e
conquest of Alexander and the great restoration of Zoroastrianism in the
third century of our era, under the Sassanian dynasty. At this period
all obtainable Zoroastrian scriptures were collected, the compilation
was codified, and a detailed notice made of the contents of each of the
original Nasks compared with the portions then surviving. The original
Avesta was, it would appear, a sort of encyclopaedic work; not of
religion alone, but of useful knowledge relating to law, to the arts,
science, the professions, and to every-day life. If we may judge from
the existing table of contents of these Nasks, the zealous Sassanians,
even in the time of the collecting (A. D. 226-380), were able to restore
but a fragment of the archetype, perhaps a fourth part of the original
Avesta. Nor was this remnant destined to escape misfortune. The
Mohammedan invasion, in the seventh century of our era added a final and
crushing blow. Much of the religion that might otherwise have been
handed down to us, despite "the accursed Iskander's" conquest, now
perished through the sword and the Koran. Its loss, we must remember, is
in part compensated by the Pahlavi religious literature of
Sassanian days.

Fragmentary and disjointed as are the remnants of the Avesta, we are
fortunate in possessing even this moiety of the Bible of Zoroaster,
whose compass is about one tenth that of our own sacred book. A grouping
of the existing texts is here presented:--1. Yasna (including Gathas).
2. Visperad. 3. Yashts. 4. Minor Texts. 5. Vendidad. 6. Fragments.

Even these texts no single manuscript in our time contains complete. The
present collection is made by combining various Avestan codexes. In
spite of the great antiquity of the literature, all the existing
manuscripts are comparatively young. None is older than the thirteenth
century of our own era, while the direct history of only one or two can
be followed back to about the tenth century. This mere external
circumstance has of course no bearing on the actual early age of the
Zoroastrian scriptures. It must be kept in mind that Zoroaster lived at
least six centuries before the birth of Christ.

Among the six divisions of our present Avesta, the Yasna, Visperad, and
Vendidad are closely connected. They are employed in the daily ritual,
and they are also accompanied by a version or interpretation in the
Pahlavi language, which serves at the same time as a sort of commentary.
The three divisions are o