Bikni to Asshur, and three +chiefs from the same district bring their tribute to Nineveh; he places +his viceroys over them, and they unite this district with Assyria. After +the year 660 B.C. Assurbanipal is said to have taken a chieftain of +Media captive; and in the inscriptions there is nowhere any mention of +Deioces, Phraortes, and the Median kingdom. + +The inscriptions extend the land of the Medes to the East as far as the +copper mountains, or borders of the land of Bikni.[478] The people lived +separately under a considerable number of chieftains. The five tribes of +the Median nation, enumerated by Herodotus, if they also possessed +separate territory, were not isolated groups, but on the contrary broken +up into yet smaller divisions. The booty taken by the Assyrians from the +Medes, the tribute imposed upon them, consists chiefly in oxen, asses, +sheep, and horses. The number of horses given by the chieftains to +Sargon allows on an average a hundred for each, and we also hear of +other property, treasures, and the product of copper mines. We have +repeated mention of the cities of Media and their governors; Sargon +conquers thirty-four cities. Though we ought to regard these mainly as +citadels, yet civic life cannot have been so unknown to the Medes as the +narrative of Herodotus would compel us to suppose. Other elements of +civilisation also are known to the Medes at this time, _i.e._ in the +second half of the eighth and first half of the seventh century B.C. It +has been proved above that at the beginning of this period the doctrine +of Zoroaster must have reached them, and the names could be given of the +men in Media who published it; and the priests of the new religion +became formed during this century into an order which perpetuated in +their families the knowledge of the good sayings and the customs of +sacrifice. To this order we may also attribute what the Medes acquired +of the superior civilisation and skill of Assyria, especially the +knowledge of the Assyrian cuneiform writing, which underwent a change in +the hands of the Magians, and assumed the form known to us from the +Achaemenid inscriptions of the first class. When Herodotus ascribes the +introduction of written process at law to Deioces, the tradition +presupposes an established and extensive use of writing. + +The dominion of the princes under which the Medes stood is followed by +the dominion of the monarchy, which must have arisen out of it. One of +the families of these princes must have succeeded in obtaining influence +and power over the others. The position of Deioces and Phraortes must +have arisen and developed itself in this manner. Whether the Dayauku, +whom Sargon carried off in the year 715 B.C. with his followers to Amat, +is one and the same person with the prince of Bit Dayauku, against whom +the Assyrian king marched in the year 713 B.C. (p. 282), would be +difficult to decide; and even if the matter could be determined with +certainty, it would not be of great importance. We often find the kings +of Asshur replacing conquered and captive princes in their dominions. On +the other hand, it is of importance that there was a region of Media, +which could be called Bit Dayauku, _i.e._ the land of Dayauku, by the +Assyrians in the year 713 B.C. There must have existed at this time a +principality of Deioces among other principalities, and the beginning of +this must be put earlier than the date allowed by Herodotus for the +election, _i.e._ at the latest at 720 B.C. In course of time the land of +Deioces may have increased in extent, and the importance of the ruler +may have grown--though he may not, after the conflict of 713 B.C., have +taken any leading part in the resistance to the payment of tribute, the +conflicts and successes of other chieftains against the Assyrians; at +any rate, there is no subsequent mention of the land in the +inscriptions. Neither Deioces nor his land is mentioned when Sennacherib +speaks of the tribute of the whole of Media, and the subjugation of the +country under his dominion; nor even when Esarhaddon speaks of the +conquest of the most distant princes. Hence we can only grant to the +narrative of Herodotus that, in the times of Sennacherib and Esarhaddon, +Deioces, the son of Phraortes, had a considerable territory among the +chiefs of the Medes, and greater importance than others, and we have no +reason to look for his dominion elsewhere than at Ecbatana. His son +Phraortes (Fravartis), who according to Herodotus came to the throne in +the year 655 B.C., must have succeeded in uniting the chiefs of the +Medes under his sway, and combining with the tribes of the Persians, +among whom at that time the race of the Achaemenids had acquired a +prominent position,[479] in order to maintain their independence against +Assyria. + +From this point downwards we can date the union and independence of +Media. Had the country been free and united at the time of Sargon, +Sennacherib, and Esarhaddon, the rulers of Assyria would not have +marched against Syria and Cilicia, or undertaken the conquest of Egypt. +Assurbanipal could not have employed the forces of the kingdom to +maintain Egypt, or reduce Babylon, or annihilate Edom, or make campaigns +to the distant parts of Arabia, if the united power of Media had existed +behind the Zagrus, close on the borders of his native land, the very +centre of the Assyrian power. Still less could he have looked on in +inaction, while Phraortes, as Herodotus tells us, conquered the +Persians, and attacked one nation after another till he had subjugated +Asia. On the other hand, the annihilation of Elam by Assurbanipal, and +consequent strengthening of the Assyrian power on the borders of Persia, +may well have determined the Persians to unite with the Medes, and +accept a position under Phraortes. + +In considering the situation and importance of the powers, we may assume +that Phraortes, in the first instance, thought rather of defence than of +any attack on Assyria, and for this object undertook the fortification +of Ecbatana on a large scale. What could have induced him to abandon the +protecting line of the Zagrus, in order to attack under the massive +walls of its metropolis the power which had just dealt such heavy and +destructive blows on ancient states like Babylonia and Elam, unless we +attribute to him the most reckless audacity? Nor, on the other hand, can +we suppose that an ancient ruler like Assurbanipal, who had held his own +successfully against the searching attack of his brother, and finally +gained important conquests, would have allowed the formation of the +Median power in the closest proximity, and its combination with the +Persians, without the least attempt to prevent it. It was in repulsing +this attack that Phraortes fell.[480] + +If this inquiry leads us to attribute to Phraortes the foundation of a +consolidated government, the establishment of monarchy in Media, the +union of the Persians and Medes, and the subordination of the former to +Phraortes, we can yet understand that the traditions of the Medes, +anxious to increase the glory of the country, threw the monarchy further +back, ascribed to Deioces, the father of Phraortes, the consolidation of +Media, and represented the liberation from the sway of Assyria as prior +to the foundation of the monarchy. What Median poems can do for the +glorification of their country, even in the teeth of the established +facts of history, will soon become even more clear. How this tradition +explained the elevation of Deioces we cannot now discover; it is clear +that Herodotus gives a Greek turn to this part of the story (p. 280). +And if tradition ascribes to Deioces the extensive and strong +fortifications of Ecbatana, which more correctly belong to Phraortes and +his successors, it is Herodotus who credits him with the discovery of +the mode of life usual among Oriental monarchs. The Medo-Persian Epos +shows us the successors of Semiramis in the seclusion of the palace. On +the other hand, the Median tradition must have ascribed the reduction of +Asia to Phraortes. We have already remarked (III. 280), that towards the +close of the sixth century B.C. Cyaxares and not Phraortes was regarded +by the nation as the founder of the power and greatness of Media. +Herodotus himself tells us "that Cyaxares was far more powerful than his +predecessors." Hence the later legend, which Herodotus reproduces, +ascribed the foundation to Phraortes, and the extension of the Median +power to Cyaxares. But if Phraortes was to be the conqueror of Asia, he +must "when he had attacked and conquered the other nations one after the +other," have finally marched against the Assyrians, against whom he did +in fact contend. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[444] "Vend." 1, 42; Behist. 2, 92. + +[445] Plin. "H. N." 6, 18, (48). + +[446] Alexander came from Hyrcania and Parthia to the land of the +Tapurians. According to Arrian's statements, the Hyrcanians, Parthians +and Tapurians were all under one leader in the army of Darius III. +"Anab." 3, 8, 4; 3, 11, 4; Strabo, p. 507, 508, 514, 524; Justin, 12, 3; +41, 5. + +[447] Herod. 1, 110. + +[448] Polyb. 5, 44; 10, 27. Cf. Curt. 3, 2 ff. + +[449] Strabo, p. 523-525. + +[450] In the most recent times it has been maintained that the Medes +were of Turkish-Tatar (Altaic) family, but this view rests simply on the +assumption that the inscriptions of the second class in the inscriptions +of the Achaemenids must have been written in the language of the Medes. +This hypothesis contradicts everything that has come down to us of +Median names and works, and the close relationship between the Medes and +Persians. Whether the Arians, on immigrating into Media, found there +Turkish-Tatar tribes, overpowered, expelled or subjugated them, is +another question. If this were the case, the fragments of the population +could hardly have exercised any influence worth mentioning on the Arian +Medes. + +[451] Paraetacene is derived no doubt from _parvata_, mountain, or +_parvataka_, mountainous. Strabo remarks that when the Persians had +conquered the Medes, they took some land from them. The distance between +Persepolis and Ecbatana was twenty marches; Alexander reached the +borders of Media on the twelfth day after leaving Persepolis. Arrian, +"Anab." 3, 19. + +[452] Strabo, p. 73; 509. + +[453] Under the Sassanids Media (Mah) consisted of four regions: +Aderbeijan, Rai (Rhagiana), Hamadan (Ecbatana), Isfahan. + +[454] Herodotus allows the Matieni a considerable extent, for he +includes under the name the Armenians and the inhabitants of Atropatene. +Later authors confine the Matieni to the region round the lake of +Urumiah; in this sense, Polybius, quoted above in the text, limits Media +in the North by the Cadusians and Matieni. + +[455] Herod. 3, 106; 7, 40. + +[456] Strabo, p. 525; Diod. 17, 110; Arrian, "Anab." 7, 13. + +[457] Behist. 1, 13. Strabo's [Greek: Nesaia] (p. 509, 511), the Nisiaea +of Pliny (6, 29), the Parthaunisa of Isidore of Charax, must be sought +in the neighbourhood of Nishapur, which was built by Shapur II. The +Avesta puts Nica between Merv and Balkh. + +[458] Diod. 19, 44. Alexander in eleven forced marches advanced from +Ecbatana to Ragha. + +[459] Isid. Ch. "M. P." c. 5. + +[460] Mordtmann, "B. d. Bair. Akademie," 1876, s. 364. + +[461] Diod. 2, 13; 17, 110. The city of Baptana, which Isidore (c. 5) +mentions "as situated on a mountain in Cambadene," is in any case +Bagistana (Behistun). + +[462] Herodotus, 1, 95-101. + +[463] Herod. 1, 102. + +[464] Vol. III. 257 ff. According to the reigns which Herodotus allows +to Deioces and his successors, 150 years before the overthrow of +Astyages, which took place 558 B.C., _i.e._ 708, but, according to the +total given by Herodotus--156 years, 714 B.C. + +[465] Volney, "Recherches," 1, 144 ff. + +[466] In order to remove this objection, the dates of Deioces and +Phraortes must be transposed, and the 22 years of Phraortes given to the +former, the 53 years of Deioces to the latter. Phraortes would then have +marched out against the Assyrians in extreme old age, and fallen in the +battle. + +[467] Herod. 1, 96. + +[468] Vol. III. Bk. 4; Chaps. 1, 4, 5-8. + +[469] According to Von Gutschmid. Cf. _supr._ p. 278. + +[470] Vol. II. p. 319. I cannot accept the theory which Lenormant has +attempted to establish on the geographical differences in the +inscriptions of Shalmanesar II. and Tiglath Pilesar II.--that the Medes +and Persians obtained possession of Western Iran shortly before the +middle of the eighth century. "Lettres Assyriolog." and "Z. Aegypt. +Spr." 1870, s. 48 ff. + +[471] Vol. III. 3-5. + +[472] Vol. III. 85. + +[473] Vol. III. 101. + +[474] Vol. III. 113. + +[475] Vol. III. 150. + +[476] Vol. III. 167. + +[477] That is the reason why I cannot regard the parallels which Von +Gutshchmid suggests ("Neue Beitraege," s. 90 ff.) of the struggle between +the Arsacids and Seleucids, and the relations between the Great Mogul +and the Mahrattas, as pertinent. + +[478] The Patusarra of Esarhaddon might be the Patisuvari of Darius; the +Pateischoreans, whom Strabo quotes among the tribes of the Persians; Von +Gutschmid, _loc. cit._ s. 93, but in the Babylonian version of the +inscription of Behistun the Pateischoreans are called _Pidishuris_. + +[479] Von Gutschmid, _loc. cit._ s. 88; below, c. 3. + +[480] Vol. III. 280. The Assyrian inscriptions are silent from 644 B.C. +downwards. Von Gutschmid, "Neue Beitr." s. 89. From this silence I have +concluded, and still conclude, that the liberation of the Medes took +place towards 640 B.C., and moreover that the victory of the Assyrians +over Phraortes, and his death in battle did not bring about a decisive +change in favour of the Assyrians. + + + + +CHAPTER II. + +THE EMPIRE OF THE MEDES. + + +"When Phraortes had fallen, he was succeeded by his son Cyaxares. This +prince collected all his subjects and marched against Nineveh, in order +to avenge the death of his father and destroy the city. He defeated the +Assyrians, and while encamped before Nineveh, there came upon him the +vast army of the Scythians, led by their king Madyas, the son of +Protothyas, who invaded Asia in pursuit of the Cimmerians, and as they +did not come through the land of the Saspeires, but kept the Caucasus to +the right, they reached the Median country. Here they attacked the +Medes, and the latter being conquered in the battle lost their empire; +the Scythians became masters of the whole of Asia, and ruled over it for +28 years. With reckless cruelty they laid everything waste; they not +only imposed tribute on all the nations, but went round and took from +every one all that he possessed. But Cyaxares and the Medes massacred +the greater part of them after making them intoxicated at a banquet, and +in this way the Medes recovered their empire, and again governed those +who had previously been subject to them. Then a horde of Scythians, +which had separated from the rest and put themselves under the +protection of Cyaxares, were guilty of a crime against a Median boy who +had been entrusted to them, and fled for refuge to Alyattes, king of +Lydia, who refused to give them up. This led to a war between Media and +Lydia which continued for five years, and was brought to an end by a +treaty in which Alyattes gave his daughter Aryanis to wife to the son of +Cyaxares. Cyaxares was master of all Asia beyond the Halys, took +Nineveh, and subjugated the Assyrians, with the exception of the +Babylonian portion." Such is the history, given by Herodotus, of +Cyaxares, who, on his reckoning, ascended the throne of Media in the +year 633 B.C. + +If Phraortes had fallen in battle against the Assyrians with the greater +part of his army, Cyaxares (Uvakshathra) could hardly have at once +undertaken an attack on Nineveh, with a view of avenging his father's +death by the destruction of that city; his first care, on the contrary, +would have been to prevent the Assyrians from making use of their great +victory, to guard against further advances on their part, and to +maintain the freedom of Media. This struggle Cyaxares passed through +with success; that his good fortune carried him as far as the walls of +Nineveh, is indeed possible, but not probable; according to Herodotus +the collision of the Scythians and Medes did not take place in the land +of Asshur, but further to the East, in Media. + +The facts about the pursuit of the Cimmerians and the invasion of the +Scythians have been already examined, and it has been shown that +Herodotus has connected the immigration of the Cimmerians into Asia +Minor, which took place in the eighth century B.C., with the incursion +of Sacian tribes from the Oxus into Media, about the year 630 B.C. He +was deceived by the circumstance that the Cimmerians from their abode on +the lower Halys penetrated to Sardis and the cities of the Western +coast, about the time when the Sacae invaded Media and inundated Hither +Asia (III. 276). The truth is that the hordes of the Sacae not only +overthrew Media, but passed through Mesopotamia into Syria as far as the +borders of Egypt. Their attack shattered and destroyed the cohesion of +the Assyrian empire. + +About the year 620 Cyaxares succeeded in overpowering the section of the +Scythians which remained in Media (these hordes were no doubt widely +dispersed), and again became master in his own dominions. He made use of +his advantageous position as the first who could again direct the forces +of his people. He showed himself to the Armenians and Cappadocians as a +champion to defend them from the plundering Scythians, and at the same +time aided in liberating them from the dominion of the Assyrians. The +incursion of the Scythians had prepared the way for him; in a few years +he was able to extend his power to the West as far as the Halys.[481] +Nabopolassar, the viceroy of Assyria in Babylon, who had determined to +turn to account the severe blow which the incursion of the Scyths had +given to the Assyrian kingdom, had already offered him his hand in +alliance. Amyite, the daughter of Cyaxares, had become the wife of +Nebuchadnezzar, the son of Nabopolassar. But in Asia Minor, far to the +West, the princes of the Lydians had taken advantage of the disturbance +and confusion which the advance of the Cimmerians had carried to the +Western coast, to extend their power over Phrygia as far as the Halys +(III. 435). Here the two rapidly-developing powers met. Though inferior +in numbers the Lydians showed themselves a match for the Medes. After a +war of five years, peace was established between them by Nabopolassar of +Babylon and Syennesis of Cilicia, in order to set the power of Media +free to act against Nineveh. The Halys became the boundary of the two +kingdoms, and the peace was confirmed by an alliance. Alyattes of Lydia +gave his daughter Aryanis to wife to Astyages the son of Cyaxares (610 +B.C.[482]). Media and Babylonia now thought themselves strong enough to +undertake the contest against the remains of the Assyrian kingdom. +Cyaxares led out the Medes, Nabopolassar the Babylonians against king +Assur-idil-ili. The latter offered a long and stubborn defence, and when +at length the walls of Nineveh were broken through, he burnt himself in +the citadel. The Assyrian country as far as the Tigris fell to the share +of Media; Mesopotamia was united with the new kingdom of Babylon (607 +B.C.[483]). Thus Media and Babylonia took the place of Assyria; and +Babylon, as Herodotus says, was now the chief city of the Assyrians. + +When the kingdom had fallen which for three centuries had ruled in the +East and West, Cyaxares might indulge the thought of making his empire +more complete on the table-land of Iran. According to the story which +Ctesias has preserved for us from the Medo-Persian Epos of the fall of +Assyria (III. 249), the Bactrians had been prevailed upon to join the +Medes and Babylonians in the course of the war against Assyria, and the +Persian songs which describe the contest of Cyrus and Astyages, +represent the Hyrcanians, Parthians, Bactrians, and other nations of the +East, as ruled by viceroys of the Median king.[484] We may regard it as +certain that Cyaxares succeeded in subjugating the table-land of Iran to +a considerable extent. No slight proof is afforded of the increase and +greatness of the Median kingdom in his reign by the unusual care and +extraordinary efforts of the successor of Nabopolassar to protect +Babylonia and Babylon by fortifications against the event of a struggle +between the two powers, whose united exertions had destroyed Assyria +(III. 366). + +The position which the Medo-Persian poems assign to the chief of the +Babylonians beside the chief of the Medes, during and after the common +struggle, has been already explained. The Babylonian is the astrologer, +the adviser, the helper; the Mede is the man of action. In the event of +success against Assyria he promises the Babylonian the viceroyalty of +Babylon, and has already given it to him, free of tribute, when the +fraud is discovered by which the cunning Babylonian has acquired the +most valuable part of the spoil of Nineveh. For this offence the chief +is condemned to death; but the Mede pardons him, and in consideration of +his former services and the promise made, leaves him the viceroyalty. So +eager were the Median minstrels to conceal the independence of Babylonia +beside Media, and represent a power as great as Babylon was under +Nebuchadnezzar as a satrapy of their kings. This fiction is maintained +in other episodes of the Medo-Persian Epos which have come down to us. +We are told of the stubborn resistance which the Cadusians made to the +Medes; and an explanation is given how this unimportant nation on the +shore of the Caspian (p. 268) could withstand the mighty kingdom of the +Medes. This episode has come to us in the Persian form. It is the fault +of the Median king that the Cadusians have become stubborn and +successful enemies. He failed to help to his rights a brave warrior in +his service; this warrior betook himself to the Cadusians, and became +their chief, led them well, and bequeathed his thirst for vengeance to +his descendants. From such a point of view even a Median minstrel could +lament the perversity of the Median king, and the power of Babylonian +gold, the abundance of which is strongly marked in the narrative, could +praise the ancient simplicity of the Medes: "who took no heed of silver, +and did not regard gold," as we are told in the Hebrew Scriptures, and +reprobate the victory of gold over strict justice. But it is a Persian +to whom the wrong is done, who summons the Cadusians to freedom; and the +resistance of the Cadusians to the Median kingdom, thus brought about by +a Persian, subsequently furnishes Cyrus with a pretext for arming the +Persians, and also provides him with allies in the Cadusians. It was the +merit of a brave Persian to have provided this assistance for his people +long before. The king of the Medes who was guilty of this mistake is +called in Ctesias Artaeus; we have seen (p. 277) that Artaeus and +Astibaras, who reigned 40 years each, are but one and the same person; +and as the reign of Cyaxares occupies 40 years in Herodotus, we may +conjecture that he is the king hidden behind the Artaeus-Astibaras of +Ctesias. The king of Babylon, the satrap of the episode, is brought in +as a descendant of Belesys (Nabopolassar), and described as an +effeminate man. His name, in the form given by Ctesias, is Annarus. +Evilmerodach or Neriglissar of Babylon must be meant; but, without +doubt, we are dealing with mere fiction. + +The episode is as follows: There was a Persian of the name of Parsondes, +in the service of the king of the Medes, an eager huntsman, and active +warrior on foot and in the chariot, distinguished in council and in the +field, and of influence with the king. Parsondes often urged the king to +make him satrap of Babylon in the place of Annarus, who wore women's +clothes and ornaments, but the king always put the petition aside, for +it could not be granted without breaking the promise which his ancestor +had made to Belesys (p. 297). Annarus discovered the intentions of +Parsondes, and sought to secure himself against him, and to take +vengeance. He promised great rewards to the cooks who were in the train +of the king, if they succeeded in seizing Parsondes and giving him up. +One day Parsondes in the heat of the chase strayed far from the king. He +had already killed many boars and deer, when the pursuit of a wild ass +(the Sassanids also hunt this animal) carried him to a great distance. +At last he came upon the cooks, who were occupied in preparations for +the king's table. Being thirsty, Parsondes asked for wine; they gave it, +took care of his horse, and invited him to take food--an invitation +agreeable to Parsondes, who had been hunting the whole day. He bade them +send the ass which he had captured to the king, and tell his own +servants where he was. Then he ate of the various kinds of food set +before him, and drank abundantly of the excellent wine, and at last +asked for his horse in order to return to the king. But they brought +beautiful women to him, and urged him to remain for the night. He +agreed, and as soon as, overcome by hunting, wine, and love he had +fallen into a deep sleep, the cooks bound him, and brought him to +Annarus. Annarus reproached him with calling him an effeminate man, and +seeking to obtain his satrapy; he had the king to thank that the satrapy +granted to his ancestors had not been taken from him. Parsondes replied +that he considered himself more worthy of the office, because he was +more manly and more useful to the king. But Annarus swore by Bel and +Mylitta that Parsondes should be softer and whiter than a woman, called +for the eunuch who was over the female players, and bade him shave the +body of Parsondes and bathe and anoint him every day, put women's +clothes on him, plait his hair after the manner of women, paint his +face, and place him among the women, who played the guitar and sang, +and to teach him their arts. This was done, and soon Parsondes played +and sang better at the table of Annarus than any of the women. Meanwhile +the king of the Medes had caused search to be made everywhere for +Parsondes, and since he could nowhere be found, and nothing could be +heard of him, he believed that a lion or some other wild animal had torn +him when out hunting, and lamented for his loss. Parsondes had lived for +seven years as a woman in Babylon, when Annarus caused an eunuch to be +scourged and grievously maltreated. This eunuch Parsondes induced by +large presents to retire to Media and tell the king the misfortune which +had come upon him. Then the king sent a message commanding Annarus to +give up Parsondes. Annarus declared that he had never seen him. But the +king sent a second messenger charging him to bring Annarus to be put to +death if he did not surrender Parsondes. Annarus entertained the +messenger of the king, and when the meal was brought, 150 women entered, +of whom some played the guitar while others blew the flute. At the end +of the meal Annarus asked the king's envoy which of all the women was +the most beautiful and had played best. The envoy pointed to Parsondes. +Annarus laughed long and said, "That is the person whom you seek," and +released Parsondes, who on the next day returned home with the envoy to +the king in a chariot. The king was astonished at the sight of him, and +asked why he had not avoided such disgrace by death? Parsondes answered: +"In order that I might see you again, and by you execute vengeance on +Annarus, which could never have been mine had I taken my life." The king +promised him that his hope should not be deceived, as soon as he came to +Babylon. But when he came there, Annarus defended himself on the ground +that Parsondes, though in no way injured by him, had maligned him, and +sought to obtain the satrapy over Babylonia. The king pointed out that +he had made himself judge in his own cause, and had imposed a punishment +of a degrading character; in ten days he would pronounce sentence upon +him for his conduct. In terror Annarus hastened to Mitraphernes, the +eunuch of greatest influence with the king, and promised him the most +liberal rewards (10 talents of gold and 100 talents of silver, 10 golden +and 200 silver bowls) if he could induce the king to spare his life and +retain him in the satrapy of Babylonia. He was prepared to give the king +100 talents of gold, 1000 talents of silver, 100 golden and 300 silver +bowls, and costly robes with other gifts; Parsondes also should receive +100 talents of silver and costly robes. After many entreaties +Mitraphernes persuaded the king not to command the execution of Annarus, +as he had not killed Parsondes, but to condemn him in the penalty which +he was prepared to pay Parsondes and the king. Annarus in gratitude +threw himself at the feet of the king, but Parsondes said: "Cursed be +the man who first brought gold among men; for the sake of gold I have +been made a mockery to the Babylonians." The eunuch advised him to lay +aside his anger, and be reconciled with Annarus, for that was what the +king desired; but Parsondes determined to take vengeance for the +sentence of the king, and waited for a favourable opportunity in order +to fly with a thousand horse and three thousand infantry to the +Cadusians, whose most distinguished chief had married his sister. Then +he persuaded the Cadusians to revolt from the Medes, and was elected to +be their general. When the king of the Medes armed against them, +Parsondes armed in return, and occupied the passes into the country with +200,000 warriors. Though the Median king brought up 800,000 men, +Parsondes nevertheless put him to flight, and slew 50,000 Medes. In +admiration of such noble deeds, the Cadusians made Parsondes king, and +they often invaded Media and laid it waste. At the end of his days, +Parsondes commanded his successor to remain an enemy of the Medes, and +pronounced a curse: "If ever peace should be concluded between the Medes +and the Cadusians, might his race and the whole nation of the Cadusians +perish." This is the reason why the Cadusians remained the enemies of +the Medes, and were never subject to them.[485] + +Another episode tells us of the contests which the Medes had to sustain +under the dominion of Astibaras-Artaeus, _i.e._ of Cyaxares, against the +Parthians and the Sacae. The Parthians, whose chief was Marmares, +revolted from the Medes, but handed over their land and city to the king +of the Sacae, Cydraeus, that he might protect them against the Medes; and +the sister of Cydraeus, Zarinaea (Zaranya, _i.e._ the golden), who was +distinguished for her beauty and wisdom, her boldness and bravery (for +the women of the Sacae took the field with the men), became the wife of +Marmares. As the Medians intended to reduce the Parthians again to +subjection, a war broke out between them and the Parthians and Sacae, +which lasted for several years, and led to battles in which many fell on +one side and the other. In one of these battles Zarinaea was wounded. +Stryangaeus, the Mede, to whom Cyaxares had given his daughter Rhoetaea +to wife, pursued, overtook, and threw her from her horse. But the sight +of her beauty and youth, and her entreaties, moved him; he allowed her +to escape. Not long afterwards Stryangaeus with other Medes was taken +captive by the Parthians. Marmares wished to put him to death, and +though Zarinaea entreated for his life, insisted on his execution. Then +Zarinaea loosed the bonds of the captive Medes, caused Marmares to be +put to death by them, and allowed Stryangaeus to escape. When, after the +death of her brother Cydraeus, she ascended the throne of the Sacae, she +sent messengers to the king of the Medes to conclude peace and +friendship. The Parthians were to return under the sovereignty of the +Medes, the Sacae and Medes were to keep what previously belonged to them, +and to be friends and allies for ever. This was done. Stryangaeus, the +real author of this treaty, ever since the battle in which he had first +seen Zarinaea, had been possessed with violent love for her, and went to +Roxanace (_i.e._ the brilliant),[486] where was the royal citadel of the +Sacae, in order to see the beloved princess once more. Zarinaea, who +returned his affection, came to see him full of joy, received him and +his attendants in the most splendid manner, kissed him in the sight of +all, and ascended his chariot, and thus, while conversing with each +other they arrived in the palace. Here Stryangaeus sighed in the +chambers assigned to him, and could not resist the violence of his +passion. At length he took counsel with the most faithful of his +eunuchs, who encouraged him to discover his passion to Zarinaea. Easily +persuaded, Stryangaeus hastened to the queen, and after much delay and +many sighs, sometimes blushing and again turning pale, he ventured to +declare that he was consumed with love for her. Zarinaea answered +quietly and gently that it would be shameful and fatal for her to +surrender herself to him, and far more shameful and dangerous for +Stryangaeus, as his wife was the daughter of the king of the Medes, and, +as she heard, more beautiful than herself and many other women. He must +be brave, not only against his enemies, but against himself, and not +bring about a long calamity for the sake of a brief enjoyment. No other +wish of his but this should remain unsatisfied. Stryangaeus was silent +for a long time, then embraced and kissed the queen, and departed. He +was far more dejected than before, and determined to take his life. +"Thou hast been saved by me," he wrote to Zarinaea, "but through thee I +am destroyed. If in this thou hast done justly, then may all good things +be thine, and mayest thou be happy; if thou hast done evil, may a +passion like mine overtake thee." When he had bound the eunuch by an +oath to give this letter to Zarinaea immediately after his death, he lay +back on his cushions and demanded his sword. As the eunuch refused to +give it, he ended his days by starvation. Zarinaea ruled over the Sacae +with wisdom and power. She conquered the neighbouring nations who sought +to subjugate her people, caused a great part of the land to be +cultivated, and built a considerable number of cities, and brought the +Sacae into greater prosperity. In gratitude for the benefits received +from her, and in remembrance of her virtues, the Sacae erected on her +grave a three-sided pyramid, three stades in length on each side, and +ending in a point a stadum in height, on which was placed a colossal +golden statue of the queen. Worship was also offered to her as to a +hero, so that she received greater honours than any of her +predecessors.[487] + +We have already acquainted ourselves with the land of the Parthians (p. +10). The Sacae were neighbours of the Hyrcanians, the Parthians, and the +Bactrians in the steppes of the Oxus. Herodotus tells us that the Sacae +were a nation of the tribe of the Scyths, and that their proper name was +Amyrgians; the Persians called all the Scythians Sacae. The inscriptions +of Darius speak of Caka Humavarka; in the second version the name is +Omuvargap, and in the Babylonian-Assyrian version Umurga. According to +the account of Herodotus the Sacae wore trousers, and upright, pointed +caps, and carried bows of a peculiar character, battle-axes and daggers. +They fought as mounted bowmen. On the monument of Darius at Behistun +Cakuka,[488] the leader of the Sacae, wears a tall pointed cap. In the +army of Xerxes the Sacae were ranged with the Bactrians. What our episode +tells us of the royal citadel and the cities built by Zarinaea does not +harmonise with the nature of the steppe-country of the Sacae, and the +statement of the Greeks, that the Sacae lived in variegated tents, and +that their wealth consisted in flocks of sheep, but it does agree with +the fact that the women went to battle on horseback with the men. The +companions of Alexander describe the Sacae as strong, warlike, well-grown +men, with flowing hair; the Macedonians only came up to their shoulders. +Later accounts speak of heavy-armed horse among them; both horse and +rider were covered with armour, and the weapons of attack were long +lances.[489] From the narratives given in the episodes we may retain +the fact that although the Persians followed the lead of the Medes from +the time of Phraortes, Cyaxares, even after the fall of Nineveh, did not +succeed in subjugating the remaining nations of Iran without severe +struggles. There is no reason to doubt that the Cadusians made an +obstinate resistance, and maintained their independence: The Parthians +were able to combine with the Sacae in order to preserve their freedom, +and did not become subject to Cyaxares without severe contests. That the +Sagartians on the edge of the great desert (p. 6) were subject to +Cyaxares, is clear from the inscription of Darius at Behistun. If the +Medes had to fight with the Sacae, who were settled on the Oxus, Bactria +must have been reduced to form a part of their kingdom. Beside the +Hyrcanians, Parthians, and "other nations," the Bactrians and Sacae are +specially mentioned as subjects of the Median kings,[490] and Arrian +assures us that the Acvakas, whom we found north of the Cabul on the +right bank of the Indus (IV. 393), were subjects of the Medes.[491] + +Herodotus tells us that Cyaxares was the first to separate the +lance-bearers, archers, and horsemen, and combine them into divisions; +that is, he introduced a better and more manageable arrangement of the +army. To the same prince, no doubt, is due the completion of the +fortifications of Ecbatana, which we found had been strengthened by his +predecessor Phraortes. When the fortifications were first begun, the +place was merely intended as a point of defence against Assyria; but as +soon as it became destined to aid in the maintenance of independence, it +was necessary that it should be capable of offering refuge and support +to the Median army, if hard pressed. The mountains of the Zagrus form +the boundary wall, and at the same time the line of division between the +Medes and Assyrians. As Polybius told us (p. 268), it was an ascent of +twelve miles--_i.e._ four leagues--to the top of the pass. If the Medes +failed to hold these passes, and were then defeated in their own +table-land, the mountains of the Orontes formed a new point of +protection to their retreat. The Orontes (Old Persian, _Urvanda_; now +Elvend) is a steep range of mountains, traversing Media from north-west +to south-east; the heights of the passes are given by travellers at 7000 +or 10,000 feet; Ctesias puts the ascent at twenty-five stades;[492] +recent explorers fix the time at four hours. On the eastern spur of this +mountain wall, in a fertile plain, six leagues long and four leagues +broad, lay Ecbatana, Old Persian _Hangmatana, i.e._ place of assembly, +the Achmeta of the Hebrews. If the Orontes could not be held, the +fortifications of Ecbatana formed a last point of protection for the +Median army. From the Assyrians there was nothing more to be feared +after the fall of Nineveh, but Cyaxares had no doubt felt, in the +inundation of Media by the nomadic tribes of the Sacae, and then in the +final battles against Asshur, what a support was given by a strong +metropolis; what good service the walls of Nineveh had rendered to the +enemy, even in his decline. He saw what measures were being taken by +Nebuchadnezzar, his step-son, to make his metropolis secure, and +determined that the kingdom, which he had so rapidly and brilliantly +erected and developed, should not be without the nucleus of an +impregnable fortress and royal citadel. The booty in silver and gold, +which the Medes gained in Nineveh, and of which we hear not in the +Median poems only, but also from the Hebrew prophets who lived at the +time of the fall of the city, provided no doubt ample means both for the +erection of the strongest works, and for the adornment of these as well +as the citadel. + +Ctesias tells us that Semiramis built a splendid palace at Ecbatana, a +city lying in a plain, and as there were no springs near, she cut +through the roots of the range of mountains, twelve stades distant from +the city (the Orontes), on the farther side of which was a lake flowing +into a river, in order to convey the water of the river into the city. +For this object a tunnel was cut through the mountain, fifteen feet in +breadth and forty feet in depth, and through it the river was carried +into Ecbatana.[493] If Ctesias ascribes the palace of Ecbatana and the +tunnel, like other monuments of Media, to Semiramis, we have already +seen that the queen is no more than a poetical fiction; nor could any of +the sovereigns who ruled over Assyria entertain the project of building +citadels and conduits for the Median kings. These could only be the work +of Median princes, who resided in Ecbatana; and as Phraortes could +hardly have had the means and the time for such important structures, we +must ascribe both the completion and adornment of the royal citadel, as +well as the tunnel, to Cyaxares, unless we are to reject the latter as a +pure invention, for which there seems to me no sufficient proof. + +"When the palace had been built at Ecbatana, it was surrounded with +large and strong walls," Herodotus tells us, "of which one encircled +another, in such a manner that the inner overtopped the outer by the +height of the turret. The situation, which was on a hill, contributed to +this result, and the natural elevation was artificially increased. In +all there were seven circles; the innermost contained the king's +dwelling and treasure-house; the outermost wall was of about the extent +of the wall of Athens. The towers of the first circle were white, of the +second black, of the third red-purple, of the fourth blue-purple, of the +fifth red; the towers of the sixth are covered with silver; and those of +the seventh, which surrounds the buildings of the palace, with gold. The +city was built round the outermost wall."[494] Polybius describes the +situation of Ecbatana and the palace as they were under the Achaemenids, +who were wont to pass some of the hot summer months in the cool and +fresh air of Ecbatana. "Ecbatana lies in the northern regions of Media, +and commands the parts of Asia which look towards the Maeotis and the +Euxine. The city was in old days the royal abode of the Median kings, +and it appears to have far surpassed all other cities in wealth and in +the splendour of its buildings. It is built under the spurs of the +Orontes. Though without walls, it possesses a citadel built by the hand +of man, of surprising strength. Below the citadel is the palace, which +it is as difficult to speak of in detail as to pass over in silence. +Ecbatana is an excellent theme for those who love to tell of marvellous +things with adornment and exaggeration; but those who enter with caution +on anything which goes beyond the ordinary intelligence find themselves +in difficulties. The circuit of the palace is about seven stades, and +the rich ornamentation of the various parts proves how flourishing was +the condition of those who founded it. Though the entire wood-work +consists of cedar and cypress, this is never allowed to appear; on the +contrary, the beams of the roof and the panelling, the pillars in the +chambers and halls, are covered with gold or silver plates, and the +roof consists wholly of silver tiles. Most of these were carried off at +the time of the expedition of Alexander, and the remainder in the reign +of Antigonus and Seleucus-Nicanor. Nevertheless the temple of Aine +(_i.e._ of Anahita) at the time when Antiochus Theos (261-245 B.C.) came +to Ecbatana, had gilded pillars round it; and some of the gold plates in +the side-walls were still remaining, and the greater part of the silver +plates, while the silver tiles of the roof were still there in +considerable quantities."[495] At the time of Alexander, Diodorus allows +the city of Ecbatana a circuit of 250 stades, _i.e._ of more than 30 +miles.[496] Isidore of Charax mentions the treasure-house at Ecbatana, +the metropolis of Media and the shrine of Anaitis, in which sacrifice +was constantly offered.[497] + +It is not clear from these descriptions whether the fortifications at +that time included the whole city or not. Herodotus only speaks of the +fortifications of the citadel, and represents the city as built at the +foot of its walls. Yet we may assume that Phraortes and Cyaxares +followed the pattern of the chief cities of Assyria and Babylonia in +placing a strong wall round their city. A late and very uncertain +authority, the book of Judith, states that the walls of Ecbatana +consisted of splendid masonry, and reached a height of seventy cubits +(about 110 feet); the towers of these walls were a hundred cubits in +height, and there were gates in them.[498] When the Medes lost their +empire and became subject to the Achaemenids, it was to their interest +that the metropolis of the Medes should not be fortified, but that the +citadel should be in the hands of a Persian garrison. Cyrus himself, +therefore, after the conquest of Astyages, or Darius, after suppressing +the rebellion of the Medes, may have thrown down the walls which +surrounded Ecbatana. The silence of Herodotus respecting them would then +be explained by the fact that they were no longer in existence in his +time. The circuit of the external wall Herodotus compares with the +circuit of the city of Athens, which, exclusive of the harbour cities +but including the space between the Phaleric and the long walls, reached +60 stades, or 71/2 miles.[499] If we chose to assume that Herodotus +included the Phaleric and long walls in the circuit, the total extent +would be 221/2 miles, an incredible length for the wall of a citadel. +Of the outer walls of the royal citadels at Babylon, Diodorus puts those +on the one bank of the Euphrates at 30 stades, and those on the other at +60, and of the two inner walls of the latter the first was 40 stades in +length and the second 20.[500] The circuit of 221/2 miles may, +therefore, refer only to the whole extent of the citadel and city of +Ecbatana, and it would then come near the statement of Diodorus, who +puts the circuit of Ecbatana at 250 stades. + +The royal citadel of the Achaemenids at Persepolis was surrounded, +according to Diodorus, with a triple wall; the first wall was 16, the +second 32, the third 60 cubits in height. These walls were decorated +with great expense, and adorned with towers. The citadel of Ecbatana is +said to have had seven walls, and, however strange this may appear, +religious no less than military motives might have led to that number. +We know the importance ascribed in the Avesta to the number seven--the +seven supreme deities, and the seven girdles of the earth. On the other +hand, if we leave out of sight the hill on which the citadel was built, +the elevated plateau of Ecbatana did not present the natural +difficulties such as rivers and heights, which strengthened the +fortification of the Assyrian metropolis and the walls of Babylon; hence +it was more important to meet this deficiency by the number of towers +and walls. The successive walls would have been of little service had +not each inner one been higher than the outer, and they would have been +the reverse of serviceable, had not the distance between them been so +great that the arrows and missiles of the enemy, when they had gained +the outer walls, failed to reach from it to the next, so that the +assault of the next wall had to be begun afresh after the capture of the +adjacent outer wall, without any cover. If we might assume that the +words of Polybius: "The palaces, of which the extent reaches to about +seven stades, lie below the citadel," are to be interpreted as meaning +that these buildings lay under the protection of the walls of the +citadel, _i.e._ behind them--and it is scarcely conceivable that the +Achaemenids should have chosen an unprotected palace in Media for a +constant residence, and deposited there large treasures, and the +archives of the kingdom--the circuit of the buildings of the palace and +that of the external wall of 60 stadia would give a space between the +walls of each of about 2000 feet; a distance not much in excess of that +absolutely required. Hence the circuit of 60 stadia from the outer wall +does not appear too large. + +More astonishing still is the account given by Herodotus of the +ornamentation of the turrets of these walls--the colours of the turrets +of the first five, the silver and gold of the two last. The attempt has +been made to explain these statements as a legendary echo of the fame of +the splendour of Ecbatana in the time of Cyaxares and his successor +Astyages. But Polybius tells us very distinctly that the roof of the +palace and that of the temple of Anahita consisted of silver tiles at +the time of the Achaemenids, that the beams and panels of the roofs as +well as the pillars were entirely covered with gold and silver plates, +and that these decorations remained in the temple of Anahita at the time +of Antiochus Theos. This ornamentation might be extended to the turrets +of the inner walls. Considering the amount of the spoil of Nineveh, it +cannot be regarded as an impossibility that the ramparts of the interior +walls, the length of which, according to the statement of Polybius, did +not reach more than 4200 feet, were covered with plates of gold, and of +the next with plates of silver, when the roof of the palace could +consist of silver tiles. That the overthrow of the Assyrian kingdom and +the spoil of the cities brought considerable possessions to the Median +nation may be concluded from the remark of Herodotus that the Persians +had adopted better clothing and more luxurious habits from the Medes. +The kings would without doubt receive the richest part of the spoil. The +decoration of the turrets was possibly rude, but it exhibited in a +striking manner the splendour and exaltation of the kingdom, which was +thus encased in gold and silver, while the sovereign dwelt in gold and +silver chambers. Such a parade of royal magnificence is not out of +harmony with the character of the ancient East. To those who were not +allowed to enter the wide and high gates of the palace, these turrets +showed far and wide, through city and country, the splendour of the +citadel. The colours of the five outer walls would be given by glazed +tiles, such as those found in the ruins of Nineveh and Chalah, of +Babylon and Mugheir. We may assume with certainty that Cyaxares desired +to give to his palace and citadel a splendour no less than that +displayed by the palaces of Nineveh, or the royal citadel of +Nebuchadnezzar in Babylon, or the golden citadel in Sardis. Religious +conceptions may also have determined the colours of the decoration as +well as the number of the walls. As Auramazda sat in pure light, on a +golden throne on the golden Hukairya, so was the ruler on earth to dwell +in his palace of Ecbatana in golden chambers surrounded by golden walls. +The Avesta exhibits Mithra with a golden helmet and silver coat of mail, +the wheels of his chariots are of gold, his horses are greys,[501] shod +on the fore hoofs with gold, and on the hinder hoofs with silver; in +like manner the upper turrets of the citadel must shine with silver and +the highest with gold. We have seen that the metals, owing to the +brilliance inherent in them, belonged in the ideas of the Iranians to +the good spirits. And as the splendour of gold and silver belonged to +the highest gods, so must the colours of the other turrets have been +assigned to the good spirits, to whose protection each separate wall was +entrusted.[502] + +The account which Polybius gives of the structure of the palace, the +cedar and cypress wood of which the door-posts, pillars, roofs, and +panels in the walls were made, shows that wood was employed in building +in Media, which agrees with the habits of mountaineers. In Teheran and +Ispahan buildings of wood of this kind are still in use, and no doubt +the mountain forests of northern Media provided better materials in +ancient times than now. The noblest trunks and best kinds of wood were +sought out for the royal house. The kings of Asshur, and Nebuchadnezzar +tell us in their inscriptions that they have caused trees to be cut down +on this or that mountain for their buildings. The wooden palace, which +Deioces, and perhaps Phraortes, first erected, must have been extended +by Cyaxares, and may have been furnished by him or his successor with +the brilliant ornamentation. The inner walls of the palace of the +Achaemenids at Persepolis, if we may draw this conclusion from the metal +supports which are found in the remains of the stone walls, were +decorated in a similar manner. When the palace of the Median kings at +Ecbatana had become the summer residence and treasure-house of the +Persian monarchs, it would, no doubt, be enriched and adorned yet more. +The temple of Anahita, connected with the palace, which Polybius has +described above, is the work of Artaxerxes II. Alexander caused the +spoil he had taken in Babylon, Susa, Persepolis, and Pasargadae, to be +brought to Ecbatana, where he is said to have collected 180,000 talents +in gold and silver.[503] At a later time, the Arsacids are said to have +resided at Ecbatana during the summer like the Achaemenids.[504] At the +present day, Hamadan, which is built high up on a slope of Elvend, marks +the site of the ancient Ecbatana. It contains about 40,000 inhabitants; +the ruins of the ancient city have not yet been satisfactorily explored. +The slender pillars with lotus-like capitals, discovered here, are like +the pillars of Persepolis, and therefore might be the work of the +Achaemenids; what has been discovered in engraved stones and coins comes +from the time of the Arsacids and Sassanids. Some cylinders covered with +cuneiform inscriptions have not yet been examined. + +Cyaxares had rescued Media from the most extreme peril. The consequences +of the defeat, in which his father, with the greatest part of his army, +fell before the Assyrians, had been averted. Though subsequently +overpowered by the Scythians, he yet became once more sovereign in his +own country. This rise of Media, and the weakening of the Assyrian +kingdom by the inundation of the Scythians, he used in order to +subjugate Armenia and Cappadocia. And though he was not able to achieve +anything decisive against the Lydians, he attained a greater success; in +combination with Babylonia he avenged on the Assyrians the supremacy +they had exercised over Media; he overthrew the remnant of that kingdom, +whose tough vigour showed itself even at the final hour in an obstinate +resistance. It was a great achievement and at the same time an important +extension of the Median dominions, not merely by the whole extent of the +Assyrian country on the left bank of the Tigris, which fell to Media, +but also by the closer connection which Cyaxares thus obtained with +Armenia and Cappadocia, the subject lands to the west. Then followed the +spread of the Median power over the kindred nations in the north and +east of Iran. The Persians were already subjected to Phraortes, and +Cyaxares brought under his sovereignty the Sagartians, Hyrcanians, +Parthians, and Bactrians; he made the Sacae dependant on him, and in the +east perhaps extended his power as far as the Indus. From his proud +citadel at Ecbatana he ruled from the Halys to the Oxus. It was a +powerful empire. Herodotus depicts the reign of Cyaxares when he says: +"He was far more powerful than his predecessors." With the Medes he +passes as the founder of their sovereignty; and his reign must have been +held in grateful remembrance, not by the Medes only, but also by the +subject nations. Those who afterwards attempted to bring the Medes and +Sagartians under arms against the dominion of the Persians, called +themselves the descendants of Cyaxares--and one even laid aside his own +name, Phraortes, to do so. + +After the fall of Assyria the leading portion passed to Media, +Babylonia, and Lydia. As the two first had united for the overthrow of +Assyria, and had come to terms with Lydia for this object, so in other +respects they displayed a friendly feeling towards each other. The +daughter of Cyaxares became the consort of Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon, +and the daughter of Alyattes, king of Lydia, was married to his son +Astyages. Afterwards, Babylon prevented the attempt of Egypt to unite +Syria with the land of the Nile; it was eagerly occupied with +subjugating Mesopotamia and Syria, while Lydia established its power +over the tribes and cities of Asia Minor as far as the Halys. Neither +Media nor Lydia thought of putting any hindrances in the way of the +extension of the Babylonian dominion over Syria and Phoenicia. Of +these three kingdoms, thus connected by mutual alliances, Media was the +strongest. Babylonia and Lydia were not equal either in extent of +country or amount of population; Lydia was perhaps inferior in the +vigour of the ruling tribe, and Babylonia certainly inferior in the +military strength of the population. Even when united they did not reach +the size or strength of the Median power, whose army Cyaxares had +arranged, and for which he had provided at Ecbatana a strongly fortified +centre, equidistant from the Halys and the Oxus. When Astyages ascended +the throne, on the death of his father in 593 B.C., he entered upon the +inheritance of a secure dominion in peaceful and friendly relations to +all the neighbouring powers. While his father-in-law, Alyattes of Lydia, +and his son Croesus were occupied in subjugating the Carians and the +Greek cities on the west coast of Anatolia (III. 439), and +Nebuchadnezzar carried on one campaign after another in order to +incorporate in his kingdom the great trading marts of the Syrian coasts, +Astyages could enjoy, for more than thirty years, the fruits of the +efforts by which his father had founded and established the Median +empire. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[481] Herod. 1, 72. In Xenophon, who represents Astyages as reigning +before Cyaxares, Astyages had subjugated the king of Armenia; the +rebellion of this king was afterwards repressed by Cyaxares. "Cyri +instit." 3, 1, 6 ff. + +[482] Vol. III. 287, 438. Even after the discussions of Gelzer +("Rheinisches Museum," 1875, s. 264 ff.) on the date of the eclipse, I +believe that Oltmann and Bailly's calculation may hold good for it, +until it is proved astronomically that in the year 610 B.C. an eclipse +of the sun would not have been visible in Asia Minor. If this were +proved, Herodotus' dates for Cyaxares, who not only in his work but on +the evidence of the inscription of Behistun, was the founder of the +Median empire, would have to be thrown back more than half a century, +which the date of Cyrus does not allow. To assume a confusion of +Cyaxares with Astyages in Herodotus, is impossible, for Cyaxares is +twice expressly mentioned (1, 74, and 103), and moreover Astyages is +spoken of as the son of Cyaxares to whom Aryanis was married. Nor can I +regard it as finally proved that the double capture of Sardis rests +simply on Callisthenes, and a deduction from Strabo. Gelzer agrees that +the incursions of the Cimmerians into Asia Minor and their establishment +in Cappadocia must be placed at the least before the year 705 B.C. ("Z. +Aegypt. Sprache," 1875, s. 18); the devastation of Phrygia by the +Cimmerians he puts in the year 696 or 676 B.C. According to the dates of +Eusebius Midas (the husband of Damodike) began to reign in Olymp. 10, 3 += 738, and took his own life in Ol. 21, 2 = 695 (Euseb. ed. Schoene, 2, +82, 85); his reign extended therefore from 738 to 695 B.C. Hence the +devastation of Phrygia by the Cimmerians must have taken place in the +year 695. If they were masters of Phrygia at this date, it is not easy +to see why these successes did not carry them on into Lydia. As a fact, +this is far from improbable; and if the image at Nymsi is their work, +they would not have had any time for it in 630 B.C., for that incursion +was merely a "plundering raid," and the change in the dynasty of Lydia, +the accession of Gyges in the year 689 B.C. (Vol. III. 416), seems to me +to point to some previous violent change. Besides, Strabo's words, p. +61, and p. 647, are plain and conclusive enough, so that I see no reason +to attach much weight to the interpretation of the passage, p. 627. Cf. +Caesar, "Ind. lect. Marb. Sem. aestivum," 1876. + +[483] Vol. III. 284 ff., 291. + +[484] Diod. 2, 34; Nicol. Damasc. fragm. 66. + +[485] Nicol. Damasc. fragm. 9, 10, ed. Mueller; Diod. 2, 33; Ctes. Fragm. +52, ed. Mueller. + +[486] Roxane and Roxanace are both formed from the old Bactrian +_raokshna_. Muellenhoff, "Monatsberichte Berl. Akadem." 1866, s. 562. + +[487] Ctes. Fragm. 25-28, ed. Mueller; Nic. Damasc. fragm. 12 ed. Mueller. + +[488] Oppert gives the form of the second version as Cakuka Iskunka. + +[489] Choerilus in Strabo, p. 303; Herod. 3, 93; 7, 64; 9, 71; Ptolem. +6, 13; Curtius, 7, 4, 6; Arrian, "Anab." 3, 13; Cf. Plut. "Crassus," 24. + +[490] Nicol. Damasc. fragm. 66, ed. Mueller. + +[491] "Ind." 1, 1. + +[492] Diod. 2, 13; 17, 110; Strabo, p. 127. + +[493] Diod. 2, 13. + +[494] Herod. 1, 98, 99. + +[495] Polyb. 10, 27. + +[496] 17, 110. + +[497] "Mans. Parth." c. 6. + +[498] Judith, i. 2-4. On the date of the composition of this book, cf. +Volkmar. "Rheinisches Museum," 12, 481. In any case it dates from the +end of the first or the second century of our reckoning. + +[499] Thuc. 2, 13, and the Scholia. + +[500] Diod. 2, 8. + +[501] Diod. 17, 71. + +[502] Hence I see no reason for connecting the colours of the turrets +with the Babylonian star-worship. The only fact in favour of this is the +black of the second wall; but as the highest turrets exhibited the two +most precious metals, the others may have received the colours of the +remaining five, over all of which Kshathra vairya presided, and in the +order of the Avesta in which silver and copper follow gold, while iron +and steel end the list. It can hardly be proved that Babylonian +star-worship had a decisive influence among the Medes at the time of +Cyaxares. Isaiah xiii. 17 might be quoted against the wealth of +Ecbatana, but this passage only gives the idea of the writer that the +Medes would not be bought off by Babylonian money, and abandons the +destruction of Babylon for the sake of gold. Setting this aside, the +episodes quoted above show that at the time of Astyages men could regret +the loss of ancient simplicity in Media, and extol it against the gold +which had come from Nineveh to Ecbatana, and against the gold of Babylon +(p. 301). The nation may also have remained in simple habits of life +however brilliant the royal citadel may have been. Yet it has already +been observed in the text that at the time of Cyaxares and Astyages the +upper classes lived in wealth and comfort. + +[503] Diod. 17, 66, 71; 19, 48; Strabo, p. 731; Plut. "Alex." 72. + +[504] Strabo, p. 523. + + + + +CHAPTER III. + +THE TRIBES OF THE PERSIANS. + + +The oldest subjects in the Median kingdom were the Persians. Their +country lay in the south-west corner of the table-land of Iran. The +heights of the Zagrus, which run down to the sea in a south-easterly +direction, divide it from the ancient kingdom of Elam, and the land of +the Tigris, just as in the north they divide the land of the Medes from +the valley of the two rivers. The Eastern border of the Persian +territory was formed, almost down to the coast, by the great desert, +which fills the centre of Iran; the northern boundary towards the land +of the Medes is marked by the range which the Greeks call Parachoatras; +the name would be _Kuruhvathra_, _i.e._ very brilliant, in Old Persian. +The southern boundary of Persia was the sea. Nearchus, who sailed along +the coast of Persia, gives it an extent of 4400 stades, _i.e._ 550 +miles; their land began at the mouth of the Oroatis (Old Persian, +_Aurvaiti_, _i.e._ the swift),[505] the Tsab, which falls into the +Persian Gulf below the modern Hindian, and reached to the east almost as +far as the entrance into this gulf, where it ended opposite the island +of Coloe (Kishm).[506] Euripides contrasts the sun-lit mountain flats +of Persia with the wintry land of Media and the citadels of +Bactria.[507] According to Strabo the coast of Persia was hot and sandy, +and, with the exception of some palms, produced no fruit. But beyond the +coast was a land of very great fertility, abounding in lakes and rivers, +and providing the most excellent pasture. Further to the north, the +Persian land became cold and mountainous, and supported nothing but +droves of camels and their keepers. Arrian tells us that to the north of +the coast of Persia the air was temperate, and the land traversed by the +clearest streams, in addition to which there were also lakes; the +meadows were grassy and well watered, and provided excellent pastures +for horses and other beasts of draught. The soil produced all kinds of +fruits and even wine, but not olives. The forests were extensive and +rich in game, and all kinds of water-fowl were to be found there. But +further to the north the land of the Persians was wintry and full of +snow.[508] What the Greeks relate of the desolation of the Persian coast +is still applicable; it consists of naked sand-flats, broken only by +scanty groves of palms. Above this coast the soil rises in terraces, +which are separated from each other by yet higher ranges. Further to the +north the slopes of the mountains provide excellent pastures, till the +ground becomes more bare as we approach Media, while on the east it +gradually passes into the great desert of the centre. On the mountain +terraces and in the depressions between them are some favoured lands and +valleys. The warmth of the southern situation is tempered by the +elevation of the soil and the winds blowing from the sea. This happy +climate allows a perpetual spring to reign, and increases the fertility +which the abundant mountain springs produce in such a degree that +groves of orchard trees, cypresses, and myrtles alternate with vineyards +and carpets of flowers. The beauty of Persia and the fertility of the +vegetation is concentrated in the valleys of Kazerun, Shiras, and +Merdasht, which lie in stages one above the other, between mountain +walls which rise to a height of 8000 feet. The most extensive and at the +same time the highest valley is that of Merdasht. It is traversed by the +Murghab, which brings an abundant supply of water from the snow-covered +heights in the north-west. The upper course is surrounded by steep +cones, and jagged walls of rock; in the lower part it takes another +name, and is called the Pulwar. Further down, it unites with the +Kum-i-Firuz (the Araxes of the Greeks), and from this confluence down to +the mouth in the great lake of Bakhtegan it is known as the Bendemir. +The Greeks called the Pulwar the Medus, and the Bendemir, which is also +known as the Kur in modern times, they named the Cyrus.[509] + +According to Herodotus the Persians regarded their land as of moderate +extent, poorly equipped, and filled with rocks. In the Books of the Laws +which are ascribed to Plato, we are told that the Persian land is +naturally adapted to produce strong shepherds, and as they had to watch +their flocks night and day, they were thus in a position to do good +service in war. As a fact Persia is a mountainous country; the slopes +are admirably fitted for cattle breeding, but there is little room or +encouragement for agriculture. According to Xenophon's description, the +Persians in ancient times were much occupied in the chase, and in +riding; they only ate once in the day, and at their banquets goblets +might indeed be seen, but no pitchers of wine. Strabo remarks, with +reference to a later period, that the Persian youth remained long in the +open air with their flocks, and were eager hunters; when thus engaged, +their only drink was water, their food bread, flesh, and salt. The +Greeks with one consent describe the Persians of ancient times as +simple, hardy, self-controlled men, of great endurance and martial +vigour, with few requirements. They were also called "Eaters of +Terebinths," in order to mark the scantiness of their food: their drink +was water; and their clothing, coats as well as trousers, were of +leather.[510] + +The nation of the Persians consisted of various tribes. Herodotus gives +a special prominence to three, on which the rest were dependent. These +were the Pasargadae, the Maraphians, and the Maspians. "Other tribes are +the Panthialaei, the Derrusiaei, the Germanii, all of which are +agricultural; while the remainder, the Dai, Mardi, Dropici, and Sagartii +are Nomads."[511] According to this statement six of the Persian tribes +carried on agriculture, and four were pastoral. But the Germanians and +Sagartians were distinguished from the tribes of the Persians in the +narrower sense. The Sagartians (Acagarta) are spoken of in the +inscriptions of Darius, and by Herodotus himself in other passages, as a +separate nation; we have already found their country on the western edge +of the great desert, and observed its character (p. 6). The Germanians +of Herodotus are the Carmanians of the later Greeks, who also passed +with them as a separate nation, though closely allied to the Persians +and Medes.[512] They wandered to and fro to the east of Persia in the +district now called Kirman. The number of the tribes mentioned by +Herodotus would therefore have to be reduced to the Pasargadae, +Maraphians, Maspians, Panthialaeans, Derusiaeans, Dai, Mardi, and +Dropici, if we did not hear of two others in the inscriptions of Darius, +the Yutiyas and the Patisuvaris, whose names were known to the later +Greeks in the form Utei and Pateischorei. These later authorities tell +us also of other Persian tribes: Kyrtians, Rhapaesans, Stobaeans, +Suzaeans, etc. They also reckon the Paraetaci, or Paraetaceni, among the +Persians.[513] The Mardians of Herodotus are also called Amardians by +later writers, who place them in the West, among the mountains which +divide Persia from Elam.[514] With regard to the position of the rest of +the tribes, we can only ascertain that the Pasargadae occupied the best +part of the Persian land--the valley of the Pulwar; that the +Maraphians[515] and the Maspians were their neighbours, and the land of +the Pateischorei followed next after that of the Pasargadae on the +eastern side, towards Carmania. Besides these three chief tribes, the +Pasargadae, Maraphians, and Maspians, the Persian nation, according to +these statements, was made up of a considerable number of more or less +powerful tribes, of whom each one, like the chief tribes themselves, +must have had a separate territory, or, at any rate, a pasture for its +flocks. + +If the name Parsua could signify Persians, the inscriptions of the kings +of Asshur would confirm the division of the Persians into several +tribes. Shalmanesar II. tells us, that in the year 833 B.C. he received +tribute from the heads of the Parsuas, as the inscription says: from +twenty-seven princes of the Parsuas. Afterwards Tiglath Pilesar II. +traversed the land of the Parsuas and imposed tribute upon them (744 +B.C.).[516] The books of the Hebrews confirm Esarhaddon's dominion over +Persia, inasmuch as they tell us that he settled Persians and Dai +(Dahas) in Samaria (III. 154). + +It must have been in the period of the supremacy of Assyria, at the +latest in the first half of the seventh century B.C., that the worship +of the gods, which the Persians shared from all antiquity with their +fellow-tribesmen on the table-land of Iran, the worship of Mithra, Vayu, +Anahita, and fire, underwent the change which bears the name of +Zarathrustra. As we saw good reason to assume, the new doctrine first +came to the Medes from the North-East; from the Medes it passed, without +doubt, to the Persians. If Herodotus places the Magians, or special +priestly order, among the tribes of the Medes and not among those of the +Persians, among whom Strabo is the first to mention them, the conclusion +is, as has been sufficiently proved, not that the Persians were without +priests before and after the reform, but rather that even after the +reform the priestly families remained in their natural unions, and did +not form themselves into a special tribe (p. 192). + +The supremacy of Assyria over the West of Iran came to an end when +Phraortes united the tribes of the Medes under his leadership, and, +towards the year 640 B.C., undertook to maintain the independence of +Media against Assurbanipal, the successor of Esarhaddon. In this +struggle the Persians joined the Medes and ranged themselves under them. +Herodotus, who obviously follows the tradition of the Medes, represents +Phraortes as marching against the Persians, conquering and subjugating +them; according to the Persian account, which is preserved in Ctesias, +the chief of the Medes induced the Persians to revolt against the +Assyrians, and to join him, by the promise that they should remain free +under his leadership (III. 250). The situation of affairs agrees better +with the second version than with the first. Considering the enormous +power which Assyria under Assurbanipal possessed down to the middle of +the seventh century, it is hardly probable that Phraortes would have +inaugurated the recent independence of Media by an attack on the +Persians, which might, and indeed must, drive them into the arms of the +Assyrians. It is far more probable that the two nations formed a league +against Assyria. As already observed, the annihilation of the kingdom of +Elam, which Assurbanipal accomplished in the year 645 B.C., would supply +the Persians with a strong incentive to unite themselves with the +kindred and more powerful nation of the Medes. + +Of the three tribes of the Pasargadae, Maraphians, and Maspians, the +most prominent--so Herodotus tells us--are the Pasargadae.[517] To them +belongs the race of the Achaemenids, from which sprang the Persian kings. +In the inscription of Behistun, King Darius says: "From old time we were +kings; eight of my family have been kings (Kshayathiya), I am the ninth; +from very ancient times we have been kings."[518] He enumerates his +ancestors: "My father was Vistacpa, the father of Vistacpa was Arsama, +the father of Arsama was Ariyaramna, the father of Ariyaramna was +Khaispis, the father of Khaispis was Hakhamanis; hence we are called +Hakhamanisiya (Achaemenids)." In these words Darius gives the tree of his +own family up to Khaispis; this was the younger branch of the +Achaemenids. Teispes, the son of Achaemenes, had two sons; the elder was +Cambyses (Kambujiya), the younger Ariamnes; the son of Cambyses was +Cyrus (Kurus), the son of Cyrus was Cambyses II.[519] Hence Darius could +indeed maintain, that eight princes of his family had preceded him; but +it was not correct to maintain that they had been kings before him, and +that he was the ninth king.[520] + +In this series of the ancestors of Darius we find names belonging not +only to the East of Iran, but also to the Arians of India. The name +Cambyses (Kambujiya) points to the Cambojas, a nation which we found in +the north-west of India (IV. 249); the name Cyrus (Kurus) to the +ancestors of the ancient princely race who founded the first great +empire in the land of the Ganges on the upper course of the river, whose +contest with and overthrow by the Pandus is celebrated by the Indian +epic, while the name Vistacpa repeats the name of the King of Bactria, +whom the prayers of the Avesta extol as the protector of Zarathrustra +(p. 132). Of Achaemenes we are told that an eagle nourished him;[521] a +prophet of the Hebrews calls Cyrus "the eagle;" we know the importance +which the Avesta ascribes to the two eagles of the sky, and the modern +Persian epic to Simurgh; and we have seen that the standard of the +Achaemenids was an eagle (p. 173). Hence from this notice we may with +certainty conclude that the tradition of the Persians ascribed to this +ancestor of their kings a youth distinguished by the favour of heaven. + +As Cambyses the father of Cyrus is a contemporary of Astyages of Media, +Teispes the father of Cambyses must be reckoned a contemporary of +Cyaxares, and Achaemenes, the father of Teispes, as a contemporary of +Phraortes.[522] We must therefore assume either that Achaemenes was at +the head of the Persians, at the time when they joined Media, or that he +was established by Phraortes as the chief of Persia and his +vassal-king, and that his throne passed with the duties of vassalage to +his descendants Teispes and Cambyses. It is not very probable that the +traditions of the Persians should have accorded signs of divine favour +to the youth of a man, who had been placed over them after their +subjugation as viceroy of Media. Moreover, we find among the Persians, +according to this tradition, a form of constitution, such as a Median +viceroy would hardly have established, even for the object of +overthrowing the Median power. The race of the Achaemenids belonged to +the tribe of the Pasargadae; we may therefore assume that Achaemenes was +the first to become chief of this tribe. + +Aeschylus enumerates the seven men who stand at the side of the king of +the Persians.[523] Josephus says that the "seven houses" of the Persians +had named Darius as king. As a fact we see that when Darius, after the +extinction of the older line of the descendants of Achaemenes, sets +himself to ascend the throne, six men stand at his side, whom Herodotus +distinguishes as the "first of the Persians." The Laws ascribed to Plato +say that the empire was then divided into seven parts between Darius and +the Six, and that a relic of this division was still in existence.[524] +In regard to the privileges of the Six and their descendants we find +that they consisted in the right of free access to the king, and that +the king could choose his chief wife only from their families;[525] the +descendants of the Six had also the right to wear the head-dress of the +king, the upright _kidaris_, which was the symbol of royal dignity. In +the kingdom of the Sassanids, we find seven hereditary princes under +the king; these princes, like the king, wear crowns, but their crowns +are lower than that of the king; the "sons of the houses," _i.e._ the +members of these seven families, form the highest rank of the nobility. +Hence in these six chieftains of the Persians standing at the side of +and beneath the seventh, who is the prince of the Pasargadae, we may +suppose that we have the princes of the remaining tribes.[526] And in +respect of the privileges of the six co-chieftains in the kingdom of +the Achaemenids we may assume that they originally occupied a position +close to the king, and formed the council and court of the chief tribal +prince. These privileges the Greeks ascribe to the services which the +Six rendered at the time when Darius ascended the throne. But as the +seven houses existed before, and the Six had previously been "the first +of the Persians," their privileged position must have been of an older +date; it must have been introduced by Cyrus or be of even more remote +origin. It is not probable that such a mighty warrior prince as Cyrus +would, after the reduction of the Medes, impose limitations on his power +by sharing the symbols of royalty and hereditary privileges. According +to the narrative of Herodotus, Cyrus does not simply command the +Persians to take up arms against the Medes, but he assembles the tribes, +and ascertains their feeling. In considering the peculiar position of +these six families we may certainly assume, that under the ancestors of +Cyrus there were chiefs among the Persians with whom the Achaemenids had +to deal. If the Achaemenids were the heads of the tribe of the +Pasargadae, the other tribes would have chiefs also. Yet we only hear of +"six princes" besides the Achaemenids, though we have seen that the +number of the Persian tribes was considerably more than seven. + +Following the indications thus given, we may sketch the course of events +as follows. When Achaemenes had acquired the headship of the tribe of the +Pasargadae, he must have combined the two neighbouring tribes, the +Maraphians and Maspians, whom Herodotus classes with the Pasargadae as +the most important among the Persians, into closer union, perhaps by +some understanding with the chiefs. Supported by these three tribes, +who possessed the favoured regions of Kazerun, Shiras, and Merdasht, +Achaemenes must then have subjugated the remainder to his power. +Herodotus told us above that the remaining tribes depended on the three +mentioned. They must, therefore, have been combined into larger groups, +and in fact into four communities. To the chiefs who became the heads of +these new combinations, a position must have been accorded similar to +that enjoyed by the Maraphians and Maspians beside Achaemenes--above all, +the right to bequeath the chieftainship to their descendants. When the +chiefs of the Persians, now seven in number, mutually guaranteed to each +other their position, the foundation was laid of a community of +interests, and thus of a community of the Persian nation. That the +princes of the four new combinations of tribes belonged to those tribes, +and not to the three first, is proved by the inscription of Darius at +Naksh-i-Rustem, where one of the princes of the date of Darius is called +a Pateischorean. In some such way as this Achaemenes may have brought +about the union of the Persian tribes, and at the same time have +obtained the leadership of them. His position thus rested essentially on +the relation of the prince of the Pasargadae to the other six tribal +princes, a relation of which we find no trace in the Medes. That the +number seven was normal for the combinations of the tribes we may +ascribe to the influence of the recently-introduced doctrine of +Zarathrustra, of which we found echoes in the legend of Achaemenes. + +Achaemenes and his race after him must have had their dwelling in the +canton of the tribe to which they belonged, at the place of assembly of +the Pasargadae, the chief town, which bore the name of the tribe. +Supported by this tribe, Achaemenes succeeded in uniting the people; on +it and the neighbouring Marapheans and Maspians depended the importance +of the Achaemenids. Strabo calls Pasargadae the ancient seat, and with +Persepolis the patriarchal abode of the Persian kings,[527] and here, on +ascending the throne, they were consecrated. Here Cyrus deposited his +treasures; here he found his last resting-place. We must look for this +place in "Hollow Persia," as the Greeks call it, in the plain of +Merdasht, to the east of the later Istakhr, the city of the Sassanids, +below the confluence of the Medus and Cyrus (_i.e._ the Pulwar and +Kum-i-Firuz) in the land of the Bendemir.[528] + +When Achaemenes had united the tribes of the Persians by means of the new +hereditary chieftainships, and got into his hands the supreme power +with the co-operation of the six princes in council and jurisdiction, +he joined the king of the Medes, who had also united the tribes of his +people, soon after the year 645 B.C., as we were compelled to assume, +for common defence against Assyria. Being weaker than the Median king, +he ranged himself under his leadership and power, agreed to follow him +in war, and accepted the position of his general and vassal. The +relation must have been similar to that which Firdusi represents as +existing between his kings and the princes of Sejestan (p. 252). In this +combination the Persians shared the dangers of the war against king +Assurbanipal, and the defeat of Phraortes, no less than the defeat of +Cyaxares by the Scythians; on the other hand, they were the comrades of +Cyaxares in his struggles against the Lydians, and in his victory over +Assyria, while they took an active part in the annihilation of Nineveh. +At the same time we may assume that this dependent position became more +strongly marked as the power of Media increased, and we may believe +Herodotus that their soldiers joined in subjugating the other tribes of +the table-land of Iran, and marched with the armies of the Medes to the +wars which Cyaxares carried on in the East. The episode of Parsondes +exhibits a Persian at the court, in the council, and in the army of the +Median king; and the position of the Persians under the successors of +Achaemenes, Teispes, and Cambyses, must have closely resembled the +position of the other nations subject to the Median power. Cyaxares and +his successor Astyages would have regarded Teispes and Cambyses merely +as their viceroys over Persia, though they did not disturb the +succession in the tribe of Achaemenes. If Darius still calls all his +ancestors kings, and extends this title to his father, grandfather, and +great-grandfather, who were not viceroys, that is merely the custom and +view of the East; even under the great king, the King of kings, a vassal +is still a king. The hereditary viceroys of Persia under the Arsacids, +one and all, put the title "king" on their coins. When Papek, and +Ardeshir after him, had taken their place, they call themselves kings; +Ardeshir, the founder of the dominion of the Sassanids, designates +himself as "king," "king of the divine stock," even before he has +overthrown his own king, Artabanus, the Arsacid. As the youth of +Achaemenes is ennobled in the older tradition, so later legends +surrounded the life of the progenitor of the Sassanids with premonitory +indications. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[505] Burnouf, "Commentaire sur le Yacna," p. 251. + +[506] Arrian, "Ind." 38-40; Strabo, p. 727, 728, 738; Plin. "H. N." 6, +26; cf. Ptol. 6, 4, 1. + +[507] "Bacch." 14-16. + +[508] Arrian, "Ind." 40. + +[509] Spiegel, "Eran," 2, 260. + +[510] Herod. 9, 122, 1, 171; Nicol. Damasc. fragm. 66, ed. Mueller; +Xenophon, "Cyri instit." 6, 2, 22; 8, 8, 5-12; Plato, "Legg." p. 695; +Strabo, p. 734. + +[511] Herod. 1, 125. + +[512] Strabo, p. 727. + +[513] Above, p. 270. Strabo, p. 728, 730; Ptol. 6, 4. + +[514] Arrian, "Ind." 40; Strabo, p. 727. + +[515] Aeschylus speaks of a Maraphis among the kings of the Persians, +"Pers." 778. + +[516] Above, p. 282. + +[517] The place has the same name as the tribe; Pasargadae cannot in any +case mean "Persian camp," as Anaximenes maintains in Stephanus. Oppert +believes that he has discovered in the Pisiyauvada of the inscription of +Behistun the original form of the name Pasargadae, which is the Greek +form of the Persian word. Pisiyauvada (_paisi gauvuda_) means "valley of +springs;" "Peuple des Medes," p. 110. + +[518] So Rawlinson and Spiegel. E. Schrader translates III. of the +Babylonian version: "From old from the fathers we were kings." _Abutav_ +appears as a fact to leave no doubt about this sense. Oppert now +translates _duvitataranam_ (IV. of the Persian text) by twice, _i.e._ in +two epochs we were kings: "Rec. of the Past," 7, 88; but his previous +translation, "in two tribes" (_i.e._ in the older and younger line), we +were kings, exactly corresponds to the facts. + +[519] The list of the Achaemenids, which we obtain from a comparison of +Herodotus (6, 11), and the inscription of Behistun 1, 3-8, is as +follows: + + Achaemenes (Hakhamanis). + | + Teispes (Khaispis). + | + +--------------+-------------+ + | | + (Kambujiya) Cambyses. Ariamnes (Ariyaramna). + | | + (Kurus) Cyrus. Arsames (Arsama). + | | + (Kambujiya) Cambyses. Hystaspes (Vistacpa). + | + Darius (Darayavus). + +[520] If Darius calls himself the ninth Achaemenid, Xerxes also in +Herodotus enumerates nine Achaemenids as his predecessors, in which +enumeration, it is true, Cambyses occurs but once, while Teispes is +twice mentioned, once as the ancestor of the older line, and then as the +ancestor of the younger. On a broken cylinder which has just been +brought from Babylon by Rassam, the genealogy of Cyrus is said to be +given thus: Achaemenes, Teispes, Cyrus, Cambyses, Cyrus,--so the journals +tell us. In this the older line has one member more as against the +younger. Till the cylinder is published we must keep to the inscription +of Behistun and Herodotus. + +[521] Aelian, "Hist. Anim." 12, 21. + +[522] Cyrus is said to have been forty years old in 558 B.C., so that he +must have been born in 598 B.C., from which it follows that his father +Cambyses was born in 620 at the latest. Astyages was married in 610, and +must therefore have been born about 630 B.C. + +[523] "Persae," 956-960. + +[524] Joseph. "Antiq." 11, 2; Herod. 3, 77; Plat. "Legg." p. 695. + +[525] Herod. 3, 84. + +[526] This highest rank of nobility is called _waspur_ in Pehlevi, and +_bar bithan_ is Aramaic. The book of Esther mentions the seven princes +of the Persians and Medes, "who may behold the countenance of the king +and have the first place in the kingdom," i. 14. The names of the six +who aided Darius in slaying Gaumata, as given in Herodotus, agree with +the inscription of Behistun, with the exception of one name. Herodotus +gives Aspathines for the Ardumanis of Darius. The list of Ctesias is +wholly different. If we examine them more closely we find that Ctesias +has given the names of the sons of the comrades of Darius for the +comrades themselves. Instead of Gobryas he puts Mardonius the son of +Gobryas, instead of Otanes Anaphes (so we must read the name Onophes); +Anaphes, according to Herod. 7, 62, is the son of Otanes. The name +Hydarnes agrees with the inscription and with Herodotus, but the son of +Hydarnes had the same name as his father (Herod. 7, 83, 211). The +Barisses of Ctesias must be the eldest son of Intaphernes whom Darius +allowed to live; he was called after his grandfather, Vayacpara, as was +often the case with the Persians. The Ariarathes, who afterwards +governed Cappadocia, claimed to have sprung from Anaphes, whom Darius +made satrap or king of Cappadocia. Anaphes was succeeded by a son of the +same name; after him came Datames, Ariamnes, Ariarathes I., who governed +Cappadocia at the time of Artaxerxes Ochus; his son Ariathes II. +crucified Perdiccas in the year 322 B.C. when he had conquered him, +though an old man of 82 years; Droysen, "Hellenismus," 2^2, 95. The +Norondobates in Ctesias I cannot explain, unless we ought to read +Rhodobates. Mithridates, who in Xenophon's time had been governor of +Lycaonia from about 420 B.C., is called a son of Rhodobates (Diog. +Laert. 3, 25), and his father and grandfather are said to have been +viceroys of Pontus. The ancestor would be one of the seven, to whom the +kingdom of Pontus was given for his services; Polyb. 5, 43. Mithridates +Eupator calls himself the sixteenth after Darius; Appian, "Bell. Mith." +c. 112; cf. Justin, 38, 7. These quotations will be sufficient to show +that the rank of the six tribal princes of the Persians, like that of +the chief princes, was originally hereditary, as the governorships left +to their descendants outside Persia must have remained in their +families. + +[527] p. 728, 729. + +[528] Strabo, p. 729, puts Pasargadae on the Cyrus. Stephanus ([Greek: +Passargadai]) following Anaximenes of Lampsacus, represents Pasargadae +as first built by Cyrus; so Curt. 5, 11: Cyrus Pasargadum urbem +condiderat. It cannot be doubted that Cyrus built there, and Alexander, +according to Arrian (3, 18), found there the treasures of Cyrus. Strabo +also tells us that Cyrus built the city and citadel, p. 730. From the +accounts of the march of Alexander from Persepolis to Pasargadae, and +from his return from the Indus to Pasargadae and Persepolis, it is clear +that Pasargadae lay to the east or south-east of Persepolis. If +Pasargadae is placed at Murghab, the only reason is the statement that +the grave of Cyrus was at Pasargadae, and this grave has been identified +with the pyramid of Murghab, in the immediate proximity of which a +relief exhibits the picture of Cyrus. But the portrait of Cyrus there is +very different from the portrait of Darius and his successors on the +tombs at Rachmed, and Naksh-i-Rustem; and the building at Murghab may +have served another purpose. According to Pliny ("H. N." 6, 26, 29) we +ought to look for Pasargadae to the south of Lake Bakhtegan, near Fasa, +or Darabgerd; flumen Sitioganus, quo Pasargadas septimo die navigatur. +Sitioganus is the modern Sitaragan. Ptolemy puts Pasargadae in the +neighbourhood of Caramania, and Oppert therefore identifies it with the +ruins of Tell-i-Zohak near Fasa, and looks for the mountain Paraga of +the inscriptions in the modern Forg: "Journal Asiat." 1872, p. 549. + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + +THE FALL OF THE MEDIAN KINGDOM. + + +"Cyaxares was succeeded by his son Astyages on the throne of the +Medes"--such is the narrative of Herodotus--"and the latter had a +daughter named Mandane. Once he saw his daughter in a dream, and water +came from her in such quantities that all Asia was inundated. This +vision Astyages laid before the interpreters of dreams, among the +Magians, and their interpretation alarmed him. To guard against the +event portended, he gave his daughter, who was already of marriageable +age, to none of the Medes of suitable rank, but to a Persian of the name +of Cambyses, the son of Cyrus, who was of a good family, but quiet in +disposition; he regarded him as of less account than a Mede of the +middle class. Mandane had not been married a year when Astyages had a +second vision; from his daughter's womb there grew up a vine-tree which +overshadowed all Asia. This dream also he laid before the interpreters, +and caused his daughter, who was with child, to be brought from the land +of the Persians and be kept under watch; his intention was to kill the +child, which, as the Magians said, was destined to reign in his place. +When Mandane bore a son, Astyages sent for Harpagus, a man akin to the +royal household,[529] the most faithful of his servants, in whose care +he trusted on all occasions, and bade him take Mandane's child to his +house and there kill it, and bury it, in whatever way he chose. When the +boy was given to him, dressed as if for a funeral, Harpagus went in +tears to his house, told his wife the orders of Astyages, and declared +that he would not be the perpetrator of this murder even though Astyages +should lose his reason more utterly than at present, and fall into worse +madness: 'the child is akin to me; Astyages is old and without male +heirs, if the throne passes to the daughter, whose child he is now +putting to death by my hands, I shall find myself in the greatest +danger. Inasmuch as my present safety demands it the child must die. But +the murder must be done by one of the people of Astyages, not by any one +of mine.' Without delay he sent a messenger to one of the cowherds of +the king, Mithradates by name, whose pastures lay on mountains to the +north of Ecbatana, where wild beasts are numerous. When the herdman came +he found the whole house of Harpagus filled with lamentation, and saw a +struggling and screaming child adorned with gold and variegated robes, +and Harpagus said to him: 'Astyages commands you to expose this child on +the most desolate mountains, in order that it may die as quickly as +possible.' The herdman believed that the child belonged to one of the +household of Harpagus, and took it, but from the servant who accompanied +him out of the city he ascertained that it was the child of Mandane and +Cambyses. Returning to his hut, he found that his wife Spako (the Medes +call a dog Spako) had just brought forth a dead child, and when she saw +the well-grown and beautiful child which her husband showed her, she +clasped his knees in tears, and entreated him not to expose it, but to +take away her dead child in its place, and bring it up as her own +son:[530] Thus doing you will not be guilty of wrong towards your +master; the dead child will receive a splendid funeral, and the other +will not lose his life. The herdman took his wife's advice, and did as +she bade him. He placed his own dead child in the basket, put on him all +the ornaments of the other, and placed him on the wildest mountain. +Three days after he told Harpagus that he was ready to show him the +corpse of the child. Harpagus sent the most trustworthy of his +bodyguard, and buried the herdman's child. But the herdman's wife +brought up the other child, and gave him some other name than Cyrus, by +which he was afterwards called. When he was ten years old an incident +happened which caused him to be known. He was playing with his comrades, +in the village in which the herdman lived, in the street, and his +playfellows had chosen him whom they considered the herdman's son to be +king. He assigned to every one his work, and bade one build houses, and +another to be a lance-bearer; one he made 'the king's eye,' and another +'the bearer of his messages.' Among the boys who were playing with him +was the son of Artembares, a man of high rank in Media. This boy failed +to do what Cyrus ordered; and Cyrus bade the others take him, and +whipped him severely. The boy hastened to the city and complained to his +father of the treatment he had received from the son of the cowherd. His +father took him to the king and showed his son's shoulders, and said: +'This insult we have received from thy servant, the son of the cowherd.' +Astyages summoned Mithradates and his son. When Astyages asked the +latter how he dared so to insult the son of a man in such high favour +with the king as Artembares, the lad maintained that he was right in +acting as he did, but if he was to blame he was ready to bear the +penalty. Astyages was surprised by the likeness of the boy to his own +family, and the freedom of his reply. After applying the torture to +Mithradates, he soon discovered the truth. He was more enraged at +Harpagus than at Mithradates, but concealed his resentment. When +Harpagus at his request had acknowledged what he had done, Astyages +said: 'The boy was alive, and all that had been done was well. Let +Harpagus send his own son to join the new-comer, and also come himself +to the banquet.' As soon as the son of Harpagus, a boy of thirteen +years, was in the palace, Astyages caused him to be slain, and the +dismembered limbs were boiled and roasted, while the head, hands, and +feet, were put in a covered basket. At the banquet Harpagus was served +with the flesh of his own son, while the other guests ate the flesh of +sheep. When Harpagus had eaten, Astyages inquired whether he had enjoyed +the meal, and when he replied that he had enjoyed it greatly, the +servants of the king brought him the basket, bade him uncover it and +take what he would. Harpagus controlled himself, and said that whatever +the king did was best. Then Astyages took counsel with the Magians who +had interpreted the dreams: they were to consider everything, and give +him the advice best for himself and his house. The Magians declared that +they had it much at heart that the dominion of Astyages should continue; +for if the throne passed to the boy who was a Persian, the Medes would +be governed by others, 'but if thou remainest king we are rulers in our +degree, and have great honour from thee.' But as the boy had already +been king in the game, the dream was fulfilled; the king might send him +back to Persia to his parents. Astyages did so. When Cyrus came to the +house of Cambyses, his parents received him with great joy, when they +found who he was, since they believed that he was already dead, and +desired to know how he had been preserved. He told them that he had been +supposed to be the son of the cowherd, but on the way he had ascertained +everything from the convoy which Astyages had sent with him. He related +how the wife of the herdman had brought him up, and praised her much, +and Spako (the dog) was always on his lips. His parents seized on the +name in order that the preservation of the boy might appear to be the +work of the gods, and laid the foundation for the legend that a dog had +suckled Cyrus when exposed." + +"When Cyrus came to manhood and was the bravest and best-beloved of his +comrades, Harpagus sought to win him by presents with a view to +vengeance on Astyages, for he regarded the injury done to Cyrus as no +less than that done to himself. He had already prepared his revenge. As +Astyages was severe towards the Medes, he had secretly persuaded the +chief men among them, one by one, that an end must be put to the rule of +Astyages, and that Cyrus must be raised to the throne. When this was +done and all was ready, he wished to discover his views to Cyrus, who +was then in Persia. As the roads were guarded, he invented the following +stratagem: he prepared a hare by cutting open the belly without further +injury to the skin, inserted a letter, and then again closed the +opening. This hare he gave with some nets to the most faithful of his +slaves, and sent him, as though he were a hunter, to Persia, with a +command to take the hare to Cyrus, and at the same time to tell him that +he must open it himself and let no one be present at the time. Cyrus +opened the hare, and found written: 'Son of Cambyses, the gods regard +thee with favour, or thou hadst not attained to such good fortune. +Avenge thy death on Astyages, for dead thou art in his intention; it is +through the gods and me that thou livest. Long ago thou hast learnt all +that befell thee, and what I have suffered at the hands of the king +because I did not slay thee, but gave thee to the cowherd. If thou wilt +follow my counsel, thou shalt rule over all the land over which Astyages +was ruler. Persuade the Persians to revolt, and march against Media, and +if I or any other chief man among the Medes is appointed by Astyages to +lead the army against thee, all will be as thou wilt. They will revolt +from the king, and by passing over to thee attempt to dethrone him. All +is ready here; act therefore, and act quickly.' + +"Cyrus considered in what way he could best persuade the Persians to +revolt, and when he discovered what he believed to be the best plan, he +wrote down his intentions in a letter and summoned an assembly of the +Persians. In their presence he opened the letter, and read out, that +Astyages had appointed him general of the Persians; then he added: 'I +command that every one of you appear with a sickle.' And when they were +all assembled, furnished with sickles, Cyrus bade them clear a bushy +tract of land about twenty stades in length and breadth, and make it fit +for cultivation in a single day. When they had done this, he bade them +assemble on the next day; every one was to come bathed. Then he caused +all the goats, sheep, and oxen of his father to be got together, +slaughtered and dressed, and prepared in addition wine and other +excellent food, and entertained the whole of the Persians in a meadow; +after the meal he asked them which they preferred, the entertainment of +that day, or the work of the day before? They replied that the +difference was great: yesterday they had nothing that was good, to-day +nothing that was bad. Cyrus took up this reply, and discovered his aims, +saying: 'O Persians, thus it is with you. If ye will follow me, ye shall +have these blessings and many others, without any service; if ye will +not, ye will have troubles without number like those of yesterday. +Follow me, and ye will be free. I believe that I was born by the favour +of heaven to take this work in hand, and I do not count you as less than +the Medes, in war or any other service. Since this is so, revolt at once +from Astyages.' The Persians were quite ready to liberate themselves; +they only required a leader, and had long borne the yoke of the Medes +with dissatisfaction." + +"When Astyages found what Cyrus had done, he summoned him into his +presence by a messenger. Cyrus bade the messenger reply that he would +come before Astyages wished. Then the king armed all the Medes, and, as +though blinded by the gods, he named Harpagus as general, entirely +forgetting the injury he had done to him. When the Medes and Persians +met, some of the Medes, who were not in the conspiracy fought, but the +greater part made no resistance and fled. Thus the Median army was +shamefully put to rout. But Astyages threatened Cyrus and said, that +even so he should not accomplish his purpose. The interpreters of dreams +among the magicians who had advised him to let Cyrus go he impaled, and +then armed all who had remained in the city, young and old, and led them +out. He was defeated, lost those whom he commanded, and was himself +taken captive. Harpagus spoke harsh words to him, and asked how he liked +slavery instead of monarchy with reference to that banquet. Astyages +replied by asking, whether the insurrection was his own work or that of +Cyrus. Harpagus answered that he had written the letter, and the +insurrection was therefore his doing. Then Astyages said that he was the +most foolish and unjust of men; the most foolish because when he might +have been king, if what had been done had been his doing, he had given +up his power to another; the most unjust because in revenge for that +banquet he had brought the Medes into slavery; if the throne must pass +to another it would be more just that it should go to a Mede than a +Persian, but now the innocent Medes were slaves instead of masters, and +the Persians, who had previously been the servants of the Medes, were +their masters. Thus Astyages lost the throne, after a reign of +thirty-five years, and in consequence of his cruelty the Medes became +subject to the Persians. Cyrus did no injury to Astyages, but kept him +with him till his death." + +In the Persian history of Ctesias the narrative of the fall of Astyages +occupied more than one book. But we only know that it contradicted the +story of Herodotus, that the daughter of Astyages was not called Mandane +but Amytis, that she was married to the Median Spitamas, not to the +Persian Cambyses, and that it was not the Median Harpagus but the +Persian Oebares who was Cyrus' counsellor.[531] The loss of these books +of Ctesias is compensated by a fragment of Nicolaus of Damascus, which +seems to give the narrative in a compressed form. It is only in a few +unimportant points at the close that the fragment differs from the +excerpt of Ctesias which has come down to us. + +"Astyages," so we are told in Nicolaus, "was the noblest king of the +Medes after Arbaces. In his reign occurred the great revolution by which +the dominion passed from the Medes to the Persians; and the cause was as +follows:--It was a law among the Medes that a poor man who went to a +rich man to gain a livelihood, and gave himself up to him, should be fed +and clothed and kept as a slave; if the rich man did not do his duty in +this respect, the poor man might go on to another. In this way a boy +named Cyrus, a Mardian by birth, came to the servant of the king who was +placed over the sweepers of the palace. He was the son of Atradates, +whose poverty forced him to live by plunder, and Argoste his mother +lived by keeping goats. He gave himself up to the servant for bread, and +assisted in cleaning the palace, and as he was industrious the overseer +gave him better clothing, and brought him from among those who swept +outside to those who cleaned the interior, and put him under their +overseer. This man was severe, and often whipped Cyrus. Cyrus left him, +and went to the lighter of the lamps, who showed him kindness, and +brought him nearer to the king by placing him among those who bore the +lights. As Cyrus distinguished himself there also, he came to +Artembares, the chief butler, who gave the king his wine. He gladly +received Cyrus, and allowed him to wait on those who ate at the king's +table. Ere long Astyages remarked how deftly Cyrus waited, and with what +a stately air he handed the goblets, and asked Artembares whence the +youth came who waited so well. 'O king,' he replied, 'he is thy slave, a +Persian by race, of the tribe of the Mardians, who has given himself +over to me in order to gain a livelihood.' Artembares was old, and once, +when suffering from a fever, he entreated the king to be allowed to +remain at home till he was cured; 'in my place the youth, whom thou +didst praise, will hand the wine, and if he find favour in thy eyes as +cupbearer, then will I, a eunuch, adopt him as my son.' Astyages +consented, and Artembares gave much advice to Cyrus, as if to his own +son. Cyrus now stood at the side of the king, and served him by day and +by night, and showed much good sense and skill. And Astyages allowed him +as the son of Artembares to receive his income, and gave him many gifts +in addition, and Cyrus became great, and his name was heard everywhere." + +"Astyages had a very noble and beautiful daughter, whom he gave to +Spitamas the Mede, adding the whole of Media as a dowry. Then Cyrus +caused his father and mother to come from the land of the Medians, and +they rejoiced at the greatness of their son, and his mother told him the +dream which she had while he was yet an unborn child. She had fallen +asleep in the sanctuary when tending her goats, and in her dream water +flowed from her in such quantities that it became a great stream, and +inundated all Asia, and flowed down to the sea. When the father heard +this, he ordered the dream to be laid before the Chaldaeans in Babylon. +Cyrus sent for the most skilful of them and laid the dream before him. +He declared that the dream portended great good fortune for Cyrus, and +the highest place in Asia; Astyages was to know nothing of it, +'otherwise he will put you to death in some shameful manner, and me +also,' the Babylonian said. They mutually swore to impart to no one this +great and unparalleled vision. Cyrus afterwards came to yet greater +honours, and made his father satrap of Persia, and his mother one of the +first among the women in Persia in wealth and position." + +"The Cadusians were at enmity with Astyages. Their leader was +Onaphernes, who was a traitor to his people in the interests of +Astyages, and he despatched a messenger saying, that he must send a +trusty person with whom to confer about the surrender. Astyages sent +Cyrus to arrange everything with Onaphernes, bidding him be back again +in Ecbatana on the fortieth day. The interpreter of dreams urged Cyrus +to go to the Cadusians, and filled him with confidence. Cyrus, who was +of a noble and ambitious nature, intended, with the help of heaven, to +bring the Persians to revolt, to attempt the overthrow of Astyages, and +place confidence in the Babylonian, who was better acquainted than +others with the will of heaven. They consulted with each other; the +Babylonian told Cyrus that it was destined that he should overthrow +Astyages and his dominion, he knew this for certain; and Cyrus promised +the Babylonian that if this turned out to be true and he became king, he +would make him a great reward. Cyrus remembered how Arbaces had +previously overthrown Sardanapalus, and obtained his dominion, and yet +the Medes, by whom he was supported, were not stronger than the +Persians. Arbaces was not stronger than himself, and to him, as to the +other, his fortune had been foretold. With such thoughts Cyrus passed +the boundaries of the land of the Cadusians. Here he was met by a man +who had been whipped, and carried dung in a basket. Cyrus took this for +a sign, and inquired of the Babylonian, who told him to ask the man who +he was and whence he came. The man replied that he was a Persian of the +name of Oebares. Then Cyrus was greatly pleased; for Oebares signifies +one who brings good news. And the Babylonian told Cyrus that the other +signs were most favourable--both that he was a countryman of Cyrus, and +that he was carrying horse-dung, which portended dominion and power. +Cyrus without delay took the man with him." + +"Then he came to Onaphernes, and when the treachery had been arranged by +mutual concessions, he set out on the way back to Persia. He had given +Oebares a horse and Persian clothing, and being convinced of his +friendly disposition he often conversed with him. Once he said: 'How +hard it is to see the Persians ill-treated by the Medes, and yet they +are as good as they!' 'O Cyrus,' replied the other, 'there is no +great-hearted, high-minded man, to put an end to the dominion of the +Medes over better men than themselves.' 'Why should there not be such a +man?' asked Cyrus. 'Perhaps there is such an one,' Oebares replied, 'but +want of courage does not allow him to do it, though he could.' Cyrus +pushed his questions further: 'If such a venturesome man should appear, +how might he accomplish his aim?' 'The first step,' Oebares answered, +'would be to unite with the Cadusians, who would be willing to join him, +for they love the Persians, and hate the Medes; then he must rouse the +Persians, who are about 40,000 in number, and arm them; their treatment +by the Medes will prepare them for this. Their land also is most +suitable, being full of mountains and rocks, and even if the Medes +should invade it, they will be driven back with loss.' Then Cyrus asked: +'Suppose that this man should appear, would you join in the danger with +him?' Oebares replied: 'Most readily, if you were the man to take the +matter in hand; your father is the ruler of Persia, so that you have +the best place of refuge, and are the strongest. If not you, who is it +to be?' As Cyrus saw from this that Oebares was a cautious and brave +man, who placed all his hopes in him, he revealed his plan and consulted +him. Oebares encouraged him, and gave him good counsel to guide him. He +urged Cyrus to send to his father Atradates and entreat him to arm the +Persians, apparently to aid the king against the Cadusians, but in truth +to revolt against Astyages; then he must ask Astyages for permission to +visit Persia for some days, in order to offer the sacrifice which he had +vowed for the safety of the king, and at the same time for his father +who was sick. If he obtained his request he must set manfully to work; +when a man ventures in a great enterprise it is no hardship to venture +his life, and if need be to lose it, for this happens even to those who +do nothing. Cyrus was pleased at the man's resolute frame of mind, and +now told him his mother's dream and the interpretation of the +Babylonian. Oebares then inflamed his spirit yet more, but cunning as he +was, he bade him take care that the Babylonian did not tell the dream to +the king--'if you will not permit his death, which would be the safest +thing.' 'That be far from me,' said Cyrus. Filled with alarm that the +Babylonian would betray the dream to Astyages, Oebares gave out that +according to ancestral custom he would offer sacrifice to the goddess of +the moon at night, and obtained of Cyrus all that he required for the +purpose--incense, wine, and pillows--and arranged that Cyrus should take +no part in the sacrifice. In his tent he dug a deep trench, put thick +pillows over it, and invited the Babylonian to a banquet, and made him +intoxicated. When he sank down on the pillows, he threw him into the +trench, and his servants with him. In the morning, Oebares went quietly +on with Cyrus, who soon inquired for the Babylonian. Oebares +acknowledged what he had done; he could find no other way of escape for +Cyrus and his children. Cyrus was deeply distressed, and even more +angry, and would not see Oebares any more, but at length he again placed +his confidence in him." + +"When Cyrus was again with Astyages, Oebares reminded him of his advice. +Cyrus followed it, sent to Persia, and when he found that all was ready, +asked Astyages, under the pretext that Oebares had suggested, for +permission to go to Persia. The king would not let him go. Then Cyrus +betook himself to the most trusty of the eunuchs; when a favourable +moment came, he was to obtain permission for the journey to Persia. One +day when Cyrus found the king in the best of humours and cheered with +wine, he gave the eunuch a sign, and the latter said to the king: 'Cyrus +asks to perform the sacrifice, which he has vowed for thee in Persia, +that thou mightest continue gracious to him, and for permission to visit +his sick father.' The king called for Cyrus, and with a smile, gave him +permission of absence for five months; in the sixth month he was to +return. Cyrus bowed in gratitude before the king, appointed Tiridates as +butler to the king during his absence, and early on the next morning he +set out to Persia." + +"In vain had the wife of the slain Babylonian waited for his return to +Ecbatana; Oebares told her that robbers had killed him. Then she became +the wife of the brother of her husband, and when she heard that Cyrus +had gone to Persia, she remembered that her first husband had once +confided to her the dream of the mother of Cyrus, and its +interpretation. She related this to her husband, who at once went to +Astyages, told him all, and added that Cyrus had obviously gone to +Persia with a view of preparing for the execution of that which the +dream had portended. The king was seized with great anxiety, and the +Babylonian advised him to put Cyrus to death as soon as he returned. +Towards evening Astyages caused his concubines to dance and play before +him while drinking wine. One of the players sang: 'The lion has let the +boar which he had in his power go forth to the pasture. There he will +become strong and give great trouble to the lion, and at length he, the +weaker, will overcome the stronger.' Astyages applied this song to +himself and Cyrus, and on the spot sent 300 horsemen to bring him back; +if he would not obey they were to cut off his head and bring that. When +the horsemen brought to Cyrus the commands of Astyages, he answered +cunningly, perhaps on the advice of Oebares: 'Why should I not return as +my lord summons me? To-day we will feast; to-morrow morning we will set +out.' This met with their approval. After the manner of the Persians, +Cyrus caused many oxen and other animals to be slain in sacrifice, +feasted the horsemen, and made them intoxicated; at the same time he +sent a message to his father to send at once 1000 cavalry and 5000 +foot-soldiers to the city of Hyrba which lay on the way, and to arm the +rest of the Persians as quickly as possible in such a way that it should +seem to be done by command of the king. His true aims he did not +communicate to him. In the night he and Oebares took horse, just as they +were, hastened to Hyrba, armed the inhabitants, and drew out those whom +Atradates had sent in order for battle. When the horsemen of Astyages +had slept off their debauch on the following morning, and found that +Cyrus had disappeared, they pursued him and came to Hyrba. Here Cyrus +first displayed his bravery, for with his Persians he slew 250 of the +horse of Astyages. The remainder escaped, and brought the news to +Astyages. 'Woe is me!' cried the king striking his thigh, 'that I, well +knowing that we should not do good to the evil, have allowed myself to +be carried away by clever speeches, and have raised up this Mardian to +be such a mischief to me. Still, he shall not succeed.' He called his +generals and bade them assemble the army, and led out against the +Persians nearly 1,000,000 foot-soldiers, 200,000 horse, and 3000 +chariots." + +"Meanwhile the army under Atradates, who was now fully instructed, was +collected: 300,000 infantry, 50,000 horse, and 100 chariots. Cyrus +encouraged the Persians, and Oebares seized the passes of the mountain +and the heights, built lines, and brought the people from the open +cities into such as were well fortified. Astyages burned down the +abandoned cities, summoned Atradates and Cyrus to submission, and +taunted them with their former beggary. Cyrus replied that Astyages did +not recognise the power of the gods, which forced them, goat-herds as +they were, to accomplish what was destined to be done. As he had done +them kindness, they bade him lead back the Medes, and give their freedom +to the Persians who were better than the Medes. Thus it came to a +battle. Astyages, surrounded by 20,000 of his body-guard, looked on: +among the Persians Atradates had the right, and Oebares the left, wing; +Cyrus, surrounded by the bravest warriors, was in the centre. The +Persians defended themselves bravely, and slew many of the Medes, so +that Astyages cried out on his throne: 'How bravely these +"terebinth-eaters" fight!' But at length the Persians were overpowered +by numbers, and driven into the city before which they fought. Cyrus +and Oebares advised to send the women and children to Pasargadae, which +is the loftiest mountain, and renew the battle on the next day: 'If we +are defeated we must all die, and if that must be so it is better to +fall in victory and for the freedom of our country.' Then all were +filled with hatred and anger against the Medes, and when the morning +came and the gates were opened, all marched out; Atradates alone +remained with the old men in the city to defend the walls. But while +Cyrus and Oebares were fighting in the field, Astyages caused 100,000 +men to go round and attack the Persian army in the rear. The attack +succeeded. Atradates fell covered with wounds into the hands of the +Medes. Astyages said to him: 'An excellent satrap are you; is it thus +that you thank me, you and your son, for what I have done for you?' +Atradates, almost at the last gasp, replied: 'I know not, O king, what +deity has roused this frenzy in my son; put me not to the torture, I +shall soon die.' Astyages had compassion on him and said: 'I will not +put you to the torture; I know that if your son had followed your +advice, he would not have done such things.' Atradates died, and +Astyages gave him an honourable burial. Meanwhile Cyrus and Oebares +after a brave struggle had been compelled to retire to Pasargadae. The +mountain was very high and with steep sides, and the way to it led +through narrow passes, which were here and there overtopped by high +walls of rock. Oebares defended the passes with 10,000 heavy-armed men. +As it was impossible to force a way through, Astyages gave command that +100,000 men should go round the mountain, and seek for a pass there and +climb the mountain. This movement compelled Cyrus and Oebares to seek +shelter during the night on a lower hill for the army, together with +the women and children. Astyages followed quickly, and his army was +already between the two mountains, and bravely attacked that held by the +Persians, the approach to which, lying through deep gorges, thick oak +forests, and wild olive trees, was very difficult. The Persians fought +still more bravely; in one place Cyrus dashed forward, and in another +Oebares, who urged them not to let their wives, mothers, and old men be +massacred and tortured by the Medes. So they rushed down with a cry, and +when their javelins failed, they threw down stones in great numbers. The +Medes were driven back, and Cyrus chanced to come to the house in which +he once lived with his father as a boy, when he pastured goats. He +kindled a fire of cypress and laurel-wood, and offered the sacrifice of +the man who is distressed and in desperate circumstances. Then followed +thunder and lightning, and when Cyrus sank down in prayer, birds of good +omen settled on the roof, as a sign that he would again reach +Pasargadae. So the Persians remained for the night on the mountain, and +when on the following morning the Medes renewed the attack, they fought +yet more bravely, relying on the happy omens. But Astyages placed 50,000 +men at the foot of the mountain behind those who were attacking, and +bade them slay all who came down. Thus pressed, the Medes fought more +zealously than on the previous day, and the Persians retired to the top +of the mountain on which were their women and children. These ran to +meet the fugitives, and cried out to them, 'Cowards, whither would ye +fly, will ye creep back into the bosoms that bore you?' Seized with +shame, the Persians turned, and in one onslaught drove the Medes down +the mountain, and slew sixty thousand of them." + +"But Astyages did not retire from the siege of the mountain. Cyrus had +still need of much cunning and bravery before he succeeded in defeating +Astyages and taking the camp of the Medes. On that day, Cyrus went into +the tent of Astyages, seated himself on his throne, and took the sceptre +amid the acclamations of the Persians; and Oebares put the king's +kidaris on his head with the words: 'Thou art more worthy to bear it; +the gods give it to thee for thy virtue, and grant the Persians to rule +over the Medes.' The treasures of Astyages, which the Persians found in +the camp of the Medes, were brought to Pasargadae under the care of +Oebares; but even those which they found in the tents of the other Medes +were enormous. It was not long before the intelligence of the defeat and +flight of Astyages spread abroad, and nations as well as individuals +deserted him. First of all Artasyras, the chief of the Hyrcanians, came, +with 50,000 men, and recognised Cyrus as king; afterwards came the +chiefs of the Parthians, Sacae, Bactrians, and other nations, each +seeking to arrive before the other. Only a few faithful men remained +with Astyages, and when Cyrus marched against him he was easily +overcome. Then Cyrus gained possession of Ecbatana. There the daughter +of Astyages and her husband Spitamas were taken captive with their two +sons. But Astyages could not be found; Amytis and Spitamas had hidden +him in the palace in the woodwork of the roof. Then Cyrus commanded that +Amytis, her husband, and her children should be tortured that they might +confess where Astyages was, but he came forward of his own will to +prevent the torture. Spitamas was beheaded, because he had lied, and +said that he did not know the hiding-place of Astyages; Amytis Cyrus +took for his wife. He loosed from Astyages the heavy chains which +Oebares had put upon him, honoured him as a father, and made him satrap +of the Barcanians."[532] + +According to Deinon, who wrote in the first half of the fourth century +B.C., Cyrus was first governor of the staff-bearers of Astyages, and +then of his body-guard. In a dream he had thrice seen the sun at his +feet, and thrice stretched out his arms to grasp it, and the magicians +had interpreted this dream to the effect that he would reign for thrice +ten years. When Astyages had given Cyrus leave to go to Persia, and he +had availed himself of it, the king sent for Angares, the most famous of +the Median minstrels, in order to sing before him and his company at the +banquet. After reciting the usual songs, Angares at last said: "The +great beast of prey, more mighty than a wild boar, is let loose in the +swamps; when he is master of his land, he will with ease fight against +many." And when Astyages asked, "What wild beast is this?" Angares +answered: "Cyrus the Persian." Then Astyages, regarding the suspicion as +well-founded, sent to fetch Cyrus back, but failed to recover him.[533] + +The narrative of Pompeius Trogus has been preserved in excerpts only. +Astyages had a daughter, but no male heirs. From her bosom, he saw, in a +dream, a vine growing, of which the branches overshadowed all Asia. The +interpreters of dreams declared that this vision portended the greatness +of the grandson whom his daughter would bring forth, but it also +involved the loss of the empire to him. To be rid of this fear, Astyages +had not given his daughter to any eminent man, nor even to a Mede--that +there might not be rank on the father's side as well as on the mother's, +to excite the ambition of his grandson--but to Cambyses, a man of middle +station, in the then unknown nation of the Persians. Even this did not +remove the alarm of Astyages; when his daughter was pregnant he sent for +her in order to have her child put to death before his eyes. When a boy +was born he gave him to Harpagus, his trusted friend, to be put to +death. But Harpagus, fearing that the daughter of Astyages if she should +come to the throne would avenge on him the death of her son, gave the +child to the herdman of the king, and bade him expose it. The herdman +obeyed, but when his wife heard of the matter, she urged her husband to +fetch the child and show it to her. Wearied by her entreaties, the +herdman went back into the forest, and there found a dog beside the +child, suckling it, and defending it from the beasts of prey. He took it +up and carried it to his fold, while the dog followed in much distress. +When the herdman's wife took it in her arms, the child smiled on her as +though it had known her, and it was so full of life and sweet smiles +that the woman induced her husband to expose her own child in place of +the grandson of the king. After this the excerpt goes on to relate, like +Herodotus, the game of the boys, the answer of Cyrus, the revenge of +Astyages on Harpagus, the letter in the hare's belly, in which Harpagus +imparts to Cyrus his plan for the desertion of the Medes to the +Persians. When Cyrus had received and read this letter in Persepolis, a +dream also urged the enterprise upon him, but at the same time bade him +take as his associate the man whom he met first on the following day. +Next day, before dawn, Cyrus went on a journey, and met a slave of the +name of Oebares, belonging to the house of a Mede. When Cyrus found that +he was a Persian by birth, he took his chains off and turned back with +him to Persepolis. Cyrus then assembled the Persians. On the first day +he made them cut down a wood on the way, and on the second he +entertained them. Astyages sends Harpagus against them, and he passes +over to their side with the army entrusted to him. Astyages now marches +out in person, after summoning all his forces, against Persia. The +struggle was severe. Astyages placed a portion of his army in the rear +of his forces, and told the latter that they must try whether they could +not break through the ranks of the enemy in battle more easily than +through the ranks behind them in flight. The Medes attacked with great +spirit; the Persians were forced back to their wives and children, by +whom they were again driven into the battle with the cry: Would they fly +for refuge into the bosoms of their mothers and wives? They put the +Medes to flight. Here the excerpt of Justin breaks off, though he +represents Astyages as having been taken prisoner in this battle after +the rout. Cyrus merely took the government from him; he treated him as +his grandfather, and made him satrap of the Hyrcanians; Oebares he made +ruler of Persia, and gave him his sister in marriage.[534] + +Polyaenus repeats the narrative of Herodotus about the manner in which +Cyrus induced the Persians to revolt. Then followed a war between the +Medes and Persians, and Cyrus was three times defeated. As the women and +children of the Persians were at Pasargadae, Cyrus was compelled to risk +another battle in the neighbourhood of this place. The Persians were +again put to flight; Oebares was retreating when the women met the +fugitives, with the cry already quoted. The Persians halted; and as the +Medes were pursuing without order, the Persians gained such a victory +that no further battle was needed to decide the question of the +throne.[535] Anaximenes of Lampsacus also relates that Cyrus had built +Pasargadae at the place where he had overcome Astyages in battle. Strabo +tells us: "Cyrus held Pasargadae in honour, for it was there that he +conquered Astyages in the final battle, and became ruler of all Asia in +his place, and he built a city and a palace in remembrance of the +victory."[536] Plutarch tells us: When Cyrus revolted from Astyages and +the Medes he was three times conquered in battle, and when the Persians +fled into the city, the enemy had almost succeeded in forcing an +entrance with them, when the women came out to meet them. The cry of the +women brought about a change in the battle, and for this reason Cyrus +made a law that as often as the king came into the city of Pasargadae, +every woman should receive a piece of gold. Ochus marched past the city +to evade the law; but Alexander twice entered Pasargadae, and gave +double to all the women that were with child.[537] In all these +narratives the land of the Persians is the scene of the decisive +conflict. + +Only a few short fragments remain of the account given by Diodorus of +the overthrow of Astyages. With him Cyrus is the son of Mandane, the +daughter of Astyages, and Cambyses. His father brought him up as a king, +and inflamed him with a desire for the mightiest achievements. As a +young man he displayed a capacity in advance of his years, and clearly +showed that he would undertake the most important enterprises. He was +the first man of his time in bravery, wisdom, and all other virtues. +Another fragment obviously comes after the defeat, which, according to +Nicolaus, Astyages suffered in the final battle at Pasargadae. When +defeated, Astyages, though he had himself disgracefully turned and fled, +showed ferocious anger against his army. He deposed all the commanders +and elected others in their place. Those who were to blame for the +flight, he executed one and all, thinking that he should thus compel the +others to show themselves brave men in danger. "For he was cruel and +harsh in character. But he did not terrify the multitude by this +severity; on the other hand, by the exasperation which such violence and +caprice excited in every one, he roused them to a desire for revolution +and deposition. The troops met in their divisions; treasonable speeches +were uttered, and the majority urged each other to vengeance."[538] + +Xenophon, it is true, has not written a history of Cyrus, but has given +a description of his life from his knowledge of the Persian life and +character, and the conclusions he deduced therefrom, as to the possible +origin of the empire, in order to explain and realise to the Greeks the +difficulty which they found it so hard to solve--the manner in which +great nations could form one community and be governed by one person. +With him Cyrus is the son of Cambyses, who is the king of the Persians, +and Mandane the daughter of Astyages of Media, whom Xenophon represents +as reigning before Cyaxares. When Cyrus was twelve years of age, his +mother went with him to Media, in order to show him to his grandfather, +whom the boy astonished by his apt answers. At the age of sixteen, Cyrus +performs his first deeds of arms. When Astyages died, he was succeeded +on the throne by his son Cyaxares, the brother of Mandane. He entreats +Cambyses to aid him against the Assyrians; Cambyses sends Cyrus, by +whose services the Medes are defeated. After this he conquered the +Lydians, who had come to aid the Assyrians against the Medes, and took +Babylon; and his uncle Cyaxares, whom Xenophon does not describe as a +pattern ruler, gives him his daughter in marriage, and Media as a dowry, +for he was without male children. Cambyses and Mandane assented to this +arrangement. After the death of Cambyses, Cyrus became king of Persia, +and on the death of Cyaxares, Media also became his. + +The Armenians also narrate the fall of Astyages. Moses of Chorene (I. +513) tells us that he only related the stories of the Persians to please +his patron Sahak (Isaac) Bagratuni, and gave them a meaning which they +did not possess. Biurasp Asdahag lived at the time of Nimrod, and the +person whom the Persians in their stories call the child of Satan, +served him; and with regard to the dragon, or the changing of Asdahag +into a dragon, the truth was that he sacrificed men in infinite numbers +to the dragon, till the multitude grew weary, overpowered him, and threw +him into a trench filled with bitumen. Moses further tells us: The ninth +descendant of Baroir of Armenia (I. 515), King Tigran, was the +mightiest of all the princes of Armenia, and helped Cyrus to overthrow +the kingdom of the Medes. Tigran was pledged by treaties to Asdahag +(Astyages) the king of the Medians, and when he united with Cyrus, +Astyages had an evil dream. He saw a high mountain surrounded by snow +and ice, as in the land of the son of Haikhs (I. 513). On the summit of +the mountain, a woman in purple, covered with a sky-blue veil, brought +forth three heroes at once: one, carried on a lion, dashed toward the +west; the second, on a leopard, to the north; the third, on a monstrous +dragon, to Media. With this Asdahag fought in the dream: they shed a sea +of blood, and pierced each other with their lances. Asdahag explained +this dream to mean that he had to expect an attack from Tigran, the king +of Armenia. To prevent this, and secretly to destroy Tigran, Asdahag +sought Tigran's sister, Tigranuhi, in marriage, obtained her, and held +her in great honour. Then he asked for a meeting with Tigran. But +Tigranuhi had perceived the duplicity of Asdahag, and warned her +brother. He collected the best warriors of great and little Armenia, and +marched against the Medes. The war continued for four months, till +Tigran in a hand-to-hand conflict pierced the iron armour of Asdahag +with his lance. The death of Asdahag put an end to the battle and the +war, and Tigran led his sister back to Armenia, where she became the +ancestress of the race of Osdan. Anuish (Aryanis), the first wife of +Astyages, and a number of young princesses and boys, more than 10,000 in +all, Tigranes brought to Armenia, and settled there to the east of the +great mountain, towards the land of Koghten, in the plain of Ajtnayan, +as far as Nakhjevan. In the songs of the people of Koghten, the +descendants of Astyages are spoken of in an allegorical manner, as the +descendants of the dragon; for Astyages (Asdahag) in our language means +the dragon.[539] As has been shown, the Armenians were closely allied to +the people of Iran in language, character, and religious worship. It +cannot therefore astonish us that the legends of Iran are known to them. +What Moses tells us of Biurasp Asdahag and his serpents rests on the +myth in the Avesta of the serpent Azhi dahaka, the Zohak of the later +form of Iranian legend (p. 250). The epithet which Moses gives to +Asdahag, Biurasp, is also of Iranian origin; Baevaracpa means the lord +of 10,000 horses. That the descendants of Astyages are spoken of in the +national legend of Armenia as the descendants of the dragon, shows that +the Armenians had confounded Astyages of Media with Azhi dahaka or +Zohak. The Armenians can only claim as their own the legend of King +Tigran, who overcomes and slays Asdahag of Media. They ascribe to their +princes the overthrow of the Medes. As already remarked, the Armenian +legend of Tigran must come down from an early date. Xenophon makes +Tigran the son of the king of Armenia, the most faithful helper and +associate of Cyrus.[540] + +Leaving out of sight the romance of Xenophon, and the Armenian +tradition, which involve special hypotheses, the accounts in the West of +the fall of Astyages go back to two distinct versions, one of which we +have in the narrative of Herodotus, the other in the narrative of +Ctesias-Nicolaus, which is presupposed in Deinon and Polyaenus. In +Trogus we have a third version, which combines the two. So far as +Justin's excerpt allows us to form an opinion, this version, and the +fragments of Diodorus, are based upon the Persian history of Deinon. The +introduction is distinguished from the account of Herodotus by the fact +that only one dream of Astyages is mentioned; that Cyrus is already +exposed, and a dog is suckling him before the herdsman's wife, whose +name was "dog," brings him up; then follows the story of Herodotus, +including the letter, which Harpagus sends to Cyrus in the hare's belly. +At this point Trogus passes into the account of Nicolaus; he represents +Cyrus as receiving in a dream the exhortation to rise against Astyages, +and to take the first man he meets as his associate. Cyrus meets +Oebares, though not, it is true, on the borders of the Cadusians. The +place of the horsemen, who in Nicolaus are first sent by Astyages, is +taken in Trogus by the march of Harpagus, and his desertion to Cyrus; +then follows the narrative of the war, which in the most essential +traits agrees with the version of Ctesias-Nicolaus. From Deinon's +fragments we shall add to the excerpt from Trogus, that Cyrus before his +rebellion had served at the court of Astyages as overseer of the +staff-bearers, and then of the body-guard; that Astyages was warned by +Angares; and, finally, the defection of the Medes after the battle of +Pasargadae, as given in the fragments of Diodorus. + +The detail and liveliness of the traits in the accounts of Herodotus and +Ctesias-Nicolaus, in the fragment of Deinon, and the narrative of +Trogus--the warnings and portents--the dialogues and speeches of the +action--the letter:--all these point to poetical sources. We found that +the accounts of Ctesias of the foundation, rise, and fall of Assyria, +and of the rise of Media, were based upon poems, and here also, beyond +doubt, poetic traditions form the groundwork. Herodotus, at the +beginning of his narrative, tells us: "I write these matters from the +accounts given by some of the Persians, who do not exaggerate the life +of Cyrus, but wish to narrate the order of events; I am aware that three +other different accounts of the life of Cyrus are in existence."[541] +Xenophon tells us that Cyrus "is even now the theme of song among the +barbarians."[542] In Deinon's fragment it is Angares, the most famous of +the Median minstrels, who, while singing at the table of Astyages, warns +him in a poetical figure against Cyrus (p. 354); in the account of +Nicolaus it is one of the singing women, from whom, at the same time and +in a similar figure, this warning comes. At the court of the Sassanids +there were singing women who sang to the kings the achievements of old +days. Ibn-al-Hareth brought women of this kind from the court of Chosru +Nushirvan to the Koreishites, and they sang the deeds of Rustem.[543] +According to these statements and indications we may regard it as +certain that the elevation of Cyrus and the fall of Astyages was +celebrated in song among the Persians and Medes. In spite of the +differences between the three narratives, certain traits are common to +all. In all dreams announce the future greatness of Cyrus; in Herodotus +these appear to Astyages; in Nicolaus, to the mother of Cyrus; in Deinon +and Trogus, to Cyrus also. In Herodotus Cambyses is rich in flocks, in +Nicolaus the mother of Cyrus tends goats; in Herodotus Cambyses is of a +quiet disposition, in Nicolaus he is driven by his son to revolt, and +finally disowns the enterprise. All three narratives lay stress on the +warnings given to Astyages against Cyrus, though in different ways; all +mark strongly the early personal valour of Cyrus, which Xenophon also +celebrates. Artembares the Mede is found both in Herodotus and Nicolaus, +though in a different relation to Cyrus. In all three accounts a +counsellor--Harpagus in the one case, Oebares in the other--exercises +the greatest influence on the resolutions of Cyrus. Herodotus and +Nicolaus mark the cunning of Cyrus as opposed to Astyages; in both Cyrus +gives out that he is carrying out the king's orders in arming the +Persians. In Herodotus Cyrus tells the Persians that he does not +consider them worse men than the Medes, and they revolt "because they +have now got a leader in Cyrus." In Nicolaus Cyrus asks whether there is +not a leader who can put an end to the rule of the Medes over better men +than themselves. In both the dominion of the Medes has long been hated +by the Persians. In both before the beginning of the struggle Astyages +commands Cyrus to appear before him. In Herodotus Astyages says, when +Harpagus has passed over to Cyrus and the Median army has broken up, +that "he shall not succeed;" and in Nicolaus he uses the same words +after the first defeat of his horsemen. In Herodotus it is the cruelty +of Astyages to Harpagus, and his severity towards the Medes, which cost +him his throne; in Diodorus the army revolts, even after brave fighting, +from Astyages because he cruelly revenges upon them the defeat at +Pasargadae. In all three accounts Cyrus does no harm to Astyages after +his victory. + +Let us set aside the poetical colours in the account of Herodotus in +order to test its coherence. What alarm could Astyages, who was without +male heirs, feel at the announcement that his daughter's son would one +day rule over all Asia, _i.e._ would still further extend the dominion +of the Medes? In the second dream, which portends no more than the +first, a reason is given for the alarm; the interpreters declare that +the dream signifies that Astyages will lose his throne. If Astyages had +reason to fear the yet unborn child of his daughter, the obvious remedy +was not to allow her to marry. Nevertheless she is married, not to a +Mede, but to a man of the subject races, a Persian of a good family, +_i.e._ of noble descent, wealthy, but "quiet in his disposition." This +was equivalent to taking the Persian into the royal family, giving up to +him or his son the right of succession, bringing the crown of Media into +the possession of a stranger, and allowing the kingdom to pass from the +Medes to the Persians. Even if such perversity could occur to Astyages +the Medes were not likely to permit it, when the Magians tell Astyages, +in Herodotus, how anxious they are that the dominion should not fall +into the hands of a Persian. It is true that Herodotus represents +Harpagus some twenty or thirty years later as persuading the chief +Medes, and persuading them singly, that Astyages must be overthrown, and +the Persian made king, but this is simply incredible. After this +marvellous marriage of the heiress to the throne with a Persian, +Cambyses is not brought to Ecbatana to the court, but remains in Persia, +and no harm is done to the dreaded son of the marriage, even when his +real origin has been discovered. Nay, more, the boy who at an early age +discovers high aims, and a resolute will, is not even brought to the +court to be under the eye of Astyages, but is sent back to Persia to his +father, and by his means Harpagus is able to bring Persia to revolt. The +letter hidden in the hare's belly obviously arose from an anticipation +of the supervision of the great roads which was introduced at a later +time by the Achaemenids. But what reason had Cyrus to cause the Persians +to revolt? According to Herodotus Cambyses is the son-in-law, and hence +the heir, of Astyages. Cyrus will succeed his father as heir to the +Median throne, why then should he rebel against his aged +grandfather?--why should he seek by hazard, danger, and bloodshed, a +crown which by inheritance must soon come to Cambyses or Cyrus?[544] + +In the narrative of Herodotus Cyrus is no more than an instrument in the +hands of Harpagus. The crime of Astyages against Harpagus; the +well-merited punishment of this crime by his own imprisonment and loss +of empire, form the hinge of the narrative, which at the same time +brings into prominence the doctrine that no one, even though warned, can +escape his doom. It is not probable that there were songs among the +Persians or Medes, which illustrated Herodotus' view of the unavoidable +_Nemesis_ which governs the actions and fortunes of men; or that Persian +poems would represent Cyrus as the son of a Median mother. In them the +Persians merely glorified the founder of their freedom and supremacy, +of whom, as we know, they cherished the most grateful memories. But the +Medes might possess poems in which the change of empire was treated from +their point of view; they might attempt to make the loss of empire +appear less painful, the dishonour of defeat by the Persians less +degrading. To be overthrown by a man belonging to the subject race was +bitter. Hence the Medes could avail themselves of a change frequent in +the East, and represent Cyrus as a scion of their own royal house. The +Egyptians maintained that Cambyses, the son of Cyrus, who reduced them +to subjection, was the son of Cyrus and the daughter of their own +Pharaoh Hophra.[545] This was mere invention; and the Medes must have +found their version the more easy to maintain, because Cyrus spared +Astyages after the defeat, and took his daughter into his harem. And if +it was not the arms of the Persians, but rather the treachery of a +distinguished Mede, the discontent of the chiefs of Media with a cruel +king, that decided the struggle between the Persians and Medes, the +submission became thus less intolerable to the pride of the Medes. If a +distinguished Mede had been at variance with Astyages, and in the last +moment of the battle had gone over to Cyrus,--much could be made of the +desertion in Median poems. If after his victory Cyrus reposed great +confidence in an eminent Mede, this might be made a ground for previous +treachery to Astyages. A few years after his victory Cyrus entrusted to +the Mede Harpagus, the leadership of the army, the subjugation and +maintenance of far distant regions. If the legend of the Persians +represented Achaemenes, the ancestor of their princely race, as being +fed by an eagle (p. 327), their poems would speak of the founder of +their dominion as distinguished by divine honours, and surround his +birth and youth with happy omens of the future. These traits the Medes +could use for their own purposes as warnings vouchsafed to Astyages. If +the Persians represented Cyrus as suckled by a dog, the favoured +creature of Auramazda, the Medes carried the subject further, and spoke +of the exposing of Cyrus, which was then brought into combination with +the enmity of Harpagus to Astyages; the origin of this was the refusal +of Harpagus to put the Persian boy to death, which Astyages punished by +the Thyestean banquet. Thus owing to the crime of Astyages, Harpagus +their own countryman became filled with desire for vengeance; he is the +counsellor of Cyrus, the author and leader of the revolt. + +Median poetry of this kind has been followed by Herodotus. He has told +us already that he would narrate the life of Cyrus as it was given by +the Persians, who had no desire to exaggerate their account, but these +Persians are undoubtedly the Medes. The Median origin of his story is +placed beyond doubt by the words which the captive Astyages addresses to +Harpagus, and by the fact that with him it is a Mede who is the decisive +counsellor and guide of Cyrus, while in the other version it is a +Persian. Beside the reason given by Herodotus himself for choosing this +version, others no doubt had influence. The Delphian oracle bade +Croesus take to flight "whenever a mule should govern the Medes." +According to the Medes Cyrus was the son of a Persian father and Median +mother. The sufferings and acts of Harpagus formed the centre of the +Median version, and he was only too well known to the Greeks on the +west coast of Asia Minor. With the warning portents, and the exposure of +Cyrus, the Median version brought Herodotus on the familiar ground of +Greek legend, in which similar oracles, futile exposing of children, and +deceptive explanations were common. Finally, the vengeance which +overtook Astyages suits the ethical feeling of Herodotus. We may assume +therefore that his narrative faithfully represents the contents of +Median poems. These could already have changed the dog which was said to +have suckled Cyrus into the herdman's wife, who was called by the name +of "dog." But inasmuch as Herodotus does not "intend to exaggerate," as +he observes that "the dog was everything in the mouth of Cyrus," and +"his parents caught this up in order to represent the preservation of +Cyrus as a work of the gods,"--as he further remarks "that Cyrus owing +to his origin was regarded as more than human,"[546]--this rationalising +turn may have proceeded from the historian himself. In the Persian +tradition Cyrus was certainly suckled and guarded by the dog, and this +trait is retained in the account of Deinon-Trogus, though united with +the story of the exposure. But Deinon has at the same time proved the +exposure impossible, for he states that Cyrus came to the throne in his +fortieth year, and lived till his seventieth.[547] If this were true, +the exposure and the command of Astyages respecting it would fall to the +ground, for Cyrus would have seen the light in the year 599 B.C., _i.e._ +some years before the accession of Astyages, even if we allow the latter +the longer reign which Eusebius assigns to him. + +If the story of Herodotus is governed by the conception of the +unavoidable punishment of crime, the connecting clue in the story of +Nicolaus is the rise of a beggar-boy of the lowest origin by skill and +industry, by cunning and bravery, by endurance in the greatest danger, +and final victory in the most severe struggles. Cyrus is the son of +humble parents; his father is driven by want to robbery, his mother +tends goats; they belong to the lowest tribe of the Persians, the +marauding Mardians whom we have found in the mountains of south-western +Persia (p. 323). Hunger drives the boy from the goat-pasture to +Ecbatana. Beginning as a sweeper of the palace, he works his way step by +step upwards by address and industry to the highest offices at the +court, so that he can make his father satrap of Persia and his mother +the most distinguished lady in Persia. Then the dream of his mother, and +the interpretation given of it by the Babylonian, plant ambition in his +soul, which is strengthened by the happy portent, vouchsafed to him on +his mission to the chief of the Cadusians, and the advice of Oebares. He +succeeds in persuading Astyages to grant him permission to visit his +parents in Persia; when too late, Astyages is warned by the wife of the +Babylonian, and the words of the singing-woman (Angares in Deinon). A +fierce war breaks out. The father of Cyrus is taken captive, and in his +last moments disavows the attempt of his son. Defeated again and again, +the Persians in their last refuge at Pasargadae are reduced to the +greatest distress. Then fortune turns; the Medes are driven back and +defeated in numerous engagements, and Oebares can at length place the +crown on the head of Cyrus in the tent of Astyages. + +If Xenophon in his book on Cyrus sought to make it clear to the Greeks, +by what personal and material means Cyrus was able to conquer Asia, +Ctesias or Nicolaus will show pragmatically how a beggar-boy rose step +by step to be lord of the continent. He says nothing of the relationship +of Astyages and Cyrus, or of the princely origin of Cyrus, or of his +exposure, or of the dog: Cyrus owes his successes to himself and the +gods. However impossible it may be that this introduction and the whole +tendency of the narrative can be borrowed from the tradition of the +Persians; however certain that Cyrus the beggar-boy is an invention of +the Greeks, to point the contrast between beginning and end, and make +the subject more interesting; yet if only we give another turn to the +introduction, we have the Persian account before us in the narrative of +Nicolaus, as we have the Median in the account of Herodotus--and a +mixture of the two in the excerpt from Trogus. The Persian version is +from the first marked in Ctesias and Nicolaus by the fact that they do +not represent Cyrus as the descendant of Astyages. Moreover, the +parallel between the fall of the Assyrians and the fall of the Median +empire cannot be mistaken. "We must narrate the great change brought +about by the transition of the dominion to the Persians"--such is the +beginning of the account of Nicolaus. This parallel can only have arisen +from Persian minstrels. They had to show that the task of Cyrus was +great, and more difficult than that of Arbaces. They had to lay the +greatest stress on the personal excellence of Cyrus in order to raise +him above the level of Arbaces. The latter, guided by the advice of the +viceroy of Babylon and aided by the Babylonians, had proved the +conqueror. The arts of the Chaldaeans were certainly respected and used +in Iran; they must have been sought after and employed as a poetic +motive. It was to carry out the parallel that the Persian songs gave +Cyrus a Babylonian adviser; yet they represent the counsel and influence +of this Babylonian as entirely removed by a Persian of far greater +importance, and utterly thrown into the shade. The emphasis which the +Persian songs laid on the personal virtue of Cyrus misled the Greeks +into making an attempt at the biography of the beggar-boy, and so +rendered this change easier. Atradates, the name given by Nicolaus to +the father of Cyrus, is no doubt taken from an epithet of Cyrus himself. +Strabo tells us that Cyrus was originally called Atradates; the word is +the old Persian _atriyadata_, old Bactrian, _ataredata_; the Avesta +recommends the name as good and saving. The parents of Cyrus are said to +belong to the tribe of the Mardians, but later on Nicolaus himself shows +that Cyrus' ancestral home is at Pasargadae (p. 352). In contempt the +Medes might unite the whole Persian nation under the name of their +poorest tribes. "Why have I raised up these Mardians for such mischief?" +Astyages asks in Nicolaus. The goat-tending of the mother of Cyrus is +due to the same cause. In the account of Herodotus Cambyses is said to +be rich in herds; among the Persians the care of flocks occupied a large +place, and at a later time the tending and protection of the flocks was +one of the means employed for strengthening and hardening the Persian +youth. Cyrus himself, in the narrative of Nicolaus, calls himself and +his father goat-herds. When Arsaces of Armenia visited the court of the +Sassanid Shapur II. one of the first officers at the court of Shapur +insolently said: "Will the king of the goats pasture on our +slopes?"[548] Such traits as these in the Persian poems, connected with +the poverty and simplicity of the life of the "terebinth-eating" +Persians (which Nicolaus also, following the tradition, brings into such +prominence), supplied the Greek revision with the necessary support for +changing Cyrus into a Mardian goat-herd and beggar-boy. Yet the true +position of the parents of Cyrus breaks through in the statement that +the father of Cyrus was satrap of Persia, and his mother the first lady +in the land, a position which also appears in the statement in Herodotus +of the noble descent and wealth of Cambyses, and is even more plainly +marked in other passages in which the taunt is hurled at Cyrus: that the +son of Cambyses ought not to give way to a woman,--and traces the +lineage of Cyrus back to Achaemenes, though in the account of the +rebellion of Cyrus he calls his grandfather also Cyrus. + +The rise of Cyrus at the court of Astyages was borrowed from another +trait in the Persian poems. The custom of the East, that the sons of +distinguished princes and nobles should perform certain courtly and +honourable services at the gate of the king, must have been current in +Media also. The Persian poems must have proudly declared how Cyrus +distinguished himself there in his youth in the duties of the court or +of arms. This description was changed into the series of stages by which +the beggar-boy rose to the highest office at the court of the king. The +Persian account is obviously preserved here in Deinon's narrative--like +the suckling and protection of Cyrus by the dog--in which Cyrus before +the rebellion is chief of the staff-bearers and the body-guard of the +king. When Cyrus had won the favour of Astyages, Nicolaus is obviously +more true to the Persian account. In old days the chaff of horses +announced his elevation to Arbaces, and to Cyrus it is announced by +horse-dung, which is carried to him by a Persian, the slave of a Mede, +who has been recently whipped; and as to Arbaces, so to Cyrus, a +Babylonian announces that the throne is destined for him. As Arbaces is +instigated and encouraged by Belesys, so is Cyrus by the interpreter of +dreams from Babylon, and Cyrus promises him great rewards if he reaches +the throne, as Arbaces had promised Belesys. The conversations of +Arbaces with Belesys correspond exactly to the conversations of Cyrus +with the Babylonian and Oebares. In Nicolaus Cyrus says, that Arbaces +who overthrew Sardanapalus was not wiser than himself, nor were the +Medes better warriors than the Persians. But if the Median empire was +founded with the help of the Babylonian, the Persian must rise without +such assistance. Arbaces had to concede to Belesys and his successors +the hereditary dominion over Babylonia; on this occasion Oebares takes +care that in the future empire of the Persians, Babylonia shall not be +in the way as an hereditary monarchy given in reward of services; he +removes the Babylonian against the wishes of Cyrus. If the Medes had +formerly been able to conquer Assyria with the aid of the Babylonians, +the Persians now defeat the Medes unaided, and if Sardanapalus was +effeminate, Astyages, according to Nicolaus, is the bravest king of the +Medes after Arbaces. To treat the struggle so briefly as Herodotus does +was impossible for Nicolaus, as the object of his narrative was to bring +out the valour of Cyrus. So we may assume that the Persian songs gave +similar prominence to the contests before Nineveh and Pasargadae. Arbaces +is thrice defeated before Nineveh, and inclined to retire. Astyages +leads against Cyrus the whole forces of his kingdom--more than a million +soldiers. In spite of the excellent arrangements of Oebares and the +utmost bravery, Cyrus is three times defeated:--he is already reduced to +extremities in the fourth conflict, when the cry of the women restores +the fight. At length Oebares is able to place the Median crown on the +head of Cyrus in the tent of Astyages. With such servants the throne and +kingdom of the Persians is more firmly established than that of the +Medes. + +This inquiry enables us to reconstruct in its main outlines the +tradition of the Persians. Cambyses, the descendant of Achaemenes, was +the chief of the Persians. Before the birth of Cyrus his wife had a +dream that so much water came from her "that it was like a great river +which inundated all Asia, and flowed into the sea." We know what +reverence the Avesta pays to the dog, and the importance it ascribes to +its glance (p. 207). The suckling of the boy Cyrus by a dog is the sign +of the most bounteous favour and most secure protection on the part of +the gods. Herodotus told us above that owing to his origin Cyrus counted +himself as more than a man, and Xenophon represents him as begotten by +gods, springing from a line of kings, and practised from his youth up in +bravery and virtue.[549] In accordance with the custom of the Persians +the son of the prince grows up among the flocks. Mithradates, which +Herodotus gives as the name of the herdsman with whom the boy is brought +up, means "given by Mithra;" the favourite of the god, who increases the +flocks of the farms where men worship him, and gives victory in battles, +is the protector of Cyrus. In the game of the boys he shows by +cleverness and unbroken resolution the great destiny to which he was +called. Then he goes into service at the court of the Median king; +where the Persian poems have already shown us Parsondes at the time of +Cyaxares, who subsequently made the Cadusians enemies of the Medes.[550] +Eminent in every position, Cyrus wins the confidence of Astyages, and +becomes the chief of his bodyguard. Then according to Deinon's fragments +he sees the sun in a dream thrice inclining towards him. It was the +brilliance or majesty of the king which Cyrus is represented as +beholding. In the Avesta Thraetaona and Kerecacpa seize the majesty when +it departs from Yima, and the Turanian Franghracyan seeks thrice to +grasp the glance of the majesty.[551] Then a Persian, the slave of a +Mede, brings a new sign of good fortune to Cyrus when far from his +fatherland on the borders of the Cadusians. Oebares (Hubara, the good +bearer) is the first Persian whom Cyrus liberates from the service of +the Medes; and thus he has gained his most faithful helper. Angares the +Mede, who warns Astyages, calls Cyrus "more mighty than a wild boar." +The singing girl also calls Cyrus a "boar." We saw above that the +victorious god Verethraghna appears in the form of a boar, and in that +shape accompanies the chariot of Mithra.[552] The battle in the +mountains of Persia, as described by Nicolaus, belongs in all essential +traits to the Persian legend. It is precisely at Pasargadae, at the +house of Cyrus, _i.e._ of Achaemenes, that the fortune of arms changes. +The proclamation of Cyrus in the tent of Astyages, and his coronation by +the Persians, which first made him a free man instead of a Median slave, +is throughout in accordance with the meaning and tendency of the Persian +legend. The gentleness of Cyrus towards Astyages is the counterpart of +the generosity which the Median king who conquered Nineveh once +displayed towards Belesys. Oebares undoubtedly belongs to the Persian +Epos; he is the faithful servant who upholds the interest of the kingdom +even against the will of the king, and sacrifices himself for it. The +Persians of the best time held it a duty to sacrifice themselves for the +king. + +The overthrow of the Parthian empire is explained in the same way as the +overthrow of the Medes. Papak, the prince of Fars, sees in a dream the +sun illuminating the world from the head of his herdman Sassan. His +daughter brings forth Ardeshir to Sassan; Ardeshir serves at the court +of the Parthian king Artaban, and shoots wild asses better than anyone +else. On an announcement of the interpreters of stars, Ardeshir flies +from the court and arms the Persians. Artaban abuses him as an impudent +Kurd, and sends the prince of Susiana to fetch him, but this prince, and +then Artaban himself, are overcome. Shapur, the son of Ardeshir, is +restored to life against his command, and his grandson Auharmazdi is +brought up secretly, and recognised by his conduct in the play of the +boys. In both, dreams and letters and the inborn majesty of the royal +children play their part.[553] + +Astyages, who ascended the throne in the year 593 B.C., ruled over the +Median empire for more than 30 years; he had already reached a great age +when the Persians rebelled against him. Aristotle remarks that his +effeminate life and the carelessness of his government inspired Cyrus +with courage.[554] The daughter of Alyattes of Lydia, whom he had +married in his youth, had brought him no son; both the Median version of +Herodotus, and the Persian in Trogus and Ctesias, allow Astyages a +daughter only--Mandane in the one case, in the other Amytis, the name of +the sister of Astyages, whom Nebuchadnezzar married. This daughter, +according to Ctesias and Nicolaus, Astyages marries to Spitamas, the +Mede (Cpitama, _i.e._ the excellent) and at the same time gives him "all +Media as a dowry." Marriage with the heiress to the throne gave her +husband the claim and right to succession. The daughter of the king bore +two sons to Spitamas: Spitaces and Magabernes.[555] About the origin of +Cyrus there is no doubt. He was the son of Cambyses, the grandson of +Teispes, the great-grandson of Achaemenes, who united the Persian tribes +under his leadership, and recognised the sovereignty of Phraortes the +Median king. As Cyaxares and Astyages followed Phraortes on the throne +of Media, so did Teispes and Cambyses follow Achaemenes as his viceroys +or vassal kings over Persia. It may have been the case that, as already +remarked, after the consolidation of the Median empire, the sovereignty +became more oppressive for the Persians, and the links of their +dependence were drawn closer. According to the previous custom, the +viceroyalty of Persia would descend, at the death of Cambyses, to his +son Cyrus. If the custom which subsequently prevailed in the Persian +kingdom was current among the Medes, and the sons of the satraps or +princes of the subject lands had to wait at the king's gate, and perform +courtly or martial service as hostages for the fidelity of their +fathers, and at the same time to learn obedience and submission in order +to find favour with the king when in his immediate presence and covered +by the splendour of his power--Cyrus must also have served at the court +of Astyages, and may have filled the office of the staff-bearer, +body-guard, or of butler, an honourable position at the court of the +Medes and Persians. In Ecbatana he had no doubt an opportunity of +comparing the simple manners, the capacity and vigour of his Persians, +with the splendour of the court, and the luxurious life of the Median +chiefs. Moreover, the great advantage which Spitamas had gained by +marriage with the daughter of the king must have excited the jealousy +and ambition of other Medes who considered themselves to have a better +claim, or even raised their eyes to the throne. In the account of +Herodotus, Harpagus is said to be akin to the family of Astyages. It is +possible that Cyrus contemplated a breach between Persia and Media on +the death of Astyages, when he would find his opportunity in a contested +and previously disputed succession. It may be a fact that Astyages had +his suspicions, that he summoned Cyrus who had already left the court +before him, and Cyrus was thus compelled to break with him sooner than +he intended. It seems more certain that Cambyses was still alive, than +that the Persians took up arms against Astyages at the instigation of +Cyrus, who was, as we have remarked, at that time in his fortieth +year.[556] + +It follows from the position of affairs that the Persians awaited the +attack of the Medes in their own country. It was only in the defence of +the passes of their mountains that they could hope to make a stand +against the overwhelming power of their enemies. In this we may put +confidence in the Persian tradition, as well as in all that it has to +say of a character unfavourable to the Persians; above all, in the fact +that the war was long and severe. As a fact the Medes appear to have +twice penetrated into the heart of the Persian land. Not only Nicolaus, +Pompeius Trogus, and Polyaenus tell us that the struggle took place at +first in Persia, and that the battle which saved the country was fought +at Pasargadae, but also an authority of importance, Anaximenes of +Lampsacus, the contemporary of Aristotle and Strabo (p. 357). "In reward +for the services which the women rendered in that battle," says +Nicolaus, "the women of Persia each received, when the king came to +Pasargadae, a gold coin of the value of twenty Attic drachmas." +Plutarch, as has been observed,[557] confirms this statement, on the +ground of the accounts of the companions of Alexander, in a very +definite way. We must assume, therefore, that Cyrus maintained the +independence of Persia in a very severe struggle. When success had been +obtained, he went on to attack Media, whether it was that he did not +consider the freedom of Persia secure without the overthrow of that +country, or that he at once formed the most ambitious designs. After a +battle in Media had given Cyrus the victory in this new war, the chiefs +of the nations subject to the Medes, the Hyrcanians, Parthians, Sacae, +and Bactrians, and finally a part of the Medes, must have abandoned +Astyages, who, after a second defeat, fell into the hands of Cyrus +either in the encounter itself or at the capture of Ecbatana. The walls +of Ecbatana and the seven rings round the citadel could not avert his +fate (558 B.C.).[558] + +FOOTNOTES: + +[529] Herod. 1, 98, 99. + +[530] Herod. 1, 112, [Greek: pistotatous ton doryphoron], while in the +recapitulation, 1, 117, we have [Greek: pistotatous ton eunouchon]. + +[531] Ctesias, "Fragm. Pers." 2, 5. + +[532] Nicol. Damasc. fragm. 66; Ctes. "Fragm. Pers." 2, 5; Tzetz. +"Chil." 1, 1, 82 ff. + +[533] Athen. p. 633; Cic. "de Divin." 1, 23. + +[534] Justin, 1, 4-7; cf. 44, 4. + +[535] Polyaen. "Strat." 7, 6; 7, 45. But he also explains the change of +fortune at Pasargadae in another way. When Cyrus fled to that place +after his retreat, and many Persians deserted to the Medes, he spread +abroad a report that on the following day 100,000 enemies of the Medes +(Cadusians?) would come to his assistance; every man was to prepare a +bundle of faggots for the allies. The deserter told this to the Medes, +and when Cyrus in the night caused all the bundles to be lighted, the +Medes, thinking that the Persians had received substantial assistance, +deserted. + +[536] Strabo, p. 727, 730. Steph. Byzant. [Greek: Passargadai]. + +[537] "De mulier. virtute," 5. + +[538] Diod. "Ex. de virt. et vit." p. 552, 553 (= 9, 24); cf. 4, 30. + +[539] Moses Choren. 1, 24-30, and appendix to the first book, according +to Le Vaillant's translation. + +[540] The form and explanation of the legend of Asdahag in Moses, as +well as the mention of Rustem Sakjig, who has the strength of ten +elephants (2, 8), _i.e._ of Rustem of Sejestan, prove that the +East-Iranian legend, as we find it in Firdusi, must have been current in +Western Iran in the fourth century at the latest, if it came into +Armenia in the fifth century. I do not think it probable that Moses took +the legend of Tigran from Xenophon's narrative. The vision in a dream +and the duel point to Armenian tradition. + +[541] 1, 95. + +[542] "Cyri Instit." 1, 2, 1. + +[543] J. Mohl, "Livre des rois," Introd. p. 29. + +[544] It has been objected to this analysis that the marriage with the +heiress may not have conveyed the throne _ipso facto_ to the husband; it +may have been open to the chieftains to elect a king out of the members +of the royal family. This may be correct for the election of the Afghan +chiefs at the present day by the heads of the families. How the +succession to the throne was arranged among the Medes we do not know in +any detail, or whether their chiefs had any importance at all; but we do +see that the crown went from father to son from Deioces downwards. In +any case, even under that hypothesis, the husband of the heiress had a +nearer claim. + +[545] Herod. 3, 2. So Deinon and Lyceas of Naucratis in Athenaeus, p. +560. + +[546] Herod. 1, 207; 3, 75; 7, 11. + +[547] Cicero, "de Divin." 1, 23. + +[548] St. Martin on Lebeau, "Bas Empire," 2, 221. + +[549] "Cyri instit." 7, 3, 24. + +[550] Above, p. 299 ff. + +[551] Above, p. 34, 35, 36, 256. + +[552] Above, p. 110. Cf. Windischmann, "Zoroastrische Studien," s. 277. + +[553] Noeldeke, "Tabari," p. 12; Karnamak, s. 68. + +[554] "Politic." 5, 10, 24. + +[555] If Astyages was married to the daughter of Alyattes in the year +610 B.C. he must have been 18 or 20 years old at that time; between 610 +and 558 the year of his fall there are 52 years. Moreover, according to +Ctesias, Astyages outlived his fall at least ten years ("Fragm. Pers." +5). If this were the case, and Astyages did not die till 548, he cannot +well have been born before 630 B.C. In Herodotus and Pompeius Trogus it +is expressly said that Astyages had no son, and this is the motive which +induces Harpagus not to put Cyrus to death, as he would in that case +expose himself to the vengeance of the mother, the heiress to the +throne. In Nicolaus also the daughter comes distinctly forward, and in +Ctesias she is also the heiress (_e.g._ "Pers." 2); in the history of +the overthrow and the death of Astyages, we hear of her constantly. At +the death of Cyrus, her sons by the first marriage receive satrapies. In +Ctesias, it is true, a brother of Amytis is incidentally mentioned, on +the occasion of a later war of Cyrus ("Pers." 3). But as Ctesias is here +following a Median version, and after the death of Astyages the husband +of Amytis and not her supposed brother is removed out of the way, no +importance can be attached to this. + +[556] Above, p. 369. + +[557] Above, p. 357. Nicol. Dam. Fragm. 66; Plut "Alex." c. 69; Plut. +"De Mul. virt." 5. + +[558] According to the canon of Ptolemy, Cyrus dies 529 B.C. We arrive +at the same year if we reckon back from the death of Darius. This took +place five years after the battle of Marathon (Herod. 7, 1-4), _i.e._ +485 B.C. Darius reigned 36 years according to Herodotus and the canon of +Ptolemy. An Egyptian pillar gives the year 34, a demotic contract the +year 35 of his reign: he ascended the throne therefore in 521 B.C. +Before him the Magian reigned for seven months, Cambyses for seven years +and five months (Herod. 3, 66, 67). The canon of Ptolemy omits the +Magian and gives Cambyses eight years, because it reckons by complete +years; hence Cambyses ascended the throne in 529. As Cyrus, according to +Herodotus, reigned 29 years after his accession (1, 214), the beginning +of his reign over Media must be placed in 558. If Ctesias gives Cyrus a +reign of 30 years ("Pers." 8), like Deinon (p. 369), and Justin (1, 8), +and Eusebius a reign of 31 years, these statements may be reconciled by +the fact that Cyrus may have taken up arms against Media 30 or 31 years +before his death, and reigned 29 years after the overthrow of Astyages. +Diodorus puts the beginning of Cyrus: Olymp. 55, 1 = 560 B.C. Africanus +in Euseb. "Praep. Evang." 10, p. 488. + + + + +CHAPTER V. + +THE RISE OF THE PERSIAN KINGDOM. + + +The Median empire was not of long duration. Little more than a century +had passed since Phraortes succeeded Deioces in the government of the +land of Ecbatana, little more than eighty since Phraortes had united the +tribes of the Medes under his leadership, about sixty since Cyaxares had +expelled the Scythians, and not quite fifty since Nineveh had succumbed +to the arms of the Medes and Babylonians. + +In the overthrow of so mighty a power, Cyrus had achieved a great, and, +so far as we can tell, an unexpected, success. Scanty as our information +is, we can still perceive that he used the victory with circumspection +and moderation. Herodotus told us that he did no injury to the captive +Astyages, and kept him with him till his death. Ctesias relates that at +the command of Cyrus, the heavy chains, which Oebares had put on +Astyages, were quickly taken off; that he honoured him as a father; and +entrusted him with the government of the Barcanians. According to the +statement of Pompeius Trogus, Cyrus allowed him to be viceroy of the +Hyrcanians. The same nation may be meant by these two names; in the +inscriptions of Darius Hyrcania is called Varkana, in the Avesta +Vehrkana.[559] Ctesias further tells us that Cyrus put to death the +Mede Spitamas, whom Astyages had married to his daughter Amytis, and +then made his successor, and that after treating Amytis for some time as +his mother he subsequently made her his wife. No harm was done to +Megabernes and Spitaces, the sons of her marriage with Spitamas; on the +contrary, the first was placed by the wish of Cyrus in the satrapy of +the Barcanians, the second in the satrapy of the Derbiccians. + +Cyrus must have made it his object to reconcile the Medes to their +defeat and loss of empire. If he could make the house of Astyages his +own, and take his daughter to wife, the edge of the change was softened, +and the more apparent it was that this marriage had the consent of +Astyages, the more legitimate would his rule be in the eyes of the +Medes, the less could they regard it as the dominion of a stranger. It +was of importance to gain the assent of the Medes to the new kingdom, +and support this if possible on the united power of Medes and Persians. +Moreover, the relations of alliance in which Astyages stood to the +princely houses of Lydia and Babylonia made it advisable to deal +carefully with Astyages and his kindred. Astyages was still alive in 549 +B.C.,[560] according to Herodotus and Ctesias. Whatever may be the case +as to the connection of Cyrus with Amytis, his legitimate wife was +Cassandane, the daughter of the Persian Pharnaspes, who according to +Herodotus was an Achaemenid, and was in fact one of the six tribal +princes. Cassandane bore Cyrus two sons, Cambyses and Bardiya, whom +Herodotus calls Smerdis; Ctesias, Tanyoxarkes; and Xenophon, Tanaoxares. +The death of Cassandane was a great grief to Cyrus; he caused the whole +kingdom to go into mourning for her.[561] + +With respect to the position which Cyrus took up in regard to the royal +family of Media, and Amytis more especially, Ctesias has preserved a +somewhat incredible story. This narrative, which again is obviously +taken from a poetical source, ascribes the death of Astyages to Oebares, +to whom, according to Trogus, Cyrus had given the government of Persia +and his sister in marriage, as a reward for his services, who in the +beginning of his reign had been his associate in all his dangers, and +whom, according to Ctesias, he had afterwards to thank for the capture +of Sardis. The motive of this act, according to the drift of these +poems, can only have been anxiety on the part of Oebares lest the +influence of Astyages and his friends should endanger the succession of +the house of Cyrus in the Persian kingdom and the dominion of the +Persians. Oebares had previously murdered the Babylonian who possessed +the secret which controlled the future of Persia, against the wishes and +without the knowledge of Cyrus (p. 347), and he now acts in a similar +manner towards Astyages. Cyrus, so we are told in our excerpt,[562] +after the Lydian war sent the eunuch Petesaces to bring Astyages from +the Barcanians, as both he and Amytis wished to see him. Oebares advised +Petesaces to abandon Astyages on the way in some desert place, to perish +by starvation. This was done. The crime was revealed by dreams, and +Cyrus, on the repeated entreaty of Amytis, gave Petesaces up to her for +punishment. She caused him to be blinded, flayed, and crucified. +Oebares, fearing that a similar lot was in store for him, though Cyrus +assured him that he should not permit anything of the kind, refused all +nourishment for ten days, and so put an end to his life. The corpse of +Astyages received a splendid burial. Lions had guarded it in the desert +place in which it had been abandoned, until Petesaces returned and +carried it away. In the poem in which the singing woman warns Astyages +against Cyrus he is compared to a lion (p. 349). Whether the lions +performed this service to the corpse of Astyages in the source from +which Ctesias copied--it could scarcely by such an incident exhibit him +as a man favoured by heaven--or whether the lions dealt with the corpse +in a manner more in accordance with the views of Eastern Iran, we must +leave out of the question. What is more certain is, that the most +zealous Persian could have no real reason for putting Astyages to death, +for after the Lydian war he would be in his eightieth year. The +importance ascribed to Amytis points to a Median version; the death of +Oebares is accounted for in a manner suitable to his life and his +fidelity. + +In Herodotus the Persians, on the instigation of Artembares, one of +their tribesmen, say to Cyrus: "Since Zeus gives the sovereignty to the +Persians, and above all to thee, Cyrus, who hast overthrown Astyages, so +let it be thy care that we leave our land and obtain a better, for our +country is small and wild. Many better regions are close at hand, many +at a distance, and if we gain one of them, we shall be more admired in +the eyes of men. To do this is proper for men who possess the dominion, +and when can it be done better than now, when we have so many men, and +rule over all Asia?" When Cyrus heard this he expressed no astonishment, +but said simply: they might do so, but they must be prepared to be +rulers no longer, but subjects; the same land could not produce the +noblest fruits and warlike men. The Persians saw that Cyrus' view was +the better, and chose to inhabit and rule over a scanty land, rather +than be the slaves of others.[563] The distinct opposition of Cyrus and +Artembares seems to carry us back to Persian poems, otherwise the +narrative is less likely to belong to the tradition of Persia than to +arise out of the necessity which the Greeks felt for explaining how the +Persians succeeded in founding so mighty an empire from a mountain +country so moderate in extent. + +In any case the Persians, after the overthrow of Media, were far from +possessing the dominion over Asia. In Nicolaus, it is true, when the +news is spread abroad that Astyages has retired from Persia and has fled +before Cyrus in the first battle in Media, the chief of the Hyrcanians +comes with 50,000 men, to pay homage to Cyrus as king; he is followed by +the chiefs of the Parthians, Sacae, and Bactrians, and then by the +remaining nations. But as a fact the course of things seems to have been +different. If the princes and natives who were subject to the Medes were +ready to throw off their dominion as soon as they were defeated by the +Persians, they were hardly inclined to recognise Cyrus as sovereign in +the room of Astyages. Herodotus tells us that Cyrus subjugated the +Bactrians and Sacae, and Upper Asia, one nation after the other, and puts +these conquests after the Lydian war.[564] Xenophon represents the +Hyrcanians as joining Cyrus at an early date, and the Cadusians follow +their example, which harmonises with the view taken in the Persian poems +of the hatred of the Cadusians to the Medes. In Xenophon and Ctesias the +Sacae are the allies of Cyrus as early as 549 B.C.[565] If Astyages +receives the satrapy of the Hyrcanians in Justin, this nation and the +Parthians, who were still nearer neighbours of Media, must have been +among those who were subject to Cyrus. + +In Ctesias, Cyrus after the conquest of Astyages marches against the +Bactrians; the battle was undecided. But when they found that Astyages +was the father and Amytis the wife of Cyrus, the Bactrians voluntarily +submitted to Amytis and Cyrus. Then Cyrus conquered the Sacae, and took +their king Amorges captive. We remember that, according to Herodotus' +statement, the proper name of the Sacae was Amyrgians, and in the +inscriptions of Darius we found the Caka Humavarka. The name Amorges +seems to be borrowed from the Amyrgians. When Amorges had been defeated +and taken captive by Cyrus, his wife Sparethra, as she is called in +Ctesias, collected the Sacae and took the field with them. Zarinaea, a +princess of the Sacae, had previously fought with great bravery against +the Medes, but her achievements are far surpassed by those of Sparethra. +With 300,000 men and 200,000 armed women, she went against the Persians, +and defeated Cyrus, taking many captives, among whom were Medes of +distinction. As a ransom for these Amorges was restored to Sparethra, +and there was friendship between Cyrus and the king of the Sacae, and the +latter marched with him to the war against the Lydians. Strabo also +speaks of a battle in which Cyrus was defeated by the Sacae. Being hard +pressed on his retreat he abandoned his camp with large stores of every +kind, especially of wine. When the Sacae had enjoyed their spoil, Cyrus +fell upon them and massacred nearly all.[566] + +Trogus following Deinon tells us that the nations who were subject to +the Medes did not submit to Cyrus. Hence arose many wars. The greater +part of these nations he had already overpowered, before he marched +against the Lydians, _i.e._ in the first eight years after the overthrow +of Astyages. We may assume that Cyrus, immediately after the +dethronement of Astyages, was occupied with bringing the neighbours of +Media on the east, north, and west into obedience to the new kingdom. So +long as the Parthians, Hyrcanians, Armenians, were independent or in +arms against Cyrus, the Medes must be strongly tempted to recover their +lost dominion. The Cadusians in Ghilan were subjects of Cyrus; at any +rate the name of the city Cyropolis on the Caspian Sea, on the coast of +the Cadusians, is a proof that Cyrus placed a fortress there, in order +to keep them or their neighbours in check; and under the successors of +Cyrus the Cadusians are always mentioned as subjects.[567] Then he took +the same line towards the west, on which Cyaxares of Media had advanced +sixty years previously after driving out the Scythians; he gained +Armenia and Cappadocia, and made the Halys the border of his kingdom +towards Lydia. In his narrative of the events of the year 549 B.C., +Herodotus remarks that the Cappadocians were subject to Cyrus, having +previously been subjects of the Medes. It is clear from repeated +statements that at this time the Halys was the western border of the +empire of Cyrus.[568] Xenophon reckons the subjugation of the Armenians, +who had been subjects of the Medes, among the earliest achievements of +Cyrus; he tells the story in his own manner, and places after this the +subjection of the neighbours on the south, the Chaldaeans (Gordyaeans) who +dwelt in the mountains which separate the table-land of Armenia from the +hilly country of Assyria. The legends of the Cappadocians conceal their +subjugation to Cyrus under supposed links of alliance; Cambyses, the +father of Cyrus, had given his own sister Atossa in marriage to +Pharnaces, the king of the Cappadocians.[569] The extension of the +Persian dominion to the east over Parthia and Hyrcania, the subjugation +of the Drangians, Gedrosians, and Arachoti, must, in consideration of +the observation of Herodotus, that in 548 B.C. Cyrus was intent on +military preparations against the Bactrians and Sacae, and the urgent +difficulties which at that time summoned him to the east, be placed in +the later years of his reign; in fact, they cannot come earlier than the +second decade; which does not, however, make it impossible that Cyrus +should have fought against the Bactrians and Sacae in the first +decade.[570] + +Cyrus must have arranged his court and state after the pattern of Media, +which in its turn was a copy of the court of the kings of Asshur and +Babylon. Ctesias asserts that Petesaces, the eunuch, and after his death +Bagapates, another eunuch, had great influence with Cyrus.[571] The +abode of Achaemenes, Teispes, and Carabyses, the ancient place of +assembly and metropolis of the tribe of the Pasargadae, was changed by +Cyrus into a city and fortress; there he built his palace, in which he +deposited the spoil of his wars, and collected his treasures.[572] The +new kingdom rested on the power of the Persians; they alone had to pay +no tribute to the king; they formed the nucleus of the army; the leaders +and satraps were mainly chosen from them. But Cyrus was obviously +anxious to reconcile the Medes, next to the Persians, with the change in +affairs, and win their aid. This design lay at the base of his treatment +of Astyages and the marriage with his daughter, and scarcely ten years +after the fall of the Median kingdom, we find Medes at the head of the +army of Cyrus. The clemency of Cyrus towards the other subject nations +is also extolled. Herodotus vouches for the fact that he laid no fixed +tribute upon them, but left it to themselves to fix the amount of their +yearly contributions. Of all men, Xenophon says, Cyrus made the largest +presents, and exhibited the greatest liberality towards those who had +done him good service, and in this the subsequent kings of Persia +followed his example. + +According to Xenophon's description, Cyrus was of a kindly disposition, +eager to instruct himself, and so ambitious that he shrank from no +effort and no danger.[573] With the Greeks he passes not only for the +founder of the dominion of the Persians, but for the author of excellent +arrangements in the kingdom. From this point of view Xenophon wrote his +treatise on Cyrus. By his example he wished to prove to the Greeks how +the empire over nations could be gained, how a great kingdom could be +founded and maintained, how a ruler could command obedience even among +those who had never seen him and were separated by great distances. It +is a historical romance which he has written on Cyrus; but he knew the +Persian empire, and could not advance anything absolutely in +contradiction to the current opinion of the Greeks about Cyrus. +According to him the relation of Cyrus to the Persians rested on a kind +of compact. When his son had subjugated the nations far and wide, +Cambyses collected the elders of the Persians and the officers who held +the highest places, and told them the Persians had elected Cyrus to be +their general, and given him the army; Cyrus had extended their power +over Asia, and gained glory among all men; he had made the bravest men +in the army rich, and found pay and food for all the soldiers. If this +relation were maintained it would be for the advantage of both parties; +if, on the other hand, Cyrus sought to rule over the Persians with the +same caprice as over other nations, or the Persians should attempt to +take the command from him, each would do the greatest harm to the other. +Let Cyrus, therefore, undertake to protect Persia and uphold the Persian +laws, and the Persians to render Cyrus any service that he needed +against rebellion and enemies. "After me," Cambyses concludes, "Cyrus +will be king, and whenever he comes to Persia he will offer for you the +sacrifice which I am offering now. If he is in a foreign land, it will +be best for the noblest of our family to offer sacrifices to the gods." +"What Cambyses proposed was approved by Cyrus and the Persians with +invocations to the gods, and the arrangement is still observed on both +sides."[574] Plato even puts Cyrus on the same level as Lycurgus, the +founder of the constitution of Sparta. He gives Dion the choice of +rivalling the ancient Lycurgus or Cyrus, or any one else who may be +distinguished by moral excellence and political wisdom.[575] According +to the Laws, Cyrus, brought up from his youth in the camp and surrounded +by danger, became a skilful general, and as a ruler kept before his eyes +the prosperity of the state. In the same book we are told that the +monarchical form of government attained its most complete state among +the Persians, and the democratic among the Athenians. But as the Persian +state pursued absolute dominion, and the Attic uncontrolled freedom, +neither discovered the correct limit; though in ancient times they had +observed due moderation. At the time of Cyrus the Persians were midway +between slavery and freedom. At first they were free, then they became +the lords of others. But while ruling they had given the subjects a +share in freedom, and treated them on an equal footing. For this reason +the warriors were devoted to their general and ready to plunge into +danger. And if an intelligent man appeared, who could give wise counsel, +Cyrus gave him liberty to speak; and as he honoured those who knew how +to give advise, every opinion was made use of for the common good, and +the Persians of that day succeeded in everything by freedom, concord, +and common deliberation.[576] + +FOOTNOTES: + +[559] Ctes. "Pers. Ecl." 5; Tzetz. "Chil." 1, 1, 83; Justin, 1, 6. Yet +Diodorus mentions the Barcanians together with the Hyrcanians (2, 2); +Curtius (3, 2) represents the Barcanians as providing 12,000 men for the +last Darius; Stephanus of Byzantium ([Greek: Barkanioi]) puts them +beside the Hyrcanians. Yet all these statements may rest on the same +misconception. + +[560] Herod. 1, 73; above, p. 378, _note_. + +[561] Herod. 2, 1; 3, 2; 7, 11. + +[562] Ctesias, "Pers." 8. The narrative of the death of Astyages follows +the narrative of the wars against the Bactrians and Sacae, and against +Croesus, and precedes the wars against the Derbiccians. + +[563] Herod. 9, 122. + +[564] Herod. 1, 177. + +[565] "Cyri instit." 5, 3, 22. + +[566] Strabo, p. 512. + +[567] Ptolem. 6, 2; Ammian, 23, 6. The rebellion of the Cadusians at a +later time was mentioned by Xenoph. "Hellen." 2, 1, 13; Plut. +"Artaxerx." 24; Diod. 15, 8; Justin, 10, 3. They fought with the last +Darius at Arbela; Arrian, "Anab." 3, 11. + +[568] Croesus, when he has crossed the Halys, is at once in Persian +territory; Herod. 1, 72, 73. + +[569] Xenoph. "Cyri instit." 3, 1; 3, 2, 1, 2; 7, 2, 5; Diod. 31, 19. + +[570] The serious difficulty of Cyrus is shown by his rapid march back +from Sardis with much the larger part of his army before the Greek +cities, the Lycians and Carians were reduced. Cp. Vol. VI. chapters 8 +and 9. + +[571] "Persic." 9. + +[572] Strabo, p. 730; Curt. 5, 6, 10; Arrian, "Anab." 3, 16, 18. The +observation in Xenophon ("Cyri instit." 5, 2, 1), that Cyrus whenever he +trod the soil of Persia gave a piece of gold to each Persian man and +woman, may have arisen from the presents to the women of Pasargadae. + +[573] "Cyri instit." 1, 2, 1. + +[574] "Cyri instit." 8, 5, 21 ff. + +[575] Plato, "Epp." 4, p. 320. Cf. "Menexen." p. 239. + +[576] "Legg." p. 693, 694. Cicero, ("de Republ." 1, 27, 28), calls Cyrus +the most just, wise, and amiable of rulers. + + + +END OF VOL. V. + + + +BUNGAY: CLAY AND TAYLOR, PRINTERS. + +_J. D. & Co._ + + + + +TRANSCRIBER'S NOTES: + + +1. Passages in italics are surrounded by _underscores_. + +2. Carat character is used to indicate subscript in this text version. + +3. Footnotes have been renumbered and moved to the end of the chapters +in this text version. + +4. The original text includes Greek characters. For this text version +these letters have been replaced with transliterations. + +5. Certain words use oe ligature in the original. + +6. Obvious errors in punctuation have been silently corrected. + +7. Other than the corrections listed above, printer's inconsistencies in +spelling, hyphenation, and ligature usage have been retained. + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The History of Antiquity, by Max Duncker + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE HISTORY OF ANTIQUITY *** + +***** This file should be named 38209.txt or 38209.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/3/8/2/0/38209/ + +Produced by Adrian Mastronardi and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was +produced from images generously made available by The +Internet Archive/American Libraries.) + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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