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Avesta

A text for line-by-line reading, with transliteration, translation, and resources.

Avestan-language religious corpus with layers and oral transmission, not a book composed in one year.

Modern diagram of textual layers, not a Zoroaster portrait or Avesta manuscript. No single composition year for each layer; surviving-copy age is not an idea’s age
Modern diagram of textual layers, not a Zoroaster portrait or Avesta manuscript. No single composition year for each layer; surviving-copy age is not an idea’s ageIL Archive · original diagram · CC BYImage source

Metadata

These are descriptive fields, not conclusions.

Edition
2

Text

Old Avestan, including the Gathas, is distinguished from Younger Avesta. Zand means translation and commentary; Middle Persian books are different later witnesses. Manuscript and idea dates differ. [1]

The diagram shows relative layers, not a manuscript photograph or proven absolute dates for every part.

References and notes

  1. Jean Kellens (1987). “Avesta i. Survey of the History and Contents of the Book.” Encyclopaedia Iranica. Avestan texts distinguished from Zand; layers and oral transmission, no single composition date. Return to the text ↑

Research history

Substantive changes are retained here. Minor copy edits remain in the internal operational log.

  1. Edition 2 · 11 October 2026 · editor:aladmin

    Substantive record update

    Read this revision in its original language (Arabic)

Archive records may be reviewed and refined as better evidence or sources become available. Suggest a correction

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Cite this record

IL Archive, «Avesta», Edition 2, https://ilarchive.com/en/texts/avesta