Early Zoroastrianism and Orality

by Philip G. Kreyenbroek

Early Zoroastrianism was transmitted orally, as is now generally accepted by scholars. There is no consensus, however, regarding the implications of that insight. The few scholars who have referred to the question so far generally based their approach on the assumption that academic theories on orality are valid for all forms of oral transmission, which is demonstrably untrue. Moreover, whilst progress has been made on individual aspects of Avestan texts, the early history of Zoroastrianism as such has received scant attention in recent decades. Philip G. Kreyenbroek has combined an almost life-long study of Zoroastrianism with empirical research on the oral traditions of two modern Iranian religious groups. In this book he applies his first-hand knowledge of the workings of oral transmission and his familiarity with early Zoroastrian priestly practices to extant Avestan texts in order to uncover their history in the light of their earlier oral transmission. Taking into account a number of recent discoveries by other scholars, the work arrives at new conclusions about the genesis and early development of the Zoroastrian tradition.

309 pages, Paperback

Published November 8, 2023

Reviews

[J · Rating 4 out of 5]

This work is a scholarly introduction to the main collection of Zoroastrian religious literature, the Avesta, as well as the development of Zoroastrian religious ideas from their beginnings in the second millennium BCE through to Achaemenid times.

Beginning with a discussion of orality and the transmission of oral literature, the author discusses the Indo-Iranian milieu in which early Zoroastrianism arose. He then covers the different layers of the Avesta, the 'learned tradition,' and the influence of the above on the early Achaemenid empire.

The chapters on early Zoroastrianism's Indo-Iranian setting, the Gāthās (which, along with the Yasna Haptanghaiti, likely represent the oldest layer of the Avesta), and the early post-Gāthic period are very insightful. I wouldn't hesitate to recommend this book to anyone interested in Zoroastrian history and the history of religious ideas more broadly.