Herbedestan

Herbedestan (hylptst’n')[1] is a Middle Persian term which refers to both a religious school for the training of Zoroastrian priests as well as to a text containing material for the training of such priests.[2]

Name

Herbedestan (hylptst’n') is a Middle Persian term with the meaning priestly school.[1] Other transliaterations of Pahlavi hylptst’n' include Herpadestan,[3] Ēhrpatastān[4] or Ērbedestān.[5] It is a compound term consisting of the term herbed[6] or herpad (hylpt'),[7] meaning priestly teacher, and the suffix stan, meaning place. While in modern Zoroastrianism, a Herbed is the lowest rank of a priest,[8] during the Sasanian Empire, it referred to scholastic priests, which were devoted to studying and teaching the religious texts.[9]

Herbedestan (place)

See also: Herbad

During the Sasanian Empire, the term Herbedestan referred to a school, where a Herbed, i.e., a teacher-priest, offered courses in Zoroastrian theology.[1] According to the testimony in the Zand-i Wahman yasn, such courses used to be open to students of theology as well as lay people wishing to learn more about their faith. It seems, however, that after the revolt of Mazdak, such courses were restricted by Khosrow I to students only.[10]

Herbedestan (text)

See also: Avesta

The Herbedestan is an Avestan text accompanied by a Middle Persian translation and commentary, called Zand.[11] The Avestan parts were produced during the Avestan period, whereas the Zand evolved during the Sasanian Empire. The Herbedestan formed one of the chapters of the Husparam nask, i.e., one of the volumes of the Sasanian Avesta. Whereas most of the Husparam as well as the Sasanian Avestan was lost some time after the 10th century, the Herbedestan survived into the modern period, jointly with three other chapters from the Husparam, through only two manuscripts.[4] Only few critical editions of the texts are available. In 1990, Humbach and Elfenbein produced an edition and a German translation.[5] From 1992 to 2009, Kotwal and Kreyenbroek published a comprehensive edition of both the Herbedestan and Nerangestan text in four volumes. The Herbedestan was contained in volume I, which also contained a critical apparatus and an English translation.[12]

The text of the Hebedestan deals with matters of priestly education. They are arranged in 20 chapters.[13] Their precise content, however, has remained elusive,[14] resulting in a number of divering translations.[15] This is due to a number of reasons. First, the Avestan text is rather corrupt, due to a less faithful transmission. In addition, the Avestan text and its Zand often do not seem to agree.[16] This is caused by the large time gap between the Avestan period and the Sasanian period, resulting in two very different social, economic and cultural conditions.[17] Finally, the Zand contains a large number of jargon and technical terms, the meaning of which is not always clear.[18]

References

Citations

  1. ^ a b c MacKenzie 1971, "hērbedestān [hylptst’n'] priestly school".
  2. ^ Kotwal 2003, "HĒRBEDESTĀN: (school for priests, religious school), a Middle Persian term designating (1) Zoroastrian priestly studies and (2) an Avestan/Pahlavi text".
  3. ^ Nyberg 1974, "hérpatistan [hylptst’n'] a school for priests".
  4. ^ a b Reichelt 1911, p. 180.
  5. ^ a b Humbach & Elfenbein 1990.
  6. ^ MacKenzie 1971, "hérbed [hylpt! N hérbud] teacher-priest".
  7. ^ Nyberg 1974, "hérpat [hylpt'] a priestly title and degree in the Zoroastrian clergy".
  8. ^ Kreyenbroek 2003, "HĒRBED (or Hērbad, Ērvad), a Zoroastrian priestly title, at present used for a “priest in minor orders,”".
  9. ^ Kreyenbroek 2003, "In the Pahlavi books the word hērbed could also be used for one who teaches religious subjects".
  10. ^ Kotwal 2003.
  11. ^ Andrés-Toledo 2015, pp. 522-523.
  12. ^ Kotwal & Kreyenbroek 1992.
  13. ^ Kotwal 2003, "The topics discussed in the Hērbedestān are arranged in twenty chapters".
  14. ^ Macuch 2005, p. 91: "text remains in vast parts unintelligible and enervatingly elusive".
  15. ^ Elman 2019, p. 268: "All of these editions are replete with question marks, contain a plethora of mendations, and each, in varying degrees, difers in signifcant ways from the others in many passages".
  16. ^ Elman 2019, p. 269: "[T]he Avestan text and its Zand sometimes work at cross purposes".
  17. ^ Elman 2019, p. 269: "A careful examination of the Avestan text and its Pahlavi rendering forces us to acknowledge the difering social and cultural conditions of the two eras".
  18. ^ Macuch 2005, p. 91: "But for us it has the disadvantage that it is practically impossible to grasp the content of this difficult text without exact knowledge of technical terminology".

Bibliography

  • Andrés-Toledo, Miguel Á. (2015). "Primary Sources: Avestan and Pahlavi". The Wiley-Blackwell Companion to Zoroastrianism. Chichester: John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. ISBN 978-1-4443-3135-6.
  • Elman, Yaakov (2019). "The Hērbedestān in the Hērbedestān: Priestly Teaching from the Avesta to the Zand". Irano-Judaica. 7: 267–294.
  • Humbach, Helmut; Elfenbein, Josef (1990). Ērbedestān an Avesta-Pahlavi text. Münchener Studien zur Sprachwissenschaft. Vol. Beiheft N.F., 15. München: Kitzinger. p. 127.
  • Kotwal, Firoze M. (2003). "HĒRBEDESTĀN". Encyclopædia Iranica. Vol. XII. New York: Routledge and Kegan Paul. pp. 227–228.
  • Kreyenbroek, Philip G. (2003). "HĒRBED". Encyclopædia Iranica. Vol. XII. New York: Routledge and Kegan Paul. pp. 226–227.
  • Kotwal, Firoze M.; Kreyenbroek, Philip G. (1992). The Herbedestan and Nerangestan. Studia Iranica. Vol. I: Hērbedestān. Paris: Association pour l’avancement des études iraniennes (AAEI).
  • MacKenzie, David N. (1971). A concise Pahlavi dictionary. London, New York, Toronto: Oxford University Press.
  • Macuch, Maria (2005). "The Herbadestan as a Legal Source: A Section on the Inheritance of a Convert to Zoroastrianism". Bulletin of the Asia Institute. 19 (Iranian and Zoroastrian Studies in Honor of Prods Oktor Skjærvø).
  • Nyberg, Henrik S. (1974). A Manual of Pahlavi II - Ideograms, Glossary, Abbreviations, Index, Grammatical Survey, Corrigenda to Part I. Wiesbaden: Otto Harrassowitz. ISBN 3447-01580-2.
  • Reichelt, Hans (1911). Avesta Reader: Texts, notes, glossary and index (PDF). Straßburg: Verlag Von Karl Trübner.
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