sacid Parthian dynasty, the
religion of the fire-worshippers fell into neglect, but was revived
on the establishment of the Sassanian dynasty of Ardeshir Babegan
or Artaxerxes in A.D. 226, and became the state religion, warmly
supported by its rulers, until the Arab conquest in A.D. 652. It
was at the beginning of this second period of prosperity that the
Zend-Avesta as it still exists was collected and reduced to writing,
but it is thought that the greater part of the remains of the ancient
texts recovered at the time were again lost during the Arab invasion,
as the original literature is believed to have been very extensive.

3. The Zend-Avesta.

The language of the Zend-Avesta is the ancient east Iranian or
Bactrian dialect, which probably died out finally in the third
century B.C., modern Persian being descended from the west Iranian
or Median tongue. The Bactrian language of the Zend-Avesta is, Haug
states, a genuine sister of Sanskrit, Greek, Latin and Gothic. "The
relationship of the Avesta language to the most ancient Sanskrit,
the so-called Vedic dialect, is as close as that of the different
dialects of the Greek language, Aeolic, Ionic, Doric or Attic,
to each other. The languages of the sacred hymns of the Brahmans,
and of those of the Parsis, are only the two dialects of two separate
tribes of one and the same nation. As the Ionians, Dorians, Aetolians,
etc., were different tribes of the Greek nation whose general name was
Hellenes, so the ancient Brahmans and Parsis were two tribes of the
nation which is called Aryas both in the Veda and Zend-Avesta." [351]
The sections of the Zend-Avesta which remain are about equal in
size to the Bible. They consist of sacrificial hymns, prayers and
accounts of the making of the world, in the form of conversations
between Ahura Mazda and Zoroaster. The whole arrangement is, however,
very fragmentary and chaotic, and much of the matter is of a trivial
character. It cannot be compared in merit with the Old Testament.

4. The Zend Avesta and the Vedas.

A cuneiform inscription discovered in the centre of Asia Minor
at Ptorium proves that about 1400 B.C. certain tribes who had
relations with the Hittite empire had for their deities Mitra,
Indra, Varuna and the Nasatyas. The first two names are common to
the Persian and Indian Aryans, while the last two are found only
in India. It appears then that at this time the ancestors of the
Hindus and Iranians were not