Consequences of the new representation (II)

3. The liturgy is ancient

The third consequence of the new representation of the Avesta is the antiquity of the double liturgy. In 1998, Kellens proposed three successive collations of texts:

A Proto-Yasna A (set of texts catalogued by the first chapters of the Yasna) dating from the early ^6th century BC;
Proto-Yasna B (Visperad list) dating from the end of the^{5th century} BC;
The Yasna in our possession, dating from the ^4th century BC.

This breakdown turned out to be an error, but the antiquity of the liturgy was, for its part, confirmed by two clues provided by the Nērangestān and the Yašts.

3.1. The Nērangestān

A particularly long fragment, the Nērangestān, was not edited by Geldner. As a result, access to this text is not easy. It was accessible only through Darmesteter's translation at the end of the ^19th century, and through an edition by Waag that restores a text by reversing the order of the fragments! This gap has now been filled by the edition by Kotwal and Kreyenbroek.

Anatol Waag, Nirangestan: der Awestatraktat über die rituellen Vorschriften, Iranische Forschungen 2, Leipzig, 1941.

Firoze M. Kotwal and, Philip G. Kreyenbroek: TheHērbedestānandNērangestān, 4 vols, Paris, 1992-1995-2003-2009.

The Nērangestān (mp. nērang "ritual prescription") describes the lecture of the Yasna.

Alberto Cantera: "Nērangs and Nērangestān" paper presented at the 7th European Conference of Iranian Studies, Krakow, September 7-10, 2011.

Alberto Cantera "Algunas reflexiones fundamentales sobre la transmisión del Avesta: los manuscritos mixtos de Yasna del tipo de Pt4 y los Yasna Sāde iranios Mf1 y F3a", EOS700, Salamanca, September 28-30, 2011.

Now, if the practice of Avestic composition did not last after the fall of the Achaemenid Empire, then the Nērangestān bears witness to a liturgy dating back to ancient Iran.

3.2. The Yašts

Yasna 57 and Yašt 10 describe three ceremonies.

Jean Kellens: "Contre l'idée platonicienne d'Avesta ou les Considérations revisitées", in : The transmission of the Avesta, ed. by Alberto Cantera, Iranica 20, Wiesbaden, 2012, pp. 49-58.

Putting together the indications provided, we come to restore a liturgical cursus that resembles that of the Yasna: 1. deployment of the barǝsman = Barsom Yašt (Y2); 2. consecration of offerings and instruments of worship (wood, milk, presses) = *Āvid (Y4); 3. investiture of zaotar = intercalation of Vr3-4 between Y11.9 and 10; 4. pressing of Haoma = Hōm Stōm (Y9-11.10); 5. sacrificial choice in connection with the daēnā = Frauuāranē - Āstuiiē (Y12); 6. recitation of the ancient Avesta from the Ahuna Vairiia (Y27.13) to the Fšūšō mąθra (Y58). We can thus see that there is no correspondence for the end of the sacrifice, but it is found in the Hāδōxt Nask 2 (HN2). In HN2.13, "Whenever you saw another leave (the haoma) unmixed, the (...) and spread its branches to make a vegetal litter, you would begin to recite the Songs, then the sacrificial-texts about the good waters, the fire of Ahura Mazdā and the follower of the Arrangement whom one accepts, whether he comes from near or far. Thus men henceforth offer me, Ahura Mazdā, long and thorough sacrifices and interrogations" (Kellens, 1995). In this extract, tribute is paid to the Waters (cf. Āb Zōhr, Y63-70), sacrifices are made to fire (cf. Ātaš Niyāyišn, Y62) and man is rejoiced aṣ̌auuan (cf. Dahmā Āfriti, Y60-61). The result is a table of contents of a complete Yasna.

4. Intercalation ceremonies

Since Geldner's edition, we've known about intercalation ceremonies. In addition to the simple Yasna, we can opt for a more solemn variant by introducing the Visperad. On this basis, other texts can be intercalated between the Staota Yesniia (Gāθās + Yasna Haptaŋhāiti): the Vīdēvdād (V) to obtain a Vīdēvdād ceremony or the Wištāsp Yašt (Vyt) for a ceremony of the same name.

In addition, the Nērangestān has taught us of the existence of other intercalations. Three authors have written about these ceremonies:

1. Skjaervø: There is a conceptual affinity between the base text and the intercalated text. The ancient Avesta, for the Yasna arrangers, tells the story of the world within the framework of the doctrine of the millennia. Skjaervø shows that the same is true of the Vīdēvdād. There is thus a correspondence between basic text and interspersed text.

Prods Oktor Skjaervø: "The Videvdad : its Ritual-Mythical Significance", in : V.S. Curtis and S. Stewart, eds, The Age of the Parthians. The Idea of Iran 2, London and New York, 2007, pp. 105-141.

2. Kreyenbroek: points out that the Nērangestān attests two other intercalations: the Yašts (without any precise indication about them) for a ceremony called Bagan Yasn and the Hāδōxt Nask.

Philip G. Kreyenbroek: "The Terme Bagān Yasn and the Function of Yašts in the Zoroastrian Ritual", in : One for the Earth: Prof. Dr. Y. Mahyar Nawabi Memorial Volume, ed. by M. Jaafari-Dehaghi, Tehran, 2008.

3. Cantera: The Visperad describes the possibility of Yašt intercalation between the various Gāθās and the Yasna Haptaŋhāiti (YH): Y34 - Yt13? - YH - Yt5 - Y43-46 - Yt19 - Y47-50 - Yt14 - Y51 - Yt 10. This is not a Proto-Yasna B.

Alberto Cantera: "Die Staota Yesniia der textuellen ratu des Visparad", in : Zarathushtra entre l'Inde et l'Iran. Études indo-iraniennes et indo-européennes offert à Jean Kellens à l'ocasion de son ^65e anniversaire, Wiesbaden, 2009, pp. 17-26

Then, in his 2013 article, Alberto Cantera summarized intercalation ceremonies:

Alberto Cantera: "Talking with god: the zoroastrian ham.parsti or intercalation ceremonies", in : Journal Asiatique 301.1, 2013, pp. 85-138.

We thus see the emergence of a new representation of the Avesta where texts can be articulated according to this or that ceremony. The Vīdēvdād is a rite of general purification, of exclusion of demonic forces. For the other ceremonies, their motivation is not yet clearly perceptible.