Zoroastrian Civilization, from the Earliest Times to the Downfall of the Last Zoroastrian Empire, 651 A. D. (Paperback)

This historic book may have numerous typos, missing text or index. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. 1922. Not illustrated. Excerpt: ... CHAPTER XIII LAW AND JUSTICE Origin of law. The Avestan designation of law is data, which is derived from the root da, 'to establish.' In its origin, law, in Iran, is not a human convention; it is the expression of Ahura Mazda's divine will for the guidance of mankind. It is a part of religion; it is religion itself. The Mazda-worshipping religion itself is the fountain-head of all law, and is especially called data vidaeva, 'the law against the demons.'1 No less than seven books, that is, fully one-third of the entire Zoroastrian canon, are devoted to law.2 The third line of Ahuna Vairya, the primeval Word of Ahura Mazda, is declared to be the quintessence of this legal section of Zoroastrianism.3 Only one of these seven legal works, namely, vidaeva data, or Vendidad, has reached us in more or less a complete form. This work has from remote times formed a part of the Zoroastrian ritual, and has always been recited by the officiating priests for the religious merit of the laity. The book furnishes us with considerable material regarding the laws and ordinances in force among the Avestan people. Besides the Vendidad, we have the contents of the lost legal Nasks or books preserved in the later Pahlavi works. The irreparable loss of the original Avestan law-books is partly compensated by these more or less exhaustive legal indexes, which give us some idea of the mode of legal procedure of the times. We learn from the contents of the lost Nasks that various questions bearing on justice were discussed therein, such as the power of appointing judges, and the authority with which they were invested;4 the various grades of judges with a supreme judge over all of them;5 severity and leniency on the part of the 1 Ys. I. 13; 2. 13; 71. 5; Yt. 11. 17; Vd. 5. 22-25; 19. 16. ...