Avesta

   The collective name of the holy writings of Zoroastrianism, the religion of ancient Persia. The numerous sacred texts making up the Avesta were composed over the course of many centuries in different languages. unlike the books of the Judeo-christian Bible, the texts of the Avesta consist mainly of prayers and hymns and contain little in the way of narrative storytelling. The first written versions of the Avesta seem to have appeared in the

   Parthian period (ca. 228 b.c.-a.d. 224). others may have been compiled in the fourth or third centuries b.c., during the Persian period. And some of the texts undoubtedly date from much earlier, a few of them from the second millennium b.c., when Zoroaster was thought to have lived.

   of these parts, the oldest are the Older Yasnas, which include the Gathas. Most of these are prayers or statements of devotion directed to the supreme god of the faith - Ahura-Mazda - and thought by the ancients to have been written by Zoroaster himself. one or more of these prayers were recited by worshippers on a daily basis. Many are similar in style and tone to this one:

   I shall recognize you as strong and holy, Ahura-Mazda, when you will help me ... through the heat of your truth-strong fire, to the wicked man and the just, and when the might of Good Purpose shall come to me. Then as holy I have recognized you, Ahura-Mazda, whenlsaw youasfirstatthe birth of life, when you appointed rewards for acts and words, bad for the bad, a good recompense for the good [just rewards that will be handed out] at the final turning point [last judgment]. (Avesta, Older Yasnas 43.4-5)

   Another section of the Avesta consists of the Yashts, hymns directed to lesser-divine spirits. Later additions were the Younger Yasnas, describing various religious rituals, including sacrifices of water and fire; and the Vendidad, a series of prose texts about mythical people and events. in the sassa-nian period (ca. a.d. 224-651), the Khorda Avesta, a collection of short prayers for use by everyday worshippers, was introduced. The sassanians, who were devout Zoroas-trians, also edited the older texts and added some supportive material, including a biography of Zoroaster, thereby creating the largest compilation of all - the Great Avesta. About a quarter of that work survives.

   See also: Ahura-Mazda; Persian Empire; Zoroaster; Zoroastrianism