Essays on the Sacred Language, Writings, and Religion of the Parsis

Avestan studies in Imperial Germany

“…Out of the readings of the copies we have to reconstruct the grammar and the dictionary, on the authority of which, again, the readings are to be judged. (1852–4: 23)As Martin Haug (1827–76) subsequently demonstrated, centuries stood between the oldest and youngest dialects represented in the Avesta (Haug, 1878). Because the most ancient material was that of the Gathas, 17 hymns forming the core of the Zoroastrian liturgy or Yasna , this dialect became known as Older or Gathic Avestan, thought to date back to the (then undetermined) lifetime of the prophet Zoroaster.…”

“…First of all, Iranists had the Old Persian inscriptions of the Achaemenid Empire at their disposal. In addition to providing direct commentary on the history of Avestan texts, the close affinity between Old Persian and Avestan sustained internal comparisons that facilitated linguistic reconstruction (Darmesteter and Mills, 1880–7; Haug, 1878: 28). 17 Second, researchers appealed to extra-Iranian historical testimony in their attempts to historicize the Avesta – narratives from the Old Testament and Plutarch, for example.…”

“…Spiegel and Darmesteter were right to assert that comparativists – including Haug, Rudolf von Roth (1821–95) and Karl Geldner (1852–1929) – approached the Avesta from a background in Indic languages and literature. Haug was particularly clear on matters of comparative methodology: he explained that analysis began with the identification of all those passages in which a word or form of interest occurred, providing a sense of ‘approximate meaning’ (Haug, 1878: 38–9). From here, Haug indicated, his method ‘ventured upon confirming or modifying the results obtained in this way by means of a sound etymology’.…”

Edward William West and the Pahlavi codex MK

“…It was a Parsi who managed the family cotton presses, and occasional conversations with him drew West's attention to the Zoroastrian religion 4 . West read Martin Haug's Essays on the Sacred Language, Writings, and Religion of the Parsees , first published in 1862, and their personal encounter in Poona in 1866 led to a life-long friendship not only with Haug but also with leading Zoroastrian priests and scholars, in particular with Dastur Hošang Jāmāspji Āsā in Poona, with Dastur Peshotan Behram Sanjana and his son Dārāb Dastur Peshotan Sanjana in Bombay, and, especially, with Dastur Jāmāspji JāmāspĀsāna in Bombay.…”

“Даэва”лар – Ўрта Осиё Қадимги Халқларининг Худолари

“…1600-800 йиллар). икки тоифасидан бири танлаб олингунга қадар ҳар иккаласининг ҳам эътиқод объекти бўлганлиги тўғрисидаги билдирилган фаразни бойитган [15]. Унга кўра бирининг танланиши иккинчисини ўз-ўзидан "иблислаштирилиши"га олиб келган.…”