‘Silver’ in the Texts of Avesta

Occupation: Researsher
Affiliation: A. Yu. Krymskyi Institute of Oriental Studies of the NAS of Ukraine, Department of Eurasian Steppe
Address: Kyiv, 4 M. Hrushevskoho Street

Journal name

Vestnik drevnei istorii

Edition

Volume 81 Issue 1

Pages

52-61

Abstract

A context-semantic analysis of the use of the word ‘silver’ (Av. ərəzata-) in Avestan texts is carried out in the paper. There are 12 cases of its usage (Yasna 10.17; Yashts 5.129; 10.112, 125; 17.14; 19.67; Videvdat 7.75; 8.88; 14.11 (2); Aogemadaēca 17; 84). The analysis shows that the word ‘silver’ is used in several different semantic contexts, such as the ritual of Haoma (Yasna 10.17) and the purifying ceremony (Videvdat 7.75). Silver is associated with the concept of ‘brilliance’ and is represented in the descriptions of its various manifestations. The brilliance of silver is associated with the idea of the sun rays manifesting themselves in the image of Mithra (Yasht 10.112), and of lunar splendour (Yasht 10.125). Beaver-skin robe of the goddess Arədvī Sūrā Anāhitā glistens like “silver (and) gold” (Yasht 5.129). The connection of silver with water is confirmed by its inclusion in Iranian hydronymics (Yasht 19.67). The combination “silver (and) gold” may be a metonymic designation for the concept of wealth (Yasht 5.129; 17.14; Aogemadaēca 84). The value of silver was lower than that of gold (Yasna 10.17; Yasht 10.125; Videvdat 7.74–75, 8.87–88; 14.11). Silver is mentioned in the descriptions of the other world: the pantries of the righteous are filled with silver (Yasht 17.14), and the righteous deceased have silver clothes (Aogemadaēca 17).

Keywords

silver, Avesta, Yasna, Yashts, Videvdat, vocabulary, rituals, Zoroastrianism

Received

13.10.2020

Publication date

29.03.2021

Number of characters

23859

Cite

GOST	Vertiienko H. ‘Silver’ in the Texts of Avesta // Vestnik drevnei istorii – 2021. – V. 81. – Issue 1 C. 52-61 [Electronic resource]. URL: http://ras.jes.su/vdi/s032103910013865-4-1-en (circulation date: 05.11.2024). DOI: 10.31857/S032103910013865-4
MLA	Vertiienko, Hanna "‘Silver’ in the Texts of Avesta." Vestnik drevnei istorii 81.1 (2021):52-61. DOI: 10.31857/S032103910013865-4
APA	Vertiienko H. (2021). ‘Silver’ in the Texts of Avesta. Vestnik drevnei istorii 81(1), pp.52-61 DOI: 10.31857/S032103910013865-4

100 rub.

When subscribing to an article or issue, the user can download PDF, evaluate the publication or contact the author. Need to register.

Number of purchasers: 0, views: 1101

Readers community rating: votes 0

1. Abaev, V.I. Istoriko-ehtimologicheskij slovar' osetinskogo yazy-ka. T. I. M. 1958.

2. Andrés-Toledo, M.A. 2016: The Zoroastrian Law to Expel the Demons: Wīdēwdād 10–15. Critical Edition, Translation and Glossary of the Avestan and Pahlavi Texts. Wiesbaden.

3. Bailey, H.W. 1979: Dictionary of Khotan Saka. Cambridge–New York–Melbourne.

4. Bartholomae, Chr. 1904: Altiranisches Wörterbuch. Strassburg.

5. Benzing, J. 1983: Chwaresmischer Wortindex. Wiesbaden.

6. Blažek, V. 2018: The case of Tocharian ‘silver’: Inherited or borrowed? In: L. van Beek, A. Kloekhorst, G. Kroonen, M. Peyrot, T. Pronk, M. de Vaan (eds.), Farnah. Indo-Iranian and Indo-European Studies in Hon-or of Sasha Lubotsky. Ann Arbor–New York, 13–20.

7. Cantera, A. 2017: Miϑra and the Sun: the role of Miϑra in the arrangement of the Avestan liturgical calendar. In: A. Cantera, J. Ferrer-Losilla (eds.), fәrā amәṣ̌ā spәṇtā gāθā̊ gә̄uruuāin. Homenaje a Helmut Hum-bach en su 95º aniversario. (Estudios Iranios y Turanios, 3). Girona, 25–58.

8. Chunakova, O.M. (per.). Zoroastrijskie teksty. Suzhdeniya Dukha razuma (Dadestan i menog-i khrad). Sotvorenie osnovy (Bun-dakhishn) i drugie teksty. M. 1997.

9. Chunakova, O.M. (per.). Pekhlevijskaya bozhestvennaya komediya. Kniga o pravednom Viraze (Arda Virakh namag) i drugie teksty. M. 2001.

10. Dandamaev, M.A., Lukonin, V.G. Kul'tura i ehkonomika Drevnego Irana. M. 1980.

11. Darmesteter, J. 1883. The Zend-Avesta. Pt. II. The Sîrôzahs, Yasts, and Nyâyis. Oxford.

12. Dhabhar, E.B.N. 1908: The Hôm Yasht and “The Bacchæ” of Euripides: A contrast. In: J.J. Modi (ed.), Spiegel Memorial Volume: Papers on Ira-nian Subjects in Honour of the Late Dr. Frederic Spiegel. Bombay, 174–178.

13. Doctor, R. 2004: The Avestā: A Lexico-Statistical Analysis (Direct and Re-verse Indexes, Hapax Legomena and Frequency Counts). (Acta Iranica, 41). Leuven.

14. Durkin-Meisterernst, D. 2004: Dictionary of Manichaean Middle Persian and Parthian. (Corpus Fontium Manichaeorum, III.1), Turnhout.

15. Fay, E.W. 1911: Indo-Iranian word-studies. Journal of the American Orien-tal Society 31, 403–413.

16. Gamkrelidze, T.V., Ivanov, V.V. Indoevropejskij yazyk i indoevropejtsy. Rekonstruktsiya i istoriko-tipologicheskij analiz prayazyka i protokul'tury. Ch. 1–2. Tbilisi. 1984.

17. Gershevitch, I. 1959: The Avestan Hymn to Mithra. Cambridge.

18. Gharib, B. (ed.) 2004: Sogdian Dictionary: Sogdian, Persian, English. Teh-ran.

19. Grantovskij, Eh.A. Indo-iranskie kasty u skifov. M. 1960.

20. Harlez, C. de 1881. Avesta. Livre Secré du Zoroastrisme. (Bibliothèque Orien-tale, V). Paris.

21. Hintze, A. 1994: Der Zamyād-Yašt. Edition, Übersetzung, Kommentar. Wies-baden.

22. Humbach, H., Ichporia, P.R. 1998: Zamyād Yasht. Yasht 19 of the Younger Avesta. Text, Translation, Commentary. Wiesbaden.

23. Ivanov, V.V. Istoriya slavyanskikh i balkanskikh nazvanij metallov. M. 1983.

24. JamaspAsa, K.M. 1982: Aogəmandaēčā: A Zoroastrian Liturgy. Vienna.

25. Joseph, B.D., Karnitis, C.S. 2005: On the specialized semantics of *(s)meuk- in Iranian. Indogermanische Forschungen 110, 151–159.

26. Kotwal, F., Boyd, J. 1991: A Persian Offering. The Yasna, a Zoroastrian High Liturgy. (Studia Iranica, 8). Paris.

27. Avesta. Videvdat. Fragard vos'moj. Per., vstupit. st. i komm. V.Yu. Kryukovoj. VDI 1, 238–249. 1994.

28. Kryukova, V.Yu. Predstavlenie o smerti kak oskvernenii v zoro-astrizme. V kn.: R.R. Rakhimov (otv. red.), Tsentral'naya Aziya. Tra-ditsiya v usloviyakh peremen. Ch. II. SPb., 21–47. 2009.

29. Kryukova, V.Yu. Vosstanovlenie utrachennogo mira kak iskupi-tel'naya zhertva (Videvdat 14). V kn.: M.F. Al'bedil', D.G. Savi-nova (red.), Zhertvoprinoshenie v arkhaike: atributsiya, naznachenie, tsel'. SPb., 166–178. 2012.

30. Lecoq, P. 2016: Les Livres de l’Avesta. Textes sacrés des Zoroastriens. Paris.

31. Lytkin, V.I. K ehtimologii osetinskogo ævzīst / ævzestæ ‘serebro’. V kn.: N.Ya. Gabaraev (gl. red.), Voprosy iranskoj i obschej filolo-gii. Tbilisi, 192–194. 1977.

32. MacKenzie, D.N. 1971: Pahlavi Dictionary. London–New York–Toronto.

33. Malandra, W.W. 1983: An Introduction to Ancient Iranian Religion. Read-ings from the Avesta and Achaemenid Inscriptions. Minneapolis.

34. Moazami, M. 2014: Wrestling with the Demons of the Pahlavi Widēwdāt. Transcription, Translation, and Commentary. (Iranian Studies, 9). Lei-den.

35. Oettinger, N. 1983: Untersuchungen zur avestischen Sprache am Beispiel des Ardvīsūr-Yašt. Habilschrift. München.

36. Pirart, É. 2006a: Guerriers d’Iran. Traductions annotées des textes avestiques du culte zoroastrien rendu aux dieux Tistriya, Miθra et Vrθragna. Paris.

37. Pirart, É. 2006b: L’Aphrodite Iranienne. Études de la déesse Ārti, traduction annotée et edition critique des textes avestiques la concernant. (Collec-tion KUBABA, Série Antiquité, X). Paris.

38. Pokorny, J. 1959: Indogermanisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch. Bd. I. Bern – München.

39. Avesta v russkikh perevodakh (1861–1996). Sost., obsch. red., primech., sprav. razd. I.V. Raka. SPb. 1997.

40. Rastorgueva, B.C., Ehdel'man, D.I. Ehtimologicheskij slovar' iran-skikh yazykov. T. 1: a–ā. M.2000.

41. Sims-Williams, N. 2000: Bactrian Documents from Northern Afghanistan II. Letters and Buddhist Texts. (Corpus Inscriptionum Iranicarum. Pt. 2, Vol. 6, T. 2). Oxford.

42. Skjærvø, P.O. 2006: Introduction to Zoroastrianism. Harvard.

43. Sokolova, V.S. Avesta. Opyt morfologicheskoj transkriptsii i perevod. SPb. 2005.

44. Trubachev, O.N. Indoarica v Severnom Prichernomor'e. Ehtimologi-cheskij slovar'. M. 1999.

45. Fasmer, M. Ehtimologicheskij slovar' russkogo yazyka. T. 3. Muza – Syat. M. 1987.

46. Vertієnko, G.V. ‘Zoloto’ v Yashtakh: do semantiki obrazu Vaju. Skhіdnij svіt 2, 63–80. 2019.

47. Windischmann, Fr. 1857: Mithra. Ein Beitrag zur Mythengeschichte des Ori-ents. (Abhandlungen für fie Kunde des Morgenlandes, 1). Leipzig.

48. Witczak, K.T. 1990: Tocharian A nkiñc, B ñkante ‘silver’. Tocharian and Indo-European Studies 4, 47–48.

49. Wolff, Fr. 1910: Avesta. Die Heiligen Bücher der Parsen. Strassburg.