Sorena Firouzi; Mahsa Veisi
Abstract
Regarding the background of the inscribing of Zoroaster's poems, there are two general views: archaic and contemporary. The archaic view is documented in Pahlavi texts and reflected ...
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Regarding the background of the inscribing of Zoroaster's poems, there are two general views: archaic and contemporary. The archaic view is documented in Pahlavi texts and reflected in the writings of some historians from the Islamic era, who suggest that these religious texts were written before Alexander's invasion. However, the opinion of contemporary scholars emphasizes a delay in this process. This research is based on a historical approach and textual content analysis on one hand, and an assessment of the writing situation on the Iranian plateau relevant to the first half of the first millennium BC, on the other hand. The purpose of this article is to estimate the oldest possible time for the composition of the oldest part of the Avesta attributed to Zoroaster through evaluating the evidence related to Zoroastrian hymns.The article asserts that there are effects of inscribing Zoroaster's poems at the time of their composition, and discusses what kind of script and writing system could have been used, as well as the reasons for its existence. Contrary to the beliefs of some modern Western scholars, this study demonstrates that the Avestan texts, including Zoroaster's poems (Gathas), were written before Alexander's invasion. The article concludes by discussing the matter of the script or language referred to as "Aryan" by Darius the Great and its connection to the topic. At the end of the article, the issue of the script or language referred to as "Aryan" by Darius the Great and its relation to the subject is discussed. This article states that the aforementioned script has no connection with Persian cuneiform or Old Persian language. Rather, the intention was to write in the Bactrian (Aryan) language of Darius' era, which was either in a common Aramaic script or a script derived from it.
