Bōxtār (Savior) of the Zand ī Wahman Yasn: Syāwaxš-e Bāmī (Radiant Syāwaxš) or Pēšyōtan?

Document Type : Research Paper

Author

Department of Persian Language and Lterature , Dezful Branch, Islamic Azad university, Dezful, Iran

10.22103/jis.2024.23594.2615

Abstract

Purpose: Unlike the Sassanids, the Parthians were apparently not Zoroastrians and adhered to the Mithraic religion. Therefore, the Sassanids, who were great preservers of the Zoroastrian faith, attempted to erase the ideas and representations of Mithraism of the Parthian era from the text of the Wahman Yasn (a text fundamentally associated with the Parthians). One of these representations appears to be “Syāwaxš-e Bāmī” (Radiant Syāwaxš), and in his place, they inserted a figure completely aligned with the Zoroastrian faith and of their own lineage, namely Pēšyōtan, son of Wištāsp.
 Method and Research: In the following essay, considering these distortions in the Wahman Yasan text, the author will use a descriptive-analytical method to answer the question of why Syāwaxš should be considered the eschatological savior of the Wahman Yasan text, and will answer the reasons for the selection of Pēšyōtan by the Sassanian Zoroastrians in place of Syāwaxš in the current distorted text of the Zand ī Wahman Yasan.
Findings and Conclusions: Since Syāwaxš, according to some narratives, is introduced as the ancestor of the Parthians and shares many similarities with the deity Mithra and a Mithraic figure, Jam, it can be deduced that he was the savior of the end times in the Parthian text of the Wahman Yasn. In this text, alongside Alexander, whom the Parthians are considered the enemy of his successors, Afrāsyāg is also mentioned. It is natural to recall Syāwaxš in opposition to this character. Furthermore, in this text, Syāwaxš’s title "Bāmī" (Radiant) is attributed to Pēšyōtan, and Syāwaxš’s Kangdiz, considered a replica of Jamshid's Var and the residing abode of Mithra and Jam, is seen as the location of Pēšyōtan's resurrection at the end of the world. In this text, Mithraic representations (such as the name Jam, the sacrifice of the bull Hadayōš by Sōšāns, which is regarded as a replica of the bull-sacrifice by Mithra and Jam, etc.) have also been erased, indicating tampering with the text. Therefore, it can be concluded that Syāwaxš, who is a blend of Mithra and Jam, was the Bōxtār (Savior) of the Wahman Yasn text. Due to political and religious motives, he was pushed aside by the Sassanids, and Pēšyōtan, who does not hold much prominence in untampered texts, was placed in this eschatological text in his stead.

Keywords

References

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