Imagining the End: Visions of
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: Theopompus says that, according to the Magians, for three thousand years alternately the one god will dominate the other and be dominated, and that for another three thousand years they will fight and make war, until one smashes up the domain of the other. In the end Hades [i.e. the Evil spirit] shall perish and men shall be happy; neither shall they need sustenance nor shall they cast a shadow. 101 Plutarch ( c . – c . ) bases his account on the evidence of Theo- pompus, who was born in
. 102
This suggests that the essential elements
103 of a millenary scheme had become part of the tradition by the late Achaemenian period. The later accounts of the Armenian Eznik of Kolb and the Syrian Theodore bar Konay, 104
which may derive from the same mid-Sasanian source, 105
describe how Zurvan offered sacrifice for ,
years in order to have a son. A moment 51 Millennialism in the Zoroastrian Tradition of doubt caused Ahriman to be conceived, whereas the virtue of the sacrifice itself led to the conception of Ohrmazd. When Zurvan became aware of the conception of twins, he promised to grant the dominion of the world to his first-born son. Ahriman was told of this by his omniscient twin, Ohrmazd, and pierced the womb in order to be first. Zurvan protested but had to abide by his oath, saying: O false and injurious one! The kingship shall be granted to you for
years; and (then) I shall establish Ohrmazd as ruler over you. And after years
Ohrmazd shall reign and do all that he will wish to do. Then Ohrmazd and Ahriman set to fashioning the creatures. 106 While Plutarch thus describes an alternation of the fortunes of both powers, the two sources reflecting Sasanian beliefs depict the period of creation as belonging entirely to Ahriman. No mention is made of an age belonging to Zarathustra or to his sons – which suggests that these cyclical traditions developed in another milieu or at a later stage – but all sources agree in mentioning a period of , years.
107 Zarathustra’s three sons, and cycles of history The few early sources at our disposal thus suggest that the numbers and
, played a particularly significant role in shaping Zoroastrian millenary accounts. This in itself may help to explain the development of a scheme in which the original Saoshyant is represented as the last of three saviour-figures. The Zoroastrian tradition, moreover, states that Zarathustra had three ‘naturally-born’ sons (Isat-vastra, Urvatat-nara and Hvare-cithra). 108 Given the belief in the reappearance of early prominent figures, it would not be far-fetched to assume that the notion of three ‘saviour-figures’ was also partly inspired by a cultural memory of his ‘real’ sons. Since Zarathustra’s era, within which the three saviour-figures must logically appear, was thought to last for ,
years, the resulting tripartition of that age may well have presented itself as an obvious part of such millenarian speculations. If that is so – i.e. if the notion of the three millennia of the last age originally was no more than a felicitous idea that had no basis in the earlier tradition – neither legends nor stories about the last two millennia or the first two saviour-figures could have existed. When the scheme eventually came to form part of the accepted tradition, the ‘hollow millennia’ may simply have been portrayed as echoes of the first one, which had begun with the blessed appearance of the prophet but had later deteriorated. The cycles and their implications for the Zoroastrian worldview There
appears to be no need, therefore, to look for an alien origin of the notion of 52 Origins
cyclical history in Zoroastrianism. However, the emergence of such a concept did imply that the perceived deterioration of world conditions since Zarathustra’s ideal time had to be doctrinally explained in a novel way. While the Zoroastrian view of world history may originally have been largely ‘linear’ – with a steady progress towards the ideal state of the Renovation, interrupted at unpredictable intervals by the machinations of Ahriman – the belief in a succession of saviour-figures could only mean that a series of calamities would precede the advent of each as a preordained course of events. Apocalyptic Ideas The development of an Iranian apocalypse Whether it originated with the above developments or was merely strengthened by them, the view that communal suffering was part of a predestined scheme of things presum- ably helped Zoroastrians come to terms with such major adversities as the Macedonian and Arab conquests. At times of national calamities, tales of this type were probably often told at all levels of society, offering explanation, comfort and hope. Thus, it seems, a recognizable apocalyptic genre developed, purporting to recount prophecies foretelling the disasters that had in fact already befallen the Iranians, but also telling of decisive changes of fortune which were destined to restore the community to its previous glory in due course. That the Iranian civilization was known for its apocalyptic tradition in late antiquity is suggested by the title and contents of a Graeco-Roman work which is no longer extant, the ‘Oracles of Hystaspes’ (Hystaspes being the Greek version of the name of Zarathustra’s patron, Vishtaspa), citations from which suggest that it contained some genuine Zoroastrian material. 109 On the historical evaluation of apocalyptic sources ‘Apocalyptic’ tales probably continued to be told in some milieus – as part of the priestly tradition, but possibly also as entertaining popular stories – long after the original traumas had healed. It seems likely that, in the priestly tradition at least, a standard account of such tales eventually emerged which was best calculated to fit in with the tradition as a whole. 110 At times of new catastrophes such accepted, ‘structured’ versions probably generated a variety of popular tales. It has been been noted that traditions which evolve in the course of long oral transmission tend to develop in such a way that they contain references to the time of a group’s origins and again to events which affected the last few generations, but mention nothing in between. 111
In other words, in an account which originated in the Hellenistic period and continued to be told until it was finally written down in the ninth century , the descriptions of most of the 53 Millennialism in the Zoroastrian Tradition protagonists and events may reflect what seemed significant in the latter period, and show few traces of the reality of the fourth or third century .
this type by means of philological and critical methods designed to deal with written traditions. In the case of Zoroastrianism, an additional problem is posed by the nature of the
(on which see above). About three-quarters of the Avesta as it existed in Sasanian times are now lost, 112
and it is widely assumed that some Pahlavi texts are based on the Yüklə 4,01 Mb. Dostları ilə paylaş:
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