Zand-i Wahman yasn
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The ''Zand-i Wahman Yasn'' is a medieval
Zoroastrian Zoroastrianism is an Iranian religion and one of the world's oldest organized faiths, based on the teachings of the Iranian-speaking prophet Zoroaster. It has a dualistic cosmology of good and evil within the framework of a monotheistic on ...
apocalyptical text in
Middle Persian Middle Persian or Pahlavi, also known by its endonym Pārsīk or Pārsīg () in its later form, is a Western Middle Iranian language which became the literary language of the Sasanian Empire. For some time after the Sasanian collapse, Middle Per ...
. It professes to be a prophetical work, in which
Ahura Mazda Ahura Mazda (; ae, , translit=Ahura Mazdā; ), also known as Oromasdes, Ohrmazd, Ahuramazda, Hoormazd, Hormazd, Hormaz and Hurmuz, is the creator deity in Zoroastrianism. He is the first and most frequently invoked spirit in the ''Yasna''. ...
gives
Zoroaster Zoroaster,; fa, زرتشت, Zartosht, label=New Persian, Modern Persian; ku, زەردەشت, Zerdeşt also known as Zarathustra,, . Also known as Zarathushtra Spitama, or Ashu Zarathushtra is regarded as the spiritual founder of Zoroastria ...
an account of what was to happen to the ''behdin'' (those of the "good religion", i.e. the Zoroastrians) and their religion in the future. The oldest surviving manuscript (K20, in Copenhagen) is from about 1400, but the text itself is older, written and edited over the course of several generations. The work is also known as the ''Bahman Yasht'' and ''Zand-i wahman yasht''. These titles are scholastic mistakes, in the former case due to 18th century
Anquetil Du Perron Abraham Hyacinthe Anquetil-Duperron (7 December 173117 January 1805) was the first professional French Indologist. He conceived the institutional framework for the new profession. He inspired the founding of the École française d'Extrême-Orien ...
, and the latter due to 19th century
Edward William West Edward William West (1824-1905), usually styled E. W. West, was a scholarly English engineer, orientalist, and translator of Zoroastrian texts. He was educated at King's College London. He prepared five volumes of Pahlavi texts (the ''Marvels of ...
. The text is neither a
Yasht The Yashts are a collection of twenty-one hymns in the Younger Avestan language. Each of these hymns invokes a specific Zoroastrian divinity or concept. ''Yasht'' chapter and verse pointers are traditionally abbreviated as ''Yt.'' Overview The wo ...
, nor is it in any way related to the
Avesta The Avesta () is the primary collection of religious texts of Zoroastrianism, composed in the Avestan language. The Avesta texts fall into several different categories, arranged either by dialect, or by usage. The principal text in the litu ...
's (lost) ''Bahman Yasht'' (see note
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). Chapter and line pointers to the ''Zand-i Wahman Yasn'' are conventionally abbreviated ''ZWY'', and follow the subdivisions defined in the 1957 Anklesaria translation. These subdivisions differ from those used in earlier translations. The text survives in two versions: a Middle Persian version in
Pahlavi script Pahlavi is a particular, exclusively written form of various Middle Iranian languages. The essential characteristics of Pahlavi are: *the use of a specific Aramaic-derived script; *the incidence of Aramaic words used as heterograms (called '' ...
, and in a
Pazand Pazend () or Pazand ( pal, 𐭯𐭠𐭰𐭭𐭣; ae, 𐬞𐬀𐬌𐬙𐬌 𐬰𐬀𐬌𐬥𐬙𐬌) is one of the writing systems used for the Middle Persian language. It was based on the Avestan alphabet, a phonetic alphabet originally used to w ...
transliteration with commentary in Avestan script. From the scholastic point of view, the work is enormously interesting for the study of religion. While the text is superficially an Iranian one, there is some question whether some of the details are Iranian adaptions from alien sources. Arguments for both an indigenous origin (with loaning to Judeo-Christian tradition), and vice versa (borrowing from Semitic and Hellenistic sources) have been put forward. A connection to the Hellenistic ''
Oracles of Hystaspes Vishtaspa ( ae, 𐬬𐬌𐬱𐬙𐬁𐬯𐬞𐬀 ; peo, 𐎻𐏁𐎫𐎠𐎿𐎱 ; fa, گشتاسپ ; grc, Ὑστάσπης ) is the Avestan-language name of a figure of Zoroastrian scripture and tradition, portrayed as an early followe ...
'' is generally acknowledged. That text, unlike most works attributed to Pseudo-Zoroastrian authors, was apparently based on genuine Zoroastrian traditions. Structurally, the ''Zand-i Wahman Yasn'' is laid out as a conversation between Zoroaster and Ahura Mazda, in which the latter gives his prophet the ability to see into the future. Chapters 1, 2 and 3 introduce a millennial scheme with seven periods. The first three periods represent the ages up and including the "millennium of Zoroaster". The last four periods, which account for what will occur thereafter, are analogized as a tree with four branches, one each of gold, silver, steel, and impure iron. Chapters 4, 5 and 6 prophesy the calamities that will occur when the "enemies of the good religion" (see
Aniran Anērān (Middle Persian, ) or Anīrân (Modern Persian, ) is an ethno-linguistic term that signifies "non-Iranian" or "non-Iran" (non-Aryan). Thus, in a general sense, 'Aniran' signifies lands where Iranian languages are not spoken. In a pejorativ ...
) conquer Iran at the end of the "tenth millennium", causing a debasement of moral, social, religious order (see
Asha Asha (; also arta ; ae, 𐬀𐬴𐬀, translit=aṣ̌a/arta) is a Zoroastrian concept with a complex and highly nuanced range of meaning. It is commonly summarized in accord with its contextual implications of 'truth' and 'right(eousness)', 'ord ...
, "order"). Chapters 7, 8 and 9 prophesy the events of the last 3,000 years of the world, beginning with the eleventh millennium, and in which the arrival of each of the three ''
saoshyant Saoshyanet (Avestan: 𐬯𐬀𐬊𐬳𐬌𐬌𐬀𐬧𐬝 saoš́iiaṇt̰) is the Avestan language expression that literally means "one who brings benefit", and which is used in several different ways in Zoroastrian scripture and tradition. In par ...
''s are foretold. The text prophecies the end of the world as a great conflagration in which the world is destroyed/purified by fire, with Ahura Mazda's eventual triumph, after which the dead righteous (''
ashavan Ashavan (Avestan: 𐬀𐬴𐬀𐬬𐬀𐬥 ''ašavan'') is a Zoroastrian theological term. It literally means "possessing/mastering '' aša''" and has been interpreted as "possessing/mastering truth" or "possessing/mastering righteousness", but ha ...
'') are resurrected to eternal perfection and reunification with God, and time ends. In the 19th century,
James Darmesteter James Darmesteter (28 March 184919 October 1894) was a French author, orientalist, and antiquarian. Biography He was born of Jewish parents at Château-Salins, in Lorraine. The family name had originated in their earlier home of Darmstadt. He was ...
surmised that the ''Zand-i Wahman Yasn'' represented a translation of parts of the Avesta's lost ''Bahman Yasht''. This notion is no longer followed today; modern scholarship is in agreement that the 6th century work has "nothing in common". with what is actually known of the genuine Avestan Bahman yasht texts. The
Amesha Spenta In Zoroastrianism, the Amesha Spenta ( ae, , Aməša Spəṇta—literally "Immortal (which is) holy/bounteous/furthering") are a class of seven divine entities emanating from Ahura Mazda, the highest divinity of the religion. Later Middle Persian ...
Bahman/Wahman (Av:
Vohu Manah Vohu Manah ( Avestan: 𐬬𐬊𐬵𐬎 𐬨𐬀𐬥𐬀𐬵 ''vohu manah'') is the Avestan language term for a Zoroastrian concept, generally translated as "Good Purpose", "Good Mind", or "Good Thought", referring to the good state of mind that ...
) does not even appear in the text. That the basic "plot" draws on Avestan material, and that the work mimics the style of the Avesta's authors, are generally acknowledged.


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