Where Was Zoroaster's Native Place?

8/9/2019 Where Was Zoroaster's Native Place?

1/13

Where Was Zoroaster's Native Place?

Author(s): A. V. Williams JacksonSource: Journal of the American Oriental Society, Vol. 15 (1893), pp. 221-232Published by: American Oriental SocietyStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/592356 .

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2/13

ARTICLE

VII.

WHERE

WAS

ZOROASTER'S

ATIVE

PLACE

BY PROFESSOR. V. W1LLIAMS JACKSON,

OF COLUlEBIA

COLLEGE, NEW YOR1l

CITY.

Presented

to the Society May 15th,

1891.

WITHegard

o thenativeplace

of the

founders f three

of

the

great Oriental eligions

Buddhism,Confucianistrl,

Mo-

hamlnedaniszllhe authoritiesremostly n agreement;with

reference

o Zoroastrianism,

owever,

he case is far

di:fferent.

Among

he ancientGreeks

and

Romanswe are told

thatseven

cities

claimed

o be the

birth-placef the

poet EIomer;

f we

take

into account

he

variousopinionson

the question

f the

native

country

f the prophetZoroaster,

he samemay also

be

said

of him. The question

n regard

o Zoroaster's

olne s

one

of illterest,

or with it

is connected

he question

wherewe

are

to place he cradle

of the

Wfazdeaneligion.

The

subject

has

given

rise to theliveliest

dispute.

Arguments ave heenbroughtorward y some o show hat

we onustplace

the holne

of Zoroastern

the east

of Iran, n

Bactria;he is

accordingly

ften styled

"the Bactrian

age."

By others

t is

claimed hat he

came rom

the westof Irail,

or

rather

roTnMedia, ome

say from

Persia. In spite

of these

contradictory

iews, he

difflculty

may be overcome,

t is

be-

lieved,andtile

probletn

may be solved, f

the subject

be looked

at in

its right

ight. Both

sides- re in part

wrong,

both sides

in part

right.

The fallacy, t may

at the

outsetbe stated,

ies

iil assuming

hat the scene

of the

prophet's

ealactivity

and

of hisrnissionmust likewisehavebeenhisnativeplace. It is

with

this wordof caution

n mind

hat all the statements

nd

theories n the

subject

will herebe examined,

nd he

endeavor

willbe made o

clearaway

he difficulty.

Theauthorities

f antiquity

o whom

we may

look for

in-

formation

n thesubject

andwhose

tatementsorm

he source

frolnwhich

OUr views

are deduced, re- -


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3/13

222

A.

E.

W.

Ja(3kson,

a.

C:lassical

t.

Oriental.

The principal passageshave alreadybeen collectedby Win-

discllmann,

Zoe

oawf>?,sche

t?hdiyen,

.

270

ff.;

but

some

points

in

the

later

tradition

have

b-een

overlooked.

As

important

deduc-

tions

may

be

drawn

froln

these

latter

it

is

useful

to

add

them,

and

to

arrange

anew

all

the

nlaterial

that

bears

as

evidence

on

the

subject.

The

allusions

o

the

country

of

Zoroaster

we

may

therefore

take

up

in

detail,

presenting,

first,

statements

refer-

ring

to

Bactria,

or

the

east

of

Iran;

second,

allusiorls

o

Zoro-

aster

as

belonging

in

the

west,

in

lKedia

or

Persia.

A.

CLASSICAL

ND

NON-

RANIAN.

1.

Bactria

Eastern

Iran.

The

following

allusions

in

the

classic

writers

of

Greece

and

Rome

show

that

Zoroaster

was

thought

of

as

a

Bactrian,

or

at

least

as

exercisirlg

his

activity

in

the

east

of

Iran.

The

authority

of

the

historian

Ktesias

(E;.

C.

400)

is

quoted

by

Diodorus

Siculus

(lst

century

A.D.)

ii.

6,

for

the

statement

that

Winus,

with

a

large

army,

invaded

Bactria,

and

with

the

aid

of Semiramisgained a victory over Eing Oxyartes. See Fraym.

of

the

Persika

of

Xt


4/13

Tfthere

c6s

Zoroaster's

WNve

Place

2

22g

et qnthndi

rincipia

sidertbqnqtze

notmbs

iligenti,ssime

pectasse.

See Gilmore,

Xtesias'

Peqsika,

p. 29.

In like manner Arnobius (A.D. 297), Advers?s Gentesi. 5, men-

tions

a

battle between

the

Assyrians

and the

Bactrians,

under

the

leadership

respectively

of Ninus

and

Zoroaster,

inter

Assyrios

et

Bactrianos,

Xino

quo?zdam

Zoroastreqme

d?ctoribus.

See

Gil-

more, Ktessas,

p. 36.

A parallel

statement,

Zoroastres

. .

. Bac-

trsa?zus

in

Adv.

Gent.

i. 52,

confirms

the

view

that Arnobius

regarded

Zoroaster

as a Bactrian.

Two later

but independent

classical

authors

rightly

place

Zoro-

aster under

a King

Htrstaspes

(i. e.

Vishtaspa,

Gushtasp),

and

one

of these

distinctly

calls

him a

Bactrian.

These

are Ammianus

Marcellinus (5th century A. D.), and Agathias (Bth century A.D.).

Ammianus,

xxiii. 6.

32,

p. 294, ed.

Ernest,

says:

C?hi

czentiaqn

ecu-

tis

priscis

qnutta

ex

ChGlldoeorum

rcanis

Bactrianus

addidit

Zorovstres;

deir2de

Xystaspes

rex

prudentissim?ss

l9ssrSi

jpater.

Agathias,

ii.

24, writes:

Z@poa¢rpov

ov

'Op,ma¢8ezs

.

. ouros

E;e

ZGopoaE;os

o Zapa87Rs

88Ttr}

yap

e7r'avTso

e7rzzov,^a),

o7rr)vtfca

L4evRfc,L4ae

rRv

pXXv

fcab

rovs

vo',movs

t?ero,

orfc

eve¢z


5/13

224

A. V. W. Jackson,

of his followers: Zzpoavtprre vor Maq:or or Hep¢rro

UvfWafyotpasrr)tffev. The accuracy of the statement in re-

gard to Pythagoras is of course extremely que,stionable. See

Windischmann, oroastrtchetudien,p. 263. Onanother ccasion

Clemens identifies Zoroasterwith Er, the son of Armenius, a

Pamphylian. This would place Zoroaster n Asia Minor. See

Windischmann,Zor. St?sd., . 273 note, referring to Stromata

v. 711, o 8' avtos El)tavv)

r

vco8czav vrRsroBlvelasHpos

vov Ap,uelotov,o eyerosla,ufv)tovueHlox7val,'s evTl Zopo-

avtprRssic) avTosyovpZopoavTprRsypa+ela8e¢v^efypaSrer

ZopoavtprRs'Ap,uelotovoeyeros a,ufv)tos

.7".\.

Pliny the Elder (A.D. 23-79), in his

Ziss. fiat. xx.1,

2, makes

Zoroastel'snative land even fulther west, in Proconessus, he

island n the Propontus. See VVindischmann,or.Stud., .299.

Hermodorus,he discipleof Plato, quotedhy DiogenesLaertes,

Proem.2 ad init., speaksof Zoroaster s a Persian: ZzpoavTprr

vor HepSv^.

Suilas in his Lexicon (s. v. Z@poavtprRs)erms Zoroaster a

" Perso-Median (Elep¢o,ur8osofos). This point also is worth

noticing.

The ArmenianMosesof Chorene (A.D. 431), i. 16, makes Zo-

roastera contemporary f Semiramis, nd calls him "a Magian,

the sovereignof the Medes." F;eeGilmore,Xtesias'Perszka,p. 30

ote, and Spiegel, EranischeAlterth?smsk?bnde. 682.

Argumentshave furthermorebeen blought forward to show

that in the fragmentsthat have been preservedof Berosus of

Babv]on(B.C. 250) mention s made of the name Zoroasteras a

Mediall; but whether he founderof the religion s to be under-

stood by this remainsuncertain.

'rhe classical referencesabove, f viewed alone, appearon the

surface extremely contradictory;and from them it would seem

as if little could with certaintybe deduced. Laying aside these

authorities, owever,recoursemay now be had to the more direct

Iranian radition. To this may be added one or two quite ex-

plicit statements romother Oriental, hough non-lranian ources.

If these be carefullvexamined,we shall be surplised o find that

there really is an agreement n referenceson the one handtothe

field of Zoroaster's reaching,and on the other to his probable

home. This will give us a new light in which to criticise the

classical statements.

B. IRANIANTHE TRADITION.

1. Bactria-Scene of Prophetic Career.

A study of the Avesta showsthat most of the scenesdescribed

in that book areto be located n easternIran; in the later Persian

epic, the Shah-Namah, lso, it is in the east that Zoroaster'smis-

sion is carriedon. Traditionalso has it that the prophet ended

his life in Balkh. These points all become significant when




6/13

Where

?wGbS

oroGbster's

Gsttte

Ptace

2

225

viewed

in their

right

light.

Before

proceeding

o draw

conclu-

sions,

however,

we

must examine

in

detail

what

is

said in

the

Avesta and other Zoroastrianworks with regard to the first

appearance

f the

prophet.

This

pointis

of importance.

2. Media,

Atropatene-Scene

of

the

Prophet's

Appearance.

Turning

to the

Zoroastrian

books

themselves,

we

find

state-

ments

which plainly

leadus

to

inferthat

the

prophet

really

{irst

appeared

n

the

west

of Iran,

either in

Atropatene

or

in Media

proper.

The

Bundahish

places

the home

of Zoroaster

n Iran

Vej

(Air-

yana Tzaejah),y the river Darja and adds the fact that his

father's

house

stood

on a mountainby that river. For instance:

Bd. xx.

32:

I)araja

rud

pavan

Atran

Vej,

mmnast

man-?>

or?stasp

bs.dar-t

Zaratust

pavan

bar

yehevund

' The

Daraja

river

is in Airan

Vej, on

a hill

(bar)

by

which

was

the

houseof

Porushasp,

he

father

of

Zaratusht.'

See

alsoWest,

Pahlavi

Tezts

transl.,

S.B.EM.

. 82.

Again,

Bd. xxiv.

15:

I)araja

r?d rudbaran

rad,

mamanast

enan-z

btdar-?>

aratusvt

avan

baMb;

Zaratusvt

amman

zad

' The

Daraja

river

is the

chief

of exalted

rivers,for

the

dwelling

of

Zaratusht

was

upon

its

banks;

and

Zoroaster

wasborn

there.'

There

can

be

little doubt

that

these

unequivocal

tatements

of

the

Bundahish

rest

upon

good

old tradition.

The

statements

carry

out in

detail

the lines

found

in

the

Avesta

itself.

In

Vd.

xix.

4, 11,

we a]so

leain

that

the

temptation

of

Zoroaster

y

Ahri-

man

on

the

orlehand,

and the

prophet's

communings

with

Or-

mazd

on the

other,

took

place

on a mountain

by the

river

I)arja,

where

was the

house

of his

father

Pourushaspa.

Vd. xix.4: darejyapaiti zbarahinmanahePourusas-

pahe

'by

the Darja,

upon

a

mountain,

at

the

home

(loc.

gen.)

of

Pourushaspa.'

Vd.xix.

11:

peresat

Zarathustro

Ahurem

Mazdawb

. .

[darejya

paiti

zbarahi

Ahurai

vanhave

vohumaidhe

aonhano,

Asai

Vahistai,

Xhstathrai

Vaiqvyai,

7ventayai

Arr)eatee]

'Zoroaster

questioned

Ahura

Mazda

. .

upon

the

hill

by the

Darja, praying to Ahura Mazda, the good, who is endowed

with

good,

to

Asha

Vahishta,

Khshathra

Vairya,

and Spenta

Armaiti.'

The

reference

to

the

'hill,'

Av.

zbarah

(Skt.

hearas,

Phl.

bar

Bd.

xx.32),

is

quite in

accord

with

the

tradition

that

Zoroaster

retired

o amountain

ormeditation:

cf.

Vd. xxii.

19:

gairszrn

vi

spento-frasnao,

aresterrz

bVi

pento-frasnao

toward

he

mountain




7/13

226 A. V.

W. Jaokson,

of the holy communion, toward

the forest of the holv communion.'

Sitnilar]y elsewhere (see below) reference is made to Zoroaster's

communings upon a mountain. Such prophetic meditations are

thoroughly Oriental.

This river Darja we may perhaps

localize; it may be identical

with the river Darya, which flows

from Mount Savellan (Sebllan)

in Adarbljan (Atropatene) into

the Aras or Araxes. So also Dar-

mesteter, Zend-Avestatransl., S.B.E. iv.,

Introd. p. xlix. For

the Aras (Araxes) see de Harlez, Avestatraduit, p. viii, tnap, and

Phillip and Son's (London) map of Persia. If this identification

be correct, the ancient Darja was

in Media Atropatene.

lKnotherexplicit, although late

and non-Iranian, tradltion con-

necting Zoroaster with the region of Atropatene is found in Kaz-

wini. In this Arabic writer,

Zoroaster is associated with Shlz,

the capital of Atropatene. Consult

Darmesteter,

Zend-Avesta

trallsl., oS.B.X. iv., lntrod. p. xlix, where Kawlinson's identifica-

tion of Shlz with Takht-i Suleiman

is noted. The passage from

Kazwini (quoted from Rawvlinson)

reads: "In Shiz is the fire-

temple of Azerekhsh, the most celebratedof the Pyrsa of the Magi;

in the days of the fire-worship,

the kings always came on foot,

upon pilgrimagre. The temple

of Azerekhsh is ascribed to Zera-

tusht, the founder of the Magian

religion, who went, it is said

from Shiz to the mountain of Sebllan and, after remaining there

some time in retirement, returned with the Zend-Avesta, which,

although written in the old Persiall

language, could not be under-

stood without a commentary. After this he declared himself to

be a prophet." Thus far Kazwini.

The account here given, we

observe, tallies accurately with the

statements and suggestions

made immediately above. In the

Avesta, as above quoted, it was on a hill by the river Darja that

Zoroaster communed with God. The hill (zbarah)or mountain

(gatri) thus referred to by the

Avesta would answer to Kazwini's

Mount Sebllan; the proposed identification of the Avestan Dalja

with the modern river Darya would be confirmed, as this latter

river flows from Mt. Sebllan into

the Aras.

For the region of Atropatene

speaks also the authority of

Yaqut (see Spiegel,

Edran?>sche

lterth?mskunde,. 684), who, like

Abulfeda, points to the town of Urumia as the native place of

Zoroaster. See also foot-note

below, p. 231.

At this point we must furthelmore take up the tradition which

directly connects the opening

of Zoroaster's prophetic career

with Airyana Vaejah or Iran

Vej. This latld is often regarded

as mythical; it may originally

have been so, but there is good

reason for believing that the fact of the later localization of this

region in the west of Iran points to the common belief that Zoro-

aster originally came from that direction. The 33undahish xxix.

12 connects Iran Vej directly with Atropatene: Ajran Vejpavan

kost-?> taro-patakan. The river

Darja, Ilear which stood the

house of Zoroastel's father, is

especially stated in Bd. xx. 32 to

have been in Iran Vej. In the

Avesta, moreover, Zoroaster is




8/13

Where

qwas

Z0t0C6steq's

atz?ne

tace

227

familiarly

called

"the

renowned

n

Airyana

Vaejah":

Ys.

ix.

14,

sruto

atryene

vaejahe.

The

prophet

s

there

also

represented

s

offeringsacrificen Air.yanaVaejahby the river Daitya: Yt. v.

]04;

ix.

25;

xvii.

45,

airyene

vaejahi

vanhuya,o

da,ityaycz,o.

n

the later

Persian

Zartusht-Namah

see

Wilson,

Parsi

Religion,

p.

491-it

is

the waters

of the

Daitl

that

Zoroaster

crosses

in

a

miraculous

manner

after

he

has

hadthe

vision

of

the

conflict

with

the

demons

and of

the

final

conversion

of

Medyo-mah.

After

passing

D>iitl, e

receives

the

visions

of God

(with

which

com-

pare

Ys. xliii.

3-15),

and

thence

he

proceeds

o

King

Vishtaspa.

The

Daitya

was

perhaps

border

stream;

it

is to

be remembered

that it

was on

the

other

side

of it

(cf.

pasne,

Yt.

xvii.

49)

that

Vishtaspasacrificed. The Bundahishikewise alludesto Zoroas-

ter's

firstoffering

worship

n

Iran

Vej,

and

receiving

Medyo-mah

as

his first

disciple:

Bd.

xxxii.

3:

Zara,tusk,

matas

dtn cZa,ttvand,

rat?sm

#,en

Atrctaw

ej

fraj

yask

parsmad;

Me.dyok-nxah

M^n

mtnas

mekadZund

'

Zoroaster,

when

he

brought

he

relition,

frst

celebrated

worship

in Airan

Vej,

and

Medyok-mblh

eceived

the religion

from

him.'

Cf. Justi,

Bundahtsh,

p.

79,

and

West,

Pahlavi

Texts

trans].,

S.B.E. v. 14]. This Medyok-mahs the Maidhyo-mah f the

Avesta,

Yt.

xiii.

95;

Ys.

li. 19,

the

cousin

of

Zoroaster;

and

he

seems

o

have

been

a

man

of influence.

That

hewas

the

prophet's

first

disciple

s

distinctly

recognized

alsoby

the

Avesta,

Yt. xiii.

95:

yo

paoiryo

Zarathusvtr(>i

athrenzea

mska

asnaoscv.

All

these

traditional

Oriental

allusions

areunanimous

n

placing

Zoroaster

n

Adarbljan

rMedia

Atropatene.

There

s

yet another

passage

drawn

from

the

Avesta

that

connects

his

name

with

Ragha

(Rai)

in

the

same

region,

or

more

particularly

n

Media,

properly

o

called.

This

allusion

s

in the

Pahlavi

version

of Vd.

i. 16. The Avestatext reads:

dvadasem

asanhamca

svoithrarwamca

ahiskem

rath-

weresere

zem

?f°

ahuro

mazd,o,

Ragham

thrizant?i>m

[vaedhanho

noit

uzois

(dfahakaz)].

'As

the

twelfth,

I created

Ragha

of

thethree

races.'

The

Pahlavi

commentary

adds

'triple-raced

Rak,

of

Ataro-patakan

Atropa-

tene);

some

sayit

is

Ral; .

. .

somesay

Zaratust

belonged

here.'

This

connection

of

the name

of Zoroaster

with

Ragha

is

also

given

elsewhere

n the

Avesta.

In

Ys. xix.

18,

mention

is made

of the five lords," the lordof the house, he village,the province,

and

the

country,

and the

Zarathushtra

s

the

fifth."

By

Zara-

thuRro

pgkAdRho,

high-priest

or Iranian

pope

s

apparently

n-

tended.

This

order

of lords

holds

good

for

all

countries

" except

the

Zarathushtrian

Ragha."

"The

Zarathushtrian

Ragha

has

four

masters,

he

master

of

the

house,

the

village,

the

province,

and

the

Zarathushtra

s

the

fourth";




9/13

228

A.

V.

W.

Jackson,

aonham

azaAyunam

ao

anyao

Rajoit

Zarath?4sh>troit.

Cathru-ratusv

aghnz

Zardcthushtris


10/13

TEhere as Zoroaster'sXg?e Place ?

229

Rets,qion,p. 490. He sets out, as described in the narrative, with

a company of followers crosses a seaSjourneys during the month

of Spendarmat (February) and on the last day of the month he

finds himself upon the confines of Iran. It is there that he has

the vision that Medyo-mah will receive his religion, and he dreams

of the army of demons from the east. It is with this point we

may connect Zoroaster's first attempt at preaching ill Ragha.

If the view here adopted be correct, the vision of the army of

demons may have been a forecast of Zoroaster's ill success at first

in Ragha and elsewhere misfortune, however, that was destined

ultimately to turn out successfully and in victory. There is good

reason for believing that Zoroaster's teaching did not at first meet

with success. The statement of Zad-sparam (see West, Pahtavi

Y'ezts, ransl., S.B.E:. v. 187) would carry out this view. It is there

noted that during the {irst ten years Zoroaster obtained one dis-

ciple, Medyok-mah. This might apply well to Ragha.

A polemical allusion to Ragha, as shrewdly suggested by Geld-

ner, KZ. xxviii. o()2-2()3, is perhaps to be found in the Gathas,

Ys. liii. 9. Unfortunately the passage is not quite clear, and the

reading of the text is somsewhatuncertain. Manuscript authority,

however gives the following text (Ys. liii. 9):

dqxzearenc6istaestorast?>oi narepzst ajts

aestasa dejt-aretc6peso-tanvo

ku asvavaahura, yo ?>eyate?s hEmithyut vase-itoisecb

ku ma$rda avc6hcheathrem ct erezejyotdahb drigaove vahyo .9

This may provisionally be rendered (cf. Geldner, loc. cit.): 'To

the evil-believers hell (lit. poison, i. e. of hell) belongs. Those

man-banishing(?) Raghians, . . . theunrighteons (dejet-aretcs)are

accursed (peso-tanvo) \Vhere is the righteous one; O Ahllra

who will deprive them of their life and freedom ? Where is that

kingdom of thine, O Ahura, by which thou wilt give to the

right-living man, though

pOOl',

the best reward

?

The text and

the passage, as stated, are obscure; but there certainly seems to

be contained in it the reminiscence of an imprecation against

the Raghians, the generation of vipers that shall not escape dam-

ation. This Capernaum, though now exalted, shall be thrust

down to hell. Cf. St. Luke x. 1a, St. Matthew xi. 30ff.

Zoroaster, cast out from Ragha in Media, may have tllrned to

Bactria, where at last lle was received by King Vishtaspa. Ac-

cording to the Zartusht-Namah, Zoroaster seems to have jour-

lleyed for a month or so, after his first vision of the army of

fiends, and then to have crossed the Daitl, whichn according to

the sllggestion above (p. 227) appears to have been a border river.

There he receives the visions of God and the archangels, before

proceeding to Balkh. The book of Zad-sparam (cf. West, Pah-

tav?> Newts,ransl., v. 187) allows two years to have elapsed from

the time of Medyo-mah's conversion to the time that Zoroaster

won Vishtaspa over to the faith. The latter event, it assumes,




11/13

230

A. F. W. Jackson,

took place twelve years after Zoroasterhad entered upon his

ministry. All this is consistent with the idea of wanderingand

meditation,when we take into accountalso the thousandor more

miles that separatedBalkh from Atropateneand Ragha.

Assuming he supposition o be true that Zoroasteroriginated

in Atropateneand was then drawn toward Ragha but thence

rejected, how are we to reconcile with this curse against the

Raghians (Ys. liii. 9) the fact that the same city became the

acknowledged eadof the Zoroastrianaith ? A solutionmay be

ofered. It is not at all impossible hat, after successwas won in

in the east, in Bactria, a religious crusade was begun toward

the west, especially against Ragha. Hystaspes himself may

have Joined n the movement; his name is sometimesmentioned

in connectionwith Media * and, accordingto the Shah-Namah

his son Isfendiyarpromulgated he faith of Zoroaster n severai

countries. Ragha, we can imagine,may have been among hese;

and we may suppose that this Jerusalem-if we may with all

reverenceadoptthe phraseof our own Scriptures the city which

had stoned the prophet, at last received and blessed him that

came in the nameof Ormazd. Ragha was at last glad to claim

Zoreaster Ys. xix. 18) as its head.

The assutnption f the reminiscence f a severestruggleagainst

unbelief,andof a changeof heart in the people?would make clear

why heresy

aghenea x4paro-utmanohem

s the counter-creationf

Ahriman, should be so markedlyassociatedwith Ragha, Vd. i.

16; and it would explain why the scholiast in the Pahlavi ver-

sion of the passageshouldadd the saving clause,vaedhanho noit

uzois, Ragha belongs no longer to heresy,but to the faith. It

has become he "ZarathushtrianRagha."

Resllmse.-If the above views be correct,Zoroasterndeedarose

in the west, most probablfTomewhere n Atropatene. He then

presumablywent to Ragha, but, finding this an unfruitful field,

turned at last to Bactria, where the prophet was destined nolonger to be without honor. He met with a powerful patron in

the king; churchand state becameone. From Bactria, he now

organized tate-religion preadbacktowardsMedia; thencedown

to Persia.

It can hardly be said that thus to reconcile the conflicting

statements s begging the question; authoritycan be given for

* In the Yatkar-i Zarlran, ed. W. Geiger, Sitz. bayer. Akad., 1890,p. 50,

there also lurks, perhaps, in the words Hutos-i Rajur, an allusion to

:Ragha; and fronl them it rnight possibly be suggested that Vishtaspa's

interest in Media was partly through his marriage, as well as on politi-

cal grounds. If there

i#

such an allusion to Hutaosa's having come

from Ragha, we might perhaps conjecture that the new prophet Zoro-

aster was originally .attracted from Ragha to Balkh through the queen's

alliance. Let us then recall Augustine in connection with Emma and

wiEthelbert. But the passage requires further study bef-oremere fanciful

conjectures are made, especially in the light of some apparently con-

tradictory passages in the Avesta and the Zartusht-Namah.




12/13

everypoint that

has been

made.

All the

difficulties

disa;ppear.

The references o

Bactria

in the Avesta

and in the

classicsare

quitecorrect; there was the sceneof the greatteacher'sa(3tivity.

'lthereferences o

Media

n the classics and

in the

traditionare

equally colrect;

Media in

its broadest

sense was

the

original

homeof

the

prophet; thence came

the

priests, or there, as

Mar-

cellinus

xxiii. 6

latertellsus, were

"the

fertile fieldsof the

Magi."

The hint,

moreover, hat

Zoroaster

after

the conversion f

Vish-

taspa

visitedhis

own native and

again,but

wasat last

murdered t

Balkh in

Bactria, s

furthermore

iven

according o tradition

also

by

Anquetil du

Perron,

Zend-Avestcs, i. 2, p. 52;

ii. p.

807-808,

Index. The

latter fact

about Zoroaster's

death

may not

have

beenuntrue.

The

conclusionarrived

at is

that, though

Zoroaster

originally

came

from the

west, he taught

and

elaboratedhis

religion in

Bactria; its

blossoms

ater borefruit in

the west.

The uphold-

ers of each side

of the

much-mootedquestionare

in part

right,

and yet in part

wrong;

the horns of the

dilemma

are at last

united,

the

question is at last

solved.

Honor to the

tradition

where

honor s

due.*

APPENDIX.

Av.

vaedAconho zoit

uzois

Vd. i. 16.

In the Avestan

account

of the creation

and

counter-creationy

Ormazd

ndAhriman, he

text at

Vd. i. 16reads:

dvadasem

asanhG6m

oithrarzamca

vahistem

f'rathwere-

sens azem yo

ahuro

1Saazda0

agham

thrizantqzm vaed-

hanho noit uzois ]; aat ahe pttycirem frakerentat anro

mainytes

pouru-mahrko

aghemca

uparo-v?>rnanohtn.

'As the

twelfth, the

best of

regions and of

jvlaces,

Ahura

Mazda,

reated

riple-racedRagha

liof

.... ]- Thellas a

coun-

ter-creation he

banefulAngra

Malnyu

created

also the evil of

excessive

skepticism.'

The words

vaedAc6nhonoit

uzois are

apparently

a gloss;

the

Pahlaviversion

does not

render

hem. They have

excellent

man-

uscript

anthority,

however,and

there mllst

havebeen some

good

reason

or adding

them. As yet

they seem

llOt o

have beensat-

isfactorilyexplained. A suggestionmay perhaps entatively be

put forward.

* Mr. A.

Yohannan writes

me that

at a place about a

mile from

his

hotne in

Oroomiah there is a

pile of

ashes from the

fire-worshipers,

and

that the

p]ace is generally

admitted

by the people to

have been

the

abode of

Zeradusht.

Wherezwas

oroaster's

atee lDlace?

231

30

VOL. IV.




13/13

232

A. V. W. Jackson.

In codex K2the worddahakas is added afterz4zois. This ad-

dition is of no value, however,as dahakcii is evidentlydue only

to a mistake occasionedby the resemblance n sound between

uzois and azois. The manuscript n fact itself has the word

afterwards tricken out. See notes on the variants n Spiegel's

editionof the texts,

ad loc.

We may therefore dismiss

dahakai

without consideration. There remain

vaedhanho

and

uzois

still

to be interpreted.

The genitivevaedhanho comesevidelltly rom a stemvasdhah.

An identificationwith Skt. vedhas adj. subst.,from Skt. >/vidh

' worship, erve,piouslyhonor,'at once suggests itself. On the

usage of the root, see the Pstersburg Lexicon,s. v. The word

Av. vaedRhahs

probablybest taken as a neuter substantive. Its

aneaningwouldbe ' worship, ervice,piety.' To the sameradical,

Skt. vidh, belongs also the familiar form Av. nseaedhwayemsn

the invocation of the Yasna sacrifice. Perhaps also here the

form Av. vaethahu. The root requires further investigation,

however.

For the unexplained

uzois

I would also suggest a connection

with the secondary oot in Skt.

ujh '

forsake,abandon,' f. Whit-

ney, Skt. Geam,. Verb Supplenzerbt. v. The signification f uzz

would be ' apostasy,heresy,backsliding.' For the religioussense

compare lso Skt.

bahmoShata.

The gloss

vaedhanho noit uzois,

as an added attribute of ra-

gharn thrtzalti6}n,

becomes tlll of meaning. Viewed in the light

of the above (p. 230), we may well believe that Ragha, which

had cast out Zoroaster,-may have been a hot-bed of heresy,

uparo-vtmanohtm,

the creationof Ahriman, n opposition o its

being the chosen spot (vahtstem) of God. In the ultimate tri-

umph of the faith, it became he chief seat of the %oreastrian

religion. The scholiast, therefore, n adding vaedhanho noit

vzozs, is anxious o assureus of the triumph; the city is not alone

' triple-racedRagha,'but also Ragha ' of the faith, not of herestT.'

The attribute, moreover, mphasizes he distinction from Ahri-

man'suy?aro-vtmanohtm,.It carriesout more perfectly the dual-

istic system. The passage hus is interestingfrom the historical

point of view as well as from that of text-criticism.

Where Was Zoroaster's Native Place?

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