Eastern Iranian language used in Zoroastrian scripture
Avestan
𐬎𐬞𐬀𐬯𐬙𐬀𐬎𐬎𐬀𐬐𐬀𐬉𐬥𐬀 upastauuakaēna
Region
Central Asia
Era
Late Bronze Age, Iron Age
Language family
Indo-European
Indo-Iranian
Iranian
Eastern Iranian
Avestan
Writing system
Avestan alphabet
Gujarati script and Devanagari script (used by Indian Zoroastrians)
Language codes
ISO 639-1
ae
ISO 639-2
ave
ISO 639-3
ave
Glottolog
aves1237
Linguasphere
58-ABA-a
Yasna 28.1, Ahunavaiti Gatha (Bodleian MS J2)
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Avestan (/əˈvɛstən/ə-VESS-tən)[1] is an umbrella term for two Old Iranian languages, Old Avestan (spoken in the 2nd to 1st millennium BC) and Younger Avestan (spoken in the 1st millennium BC). They are known only from their conjoined use as the scriptural language of Zoroastrianism; the Avesta serves as their namesake. Both are early Eastern Iranian languages within the Indo-Iranian language branch of the Indo-European language family. Its immediate ancestor was the Proto-Iranian language, a sister language to the Proto-Indo-Aryan language, with both having developed from the earlier Proto-Indo-Iranian language; as such, Old Avestan is quite close in both grammar and lexicon to Vedic Sanskrit, the oldest preserved Indo-Aryan language.
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The Avestan text corpus was composed in the ancient Iranian satrapies of Arachosia, Aria, Bactria, and Margiana,[2] corresponding to the entirety of present-day Afghanistan as well as parts of Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. The Yaz culture[3] of Bactria–Margiana has been regarded as a likely archaeological reflection of the early "Eastern Iranian" culture that is described in the Zoroastrian Avesta.
^Wells, John C. (1990), Longman pronunciation dictionary, Harlow, England: Longman, p. 53, ISBN 0-582-05383-8 entry "Avestan"
^Witzel, Michael. "THE HOME OF THE ARYANS" (PDF). Harvard University. p. 10. Retrieved 8 May 2015. Since the evidence of Young Avestan place names so clearly points to a more eastern location, the Avesta is again understood, nowadays, as an East Iranian text, whose area of composition comprised – at least – Sīstån/Arachosia, Herat, Merw and Bactria.
^Mallory, J. P. (1997). Encyclopedia of Indo-European culture. page 653. London: Fitzroy Dearborn Publishers. ISBN 978-1-884964-98-5. entry "Yazd culture".
Avestan (/əˈvɛstən/ ə-VESS-tən) is an umbrella term for two Old Iranian languages, Old Avestan (spoken in the 2nd to 1st millennium BC) and Younger Avestan...
The Avestan period (c. 1500 – c. 500 BCE) is the period in the history of the Iranians when the Avesta was produced. It saw important contributions to...
Avestan geography refers to the investigation of place names in the Avesta and the attempt to connect them to real-world geographical sites. It is therefore...
display the uncommon Unicode characters in this article correctly. The Avestan alphabet (Middle Persian: transliteration: dyn' dpywryh, transcription:...
primary collection of religious texts of Zoroastrianism, composed in the Avestan language. The Avesta texts fall into several different categories, arranged...
Iranian languages are Old Persian (from the Achaemenid Empire) and Old Avestan (the language of the Avesta). Of the Middle Iranian languages, the better...
name of an Indo-Iranian divinity that predates the Rigvedic Mitrá and Avestan Mithra. The names, and some characteristics, of these established deities...
Asha (/ˈʌʃə/) or arta (/ˈɑːrtə/; Avestan: 𐬀𐬴𐬀 Aṣ̌a / Arta) is a Zoroastrian concept with a complex and highly nuanced range of meaning. It is commonly...
transcription delimiters. This article deals with the phonology of Avestan. Avestan is one of the Iranian languages and retained archaic voiced alveolar...
Baháʼí Faith, he is also considered a prophet. He was a native speaker of Avestan and lived in the eastern part of the Iranian plateau, but his exact birthplace...
Turan (Avestan: Tūiriiānəm; Middle Persian: Tūrān; Persian: توران, romanized: Turân, pronounced [tʰuːˈɾɒːn], "The Land of Tur") is a historical region...
during the Middle Iranian era (4th century BC to 9th century AD). The Avestan language is often classified as early Eastern Iranian. As opposed to the...
exegesis in the Avestan language itself includes Yasna 19–21, which is a set of three Younger Avestan commentaries on the three Gathic Avestan 'high prayers'...
Haoma (/ˈhoʊmə/; Avestan: 𐬵𐬀𐬊𐬨𐬀) is a divine plant in Zoroastrianism and in later Persian culture and mythology. Haoma has its origins in Indo-Iranian...
The Yasna Haptanghaiti (Yasna Haptaŋhāiti), Avestan for "Worship in Seven Chapters," is a set of seven hymns within the greater Yasna collection, that...
mantras were the most common form. During the Middle Iranian period, non-Avestan prayers like the nirang and the monajat became common. In modern times...