Reviews of Books 403. Mysticism and Religion Presented to Gershom G. Scholem ( Jerusalem, 1967), pp

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1 Rviws of Books 403 a tntativ chronology of Kidarit-Hphthalit political history. Thr is also a vry xtnsiv bibliography. In Ancint Afghanistan and its invadrs Nicholas Sims-Williams prsnts th linguistic vidnc for th history of Afghanistan found in th Bactrian documnts and inscriptions, giving a vry clar summary of what can now b statd with som assuranc from th rading of th immnsly incrasd corpus of Bactrian txts of th last tn yars. Ths documnts bgan to appar in th Pshawar bazaar and on th intrnational art markt in th 1990s and hav bn studid by spcialists, amongst whom Profssor Sims-Williams is a lading xprt. H summariss in nin tabls som of th linguistic hritag in Bactrian from th Achamnians, th Grks, th Kushans, and many othrs, concluding with th rmains in Bactrian from th Islamic priod in Arabic and Prsian aftr 739. Th linguistic commntary is xtnsiv. Of particular intrst is th discussion of th nams of som of th Kushan kings,.g. Kanishka. Thr is an xtnsiv litratur on this qustion going back to W. B. Hnning. Sims-Williams rvivs, with nw vidnc, th old comparison of th Bactrian suffix -ēško with th Tocharian B suffix -śk and compars.g. Pathian -ičak, Sogdian-c kk, suggsting convincingly that all ths suffixs ar cognat and hav thir origin in an unknown Iranian languag in which *čk >šk. This is only a sampl of vry many mattrs discussd, and thr is a larg bibliography. Th last study is an xtnsiv xamination of th rlationships of Indo-Iranian with Tocharian by G.-J. Pinault. Loanwords from Iranian hav long bn studid in Tocharian, and Pinault adducs som nw xampls from an old Iranian diffrnt from Avstan (prhaps Scythian?) as wll as nw matrial from Bactrian, Sogdian, and Khotans. H rminds us of how diffrnt th two Tocharian languags ar A and B, and nots that thy wr not mutually intlligibl and must hav sparatd at last fiv cnturis bfor th dat of our documnts. Particularly intrsting is th long and thorough discussion of th much-misundrstood Tocharian words for right and lft, in which taboo plays a part: right tnds to b stabl and mostly fixd, whilst lft is variabl and unstabl. Th survy of linguistic contacts btwn Sanskrit, Iranian, and Tocharian is much too complx to b summarisd hr. Th articl concluds with a usful list of Baily s writings rlvant to Tocharian, followd by an xtnsiv bibliography. Th book concluds with a gnral apprciation of Baily in his lif at Qun s Collg, Cambridg, by Ilya Grshvitch, a rndring of a pic first publishd in Russian in Vstnik Drvn j Istorii in 1990/4. It is a fitting tribut to on grat scholar by anothr. J. Elfnbin Papworth Evil, Good, and Gndr. Facts of th Fminin in Zoroastrian Rligious History. By Jamshd K. Choksy. pp. xii, 166. NwYork,PtrLang,2002. DOI: /S X Th rligious quality of mn and womn is commonly considrd as on of Zoroastrianism s rmarkabl charactristics. Togthr with its cological faturs, it bstows a modrn apparanc on this ancint rligion. Thr ar, howvr, in th txts, particularly in th Middl Prsian sourcs, a numbr of passags which point to misogynic attituds. R. C. Zahnr attributd thm to a Zurvanit tradition, which Go Widngrn trid to trac back to th Avsta 1. Against this, Mary 1 Go Widngrn, Primordial Man and Prostitut: A Zrvanit Myth in th Sassanid Avsta. In: Studis in Mysticism and Rligion Prsntd to Grshom G. Scholm ( Jrusalm, 1967), pp

2 404 Rviws of Books Boyc 2 and Albrt d Jong 3 argud that womn wr gnrally hld in high stm and occupid a dignifid position in Zoroastrianism, thir ngativ portrayal within th sam tradition bing only isolatd and occasional occurrncs and in any cas inconsistnt with Zoroastrian taching. This viw is challngd by Jamshd Choksy in th book undr rviw. It argus that, rathr than bing a mr inconsistncy or an occasional occurrnc, th ngativ imag of womn was th prdominant attitud in Zoroastrianism. For ovr thr and a half millnnia th concpt that th dmonic fminin was mor powrful than th divin fminin would hav shapd th day-to-day livs of many Mazda-worshiprs, spcially womn (p. 120). Bing acorrollaryof patriarchy (pp. 115, 117) and dualism as manifstd for instanc in notions of ordr, pity, chastity, prfction, purity as opposd to chaos, impity, sxuality, imprfction, pollution th ngativ imag of womn would hav bn mployd to produc a bifurcation basd on gndr (p. 4) by conncting th good notions to th masculin, mal spiritual bings and lgndary protagonists and vil notions to th fminin, fmal spiritual bings and lgndary figurs. Th Zoroastrian rligion would propagat notions of th fminin s prsumd spiritual, moral, and physiological dficincy, and supposd pnchant for disharmonious actions (p. 114f.). Mal dvots had to guard thmslvs against th potntial dangrs posd by womn and fmal dmons (p. 119). On a primary lvl, Zoroastrian doctrin prsntd an opposition btwn mal vrsus mal, Ahura Mazda vrsus Angra Mainyu. At a scondary lvl, bipolarity cam to b playd out as masculin against fminin : mal vrsus fmal (p. 115). Bing thus rlgatd to a scondary lvl, dmonss lik womn wr dnid absolut control and indpndnc for thir powr was said to originat from th masculin vil spirit Angra Mainyu (p. 118). Furthrmor, th argumnt gos, th concpts producd by Zoroastrian clrics srvd social functions in addition to rligious ons. Th idological bifurcation btwn mal qualling good and fmal qualling vil would manifst itslf in Zoroastrian history and social lif. With th advnt of wstrn-styl ducation and scularisation, th social rols of womn changd, and th rligious valus attributing ngativ aspcts to th fminin attnuatd (p. 119). Thn th faith bcam for th most part fr of gndr strotyps (p. 115) to such an xtnt that now in scular, urban, sttings th fminin is oftn prcivd as th dominant, vibrant forc within th community with th masculin bing viwd as passiv spcially by womn thmslvs (p. 119). Dividd into six chaptrs, this book proposs to xamin doctrinal, thological, ritual, and sociorligious dvlopmnts ovr tim in th rlationship btwn vil, good, and gndr (p. 4). Mthodologically, th study wants to b an analytical survy but dos not intnd to provid vry iota of data. Bing firmly groundd in th sourc matrials (p. 5) but at th sam tim utilising additional thortical paradigms of a wid rang of disciplins, this study proposs to guid th radr to spcific primary sourcs and to th scondary litratur on individual issus. It mploys txts and artworks, which would hav historiographic, litrary, rligious and scular dimnsions, always kping in mind that th txts availabl rflct mal discourss...on both thodicy and gndr, sinc until th nintnth cntury, womn s own intrprtations of th rlationship btwn rligion and gndr would not hav bn prsrvd within or outsid th faith s canon (p. 6). Chaptr on, ntitld Introduction: Gndr, Sanctity, and Dmonology (pp. 1 8) maintains that for much of its history th Zoroastrian rligion rgardd th fminin as chaotic, dangrous, vil and distant from th ordr and goodnss of god. Gnrations of mal prists would hav linkd Zoroastrian concpts of vil to th fminin, whrby undsirabl charactristics wr prsonifid in dmonic fmal spirits (p. 2). Th fminin was blamd as th agnt of disordr and th caus of vil faturs. 2 Mary Boyc, A History of Zoroastrianism. (Lidn, 1975) Vol.I,p.308 n Albrt d Jong, Jh th primal whor? Obsrvations on Zoroastrian misogyny. In: Rai Kloppnborg and Woutr J. Hangraaff (ds.), Fmal Strotyps in Rligious Traditions. (Lidn, Nw York, 1995) pp

3 Rviws of Books 405 Chaptr two, ntitld Dualism and th Fminin (pp. 9 30) discusss Zarathustra s liftim (in th Post-Bactrian-Margiana Archological Complx, ca BC, p. 10) and homland (in wstrn and southrn rgions of prsnt-day Cntral Asia, p. 10). Whil Zarathustra saw his own rol as that of a traditional, dvotional pot, his imag would hav bn turnd into that of a historical, prophtic ladr by th Mdian magi. Th imag of Zarathustra as a sag and foundr of th Iranian rligion would hav bn a projction of th magi, who assumd th rols of that rligion (pp ). Aftr a brif outlin of th Zoroastrian scripturs (pp ), tachings and rligious practic, it is maintaind that th Gathas would tstify to a nascnt rudimntary dualism, according to which popl and ditis could ti thmslvs to Asha thrby ordring th cosmos in an nlightnd fashion. Only latr gnrations of magi would hav transformd th dvotional pot s dualistic words into a cosmic duality (p. 15), in which Angra Mainyu bcam th dirct opponnt of Ahura Mazda. Th Amsha Spntas of th Youngr Avsta would constitut a group of spiritual bings dividd into thr activ masculin and nutr 4 domains paird with thr passiv fminin domains (p. 16). Th Yazatas would qually display a symbolic, intrlinkd, gndr-basd, division into activ masculin and passiv fminin ntitis (p. 17). Th discussion of Zoroastrian cosmology (pp ) 5 and schatology (pp ) isconcludd with th claim that womn, fmal bings, and th fminin srvd only vry limitd positiv rols such as procration, whil many rols of th fminin wr dmd by th faithful to b ngativ ons at th spiritual and corporal lvls (p. 19). Rward and punishmnt aftr dath would b distributd on gndr-diffrntial bass (p. 20). Aftr a discussion of Zoroastrian rituals (pp ), funrary practics (pp ) and history (pp ), th chaptr rvrts to th thm of cosmic and thical dualism (pp ). A mal-dominatd socity would hav accordd all that is good to a mal crator, Ahura Mazda, and all that is vil to a mal dstructiv spirit, Angra Mainyu, th foundr of th rligion bing also a mal. To accord th principl of ithr good or vil to a fmal bing would hav givn too much authority to womn, sinc th dynamics of control and powr in patriarchal socitis did not prmit major rligious ladrs to b womn (p. 28). Th Mazdayasnian systm of dualism, with th sparat locus of vil, would hav givn prists a viabl mans to attribut som blam to womn, whrby th masculin and fminin, as opposits in a strif-torn univrs, wr associatd with good and vil rspctivly. Womn, whn in opposition to mn, wr construd as allis of Angra Mainyu (p. 29). By xtnsion, th fmal bcam partially dangrous for Zoroastrians...dspit of thir othr positiv rligious and social rols (p. 30), which ar, howvr, not discussd in this book. Chaptr thr (pp ) is about th four ngativ notions of dcit (Drug, pp , Daiwi, Pairimaiti, Taromaiti, pp ), discord (Asrushti, Anaxshti, Bushyasta, p ), sxuality ( Jahika, Jahi 6,pp.38 40) and avidity (Azi or Az pp , Xnathaiti and Uta or Udag p. 44). Ngativ notions such as Drug, Pairimaiti and Taromaiti ar said to prsnt aspcts of th dangrous fminin,...and activ rbllion against masculin domination (p. 35). Zoroastrian dmonology would b far mor spcific in its association of gndr with vil as discord and disharmony than many othr Nar Eastrn and South Asian rligions (p. 35). At th opposit pol of this mal-constructd notion of sxuality (p. 44) would b fmal ditis prsonifying notions of chast lov (Spnta Armaiti, pp ), frtility and chastity (Ardwi Sura Anahita 46 49), bauty (Ashi, pp. 41, 49) and good halth (Drvaspa, p. 49). 4 It should b notd, howvr, that th grammatical gndr of all thr non-fminin Amsha Spntas (aš.a-, vohu- manah-, xšaϑra-) is nutr. Th only masculin Amsha Spnta is sp ṇta- mainiiu-, who stands apart. 5 Th statmnt that th currnt ag of mixtur btwn good and vil...will also last six thousand yars (p. 18) is at varianc with th priodisation of Zoroastrian cosmology, sinc th currnt ag is not that of Mixtur but of Sparation, which starts with th birth of Zarathustra and nds with Frašgird. 6 Jahikā-, jahī- ar said to b mntiond only fltingly in th Avsta (p. 38), but thr ar in fact rlativly numrous attstations, s Chr. Bartholoma, Altiranischs Wörtrbuch (Straßburg, 1904), col. 606f.

4 406 Rviws of Books Morovr, in addition to thir rligious rols, th notions of dcit, discord, uncontrolld sxuality, and avidity in contrast to vracity, concord, chastity, and rstraint wr social phnomna (p. 49). Chaptr four, ntitld Waknss, Imprfction and Dath (pp ) isabout thmyth of Mashya and Mashyana (pp ), which is intrprtd as prsnting th ida that womn wr wak in thir dnial of vil and strong through thir spousing of wickdnss (p. 55). Mn would fight fmal vil forcs such as Pairika by rciting th holy txts. Pollution would hav bn quatd with disordr and associatd with dath and th fminin (p. 58). Chaptr fiv, ntitld Socity in Antiquity and th Middl Ags (pp ) discusss th rol of womn in Iranian history and socity from th Achamnid to th Islamic priod with a viw to showing th xtnt to which mal construd notions of th fminin shapd social phnomna throughout th history of Iran. In spit of th gnral argumnt, according to which th fminin was sn as dangrous and tid to vil, th prsntation givs th imprssion that th status of womn improvd in ach of th priods undr considration. Thus, it is statd that from th middl of Achamnian 7 tims through Grco-Macdonian and Slucid rul thr was an augmntation of positiv fminin rols at a spiritual lvl (p. 81), qually during th Parthian priod rligious issus of purity and pollution wr no longr major impdimnts to womn attaining positions of authority or playing public rols, that thir nhancd civic imag was rflctd in th arts and litratur (p. 83), that frqunt rprsntations of womn in artworks during th Sasanian ra rflctd thir growing importanc in th daily activitis of Zoroastrian socity (p. 87), and that aftr th Islamic conqust Mazdan womn, although oftn phmral in th official rcord, participatd activly in dfiningthculturandthhistoryofbothlatzoroastrianandarlyislamiciran (p.101). Indd, it is suggstd that it was mainly womn who transmittd Mazdayasnian idas into th Irano-Islamic cultur (p.102). Howvr, it is nvrthlss concludd that th rol of womn in socity was dominatd by th dualistic viw according to which thy should mulat th good fmal divin spirits incorporating domsticity, matrnity, submissivnss, and pity, and that throughout Iranian history public rols for womn, authority and ladrship would hav bn considrd at last inappropriat and vn possibly dangrous, bcaus whn in th hands of womn thy wr sn as rprsnting vil fmal spirits sprading disordr (p. 103). Thr would hav bn constraints rgularly placd on womn s activitis owing to that community s far of impurity thought to rsult from blding during mnstruation and childbirth (p. 91). Th final, sixth chaptr, ntitld Conclusion: Modrnity and Chang (pp ) discusss carrs of som ducatd Parsi womn and contmporary gndr rlations. Aftr th gratst chang in blifs, lifstyls, and art had occurd aftr th ightnth cntury AD, it argus that th ris of th public imag of womn was parallld by th dclin of fmal dmons to symbols of undsirabl charactristics. Som of thm such as pairikā, who bcam a fairy in its Nw Prsian form parī, vn shiftd ovr into th camp of good spirits (p. 106). Thr would hav bn a trnd toward d-dmonisation of vil bings as a rsult of which th sociorligious powr ascribd to such allgd spiritual forcs attnuatd (p. 106). Th ida that th fminin was coupld with irrligiosity would last b found in th Prsian Rvayat, which still attstd to th notion that mn wr rightous and womn wr potntially problmatic (pp ). Th association of womn and disordr or vil would b attnuatd particularly during th lat nintnth and arly twntith cnturis (p. 107). In both Iran and India this procss would hav bn triggrd by xposur to scinc and ducation. In Iran, it rsultd from xposur to Hllnistic and 7 Th statmnt that whil polygamy was fully accptd, polyandry was nvr prmittd (p. 77) nds to b qualifid for thr is vidnc for polyandry in a rcntly discovrd Bactrian txt ditd and translatd by Nicholas Sims-Williams, Bactrian Documnts from Northrn Afghanistan. Vol.I: Lgal and Economic Documnts. (Oxford, 2000) pp (Corpus Inscriptionum Iranicarum Part II, Vol.VI).

5 Rviws of Books 407 Indian scincs sinc th Sasanian priod, whil th Parsis of British India had accss to wstrn-styl ducation from th 1820s. Thy cam undr wstrn influnc and, as a consqunc, discardd many of thir ancint customs and worldviws in favour of rational morals and thics. Th monumntal ffct of ducation upon Parsi womn on th Indian subcontinnt (p. 107) rsultd in a vry high dgr of litracy and had an ffct on gndr rlations. Scularization plus wstrnization (p. 109) rsultd in attnuation rathr than ruptur of th intrlinkd concpts of disordr and vil vis-à-vis ordr and good as bing connctd to gndr (p. 110). It is suggstd that th dclin of blifs on ngativ fminin imags nabld contmporary Parsi Zoroastrian womn to mov byond th arlir rligious strotyps. Ordr and disordr, rightousnss and falshood, good and vil would hav com to b viwd as social phnomna rathr than rligious ons. Knowldg would no longr hav bn considrd as a mal domain, and th fminin casd to b fard as a sourc of dcit, discord, lust, waknss, and imprfction (p. 110). Similarly in Iran, as a rsult of ducation, wstrnisation and scularisation, ordr and disordr, rightousnss and falshood, good and vil vntually cam to b viwd for th main part as gndr-nonspcific social phnomna rathr than gndr-spcific rligious ons (p. 112). Th book is concludd by an xtnsiv bibliography (pp ) and a subjct indx (pp ), but thr is no indx of txt passags discussd. Although th topic of this book, gndr strotyps in Zoroastrianism, is fascinating and intriguing, on rmains scptical about its main argumnt, bcaus thr ar too many instancs whr th txts adducd do not support th conclusions drawn on thir basis. Morovr, som important contradictory data is not takn into account. A pculiarity of th ancint Iranian (and indd Indo-Iranian) rligion is th prsonification of abstract notions. In this procss, th grammatical gndr of a noun could turn into natural gndr. For instanc, th grammatically fminin noun daēnā- conscinc, vision cam to b rprsntd as a maidn. Th grammatical gndr of druj- is fminin not bcaus dcit was prcivd as a fmal bing, but bcaus all root nouns ar normally fminin (= Vd. drúh- f. dcit ), irrspctiv of thir maning. Thus also th nam of Zarathustra s god, th compound mazdā-, whos scond mmbr is a root noun, is originally fminin (= Vd. mdh ā- f. wisdom ). Th grammatical gndr of drujdos not turn into masculin in Old Prsian (as said on p. 32), for it is not th root noun that is found thr, but a thmatic drivativ drauga-, which quals Avstan draoga-, both masculin nouns. Th claims that Zarathushtra and th arly Mazdan community prcivd Drug as fminin, that latr Drug was transformd into a fminin prsonification of vil (p. 32) and that sh bcam th rprsntativ of th dmonic fminin (p. 33) rmain unsupportd, sinc no vidnc is adducd suggsting that druj- was rprsntd as a fmal bing, which could hav suggstd that th noun s grammatical gndr changd into natural gndr. Th txts rathr suggst that th concpt of druj- dcit was mor complx than prsntd hr, and in any cas not confind to th fmal gndr, bcaus it srvs also as an pitht of mal bings. For instanc, th Dragon Dahāka (aži- dahāka-both masculin nouns), an mbodimnt of vil (but not discussd in this book), is calld davic dcit (daēuuīm drujim Y 9.9). Th physical rprsntation of druj is mor complx, too. Druj is frquntly associatd with th dmon of th corps, nasu- 8,suchasinVd7.1 druxš yānasuš. This dmon is not rprsntd as a womn, but as a hidous fly. For instanc, in th Barshnum crmony, th Dcit, th corps 8 Th dmon nasu- is discussd hr sparatly on pp Th quation of druj and nasu is alrady found in th Avsta and not only as lat as from around th ightnth cntury AD, as claimd on p Th grammatical gndr of Av. nasu- is not always fminin (as said on p. 59: th fmal Nasush ), but somtims masculin (.g. Vd nasuš daēuuō.dātō). Such variation suggsts that th supposd dualistic bifurcation btwn good and mal, on th on hand, and fmal and vil, on th othr, was lss clar-cut than argud for in this book.

6 408 Rviws of Books (-dmon) (hā druxš yānasuš ) is chasn all ovr th body from top to bottom (Vd ) and at th nd flis away: Vd 9.26: haoiiąm hēaṇguštąm paiti.hiṇcōiš āat hā druxš yānasušniuuōiriiit apāx δraēibiiō naēmaēibiiō maxši.k hrpa r γaitiia frašnaoš apa.zaδanhō akaran m.driβii ā yaϑa zōiždištāiš xrafstrāiš You may sprinkl on his lft to, thn this dcit, th corps(-dmon), is chasn into th northrn rgions in th shap of a hidous fly, th kns forward, protuding buttocks, ovr and ovr covrd with spots, just lik th most horribl obnoxious craturs. Although th druj nasu, having kns and buttocks, is partly dscribd in anthropomorphic trms, thr is no doubt that th passag rfrs not to a woman but to an animal, which is xplicitly idntifid by th word maxši.k hrpa as an insct. Th fminin druj is contrastd with th nutr aš.a, which th author dfins as th rightous, ordrly, principl that opposs fmal unrightousnss and disordr. Th statmnt that pious mal blivrs would hav bn rgardd as ashavan, followrs of ordr, adhrnts to truth (p. 33), howvr, is inadquatly supportd. Both passags adducd (but not quotd) ar unsuitabl bcaus nithr of thm rfrs to th truthful on : Y is about th th on of good intllct (huxratu-) and Yt about Mithra s hlprs who watch out for thos braking a contract. 9 Furthrmor, thr ar also th fmal followrs of truth, aš.aonī-, just as thr ar mal and fmal followrs of dcit (OAv. dr guuaṇt-, YAv. druuaṇt-, fm. druuaitī-, th lattr only attstd in Vd and 12). Morovr, in som cass th author constructs a contrast of gndr whr it is difficult to s on. For instanc, th claim that vil womn wr dcrid as a prptrator of vil on mn rathr than as prptrators on Ahura Mazda and that th mn thus could viw thmslvs as bguild victims (p. 35) is supportd with rfrnc to Y Thr asrušti- disobdinc togthr with th archdmon Aka Manah or Akoman would frmnt strif and turmoil. Fminin disobdinc (asrušti) and strif (anāxšti) would b ovrcom by masculin obdinc and stadfastnss of duty in th form of th mal spiritual bings Sraosha and Mithra (p. 36). Howvr, th antonym of anāxšti- strif is not Mithra, but th qually fminin āxšti- pac, as mrgs clarly from th two passags rfrrd to by th author, but not quotd. Indd, in on of thm, Yt Mithra, rathr than bing opposd to strif, is said to b lord ovr both, pac and strif : Yt tūm akō vahištasca miϑra ahi dańhubiiō tūm akō vahištasca miϑra ahi maš.iiākaēibiiō tūm āxštōiš anāxštōišca miϑra xšaiih da xiiunąm 9 Anothr instanc is th rfrnc to Yt 18.2 which would suggst that Arshtat was th fminin mirror imag of sloth and a srvil fmal spirit of Mithra (p. 37). Howvr, Yt 18.2 is not at all about Arshtat but about th (grammatically nutr) Aryan glory (airiian mx v ar nō)!

7 You, O Mithra, ar bad and bst for th countris. You, O Mithra, ar bad and bst for th mortals. You, O Mithra, rul ovr pac and strif of th countris. Rviws of Books 409 Thr is nothing in this passag suggsting that a mal spiritual bing was opposd to a fmal dmon. Anothr instanc is Vd 18.16, which togthr with Bundahishn 27.32, would indicat that th fmal dmon Bushyasta lulls mn into lazinss, slumbr and nglct of rligious duty, thrby prmitting cosmic ordr to disintgrat (p. 36): Vd us hištata maš.iiāka staota aš. myat vahišt m nīsta daēuua aēša vō duuaraiti būšiiąsta dar γō.gauua hā vīsp mahūm astuuaṇt mhakat raocanhąm fraγrātō nix v abdaiiiti x v afsa dar γō maš.iiāka nōit tē sacait Gt up, O mortals, pray th Bst Truth (-prayr), scorn th dmons! That long-handd Sloth runs up to you, sh who puts to slp all corporal lif at onc at th awakning of th daylight: Slp long, O mortal, your (tim) has not yt com! Howvr, it is mor probabl that th passag implis a contrast btwn th dmon, on th on hand, and mal and fmal human bings, on th othr, bcaus maš.iiāka-, bing prsntd hr as a spcification of corporal lif (ahūm astuuaṇt m), is likly to includ both mn and womn (gnus commun). Th languag of this passag dos not appar to b gndr-spcific. If a contrast btwn th fmal dmon of sloth and th mal human bing was intndd, on would xpct an Avstan word such as nar- which unquivocally idntifis th human bing as a man in contrast to a woman (nāirī-). A scond problm with this book is that th host of mal vil spirits and dmons in Zoroastrianism is nithr accountd for nor discussd. Th argumnt appars to b forcd vn to such an xtnt that, in ordr to suit th pictur, dmons clarly rcognisabl as mal ar turnd into fmals. Thus, āzi- concupiscnc is prsntd as on in th ttrad of fmal dmons associatd with sxuality (p. 41). Howvr, th pitht daēuuō.dāta- dmon-spawnd in both th gnitiv xprssion āzōiš daēuuō.dātah (Y16.8) and in th nominativ āziš daēuuō.dātō (Vd 18.19) unquivocally idntifis th gndr of āzi- as masculin. Discarding th grammatical vidnc as mislading, Choksy hypothsiss that arly Zoroastrians thought of Azi as a dmonss and thus āzi- turns into a fmal dmon, who would hav bcom a tool by which socity s strif and wos wr dmonizd and attributd to th fminin, th fmal, and womn (p. 43). Sinc Middl Prsian āz is on of th major agnts in th final schatological struggl btwn good and vil, it would onc again show that th Zoroastrian rligion prsntd mal dominanc ovr th fmal, th divin masculin ovr th dmonic fminin

8 410 Rviws of Books (p. 44). Howvr, if on lavs th gndr of āzi, āz as masculin, as rquird by th txts, this dmon flatly contradicts Choksy s quation of good qualling masculin and divin and vil qualling fminin and dmonic. Morovr, th masculin dmon associatd with āz, aēšma, Pahl. xēšm, th (mal) prsonification of violnc and dstruction, is barly mntiond (not vn in th indx). Equally, a host of othr mal dmonic bings ar ignord. Nor is thr an valuation of thos txts which suggst that thr was rligious quality btwn mn and womn 10 and that womn could tak on lading rols. In particular, a passag in th Yasna Haptanghaiti (Y 41.2), carfully analysd by Johanna Nartn 11, suggsts that in ancint Zoroastrianism both mn and womn (nā vā nāirī vā ) could function as good ladrs (huxšaϑra-) in both physical and spiritual lif (uba- ahu-). For ths rasons, this work should b usd cautiously bcaus its conclusions ar basd on limitd data 12. Morovr, as illustratd abov, th intrprtation put forward too frquntly dos not mrg from th txts. This, combind with th omission of contradicting vidnc, wakns and indd fatally militats against th author s main argumnt. This book dos not succd in sriously challnging th traditional viw of th rligious quality of mn and womn in Zoroastrianism. Almut Hintz School of Orintal and African Studis, London Nation and Novl: A Study of Prsian and Kurdish Narrativ Discours. By Hashm Ahmadzadh. Studia Iranica Upsalinsia 6. pp.330. Uppsala, Acta Univrsitatis Upsalinsis, DOI: /S If th Prsian novl is a rlativly nw phnomnon, th Kurdish novl is vn mor rcnt. Its most tntativ bginnings, th socialist-ralist ouvr of Erb Şmo (Shamilov),dat from th 1930s; vn by th 1990s, th output of Kurdish novlists was vastly outnumbrd by that of thir Iranian countrparts. Th disadvantags of th Kurdish languag, notably its lack of uniformity and th dgr of assimilation practisd in th various stats whr Kurds liv, did not favour an arly or rapid dvlopmnt of any modrn litrary gnrs, and it is not suprising that som notabl writrs who dfin thmslvs as Kurdish, such as Yashar Kmal and Slim Barakat, choos to us th official Stat languags rathr than Kurdish thus thr is vn disput ovr what actually constituts a Kurdish novl. Consquntly th publication of this study, focusing as it dos on th Kurdish novl by comparing it to th Prsian novl, is a rar and wlcom vnt. This book considrs th rlationship btwn th dvlopmnt of th novl and that of th national consciousnss, with rfrnc to Iran and Kurdistan. Th novl is most oftn dpictd as a phnomnon which volvd in wstrn socitis as thy rachd modrnity, oftn, so th thory gos, nunciating th conflict btwn individual and socity. A similar procss, albit mor comprssd, is sn amongst dvloping nations. Thr appars to b a link btwn nation and novl, th natur of which is highly dbatd and rmains highly dbatabl. On might crtainly qustion th usfulnss of taking th novl as an objct of study in nationalist discours whn it is crtain in th cas of both Iran and Kurdistan that thr ar othr forms of narrativ discours th soap-opra, th film which ar much mor popular than novls and rflct public intrst to a much gratr xtnt. Howvr, it is also vry likly that novls hav an importanc as nationalist symbols. Mmbrs of th intllctual classs ar 10 For a survy of th Avstan passags, s d Jong 1995 (quotd abov n.3), pp J. Nartn, Dr Yasna Haptahāiti (Wisbadn, 1986), pp Choksy s criticism of articls by Jafary, Gould and d Jong, p. 123 n.7.