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Old Iranian Online

Lesson 10: Old Persian

Scott L. Harvey, Winfred P. Lehmann, and Jonathan Slocum

Herodotus (7.1) relays a dispute between Darius' sons Artobazanes and Xerxes for succesion to their father's throne. Each made an appeal according to Persian tradition, which held that the eldest son would become the next king. As Darius' first son by his first wife, Artobazanes presented a straightforward case favoring himself, while Xerxes was forced, like a more 'modern' politician, to stretch the meaning of the term 'first-born'. As Darius' first son by Atossa, daughter of Cyrus the Great, whom Darius had married after becoming king, Xerxes claimed that it was he who was the true heir apparent since it was he who was the eldest son of Darius the King while his brother was merely the eldest son of Darius the man. According to Herodotus, Darius found the latter argument more compelling and appointed Xerxes his successor. By Xerxes' own accounts, however, it was Ahura Mazda's desire for Darius to make Xerxes the next king, since he was the greatest of all his sons. It is for this reason alone, Xerxes implies, that he ascended the throne upon his father's death (486 B.C.).

Reading and Textual Analysis

Xerxes' so-called "Daiva Inscription" is carved on four stone tablets that were found in a building located on the southeast corner of the Royal Complex at Persepolis, Darius' and Xerxes' capitol. Of the four, two are in Old Persian, a complete version of 60 lines and a copy stopping in the middle of line 51. Elamite and Akkadian translations of 50 lines each complete the set. The inscription's opening lines are nearly identical to lines 1-6 and 13-15 of Darius' proclamation at Naqs-i-rastam (cf. Lesson 9), but for the necessary changes of name. Lines 13 to 28 then list the countries over which Xerxes held sway "by the will of Ahura Mazda." The selection below begins in the middle of line 28, where Xerxes declares that one of the countries just named rose against him but was defeated when Ahura Mazda bore him aid in putting the rebellion down. In line 35, Xerxes goes on to describe another kind of revolt -- the worship of daivas, or the practice of the old religion overturned by Zarathustra -- that he also put down. The immediate juxtaposition of these two events serves to highlight the integral nature of religion, morality, and politics in the ideology of the time: Ahura Mazda made Xerxes king; therefore it is his responsibility to see that the god's will is done in his kingdom, that the Zoroastrian ritual is carried out and the Zoroastrian teachings are obeyed. The moral component is also reinforced in lines 41-46, where Xerxes declares his righting of other wrongs, again with Ahura Mazda's aid. The king then declares what brings happiness to the living and the dead, namely reverence of and obedience to Ahura Mazda. In closing, Xerxes again copies Darius exactly (cf. DNa 51-5, Lesson 9).

28 - thâtiy Xshayârshâ

29 - xshâyathiya yathâ tya adam

30 - xshâyathiya abavam astiy atar aitâ

31 - dahyâva tyaiy upariy nipishtâ

32 - ayauda pasâvamaiy Auramazdâ upastâm

33 - abara vashnâ Auramazdahâ ava dahyâvam

34 - adam ajanam utashim gâthavâ nîshâdayam

35 - utâ atar aitâ dahyâva âha yadâtya

36 - paruvam daivâ ayadiya pasâva vashnâ

37 - Auramazdahâ adam avam daivadânam

38 - viyakanam utâ patiyazbayam daivâ

39 - mâ yadiyaisha yadâyâ paruvam daivâ

40 - ayadiya avadâ adam Auramazdâm ayadaiy

41 - artâcâ brazmaniya utâ aniyashca

42 - âha tya dushkartam akariya ava adam

43 - naibam akunavam aita tya adam

44 - akunavam visam vashnâ Auramazdahâ akunavam

45 - Auramazdâmaiy upastâm abara

46 - yâtâ kartam akunavam tuva kâ hya

47 - apara yadimaniyâiy shiyâta ahaniy

48 - jîva utâ marta artâvâ ahaniy

49 - avanâ dâtâ parîdiy tya Auramazdâ

50 - niyashtâya Auramazdâm yadaishâ

51 - artâcâ brazmaniya martiya hya avanâ

52 - dâtâ pariyaita tya Auramazdâ

53 - nîshtâya utâ Auramazdâm yadataiy

54 - artâcâ brazmaniya hauv utâ jîva

55 - shiyâta bavatiy utâ marta artâvâ

56 - bavatiy

Lesson Text

28  thâtiy Xshayârshâ 29 xshâyathiya yathâ tya adam 30 xshâyathiya abavam astiy atar aitâ 31 dahyâva tyaiy upariy nipishtâ 32 ayauda pasâvamaiy Auramazdâ upastâm 33 abara vashnâ Auramazdahâ ava dahyâvam 34 adam ajanam utashim gâthavâ nîshâdayam 35 utâ atar aitâ dahyâva âha yadâtya 36 paruvam daivâ ayadiya pasâva vashnâ 37 Auramazdahâ adam avam daivadânam 38 viyakanam utâ patiyazbayam daivâ 39 mâ yadiyaisha yadâyâ paruvam daivâ 40 ayadiya avadâ adam Auramazdâm ayadaiy 41 artâcâ brazmaniya utâ aniyashca 42 âha tya dushkartam akariya ava adam 43 naibam akunavam aita tya adam 44 akunavam visam vashnâ Auramazdahâ akunavam 45 Auramazdâmaiy upastâm abara 46 yâtâ kartam akunavam tuva kâ hya 47 apara yadimaniyâiy shiyâta ahaniy 48 jîva utâ marta artâvâ ahaniy 49 avanâ dâtâ parîdiy tya Auramazdâ 50 niyashtâya Auramazdâm yadaishâ 51 artâcâ brazmaniya martiya hya avanâ 52 dâtâ pariyaita tya Auramazdâ 53 nîshtâya utâ Auramazdâm yadataiy 54 artâcâ brazmaniya hauv utâ jîva 55 shiyâta bavatiy utâ marta artâvâ 56 bavatiy

Translation

28 ... Xerxes the King 29 declares: Since [the time] that I 30 have become king, there is among those 31 lands inscribed above [one that] 32 was rising up. And thereupon, Ahura Mazda 33 bore me aid. By the will of Ahura Mazda I struck [that] country 34 down and I [now] put it down in [its] place. 35 And among these lands there was [also] one where 36 the daivas were once worshipped; [but] later, by the will 37 of Ahura Mazda, I uprooted that altar to the daivas, 38 and proclaimed: "The daivas 39 shall not be worshipped!" [Then,] 40 being reverent, I worshipped Ahura Mazda and Truth where the daivas were worshipped once before. 41 And there was yet another thing 42 that had been done for ill, [and] that I 43 made right, [too]. All this that I did, 44 I did by the will of Ahura Mazda. 45 Ahura Mazda bore me aid, 46 as long as I was doing the deed. [And] if you who [would come] 47 after [me] should think, "May I be happy 48 [as long as I am] living, may I be blessed [when I am] dead," 49 [then] on account of that, honor the laws which Ahura Mazda has 50 set down. You, being reverent, should worship Ahura Mazda 51 and Truth. The man who, on account of that, 52 honors the laws which Ahura Mazda sets 53 down, and [who], being reverent, worships Ahura Mazda 54 and Truth, both becomes happy [as long as he is] living 55 and becomes blessed 56 [when he is] dead ...

Grammar

16. Noun Stems in Sibilants and Stops
16.1. s-stem Nouns

Old Persian nouns in as are few in form and number, though these few are fairly common. The stem appears in both the masculine âs and the neuter as, but never in the feminine.

Singular:   Masculine auramazdâh- 'Wise Lord'   Neuter drayah- 'sea'
Nom.   auramazdâ   *drahyah, *drahya
Acc.   auramazdâm, *auramazdâham   *drahyah, *drahya
Instr.   unattested   *drahyahâ
Gen.   auramazdâha   unattested
Loc.   unattested   drayahyâ
Plural:        
Instr.   unattested   drayabish

Neuter nouns in is are seen in nominative and accusative singular hadish. Masculine proper names in is, e.g., haxâmanish, are treated as masculine i-stems and decline accordingly.

16.2. Stems in Stops

There are Old Persian noun stems in t, d, p, and th. The nominative form is found only in napât 'grandson', preceded by long a: napâ. Feminine accusative, instrumental, genitive, and locative forms of each decline similarly, as follows:

Singular:   thard- 'year'
Acc.   thardam, *auramazdâham
Instr.   *thardâ
Gen.   tharda
Loc.   thardiy, *thardiyâ
Plural:    
Instr.   *thardbish
17. Compounds

Two types of nominal compound occur in Old Persian. Determinative compounds are made by joining two noun stems together such that the second determines the syntactic function of the first, which therefore remains undeclined. This case relation may be any one of the oblique cases (accusative through locative), e.g., hauma-varga- 'haoma-drinking' (accusative) or arda-stana- 'place of light' (genitive). The case ending on the second stem determines the relation of the whole unit to the other words of the sentence in which it appears.

Exocentric, or possessive-adjectival compounds, are made like determinative compounds but function as possessive adjectives modifying another noun which may or may not be explicity stated; e.g., hama-pitar- 'having the same father', 'they who have the same father', or aspa-cana- 'having a love for horses', 'he who loves horses'.

18. The Perfect Tense and the Passive Verb

Old Persian includes only one perfect form, caxriyâ, the third person singular optative active of kar 'do, make'. The form shows reduplication as in the Avestan and Sanskrit, with the zero-grade root preceded by ca. The translation is 'he would have done'.

Passive stems appear in both the present and aorist systems with the suffix ya added to the stem in its normal grade. With two exceptions, an active ending is then added. E.g., abariya 'is born', 3rd person singular imperfect indicative.

19. The Passive and the Sequential Accusative
19.1. The Passive Construction

Sentences employing passive verbal forms, either finite or participial, require the logical subject to be placed in the instrumental case while the direct object becomes the grammatical subject of the verb, putting it in the nominative case, as in tya manâ kartam 'what was done by me' beside tya adam akunavam 'what I did'.

19.2. The Sequential Accusative

The final member of any list containing two or more accusative objects has the instrumental case form; e.g., adam auramazdâm ayadaiy / artâcâ... 'I worshipped Ahura Mazda and Truth...', where auramazdâm is accusative and artâ instrumental. The pattern is standard, though it most likely originated by conflating the instrumental's expression of accompaniment with the common sequence of accusatives: *auramazdâm artâ hadâ 'Ahura Mazda along with Truth' > auramazdâm artâ ca 'Ahura Mazda and Truth'.

20. Old Persian Texts, Grammars, and Dictionaries

Roland G. Kent's Old Persian: Grammar, Texts, Lexicon (New Haven: American Oriental Society, 1953, 2nd ed.) is the standard work; as the title indicates, it includes the texts as well as the grammar and dictionary. Additional data are provided by Supplement zur Sammlung der altpersischen Inschriften, by Manfred Mayrhofer (Vienna: Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, 1978); the Academy has also published a large number of volumes on manifold topics. And Rüdiger Schmitt has provided a new edition of the most extensive text in The Bisitun Inscriptions of Darius the Great: Old Persian Text (London: School of Oriental and African Studies, 1991).