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On Kings and on the Last Days in Seventh Century Iraq: a Mandaean Text and Its Parallels

On Kings and on the Last Days in Seventh Century Iraq: a Mandaean Text and Its Parallels

ARAM, 22 (2010) 133-170. doi: 10.2143/ARAM.22.0.2131035

ON KINGS AND ON THE LAST DAYS IN SEVENTH CENTURY : A MANDAEAN TEXT AND ITS PARALLELS

Prof. DAN D.Y. SHAPIRA (Bar-Ilan University)

MANDAEAN HISTORY AND ESCHATOLOGY

We are interested here in striking similarities of parts of the Weltgeschichte (world-history), as found in Book 18 of the Mandaean Ginza Rabba,1 to sev- eral Pahlavi apocalyptic texts and to Christian apocalyptic compositions from the seventh century Iraq (see the APPENDICES). If these similarities can be proven to be a result of the influence of the Pahlavi apocalyptic texts on the Mandaean literature, then one should guess that these Pahlavi texts have enjoyed a broader audience than is generally surmised. In the following we will bring forth contents of Book 18; a shorter parallel to be found at the end of Book 1 of GR. We are fully aware of the preliminary character of this comparison. According to Book 18, the world will exist for 480,000 years in all, begin- ning from the day Adam was created. Then the two other human couples, Ram and Rud and Surbai and Sarhabel, are described; the Flood and Noah’s Ark, following closely the Targumic-Aggadic version, with parallels in the Syriac (of Mesopotamian origin) Book of the Bee by Salomon of BaÒra;2 Sum (Sem) and Nhuraita his wife; it was then that Yorabba, “whom the Jews call Adunai”, his wife Ruha (the Holy Ghost) and the Seven demoniac Planets planned to found a , and they built Jerusalem,3 16 miles broad, recalling the enormous

1 The Mandaic source is quoted according to H. Petermann, Thesaurus s. Liber Magnus vulgo “Liber Adami” appellatus opus Mandaeorum summi ponderis, I-II, Leipzig 1868; Ginza Rabba is divided unto Ginza Yamina (“Right”, GR Y or GR I) and Ginza Smala (“Left”, GR S or GR II), published respectively in two parts. Here only Ginza Yamina is referred to, as GR I. The standard translation is German by M. Lidzbarski, Ginza Rabba, Der Schatze oder das grobe Buch der Mandäer, Göttingen 1925 [henceforth: Lidzbarski]. I adopted some readings from the text recently edited by the Australian Mandaean community: Ginza Rba (the Great Treasury), ed. by Majid Fandi Al-Mubaraki, Rbai Haithim Mahdi Saaed, Brian Mubaraki, Sydney 1998. 2 The Book of the Bee. The Syriac Text Edited from the Manuscripts in London, Oxford, and Munich with An English Translation by Ernst A. Wallis Budge, M.A., Anecdota Oxoniensia: Semitic series, I: 2, Oxford 1886; reprinted by Gorgias Press 2006. ,”Celestial Race, the Jews :איו מזל לישראל“ ,On Mandaean attitudes to Jews see D. Shapira 3 Kabbala: International Journal for the Study of Jewish Mystical Texts 5 (Los Angeles 2000), p. 111-128; idem, “Anus and ¨Uqrâ Revised: Notes on -Iranian Linguistic Interaction and Mystical Traditions”, Kabbala: International Journal for the Study of Jewish Mystical Texts, Vol. 6 (2001), p. 151-182; idem, “Iazuqaiia, Zoroastrians, Manichaeans, Jews and Other Heretics

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size given to this city in some Jewish texts of the Second Temple Period.4 It was only then that Abraham, the father of the Jews, was created; the descent of the Jews to Egypt, their sufferings there and their exodus are described, following rather closely the Biblical account, especially in the description of the crossing of the Red Sea; however, no Moses and no Torah are mentioned at all; then, 400 years later, son of Miriam was born in Jerusalem (and?) Jesus the head of the Christians; he created the Church and chose a commu- nity for himself.5 Similar striking ignorance of the most important details of Jewish history can be seen also in Pahlavi accounts on Jews and Jerusalem (APPENDIX II). Then there follows6 a mechanically inserted fragment of the Persian epic list of the legendary kings of old, together with a subsequent list of historical kings of ; both lists are distorted, with relatively correct information provided only about the later Sasanian kings; it seems that the list reflects popular traditions current among the non-Zoroastrian populations of ; certain details cause one to suggest that the source could have been a written one. The kings enumerated are: Arudan Gaimura†, 900 years;7 Zardanaia†a ™ahmura†, 600 years;8 LipriuÌ-ZiÒag / Lpr¨is-Zihnag, 750 years;9 no king for 100 years; Asdahag / Asdag, son of Aspag, called Bahran (*Wahram), 300 years;10

in Mandaean Texts”, Le Muséon 117:3-4 (2004), pp. 243-280. See also G. Mayer, Und das Leben ist siegreich: Ein Kommentar zu Kapiteln 18-33 des Johannesbuch der Mandäer, Mannheim thesis (1996). 4 Book of Revelation, 3:12 & 21:2; The Dead Sea Scrolls. A New Translation, M. Wise, M.G. Abegg & E. Cook, New York 1996, pp. 180-183. 5 ¨Esu br Mariam la¨taudal b¨uraslam haizak ¨taudal ¨Esu risaihun dkariÒ†iania usauia knista lnapsia ugaba ama lnapsia. 6 Lidzbarski, p. 411, GR 382. 7 There is no doubt that Gaimurat is Gayomard (on whom see Sh. Shaked, “First Man, First King: Notes on Semitic-Iranian Syncretism and Iranian Mythological Transformations”, Gilgul ,Studies in Honor of Zvi Werblovsky, ed. by S. Shaked, D. Shulman and G. Stroumsa .גלגול Leiden 1987, pp. 238-356, and APPENDIX III), but who’s Arudan? Though Faridun appears on the list later, it seems to me not impossible that Arudan is a distorted form of the same, compare a similar distortion in the Syriac Book of the Bee (see note 2 above), Syriac Yon†on / Mani†on < *Fre†on, see G. Widengren, Iranisch-semitische Kulturbegegnung in parthischer Zeit, Arbeits- gemeinschaft für Forschung des Landes Nordrhein-Westfalen, Geisteswissenschaften, Heft 70, Westdeutscher Verlag, Köln & Opladen 1960, p. 46 n. 167; Armenian H®uden, cf. note 11 below. Fredon was certainly seen as the first king in local Iranian traditions, and was renowned for his long reign. Cf. note 94 below. 8 Tahmorath, another Iranian first king, whose reign is said to last a millennium (Ibn Qutaiba, Ma¨arif, 652; Tha¨alibi, 10; cf. also Maqdisi III.139-140); cf. note 92 below. Zardanaia†a is unfamiliar, but may contain a garbled reference to Zaratushtra or Zairivaira- / Zarer. 9 Not identifiable, if not a garbled form of [Azi-]Dahaka / Åahhak, on whom see below; the gap in royalty after his reign possibly hints in this direction. 10 Certainly this is Azi-Dahaka-, serpentine arch-demon; the name of his mother is given in some Pahlavi texts as *Odag, which is rather similar to Asfag, albeit we should not jump to conclusions (however, the name may contain the Iranian word asp- / asp-: *Bewarasp? *Xrudasp? Cf. Bundahisn 35.7, B.T. Anklesaria, Zand-Akasih, Iranian or Greater Bundahisn. Transliteration and Translation in English, Bombay, 1956, pp. 292-3: Dahag i Xrutasp i Zenigaw… az madaran

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Faridun / Puraidun, son of ™ibian, 450 years;11 Pasm , who chained Karkum, 500 years;12 Fraarase of ™uran13 / the king of the of Traq /

Dahag i Odag, “Dahag son of Xrutasp son of Zenigaw… from his mother’s side: Dahag son of Odag”; Mandaic and Ruha belong to the pattern of Azdahak and his mother Otag, cf. G. Widengren, Iranisch-semitische Kulturbegegnung in parthischer Zeit, Arbeitsgemeinschaft für Forschung des Landes Nordrhein-Westfalen, Geisteswissenschaften, Heft 70, Westdeutscher Verlag, Köln & Opladen 1960, p. 60 n. 216; S. Wikander, Vayu I. Texte und Untersuchungen zur Indo-Iranischen Religionsgeschichte, Lund, 1941, pp. 171-4. ™abari I, 209.7, has Utak. In our Mandaic text here, Azi-Dahaka- is identified here with *Warhran, -, a -slayer. This could be a result of mutual attraction of and their slayers in mythological thinking (compare É. Benveniste & L. Renou, V®tra et V®thragna, Paris, 1934, p. 6ff, who analyzed V®tra- / V¢r¢thra- as “resistance”; cf. C. Watkins, How to Kill a Dragon in Avestan: Aspects of Indo- European Poetics, Oxford UP 1995). However, another possibility is that this strange identifica- tion is a result of the impact of Sasanian propaganda directed against the famous usurper Wah- ram Coben, of the late 6th century, pretty close to the times when our text has been edited. This assumption, in its turn, makes it possible to date this particular Mandaean passage. 11 Avestan Thraetaona, connected to Indic Trita; Fredon, Armenian (from Parthian) H®uden, cf. note 94 below. It is important that Fredon appears here with the name of his father (Athwia-, Vedic Aptya-, MPrs Asbian, NP . Mandaic ™ibian is a slight distor- tion of the latter, which demonstrates for how far we should sometimes take liberty to emend Mandaic spellings. The name “™ibian” will appear later on the list: Abas Yasdis ™ibian, called Ardban. The theme of the battle between Azi Dahag and Fredon is known from many sources, cf., e.g., Bnd 29.9, or the Armenian [Pseudo-]Movses Xorenacˆi (cf. R.W. Thomson, Moses Khorenats’i. History of the , Cambridge, Mass., 1980, pp. 126-8), who wrote in his “From the Fables of the Persians”: “…Then a certain H®uden bound him (Biurasp) with bronze links (sareokˆ p¥ndeokˆ) and led him to the mountain called Dembavend; and on the journey Hruden fell asleep and Biurasp dragged him to the hill; and Hruden woke up and led him to a cave in the mountain and bound him and placed himself there opposite him as a monument (zinkˆn andri ¢nddem nora hastatel); cowed by him, [Biurasp] remained subject to his chains (s¥tˆayicn; this is an Aramaic loan word, according to H. Hübschmann, Armenische Grammatik. Erster Teil. Armenische Etymologie, Leipzig 1897, p. 314, from sesalta, sosilta, “Kette”. A con- tamination with Aramaic *sil†a, “a tool of control”, is also possible, cf. D. Shapira, “Judaeo- Armeniaca: On Jewish Lexica in Classical Armenian”, Xristianskij Vostok NS IV (10) (St. Peters- burg 2003) [published 2006], pp. 340-346) and was unable to go out and ravage the earth” [Thomson’s translation adopted, with a slight addition]. This legend, derived from Armenian sources, was known also in as well. According to the Kartlis Cxovreba, “Georgian Chron- icle”, the Caucasian peoples, defeated by the , called to support Iranians, with their leader Apˆridoni, “who tied with a chain Bevraspˆ, lord of serpents, and fastened him on a mountain which is inaccessible for men”; Georgian (Kartlis Cxovreba, I-II, ed. S. Qauxcisvili, Tbilisi 1955, Vol. I, p. 13.1-2): “romelman sekˆra jacˆvita bevrasopˆi, guelta upˆali, da daaba mtasa zeda, romel ars kˆact seuvalio”; Armenian version (R.W. Thomson, Rewriting Caucasian History. The Medieval Armenian Adaptation of the Georgian . The Original Georgian Texts and the Arme- nian Adaptation. Translated with Introduction and Commentary, Oxford 1996, p. 16): “Abriton of whom they say that by magic he bound in iron bonds the lord of serpents called Biwrasp”). Compare now D.D.Y. Shapira, “The Coming of Wahram: Iranian Political from the Chinese Borderland”, Changing Paradigms. New Trends in the Study of Iranian , Proceedings of the “” Section Being Studia Asiatica XI (2010), no. 1-2, ed. by Jean Kellens & Mihaela TimuÈ, pp. 117-133; see also the next note. 12 The second name is clearly *Nariman, and Karkum should be identified with Iranian Azi- Dahaka-, or Bewarasp. Karkum is a demon, see E.S. Drower & R. Macuch, The Mandaic Dic- tionary, Oxford 1963 [henceforth: Macuch & Drower], p. 201: “name of a demon” (MSchr 149, n.3.4; MSt 12, n.4, Gy 126:17ff, 142:21, 333:14, 382:23); his epithets in the Mandaean tradition leave no doubt that his name is a distortion of the original *karum, *kurum [assimilated into the older Judaeo-Gnostic Giant pattern], the Kirm, “Worm”, of Karnamag i Ardaser i Pabagan (henceforth KNAP; see O.M. Cunakova, Kniga Dejanij Ardasira Syna Papaka, “Nauka”,

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of *l-¨iraq, 60 years;14 Qaiqubas / Kaiqobad, 503 years;15 Kai-Kusrau,16 son of Seiawisan,17 60 years; Egab / Ebag, son of king Burzin, 300 years;18 Lohrasp,19

Moskva 1987); he was a relative to Yasdis ™ibian, who is Artaban [cf. Drower & Macuch, p. 179a & 186b], the last Arsacid king; in KNAP the episodes of Artaban and Kirm are com- bined. It seems that in Sasanian Iran the older myth of Fredon’s overcoming of Dahag was dou- bled by a newer myth, that of the overcoming of Kirm by a Sasanian king, e.g., by Ardaser. Kirm appears not only in KNAP, but in Sahnamah as well, and we should state that the legend was wide-spread in the Late Sasanian period. Another “Iranian” possibility is the rain-withholding bird Kamak, killed by Karsasp, cf. Menog i Xrad 27.50 (on this work, see A. Tafazzoli, “Dadestan i Menog i Xrad”, Encyclopaedia Iranica VI (1992), pp. 554-5). As to the form Pasm, it remains, however, unexplainable, unless we restore *Sam (in cursive Mandaic, s is similar to a double aleph). This Pasm Nariman is K¢r¢saspa- / Karsasp. The passage of GR 382.20-25 in Mandaic reads: wlabatrh hwh Asdahag br Aspag dBahran malka qarilh akal tlatma snia wlabatrh hwh Paridun br ™ibian malka akal arbima whamsin snia wlabatrh hwh Pasm Nariman dasrh dKarkum qarilh akal hamisma snia, Lidzbarski’s translation: “Hernach war Asdahag, Sohn des Asfag, den man König Bahran nennt. Er regierte 300 Jahre. Nach ihm war König Faridun, Sohn des Tibian. Er regierte 450 Jahre. Nach ihm war Pasm- Nariman, den man den Fesseler des Karkum nennt. Er regierte 500 Jahre”. 13 *Afrasiyab, MP Frasyab, Frasyag, etc., NP Afrasiyab, a descendant of , built an iron- walled underground palace Hankana- / Hang. Killed by Kay Husraw; cf. note 102 below. The reference to is highly interesting, implying that the cycle of perceptions regarding “Turan”, similar to that found in Firdausi, was current already in the late Sasanian epoch or soon thereafter. 14 Another possible reading, according to the Sydney edition. The readings Traq / *l-¨iraq are very close in Mandaic. In the case the latter version is correct, the text should be dated by the period when the name (of Iranian origin itself) of the land became widespread. 15 A popular combination of Kavi Kavata, he founder of the , and Kay Kayos, Kay , Kay Qabus, Kay Kabus, Avestan Kavi Usan / Usadhan; see notes 103-104. 16 Kai Husraw / Xusraw, son of Siyawuxs; Yt 13.133-5. Has a Vedic namesake, Susravas. Killed Afrasiyab and Garsewaz in the White Forest (Yt 15.30-33; 19.73-77; in other sources this battle is said to have taken place on the banks of Lk. Caecasta, where he also has destroyed an image-shrine, cf. M. Boyce, “Iconoclasm among the Zoroastrians”, , and other Greco-Roman Cults: Studies for Morton Smith at Sixty, IV, ed. J. Neusner, (Leiden 1975), pp. 91-111 (pp. 96ff.). Has founded the Fire-temple at Ces / Siz, and established the Fire of Gusnasp which settled on his horse’s mane when he was fighting darkness on Mt. Asnavand, see (henceforth Dk) 9.16.19. Will play an important role at the Renovation (Yt 23.7, Dk 8.1.40; 9.58.10; Mx 27.63, 57.7, cf. A.E. Christensen, Les Kayanides, Copenhagen, 1932, pp. 90-92. Disappeared into the snow, together with other holy warriors, Shahnamah, 1438ff.; Tabari I. 618; Biruni, Athar, 104; Tha¨alibi, 243. In Shahnamah his assistants are Tus of Naudhar, Godarz, Gew and Bezan of Kaswad, and Rustam. 17 Syavarsan, NP Siyawus, Yt 13.132, killed by Afrasiyab and Garsewaz, avenged by his son Kay Husraw (Yt. 9.18, 17.38, 19.77); revered in (Biruni, Athar, 235), who believed that he has built and Bukharah, cf. also Narshakhi, pp. 24, 32-3, and the frescos of Pandjikent. He was the focus of a mourning cult in Bukharah, where his tomb is said to be located (in the Brazen Castle, Diz Ro} in, according to Mahmud Kasghari, Kitabu Divani Lughati al-Turk, III (Istanbul, 1335/1917), pp. 110-11). Cf. also S. Maskub, Sug-e Siyawus, 2nd ed. (Tehran 1350/1972), p. 80, 82, 151 et passim; E. Yarshater, “The ta}zieh and pre-Islamic mourning rites in Iran”, Ta’zieh, and Drama in Iran, ed. P.J. Chelkowski, NY 1979, pp. 88ff. The connection between Siyawus mourning cult, vengeance for him etc and some Shiˆah practices and perceptions is worth further investigation. 18 Apparently, Uzava (Uzaw, NP Zab, Arabicized Zaww), son of Tumaspa- / Tahmasp, cf. notes 101 & 103 below. King Burzin is unattested elsewhere, but there is a tradition preserved in Tabari I. 529-531, on the marriage of his father in Turan, highlighting thus the interest in Uzava’s mother. 19 A genuine Bactrian name, Lohrasp, was substituted for Aurvat-.aspa, the Avestan name of Wistaspa’s father, see F. Grenet, “. ii. In the and in Zoroastrian Tradition”, EIr 3 (1989), 343-4 (p. 344).

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365 years; Gustasp / Kustasp,20 son of Lohrasp, 14 years; Ardsir,21 son of Aspindiar,22 112 years; Nurai†as Horizdan, called King Samidai / *Asmedai,23 80 years; Asgan, 470 years;24 *Dsamsid / Dasamsir, called Salomon son of , 1000 years – 900 years on earth and 100 in heaven; Bruq called [*Alek] Sandar the Roman, 14 years.25 The basic Iranian scheme of the consequent world rulers is preserved: Dsamsid (Yima), the tyrannical Asdahag (Azdahag, Azi Dahaka, equated with a usurper called *), *Fredon, *Sam-Nariman, the Achaemenids, Alex- ander the Great, seen in Iran as the embodiment of evil.26 These legends dem- onstrate the vast dissemination of material relating to Fredon and Azi Dahag in neighboring cultures. This fact may probably reflect that the importance of the narrative of Fredon and Azi Dahag in the popular Iranian [s?] was greater than in the priestly tradition of the Zoroastrian books as it is known now.27 The identification of Jamsed (Dasamsir) with son of David

20 MP Wistasp, NP Gustasp, Old Greek Hystaspes, Avestan Vistaspa, son of Aurvat-.aspa (MP & NP Lohrasp, cf. the preceeding note), the first Zoroastrian king and ’s royal patron. See APPENDIX III, §§ 11-12. 21 Ardaxsir / Ardasir / Artaxerxes. 22 Isfandiyar / Ispandad. Compare Sahrestaniha-i Eransahr (henceforth: SahrEran) 34: pad kust i Nemroz sahristan i Kawul Ardaser i Spandidadan kard ested. For editions see J. Markwart, A Catalogue of the Provincial Capitals of Eransahr (Pahlavi Text, version and Commentary), ed. by G. Messina S.I., Pontificio Istitituto Biblico, Roma 1931; T. Daryaee, Sahrestaniha i Eransahr, A Middle Persian Text on Late Antique , Epic and History, Mazda Publishers, Costa Mesa, 2002. See also V.F. Piacentini, “Ardasir i Papakan and the wars against the Arabs: Working hypothesis on the Sasanian hold of the Gulf,” Proceedings of the Seminar for Arabian Studies, Vol. 15, London 1985, pp. 57-78. 23 See further. 24 Arsacids. Though the span of a particular reign in this list cannot be taken too seriously, the range of 470 years given here to the Arsacids is reasonable and differs of the late Sasanian attempts to reduce the Arsacid period to a shorter time. 25 labatrh hua Dasamsr malka dSlaimun malka br Dauid qarilh akil alpa dsnia ¨tsima barqa uma brqiha ulabatrh hua Bruq malka ddilh dSandar Ruhmaia qarilh akil asar uarbia snia, Lidz- barski, p. 411: “Nach ihm war König Asagan. Er regierte 470 Jahre. Nach ihm war König Dsam- sid, den man König Salomon, Sohn des David, nennt. Er regierte 1000 Jahre; 900 Jahre auf der Erde und 100 Jahre im Himmel. Nach ihm war König Bruq…, den man Sandar (Alexander) den Griechischen nennt. Er regierte 14 Jahre”. The form bruq can go back graphically to *hrum, “Roman = Byzantine”. 26 S.K. Eddy, The King is Dead. Studies in the Near Eastern Resistance to Hellenism 334- 31 B.C., Lincoln NB 1961; E. Yarshater, “Were the Sasanians Heirs to the Achaemenids?”, Atti del convegno internazionale sul tema: La Persia nel Medioevo (Roma, 31 marzo – 5 aprile 1970), Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei anno CCCLXVIII – 1971, Quaderno N.160, Problemi Attuali di Scienza e di Cultura, Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei, Roma 1971, pp. 517-531; S. Pines, “A Parallel between Two Iranian and Jewish Themes”, Irano-Judaica II, ed. Sh. Shaked & A. Netzer, Jerusalem 1990, pp. 41-51; G. Herman, “Ahasuerus, the former stable-master of Belshazzar, and the wicked Alexander of Macedon: two parallels between the Babylonian Talmud and Persian sources”, AJS Review, 29:2 (2005), pp. 283-297. 27 The extant redaction of the short account of Denkard 8.13.8-9 (DkM 689.6-10), derived from the genealogical Cihrdad Nask, was clearly made after the Arab assault and the fall of Sasanian Iran and could hardly genuinely reflect the Sasanian version (“An account of the ignorant and evil ruler of the seven continent Dahag and his ancestors from Toz, the brother of Husang, the forefather of the Arabs, and information about him and his period, and about the passage of time

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and the reference to Asmedai (Samidai) are of a special interest, testifying to the spread of the legends surviving now in the Jewish aggadic material and in the Arabic Isra} iliyyat.28 Then, after “Bruq, called Sandar (*Alexander) the Greek, who ruled for 14 years”, and after “Asaq, son of Asqan, who ruled for 465 years”, apparently referring to the Arsacids, and especially after “Alzur and LiÒtar Kusrau and Abas Yasdis ™ibian, called Ardban, who ruled for 14 years”, there follow the historical kings of the Sasanian dynasty, with the span of rule given for each of them and with their sequence sounding reasonable: “Persian kings, who ruled for 382 years”; Ardsir Pabugan, 14 years (224-240); Sabur, 62 years (224/240-272?); Balas Hurmiz, son of Sabur, 50 years (a contamina- tion of Wahrams I, III and Hormizds I, II, who ruled for very short periods after Sahpuhr I); Bahran, son of Sabur, 12 years (Wahram II, 275-293, or Wahram IV, 388-399); Yazdigar, son of Bahran, 12 years (Yazdigird II, son of Wahram V, 439-457); Sabur, son of Yazdigar, 10 years; Peroz, son of Yazdigar, 40 years (Peroz, 459-484); Bihda, 3 years (Windoe?); Qabad, son of Peroz, 41 years (488-531); Kusrau, son of Qabad, 48 years (531-579); Hur- miÒ, son of Kusrau, 12 years (Hormizd IV, 579-590); Kusrau, son of Kusrau, son of HormiÒ, 38 years (Husraw II, 591-628); during his 38th year the sun has showed signs, then went Kusrau, and Seroe came in power. Regarding the histo- riographic accuracy of the Mandaean list, it may be added that Jewish accounts of Iranian kings as found in the Talmudic and Gaonic literature can hardly be regarded any better.29 Then there follows a futile attempt to synchronize the

from the end of the good reign of Yima until the end of the reign of Dahag, and the lineage of Yima until Fredon; and account of the conquest of Dahag by Fredon, the ruler of Xvarirah, of his smiting the province of and his division of Xvanirah between his three sons and Toz and Erij; their union with the daughters of Pat[i]sraw, the king of the Arabs; the lineage of Toz and an account of the lineage of these separately”). It is not difficult to see how close this account is to Firdausi’s version – the only difference is that the poet made the father of the three daughters the king of Yemen and did not tell us his name. 28 Compare Sh. Shaked, “First Man, First King. Notes on Semitic-Iranian Syncretism and .Studies in Honour of Z. Werblowsky, Suppl .גלגול Iranian Mythological Transformation”, Gulgul to Numen 50 (1989), pp. 239-256. 29 Cf. Qissa-ye Daniyal 21-23 (D. Shapira, “QiÒÒa-ye Dâniˆêl – or ‘The Story of Dâniˆêl’ – in Judaeo-Persian: The Text and its Translation“, Sephunot 22 (1999), pp. 337-366, p. 347 (the text) & p. 359 (the Hebrew translation):” O Daniel, I will show [ is speaking] thee how many kings will be there from every nation and , and how much time they will execute their rulership. I will inform thee how it will be, O Daniel, that in your times, too, there will be a wicked [Hebrew rasa¨] king who will execute his kingship for (a?) year, and (then) will die. After that, there will arise a king who does not know the Lord, and his color will be red. Much hardship will attain the people; he will preach [kha†ab] and subject people according to his own wish. One another will come after him, and all the people will become wise. And they will asso- ciate with their mothers and sisters and will pray to the Sun, and (they will bring peace into the world in their days/epoch. And they will treat people very well. The wise men of Israel will have friendship with them and learn from them, and they (Iranians) will ask for the words of the Lord from the Israelites. And there will be no peace in their days/epoch, they will fight among them- selves and kill during 400 years. And the Angel of God told me another time, saying: “There will arise another one, and he will not have the fear of the Lord. People will become arrogant and

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dates of the Persian kings and the date of Jerusalem’s destruction; this is here that the Iranian list ends up and the apocalypse begins: haizak mn iuma dhirbit ¨uraslam ualma dqam Iazdagir br Bahran malka mn par- saiia bmalkuta napqan mn alpa dbatraiia hamisma utsin uarbia snia mn hazin alpa dbatraiia kd qaiim alma bsabima uhda snia bnuna palga tmanan utsa snia huriniata b†abuta ubisuta iatba ¨matia uasar snia, “from the day of Jerusalem’s destruction till the ascend of Yazdigird son of Wahram of the Persians to kingship there elapsed 594 years of this last millen- nium; of this last millennium, when the world stands in the 701st year of Pisces, it (the kingdom?; the millennium of Pisces?) has been divided – the next 89 years it sits in goodness and 210 years in evil”.30

The apocalyptic events under consideration will take place from the years 791-802 under Pisces (Pisces: 150 BC-1950 CE) and then again in 850. After the Persian kings will arrive the evil Arab kings, and then the end of the world will happen. The time span of the Arab rule is given as 71 years only:31 ¨emir ¨elauaihun: “kd qaiim alma bsabima utsin snia mn haka ulaqama mia baÒria ualma kulh arza ma†ilh, ualahia umalkia bsnia ubiahria ubanasuta mindia mindia nisanqia nihaui, uhanata dukta ulalma lalma kulh arza ma†ilh”. umhauai alh dnuna bsabima utsin uhda snia qaiim [385] mia nibiÒrun, ualaha (!) bkul ziqa kulh girbia nisbuq.

will have no shame one of another and will have no safety one of another. They will despise the Commandment of the Lord, and there will be much theft and *Ìaram, religions and will be known in their days/epoch, there will be bloodshed and tyranny. There will be a wicked king and he will call himself *Immortal [behesti]. He will summon people to his presence, and they will be broken in a moment and will not arise forever” (MuÌammad). 30 It seems to me impossible to make any good of these arithmetics even if we put Yazdiri- grd III (632-651) instead of Yazdigird II son of Wahram. S.H. Taqizadeh (“An Ancient Persian Practice Preserved by a non-Iranian People,” BSOS IX (1937-39), pp. 603-619, p. 614 n. 3) tried, however, to make some sense of this passage: the beginning of the reign of Yazdgird II (438) with the year 594 after the destruction of Jerusalem and the rising of the Arabs with the 792nd year of the “thousand of the fish” which began with the destruction of Jerusalem, would correspond to the events of 168 BC, the epoch of Antiochus Epiphanes. From the accession of Yazdgird II to the death Husraw II Parwez GR counts 204 years, making thus the last year of Husraw II the 798/9th year after the destruction, roughly 624/5, and referring to this year (see below), GR 385 says: “in the of Shaba† in the Aquarius of the Mesenians on Wednesday the falseness will… the sun…” (Lidzbarski, p. 413), see note 34. 31 Reflecting the date of the composition or reflecting the legendary period of Jewish captivity? According to Lidzbarski, p. 407, this part of the composition was apparently written in the mid- seventh century. It was claimed that the older parts of the Ginza were composed in the time of Yazdgird II (438-457), as the accession of this king is referred to (the 594th year after the destruction of Jerusalem) and revised under Kawad II or Seroe in circa 628. Lidzbarski, p. 412, noted that Seroe is the last one on the list of the Sasanian kings; “the chronological and allusions extend down to 850 years after the destruction of Jerusalem… there is mention of 71 years of the rule of the Arabs”. However, some passages might allude to the fall of the Umayyad dynasty, Lidzbarski’s note to Ginza, p. 300, Taqizadeh, p. 614 n. 2. Cf. also W. Brandt, Die Mandäer. Ihre Religion und ihre Geschichte, Amsterdam 1915, p. 44. On Early Muslim Iraq, cf. M. B. Morony, Iraq after the Muslim conquest, Princeton 1984, and the review by M. Gil & Sh. Shaked, in Journal of the American Oriental Society 106 (1986), pp. 819-823.

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kd bsabima utsin utartin snia niqum mhauai ¨elh darbaiia mn kul rustaq niqum uaiba ¨ekuma nisaq unitia, malka dbabil qinianh minh nitapaq. ukd bsabima utsin utlat snia niqum mhauai ¨elh dmalka darbaiia *nimut uarbaiia had lhabrh napil ubarqa babil bqiniana ubanasuta auar nihuia. kd bsabima utsin uarbia snia niqum mhauia ¨elh darqa tlata zibnia biuma tinud ulilia hda zibna, bsinta miÒaita bkulh alma nhura nitihzia, kukba bil mn samis niÒria b¨esumia niÒria. kd qaiim alma bsabima utsin uhamis snia mhauai ¨elh ddiba mn arqa nisaq nitia, auar banasia nisbuq, umalkia malkia nimut, uarbaiia [*b]snia dhanata diba maria alma kulh hauia, zipa lturÒa nigaidh. ubiahra saba†, daula dmisaunaiia, barba habsaba, zipa lsamis nigaidh, umhauia ¨elh dmalka dbabil lbabil nitia, uqiniana dbabil lbabil nitia, ub†ur anasia lagaiia lpadaksar nim†un. kd bsabima utsin usit snia niqum, mhauia ¨elh batar nisanqia nihun, ubraksia ubgubra dalma ubmdiniata qalia nihuia, u¨uburia qalia nibiÒrun, uaula u†iba uglala mihuia, ubhiuaniata darbia ligria ubnihra [*u]barqa zaina tibad. ukd alma bsabima utsin usuba snia niqum [386] mhauai ¨elh trin sihrilia mn hdadia nigihpun ubraksia ubgubria nigihpun. ukd alma bsabima utsin utmania snia niqum mhauai alma dhda mn sihrialia nimut uhda bkulh alma nihuia. ukd alma nihuia ukd qaiim alma bsabima utsin utsa snia mhauai ¨lh dqala nihuia ¨l anasia apraiia nim†un. kd qaiim alma btmanima snia mhauai ¨lh draksia ugubria bkulh alma mn rba ualma zu†a ldista ulihda dukta dbkulh alma †asta uhaizak napsa baialun utigra hiuara nihuia, ubiahra siuan Òilmia dmisunaiia iuma qadmaia diahra tartin saiia upalga qraba hiuara nihuia, umn kul alpa usabima gubria dazlin nipisiun tlata. ukd btmanima utartin snia niqum alma, mhauai ¨lh danasia qalia nihun ¨l ¨ensia had mindam ninpis mhauai ¨lh d¨ensia saba bmasgita nitba unimru: “qaiminin dgabra halip bsuqia,” uniqma lbaba napqa ulgabra nis¨iin ulanaskunh unipla ¨l haqlh dgabra ualpa dzibnia ninisqh amin†ul danasia balma qalia hinun dmistihkin, uhaizak mhauai ¨lh dkd hanata zibna m†a mn qalazar napsa dhauia qalia anasia nitparqun, usuba, utmania lgabra bmnata nim†unh ugabra mn qudam ¨ensia bisuta saiil ¨l napsa. mhauai ¨lh dkd alma btmanima utlat snia mn nuna napqa, mn hanata zibna ¨l nangria dalma latisaiil; ¨emir ¨lh dkd kiwan barqba niqum, unipuq mn arqba ularia n¨ezal, prat rba ¨el diglat [387] nipsuk ubabil arqa hamsin snia qudam arqa gaukai bhurba tiqum. ubarqa gaukai bit kabiÒa dbazira bhamis ¨stiria nibia ulanitaska; mhauai ¨lh dmsiha kadaba nitia umaria lalma kulh hauia u¨l kursia rba iatib ubh dina daiin, uldaiania mbadilun, mn madna ¨l madba bihdh iumh atia ualma dlibna mn asita bdilh sahdia. ukd btmanima uhamsin snia bnuna nihuia, mutana rba nihuia uhaizak mn abatar malkia parsaiia malkia arbaiia hauin, usbubin uhda snia aklin, ubsnaiun dhanatun malkia arbaiia alma kadaba hauia, ulsasawata darqa ulgumlia ulbnia haria ulabdia ulamata uldirdqunun uldirdquniatun ul¨ensia ulibnia haria kauna uniaha lanihuilun. ubsnaiun dhanatun malkia aba ¨l brh u¨ema ¨l brath lamsala†, umaria ¨l abdh lamsala†, u¨l miskaiun dansia nas†ilh hanatun malkia akuat †abiia uaradia, ubsnaiun dhanatun malkia man dnapsa bnh ualma dhda bra, uhaizak sailin †ubh lman dhua la mihuia brh, udahba ukaspa uraksia ugumlia utauria uhamaria uaqnia bminiana hauia, ukauaria mn iama pahrun, uaradia b†uria bdagna ma†ilh ukul d¨ebid ukul

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dmindam mitpik, iatira miskina hauia, umiskina iatira hauia, batia biqiata hauin ubiquata batia hauin, prisaiia pigia hauia upigia prisaiia hauin, umara [388] abda hauia uabda hauia bar haria, umiruza inikla uzipa banasia hauia, u¨ekuria mitpasa- sia ubit alahia mitpasasia, [388.3] It is said about them: “When the world will stay in the 790th year, from then onwards the waters will diminish and the whole world will be overtaken by dryness, and the and angels / kings32 will show over the humanity sorts of omens by (the assistance of) the years and , and that place will be overtaken by dry- ness for ever and ever”. And this is demonstrated about it, that (when) the Pisces will stay in the 791st year [385], the waters will diminish, and the God will fully loose the North wind.33 When the world will stay in the 792nd year, this is demonstrated about it, that the Arabs will stand up from every rustaq and a black cloud will rise and come, and the possessions of the king of Babylon will be taken from him. When the world will stay in the 793d year, this is demonstrated about it, that the king of the Arabs will die and the Arabs will fall one on the other, and in the land of Babylon devastation will take place among cattle and people. When the world will stay in the 794th year, this is demonstrated about it, that the earth will quake three times in one day and one time in the night, light will be seen in the whole world in the sleeping mid-time, the star Bel (Jupiter) will cleave its way in the sky more than the Sun. When the world will stay in the 795th year, this is demonstrated about it, that the Wolf will arise and come from the earth, he will loose devastation among people, and different kings will die, and the Arabs in the years of this Wolf will become the lords of the whole world, the False will overtake uprightness. In the month of Seba†, [in] the Aquarius of the Mesanites,34 on Wednesday, the False35 will overtake the Sun, and it will be demonstrated that the king of Babylon will come to Babylon, and the possession of Babylon will come to Babylon, and in ™ur[*an] the barbarous people will attain royalty / Padixsar. When (the world) will stay in the 796th year, this is demonstrated about it, that omens will be in different places, there will be shortage in men and horses of (this) world (*gehan) and in the lands (*sahr), and the crops will diminish, there will be frivolity, scandal and dung (?), and loss will be occur among quadrupeds, in the rivers and in the earth. When the world will stay in the 797th year, it will be demonstrated that two potentates (*sahriyar) will shatter each other and they will be shattered with (their) horses and men.

32 Cf. D. Shapira, “Anus and ¨Uqrâ Revised: Notes on Aramaic-Iranian Linguistic Interaction and Mystical Traditions”, Kabbala: International Journal for the Study of Jewish Mystical Texts, Vol. 6 (2001), p. 151-182, p. 152 n. 5. 33 Or: “marauders”. 34 GR 385-6, Lidzbarski p. 413 and n. 2 there; S.H. Taqizadeh, “An Ancient Persian Practice Preserved by a non-Iranian People,” BSOS IX (1937-39), pp. 603-619, pp. 614 and n. 1 there et ff.: two dates according to the “Mesenean” calender, “Shaba† of the Meseneans” and “the first day of the Siwan, Aquarius of the Mesenians”. The first date corresponds to Farwardin and the second to the first day of . In the seventh century, Aquarius was roughly June and Man- daean Gemini or Siwan was roughly October. 35 According to Taqizadeh, p. 615, zipa used here may be an allusion to an eclipse, and thus the passage might refer to the eclipses on Wednesday, 14th July 622 CE (the 26th Farwardin) or that of Thursday, the 21st June 624 CE, the 4th Farwardin.

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When the world will stay in the 798th year, it will be demonstrated that one of the potentates (*sahriyar) will die and (only) one will be (ruling) in the whole world. And when the world will stay in the 799th year, it will be demonstrated that voice / shortage / curse will come on apraiia36 people. When the world will stay in the 800th year, it will be demonstrated that horses and men in the whole world, from the big ones up to the little ones (will come) to the plain, to a single place, and in the whole world there will be “magic bowl” (? †asta37) and then they will look for ardently and there will be the White Fight, and in the month Siuan, Gemini of the Messenians,38 on the first day of the month, at two and half o’clock, there will be White War and (only) three men will sur- vive of all the 1700 men. And when the world will stay in the 802nd year, it will be demonstrated that there will be few men for women, one thing (frivolity?) will increase, it will be demonstrated that seven women will be sitting in the street, saying: “we are wait- ing until a man passes by in the market place,” and they are standing on the door, going out and looking for a man without having found him, falling on the man’s neck and kissing him a thousand times, because men will be found few in the world, and then it will be demonstrated that when these times will arrive, few men will be saved from the harsh strife (karazar), and seven, and eight will fall in one man’s share, and the man will feel badly about the women. This is demonstrated about it, that when the world will leave the Pisces in the 803rd year, from this time on do not ask about the plagues of the world; it is said about it that when Saturn will stay in the Scorpio, and will exit Scorpio and go to the Leo, (the) the Great will pour over the [387] and the land of Babylon will stand desolate compared to the land of Gaukai (on the eastern shore of the Tigris). And in the land of Gaukai a qafiz of seed will be looked for five staters and will be not found; this is demonstrated about it, that a lying messiah will come and be the ruler over the whole world, sitting on the great throne and judging on it the judgment, while he removes the (other) judges, he is coming from the East to the West in one day, until a brick from the wall will bear witness about him.39 And when (the world) will be in the 850th year of the Pisces, then there will be a great pestilence,40 then after the Persian kings will be the Arab kings, and they will rule for 71 years, and people (the world, generation = sahr) in the years of those Arab kings will be lying, and there will be no tranquility and rest for the horses of the earth and for the camels, and for the freemen (azad) and for the slaves and for the maidens, and for the little male and female children, and for the men and for the freemen (azad). And in the years of those kings the father will have no authority on his son and the mother on his daughter, and the lord will not control his slave, those kings will strip the skin of the men as if they were gazelles or wild asses, and in the years of

36 *Abarsahr? *Arabs? Cf. Lidzbarski, p. 413 n.5: “kaum ‘Staubgeborene’”; Drower & Macuch, p. 32: “meaning unknown”. 37 Compare Lidzbarski, p. 413 n. 6. 38 Cf. note 34. 39 A distortion of a Christian text? 40 Lidzbarski, p. 414 n. 3, ponders over the possibility of identifying this plague with the “plague of Seroe” of 628 CE.

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those kings the man who has many sons, will (lose) even the only son, and then they will regard happy that one who has no sons, and gold and silver, horses and camels, oxen and asses and sheep will be in (deficit) quantity, and fishes will fly from the sea, and wild asses in the mountains will reach the peak (?), and all created thing and everything will be perverted, the rich will become poor, and the pour will become rich, the houses will become fields, and the fields will become houses, the discerning one will become idiots, and the idiots will become discerning, the householder [388] will become a slave, and the slave will become a freeman, and perfidy, deceit and the False will be found in people, and temples will be destroyed, and the house of gods will be destroyed41 ….

The text goes on describing suffering and hardship. Very telling is the fol- lowing passage demonstrating the Zoroastrian source of this Apocalypse: [388.12]…u¨ema librata bla ¨edana mapqalh uldina diuma biuma minamibia, umagusaiia usapria b¨umamata apkia nasqa usapra, ublilia azlin ganabia ¨uhrata pasqia [388.15], “and the and the scribes pervert by their oaths the Nask and the Book,42 and thieves go out at night and stroll on the ways”.

The text that follows is rich in Iranian imagery; it contains a number of Iranian names and words not recorded elsewhere in Mandaean texts. ulabatru qaimia lisania mn hdadia mkadsia uanasia dhauin baudanh43 uazlin lnapsia diatbia bbaitia umdiniata lag†ia uBit Parsaiia uPir†auaiia uRuhmaiia uSigisnaiia ulisania mn hdadia mkadsia uhaizak diatbia baudania zakin umsauilun ¨Ò†ug44 laiatbia bbaitia ubsubin uhda snia dakla u†uba maitin u†uba ubnh abhatun u¨nsia mn gubraihun uahia mn ahia ulihda dukta kanpia ub¨daihun dnapsaihun had lhabrh ga†ilh haizak ¨brh dGaukai akla hamsin snia bduhna abatar dhazin ¨brh dBabil kd hurba dhazin ¨brh dBabil nisania malkia Arbaiia Kardus45 mardia unapqia arba ziqia uatia malka dBurdaiia umalka dSimraiia46 umardia mn hdadia ugarbilh lhazin ¨brh dBabil mn madna lmarba mitgirbia mn hazin ¨brh dGaukai trisar alpia haizak paiis hamsin snia d¨brh dGaukai dahna kd napqa srin uhamis snia mn hamsin snia hauia ™ura dDahba47 bDast dMisaq48 usuba msaria usuba

41 Lidzbarski, p. 407, was open to the possibility of “pagan” (i.e., Zoroastrian) sources (“ die Art, wie stellenweise von den Göttern und Tempeln gesprochen wird, zeigt, dass auch noch Material heidnishcer Herkunft verarbeitet ist”). See the next passage, on the Magi and the Nask(s). 42 For this topos, compare Zand i Wahman Yasn henceforth: ZWY; ed. Cereti, C., The Zand i Wahman Yasn. A Zoroastrian Apocalypse, Istituto Italiano per il Medio ed Estremo Oriente, Serie Orientale Roma fondata da Giuseppe Tucci diretta da Vol. LXXV, Roma 1995) 4.53: u-san pad han i xves den ne wurroyend, “and they will not believe in their own religion” and Mani’s Sahpuhragan (MacKenzie 1979, 504-5) A 9-10 (w dynwr ky x[wys] dyn ny wrw’d, “and the “religious” who may not believe in his own religion”. 43 Bedouins, from Arabic. 44 Mp. stwk, NP {stwdh / stwdh, “miserable”, Drower & Macuch, p. 355b. 45 See Drowe & Macuch, p. 201a. 46 Cf. note 73. 47 See note 53. 48 dast is Persian for “plain”; cf. note 165.

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malkia umsauia mlik malkia uamrilh malkia lmlik malkia dsauia mamla drbia mn abda laniqar uabatar dmsauin mamla ata hda malka mn rqiha unahislh lmlik malkia mlik malkia lahazilh uanasia kulhun hazilh haizak amrilh lmlik malkia hazin gabra dnhit mn rqiha dnhaslik ¨l ¨udnak mahu damarlak amarlun dkadba amritun amrilh malkia lmlik malkia pas hazin mamla dabadnin kadba hu amrilh malkia lmlik malkia qum nihizia anpia hdadia uqamiun unaplia bihdadia … ulabatru Mzaraz49 malka akal asar utartin snia umsauia ruhÒana ¨l alahia ualahia ualdiauria hauilh udiatbh baudania dahilun udiatbh latraiun atin umdinta †abuta hauilh … ulabatru malka hurina qaiim Sarqid br Uarzigar50 akil saba sn¨ tum malka hurina Sirasp51 suma akil srin usuba snia bsnaiun dhanatun malkia bisuta lahauibun …, Afterwards the nations will fight among themselves, and the people of the desert / Bedouins will go against the who dwell in houses and they will conquer cities, and Persians, Parthians, Byzantines and Segistanis and (other) nations will fight among themselves, and then the people of the desert / Bedouins will win and make the people who dwell in houses miserable, and in the 71st year of their rule they will bring wealth and the wealth…52 and the sons will gather with their fathers, the women with their husbands, the brothers with their brothers to one place and there they will kill each other with their own hands. Then the coast-land of Gaukai will prosper for 50 years. Afterwards the coast-land of Babel will see signs as they have seen the destruction of the coast-land of Babel; the kings of the Kardus Arabs will revolt and four winds will go out, and the kings of the Bardae- ans and the king of the Simraeans will come and revolt against each other and will plunder this coast-land of Babel from the east to the wes† and 12,000 of the coast- land of Gaukai will be robbed off; then 50 years are left when the coast-land of Gaukai will prosper; when 25 years of these 50 years have gone, a Mountain of

49 This Aramaic name, formed from an Iranian root, means something like “prepared for battle / assisted from above”, and may translate Persian *peroz[gar]. 50 MP Warzigar, “wondermaker”; cf. D.D.Y. Shapira, “The Coming of Wahram: Iranian Political Messianism from the Chinese Borderland”, n. 11 above. 51 This is a hapax in Mandaean texts. However, this king can be easily idenfified with an evil personage of Pahlavi apocalyptic texts, Sedasp (note the shift d >r, referred to in note 60 below). The name of Sedasp is a late Pahlavi pseudo-Avesticism coined to denote Christian Byzantines; sometimes he is glossed Kelesiyagih (the reading of C. Cereti, The Zand i Wahman Yasn. A Zoroastrian Apocalypse, Istituto Italiano per il Medio ed Estremo Oriente, Serie Orientale Roma fondata da Giuseppe Tucci diretta da Gherardo Gnoli, Roma, 1995, is Kilisayig), “belong- ing to the Church”. He appears in Dk 7.8.47; ZWY 6.3,5,6 & 7.11: “the army of these dews with disheveled hair…, the army having the wide front of the Turks and the Karmir enemy [know that they will have a high banner, for they will hold the banner up…], the leathern-belted Turks and the Sedaspian and Kelesiyagian Byzantines” (spah i awesan dewan i wizard-warsan… hen i fraxv-ani[g]-dusmen, Turk [i] Karmir [had ul drafs hend, ce drafs ul girend…]; Turk i duwal kustig, Hromayig, Sedaspiha i Kelesiyagiha (ZWY 6.6), “the army with the wide front of the two-legged creatures of wolves and the leathern-belted dews” (hen i fraxv-anig ud dam i gurg i do zang ud dew i dawal kustig, ZWY 7.11); the enemies of Iran are described in ZWY 1.11, 3.29 and 4.3 as dewan i wizard-wars i xesm-tohmag, “demons with disheveled hairs, of the seed of xesm”. On xesm, “wrath”, see Sh. Pines, “Wrath and Creatures of Wrath in Pahlavi, Jewish and New Testamental Sources”, Irano-Judaica, ed. Sh. Shaked, Jerusalem 1982, pp. 76-82. Cf. also D. D.Y. Shapira, “Some Textual Notes on Late Sasanian and post-Sasanian Zoroastrian Apoca- lyptic Texts” (forthcoming). 52 Apparently, a lacuna, as felt by Lidzbarski as well.

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Gold53 will arise in the Plain of Misaq, seven?54 and seven kings and the kings take a common counsel, and the kings decided to make a king of the kings and they said to the king of the kings that the great ones should not not be respected more than the slaves. And after they had this counsel, there came a king from the firmament and encharmed the king of the kings, the king of the kings does not see him, while all the people do, then they said to the king of the kings: “this man who had descended from the firmament and who whispered on thy ear, what did he tell thee?”. Then he said to them: “you told lies”. The kings said to the king of the kings: “then, the counsel we had made is a lie?”. The kings said to the king of the kings: “get up, we will see each other face to face”, and they came and fell each on another … and then there came king Mzaraz, he ruled for 12 years and he procured reliance on gods, and the gods assisted him, and he pushed off the dwellers of the desert / the Bedouins and the dwellers of the inhabited places came back and the city had goodness … then there will be another king, Sarqid son of Warzigar (the Wondermaker), he will rule for seven years, then there will be another king named Sirasp / Sedasp, he will rule for 27 years, in the years of these kings there will be no evil found among the men …”. “Then there will be King Wazan, he will rule for five years, everything will be good, gods will be revered and all the towns and the temples will flourish, the right- eousness will prosper and men will be not fond of earthy wealth;55 … then King Wazan will ask the evil souls of the dead, whether it is written in the Book of Reli- gion / regarding the End of the World56 / that such a thing would happen which previously had not happened, and the evil souls of the dead will tell him “doest thou not know that when gleaming stars are flying from the skies, there becomes a storm wind57 and dust is coming with it and is covering the houses of men; thou knowest that the word of the end of the world has reached its perfection; but for thou, Oh king, wast handling good with God, thou needest not worry about this word; when thou diest thy spirits will satisfy / propitiate themselves, as when thou wast existing in life58”;59 “then there will arise the king Parasai / Parisai Sipa,60 son of

53 An oral modern Mandaean version of the “Millennium” as given in E.S. Drower, The Mandaeans of Iraq and Iran. Their Cults, Customs, Magic Legends, and Folklore, Oxford Uni- versity Press, 1937 [Leiden: Brill 1962 (photomechanical reprint)], pp. 308-309, begins here. 54 Probably, a distorted Iranian title. Lidzbarski: “Landstriche”; Macuch & Drower, p. 279b: “districts, zone”. 55 Uazan malka akil hamis snia hak malka kul mindam sapir hauia alahia mitiaqria ukulhin mdiniata ubit alahia dahna uturÒa bhailh hauia uanasia ¨l minuna lamitrahbh. 56 If read “dhazin mindam bdinba dalma kdib”, see Lidzbarski, p. 418 n. 7. 57 So Lidzbarski for ziqa saba, quoted without further explanation in Macuch & Drower, p. 167b. 58 Cf. Macuch & Drower, p. 351a. 59 labatrun Uazan malka u¨ulanun dmith msaiilun dhazin mindam bdina kdib lmihuia ¨u qdim lhaka lahuat ¨ulanun dmitia amrilh anat laiadit kd mn sumia kukbia uÒahama Òaria uziqa saba qaiim uaqapra atia minh ulbaitaun danasia kasilun anat adilak dmilta dbdinba dalma ltuslima ma†iat ¨lana anat malka ¨qara alaha sapir ¨bidlak dhazin minilta latiqnia amin†ul dkd maitit ¨lanak †ablun mi†ab kd aitak bhiia. 60 Parasai / Parisai Sipa, cf. Macuch & Drower, p. 363a; parisai may derive from a Parthian- like form *padisah, with the shift d>r attested in many Parthian and Median loans in Armenian, in Adheri and in Judeo-Tati, see D. Shapira, “Judaeo-Armeniaca: On Jewish Lexica in Classical Armenian”, Xristianskij Vostok NS IV (10) (St. Petersburg 2003) [published 2006], pp. 340-346;

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King Burzan / Burzin. His kingdom / rulership will endure till the end of the world. In the days of this king there will be much goodness / wealth and there will be no winter”.61

APPENDIX I

Our Mandaean Apocalypse demonstrates affinities not only to known Zoroastrian apocalyptic texts of the late Sasanian and post-Sasanian periods, but also to Christian apocalyptic texts written in the 7th century CE in on older models and attributed to the 4th century CE monk St. Methodius of Olympe in Lycia, better known, however, as St. Methodius of Patara; these texts combine some Biblical traditions (Gideon, Judges 6.3-6, the sealed Ismaelites [Amalekites] in the desert of Yathrib / Ethribus) with some others, drawn from the Alexanderroman, legends of Salomon, the Hymn on Anti- christ and the attributed to St. Ephrem, the , the Book of the Bee, and on the Iranian Chionites (assimilated into the historical Huns), called Gog and Magog; Syriac, Greek, Slavonic and other versions exist. The most important text of this corpus is Pseudo-Methodius, written in the Syriac-Mesopotamian pro-Roman milieu, after 629-630.62 Another text

idem, “Judeo-Tat”, Encyclopaedia Judaica (2nd edition), Vol. 10, p. 0442. Another possibil- ity is to derive this word from the genuine Semitic root PRS; in passing, and keeping in mind the much discussed Pharisees (parise / p¢rusim, “Iranisers”, according to M. Boyce, Zar- athushtrians – Their Religious Beliefs and Practices, London, 1979), it is notice worthy to call attention to the Mandaic word parusa, “discerner, diviner, wise one”, see Macuch & Drower, p. 364a. Sipa stands possibly for sipah, “army”, hence *padisah-i sipah, “king of the army”. 61 ulabatrun qaiim Parisai Sipa malka br Burzan malka akil alma lkimÒat almia ubsnia dhanath malka †abuta uturÒa napsa hauia usitua lahauia. The motif of “there will be no winter” is Iranian and typical of Yima. 62 G.J. Reinink, “Pseudo-Methodius: A Concept of History in Response to the Rise of ”, The Byzantine and Early Islamic Near East. I. Problems in the Literary source material, eds. A. Cameron & L.I. Conrad (Papers to the First Workshop on Late Antiquity and Early Islam), Princeton N.J. 1992 (Studies in Late Antiquity and Early Islam, 1), pp. 149-187; idem, Pseudo-Methodius in Syriac, Corpus Scriptorum Christianorum Orientalium 1993; idem, “Die syrischen Wurzeln der mittelalterischen Legende vom römischen Endkaiser”, Non Nova, Sed Nove. Mélanges de civilisation mediévale dédiés à Willem Noomen, eds. M. Gosman, J. van Os, Groningen 1984 (Medievalia Grongiana, 5), pp. 195-209; idem, “Die Entstehung der syrischen Alexanderlegende als politisch-religiöse Propagandaschrift für Herakleios’ Kirchenpolitik”, After Chalcedon. Studies in and Church History, eds. C. Lada, J.A. Munitz, L. Van Rompay, Leuven 1985 (Orientalia Lovaniensia Analecta,18), pp. 263-281; idem, “Ps.-Methodius und die Legende vom römischen Endkaiser”, The Use and Abuse of Eschatology in the , eds. W. Verbecke, D. Verhelst, A. Welkenhuysen, Leuven 1988 (Medievalia Lovaniensia, Ser. I / Studia XV), pp. 82-111; F.J. Thomson, “The Slavonic Translations of the Pseudo-Methodius of Olympus Apocalypsis”, Turnovska knizna skola 4 (1985), pp. 143-173; see also F.J. Martines, Eastern Christian Apocalyptic in the Early Muslim Period: Pseudo-Methodius and Pseudo- Athanasius I-II (1985), UMI Dissertation Information Service 1985; H. Sundermann, “Der byz- antinische Endkaiser bei Ps.-Methodius”, Oriens Christianus 71 (1987), pp. 140-155; cf. F. Nau,

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belonging to the same milieu is John Bar Penkaye’s Ris Melle, which was composed after 687CE.63 According to these texts, in the final seventh millennium the Persian Empire will be wiped out. In this seventh millennium the seed of Ishmael will begin to go forth from the desert of Ethribus. When they have gone forth, they will all assem- ble at the great Gabaoth and there will be completed the saying of Ezekiel the prophet: “Son of man, call the beasts of the field and the birds of the air and exhort them saying, ‘Gather yourselves together and come since I will give you a great , to eat the flesh of strong men and drink the blood of the mighty’ (Ezek. 39:17)…. And so the Lord God will give them (i.e., the sons of Ishmael) the power to conquer the land of the Christians, not because he loves them, but because of the sin and iniquity committed by the Christians. Such sins have not nor shall be committed for all generations. Men will get themselves up as false women wearing prostitutes’ clothes. Standing in the streets and squares of the cities openly before all they will be adorned like women; they will exchange natural sex for that which is against nature. As the blessed and holy Apostle says, “men have acted like women” (Rom. 1:26-27). A father, his son, his brothers, and all the relatives will be seen to unite with one woman. For this reason they will be given over by God into the hands of the barbarians from whom they will sink into all uncleanness and stink of pollution. Their women will be contami- nated by filthy barbarians and the sons of Ishmael will cast lots for their sons and daughters. The land of the Persians is handed over to corruption and destruction, its inhabitants led away to captivity and death. They also attack and those who dwell there fall into captivity by the sword…. The land of Syria will be empty and reduced; those dwelling in her will perish by the sword….64 Egypt and

“Méthodius – Clément – Andronicus. Textes édités, traduits et annotés”, Journal asiatique 11.9 (1917), pp. 415-471, p. 418 n. 3-4; p. 438 n.1. Compare also BT Sanhedrin 97b, where the correct reading must be Roma, not Persia; for other Jewish parallels, see D. Shapira, “QiÒÒa-ye Dâniˆêl – or ‘The Story of Dâniˆêl’ – in Judaeo-Persian: The Text and its Translation”, Sephunot 22 (1999), pp. 337-366 [Hebrew]. 63 Books X-XV: A. Mingana, Sources syriaques, V. I. S. l, s.a. [Mossoul 1908], 1-171 (book XV pp. 143-171; French translation of XV, pp. 172-197]; English translation of the his- torical Apocalypse (XIV-XV): S.P. Brock, “North Mesopotamia in the Late Seventh Century. Book XV of John Bar Penkaye’s Ris Melle”, Jerusalem Studies in Arabic and Islam 9 (1987), 51-75 [= Studies in . History, Literature and Theology, London: Variorum Reprints, 1992, N. III]. See also H. Suerman, “Das arabische Reich in der Weltgeschichte es JôÌannàn bar Penkàye”, Nubia et Oriens Christianus. Festschrift für C.D.G. Müller zum 60. Geburtstag, eds. P.O. Scholz, R. Stempel, Köln 1987 (Bibliotheca Nubica. Bd. 1), pp. 59-71; compare J.-M. Fiey, “Encore ¨AbdulmasiÌ de Singâr”, Le Muséon 77 (1964), pp. 205-223; G. Garitte, “La Passion géorgienne de Saint ¨Abd al-MasiÌ”, Le Muséon 79 (1966), pp. 187-237; C. Mango, “Deux études sur Byzance et la Perse sassanide”, Travaux et Mémoires (Collège de France, Centre des recherches d’histoire et de civilisation byzantines), 9, Paris 1985, pp. 91-118 (pp. 105-118: “Heraclius, Sahravaraz et la Vraix Croix”); I. Shahid, “The Kebra Negast in the Light of Recent Research”, Le Muséon 89 (1976), pp. 113-118 [= Byzantium and the Semitic Orient before the Rise of Islam, London: Variorum Reprints, 1988, NX + p. XII] (according to him, the Kebra Negast was composed in the 6th century; cf. now D. D.Y. Shapira, “Stray Notes on Aksum and Himyar”, Scrinium 2 (2006), pp. 433-443). 64 A different account of the plagues in A. Mingana, Sources syriaques, V. I. S. l, s.a. [Mossoul 1908], 1-171 (book XV pp. 143-171; French translation of XV, pp. 172-197], p. 154; S.P. Brock, “North Mesopotamia in the Late Seventh Century. Book XV of John Bar Penkaye’s

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the East and Syria will be under the yoke and hemmed in by great tribulations. They will be constrained without mercy; weight of gold and silver beyond their strength will be eagerly desired of them. The inhabitants of Egypt and Syria will be in trouble and affliction, seven times the greater for those in cap- tivity. The Land of Promise will be filled with men from the four winds under heaven65. The Last World Emperor will go forth against them from the Ethiopian sea and will send the sword and desolation into Ethribus their homeland, capturing their women and children living in the Land of Promise. … The earth which they destituted will then be at peace; each man will return to his own land and to the inheritance of his fathers – Armenia, Cilicia, Isauria, Africa, , Sicily. Every man who was left captive will return to the things that were his and his fathers’, and men will multiply upon the once desolated earth like locusts. Egypt will be desolated, Arabia burned with fire, the land of Ausania burned, and the sea provinces pacified …. They will consume the dead bodies of beasts of burden and even women’s abortions. They will slay the young and take them away from their mothers and eat them. They will corrupt the earth and contaminate it. No one will be able to stand against them. After a week of years, when they have already captured the city of Joppa, the Lord will send one of the princes of his host and strike them down in a moment. After this the king of the Romans will go down and live in Jerusalem for seven and half-seven times, i.e., years. When the ten and a half years are completed the Son of Perdition will appear. He will be born in Chorazaim, nourished in Bethsaida, and reign in Capharnaum. Chorazaim will rejoice because he was born in her, and Capharnaum because he will have reigned in her. For this rea- son in the third Gospel the Lord gave the following statement: “Woe to you Chorazaim, woe to you Bethsaida, and to you Capharnaum – if you have risen up to heaven, you will descend even to hell” (Luke 10:13,15). When the Son of Perdition has arisen, the king of the Romans will ascend Golgotha upon which the wood of the Holy Cross is fixed, in the place where the Lord underwent death for us. The king will take the crown from his head and place it on the cross and stretching out his hands to heaven will hand over the kingdom of the Christians to God the Father. The cross and the crown of the king will be taken up together to heaven. This is because the Cross on which our Lord Jesus Christ hung for the common salvation of all will begin to appear before him at his coming to convict the lack of faith of the unbelievers. The of David which says, “In the last days Ethiopia will stretch out her hand to God” (Ps. 67:32) will be fulfilled in that these last men who stretch out their hands to God are from the seed of the sons of Chuseth, the daughter of Phol, king of Ethiopia. When the Cross has been lifted up on high to heaven, the king of the Romans will directly give up his spirit. Then every principality and power will be destroyed that the Son of Perdition may be manifested….66

Ris Melle,” Jerusalem Studies in Arabic and Islam 9 (1987), 51-75 [= Studies in Syriac Christi- anity. History, Literature and Theology, London: Variorum Reprints, 1992, N. III], p. 63. 65 E. Sackur, Sibyllinische Texte und Forschungen, Halle 1898, pp. 80-83. 66 Idem, pp. 89-94.

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APPENDIX II

The following passage, the opening section of Denkard V, edited and trans- lated several times,67 demonstrates the difficulties posed by some late Pahlavi texts, for frequently there the legendary stuff derived, sometimes, from non- Iranian sources, got interwoven with genuine historical traditions. The read- ings presented here are of a rather synthetic character. panjom abar gowisn i hufraward Adur-farrobay i Farraxv-zadan, i hudenan- pesobay bud, pad-iz nibeg i Simra68 xvanend: “hangardig passaxv i Adur-far- robay i Farraxv-zadan, i hudenan-pesobay, abar nisanagig pursisn ecand i Ya¨qub i Xalidan”, i ciyon-is guft ostig naf69 *i hamist raman i san Simra-z xvanend. ke- san ham Ya¨qub wandig70 fraz awis rasisnig abar-sardarih i er-tohmag, az sudan isan niyagan pad spah-sardarih ham dostig ud spahigih i han ram andar spahbedih i Buxt- abar a-karenidan i abaron-dadih ud wad-kunisnih i Bani Srayil ud garan dewezagih ud ziyan i azisan, pad frestidan i dahyupat Kay Lohrasp71 az Eran-Sahr abag Buxt-Narseh o Hrom Bayta Maqdis ud han kustag-manisn, “The fifth book is on the sayings of the macarios Adur-farrobay son of Farraxv- zad, who was the leader of the Zoroastrians,72 about the book called SMR’: “compendious answer of Adur-farrobay son of Farraxv-zad, who was the leader of the Zoroastrians, to some significant questions asked by Ya¨qub son of Khalid”, who was, according to his own words, a genuine descendant of all the peoples called SMR’,73 who, though being of the tribe74 of Ya¨qub, have interruptedly been under the supreme rule of those of Iranian seed, since the time of departing of their ancestors under the chief command of Buxt-Narseh, as allied generals and with armies of that people, to abolish the vicious laws and misconduct of Children of Israel and their grave demonolatry and the damage of theirs, having been sent by the lord of the countries, Kay Lohrasp, together with Buxt-Narseh, from Eran- Sahr against the Byzantine Jerusalem and [about their] sojourning in that region”.

67 West 1897 (Pahlavi Texts, Part IV, by E.W. West: Contents of the Nasks (Sacred Books of the East, Vol. 37); Oxford University Press, 1892), p. 119ff.; de Menasce, J.P., P.P., Une Ency- clopédie Mazdeénne, Le Denkart, Bibliotheque de l’Ecole des Hautes Etudes, Section des Sci- ences Religieuse LXIX, Paris 1958, p. 29-36; Nyberg 1964; Molé, M., La Legende de Zoroastre selon les Textes Pehlevis, Travaux de l’Institut d’Études Iraniennes de l’Université de Paris 3, ed. J. de Menasce, Paris 1967, p. 106ff. 68 West 1897, 119 n.2: Gyemara; de Menasce 1958 and Molé 1967: Demla; H.S. Nyberg, “The Opening Section of Denkart Book V”, Dr. Unvala Memorial Volume, Bombay 1964, pp. 99-112: Simra. Although I adopt Nyberg’s reading dealt with already by West in the end of the same note, p. 120, West’s understanding of the word as the Jewish Gemara seems to me preferable. 69 The reading adopted here is that of de Menasce, followed by Nyberg. Molé has, after West, dostik vac. Translations: West: “friendly words”; Molé: “paroles amicales”; de Menasce: “authentique descendant”; Nyberg: “a true kinsman”. 70 The reading adopted here is that of Nyberg; de Menasce has *ke-san ham paywandig fraz awis rasisnig, Molé has *ke-san ham-pursag fraz awis rasisnig. 71 See note 19 above. 72 Floruit circa 815-835 CE. 73 Molé 1967: “les tribus que l’on appelle également delamites”. 74 Cf. Nyberg 1964, p. 103.

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This particular text was arranged lately after the Arab75 onslaught, as indi- cated by the referring to the Zoroastrian sage bearing a post-Sasanian title, a contemporary of al-Ma’, together with the Arabic name Khalid (if read correctly). Nabuchadnezzar76 is here an Iranian general, bearing a good Iranian name of Buxt-Narseh.77 According to the later Arabo-Persian tradition, Buxt al-NaÒr (= Buxt-Narseh) was a general of Lohrasp;78 the problem whether the Arabic form Buxt al-NaÒr has influenced, in the post-Sasanian epoch, the Iranian Buxt-Narseh, or the way around, cannot be solved here. However, if it was the Iranian form which has influenced the Arabic one – and this seems not entirely impossible as the Arabic form includes Buxt, an element looking all too much Iranian –,79 and bearing in mind that the Arabic form would rather reproduce a Syriac form if it appeared in Arabic only after Islam, then, one could perhaps speculate about some traces of Irano-Mesopotamian80 syncretism as far as Nebuchadnezzar is concerned at least. Here, the evil Mesopotamian king is a general of Wistaspa-’s father, who went to conquer Jerusalem, cf. Menog i Xrad 26.64-6: ud az Kay-Lohrasp sud en bud ku-s xvadayih xob kard ud andar Yazdan spasgar bud ud Ursalem i Yahudan be kand ud Yahudan wisoft ud pargandag kard, “And the profit of Lohrasp was that his reign was good and he was thankful to gods and he has destroyed the Jewish Jerusalem and scattered and dispersed the Jews”.81

75 As Bausani (A. Bausani, The Persians from the Earliest Days to the Twentieth Century, London 1971, p. 58) has noted, the Arabs were quite frequently mentioned in the texts dated from the Sasanian Period and it is therefore wrong to think of the Muslim invasion as the first occasion on which there was contact between Arabs and Persians. 76 For this identification, cf. L.H. Gray, “Kai Lohrasp and Nebuchadrezzar”, WZKM 18 (1904), pp. 291-298; idem, “Pahlavi Literature, Jews In”, The Jewish Encyclopedia IX, New York – Lon- don 1905, pp. 462-5; idem, “The Jews in Pahlavi Literature”, Actes du XIVe Congrès International des orientalistes, Algier 1905, premièr partie, Paris 1906, pp. 177-192. The question of the historic- ity of such identification must not bother us here, as there is nothing historical about our text. 77 One would speculate whether some memory of Mihr-Narseh, the prime minister of Yazdgird II, renown for his refutation of the Christians, could be tracked down in this personage. 78 For the sources see A. Tafazzoli, Minu-ye-Xirad, Entesharat-e Bonyad-e Farhang-e Iran, Tehran 1354h.s. / 1975 (2nd edition: 1364h.s. / 1985), p. 46 n. 1. 79 “Saved by”, cf. de Menasce, J.P., “Some Pahlavi Words in the Original and in the Syriac Translation of Isoboxt’s Corpus Juris”, Dr. Unvala memorial Volume, Bombay 1964, pp. 6-11; idem, “Haftvad ou Haftanbuxt?”, Yad-Name-ye -ye Minorsky, ed. by M. Minovi & I. Afshar, Tehran 1969, pp. 139-142. 80 I use here “Mesopotamian” in the vaguest sense. It might include Jewish, Christian- Aramaic and genuine Asyro-Babylonian traditions. Shaked (see nn. 78 above) spoke of les mages sémitises and these two terms would be overlapping. 81 Translated in A. Tafazzoli, Minu-ye-Xirad, Entesharat-e Bonyad-e Farhang-e Iran, Tehran 1354h.s. / 1975, p. 46. Some bibliography on Jewish themes in the Pahlavi literature includes: J. Darmesteter, “Texts Pehlvis Relatifs au Judaisme”, REJ 18 (1889), pp. 1-15; REJ 19 (1889), pp. 41-56; de Menasce, P. P.-J., O. P., Skand-Gumanik Vicar, La Solution Decisive des Doutes, Fribourg en Suisse 1945, passim; de Menasce 1960; de Menasce 1977; [to some degree] M. Molé, Culte, Mythe et Cosmologie dans l’Iran Ancien – Le Probléme Zoroastrien et la Tradition Mazdeénne,

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The Menog i Xrad, which is generally held to be a Sasanian composition,82 does not mention, unlike our Denkard passage, any general of Lohrasp. It is the Kayanian king himself who performed the deeds generally attributed to Nebuchadnezzar. Jerusalem is designated as a “Jewish” city, not as a Byzan- tine one, which bears in Denkard 5.1 a clearly Arabic name of Bayta Maqdis,83 and its name is in accordance with the Aramaic tradition.84 The Menog i Xrad passage must be, then, a product of a late Sasanian pseudo-.85 The passage in question has nothing to do with the liberation of Jerusalem from the Byzantine yoke in 614 CE: the situation then was completely different, the Jews saw Persians as liberators, Jerusalem was not Jewish in any political sense, and the Jews were not dispersed by the Persians – there were rather the Christians who were oppressed by the Persians and Jews.86 The Persians destroyed all the churches in Palestine except one – the Church of Nativity,

Annales du Museé Guimet, Bibliotheque d’Études LXIX, Paris 1963; J. Neusner, “A Zoroastrian Critique of Judaism”, JAOS 83 (1963), pp. 283-294; idem, “Skand Miscellanies”, JAOS 83 (1963), pp. 414-416; M. Zan“d, “Hithyassbhuth hayyehudim be-}Asyah hattikhonah bimey qedem ubimey habbeynayyim hamuqdamim”, Pe}amim 35 (1988), pp. 4-23 [Hebrew]; Gikyo Ito, “Pahlavi hapax legomena ‘wlyt’, ‘wl’yt’k, ‘wl’tyk (Pahlavica XIV)” Orient 28 (1991), pp. 36-43; the last compre- hensive treatment of the bulk of the existing material in Sh. Shaked, “Zoroastrian Polemics against Jews in the Sassanian and Early Islamic Period”, Irano-Judaica II, ed. by Sh. Shaked and A. Netzer, Jerusalem 1990, pp. 85-104. See also D. Shapira, “Biblical Quotations in Pahlavi”, Henoch 23 (2001), pp. 187-195. 82 A. Tafazzoli, “Cinwad Puhl”, Encyclopaedia Iranica V/6, Costa Mesa, California, 1991, pp. 554-555. 83 Against the Hebrew *Be† haMiqdas or the Syriac *Be† Maqd¢sa; the vowel after Bay†- must represent, in a distorted form, the Arabic definite article al- This combination of the post-Sasanian Arabic name (perhaps, erroneously and anachronistically Aramicized?) with the attribution of the city to the is typical for all this Denkard 5.1 passage. 84 It would be better *Uruslem, however. But the difference is small and could be easily explained by many factors, which have not to bother us here. 85 On the other hand, unlike in our Denkard passage, where Jerusalem is called “Byzantine”, reflecting the actual political situation of the early years of the 7th century, our MX text calls Jerusalem “Jewish”, clearly, under the impact of the later Islamic tradition. The conclusion is that the word “Jewish” is a post-Sasanian gloss. 86 Jews generally welcomed the Persian troops, according to a long history of Persophile attitudes. Byzantine sources stress the point of Jewish defectors. In 609 the Jews of revolted, they killed the Patriarch and helped Persians the next year to seize the city. In 610, the Jews of Tyre (4,000 strong) revolted, though unsuccessfully. In the Land of Israel the Jews counted 10 % to 25 %, especially in the Galilee. Led by Benjamin of Tiberias, Jewish insurgents opened the way to Caesaria, the capital of the province. It seems that the Persians promised to give Jerusalem back to the Jews. When in 614 the city fell, Sahrawaz established in it a sort of Jewish administration. A Jew accepted the name Nechemia and tried to reestablish the . Many Christians were cruelly killed during the war, with Jews taking a vivid part in these kill- ings; many others were sold by Jews as slaves. There are sources telling that the Jews killed the slaves who refused to convert to Judaism. Corpses were prohibited to be buried. However, in 617 the Jewish administration of Jerusalem was abolished and again, the Jews were prohibited to settle in Jerusalem. In 629-30 the Byzantines returned. In 628 the Emperor gave an amnesty to the Edessan Jews, and so he did in Tiberias. In Jerusalem first the collaborants, and then all the Jews were persecuted. Many Jews, including Benjamin of Tiberias, converted to Christianity. In 632 all the Jews in the Empire were ordered to convert.

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where they rightly identified the adorating Magi on the frescos as their compa- triots wearing Sasanian garb.87 Thus, the Menog i Xrad passage was composed ante 614 CE, while the Denkard passage, depending on it (or, on a closely associated tradition) reflects some knowledge of the last Sasano-Byzantine War.88 In the light of all this evidence, one has to draw the conclusion that the tradition of sacking Jerusalem by an Iranian king (or, his general) was known in Iran prior to 614 CE; this tradition was a part of the late Sasanian polemic – probably influenced by Christian attitudes – against the proselytizing Juda- ism; it was provoked by the Jewish tradition of Cyrus, thus implying that this Jewish tradition was known to the Iranian priests-scribes. As has been noted, the idea of the synthesizing history as known from the Arabo-Persian sources is not a product of the period of these sources, but a heritage from the Sasanian era,89 and in this context of a synthesized popular Irano-Mesopota- mian pseudo-historiography, the suggestion of Buxt al-NaÒr’s being influenced by the earlier Buxt-Narseh, makes better sense. If so, although our Denkard passage is, as was said above, far later than the Menog i Xrad passage, the notions of Lohrasp’s or Buxt-Narseh’s sapping Jerusalem might be two parallel, and Sasanian, traditions.

APPENDIX III

Bundahisn (henceforth Bnd), chapter 33 (TD2 211.3-220.15 = TD1 90r. 2- 94r.11 = DH 220v.16-225r.16; Anklesaria 1956, pp. 280-3):90

87 Cf. J.R. Russell, “Two Notes on Biblical Tradition and Native Epic in the “Book of Lam- entation” of St. Gregor Narekac}i”, REArm 22 (1990-91), pp. 135-145, p. 143-144. 88 The Sasanian wish to re-conquer Syria and Egypt, the lost Achemaenian provinces in the West, appeared almost immediately after the new dynasty has arisen; cf. J. Darmesteter, “Lettre de au Roi de ”, Journal Asiatique, Tome III, Neuvième Serie, 1894, p. 548; for the English translation of the text, see M. Boyce, The , Serie Orientale Roma XXVIII, Persian Heritage Series. Literary and Historical Texts from Iran, Roma 1968. Compare also E. Yarshater, “Were the Sasanians Heirs to the Achaemenids?”, Atti del convegno internazio- nale sul tema: La Persia nel Medioevo (Roma, 31 marzo – 5 aprile 1970), Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei anno CCCLXVIII – 1971, Quaderno N.160, Problemi Attuali di Scienza e di Cultura, Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei, Roma 1971, pp. 517-531; Ph. Huyse, “La revendication de territoires achéménides par les Sassanides: une réalité historique?”, Iran: Questions et connais- sances. Actes du 4e Congrès Européen des Études Iraniennes. Paris, 6-10 septembre 1999. Vol. I: La période ancienne. Cahiers de Studia Iranica 25, ed. by Ph. Huyse, Paris & Louvain, 2002, pp. 297-311. 89 Sh. Shaked, “Zoroastrian Polemics against Jews in the Sassanian and Early Islamic Period”, Irano-Judaica II, ed. by Sh. Shaked and A. Netzer, Jerusalem 1990, pp. 85-104, p. 90. 90 This composition exists in two versions: the Indian one, which is abridged, but became known at an earlier date and influenced the writings of Jewish scholars in the 19th century, edited and translated: F. Justi, Der Bundahesh (Leipzig, 1868); and the Iranian one, which is more complete: T. D. Anklesaria, The Bûndahishn. Being a Fascimile of the TD Manuscript No. 2

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abar wizand i hazarag hazarag o Eran-sahr mad. 1. ka Gannag Menog andar dwarast pad bun i nazdist hazarag i andar gumezisnih, Gaw ud Gayomard bud hend. ka Masye ud Masyane anespasih kard, panjah sal eg-isan zayisn az-is ne bud. andar ham hazarag pad haftad sal, Hos[y]ang91 ud Tohmorat92 har do dewan be ozad, andar azarag sar, dewan Yim be karinid. 2. didigar hazarag bun bud, Azi-Dahag93 dus-xvadayih abar kardan grift ud ed hazarag sal be kard, ciyon hazarag sar bud, Fredon94 grift ud bast. 3. sidigar hazarag bun bud, ka Fredon kiswar baxt, Salm95 ud Toz96 eg-isan Erij97 ozad ud frazandan ud owadagan98 abesihenid. 4. andar ham hazarag Manuscihr zad ud ken i Erij xvast.99 5. pas Frasiyab mad ud Manuscihr abag eranigan o Padisxvargar spoxt ud pad sej ud niyaz ud was margih abesihined ud Frya ud Nodar i Manuscihr pus ozad ta pad han paywand Eran-sahr az Frasiyab stad. 6. ud ka Manuscihr uzid bud did Frasiyab amad ud Eran-sahr was wisobisn ud aweranih pad-is kard ud waran az Eran-sahr abaz dast100 ta Uzaw i Tohm- aspan101 mad ud Frasiyab spoxt ud waran kard isan naw-waranih xvanend.102

Brought from Persia by Dastur Tîrandâz and Now Preserved in the Late Ervad ’ Library (Bombay, 1908); B. T. Anklesaria, Zand-Akasih, Iranian or Greater Bundahisn. Trans- literation and Translation in English (Bombay, 1956); P. K. Anklesaria, The Bondahesh, Being a Facsimile of the Manuscript TD 1 (Tehran, 1970); idem, The Codex DH, Being a Facsimile Edition of Bondahesh, Zand-e Vohuman , and Parts of Denkard (Tehran 1970). 91 When the Yasts were composed, he was apparently considered to be the first king (and Man), paradhata-, pesdad, at least in some local traditions; the Yasts, as well as our text here, stress his combat against the dews. Bnd 14.31-39 (and Tabari I.154, Mas}udi, Muruj, II.110) name three generations between him and Gayomard. He is an Iranian hero unknown to the Indic tradition. 92 TD2; TD 1 & DH: Tahmurap. Like Hosang, he is unknown to the Indic tradition; MX 27.23, Aogemadaeca 92, Tabari I. 175, Bal¨ami 129, Tha¨alibi, 9, Firdausi 22, ascribe him the invention of writing. He was also considered to be the first king, and large life-spans are ascribed to him, cf. the Mandaean GR, where he is granted a rule of 600 years, immediately after Gayomard. 93 Son of Taz son of Frawag son of Siyamag, Bnd. 35.7; Tabari I.202-3; Hamza 31-32; his mother a descendant of , eight generations back; a serpentine monster bound in Dum- bawand, it will be destroyed finally by Karsasp, Bnd 29.9, 33.36; Dadestan i Denig (henceforth DD; partial edition: M. Jaafari-Dehaghi, Dadestan i Denig, Part I, Transcription, Translation and Commentary, Studia Iranica, Cahier 20), Editions Peeters, Leuven, 1998) 37.97; ZWY 9.22. 94 Thraetaona, connected to Indic Trita, son of Athwya (Vedic Aptya), MP Asbian, NP Abtin, Mandaic ™ibian. 95 Salm, or Sarm, Avestan Sairima, identified in the Parthian times with Rome and in the Muslim period with Islamic Arabs, both identifications done due to phonetic similarities. 96 Or, Tur, or Tuc or Tus, or Tuj, from *Tur¢c, later identified with Turks and Turan. 97 Or, Eraj, the ancestor of the Iranians. 98 Compare the same wording in Bnd 35.13. 99 Bnd 33.4-5; Wizidagiha i Zadspram 26.41, 44a (Anthologie de Zadspram. Edition critique du texte pehlevi traduit et commenté par Ph. Gignoux et A. Tafazzoli, Studia Iranica – Cahier 13, Paris 1993); SahrEran 38, 58; Yt 9.18-22; MX 27.59; Dk 9.235; Dk 7 1.29; cf. also ZWY 4.56-58. 100 Cf. Wizidagiha i Zadspram 26.41, 44a: Den-paydagih pad Spendarmat andar han zaman bud ka Frasiyab ab ray az Eran-sahr abaz dast; cf. also SahrEran 38; ZWY 4.57,64. 101 Uzava-, NP Zab, Arabicized Zaw, son of Tumaspa- / Tahmasp, mentioned only once in the Avesta (Yt 13.131), after Thraetaona- and before Manuscithra-. Cf. also Dk 8.13.11 (Cihrdad Nask), where he is placed between Afrasiyab and Kai Kawad, but cmp. Dk 7.1.31 (Mole 1967, p. 153), where he is said to be a descendant of Munuscihr, as here in Bnd and in Hamza, pp. 34-35. 102 Frangrasiian, MP Frasyab, Frasyag, etc., NP Afrasiyab, Arabicized Firasyat, Farasiyab, a descendant of Tur, cf. Bnd 35.17, son of Pasang; built an iron-walled underground palace

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7. ud pas az Uzaw did Frasiyab gran anagih pad Eran-sahr kard ta Kawad103 o xvadayih nisast. 8. andar xvadayih i Kayos104 andar ham hazarag dewan stahmag bud hend ud Osnar105 o ozanisn mad ud menisnih wiyabanenid ta o karizar i sud ud sarnigun opastag xvarrah az-is abar bud pas pad asp ud mard gehan anastan kard u-san pad bum i Hamwaran106 pad freb abag paydagan/piyadagan i kiswar bast hend.

Hankana- / Hang, reminiscent of that of Yima, Aogemadaeca, 60-61; Yn 11.7, Yt 5.41-43. According to Tabari I.531, the Festival of Waters, on the day of of the month of Aban, commemorated the victory of Uzaw over Frasiyab. Killed by Kay Husraw. 103 Kavi Kavata, he founder of the Kayanian dynasty, according to Bd 35.28, was abandoned in a basket and found by Uzaw / Zab. Born of splendor, cf. DD 36.26. According to the Pahlavi sources, was followed by his son Kay Apweh, the father of Kay Aris, Kay Byars / Kay Armin (Sahnamah), Kay Pisinang / Kay Pisin (Kay Pasin in the Sahnamah, cf. Afsin, the title of the rulers of Usrusana), Kayos (Bnd 35.29-30, 34). 104 Kavi Usan / Usadhan (Yt 14.39; Dk 9.22.4-12, Studgar Nask, cf. Bd. 32.11, Aogema- daeca, 6), NP Kawus, Qabus, Kabus; cf. Bnd 25.29-30, 34. A Yima-like hero, who dared to ascend into the sky (Aogemadaeca, 6); in the Vedic tradition a similar act is attributed to the step-son of his namesake, Kavya Usanas. 105 Aosnara-, cf. Frawardin Yast 132, Afrin i Zardust, 2, DD 37.35; Dk 7 (Intr. 36-7), a priest and counselor to Kayos. 106 For Kayos} unsuccessful campaigns to Mazandaran (whose identification with a Caspian province is fairly late, Encyclopaedia of Islam, 1st III p. 424, Minorsky) and Hamawaran, identi- fied in the Late Sasanian period with Himyar, cf. J. Darmesteter, Études iraniennes, Paris 1883, Vol. II, pp. 221ff; J. Markwart, Eransahr nach der Geographie des Ps.-Moses Xorenac}i, Abhand- lungen der Akademie der Wissenschaften in Gottingen, Phil.-Hist. Klasse, N.F. 3. Berlin, 1901, p. 26 n. 1; Th. Nöldeke, Das iranische Nationalepos, Berlin, 1896, p. 49 n.1; A.E. Christensen, Les Kayanides, Copenhagen, 1932, p. 110 n.4; Monchi-zadeh, pp. 74ff., 80-91, 144-145. The campaign to Hamawaran was seen as duplication of that to Mazandaran, see F. Spiegel, Erani- sche Alterthümer, Leipzig, 1872, Vol. I, p. 592; Th. Nöldeke, Das iranische Nationalepos, Ber- lin, 1896, p. 30, but cmp. D. Monchi-zadeh, Topographisch-historische Studien zum iranischen Nationalepos, Abhandlungen. für die Kunde des Morgenlandes, Bd. XLI, 2, Wiesbaden, 1975, p. 145; the campaign to Mazandaran in Sahnamah is secondary and based on that to Yemen, cf. Th. Nöldeke, “Der weisse Dew von Mazandaran”, Archiv für Religionswissenschaft 18 (1915), pp. 597-600 (p. 598 n. 3). The mythological account of the second part of Dk 9.21 (§§11-24) was introduced into the Avesta perhaps during the reign of the royal codifier of the Sacred Corpus, Xusraw I Anosurwan, 562-572, who occupied Yemen and repelled the nomads going on razziahs via Northern . Samran is an old corruption for Humeran / Himeran (Syriac and Arabic Îimyar, G¢¨ez ΢mer, Greek Omerétai), i.e., Îimyar in Yemen called Hamawaran in Middle Persian (Firdausi has Hamawaran as well). See Shahristaniha i Eran § 50: sahristan i Samran Fredon i Aqbenan kard u-s *Ma[n]Òur i Samran sah ozad u-s zamig i Samran abaz o xvesih i Eransahr awurd u-s dast i Tazig pad xvesih ud azadih be o Buxt-Xusraw i Tazig sah dad, pay- wand darisn i xves dad, “the town of Samran was built by Fredon son of Aqben and he killed *Ma[n]Òur king of Samran, and he made the land of Samran the property of Eran, and the Arabian steppes were given by him into possession and inheritance to Buxt-Xusraw the Arabian king for the maintenance of his offspring”. It is there (Samran / Sambara / Hamawaran) that Kay Kaos was taken captive with all his army and freed by Rostahm. The whole setting of the story is referred to in Dk 8.12.13. This passage seems to blur Yemen with a land in Mazandaran, perhaps, because the Sasanian conquest of Yemen was carried out by the 800 Daylamite soldiers. Yemen was under Sasanian sway for a long time, and there are some indications that it was via Yemen (with Îirah, BaÌrain and ¨Oman, too), that Iranian ideas, conceptions and loan words entered the Arab world and the Arabic language, and it is Yemen / Mazandaran that ZWY 6.8 refers to. The Mandæan Ginza Rabba has Simraye; cf. also Targum of Chronicles 1 1:9.

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9. ewag e[w] i Zainigaw xvand107 ke-s zahr pad casm dast az tazigan o xvadayih i Eran-sahr mad ud har ke-s pad dus-casmih pad-is nigerid be ozad eranigan Frasiyab pad xvahisn xvast ud Dastun108 awe Zenigaw ozad109 ud xvadayih i Eran-sahr kard ud was mardom az Eran-sahr burd ud pad Turkestan nisast ud Eransahr aweran kard ud wisoft ta Rotastahmag110 az Sagestan arast ud sambaraniha grift ud Kayos ud abarig eranigan az band wisad ud abag Frasiyab pad Horey / Ulay rodbar ke Spahan xvanend, nog karezar kard ud az anoh stowih dad ud was karezar didigar abag kard ta spoxt ud o turkestan abgand, Eran-sahr az nog abadanenid. 10. did Frasiyab kasid ud Kay Siyawaxs111 o karezar mad pad wahanag i i zan i Kayos112 Siyawaxs abaz o Eran-sahr ne sud pad ed i Frasiyab ciyon-is pad-is zenhar padiraft estad o Kayos ne mad be xvad o Turkestan sud ud doxt e i Frasiyab pad zanih grift ud Kay Husraw113 az-is zad ud Siyawaxs anoh ozad hend. 11. andar im hazarag Kay Husraw Frasiyab ozad114 ud xvad sud o Kang-Diz ud xvadayih o Lohrasp dad ud ka Wistasp sah si sal xvadayih kard bud hazarag sar bud. 12. pas hazarag i caharom bun bud anar han hazarag Zardu[x]st Den az Ohrmazd padiraft ud award ud Wistasp sah padiraft ud rawag kard ud abag karizar i skeft kard ud eran ud aneran wasiha hend.

107 Cf. Bnd 35.7: Dahag son of Xrutasp son of Zaiinigaw son of Aviirafsyang son of Taj son of Frawag son of Syamag. 108 TD2 & DH; TD1: wisuft. 109 Cf. Yt 19.93. 110 TD2 & DH; TD1: Rustam. 111 Syavarsan, NP Siyawus, Yt 13.132, killed by Afrasiyab and Garsewaz, avenged by his son Kay Husraw (Yt. 9.18, 17.38, 19.77); revered in Central Asia (Biruni, Athar, 235), where it was believed that he has built Khwarazm and Bukharah, cf. also Narshakhi, pp. 24, 32-3, and the frescos of Pandjikent. He was the focus of a mourning cult in Bukharah, where his tomb is said to be located (in the Brazen Castle, Diz Ro} in, according to Kasghari, Kitab Divan Lughat al-Turk, III (Istanbul, 1335/1917), pp. 110-11). Cf. also S. Maskub, Sug-e Siyawus, 2nd ed. (Tehran 1350/1972), p. 80, 82, 151 et passim. E. Yarshater, “The ta}zieh and pre-Islamic mourn- ing rites in Iran”, Ta’zieh, Ritual and Drama in Iran, ed. P.J. Chelkowski, NY 1979, pp. 88ff. The connection between Siyawus morning cult, vengeance for him etc. and some Si¨ah practices and perceptions is worth further investigation. 112 NP Sudaba / Sudabeh, Arabic Su¨da, the daughter of the king of Yemen in the Iranian National Epic. 113 Kavi Haosravah,Yt 13.133-5. Has a Vedic namesake, Susravas. Killed Afrasiyab and Garsewaz in the White Forest (Yt 15.30-33; 19.73-77; in other sources this battle is said to have taken place on the banks of Lk. Caecasta, where he also has destroyed an image-shrine, cf. M. Boyce, “Iconoclasm among the Zoroastrians”, Christianity, Judaism and other Greco- Roman Cults: Studies for Morton Smith at Sixty, IV, ed. J. Neusner, (Leiden 1975), pp. 96ff.). Has founded the Fire-temple at Ces / Siz, and established the Fire of Gusnasp which settled on his horse’s mane when he was fighting darkness on Mt. Asnavand, Dk 9.16.19. Will play an important role at the Renovation (Yt 23.7, Dk 8.1.40; 9.58.10; Mx 27.63, 57.7, cf. A.E. Chris- tensen, Les Kayanides, Copenhagen, 1932, pp. 90-92. Disappeared into the snow, together with other holy warriors, Sahnamah, 1438ff.; Tabari I. 618; Biruni, Athar, 104; Ta¨alibi, 243. In Sahnamah his assistants are Tus of Naudhar, Godarz, Gew and Bezan of Kaswad, and Rustam. 114 Cf. PT p. 104 § 20.

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13. andar im hazarag ka xvadayih o Wahman i Spendidadan mad eranigan eranigan xvad pad xvad abist115 hend116 ud az tohmag i xvadayih117 kas ne mand ke xvadayih kard ew u-san Humay i Wohman doxt pad xvadayih nisast. 14. pas andar xvadayih i Daray i Darayan Askandar Kaysar az Hrom dwarast o EEran-sahr mad ud Daray-sah ozad ud hamag dudag i xvadayan ud mog- mardan ud piyadagan i eran sahr abesihinid ud was mar ata[x]s afsard ud Den i Mazdesn Zand stad ud Abistag soxt ud Eran pad nawad kard xvaday baxt.118 15. pas andar im hazarag Artaxsaqr i Pabagan o paydagih mad ud han kard xvadayan ozad ud Den i Mazdesn winard ud Den i Mazdesn rawagenid ud enen i was wirast i pad tohmag i awe raft. 16. andar xvadayih i Sahpuhr i Ohrmazdan Tazigan mad hend u-san Horey rod- bar grift ud was sal pad Ahwaz/r tazisn dast ta Sahpuhr o xvadayih mad ud awesan Tazigan spoxt ud sahr az-is stad was sah [i] Tazigan abesihinid ud was maragiha san haxt.119 17. andar xvadayih i Yazdgirdan sas sal waran ne bud ud mardom anagih ud saxtih i gran rasid. 18. did Xvasnawaz i Heftalan xvaday mad ud Peroz ozad ud Kawad ud xvahar ata[x]s e[w] pad pad grawan o Heftalan burd. 19. andar xvadayih i Kawad Mazdag i Bamdadan o paydagih mad ud dad i Mazdagih nihad ud Kawad frift wiyaban kard ud zan ud frazand ud xvastag pad hamih ud hambagih abayed dasan framud ud Den i Mazdesnan az kar dastan ta anosag ruwan Xusraw i Kawadan o burnayih mad ud Mazdag ozad ud Dad i Mazdesnan winard ud awesan axvan kesan asptag o eran sahr hamag kard spoxt ud widarag bast ud Eran-sahr abebem kard. 20. ud ka xvadayih o Yazdgird mad west sal xvadayih kard eg Tazigan pad was maragih o eran sahr dwarast hend Yazdgird pad karizar abag awesan ne skuft ud o Xvarasan ud Turkestan sud ud asp ud mard o ayarih xvast u-san anoh ozad. 21. pus i Yazdgird o Hindugan sud ud spah gund awurd pes az madan i o Xvarasan uzid ud han spah gund wisuft ud eran sahr pad Tazigan mand u-san han i xves dad i agdenih rawagenid ud was enen i pesinigan wisbenid ud Den i Mazdesnan nizarenid ud nasa soyisnih ud nasa niganih ud nasa xvarisnih pad kard nihad. 22. ud az bundahisn ta imroz anagih az en grantar ne mad ce duskunisnih i awesan ray niyaz ud aweranih ud must kunisnih ud wad dadih ud wad denih ray sez us niyaz ud abarig anagih mehmanih kard ested. 23. pad Den gowed ku dus-padixsayih i awesan sar kamed budan. 24. groh ayend suxr-nisan ud suxr-drafs ud ud rostagiha i Eran-sahr ta Babel girend ud awesan Tazigan nizar kunend.

115 Anklesaria: awist, “fought”. The sense should be like in abesihenidan, but the spelling is different. 116 This sentence read with DH & TD1. 117 TD2: is, “his”. 118 For this and the next §§, cf. Sh. Pines, “A Parallel between Two Iranian and Jewish Themes”, Irano-Judaica II, ed. Sh. Shaked & A. Netzer, Jerusalem. 1990, pp. 41-51, M. Shaki, “The Denkard Account of the History of the Zoroasrian Scriptures”, Archiv Orientální 49 (1981), pp. 114-25. 119 This § reflects the tradition preserved with Tabari.

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25. ud pas ewag e az kust i Xvarasan ayed, wad.mar, ud awesan Padisxvargarigan spozed ud sal e cand dus-padixsayih kuned, pad sarih i awe andar Pars mardom be abisihend be ozarag i pad Kaziron darya-bariha ta be ne maned. 26. az en pas hen i Turk i was mar ud was drafs andar Eran-sahr dwarend, en Eran-sahr i abad ud hu-bod aweran kunend ud was dudag i abadan wisobend, ud was anagih ud must pad mardoman i Eran-sahr kunend ud was maniha kanend ud wisobend ud girend ta Yazdan abaxsisn kuned. 27. ud ka hromig rasend ud ewag sal padixsayih rayenend han hangam az kustag i Kawulestan ewag e ayed ke-s xvarrah pad-is az ham dudag i bagan i Kay Wahram xvanend ud hamag mardom abag awe abaz bawend ud pad-iz Hindugan ud Hrom ud Turkestan hamag kustag padixsayih kuned ud hamag abaron wirroyisnih ul dared ud Den i Zardu[x]st winardag kas pad hec wirroyisn o paydagih ne tuwan mad[an]. 28. ud andar im nihang Pesyotan i Wistaspan az kustag i Kang-Diz ayed abag e sad ud panjah mard i asowan han uzdeszar i razgah i awesan bud be kaned ud ata[x]s i Warhran pad gahwarag nisaned ud den hamag drust goyed ud winared. 29. pas panjom hazarag i Hosedaran bun bawed. Hosedar i Zardu[x]stan pad Den nimudar ud rast paygambar az Ohrmazd ayed ciyon Zardu[x]st awurd awe-z Den awared ud rawagened, tangih ud xuskih kahed ud radih ud astih ud a-kenih i hamag gehan waxsihed. 3 sal o urwaran zargonih dahed, rod i Vataeni asp zaha[g] be tazed, casmiha i zreh i Kyanseh abaz tazed, 10 roz ud sab Xvarsed pad balist i asman be ested ud gurg sardagan hamag be abesihend.120 30. Pas ka hazarag i Usedaran sar bawed, Malkos i sej-cihr i az tohmag i Tur i Bratrokes i os i Zardu[x]st bud, o patdagih rased, pad jadugdenih ud parrig kamagih sahmgen waran i Malkosan pad xvanend, kuned, 3 sal pad zamestan han i sard ud pad hamen han i garm abag amar wafr ud tagarg i dahisnih abesihenedar angon i hamag mardom *i awizarag ata[x]s be abesihend. ud pas abaz arayisnih i mardom ud gospand az War i Yim-kard bawed, en kar ray pad nihuftagih kard ested. 31. en-iz ku pad han hangam besazisnih i andar e hazar sard urwar i pad hames- tarih i e hazar sard wemarih dad ested be o do sard urwar ud ewag sard zamig rased ud kas pad wemarih ne mired be pad zarmanih ayab ozanend. 32. ud pas sasom hazarag i Hosedar- bun bawed xvanihed hazarag i Hose- darmah, ud pad han hazarag Hosedar-Mah i Zardu[x]stan pad paygambarih az Ohrmazd ayed, ciyon Zardu[x]st Den awurd awi-z awured ud andar gehan rawayened ud west roz ud sab xvarsed pad balist i asman ested, sas sal o urwaran zargonih dahed han i az. tohmag druj abesihed ku mar abag xrafstran abesihined. 33. pas nazd o hazarag sar i Hosedarmah, Dahag az band hirzag bawed. Bewarasp was dam ud dahisn pad dew-kamagih winahed. 34. ud andar han hangam Sosyans i Zardu[x]stan o paydagih rased ud si roz ud sab xvarsed pad balist i asman ested.

120 Cf. C. Cereti, The Zand i Wahman Yasn. A Zoroastrian Apocalypse, Istituto Italiano per il Medio ed Estremo Oriente, Serie Orientale Roma fondata da Giuseppe Tucci diretta da Gherardo Gnoli Vol. LXXV, Roma 1995, p. 203. See also G. Messina, S.I., I Magi a Betlemme e una predizione de Zoroastro, Sacra Scriptura Antiquitatibus Orientalibus Illustrata 3, Roma 1933, pp. 43-45.

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35. nazdist az getigan rist i Saman Karsasp ul hangezend i Bewarasp pad gad zaned ud ozaned ud az daman abaz dared, hazarag i Sosyans bun bawed, ciyon hazarag i awe i tan-kirdar panjah ud haft sal.121 36. en se pus i Zardu[x]st ciyon Hosedar ud Hosedarmah ud Sosyans ray gowed ku: “pes ku Zardu[x]st be juft eg-isan xvarrah i Zardu[x]st andar drayab i Kyanseh pad nigahdarih o aban-xvarrah i hast Anahid Yazad abespurd”. 37. “nun-iz”, gowend, ku: “se cirag i andar bun i drayab waxsid pad sab hamag wenend ud ewag ewag ka-san zamanag i xvad rased”. 38. edon bawed ka kanizag e sar sustan ray o ab i Kyanseh sawed, u-s xvarrah andar o tan gumezed, abustan bawed, awesan ewag ewag pad zamanag i xves edon zayend. About the calamities which came on Eran-Sahr in each millennium. 1. When the Stinking Spirit rushed inside (the world), at the beginning of the first millennium in the mingled state, Gaw and Gayomard were there. When Masye and Masyane sinned in ingratitude, for 50 years there was, therefrom, no issue (from them). In the same millennium, for 70 years, Husang and Tohmurap both were killing the dews; at the end of this millennium, the dews sawed Yim. 2. The other millennium has began, Az i-Dahag took over his misrule and car- ried it on for a millennium; when this millennium came to the end, Fredon seized and bound (Az i Dahag). 3. The third millennium has begun; when Fredon divided the lands, then Salm and Toz killed Erij and destroyed his children and descendants. 4. In the same millennium, Manuscihr was born and he sought the vengeance for Erij. 5. Then Frasiyab came and drove away Manuscihr with (his) Iranians to Padisxvargar with danger, want and intensive death, he killed Frya and Nodar, the sons of Manuscihr, until Eran-sahr was taken from Frasiyab through this generation (period). 6. And when Manuscihr had passed away, then Frasiyab came again and caused much tumult and desolation in Eran-sahr and held rain back from Eran-sahr until Uzaw son of Tohmasp came and drove away Frasiyab, and produced the rain which they call “the new rain”.122 7. And after Uzaw, Frasiyab afflicted again heavy evil to Eran-sahr, till Kawad sat on (the throne of) rulership. 8. During the rulership of Kayos, in the same millennium, the dews became oppressive and they came to kill Osnar and led astray the way of thinking (of Kayos), till he went to war against the sky and, having fallen downwards, his xvarrah departed from him; they, then, spoilt the world with horses and men and bound them, with deceit, together with the distinguished men of the countries123 in the land of Hamwaran.

121 Cf. Bnd 29.9, ZWY 9.22, DD 37.97. 122 Discussed, edited and translated in P. O. Skjærvø, “Zarathustra in the Avesta and in Manicheism. Irano-Manichaica IV”, in La Persia e l’Asia centrale da Alessandro al X secolo… (Roma, 9-12 novembre 1994), Roma: Academia Nazionale dei Lincei, Roma 1996, p. 597-628, p. 605. 123 I am not familiar with this usage from other sources. Is it employed in the sense of the Arabic ¨uyun?

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9. One of the Arabs, Zainigaw by name, who had venom in his eye(s), came to the rulership of Eran-Jahr, and killed with his evil-eye whomsoever he looked at; the Iranians desired Frasiyab with eagerness, and Dastun124 killed Zainigaw, and executed the rulership of Eran-sahr, and drove many people from Eran-sahr into exile125 and settled them in Turkestan, desolated and disturbed Eran-Jahr, until Rotastahm arose126 from Sagestan and captured the people of Hamwaran and released Kayos and other Iranians from exile, made new battles with Frasiyab on the Horey River which they call Ispahan, and defeated him from thence, and made many other battles with him/them, drove him/them aside and cast him/them in Turkestan, and made Eran-sahr prosperous anew. 10. Frasiyab has campaigned again and Siyawaxs came to battle; because of Sudabeh, wife of Kayos, Siyawaxs did not return to Eran-sahr; for this reason did he not come to Kayos because Frasiyab took him under his pro- tection and he came to Turkestan himself, and took a daughter of Frasiyab to wife, and Kay Husraw was born from her/him/them, and they killed Siyawaxs there. 11. During this millenium Kay Husraw killed Frasiyab and he himself went to Kang-Diz and gave the rulership to Lohrasp, and when King Wistasp has ruled for 30 years, the millennium came to the end. 12. Then the fourth millennium had begun, during this millennium Zoroaster received the Avesta / Religion from Ohrmazd and brought it forth, and Wistasp accepted it and propagated, he waged a terrible war with Arjasp and large numbers of Iranians and non-Iranians perished.127 13. During this millennium, when the sovereignty came to Wahman son of Spandidad, and Iranians were fighting among themselves, and there remained no man from the seed of sovereignty who could rule, then they seated on the (throne of) sovereignty Humay daughter of Wahman. 14. Then during the rule of Darius son of Darius, Alexander the Caesar rushed from Byzantium and came to the Iranian Realm, he killed the King Darius and the entire ruling family and the Magi and he destroyed the distinguished men128 of the Iranian Realm, extinguished a large number of Fires, he took away the Zand of the Avesta / Religion of the Mazda-worshipers and sent it to Byzantium, and he burnt the Avesta(n text itself) and divided the Iranian Realm among ninety petty kings. 15. During this millennium, Artaxsaqr129 son of came to eminence and he killed these petty kings and restored the sovereignty, propagated the Avesta / Religion of the Mazda-worshipers and established many institutions which were passed / made current in his seed (= dynasty).130 16. During the rule of Sahpuhr son of Ohrmazd the Arabs came and they seized the river-bank of Horey, and for many years they made razziahs on Ahwaz,131

124 Note the Farsian form of the name. 125 burdag = exile, also in JPrs. 126 Anklesaria: “started”. 127 The reading and translation of this problematic word are tentative. 128 Cf. note 123 above. 129 An elaborated historical spelling: {rtxstl, with s dotted. 130 Note the ignorance of the Arsacids. 131 Ahwar?

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until Sahpuhr came to power, drove away the Arabs and took from them the Realm, destroyed many Arabs kings and converted132 them in large numbers. 17. During the rule of Peroz son of Yazdgird there was no rain for six years and people came to much harm and hardship.133 18. Again, Xvasnawaz the king of the came and killed Peroz, and Kawad and (his) sister brought a Fire to the Hephthalites as security. 19. During the rule of Kawad, Mazdag son of Bamdad came to eminence and established the Mazdakite Law, he deceived Kawad and led him astray, and he ordered to keep women and children and property in common possession and in co-partnership and to abandon the Avesta / Religion of the Mazda- worshipers, until Husraw of Immortal , son of Kawad, came to maturity and killed Mazdag and restored the Avesta / Religion of the Mazda-worshipers, he drove away those chiefs who used to make inroads into the Iranian Realm, he closed the passage134 and made the Iranian Realm secure. 20. And when the reign came to Yazdgrid, he ruled for twenty years, then the Arabs rushed into Iran in large numbers: Yazdgird is not flowering135 in the battle against them; he went to Xvarasan and Turkestan to ask there for support in horses and men, and they killed him there. 21. The son of Yazdgird went to and brought a large army; before its (the army’s) arrival in Xvarasan, he went into exile and this large army was disturbed and the Iranian Realm remained in the hands of the Arabs; they promoted their own law of evil religion and caused destruction of many cus- toms of the ancients, they humiliated the Religion of the Mazda-worshipers and instituted corpse-washing, corpse-burying, corpse-eating. 22. And since the creation till today, there came no calamity more severe. For because of their misdeeds – want and desolation, and because of acts of violence, bad laws and bad religiosity – want and other harm made their abode (in Iran). 23. (The Avesta) says: “Their (wicked) misrule finish”.136 24. An army will come with red ensigns and red banners, and will seize Pars and the districts of the Iranian Realm upto Babylon, and they will humiliate the Arabs.137

132 This meaning of “to convert into a religion” is well attested in the Zand texts. The role played by Arabs in the described period on the Iranian frontiers was rather unimportant; e.g., in 591 the Ghassanid Arabs invaded, on their own, into Iran. A decade later (circa 604?), after the Lakhmid principality was dismantled by Xusraw II and Nu¨man III died in prison, the Bakr tribe, allied with other Bedouins, defeated the Persians in the famous battle of Dhu Qar. However, it seems that the compiler of this particular passage seems to have projected the situation during the early stage of the Muslim Arab conquest of Iran backwards in time, and does not refer to such border-episodes. The suggestion made by him that many Arabs converted into may be defined as sort of “[pseudo-]historical revenge”. 133 This very realistic situation was interpreted in apocalyptic terms in ZWY and other related texts. 134 A clear reference to the building and military activities of Xusraw Anosurwan in Darband. 135 Or, “triumphant”, skohed, historical present. 136 In this case we can see the mechanism of making a zand into a prophecy / propaganda in action. This statement enables us to understand better how similar prophecies, though of longer character, got inserted in such texts as ZWY. 137 It is very difficult not to see here a reference to Iranian Resistance movements, while the passage was modeled on the propaganda of Wahram i Coben.

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25. And then, from the direction of the East, one bad man will come; he drives away those of Padisxvargar; he will establish his wicked rule for several years; during his leadership, men in Pars will perish but few, which are on the sea-shores of Kazeron, until nobody will remain.138 26. After that, the Turkish army will rush (daevically) into Eran-sahr in large number and with many banners, will desolate this prosperous and sweet- smelling Iranian Realm, will disintegrate many thriving families, will inflict much harm and distress to the men of Eran-sahr, and will eradicate, disinte- grate, and seize many mansions, until God will have mercy. 27. And when the Byzantines will arrive and execute the government for a year, at that time, one will come from the frontiers of Kabulistan, with whom there will be the Glory (xvarrah), also of the royal family, whom they will name Kay Wahram, and all men will return with him, and he will rule even over Hindustan, Hrom, Turkestan, over all the frontiers; he will remove all impi- ous beliefs and having restored the revelation of Zoroaster, no one will dare to come in public with any other . 28. And in the same period, Pesyotan son of Wistasp will come from the direc- tion of Kang-Diz, with a hundred and fifty righteous men; he will eradicate the idol-temple which was their secret place, will establish the Warhran Fire in its cradle and will properly proclaim and restore the Revelation. 29. Then the fifth millennium, that of Hosedar, will begin. Hosedar son of Zoro- aster will come from Ohrmazd as the exposer of the Avesta / Religion and the true messenger. Just as Zoroaster had brought (the Avesta / Religion), he, too, will bring and propagate the Avesta / Religion, distress and drought will decrease, liberality, peace, non-envy will grow in the whole world. He will provide to the plants the three years long greenness and the river Vataeni will flow with the strength of a horse, the springs of the lake Kyanseh will flow again, for ten days and nights the Sun will stand at the summit and the wolf species will be annihilated. 30. Then, when the fifth millennium, of Usedar, will end, there will occur Malkos of dangerous race, of the seed of Tur son of Bratrokes, who inflicted death on Zoroaster; he will produce, through (his) sorceruous religion and parrig-demonical desire, the awful rain which they call “that of Malkos”, for three years, in the cold winter and in the hot summer, with innumerable snow and hail, which are destroyers of creation, so that all the people of divine assistance will perish in fire. The there will be again restoration of

138 This passage seems to be heavily distorted. It may refer to Kawad or to Wahram i Coben or to someone else. However, it looks like the passage is out of place here. The next passage refers nevertheless clearly to Kawad’s Mazdakite tendencies and to events prior to Wahram’s vic- tory over the Turks (cf. now D. D.Y. Shapira, “On Scriptural Sources of ’s Teachings”, Name-ye Iran-e Bastan. International Journal for Ancient 5/1&2 (2005-6), pp. 63- 82. The beginning of the next passage is a later addition, added to a piece of Wahramian agit- prop; the reference to the royal xvarnah is especially interesting here, as well as the idea that of the Arsacid Restoration (mardom abag awe abaz bawend). The idea that Wahram will restore the ancient faith and impious beliefs refers to the opposition of the Zoroastrian to “Christian sympathies” of Hormizd dethroned by Wahram, and the ban on circulation in public (o paydagih) of heretical teachings (“beliefs”, hec wirroyisn) such as unauthorized (i.e., non-Sasanian) Zands. It is in this context that the Pesotan “small apocalypse” appears, when his function seems very much parallel to that of Wahram. Pesotan is supposed, inter alia, to restore the Warhranian Fire, the Fire of Wahram.

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men and cattle from the Yima-made Vara, which had been built in conceal- ment for this function / purpose. 31. This, too, that at that time the healing created inside one thousand of differ- ent herbs, in opposition to one thousand of different maladies, will come over to two different herbs and one kind of earth, and nobody will die of disease, but through old age or when killed. 33. Then, near the end of Hosedar-Mah’s millennium, Dahag will be free from fetters; Bewarasp will spoil many creatures and creation with the daevic desire. 34. And at that time, Sosyans son of Zoroaster will appear and for thirty days and nights, the Sun will stand at the zenith of the sky. 35. They will first, of (all the) beings of this world, raise the dead body of Karsasp son of Sam,139 who will smite Bewarasp with the mace and kill (him), and withhold him from the creatures; the millennium of Sosyans will begin, as the millennium of this mighty one (tan-kirdar) (begins at) 57 years. 36. (The Avestan Text) says of these three sons of Zardu[x]st, namely Hosedar, Hosedar-Mah and Sosyans: “Before Zardu[x]st has wedded / coupled,140 they had consigned / entrusted the Glory of Zardu[x]st into the lake of Kyanseh for safekeeping to the Glory-of Waters, that is to praiseworthy (-) Anahid”. 37. “Even now”, they say, “three lamps are glowing in the bottom of the lake, everyone can see them at night, and every (lamp) will arrive at its own period.” 38. This will thus happen when a maiden will go to the waters of (the lake) Kyanseh, to wash her head, and the Glory will mingle within her body, she will become pregnant, and they (the future Saviors) will be born, each at his own time.

APPENDIX IV

The text of the Middle Persian composition -Namag exists in two recensions: 1) as Chapter 16 of Ayadgar i Jamaspig141 (henceforth AyJ) and 2) as an independent composition under the name Jamasp-Namag proper (hence- forth JN),142 which was extremely popular among the Parsees, to the extent that it was translated into Gujarati. This composition consists a prophecy about the end of the Zoroaster’s millennium, accompanied by the coming of Pesotan and Hosedar; parallels with numerous passages preserved in ZWY are so

139 A split of one figure into two, see above. 140 juftan. 141 G. Messina, Libro apocalittico persiano Ayatkar i Zamaspik, Biblica et Orientalia 9, Roma 1939; M. Boyce, “Ayatkar i Jamaspig”, EIr II, ed. E. Yarshater, London & New York, 1987, pp. 127-8. 142 See H.W. Bailey, “To the Zamasp-Namak I-II”, BSOS 6 (1930-32): 55-85, 581-601, with addenda, ib., 822-4 & 948 [reprinted, without the Addenda, in Bailey 1981, Opera Minora I, ed. M. Nawabi, 1981: 22-55, 57-76]; É. Benveniste, “Une apocalypse pehlevie: Le Zamasp- Namak”, RHR 106 (1932), pp. 337-80

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impressive that there can be hardly any doubt about the common written Zand sources of both AyJ 16 = JN and ZWY; however, in JN there are some peculiar details. Benveniste 1932 established the poetic character of JN and linked it to other Iranian and non-Iraian apocalyptical texts. AyJ as a whole has various sources: chapters 2-3, e.g., derive ultimately from lost Avestan texts, similar to those that were among sources of Bd. In 3.6-7 it is stated that Ohrmazd’s creation of the six Amesa Spentas was like lamps being lit one from another, being an interesting tradition unattested otherwise. In AyJ 15.5-6 it is said that after Alexander the rule will pass to xusraw Partawan, “the renowned Parthians”, then Iran will prosper. As it is at odds with the standard Sasanian slander of the Arsacid rule, a Parthian transmission of some of the material can be suggested. Other material is of Persian origin, notably the Sasanian king-list up to Yazdgird III in AyJ 15.7-27. Here excerpts from the text will be given only in English, as the transcribed Pahlavi is easily available in the Bailey’s and Messina’s editions. The synthetic text presented here is not, of course, an attempt to reconstruct the “real Urtext”, but merely an attempt to demonstrate the different components of this composition. The borders between fragments are sometimes difficult to be established, thus there is some degree of overlap- ping in treating the different strata of the composition.

Jamasp-Namag 1. Wistasp asked, saying: “How many years will this Pure Religion endure, and afterwards what times and seasons will come?”. 2. Jamasp, the viceroy, said: “It will endure a thousand years. 3. Then those men who are at that time will all become covenant-breakers”.

This introduction is, of course, parallel to both introductions to ZWY, but the persons of the drama are Jamasp and Wistasp, as in AyZ, not Ohrmazd and Zoroaster as in ZWY.143 19. And the younger brother will strike the elder brother, and will take his wealth, and for his wealth will make false statement. 20. And a woman will commit mortal sin against her own life. 21. And the inferior and obscure man will come into notice. 22. And wrong and false witness and lies will abound. 23. By night one with another they will eat bread and drink wine, and walk in friendship, and next day they will plot one against the life of the other and plan evil. 24. And in that evil time him who has no children they deem fortunate, but him who has children they hold cheap in their eyes.

143 Cf. D. Shapira, “Irano-Slavono-Tibetica: Some Notes on Saxaisa, , Lord Gshen-rab, , and a Modern Myth”, Xristianskij Vostok NS 3(9), (St. Petersbourg & Moscow 2002), pp. 308-317.

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25. And many men will go into exile and foreign lands and fall into distress. 26. And the atmosphere will be confounded and cold wind and hot wind will blow. 27. And the fruit of the plants will become less, and earth will be without fruit. 28. And the earth will be corrupt and injurious and will cause much desolation. 29. And unseasonable rain will fall, and that which falls will be unprofitable and bad. 30. Clouds will gather over the sky. 33. And every man who has little good, for him life becomes more savourless and more evil.

For this section, compare ZWY 4.16ff.: ZWY 4.16….the Sun’s rays will be very level and much concealed, and the year, month and day will be shorter. ZWY 4.17. And Spendarmat the Earth will be very narrow, and the roads will be very intricate. ZWY 4.19. And the plants, trees and shrubs will diminish… ZWY 4.42. And it will not be possible for a fortunate cloud and the holy wind to produce rain at the proper time and season. ZWY 4.43. A gloomy cloud shall benight the whole sky. ZWY 4.44. The hot wind and the cold wind will arrive and carry away the crops and the seeds of crops. ZWY 4.45. The rain, too, will not rain at the proper season; it will rain the noxious creatures more than water. ZWY 4.46. And the water of rivers and springs will diminish and it will have no increase.

To JN again: 34. A small house, being built, will pass for a mansion. 35. A horseman will become a man on foot, and the man on foot a horseman. 36. Slaves will walk in the path of nobles. 37. Save through Yazdan, nobility is not a guest in any body. 40. The youth swiftly will become an old man. 41. And everyone who rejoices in his own bad deeds, they will hold in his privi- lege. 46. And the men who are born in that evil time will be harder than hard iron and brass, save that they are likewise blood and flesh they will be harder than stone. 47. And mockery and defilement will be an ornament. 48. And everyone will turn to strange ways and kinship with Ahriman the evil. 49. And the covenant-breakers will work injury at that time. 50. Swiftly and speedily their hands will be given to sureties, as the streams of a river flow to the sea. 70. This too I will tell you that it is better for him who is not born from his mother, or if he is born, dies and does not see so much evil and oppression. 71. At the end of the millennium of Zoroaster they will not see the great conflict which must take place. 72. So much bloodshed must occur at that time; of mankind one part in three partsπ will not survive.

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74. Then Spendarmat will cry aloud to Ohrmad saying: “I cannot melt away this evil and badness. 75. I am turned upside down and I turn mankind here upside down”. 76. Wind and fire injure men, by reason of the great grief and wrong they do to them. 77. Then Mithra and Xesm will fight together in that conflict. 78. An evil spirit who is called Wad-Yawagan (causer of bad crops) was bound during the reign of Yima, but escaped from his bonds in the reign of Bewarasp. 79. Bewarasp had conference with that evil spirit. 80. Now the work of that evil spirit is this: he diminishes the crop of corn. 81. Had it not been for that evil spirit, whosoever had sown one bushel would have received 4,000 bushels of corn. 82. 496 years Mithra attacks that evil spirit, and thereafter whosoever sows one bushel, puts 400 bushels in his granary. 97. By the might of the gods and the Iranian Splendor of the Kavis and the Mazda-worshipping Religion and the Splendor of Padasxvargar, and Mithra and Sros and Rasn and the waters and the sacred and domestic Fires they will wage furious battle. 98. And he will prove better than they will; he will slay so many of the ene- mies, that their number cannot be counted. 99. Then Sros and Neryosang will stir up your son Pesotan by command of Ohrmazd the Creator from the Kavian Kang fortress. 100. Your son Pesotan will come with 150 disciples, whose raiment is white and black. 101. And my hand will hold the banner as far as Pars to the place where the fires and waters are established. 102. There he will perform the Yast.103. When the Yast is finished, they will pour the libation into the water and will give the libation to the fire. 104. The wicked and the demons and the Xyons will perish as in a cold winter the leaves of trees of wither. 105. The time of the wolves will pass away, and the time of the sheep will enter in. 106. Hosedar son of Zoroaster will appear to reveal the Religion, and evil will be at an end, joy and gladness and happiness will have come.

Another layer in this composition contains later additions; it seems there were several stages of glossing the old Zand, thus some pieces were deeply assimilated into the new framework: 2. Jamasp, the viceroy, said: “It (the Millennium of Zoroaster) will endure a thousand years. 3. Then those men who are at that time will all become covenant-breakers. 4. One with another they will be revengeful and envious and false. 5. And for that reason the Iranian countries will be delivered up to the Arabs and the Arabs will daily grow stronger and stronger and will seize district after district”.

The reason for the fall of the given here is astonishingly not Zoroastrian, but rather a Jewish one (or channeled through Christian

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intermediary): there a linkage is made between the behaviour of the Iranians and the transfer of their country to the Arabs, seen as a divine punishment. It is obvious that this particular passage was composed after the Arab onslaught, and what we have in these three small paragraphs is a rare opportunity to peep into the changing mood of the post-Sasanian Zoroastrianism. It is, however, not necessarily being a borrowing from the Biblical tradition, but simply a plain parallel development, demonstrating, one more time, the structural similarities between Judaism and Zoroastrianism, the two religions of a similar historical fate. 6. Men will turn to unrighteousness and falsehood, and all that they say or do will be the more profitable for themselves. 7. And from them righteous conduct will be distant. 8. For their lawlessness, these Iranian countries will come as a heavy burden to the governors of the provinces. 9. And they will store up the tale of gold and silver, and much treasure and wealth also, and all will disappear and pass out of sight. 10. And much royal treasure and wealth also will pass into the hands and posses- sion of enemies.11. And untimely deaths will abound. 12. And all the Iranian countries will fall into the hands of those enemies. 13. And Aneran and Eran will be confounded, so that the Iranian will not be distinguished from the foreigner; those who are Iranians will turn back to foreign ways.

§§ 7-14 refer to the last years of the Sasanian Empire: Turkic invasions, Byz- antines plunder the capital and the Royal treasure and the most sacred shrines, etc. It is the second part of the passage what refers to the Arab invasion, cf. § 52 below. 14. And in that evil time rich men will deem the poor fortunate, but the poor man will not himself be fortunate.144 15. And the nobles and the great will come to a savourless life.145 16. And to them death will seem as sweet as to father and mother the sight of children and to a mother a dowered daughter. 17. The daughter who is born of her she will sell for a price.146 18. And the son will strike father and mother and during his life-time will deprive him of authority in the family.147 19. And the younger brother will strike the elder brother, and will take his wealth, and for his wealth will make false statement.

§§ 7-19 refer to events after Anosurwan, interspersed with some additions of older and younger character. §§ 31-45 refer to the earlier events:

144 A topos going back to texts about the fate of the soul in the , like AWN, cf. also ZWY 3.15-18. 145 This passage refers rather to Mazdakite extremism than to the Muslim invasion. 146 Cf. ZWY 4:15: “and the mother will be separated from the daughter and will be of a dif- ferent will”. 147 Perhaps a reference to the excesses of forced islamization.

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31. And the scribe will come with bad writing.148 32. And everyone will repudiate word and statement, covenant and agreement. 38. And the men of that Great House.149 will turn to mockery and iniquity and know not the flavour of wealth. 39. And for them affection and love will be towards the despised man.150 42. And the several districts and provinces and cultivated tracts one with another will struggle in conflict. 43. And from another he will take a thing as plunder.151 44. And the contentious and greedy and violent man they will deem good, but wise man of good faith they will hold as demoniac. 45. And the several persons will not attain their desires according to their needs.152

§§ 51-57 refer to the events of the post-Sasanian period: 51. And the fires of the Iranian countries will come to an end and be extin- guished. 52. And treasure and wealth will come into the hands of foreigners, and all will become men of evil faith.153 53. And they will amass much wealth, but they will not enjoy the fruit of it. 54. And it will all pass into the hands of unprofitable governors. 55. And everyone will disapprove the work done by the other. 56. And the harshness and evil of those men will come upon these. 57. They will hold life savourless and death of refuge. 58. Then there will arise in the land of Xvarasan an insignificant and obscure man who will go forth in great power, and with him many men and horses, and sharp lances, and the land will be made his own by violence and dominion. 59. He himself in the midst of his dominion will fail and pass out of sight. 60. The whole sovereignty will pass from men of the Iranian countries and will go to foreigners.154 61. And doctrines and laws and ways of life will abound. 62. The slaying of one by the other they will consider a merit and the slaying of men will be a slight thing.

The §§ 63-6 tell us that a victorious king (Abarwez Xvaday), obviously Peroz II, will vanquish the Byzantium:

148 §§ 31-32 are undoubtedly a form of criticism on written texts seen as unorthodox. It seems to be no coincidence that in the same text that accuses scribes of composing wrong texts, a statement is found that the real secrets regarding the eschaton shall be revealed by Mithra, cf. JN 88-89. 149 The term used, wis, refers perhaps to the Parthian royal family. 150 Ardasir? Wahram Coben? 151 In §§ 42-43, the civil wars of the last decades of Sasanian Iran are refered to. 152 In §§ 44-45, references to Mazadkism? 153 The Arab onslaught is meant, cf. §§ 9-10, 13. 154 §§ 59-60 are possibly to be emended: *He, himself, in the midst of his dominion will pass from men of the Iranian countries and will go to the foreigners”, applying thus possibly to Wahram.

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63. And this too I will tell you that it will be at that time: that victorious155 king will seize in the land of Byzantium.156 Much territory and many cities and will carry off much treasure at one time from the land of Byzantium. 64. Then that victorious king will die, and thenceforth his sons will sit in sover- eignty and will guard the land with bravery.157

The §§ 65-69 confused the sons of Peroz I with the sons of Peroz II, thus exposing the real niveau of the historical [non-]awareness: 65. And they will deal very fiercely and lawlessly with the men of the Iranian countries. 66. And much wealth of all kinds will pass into their hands. 67. Afterwards they too will perish and have no success. 68. In that evil time affection and reverence will not exist. 69. Among them the great will not be distinct from the small nor the small from the great, and they will not assist one another.

A post-Sasanian passage again: 70. This too I will tell you that it is better for him who is not born from his mother, or if he is born, dies and does not see so much evil and oppression. 73. Those Arabs will be confounded with Byzantines and Turks and they will desolate the world.

Here follows a dislocated paragraph taken from a broader description of the Frasgird. The parallel version, PRDD 48.70 & 86,158 speaks, however, of Sahre- war, the of metals, but it acts there in close association with Spandarmat: 83. At that time Spendarmat will open her mouth, and will bring abundant jewels and metals to the light. 84. Afterwards a man will arise from the southern159 quarter who will seek dominion and will have an army and troops equipped and will seize lands by violence and cause much bloodshed until his affaires satisfy his desires.

155 Possibly, a reference to eschatological expectations about Peroz II. “Profitable Victor”, sudomand perozgar, is one of the Middle Persian renderings of the Avestan name of the Coming Savior, Saosyan† Astva†-¢r¢ta, cf. Denkard &.10.15-17 (M. Molé, La Legende de Zoroastre selon les Textes Pehlevis, Travaux de l’Institut d’Études Iraniennes de l’Université de Paris 3, ed. J. de Menasce, Paris 1967, pp. 100-101; cf. also C. Colpe, “Sethian and Zoroastrian Ages of the World”, The Rediscovery of II, ed. B.Layton, Leiden, Brill, 1981: 540-552). 156 Cf. DkM 748.13-15 (M. Shaki, “Two Middle Persian Legal Terms for Private Property”, Mémorial , ed. Ph. Gignoux / A. Tafazzoli (Fondation Culturelle Iranienne 185), Louvain, 1974: 327-336 (p. 334): abar madan i zamig, xvastag ud tis i aneran dast o [w]aspuhragan xvesih i ewag az Eran, “on the coming of land, property or anything, held by foreigners, into the private (absolute) ownership of one of Iran”. 157 cerih. Bailey, having been influenced by § 65, has “violence”. 158 See A.V. Williams, The Pahlavi Rivayat Accompanying the Dadestan i Denig, Vls. 1-2, Historisk-filosofiske Meddelelser 60:1, Det Kongelige Danske Videnskabernes Selskab, Copen- hagen 1990. 159 According to some traditions surviving in Arabic texts, Wahram Cobin came from Nemroz, the South, or Pars, see K. Czeglédy, “Bahram Cobin and the Persian Apocalyptic Tradition”, Acta Orientalia Academiae Scientiorum Hungaricae 3 (1958), pp. 21-43, p. 34 n. 68.

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85. Then at last he will flee from the land of his enemies to Zabul and go to that district. 86. Thence, an army being equipped, he will return and thenceforward the men of the lranian countries will fall into grievous despair. 87. Great and small will fall to seeking remedies and will look to a refuge for their own soul.

The next two paragraphs were dealt with differently.160 In my opinion, the Last Things to be revealed is a military stratagem for an eschatological battle. The setting of that passage (which I see as a kind of a Zand to Y 48.3161) in a context of war preparations, confirms this view: 88. Afterwards in Padasxvargar, near the sea-shore, a man will see the god Mithra162 and the god Mithra will tell many hidden secrets to that man. 89. And Mihr Yazad will tell many hidden secrets to that man.

The last portion is a of a late Sasanian apocalypse arranged from different strata. It is almost impossible to single out different sources, as they became interwoven: 90. He will send him with a message to the King of Padasxvargar, saying: “Why do you support that king, deaf and blind? Now do you too act as king even as the fathers and forefathers of you and yours have done”. 91. That man will say: “How should I be able to exercise dominion, since I have not the troops and army and treasure and generals such as my father and forefathers had?”. 92. The messenger will say: “Come, that I may deliver up to you the treasure and wealth of your fathers and forefathers”. 93. And he will show him the vast treasure of Frasyab.

160 See G. Messina, Libro apocalittico persiano Ayatkar i Zamaspik, Biblica et Orientalia 9, Roma 1939, p. 73; H.W. Bailey, “To the Zamasp-Namak I-II”, BSOS 6 (1930-32): 55-85, 581- 601, with addenda, ib., 822-4 & 948 [reprinted, without the Addenda, in Bailey 1981, Opera Minora I, ed. M. Nawabi, Shiraz 1981: 22-55, 57-76], p. 584; Sh. Shaked, “Esoteric Trends in Zoroastrianism”, Proceedings of the Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities III, Jerusalem 1969, pp. 175-221, p. 207; J.R. Russell, “The Dream Vision of Anania Sirakac}i”, REArm 21 (1988-89), pp. 159-170 (= J.R. Russell, Armenian and Iranian Studies, Harvard Armenian Texts and Studies, 9, Armenian Heritage Press, Cambridge, Mass 2004, pp. 293-304), p. 166 / p. 300 n. 19; cf. Sh. Shaked, Dualism in Transformation. Varieties of Religion in Sasanian Iran, Jordan Lectures 1991, School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, London 1994, p. 74 n. 5. 161 Cf. 48:3: sp¢nto viduua yaeci† guzra s¢ngha∞ho, “[the munificent holy ], who knows even the secret proclamations”, where the Pahlavi version has abzonig agah [han herbed] ke han-iz nihaniha saxvan [i ahlamogiha u-s carag be gowed, “He will tell secret things concerning and its remedy”. In the Yasna, it is Ohrmazd who reveals the tidings, in or passage, however, as in all the parallels dealing with the final smiting Azdahag, it is Mithra, the old military deity, who plays a prominent role. 162 The notion of meeting Mithra on the shore appears a couple of times in Pahlavi texts, although the meaning remains obscure; however, note the Arabic loanword from Iranian, unno- ticed so far as such, muhurqan, “see-shore”.

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The treasures of Frasyab may refer here to the loot assembled by Wahram i Coben from the Turks, but also to the eschatological idea expressed in other sources163 as “exposing the precious metals by Spendarmat”. It seems that the last paragraphs refer to the existence of a small Sasanian kingdom of Pu-sso, under the Chinese aegis, some decades after 651 CE. The Sasanian king ruling there is referred to as Pesotan, the descendant of Wistasp; this piece is an example of how Wahramian propaganda was reworked to express “Messianic” hopes after the Arab onslaught:164 94. When he brings the treasure into his hand, he prepares the army and troops to Zabul, and advances against his enemies. 95. When the news reaches his enemies, Turk and Arab and Roman will come together, saying: “I will seize the King of Padasxvargar and I will take that treasure and wealth from that man”. 96. Then that man when he hears the news, with a large army and troops of Zabul will come to the center of the Iranian countries and with those men on that plain, where you, O Wistasp, fought165 with the White Xyons in the White Forest, they will struggle in battle with the King of Padasxvargar.

To resume: the Arabs as referred to in 12-19, 51-57, 73, 95; pieces going back to the Wahramian propaganda are traceable in 58-62 and perhaps in 39-43 and 94-96. Thus, mostly the same pieces underwent the process of adding new material.

163 Cf. below. 164 See K. Czeglédy, “Bahram Cobin”, Antik Tanulmányok IV (1957), pp. 301-302; idem, “Bahram Cobin and the Persian Apocalyptic Tradition”, Acta Orientalia Academiae Scientiorum Hungaricae 3 (1958), pp. 21-43. 165 The past tense form used indicates that the setting of this fragment is different from that given in AyZ, where the minister prophesizes before the battle.

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