A. Cantera (ed.), The Transmission of the Avesta, Wiesbaden 2012

364 Besprechungen possibly gšud rather than gšudg (p. 104).4 A few typesetting mistakes have occurred as is inevitable in such complex texts, examples are bud for bd (p. 44), mardm for mardn (p. 65), and §98 where abhg is quite out of place (p. 63). In conclusion this excellent book provides certainly what from now on will be the standard edition of the Husraw  Kawadn ud rdag-, a short, but important Middle Persian text, therefore replacing D. Monchi-Zadeh, “Xusrv i Kavtn ut Redak. Pahlavi Text, Transcription and Translation”, Monumentum Georg Morgenstierne II, ed. J. Duchesne Guillemin, [Acta Iranica 22], Leiden 1982, pp. 47-91, in itself an excellent and for its time innovative textual edition. Carlo G. Cereti (Rome) C a n t e r a , A l b e r t o (ed.): The Transmission of the Avesta. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz Verlag, 2012. (Iranica 20). XX+552 S. ISBN 978-3-447-06554-2. 116,00€. This publication is an impressive achievement of the Avestan philology and related fields (palaeography, linguistics, literature, history of religion), and languages of the Zoroastrian transmission (Pahlavi, Sanskrit, Pazand, New Persian, Guajarati) of such a text. Various scholarly points of view, most of them up-to-date, have here been collected, with a look at the history of the discipline (Westergaard, Geldner, Bailey, Henning, Morgenstierne, Hoffmann, Humbach, Narten) and at actual problems and future perspectives. The book includes the proceedings of the midterm Salamanca Conference of the Societas Iranologica Europæa (September 2009) and other workshops done in the context of the Corpus Avesticum Project, as well as preliminary issues addressed. The focal point of the Preface puts emphasis on the rediscovering of the importance of the Avestan manuscripts, joined to the relevance of the oral character (in the footsteps of Milman Parry’s methodology) pertaining to the transmission of the Avestan texts, as a ritual corpus with a ritual structure. So the very fitting label of “performative philology” (p. XI) posits a new and fresh approach to the study of Avesta: the oral texts exist only through their performance and it is only through it that they can be understood, given the central role of rituality and cultic performance of the Avestan texts and manuscripts. That implies the consideration of the oral composition, ranging from standard conservativism to innovation, from traditional clichés to poetical creativity, within an heritage of expressions of IndoIranian and Indo-European origin (according to the well-known studies of Schmitt, Schlerath, Nagy, Watkins, and recently Sadovski). The volume is divided into four sections. 1. The first part of the volume (“From the Oral Composition to the Writing down of the Avestan Texts”) starts with an article of P. O. Skjærvø dedicated to the Zoroastrian oral tradition as reflected in the texts (pp. 3-48), where he criticizes the inherited terminology of Classical philology (“author”, “original”, “composition”) and 4 Carlo G. Cereti, “Avestan names and Words in Middle Persian Garb”, in C. G. Cereti and M. Maggi (eds.), Orientalia Romana 8: Middle Iranian Lexicography. Proceedings of the Conference held in Rome, 9-11 April 2001. Roma 2005, pp. 237-252. Iranistik 365 the concept of “edition” as a distorted image of a text and of its ritual usage, improper to understand the structure of an Avestan text accompanying a certain ritual. According to a new methodology, we do not read today what was recited centuries ago and the need is not to analyse the texts to determine the original and added pieces: on the contrary, we do look at how the short or long ready-made building blocks of text were assembled and how new text was added as a “mortar” to hold them together. J. Kellens (pp. 49-58) revises his seminal article of 1998 (Journal Asiatique 286, 2), with an emendation of three points (chronology of three phases of canonization; the alleged doctrinal debates because of historical events, e.g. the king vs. the magi; the Yasna as a designation of the liturgy of 72 chapters). K. also put forward a new topic of discussion: a few Yašts (Y. 57. 2-8; Y. 57. 19-26; Yt. 10. 8894) reveal a cultic recitation of the Old Avestan texts with some key-words denoting a strong likeness with the Yasna of the so-called “Avesta Ausgabe”. This fact suggests a good reception of the Yasna and its conceptual framework during the Yašts composition and within a long process of elaboration, with variants, troubles and resetting of textual materials. The Yasna with its variants must have been existing long time before the idea of the Avesta collected in the virtual and alleged “Sasanian Avesta”. U. Remmer (pp. 56-69) approaches the language and composition of the Avestan prayer formulas in Niyiš 1, transmitted in the Khorda Avesta for the daily office of lay-people. It remains unclear whether the text was established during the oral phase of the tradition or after the invention of the Avestan script, even if the mixture of phraseologies of different styles and linguistic chronological layers is evident from other late Avestan texts. The Ny. 1.1 must then have been created by a cleric who used the Older Avesta as it existed in his day, by arranging the Y. 42.1 or Y. 34.5 by mixing in late Avestan phraseology (Y. 72.10). A. Panaino (pp. 70-97) deals with the age of the Avestan canon and the origin of the ritual written texts. He proposes that when the ancestral codices (Stammhandschriften) of our sources were prepared, the Zoroastrian priests probably still had at their disposal texts of different nature: part of the Nasks with Avestan and Pahlavi translations, from which many Avestan minor texts of limited or without any ritual importance were copied; the ritual texts of the long and short liturgies unabridged and without their Pahlavi translations; as in the case of the Wdwdd, some ritual versions accompanied by the Zand should have existed. Probably the high priests’ families committed the preparation of these practical sources (considered a prestigious possession) during the Sasanian period and increasingly after the collapse of the Sasanian empire, and in the 9th century a group of ancestral manuscripts belonging to one prominent Zoroastrian priestly school, have been the starting point for the Stammhandschriften: copied not only to save the texts but also to teach the priests in other regions, to help believers to uphold a correct ritual after the end of the empire. X. Tremblay (pp. 98-135) provides a masterpiece of Avesta criticism and history of research, with an in-depth analysis of the tradition (Pahlavi texts) and by quoting other texts concernig the oral and written transmission of the Avesta (Manichaean and Syriac Christian texts); with a balanced treatment of the philological discipline mixed with other epistemological tools, such as the genetics of populations, in order to draw a cautious conclusion against the illusion of an erroneous reconstruction: is the Avesta a text? Does it depend on literary criticism? No. The Avesta is a constellation of compilations of texts, used for 366 Besprechungen liturgical purposes and without stylistic coherence: with the primary aim to perform the sacrifice to obtain immortality and the final victory against Evil; and also to provide the minor prayers to attack Evil by means of a sacralization of time (hours, days, seasons). E. Pirart (pp. 136-162) analyses the metrical structure and the history of the Avesta, to stress that the Pahlavi traditions do mention the verses and strophes of the Gs but without giving evidence of the syllabic computation or of any prosodic criteria to arrange the verses, with the exception of Visprad 14.1 quoting the “feet”. A survey of manuscripts (F1) points to a use of diacritical signs to mark the octosyllabism in the Yašts and claims for a desideratum in future editions: to notice such devices of prosodic division in the manuscript investigation and to report it as a further point of textual criticism. 2. The second part (“The Manuscripts and their Analysis”) collects ten articles going into detail of manuscript collections and textual investigation. K. Mazdapour (pp. 165-172) presents twelve newly found Avestan manuscripts (mainly of Wdwdd, Khorda Avesta and Yasna) in Iran, the oldest of which belong to the Safavid period. He makes an appeal for a better preservation, given the danger of destruction (termites and smugglers) and unfitting conditions of storage. U. Sims-Williams (pp. 173-194) submits a history of the three most important collections of Zoroastrian manuscripts in the British Library of London, namely of Thomas Hyde (mid-17th century), Samuel Guise (late-18th century) and Burjorji Sorabji Ashburner (second half of the 19th century). F. Jahanpour (pp. 195-196) presents a Wdwdd manuscipt of the Astan-Qods Library, written on old yellow-coloured paper of Safavid invention. F. Kotwal, with D. Sheffield (pp. 197-206), outline the history of the First Dastoor Meherjirana Library in Navsari, from the time of this dastur living under the rule of Mughal emperor Akbar until the present day, describing the complex building of the library and its collection, as a very important institution for Zoroastrian studies. M. A. Andrés-Toledo and A. Cantera (pp. 207-243) list a complete inventory of the Wdwdd manuscripts, grouped according to known locations and unknown locations. A. Hintze (pp. 244-278) surveys 178 manucripts of the Yasna and Yasna  Rapithwin. A. Cantera (pp. 279-346) approaches the genealogical relations between the manuscripts of Wdwdd, also pointing to important features of extralinguistic topics (p. 289), such as geometrical, animal and vegetal decorations, or sketches of human figures inside the manuscripts, trying to detect the interaction between ritual and copying activities. He also provides a criticism of Lachmannian principles of philology. He puts forward a different methodology based on a Coherence-Based-Genealogical Method (CBGM), considering the number of total agreements in preservation and variation/and the time factor (relative chronology) of a genealogical coherence (based on mistakes and analysis of errors). J. Martínez Porro (pp. 347-354) analyses the manuscripts of the family of L4 by using the CBGM method, to reconstruct the textual flow for the copies of L4. G. König (pp. 355-394) traces the textual history of the Bayn Nask and its ritual usage. J. José Ferrer (pp. 395-415) examines the Avestan quotations of the Pahlavi translation in the Wdwdd Sde tradition and their use to highlight the transmission history of this text, showing a mutual influence with different degrees between the oral and the written traditions (especially of the Pahlavi exegesis). The inclusion of Avestan quo- Iranistik 367 tations from the Pahlavi translation, within the recitation of the Wdwdd liturgy, appears to be an Indian phenomenon. 3. The third part (“The Edition of the Avesta”) is inaugurated by A. Hintze (pp. 419-432) and her criticism of Geldner’s work (mistaken in collations, perpetuation of errors, inaccuracies and even confusion of manuscript siglas, e.g. P2 and P10). Hintze proposes as new criteria: a fresh collation of manuscripts; to take into account new manuscripts, especially those from Iran which were underrepresented in Geldner’s edition; to trace their history (scribal traditions, scribal schools, scribal errors, palaeographical typologies, psychological factors of conscious/unconscious changes). The need target is: to establish the earliest possible form of the text, on the basis of all available evidence, according to the most probable historical conditions of the Avesta, as it was written down for the first time in the script in which it has survived to the present day. M. A. Andrés-Toledo (pp. 433-438) presents a revision of Geldner based on: criticism of collatio, survey of contradictions between Prolegomena and Edition (Geldner did not mention all the important mss. of each text in the critical notes). As a consequence, we cannot discern the agreements in mss. belonging to the same class with the edited word; we do not have enough information in the critical notes to revise the stemmata codicum. Emendations and words above the line or in the margin by the same hands are usually not recorded; second and even third hand emendations are not distinguished; differences in the dots of the words are not marked; many variants of his critical notes are not actually found as such in the manuscripts. A. Cantera (pp. 439-475) approaches the need of a new edition of Zoroastrian long liturgy, stressing the interrelations between copying, ritual practice and ritual teaching. He emphasizes the role of the recent discovery of Avestan mss. in Iran as the most important touchstone to check the readings of the Indian mss. The insufficient analysis of the mss. and the deficiencies in the text constitution are the main argument for a new edition trying to solve all the principal weaknesses of available editions. 4. In the final part (“The Transmission and Edition of Other Zoroastrian Texts”): K. Rezania (pp. 479-494) investigates the reasons of canonization and the shifting between the concepts of “orthodoxy” and “heresy” related to Mazdakism and his doctrine opposite to the institutional religion, although not an heresy but one of the several lines of interpretation which provoked a reaction and a reset of the Avestan canonisation, with internal debates between different opinions and different exegesis of the Zand. G. König (pp. 497-518) examines the Pahlavi translation of Yašt 14, pointing out to incompatibilities between the Avestan language and the translator’s world of thought: the translators of the Pahlavi version might have used materials stemming from other translations (a Middle Persian source, common to the Pahlavi and New Persian translations), with a tendency toward archaisms, and sometimes with folk etymologies (e.g. a cross-fade between vr nahe and vrra nahe). M. Macuch (pp. 519-537) deals with the editing of Pahlavi legal texts, to understand the transmission and adaptation of the Zoroastrian juridical terminologies in the Sasanian periods. Moving from the Hrbedestn 9.8 and the Avestan term a adit“abandonment”  Pahlavi adwadd, with the meaning of “lacking”, she reconstructs a semantic development from the abandonment to the lacking of sustenance (to be legally given to individuals, sheepdogs and sacred fires) and to withdrawing of spir- 368 Besprechungen itual nourishment, not teaching to a disciple willing to learn or giving a false teaching (misst), committing the sin of lacking offence (i.e. adwadd) with juridical consequences. J. Josephson (pp. 541-552), approaches the problems of an edition and translation of the third book of Dnkard, with a working hypothesis that this book was a manual for teaching composed in Hellenized priestly circles, being a presentation of Zoroastrian opinions on topics debated among the different religious communities between the mid-6th to mid-10th centuries. Dk 3 differs from the other Dk books with regard to its evolution and early transmission: its employing Aristotelian logic reveals the nature of a learned work, addressing questions of religious doctrines referred to Jews, Christians, Manichaean and finally Islam, and at each stage of its elaboration the text was expanded and modified with material from various sources. Andrea Piras (Bologna/Ravenna) D e v o s , B i a n c a : Presse und Unternehmertum in Iran. Die Tageszeitung I il t in der frühen Pahlav-Zeit. Würzburg: Ergon Verlag, 2012 (Mitteilungen zur Sozialund Kulturgeschichte der islamischen Welt; Band 33). 372 S. mit 38 Abbildungen. ISBN 978-3-89913-917-4. 48,00 €. Die Zeitung E el t, gegründet in Teheran im Jahre 1926, demselben Jahr, in dem Re Pahlav den Thron bestieg, existiert bis heute. Beginnend mit dem ersten der beiden Pahlav-Schahs hat sie diese Ära ebenso begleitet oder „überlebt“ wie die Iranische Revolution von 1978/79 und den mit der Etablierung der Islamischen Republik einhergehenden gesellschaftspolitischen und wirtschaftlichen Wandel. Nach den Worten von Bianca Devos ist diese Kontinuität vor allem der „herrschertreuen Haltung“ ihrer Herausgeber zu verdanken. Auch in der Islamischen Republik Iran wird die Zeitung von einer Person unternehmerisch geführt, allerdings handelt es sich hierbei inzwischen nicht mehr um einen journalistisch interessierten Geschäftsmann wie zu ihren Gründerzeiten, sondern um einen oat ol-eslm. Hiermit ist die Bedeutung von E el t grob umrissen, deren Gründung und Etablierung während der Herrschaft von Re Šh die Verfasserin in Hinblick auf ihre presse- und wirtschaftspolitische Entwicklung untersucht. Unterteilt ist die vorliegende Untersuchung in sechs große Kapitel und eine „Schlussbetrachtung“ sowie ein Quellen- und Literaturverzeichnis, ein Abbildungsverzeichnis, einen Anhang (mit Kopien von verschiedenen Dokumenten, E el t betreffend) und einen Index. Jedes Kapitel wird mit einem Fazit abgeschlossen, welches als kurze Zusammenfassung und als Überblick sehr hilfreich ist – auch wenn das Fazit des dritten Kapitels („Der iranische Staat und die Presse“) nicht im eigentlichen Sinne ein Fazit ist. Dadurch sind die einzelnen Kapitel als abgeschlossene Abschnitte zu lesen, was jedoch – auch innerhalb der Kapitel – zu Wiederholungen führt. In der Einleitung diskutiert die Verfasserin den Stand der Forschung, begründet ihren Untersuchungszeitraum, stellt ihre Quellen vor und erläutert ihre Fragestellung. E el t dient ihr als Fallbeispiel für die Entwicklung der Presse im Iran jener Zeit, wobei die Verfasserin diese Zeitung als Druckerzeugnis und Wirtschaftsunter-