View source for Middle Persian literature

{{Short description|Written works composed in Middle Persian}}
{{History of literature by era}}
'''Middle Persian literature''' is the corpus of written works composed in [[Middle Persian]], that is, the [[Middle Iranian]] dialect of [[Persis|Persia proper]], the region in the south-western corner of the [[Iranian plateau]]. Middle Persian was the prestige dialect during the era of [[Sasanian dynasty]]. 

The rulers of the [[Sasanian Empire]] (224–654 CE) were natives of that south-western region, and through their political and cultural influence, Middle Persian became a [[prestige dialect]] and thus also came to be used by non-Persian Iranians. Following the [[Muslim conquest of Persia|Arab conquest of the Sassanian Empire]] in the 7th century, shortly after which Middle Persian began to evolve into New Persian, Middle Persian continued to be used by the [[Zoroastrian]] priesthood for religious and secular compositions. These compositions, in the [[Aramaic]]-derived [[Book Pahlavi]] script, are traditionally known as "Pahlavi literature". The earliest texts in Zoroastrian Middle Persian were probably written down in late Sassanid times (6th–7th centuries), although they represent the codification of earlier oral tradition.<ref>Sundermann, Werner. 1989. Mittelpersisch. P. 141. In ''Compendium Linguarum Iranicarum'' (ed. Rüdiger Schmidt).</ref> However, most texts, including the ''[[Zend]]'' commentaries and translations of the [[Avesta|Zoroastrian canon]], date from the 9th to the 11th century, when Middle Persian had long ceased to be a spoken language, so they reflect the state of affairs in living Middle Persian only indirectly. The surviving manuscripts are usually 14th-century copies.<ref name="LLDescrip">{{cite web|url=http://linguistlist.org/forms/langs/LLDescription.cfm?code=pal|title=Linguist List - Description of Pehlevi|year=2007|publisher=Eastern Michigan University|location=Detroit|access-date=2015-02-10|archive-date=2012-02-11|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120211075033/http://linguistlist.org/forms/langs/LLDescription.cfm?code=pal|url-status=dead}}</ref> 

Other, less abundantly attested varieties of Middle Persian literature include the 'Manichaean Middle Persian' corpus, used for a sizable amount of [[Manichaean]] religious writings, including many theological texts, [[homily|homilies]] and hymns (3rd–9th, possibly 13th century). Even less-well attested are the Middle Persian compositions of [[Nestorian Christians]] like [[Ma'na of Pars|Ma{{transliteration|ar|DIN|ʿ}}na]], evidenced in the [[Pahlavi Psalter]] (7th century); these were used until the beginning of the second millennium in many places in Central Asia, including [[Turfan]] (in present-day China) and even localities in Southern India.<ref>Sundermann, Werner. 1989. Mittelpersisch. P. 138. In ''Compendium Linguarum Iranicarum'' (ed. Rüdiger Schmidt).</ref>

==Subgroups==
==="Pahlavi" literature{{anchor|Pahlavi books}}===
"Pahlavi literature traditionally defines the writings of the Zoroastrians in the Middle Persian language and Book Pahlavi script which were compiled in the 9th and the 10th centuries CE."<ref>{{citation|last=Cereti|first=C. G.|chapter=Middle Persian literature I: Pahlavi Literature|title=Encyclopedia Iranica|chapter-url=http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/middle-persian-literature-1-pahlavi|year=2009|location=New York|publisher=iranicaonline.org}}, accessed August 2010</ref>

The literary corpus in Middle Persian in [[Book Pahlavi]] consists of:
* translations and commentaries (''[[Zend|zand]]'') of the [[Avesta]].
* other exegetical compositions on religious subjects.
* compositions on non-religious subjects.
These divisions are not mutually exclusive. Several different literary genres are represented in Pahlavi literature.

;''Zand'' texts 
The ''[[Zend|zand]]'' corpus include exegetical glosses, paraphrases, commentaries and translations of the [[Avesta]]'s texts. Although such exegetical commentaries also exist in other languages (including Avestan itself<!-- Boyce, TS 1984, p=4-->), the Middle Persian ''zand'' is the only to survive fully, and is for this reason regarded as 'the' ''zand''.<ref name="BoyceTS">{{citation|last=Boyce|first=Mary|title=Textual Sources for the Study of Zoroastrianism|year=1984|publisher=Manchester UP}}.</ref>

With the notable exception of the [[Yasht|''Yasht''s]], almost all surviving Avestan texts have their Middle Persian ''zand'', which in some manuscripts appear alongside (or interleaved with) the text being glossed. These glosses and commentaries were not intended for use as theological texts by themselves but for religious instruction of the (by then) non-Avestan-speaking public. In contrast, the Avestan language texts remained sacrosanct and continued to be recited in the Avestan language, which was considered a [[sacred language]].

;Other exegetical works
The corpus of medieval texts of Zoroastrian tradition include around 75 works, of which only a few are well known:
* the ''[[Denkard]]'', "Acts of Religion", is an encyclopedic compendium of Sassanid era beliefs and customs.
* the ''[[Bundahishn]]'', "Original Creation", is an important source of information on Zoroastrian [[cosmogony]].
* Manushchihr's ''[[Dadestan-i Denig|Dadestan i Denig]]'' ("Religious Decisions") and [[Epistles of Manushchihr|''Epistles'']]
* the ''Vichitakiha i Zatsparam'', the "Treatises of Zatsparam", by Manushchihr's brother Zatsparam. 
* the ''[[Book of Arda Viraf|Arda-Viraf Namag]]'' relates the dream-journey of a devout Zoroastrian (the 'Viraf' of the story) through the next world.
* the ''[[Menog-i Khrad|Daedestan i Menog-i Khrad]]'', "Judgments of the Spirit of Wisdom", is an ''andarz'' text (a class of Iranian [[wisdom literature]]) in which a figure named Danag (lit: "wise, knowing") participates in a question-and-answer dialog with Menog-i Khrad, the Spirit of Wisdom.
* the ''[[Jamasp Namag]]'', "Book of Jamaspi", also known as the ''Ayadgar i Jamaspig'' "(In) Memoriam of Jamasp", is a compendium of essential doctrine, together with basic myth, legend, history, and some pseudo-prophetic matters cast as a series of revelations by [[Jamasp (sage)|Jamasp]] through the model of a question-and-answer dialog with [[Vishtaspa|Vishtasp]].
* the ''[[Zand-i Wahman yasn]]'' is another pseudo-prophetic text, in this case cast as a question-and-answer dialog between Zoroaster and [[Ahura Mazda]], in which the latter gives his prophet the ability to see into the future.
* the ''[[Shikand-gumanic Vichar]]'', a partly apologetic and partly polemic review of other religions.
* the ''[[Shayast ne-shayast]]'', "(on what is) Proper and Improper", a compilation of miscellaneous laws and customs regarding sin and impurity, with other memoranda about ceremonies and religious subjects in general.
* the ''[[Zaratosht-nama]]'', an epic poem about the life of [[Zarathustra]].

;Secular compositions
A manuscript known as the "miscellaneous codex" or ''MK'' (after Mihraban Kaykhusrow, the Indian Zoroastrian (Parsi) copyist who created it), dated to 1322 but containing older material, is the only surviving source of several secular Middle Persian works from the Sassanian period. Among the texts included in the unique ''MK'' are:
* the ''[[Kar-Namag i Ardashir i Pabagan]]'' is a [[hagiography]] of [[Ardashir I]], the founder of the Sassanid dynasty
* the ''[[Ayadgar-i Zariran]]'', the "Memorial or Zarer", is the only surviving specimen of Iranian epic poetry composed in Middle Persian.
* the ''[[Sahrestaniha i Eransahr|Shahrestaniha i Eranshahr]]'', is a catalogue of the four regions of the Sassanid empire with mythical and/or historical stories related to their founding.
* several ''andarz'' texts, the Iranian type of [[wisdom literature]] containing advice and injunctions for proper behavior. 
* the ''Wizarishn i Chatrang'', "Explanation of Chess", also known as the ''Chatrang Namag'', is a humorous story of how an Indian king sent a game of [[chess]] to the Sassanid court to test Iranian wits, in response to which a priest invented [[backgammon]] to challenge the Indian king.
* the ''[[Drakht-i Asurig|Drakht i Asurig]]'', "the Assyrian tree", is an originally [[Parthian language|Parthian]] poem recast into Book Pahlavi but retaining many Parthian phrases and idioms.
* the ''Abdih ud Sahigih i Sagistan'' is a description of the "Wonders and Remarkable Features of Sistan".
* the ''Khusraw va Redag'', "Khusraw and the Page", is an account of a conversation between the king and a young boy who would like to be a page. This work is a source of information on the sensual delights of the Sassanian court.
* the ''[[Mah farvardin Ruz khordad]]'' is a book that described all the events which historically or mythically occurred on the 6th day of the Persian month of [[Farvardin]].

Especially important to cultural and law historians is the ''Madayan i Hazar Dadestan'', "Book of a Thousand Judgements", a 7th-century compilation of actual and hypothetical case histories collected from Sassanian court records and transcripts. Only a single manuscript of this unique text survives.

Scribes also created several glossaries for translating foreign languages. Of these, two have survived:
* ''[[Frahang-i Pahlavig]]'', a glossary of common [[Heterogram (literature)|Aramaic heterograms]] (''[[huzvarishn]]'') used in written Middle Persian. 
* ''[[Frahang-i Oim-evak]]'', a dictionary of [[Avestan]] words and phrases.

Several other works, now lost, are known of from references to them in other languages. Works of this group include: 
* in about the 5th century, priests attached to the Sassanid court began to compile an immense chronicle, the ''[[Khwaday Namag]]'' ("Book of Kings"), a legendary genealogy of the Sassanid kings in which the Sassanians were dynastically linked to [[Vishtaspa]],<ref name="BoyceTS" /> i.e. Zoroaster's patron and the legendary founder of the mythological [[Kayanian dynasty]]. The original Middle Persian version of the chronicle has been lost, and the contents survive only through Arabic translations and in a versified New Persian version, the ''[[Shahnameh]]'' by [[Ferdowsi|Firdausi]], finished around 1000 CE.<ref name="BoyceTS" />
* the ''Kalile va Demne'', a Middle Persian translation of the Indian ''[[Panchatantra]]''. The Middle Persian work survives only as a translation into [[Syriac language|Syriac]] and two centuries later into Arabic by [[Abdullah Ibn al-Muqaffa|Ibn al-Muqaffa]].
* the ''[[Letter of Tansar]]'', a rationale for [[Ardashir I|Ardashir's]] seizure of the throne. The letter was translated into [[Arabic language|Arabic]] in the 9th century by [[Abdullah Ibn al-Muqaffa|Ibn al-Muqaffa]], and from Arabic into [[New Persian]] in the 13th century ''History of Tabaristan'' by Ibn Isfandiar.
* the ''Ayyatkar-i Anushirvan'', which has survived as an Arabic translation in a section of [[Ebn Meskavayh]]'s ''Tajarib al-Umam''.

===Other works===
<!-- Manichaean and Christian works go here -->

==References==
{{reflist}}
{{refbegin}}
* [[Gilbert Lazard]], [http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/poetry-iv-poetics-of-middle-persian The Poetics of Middle Persian], Encyclopædia Iranica (accessed August 2010)
{{refend}}

==Full texts==
*[http://www.avesta.org/ Avesta-Zoroastrian Archives], includes Middle Persian writings in English translation
*[http://www.rahamasha.net/ Scholar Raham Asha's website], includes many texts in original and English translation (some also on the
* [http://www.parsig.org/ancient-texts.html parsig.org])
*[https://www.scribd.com/zkassock A Large Online Pahlavi Library], contains pdfs of many Pahlavi manuscripts in its original script, many with transcriptions and translations.
*[https://www.scribd.com/doc/141335939/kassock-pahlavi-reproductions-middle-persian-books-in-reprint Kassock Pahlavi Reproductions], a small company that provides many reprints of Pahlavi books and manuscripts.  Kassock also writes guides for students learning Pahlavi for select books.

==External links==
* [http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/hymn-of-the-pearl "Hymn of the Pearl"]

{{Persian literature}}
{{Zoroastrian literature}}
{{Sasanian Empire}}
{{Zoroastrianism}}
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