A Gāthic Rite? A Critique of the Cosmological Interpretation of the Gāthās I

In the last few decades ritual interpretation of the Gāthās has replaced the biblical one as the dominant paradigm. The emphasis on the central role of ritual in the Avesta is well justified. This realization has given rise to the question of the role and meaning of ritual in the Gāthās. Marijan Molé had tried to argue that the Gāthās in fact describe and accompany a rite whose purpose was the preservation/renovation of the cosmic order. Students of the Gāthās working within the new paradigm have taken up Molé’s general frame. They have tried to show that the Gāthās, collectively or individually, is the text of a particular rite that served, among others, to preserve the cosmic order, especially the daily rise of the sun. The article questions the validity of this thesis. Its focus is on the version of the thesis we find in a number of recent publications by Jean Kellens. He tries to show that the first Gāthā (Ahunauuaitī) describes a unitary pre-dawn ritual that comprised a haoma rite and an animal sacrifice, and had cosmological and eschatological pretensions. His textual analyses and arguments are examined in some detail. The article concludes that Kellens's attempt must be deemed unsuccessful.     

Geochronology of plutonic rocks from the Sanandaj-Sirjan zone,Iran and new zircon and titanite U-Th-Pb ages for granitoids from the Marivan pluton

The Sanandaj-Sirjan zone of Iran is a metamorphic belt consisting of rocks which were metamorphosed under different pressure and temperature conditions and intruded by various plutons ranging in composition from gabbro to granite. The majority of these granitoids formed along the ancient active continental margin of the Neo-Tethyan ocean at the southeastern edge of the central Iranian microplate. Geochronological data published in recent years indicate periodic plutonism lasting from Carboniferous through Mesozoic to late-Paleogene times (from ca. 300 to ca. 35 Ma) with climax activity during the mid- and late-Jurassic. The age constraints for plutonic complexes, such as Siah-Kouh, Kolah-Ghazi, Golpayegan (Muteh), Azna, Aligoodarz, Astaneh, Borujerd, Malayer (Samen), Alvand, Almogholagh, Ghorveh, Saqqez, Marivan, Naqadeh and Urumieh, clearly indicate the periodic nature of magmatism. Therefore, the Sanandaj-Sirjan zone preserves the record of magmatic activity of a complete orogenic cycle related to (1) Permocarboniferous(?) rifting of Gondwana and opening of the Neo-Tethyan ocean, (2) subduction of the oceanic crust, (3) continental collision and (4) post-collision/post-orogenic activities. The formation of the Marivan granitoids, northwestern Sanandaj-Sirjan zone, for which we present U-Pb zircon and titanite ages of ca. 38 Ma, can be related to the collisional and post-collisional stages of this orogenic cycle.     

The Islamic Republic of Iran and the South Caucasus Republics

Deep geopolitical changes in the South Caucasus have considerably influenced the relationships of Iran and the three republics of Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia. Geographical location and strategic significance have made this region one of the most important in the world. Because of its historical affinities and socio-cultural links with the region's peoples, the Islamic Republic of Iran has expanded political-economic cooperation with them. The active presence of regional and trans-regional actors has directly affected this relation. This article mainly seeks to examine Iran's relations with the South Caucasus republics, considering the opportunities created since their independence following the collapse of the Soviet Union.     

Children as urbanites: mapping the affordances and behavior settings of urban environments for Finnish and Japanese children

Increasingly, children are residing in urban environments, yet little is known about the urban affordances for children. A place-based approach was employed to map the urban experiences of over 1300 children residing in Helsinki (Finland) and in Tokyo (Japan) in terms of meaningful places (affordances), travel mode and accompaniment to these places. Shared affordances were considered behavior settings, and audited on-site by trained experts for their main function, land use, openness, and communality. Significant differences were found between countries for all affordance categories. Although differences in behavior settings were observed between countries, a number of patterns emerged: outdoor settings and those with shared communality were the most prevalent behavior settings, traffic settings were predominantly evaluated negatively and commercial and indoor settings most positively. Findings suggest that although the context is important, independent mobility and the possibility to actualize environmental affordances seem to be fundamental in both contexts as the key criteria for environmental child-friendliness.     

Study on the discovered ornaments from Jafar-Abad and Tu Ali-Sofla kurgans (second phase of excavations)

In this research, typology of bronze ornaments discovered from Jafar-Abad and Tu Ali-Sofla kurgans (second phase of excavations) near Aras River in Khoda-Afarin town was investigated. These kurgans belong to combatant and migrating Eurasian tribes, which migrated to northwest Iran in Iron Age II (1200–800 B.C.). From the total number of 103 discovered objects, 93 objects were bronze ornaments, including rings, bracelet, earring, buttons for clothes, and spiral. Discovery of ornaments of various types’ revealed the existence of a social classification system of people in these tribes. In addition, study on the discovered buttons from these kurgans showed that as a tradition in burial ceremonies, the deceased were buried wearing clothes. To understand the basics of metalworking of combatant and migrating Eurasian tribes, analytical investigations were also conducted on three jewelry items including a bracelet, a ring, and an earring from a total number of 93 bronze ornaments discovered.     

Avestan xratu-

The specific sense that the word xratu- possesses in the Gāthās has not received the attention it deserves. As this article will show, this specific sense points to the eschatological foundation of Zoroastrianism. Eschatological concerns did not first develop in the frame of an established “monotheistic” religion; rather, Zoroastrianism arose from those concerns. The xratu- has a strictly eschatological function in the Gāthās. The noun retains this semantic capacity not only in the Young Avestan but also in the Middle Persian Zoroastrian texts. Iranian languages share the noun with Vedic and (archaic) Greek, where it has the basic meaning of the mental capacity to achieve proposed goals, hence practical intelligence, resourcefulness, or efficacy. If this is in fact the general sense that xratu- has in Iranian, as will be briefly pointed out, the specifically eschatological meaning that it acquires in the Gāthās must indicate the type of religious discourse to which these compositions belong. The noun may, further, have developed its eschatological meaning before the time of the Gāthās and already become a technical term. In this case, it would be legitimate to ask whether there are traces in the Gāthās that point to the institutional background of the term. There do indeed seem to be such traces. The term seems to have been used in the technical sense of the mental power to attain the divine sphere in the daēva cult.