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What language is used in the sacred book of the Zoroastrians?
The Avesta (/əˈvɛstə/) (Persian: اوستا) is the primary collection of religious texts of Zoroastrianism, composed in the Avestan language.
How old is Avestan language?
Avestan /əˈvɛstən/, also known historically as Zend, comprises two languages: Old Avestan (spoken in the 2nd millennium BCE) and Younger Avestan (spoken in the 1st millennium BCE)….
| Avestan | |
|---|---|
| Era | Iron Age, Late Bronze Age |
| Language family | Indo-European Indo-Iranian Iranian Avestan |
What language did Zoroastrians speak?
Avestan Language and Zoroastrianism. Avestan is the oldest known form of the languages in the Iranian part of the Indo-Iranian language family, part of the Indo-European language family. Avestan is named for the Zend Avesta, the sacred scriptures of the Zoroastrians in which it appears.
What languages were spoken in the Avesta?
Old Iranian Languages of the Avesta. An Avestan Language is any one of the Indo-Iranian languages used to compose the Zoroastrian scripture, the Avesta. The Avestan languages range from the ancient language of the hymns of Zarathushtra, the Gathas, to Sogdian and the relatively modern language of the commentaries, the Zand.
Is the Avestan language similar to Sanskrit?
Avestan Old Iranian & Rig Vedic Sanskrit Similarities. The oldest language or dialect in the Avesta, the language of the Gathas and the Yasna Haptanghaiti, is close to the language used in the Rig Veda, the older Hindu scriptures, which for convenience we call Vedic Sanskrit.
What are the Avesta’s Gathas and Yasna Haptanghaiti?
The Avesta’s Gathas and Yasna Haptanghaiti were composed in the oldest of the Avestan languages called Gathic Avestan or Old Avestan. The Haptanghaiti are seven chapters inserted between two Gatha sections and are believed to have been composed by Zarathushtra’s followers either during his lifetime, or shortly after.