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An Astronomical Chapter of the Bundahishn

W. B. Henning
Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society / Volume 74 / Issue 3-4 / July 1942, pp 229 248
DOI: 10.1017/S0035869X00097926, Published online: 15 March 2011

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W. B. Henning (1942). An Astronomical Chapter of the Bundahishn.
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An Astronomical Chapter of the Bundahishn

B Y W. B. HENNING

A TRANSLATION and full explanation of the complete recension

" ^ of the Bundahishn have been wanted ever since Anklesaria
in 1908 published his facsimile edition, the few Iranian scholars
having been occupied with the endless stream of fresh material
that has descended upon them since the beginning of this century.
This article contains a translation of the second chapter; the first
and third chapters were made available by Nyberg, JA., 1929, i,
206-237.
The second chapter, like few other sections of the book, allows
us a glimpse of the structure and composition of the " Bundahishn "
which are already sufficiently indicated by its correct title,
Zandagahih, i.e. exposition of information provided by the Pahlavi
version of the Avesta. It is an original work on cosmology in which
the scattered teachings of the Avesta were co-ordinated and brought
into a system by an author who, living presumably towards the
end of the Sassanian epoch,1 possessed an encyclopaedic knowledge
of the Avestic literature. The oft-repeated assertion that the
Bundahishn were the Pahlavi version of an Avestan Nask, the
Damdad Nask, is a myth. It is true that the compiler utilized also
the Damdad Nask, but only as one source among many: others
From the
are the Vendidad, Yasna, Yashts, Nyayish, etc.2
resemblance of the contents of ch. xxviii to the Hippocratical
treatise vepl ifiSo/jidSajv (believed to have been written about
420 B.C.) Goetze 3 has argued a very early date for the composition
of the Damdad Nask as the presumed source of the Bundahishn.
This cannot be accepted as proved, since there is nothing to show
that the Damdad Nask formed the sole (or even the main) source
of the Bundahishn. We are at liberty to assume that a Pahlavi
version of the Greek treatise or an epitome made-from it (translated
1
This, however, still remains to be proved. All we know is that the final chapters
(xxxi to xxxvi), regarded as a later addition by most scholars, were written in
Abbasid times; the date of ch. xxxi, a bowdlerized version of Vd., i (Pahl. tr.),
is settled by Baghdad being mentioned (205 12 ); confusion of Sulik and Sunk.
On ch. xxix see Christensen, Kayanides, 51-60.
2
For example, Vd. 2 " in 68" and 9 4 6 - ' (see below Note A); Y. 57 1 (or 3 2 0 ,
or par.) in 170 1 -"; TUtr Yt. in 6 3 ; Pahl. tr. of Nyayish 3 4 ~ 7 (pp. 29-31, ed.
Dhabhar) in 165 ; etc. For further details see Christensen, ibid., 47 sq.
3
Zeitschriftf. Indologie u. Iran., vol. ii ; supported by Reitzenstein and Schaeder,
Studien, 6 sqq., 209, et passim.

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AN ASTRONOMICAL CHAPTER OF THE BUNDAHISHN

probably under Shapur I) was among the material utilized in

ch. xxviii.1
The astronomical contents of the second chapter facilitate the
analysis of the sources at the disposal of the author. His main
source with its nearly prehistoric views (sun and moon farther distant
from the earth than the stars; size and velocity of the stars;
planets unknown, etc.) is clearly pre-Achsemenian. After contact
with the Babylonians the ecliptic, the zodiacal signs, the planets,
etc., became known. Acquaintance with Greek science, energetically
promoted by Shapur I, brought more modern ideas (e.g. stellar
magnitudes, exact data for the elongation of the planets,2 etc.).
The division of the, ecliptic into " lunar mansions " was introduced
probably as late as A.D. 500.3 The most ancient views stand beside
quite modern opinions. There is no doubt that the author of the
Bundahishn knew perfectly well that the moon is nearer to the
earth than thefixedstars ; to say so, however, against the authority
of scripture, would have branded him as a heretic.4
ON THE CREATION OF THE LIGHTS
s

[A 25 , W 6 ] Ohrmazd created 5 the Lights and set them between

the heaven and the earth : the fixed stars, the not-fixed stars, then
the moon, then the sun. [W 65] After he had first created a sphere,
he [A 2510] set the fixed stars on it, in particular the following
twelve (constellations)6 whose names are: Lamb, Ox, Two
Pictures, Crab, Lion, Spica, Balance, Scorpion, Centaur, Goat,7
1
The question whether or not the author of De, Hebdomadibus was influenced
by Oriental ideas, has no bearing upon the whole problem. " Oriental ideas "
and2 Damdad Nask are not synonyms.
See Note B at the end of this paper.
3
See Note E at the end of this paper.
4
A = Great Bundahishn, ed. Anklesaria ; W = Indian Bd. (Westergaard).
6
There is little doubt that brihmidan " create " and " predetermine, predestine "
derives from bri " to cut " ; cf. Av. tas~-, divans-, etc., " cut" and " create ".
The -h- compares with that in Man.MPers. pryhyn " loving ", whilst the shortening
of palatal vowels in front of-h- is exemplified by Parthian frhyft" love " (commonly
mistranslated " glory "), or by Persian jihdn " world " (MPers. gehan ; g/j as in
jan, ja). The late Pazend spelling barhin-, etc., is the correct continuation of
brihen-, cf. Pers. farmay- from MPers. framdy-; indeed, we know that in later
times Parth. frhyft was pronounced farhift. Nyberg's explanation of the verb
as 6an ideogram (JA., 1929, i, 250 sq.) carries little conviction.
A recognition of their Babylonian origin might be found in a Dinkard passage
(63911 sqq., epitomized 435 ult.) where it is told that Zoroaster explained the
proper import of the zodiacal circle to the " Wise of Babylon " {frazanagan-i
Babelayigan).
7
whyk = (young) he-goat, cf. Tavadia, Sni. 129 (ad x, 9). In a Manichasan
fragm. (M 235) we have: 'ystynyd....'wd
whyg'n 'c xwy = TO 8e ept'
Matthew 25, 33. Cf. Bakht. big.

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AN ASTRONOMICAL CHAPTER OF THE BUNDAHISHN

231

Pail, Fish. In astronomy one also employs their subdivision in

twenty-seven lunar mansions * [W 610] whose names are : Padevar,
Pesh-Parviz, etc.2
[A 264, W 615] For all material creatures Ohrmazd has fixed
their stations,3 so that at the moment of the aggressor's arrival
they should fight with their particular antagonists and deliver
the creatures from their adversaries, in the way of an army and
its battalions which are arrayed for a battle (viz. before the fighting
starts).
[A 268] For each of those < twelve constellations > * 6,480,000
odd stars 5 were created, to assist them (viz. in the great fight).
These are now counted as " fixed stars " (axtar), and are
apart from the countless stars which also are there to assist
them.
[A 2611, W 71] Over the fixed stars Ohrmazd appointed four
Generals, (one) for (each of) the four directions, and over these
Generals he appointed a General of Generals.6 Many stars whose
names are known, too many to be counted, were posted to the
various districts and stations, for the purpose of invigorating and
strengthening the fixed stars.7 As HE says 8 : " Tishtrya (Sinus)
is the General of the East, Sadwes (Antares) is the General of the
South, Wanand (Vega) is the General of the West, Haftoreng
(Great Bear) is the General of the North, and Me^-i Gah (Polaris),9
called also M&x-i miydn dsmdn (the peg in the centre of the sky),
1

Bead: uSdn Jiam-ba-xs'itmih pad xTvii ywardag amdrifong.

For details see Note E at the end of this paper.
Read: u$ harwisp bundahisnan-i getig mandan avis" hard hend (rather than
mani&n), equivalent to : us 6 harw. bund
mandan k. h. ; mand " house ", etc.,
as Pahl. Ps. rtCnd-y, Man. MPers. mand.
4
Restore : harw a)(tar-e az awe&dn < xii aytaran > .
6
Thus TD 2 and Ind. Bd. 6,480,000 is 60 X 60 X 60 X 30, i.e. the number of
tertiae partes (sixtieths of a second) contained in an arc of thirty degrees ( = one
axtar). Hence, the total number of fixed stars was estimated as equal to the
number of tertiae partes in a circle, or 77,760,000. The manuscript DH. wrongly
has 8,480,000.
6
Read : spahbeddn spdhbed-e abar aweidn spahbeddn gurnard.
7
Read : pad hamzorih ud nerdg-daddrih-i aw$s"an axfaran.
8
iegon goved is the usual formula to introduce a quotation. The implied subject
of gfroed " he says " is the author of the book or tradition quoted (cf. Arab, qala
in Muslim books). When the book cited happens to be the Avesta (as in our
Bundahishn passage), the subject of goved is the author of the Avesta, namely
Ohrmazd according to Zoroastrian teaching (cf. Dinkard, pp. 9-10). In such
cases iegon goved (often amplified: . g. pad den) corresponds to the Muslimic
formula : qala (or qauluhu) ta'dla. The reading guftet " it has been said " (as if
the author of the Avesta were unknown) which Nyberg has proposed for YMLL WNyt (JA., 1929, i, 264 ; Hilfsb., ii, 84), not only violates the Pahlavi grammar, but
is unacceptable also for semasiological reasons.
9
See Notes D, F, O at the end of this paper.
2

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AN ASTRONOMICAL CHAPTEB OF THE BTJNDAHISHN

is the General of Generals.1 Parend, Mazdadad,2 and others of

that kind are Chief District-Commanders."
[A 278] The astronomers nowadays call these stars inerrantes,3
and instead of " large ", " small", " medium ", they use the
expressions " first magnitude ", " < second > magnitude ", " third
< magnitude > ".*
[A 278] (Ohrmazd) laid out this sphere (i.e. the zodiacal sphere)
in the likeness of a year : the twelve constellations (zodiacal signs)
like the twelve months, each constellation with its thirty degrees 5
like a month with its thirty nychthemera.
[A 2711] He posted the Great Bear to the northern direction
where the hell was to be at the time of the aggressor's arrival.
A tether ties each of the seven continents to the Great Bear, for
the purpose of managing the continents during the period of the
Mixture. That is why the Great Bear is called Haftoreng*
[A 2715] Ohrmazd laid out the sphere of the fixed stars in the
likeness of a spinning-wheel, so that 7 at the time of the Mixture
they (the stars) cound start revolving.
[A 281] As another (sphere) on top of these < fixed stars >
Ohrmazd placed the Unmixable Stars, for the purpose that at
1
2

The remaining portion of the second chapter is omitted in the Indian Bd.
Presumably two of the stars " whose names are known " mentioned before.
Parend
= Av. Parendi- ? One can hardly read Parend-i mazdadad.
3
Read : starag-i 'wyd'p'nyk = a-wiyaban-ig. The latter word has survived in
Persian as biyabani, according to Ahmed b. 'Abd-al-Jalfl Sagzi (cited by S. H.
Taqizadeh, Gdh-sumari, 335, n. 469) = " the fixed stars of the first to the third
magnitude and the lunar mansions ". Since verbs derived from wiyaban- mean
" to lead astray " (wiyabanenidan, etc.), it becomes clear that a-wiyabanig " not
subject to being led astray " is a translation of dirhavqs, inerrans. The Persian
astronomers naturally preferred this clear term to the ambiguous axtar (1) fixed
star,
(2) constellation, (3) zodiacal sign.
1
The copyists evidently did not understand this passage. They left out two,
and wrongly divided one word (n-hwstyn). Bead : tvuzurgih-i noyustin, wuzurgih-i
< dudigar, wuzurgik-i > sidigar. The first astronomer to classify the stars according to their " magnitudes " was Hipparchus (second century B.C.); he distinguished
six6 magnitudes.
See Note B at the end of this paper.
* These seven tethers constitute the " light" counterpart to the seven ties
which connect the seven planets with the lower regions, and through which the
planets exercise their influence upon terrestrial events. The inventor of this
etymology of Haftoreng probably employed the word rag " vein " for these ties
(haft rag " seven veins ") for which band " tie, tether " has been substituted here.
In unpublished Manichsean texts MPers. rag (also Sogdian r'k) is actually in use
for these invisible and indestructible connecting lines (besides words like land,
of. e.g. Mir. Man., i, 196). A Sogdian passage (on the " dark " ties, from M 178):
'ty en wyspw Sywtyy ley 'ty wy' 'nxrwznyy flstyt xnd wyx r'k 'ty plfind w'fnd 'ty
ptyw'fnd, " They wove to and fro roots, veins, and connections from all the demons
who were imprisoned in the zodiacal circle." The Kephalaia, chaps. 48 and 49,
contain a detailed description of these pipe-lines (Coptio lihme).
' Read: 'YK (DH.).

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AN ASTRONOMICAL CHAPTER OF THE BUNDAHISHN

233

the time of the aggressor's arrival they should repel him in battle
and not let him carry his pollution (lit. " mixing ") higher up.
Aa the General over them, Ohrmazd appointed the Tyche of the
Good Religion of the Mazdayasnians. There it (= the sphere of
the Unmixable Stars) is called : " the Corps of the Immortals,"
the manifestation of purity in the mixed state. They are called
" Unmixable Stars " for this reason that at the time of the
adversary's < arrival > they were not subjected to becoming
mixed. The astronomers < nowadays > use the expression " the
sphere above the sphere ". This sphere lacks computation and
precession (I),1 since they (i.e. the astronomers) are unable to observe
in the pure ones any characteristics of the mixed ones.2
[A 2810] Over that (sphere) Ohrmazd created the moon " in
which the seed of the animals is stored " (= Av. gaodidra-). Over
the moon he created the sun " whose horses are swift" (= Av.
aurvat.aspa-). He appointed sun and moon to the chieftainship
over the stars, the mixed ones as well as the unmixable ones, so
that all of them should be tied to the sun and the moon. Over
the sun he created the Throne of the Amaa Spantas which is in contact with the Endless Light, the throne of Ohrmazd. These are the
" six stations", six works corresponding to the six material creatures.3
[A 292] Between the earth and the (lower) sphere 4 Ohrmazd
placed the wind, the clouds, and the lightning-fire, so that at the
time of the aggressor's arrival Tishtrya, with (the help of) the
transcendent water,6 could take the water and cause the rain to
fall.6 He tied these also to the sun, the moon, and the stars. Thus
Tishtrya, the General of the East, is the helper and assistant of
the lightning-fire, the wind, and the clouds.
[A 298] Among these stars, the large ones are like a piece
of rock the size of a room,7 the medium-sized ones are like a
1
Bead : uS angarag ud wihez padis nest ? wihez " to leave, or progress (in an
upwards direction) " (cf. Nyberg, Mazd. Kal., 60 sq.) is often confused with wiieb" to shake, toss ", and with nUeb- " below ", in astrology = " dejection " (S. H.
Taqizadeh,
l.l., p. 336 ; " nUast " is a misspelling of nUeb).
8
On the two " spheres " see Note C at the end of this paper.
8
See Note 0 at the end of this paper.
*5 Read : miyan zam <%g ud> spihr.
MSS. pwn ZK-y ms mynwg ZK, to be read: pwn ZK MY'-y mynwgyk ?
Cf.6 37 Ttitr t e n him ab started, menogiha 6 wad abispared, etc.
Read tyhl (TDa twMytwl) MY' YNSBWN-yt, w'Vn w'lynyt. Cf. 63", 67*.
1307 10, m 1 -", 1371, etc.
ii'-i Wc-ms'd is evidently the same as Av. asma leato.masti Yt. 17, 20, cf. Vd.
19, 4. " Stone " fits also Gr.Bd. ID14 where Nyberg (JA., 1929, i, 222, 291) offers
the reading: senmun I In that passage it is related that before the creation of
the plants, etc., one-third of the surface of the earth was " hard as &S'-d'r " (read

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AN ASTRONOMICAL CHAPTER OF THE BUNDAHISHN

x

rolling* wheel,2 the small ones like the head of the domesticated
ox.3 The moon is the size of a racecourse of two MOras, each
geographical hadra being about as much as a parasang of average
length.4 The sun is the size of Eran-vej.
[A 2912] Before the aggressor's arrival, the moon, the sun, and
the stars stood still, did not revolve. In purity they passed the
time. It was noon perpetually. After the aggressor's arrival, they
started revolving, and they will not stop revolving until the end
(of the world).
[A 3(Fj The velocity of the sun is that of a large three-feathered
arrow which a large man shoots8 from a large bow. The velocity
of the moon is that of a medium-sized three-feathered arrow which
a medium-sized man shoots from a medium-sized bow. The velocity
of the stars is that of a small three-feathered arrow which a small
man shoots from a small bow.6 Among the fixed stars the following
have the greatest velocity7: Tishtrya (Sirius), Basn (Betelgeuse),
flf-sV = sangsar) = stony or rocky country, another was gard-agand " filled
with sand " (Nyberg : vyard ayvand ! Cf. 13611 yak ud gard = 14014 MY'-Vy = 1
'pi' = yak ud gard ; wad-% gardag " sand-storm "). Another clear passage is 140
where 6i' alternates with sng 139". Considering that &' is (1) an ideogram, (2) the
equivalent of sang " stone ", it can be hardly anything but a strongly corrupt
spelling of KYP' (Frah., xvi, 3 ; Syr. Ic'p' = kefa). We have to keep apart the
iff of Frah., viii, 1 (one of the worst lines in that book) on which Nyberg based
his1 explanation.
Uncertain. The word (deceptively resembling padiyw " thriving ") recurs
44*2 as " revolving ".
Hardly iahragan " spinning-wheels " ? Possibly to be read c'hrkw'n =
iahragwan,10cf. Man. MPers. r'stw'n " circuit, circumference " (= Pahl. " r'stk'n "
Gr.Bd. 210 , corrupted " rah-wiran " Jamaspi, vii, 2, p. 49, ed. Messina t But
sees Pahl. Eiv. Dd. 49U, p. 160, ed. Dhabhar).
A similar comparison was contained in a lost Avestic text from which a few
words are quoted in the Frahang-i Oim, iv a, p. 15, ed. Reichelt: " And the
smallest
of those stars are like the head of a medium-sized man."
4
The Avestic original to our passage probably merely said: " The moon is
iantu-masah-."
On measures see Note A at the end of this paper.
6
The present is spelt wh- in Man. MPers. texts (e.g. in M 819), i.e. weh- from
Olr.
wid- (= Yaghnobi wid-, Pashto wul-, etc.), cf. the h in Parachi yuh-.
6
Since the sun reappears in the same meridian about four minutes later than
a star, and the moon 527 minutes later than the sun, we should expect the statement that the stars were swifter than the sun, and the sun swifter than the moon.
However, according to the Bundahishn the lunar and solar spheres are further
from the earth than the sphere of the stars so that, to keep pace with the stars,
sun and moon have to travel at a considerably greater velocity to cover the greater
distances of their orbits.
' This statement is puzzling. That the " fixed " stars possess " proper motion "
is a modern discovery (made by Halley in A.D. 1718), and the stars enumerated
here (= lunar mansions 1, 2, 6, 8, 9, and Sirius) are not noteworthy for particularly
great proper motion (except for Sirius and Procyon). Possibly the text means
that the apparent absolute distance travelled by stars close to the equator is
greater than that covered by stars near the poles during the same time (the angular
distances measured in right ascension being equal); hence stars in proximity
to the equator would appear to move quicker than others. Even so it is difficult
to understand the reason for selecting only the stars enumerated here (all of which
are fairly close to the equator).

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AN ASTRONOMICAL CHAPTER OF THE BUNDAHISHN

235

T n ' % 1 (Canis minor), " Aparak" ( Hydrae, etc.), " Padevar"

(/?, y Arietis?), and Pes-Parwiz (41 Arietis, etc.).
[A 308] The interval of time 2 from the sun's leaving a fixed star
NOTES ON ASTRONOMICAL TERMS, ETC.

A. Measures
E. Lunar mansions
B. Degree and minute
F. Satavaesa
C. The spheres
G. Vanant
Polaris
H. TiStryaenI
D.
A. Measures. The Pahlavi commentators of Sassanian times
did not know (and could not be expected to know) the exact value
of the measures mentioned in the Avestic texts. Their lack of
information is most noticeable in their comments on Av. hadra,
the basic Olr. road-measure, the length of which they determined
variously as a parasang or a quarter-parasang. This is due to the
fact that the measures current in Sassanian Persia were fundamentally different from those employed in ancient times. In the
case of the hadra they merely substituted the common roadmeasures of their own period. For the determination of the real
length of the hadra this has as much value as a modern translator's
use of the word "mile" equally for, e.g. Russ. Verst and Pers.
Farsang.
As regards the measures for short distances, the Avestic system,
or rather that of the Vendidad and the Nirangistan, so closely
resembles the common Greco-Roman system, as a whole and in
all details, that its foreign origin can be taken for granted. It was
presumably introduced into Persia by the Macedonian conquerors.
The comparative table given below may be of use :
1 finger S<IKTVXOS

2 fingers KOVSVXOS
4 iraAaioTTJ
8 Si^as
10 Ai^as

A V . 9T9ZU Pahl. august "

finger(-breadth)

".

AV. basi, tbiM," Pahl. bck " joint of a finger ".

Av. aiiti " *palm".
Av. uz-a&ti (" super-a$i ") = 2 palms.
Av. dtiti " short span " (thumb and forefinger).

1
2
3

See Note H at the end of this paper.

miyan-drang. On drang " period " see Zaehner, BSOS., ix, 319, 584.
i.e. a sidereal year.
4
Read BYRH-xiii (in the place of BYRH-i in). Sidereal months are meant
here. Thirteen sidereal months (355 17 days) are about as much as twelve synodical
months (354-36 days), although rather less than a sidereal year.
5
The text is corrupt. I have failed to find the correct restitution. One could
read YNSBWN-yt in the place of YNSHWN-yt (or dSsdnet), and SBKWN-yt
in the place of SDYTWN-yt.
' Presumably merely different spellings of the same word.
JRAS. OCTOBER 1942.

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236
12
16
24
48
96
160

AN ASTRONOMICAL CHAPTER OF THE BUNDAHISHN

f^
iroisv
vfjx s

Av. vitasti, Pahl. vitast " (normal)

span ". l
Av. paha, Pahl. pay " foot ".2
Av. fraraffni, Pahl. frarast " cubit ".

j8rj/xa of 3 ft. (Macedonian) Av. gaya, gaman, Pahl. gram " pace
opyvid
Av. vibazu (Pahl. jud-nay) " fathom ".*
KaXa/ios (aKawa) Pahl.TOCM/" reed, pole, perch ". 6

Of different origin are the hddra and its multiples, in particular

the tacar- or cantu- (Sarata-). These measures which are mentioned
in texts older than the bulk of the Vendidad (Yashts, etc.), are
originally Iranian, derived from horse-racing, a peculiarly Iranian
sport. A hddra is the length of a racecourse, a oardtu is a full
round of the course, equalling two hddras (dardtu : hddra = 8iavXos :
ardBiov). On Boghazkoi va-la-an-na (cf. Parth. r'k-wzn, 'xtr-wzn)
Av. 6ardtu-, taiar- (cf. Parth. tcr) = MPers. aspres, see Markwart,
Gdihd Ust., p. 3, Herzfeld, Altpers. Inschr., pp. 169 sq. If we can
accept the length indicated by Herzfeld, l.l., p. 170, a hddra would
be about 700 metres long (3 furlongs), roughly the length of the
Greek ITTTTIKOV (4

stadia).

As stated above, the Pahlavi commentators define the hddra

as either the parasang or the quarter-parasang. Thus in the
Bundahishn passage (291) translated above : 1 hddra = 1 frasang-i
paimdnig = parasang of normal, average length. The word paimdriig
(from paimdn " correct measure, not too much and not too little ")
in connection with measures has the same value as the Greek
fierpios (cf. [i. ITVJXVS, Herodotus, i, 178); it is peculiarly applicable
to the parasang the length of which was variable. In Gr.Bd. 63 8 , 1 2
efrasang renders the word hddra of Yt. 823, 29 . On the other hand,
1
The height of the average man is eight vitasti ace. to the Indian Bundahishn
eh.2 xxvi ( = Gr.Bd. 1621 wrongly : six v.), or his own vibazu in Gr.Bd. 189'.
The Frahang-i Oim chapter on measures (xxvii) opens with the absurd statement that fourteen angust were a paSa. It should have been obvious that 14 is
merely a copyist's error for 16. In the same chapter the vitasti is described as of
12 angust, and the frarast (= 2 vitasti) is defined as 1J paSa. Hence, 1 paha =
168 angust (as it should be).
Possibly the pace of 2J feet (gradus) was also known, if ZK in Frah. Oim,
xxvii a, line 4 : ivaiti aetsaya, (and ZK angust, should be a blunder for the numeral
sign for xl (cf. Bartholomae s.v.). At any rate, Av. gaman is always of 3 feet. An
alternative
expression for gaman is frabazu = J vibazu, see Bartholomae s.v.
1
Sogdian wfl"z (Dhyana 88) renders Chinese hsiln, a measure of eight ch'ih
(each often ts'un " inches "). In the same passage, Chinese " 16 ch'ih " is translated
as " 16 wyS't'y ". As F. Weller, Monumenta Serica, ii, p. 394, rightly remarks one
must conclude that the wyh't- is the eighth part of the wfl"z = Av. vibazu, i.e. a
span. This agrees with the meaning of connected words in modern East-Iranian
dialects (Shighni wiSed " span ", etc.), cf. Morgenstierne, IIFL., ii, 262. The
Sogdian translators took Chin, ch'ih for " span", not " foot" (as European
translators
commonly do).
5
Common in Pahlavi texts, cf. e.g. Nyberg, ii, 154, s.v. naS (where nay-i
paimanig should be read = perches of correct measure, or average
length).
Occasionally, nay is used in the place of jud-nay (thus Gr.Bd. 1898).

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a hdOra is the fourth part (cahdr-ewag) of a parasang ace. to Gr.Bd.

1134~5. Referring to the circumference of Yima's Var which is
4 6ardtu in Vd. 228, the author of the Gr.Bd. states that its eight
hddras equal two parasangs (689 and 946 ~ 7 ; the numeral signs are
somewhat miswritten). A different way of expressing the same
relation is used Gr.Bd. 16113 /4 : a geographical hadra is a parasang
of 1,000 gwm-i do pay, i.e. 1,000 paces of the two feet = milia
passuum, as West, SBE., v, 98, correctly translated. It need hardly
be said that the translation : 1,000 paces of 2 feet each (as proposed
by Bartholomae, Air. Wb., 522, and others), although linguistically
unobjectionable, is entirely out of the question. In Sassanian times
the Persians, of course, were familiar with the Roman mile. According to Zadspram, vi, 8 (K 35, fol. 239r. 2), the minimum-parasang
was of 20,000 feet: this is the standard number of Roman feet in
four Roman miles = one parasang.
Three definitions for the hadra are given in the Frah. Olm, xxvii
(cf. Tavadia, 8ns., 12 sq.): " the medium geographical Mdra
(A) which one also calls frasang, (B) equals 1,000 paces of the
two feet, (C) the walking of which is measured as equalling the
passing of the time of the medium hadra of the nychthemeron."
In other words : (A) hadra = parasang, (B) = quarter-parasang,
(C) = parasang. (C) contains the common definition of the parasang
as an hour's way. This interrelation of time and distance is correct
for the parasang, not however for the hadra, the ancient racecourse
measure, despite the employment of the word hadra for measures
of time which arose in a later period and at a different stage of
cultural development.
The same passage shows the true value of the " medium timehddra", as the hour. This can be proved also in a different way.
According to much-quoted Pahlavi passages the longest day (night)
is of 12 hddras, the shortest day (night) of 6 hddras, i.e. the longest
day (night) was defined as of i f x 24 = 16 hours, the shortest
night (day) as of T6T X 24 = 8 hours. The hadra employed here
equals f hours (1 h. 20 m.), or in other words, it is the hour (TJT day)
as measured on the longest day. Since we know that the timehddras were of variable length, we cannot escape the conclusion
that they were simply unequal hours (tLpat. Kcupucai), i.e. a hdOra

= the twelfth part of the natural day from sunrise to sunset.1

This system of unequal hours (which from Babylon was introduced!
1

As far as I know this has not been understood before.

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AN ASTRONOMICAL CHAPTER OF THE BUNDAHISHN

in Greece, too) is naturally inconvenient as such hours vary not

only from day to day, but also according to the parallel of latitude.
To ga;n an absolute measure of time it is necessary to choose the
hour of a fixed day at a certain latitude as the standard unit.
While the Babylonians very properly chose the hour of the days
of equinox (i.e. the only days of equal length for all latitudes),
the Iranians took three hours, viz. the hour of the longest day,
the shortest day, and the " medium " day, evidently = equinoctial
day. The relation of the lengths of these days is as 16 1 : 12 : 8,
the corresponding hadras are 1 h. 20 m., 1 h., and 40 m. Accordingly,
the longest day (of 16 hours) comprises 12 longest hadras, or 16
medium hadras, or 24 shortest hadras. In the Frahang-i Olm,
xxvii b, a scribe has " corrected " these figures and written : the
longest day has 12 longest, 18 medium, or 24 shortest hadras,
probably because he had in mind the relation of the day-lengths
which is indeed 12 : 18 : 24.
B. Degree and minute. The word for " degree " (of a circle) is
spelt sws here (2710). Somewhat contorted it also occurs in the
thema mundi (514), see Taqizadeh, Gah-humari, p. 326, where
a tentative reading (sing) is given. In another passage (5311 sqq.)
we have both " degree " and " minute " : the maximum elongation of the outer planets is 180 sws-y (i.e. sws or swS) = degrees,
that of Mercury is 1,350 (? MSS. 1,850) lypyh, and that of
Venus 2,831 lypyh = minutes (i.e. 22 30', and 47 11' respectively).
It seems that lypyh is corrupted from lyp<X>yh = Greek Xe-nrr)
" minute " (cf. also Skt. liptd, and Chin, li-to, see Chavannes-Pelliot,
Traiti Manicheen, 160 [184] n.).2 As to "degree", the Pahlavi
word could be analysed in several hundred different ways, but at
first sight one would read sus or sus. Now, in an unpublished
Manichsean Sogdian fragment dealing with the movement of the
1
The longest day is 16 hours long at the latitude of 48 43' (obliquity of the
ecliptic = 23 42', as in the year 0), or rather, if " day " = time of visibility of
any part of the sun disc, and allowing for refraction, at lat. 47 20'. Including
twilight, the proper latitude would be 37 approx. (allowing 1 h. 24 m. for morning
-f- evening twilight, assumed to begin and end at the sun's zenith distance of 97);
at lat. 36 the longest day + twilight = 15 h. 51 m., and 15 h. 44 m. at lat. 35.
We can perhaps say that the longest day of the Pahlavi texts is based on conditions
prevailing in Northern Persia, but that its length was rounded off to be twice that
of the shortest night. The shortest day was simply decreed to be of equal length
with the shortest night, without having regard to actual conditions. However,
the entire scheme may have been borrowed from the Babylonians (cf. e.g. Book
of Enoch, chaps. 72 sqq.)
2
This explanation seems preferable to taking lypyh (Ipyh, Ipy') for the ideogram
for retak (redag) "young child" (cf. Bailey, BSOS., vii, 70 sqq.), hence possibly =
" small, minutus " ; the ideogram in question was originally Ipy' (rabya).

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239

moon, a word sw$ occurs which seems to be " degree " (w'frySS
sw xrtyh f3wt c'/n/SS pt&m'r wfiyh " the resulting number indicates
the number of degrees passed ", M 767). It is doubtful if the word
can be derived from Greek acbaaos, Babl. Sussu " sixty, a unit of
sixty", as the latter does not seem to have been used for
" sixty minutes = a degree".
The change in the sibilants
(u&$u: Sogd. su$: Pahl. sus or su$) might be due to dissimilation.1
C. The Spheres. The Zoroastrians originally distinguished four
spheres : (1) stars, (2) moon, (3) sun, (4) paradise, to which the
" station of the clouds " is sometimes added as a fifth and lowest.
A locus classicus for this division is a passage from the Hadokht
Nask apud Jamasp-Asana, Pahl. Texts, p. 172 (cf. also Barthelemy,
Guj. Ab., p. 55): mdno staro mdnho hvaro anayra raocd, Pahlavi
translation " cloud-station, star-station, moon-station, etc." (Air,
Wb., 1168 s.v. mdno, to be corrected accordingly). Cf. Y. 1,16, etc.
The later scheme of six spheres (or seven, with the " clouds ")
is due partly to mere juggling with numbers (six Amasa Spontas,
seven with Ohrmazd, etc.; cf. Gr.Bd. 1948 sqq.), but partly to the
desire to fit in astrological concepts which (coming from Babylonia)
had gained such wide acceptance in Persia that the leaders of the
Zoroastrian Church could withhold their oflicial recognition no
longer. With this purpose in view the " station of the stars "
was split up in two : the " Unmixable Stars " and the " Sphere "
par excellence, i.e. the sphere of the ecliptic (including the spheres
of the planets), which according to the astrologers exercises a farreaching influence upon terrestrial beings and events. Together
with the idea of this sphere (which is entirely alien to the original
Zoroastrianism), the word for it was borrowed: Pahl. spihr, New
Pers. sipihr = a<f>alpa. The derivation of spihr from Old Iranian
which Noeldeke proposed (Pers. Stud., i, 36 sqq.), is not convincing.2
The -h- is due to faulty analogy (mihr, widely pronounced rmr; hence
1
Another hitherto unrecognized MPers. word of Babylonian origin is Man. MP.
Swd'b " companion " (in h'm-Swd'b, BBS.;
differently Bailey, B808., ix, 230)
= Akkadian Sutapu (Syr., etc., s~uttapa, s'uttafa). In unpublished Parthian texts
$w$myn " best man (at a wedding) " occurs, also originally Akkadian, cf. Syr.
gu&bina. In MPers. fragments I noticed m'Vh " sailor " = Akk. nutlahu (Syr.
maMaba).
2
The name Spithridates on which Noeldeke based his opinion, does not prove
the existence of an Old Ir. word spidra- " heaven " (anyway, spihris n o t " heaven ",
but " sphere ", hence also " fate "). For all we know, Spithridates could mean
" having white teeth, \CVK68OVS " (Av. data-, Pahl. dot " tooth "). The first to
suggest the identity of spihr with o<j>aZpa was Lagarde.

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spir > spihr).1 Its unetymological nature is established by the

spelling 'spyr in Manichsean texts.
Besides the Sphere proper, the only other part of the heavens
to which the word spihr is applied, is the " Sphere of the Unmixable
Stars ", cf. e.g. Gr.Bd., 19412, spihr-1 agumeziin, spihr-1 gumezisnig

" the sphere free from mixture, and the sphere subject to mixture ".
This sphere was believed to lie beyond the Sphere proper. Apparently
it is based on a stellar zone outside the zone of the ecliptic to which
the " mixed" activities (such as eclipses, the movement of the
planets, etc.) are confined. The " General" over this sphere is the
Tyche (Farrek) of the Good Eeligion of the Mazdayasnians,2 i.e. the
deity presiding over and embodying the Zoroastrian Church (the
term was borrowed by the Manichaeans : MPers. Farreh-i Den,
Sogd. 8eni-farn,3 Uyyur Nom-quti, etc.; the Avestic equivalent is
Vanuhi Daena Mdzdayasnis", without xvardndh-). In other passages
(see below) the " Tyche of the Religion " is compared to a girdle
around the sky. The word " girdle " naturally suggests the ,<x>vt] *
of the ecliptic which, however, cannot be meant here. As there is
only one other celestial phenomenon that could be likened to a
girdle, we have to conclude that the seat of the " Tyche of the
Religion " was assumed to be the Milky Way.5 The " Sphere of
the Unmixable Stars ", therefore, is the galactic sphere (i.e. a sphere
the greatest circle of which is the Milky Way); it was believed to
encase the lower sphere (the greatest circle of which is the ecliptic).
The remark on the "lack of computation and precession (?)"
(289) is justified ; thus, the galactic latitude of a star is not subject
to any change (save proper motion).
The paragraph on the " Unmixable Stars " has been translated
(somewhat differently) by Nyberg, JA., 1929, i, 298 sq. For a proper
understanding it is necessary to consider the parallel passage,
1
A similar case is possibly provided by the Parthian spelling of zyncyhr " chains "
(Pers. zanjir). The routine etymology {*zaina/i-i0ra-) is proved false by Sogdian
zyniry'kh (P 2, 1065), in Man. script jyncry'. Bailey, BSOS., x, 596, compares
Saka
tcantgalai.
2
Cf. e.g. DkM. 130 V ; Antia, Paz.T., 212, apu.
8
In Sogdian this deity is even dubbed Synmzt'yzn, pyyy, hen-mazdayazn fiayi
(M 140, unpublished; for the spelling, cf. mzdyzn Cowley, Aram. Pap., nr. 37, 6,
p. 133). The Manichseans, it is well known, unblushingly called their own religion
(MPers.)
dyn-m'zdys, den-mazdes.
4
The Greek word appears in Parthian as zwnws (Mir. Man., iii). The spelling
is distressing, but not more startling than that of dpovos in Parthian : trnys
(ibid.,
where the translation is wrong).
5
Under its common Persian designation, the galaxy is briefly referred to 60".
The interpetation of Tasna 9, 26, by Junker, Aion-Vorst., p. 162, is unacceptable.

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241

71 sqq.: the tenth battle was fought by the Unmixable Stars when
they did not let (BKWN-t) the darkness and sinfulness carry
their pollution higher up. As HE says : "He put on the Tyche
of the Good Religion of the Mazdayasnians like a girdle, i.e. like
a kustig, decked with stars, by spirits made, three-fold with four
knots, around the sky in that station." These stars were fighting
in <her> company until the end. As I have written above,1 there
it is called " the Corps of the Immortals ", demonstrating2 purity in

the mixed state. The comparison to the Jcustig is further elaborated

193U sqq. The Avestan passage quoted here is very similar to
Yasna 9, 26. See also Dd., Purs, xxxviii, 14 sqq. (pp. 117 sq.
Anklesaria).
In the preceding pages, mddiydn-razm (or mddiydn-i razm) has
been rendered: the Corps of the Immortals (Nyberg, loc. cit.,
le livre de la bataille). It seems to me that madiyan-razm is a variation on the Sassanian designation of the " Immortals " which is
known to us only from Armenian sources, as gund-n matean, or
matenik gund-n (see Huebschmann, Arm. Gr., 192). The " Sphere
of the Unmixable Stars", interposed between the higher heavens
and the zone of the dark powers, constitutes the last line of defence
for the Light; hence, some such term as " the Guards " seems
a fitting description. The literal meaning of madiyan-razm is
presumably " the core of the battle-line " {gund-n matean = " the
principal battalion"), mddiydn "essential, basic, core, capital"
(frequent in the Dinkard ; Zaehner, BSOS., ix, 30519, 30655, 30911,
etc., rightly translates " chiefly ") should be kept distinct from
mddiydn "book" (cf. Nyberg, Mazd. Kal., 58), originally " commemorabilia, memoriae " as Bartholomae, Mir. Mund., v, 16 sq.,
assumed (now corroborated by a Sogdian gloss, BBB., p. 128 s.v.
m'rSnyy, where the remark on gund-n matean is to be cancelled).
D. Polaris. The correct reading of the Pahlavi name of the Polar
Star has been established by S. H. Taqizadeh (loc. laud., 330 sqq.):
Gdh and Me-%-% Gdh, while Mex-i miydn dsmdn (an alternative
name of the Polar Star according to Gr.Bd. 273, 523, etc.) properly
should be " zenith ", Me~x-i azer zamig being " nadir ". It seems
to me that a similar designation of the poles or the Polar Star can
be traced in the Avesta. Av. m&rpzu has been suspected of bein
1
Thus the author of the Bundahishn refers the reader to 6the passage of the
second
chapter. Read cygwn < ZK-y > NP&H npSt, cf. 135 et passim.
2
blynnd (DH. blynd) is not clear. It should be the equivalent of paidagih (28s).

Bead barend ?

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the name of a star, or a constellation, by most interpreters of the

Avesta (see Bartholomae, Air. Wb., 1174). Unfortunately the Pahlavi
translation of Vd. 19, 42 (the only passage where m&rdzu is found)
is lost, but the New Persian version adduced by Hoshang Jamasp,
Vendidad, p. 640, gives Gdh = Polar Star. Furthermore, mwdzu
would be the ideal etymon of Ormuri mazwai, Pashto mofai " peg "
(cf. Morgenstierne, EVP., 50, and NTS., v, 24). Hence, the ordinary
meaning of m&razu apparently was the same as that of Pahl. mex,
Arab, watad, etc. This would also furnish a satisfactory explanation
of Av. mardzu- " v e r t e b r a " (Kurd., etc., mul, mil, etc., " n e c k " )
as from "peg, pivot". It seems likely that m&rdzu, as " p o l e " ,
is a translation of Greek noXos " pivot, axis, pole " ; the Avestan
passage in which nwrvzu is found, is certainly of no great antiquity.
Bartholomae took myrazu Vd. 19, 42, to be in the dual number;
we could translate: " the two poles." However, the epithet
accompanying m&rdzu: " the best fighter among the creatures
of both spirits," is obviously well suited to the Polar Star, the
" General of Generals ". There is no need for examining Hertel's
rendering of mdrdzu ("Venus") which has already been refuted
by B. Geiger, WZKM., xlv, 109 sqq.
E. Lunar Mansions. In Iranian, we have four lists of the Lunar
Mansions: that of the Bundahishn in Pazend, a Sogdian list in
Beruni's Chronology (p. 240), a Khwarezmian one given by the
same authority (ibid.), and the list published by Freiman, Vestnik
Drevnej Istorii, 2(3), 1938, 43 sqq., from a Sogdian manuscript.
Freiman's list is throughout1 identical with Beruni's Khwarezmian
list (this has not been clearly recognized by the editor), so that for
Sogdian we are left solely with Beruni's indications. An unpublished
Manichsean Sogdian MS. (M 549) contained a further list, but only
1
i.e. wherever the reading is sufficiently clear to enable one to judge. One name
(No. 15) has been left out in Freiman's manuscript, evidently by mistake (owing
to the similarity of the following name). There are, however, some small differences
in the form of the names, those in Beruni's book showing traits typical of
Khwarezmian, those in Freiman's list having a distinctly Sogdian aspect. Several
of these variations are due merely to the different age of the two lists. Thus we
have : No. 12 Fr. wysprn Ber. 'x$frn (ux$ajarn), No. 9 Fr. my' = Ber. 'my,
No. 17 Fr. S'r'nt = Ber. S'rynd (Sarend), etc. Noteworthy is No. 13 Fr. 'strwSk
or 'strwik = Ber. swsk, the latter form recurring in late Uyyur lists which otherwise
give merely the Skt. names, for Skt. Viiakha (No. 14), see Rachmati, T.T., vii,
p. 55 (on 1, 18). For No. 24 Freiman's list gives a shortened form, jirwyit = Beruni
Khw. frxsbyd = Beruni Sogd. frStb'B (all adapted from Skt. [puna-]prosthapuda).
Beruni uses an abbreviation for No. 25, wbyr, in the place of wbyr-frxsbyd Fr.
prw-firwyst = Beruni Sogd. pr-frst (also shortened) = Man. Sogd. prw-frwxspS ;
wbyr = ubir is the late Khwarezmian form of the same word as Sogd. prw- (= Skt.
uttara-), Av. aparam.

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243

a few words from its end are preserved. We learn that the total
number of the mansions was 28 (ii qmbyy xxx ptSmyrtyy = duodetriginta),and that the mansions of m'sy'g = Pisces were [frwxs] pS8
prw frwxSpS 'tyy[ryw'] ndyy1 = Nos. 24, 25, 26 of Beruni's list.
This shows that the Manichaean catalogue began with No. 27 = Skt.
Asvirii, like the Bundahishn, while Freiman's list and the two
lists given by Beruni commenced with the Pleiades = Skt. Krttikdh?
For the identification of individual mansions it is important to
know that Beruni's Sogdian list agrees most closely of all with Skt.
This is manifest in those cases where the name was borrowed from
Skt. Thus we have 3 :
Skt. No. 8 Maqha = Sogd. No. 8 my
but No. 9 in Khw. and Fr.
Skt. No. 26 Sevatt = Sogd. No. 26 rewand, but No. 27 in Khw. and Fr.

It is a matter for regret that with few exceptions (Nos. 1, 2, 3,

6, 8, 9, in Gr.Bd. 307, 51 4 , 6111, 72s, etc.) the names of the Pahlavi
lunar mansions are preserved only in a Pazend transcription on
which West, SBE., v, 11, n. 3, rightly remarked: " the Pazend
names are so corrupt that no reliance can be placed upon them, etc."
Lists of the Pazend forms (here not repeated) are available apud
West, ibid., and Taqizadeh, loc. cit., 204 sqq.
The first point to be settled is the number of the mansions in
Pahlavi. It is not twenty-eight as West assumed on the strength
of the numeral characters in the Indian Bundahishn, but twentyseven. The two available MSS. of the Great Bd. write xxvii. Taken
by itself this is of little or no value as all copyists of Pahlavi texts
were in the habit of writing numeral signs according to their own
lights. More important is that there are only twenty-seven names ;
for the last words, Paz. kahtsar vaht miydn kaht, evidently represent
only three names (not four), viz. Icaht-sar, *kaht-miydn, kaht = the
head of K.,4 the middle of K., K. par excellence. A similar set of
names occurs in the middle of the list where in the place of nahn
miydn avd&m (Nos. 10, 11, 12) we have to restore : naxw, miydn,
abdum = beginning, middle, and end, viz. of Leo.
1
The question whether the Munich, catalogue agreed with Beruni's Sogdian
list, or with his Khwarezmian list and that of Freiman's manuscript, depends
solely
on the acceptance of this rather doubtful restitution.
2
Of Rachmati's Uyyur fragments, some start with Kfitikah, some with Asvini ;
the3 Arabs began with aS-Saratani = AMni.
But Skt. No. 23 Satabhisaj = Sogd. No. 22 sdmyi (? Sachau s&msyr) = Fr.
No. 22 stmye = Khw. No. 22 sdmysyj.
" Kaht" name of a constellation. The transcribed form suggests Cetus
(icf/Tos, Syr. q'f and qyf), but this works out only moderately well.

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A passage from the third book of the Dinkard (40321 sqq., ed.
Madan), recently translated by Nyberg (Mazd. Kal., 34 sqq.),
gives the lunar mansions within which the first points of Aries,
Cancer, Libra, and Capricornus lay.1 Aries began with Ptyspl,z
clearly = Pahl. Ptyspl, Ptspl, Paz. Padevar, the first lunar mansion
according to the Bundahishn (= Skt. Akvini). In other words, the
lunar mansions were counted from the point of the vernal equinox.
Now, if the number of the mansions were twenty-eight the first
point of Cancer would coincide with the beginning of the eighth
lunar mansion (since seven mansions = 90 exactly), but it should
fall within the seventh mansion if the total number was twentyseven (one mansion = - - = 13 20', hence the seventh mansion
from 80 to 93 20'). The latter is the case according to the
Dinkard :
Aries .
Cancer
Libra.
Capricornus

.
0 " Plyspl"
. 90 " Lhyt "
. 180 " <8W "
. 270 " TWS' "

= Bd. " Padevar "3 No. 1 = 0-00- 13-33

= Bd. " Mahvat " No. 7 = 80-00- 93-33
= Bd. " Spur " * No. 14 = 173-33-186-66
= Bd. " Ga " 6
No. 21 = 266-66-279-99

When the system of the lunar mansions was (from India)

introduced into Persia, a completely new set of names was created.
As in India, the names were taken from the most prominent stars
or constellations in the neighbourhood of the ecliptic that were
found within the limits of longitude (progressing by 13 20')
prescribed by the system. While after the introduction the system
probably was applied mechanically merely as a mode of indicating
the longitude, it is highly improbable that at the moment of
introduction the longitude of the parent stars should not have been
within the limits of longitude required by the lunar mansions which
took their names from those stars. This is the minimum to be
expected from the adaptation, namely that the system should have
been made to fit the sky.
If this point is conceded it will be possible to determine the
time when the lunar mansions were brought into use in Persia,
provided a sufficient number of their names can be identified
satisfactorily. Proceeding from No. 3 Parwlz = Pleiades, we have
1
2
3
4
6

Nyberg has not seen that the passage refers to the lunar mansions.
Presumably misspelling.
= Pahl. *lhwt. It is difficult to say which form (Ihwt or lhyt ?) is right.
= Pahl. *spwl; stl probably incorrect.
Pahl. gaw = ideogr. TWR\ DkM. has twy twr' (Nyberg's *dit-gav),
but twy
should be cancelled (the scribe miswrote twy in the place of TWB\ and corrected
himself without striking out the wrong form).

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245

No. 4 = Aldebaran, No. 5 Azesarx (presumably translation of Skt.

Mrga-iiras) = A' Orionis, etc., No. 6 BaH = Betelgeuse, No. 7
probably = Castor and Pollux. Further on, No. 10 *Naxw most
likely = Kegulus, and No. 20 undoubtedly = Vega (see below
Note G). The preceding mansion, No. 19, is the " sting of the
scorpion " (A, K, 8 Scorpii, etc.), see below Note F, and No. 22,
Toy, 2 probably represents Altair. The table below gives the
longitudes of these stars (or of one of them where the name refers
to a cluster of stars) for the Sassanian period 3 ; at its margin the
reader will find the number of the corresponding Pahlavi lunar
mansions (col. 1), and the limits of their longitudes (col. 2):
A.D. 300 A.D. 400 A.D. 500 A.D. 600 A.D. 700

3
4
5
6
7
10
19
20
22

26-66- 39-99
40-00- 53-33
53-33- 66-66
66-66- 79-99
80-00- 93-33
120-00-133-33
240-00-253-33
253-33-266-66
280-00-293-33

17 Tauri
a Tauri
X'Orionis
a Orionis
a Geminorum
a Leonis
A Scorpii
a Lyrae
a Aquilae

36-34
46-10
60-04
65-08
86-63
126-29
240-94
261-54
277-84

37-72
47-49
61-43
66-47
88-02
127-67
242-32
262-93
279-24

39 -11
48-89
62-81
67-86
89-40
129-04
243-71
264-31
280 -65

40-49
50-28
64-20
69-26
90-79
130-42
245-09
265-71
282-05

41-88
51-68
65-58
70-65
92-18
131-80
246-48
267-12
283-46

A glance at this table shows that the date which fits best is about
A.D. 500. A terminus post quern is provided by No. 6 (A.D. 413
approx.), and No. 22 (A.D. 454 approx.), whilst a terminus ante quern
is given by No. 3 (A.D. 564 approx.), and No. 20 (A.D. 668 approx.).
We know from other sources that under Sassanian rule there were
two periods of contact with Greek and Indian science during which
the study of astronomy was promoted : one under Shapur I after
the conclusion of the Roman war,4 the other " towards the end of
the Sassanian period ", possibly under Khosrou I or even a little
earlier.6 We may conclude that the introduction of the Pahlavi
lunar mansions took place during the second period.6 Incidentally,
1
= " goat's head " ? However, the reading of 'pysr = " crown " is equally
possible.
2
Pazend go%. In Pahlavi script, goy " ball " and yoy " yoke " are indistinguishable. I read Yoy because that is the name of the equivalent (21st) Sogdian and
Khwarezmian lun. man. (corresponding to Skt. No. 21 Sravana = Altair). The
longitude of the 22nd Pahlavi l.m. is 280-293 20', that of the 21st Sogdian mansion
should be 282 53'-295 45'.
8
Based on the values for right ascension and declination (interval of 100 years)
in Neugebauer's Tables (Ckr. i).
1
See S. H. Taqizadeh, BSOS., ix, 133 sqq.
6
See Nallino's paper in A volume of Oriental Studies presented to E. 0. Browne,
and cf. Taqizadeh, Gah-Sumari, 316-322; BSOS., ix, 136 sq.
8
This conclusion, however, is necessarily based on the assumption that the
Persian astronomers were able to find the point of the vernal equinox and to
measure the longitudes fairly accurately, and that they exercised some care in
fixing the lunar mansions.

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AN ASTRONOMICAL CHAPTER OF THE BUNDAHISHN

we would gain a valuable date post quern for a number of hitherto

undatable Pahlavi passages in which the lunar mansions are involved,
such as the thema mundi in the Bundahishn.1
F. Satavaesa. There are nearly as many opinions on the identity
of this star as translators of the Avesta. Perhaps the most plausible
view so far advanced is that Satavaesa is Canopus, Suhail (proposed
by Kharegat and accepted by Taqizadeh). The main objection to
this identification lies in the great southern declination of Suhail,
by reason of which it cannot be seen north of lat. 37 approx.
Those scholars who are inclined to find the " home of the Avesta "
in North-Eastern Iran (e.g. in Merv), will be unable to accept
Kharegat'g opinion. As far south as Balkh (lat. 36 46') where in
500 B.C. it was above the horizon for only 1 h. 9 m. on any one day,
at a maximum altitude of not more than 19 minutes, Canopus may
have been sighted under exceptionally favourable circumstances,
but was certainly not fitted for the role of the " General of the
South ". Moreover, Satavaesa occurs as part of the designation
of a Sogdian lunar mansion, No. 17, myn-Sdwys, and there is no
doubt that Canopus never has been (nor ever will be) observed
in Sogdiana. The 17th Sogdian lunar mansion corresponds to the
17th Indian lunar mansion, mula, to the 19th Pahlavi lunar mansion,
" grqfsa," 2 and to the 19th Arabian lunar mansion, as'-saulah
all of which refer to the " sting of the scorpion " (Ar. mi'bar al'aqrab). Although the meaning of Sogdian myn (possibly misspelt)
is not known, we may safely infer that myn-Sadwes is a kind of
appendix to that star (or constellation) that bore the name of
Sadwes. Since the " sting of the scorpion " forms an appendix to
the " scorpion ", it follows that Sadwes is Scorpio, or rather the
1
The ascendant is given as Cancer 19, the time being noon of the day of the
vernal equinox. At that moment Sirius was rising. Should these data reflect actual
conditions (correctly observed), it should be possible to determine the latitude of
the observer, and the date of the observation. So far as I have been able to calculate
the latitude would be 40 33', the time BC. 330 (a point A = 109, j8 = 0 is
rising, or a = 110 37', 8 = + 22 22'; hence <j> = 40 33'; Sirius' hour angle
at rising = its right ascension ; position of Sirius in BC. 330 : a = 75 - 6, 8 =
16-24). The result (Northern Sogdiana at the time of Alexander's invasion)
is rather unsatisfactory, probably because the data are unreliable.
2
Presumably misreading of drafsag (!) "banner," (2) "hem," but most
suitably (3) " awl " = NPers. dirafi, duroi " awl ". The names of the preceding
lunar mansions are (in Pazend) : No. 16srob, sroi, srub, No. 17 nur,nor, No. 18 gelu,
gaelu. I should like to suggest the following restorations : No. 16 sruy " claws ",
No. 17 var " breast, front ", No. 18 dil " heart", namely of Scorpio. Note that
the Arabic name of No. 18 is also " heart " (qalb). [No. 16, Persian du suruyi
gazdum, beruni, Pers. Tafhim, p. I l l ; cf. Greek ^ijAal TOO HKOpirlov, Ptolemy,
Tetrabiblos, i, 9, p. 24 (p. 50 ed. Bobbins, 1940); ibid., " grafia " = Ktvrpov
= nii-i gazdv,m.~\

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AN ASTRONOMICAL CHAPTER OP THE BUNDAHISHN

247

chief star of that group, namely Antares. The identity of Satavaesa

with Antares had already been suggested by West, SBE., v, 12 sq..
(although from erroneous premisses). The altitude of Antares in
culmination was 35 52' in Balkh (40 approx. in Babylon) in
501 B . C , and 33 33' in Balkh (37 49' in Babylon) in 1 B.C.
G. Vanant. There is ijmd' on the identity of this star, viz. = Vega.
S. H. Taqizadeh, Oah-iumdn, 335, n. 470, has already drawn
attention to the appearance of Vanant in the list of the Sogdian
lunar mansions, No. 20 (Vanand). The equivalent Indian lunar
mansion is No. 20 Abhijit = Vega. But Vanant is also employed
as the name of one of the Pahlavi lunar mansions, namely No. 20.
The Pazend form is Varant = Pahlavi wind, a common Pahlavi
spelling of Vanant (showing dissimilation n-n : r-n). The equation
of Varant = Vega has already been utilized in Note E above.
H. TiUryaeni. Since TiUrya is Canis major, TiUryaeni would
appear to be Canis minor. According to a much discussed passage
in the Tistr Yasht (Yt. 8, 12), TiUryaeni is one of the afsSiBra
stars, i.e. stars whose heliacal rising presages the advent of the
rainy season. Tistrya itself, the Pleiades, and Upapaoiri are other
af&6idra stars. A line in the Great Bundahishn provides some
elucidation : " The dp-6ihrag ( = Av. qfSciOra) stars are : TiUr,
Tlysk, " Padevar," Pe$-Parwiz, and the six stars that are called
Parwlz (Pleiades)" (726). With the exception of " Padevar" (the
first lunar mansion), these are the same stars as the ones mentioned
in the Tistr Yasht, hence Upapaoiri = Pes-parwiz " the stars in
front of the Pleiades " (the second Pahlavi lunar mansion), and
TiUryaeni = Tlysk. This effectively disposes of the usual identification of Upapaoiri with Aldebaran, which Andreas (apud Lommel,
ZII., v, 58) supported by referring to the Sogdiano-Khwarezmian
name of Aldebaran; that, however, was not b'brw (p'prw) as
Sachau's Beruni MSS. have, but prprw (brbrw) as we have learned
from Freiman's list (where prprw'k) = " the star following upon
the Pleiades ". 1 As regards Tlysk, this is one of the numerous
possible readings of the Pahlavi characters which the Pazendist
was pleased to read as Taraha. And " Taraha" is the name of
the eighth Pahlavi lunar mansion the longitude of which is 93 20'106 40'. In A.D. 500 the longitude of Procyon, the chief star of
Canis minor, was 95 14', i.e. at that time Procyon was eligible as
the leading star of the eighth lunar mansion. Now, the name of
1

[Persian pas-ravande-i Parvin, Beruni, Pers. Tafhim, p. 108.J

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AN ASTRONOMICAL CHAPTER OF THE BUNDAHISHN

the corresponding Khwarezmian lunar mansion (No. 6 = Skt.

Tisya/Pusya) is tsyry, apparently not different from the Khwarezmian form of Old Ir. Tiitrya (also spelt tsyry). It seems clear that
this tsyry derives from a prototype similar to tiitrya- (e.g. tikrydor tikryaka-) which had the same meaning as Av. tiUryaeni (note
the absence of the same suffix in the Khwarezmian form of Av.
paoiryaeni which is prwy). The same prototype will serve also for
Pahlavi Tlysk, presumably = Triiag. Phonetically, one could
compare Jewish Persian trws " r a m " which is connected with
Man. MPers. twUr {nrmys, twUr, "hwg in an unpublished fragment
of the Kawdn), cf. Risahri tlstdr " she-goat", or Man. MPers.
ZrdrwU.

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