Second Edition By Iraj Bashiri University of Minnesota—Twin Cities Bassim Hamadeh, CEO and Publisher Michael Simpson, Vice President of Acquisitions Jamie Giganti, Senior Managing Editor Jess Busch, Senior Graphic Designer David Miano, Senior Specialist Acquisitions Editor Natalie Lakosil, Licensing Manager Copyright © 2016 by Cognella, Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reprinted, reproduced, transmitted, or utilized in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying, microfi lming, and recording, or in any information retrieval system without the written permission of Cognella, Inc. First published in the United States of America in 2016 by Cognella, Inc. Trademark Notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identifi cation and explanation without intent to infringe. Printed in the United States of America ISBN: 978-1-63189-220-2 (pbk)/ 978-1-63189-221-9 (br) Table of Contents INTRODUCTION 1 THE COSMIC AGE 5 THE MYTHIC AGE 15 Th e Story of Siyavosh 17 Th e Story of Kaykhosrau 26 Zoroaster: Th e Prophet of Ancient Iran 49 Zoroastrian Cosmology 51 Zoroastrianism: Principles and Beliefs 52 THE HISTORIC AGE 59 Th e Medes 69 Th e Achaemenids 72 Th e Invasion of Alexander the Great 145 Th e Seleucids 149 Th e Parthians 156 Th e Sassanids 161 Zoroastrian Cosmology Again 164 APPENDICES Appendix I: Characters of Shahname 203 Appendix II: Cyropaedia 233 GLOSSARY 241 SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY 247 INDEX 253 Introduction First Edition he ancient history of a people is a record of their collective identity; Tit promotes their cause among their neighboring nations and de- termines their stance in relation to other nations. Traditionally, it is expected of the leaders who occupy the seats of power previously held by prominent rulers, in the case of Iran, the seats of Cyrus II the Great and Darius I the Great, to safeguard their legacy and enhance awareness about their deeds and accomplishments. That is why Sassanid rulers, Ardashir I and Shapur I in particular, set themselves the task to revive the glory of the empire of the Achaemenids and glorify the traditions of Cyrus, Darius, and Xerxes. Contemporary Iranian leadership, however, has adopted an unfortunate stance. Rather than encouraging scholars to study ancient Iran, it has cho- sen to formally discourage them. The recent decree issued by Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the Supreme Leader of Iran, is the case in point. He has decreed that scholars should divert their attention away from research and study of ancient Iran and concentrate their efforts exclusively on the study of Islamic Iran. What Khamenei, and those who implement his will, do not take into consideration is the fact that the study of Iranian cosmology and mythology, so essential for gaining knowledge about the dynamics of Twelver Shi’ism, is inseparably tied to the study of ancient Iranian history. In the absence of governmental support for the study of ancient Iranian culture, therefore, it is incumbent upon all those with an interest in the development of contemporary world civilizations to support and promote research and instruction about ancient Iranian history and culture. 1 The present volume is a fairly comprehensive study of ancient Iranian history in the context of Iranian cosmology and mythology. It is an attempt to present a continuous line of rulership in Iranian lands for which the concept of the farr has served as the guiding light. Ahura Mazda issued the farr originally to Gayomard , the fi rst man and fi rst king of Iran. The section on cosmology concentrates on Ahura Mazda and the Ahuric order that emanates from him. On the one hand, it charts the development of Zoroastrianism from Mazdaism, and, on the other hand, it describes the bond between Iran’s mythical hero-saints and real world kings like Cyrus the Great and Darius I. The section on mythology, focusing on the deeds of hero-saints like Siyavosh and Kaykhosrau, describes how the rulership of the hero-saints promoted the farr, and how their contributions culminated in ushering in the unique creed of Zoroaster, a creed based on the triad: good thoughts, good words, and good deeds. The subtext for the study of this part of the volume is the Shahname (book of kings) of Firdowsi, which is centered on the concept of the farr, the fulcrum of Iranian rulership from ancient times to the present time. The section on history is divided into three parts. Part one is a study of life on the Iranian plateau from early times to the rise of Cyrus II the Great and the formation of the Achaemenid Empire. The prominent place in this part is given to the Empire of the Medes. Part two deals with the Achaemenid Empire, especially the impact that ancient Egypt could have had on the newly born Persian Empire. Here, the lifework of Darius I the Great is examined in detail. The fall of the Empire to Alexander III the Great and the rule of the Seleucids complete this part. The third part deals with the rule of the Parthians and the Sassanids, with special emphasis placed on the rulers of the latter dynasty. The advent of the prophet Mani and the reforms of Mazdak are highlighted. A summary of the accomplishments and shortcomings of the major dynasties concludes the study of each dynasty. Synopses of two books by Xenophon, Cyropedia and Anabasis, are placed in the Appendix. These books, usually mentioned in relation to Cyrus the Great and Cyrus the Younger, respectively, are rarely highlighted in the literature about these two fi g- ures. The full text of three documents discussed in the volume, the “Cyrus Cylinder,” “The Rise of Ardashir,” and the “Invention of Chess and Backgammon,” are also in the Appendix. In addition, major concepts and points of interest included in the volume appear as sidebars throughout the text. Finally, the information in the volume comes from three sources previously pub- lished by this author through the Academy of Sciences of Tajikistan: From the Hymns of Zarathushtra to the Songs of Borbad (2003), The Impact of Egypt on Ancient Iran (2007), and Turk and Tur in Firdowsi’s Shahname (2009). The reader is encouraged to consult those sources for additional information. Iraj Bashiri September 2011 Minneapolis 2 | Ancient Iran: Cosmology, Mythology, History Second Edition The second edition contains several noteworthy changes. The most important is in relation to the impact of Egypt on ancient Iran, something that was mentioned in the fi rst edition but was not highlighted. In this edition, that relationship is explained in detail in the context of the life of Darius I the Great. It shows not only how Darius treated his Egyptian and Iranian subjects as one people and Iran and Egypt as a united kingdom, but also how he regarded ma’at and farr as two complementary concepts that could be used to usher in prosperity to the kingdom. He used the capable Iranian mu’bads and similarly capable Egyptian temple priests to convince his subjects that he could be king of kings as well as the pharaoh to all of them. This was important because the Egyptians believed strongly that non-Egyptian pharaohs did not have the support of the gods to help them resurrect. Similarly, in the fi rst edition the lives of the heroes of the Shahname were not dis- cussed in any detail. In the second edition, an appendix containing a comprehensive account of the lives and deeds of the characters of the Shahname is added. In this way, the synopsis in the text that is devoted to the major story of the epic is enhanced by the interactions that result in the reader’s mind about the hero-saints themselves, on the one hand, and the interaction among other characters’ actions, decisions, and fates, on the other hand. In other words, knowledge about the characters brings the people in the epic to life. Lastly, a comprehensive glossary is added to familiarize the reader with the general meaning of terms and concepts used in the entire text. The fi rst time that a word from the glossary is used in the text, it appears in bold letters. Iraj Bashiri April 2015 Istanbul Table of Contents | 3 Th e Cosmic Age he ancient Iranians had a much less concrete, albeit more defi nite, view of their cosmos than either their mythic hero-saints, who Tbelieved in Lord Mazda, or their historic inheritors, who followed Ahura Mazda and other gods. To the Mazdian mind, existence was the result of a series of generative cosmic thought cycles that began in a void. Within these cycles, thought (Manah ), a creation of Mazda, is qualifi ed by truth (Arta ) and, through devotion (Armaiti), is transformed into expres- sion (Khshathra Vairya). Khshathra Vairya is the zenith of the achievement of Manah, as Manah strives for perfection (Haurvatat ) and eventual im- mortality (Ameretat ).1 The temporal distance, temporal in the abstract sense, between the emergence of Manah and Ameretat, is a 12,000-year cosmic confl ict divisible into four equal 3,000-year periods.2 During this period, a battle is waged between Vohu M an ah (good) and Aka Manah (evil).3 In phases, the battle moves from the elevated cosmic level to the mythic realm. When the hero- saints in the mythic realm see it as appropriate, they move the battle to the historic age. The history of the world and, necessarily, of Iran, falls within the confi nes of this time period and this confl ict. 1 For the creation of the Spentas , see Bundahishn I, 23–28; for the assignment of kingdoms to the Spentas, see Zaehner, 1956, p.