which may he attributed to a similar derivation of tradition
from a common source. ' It is more precise, and evidently
belongs to a period not very remote. If we suppose the
Zendavesta to have been written about the time of Darius
Hystaspes, to whose reign it is referred by all the Persians,
and by many Pehlvi books,--—or even, as others think, in
the days of the first Cyaxares, termed Darius the Mede,-r-
the event will, in either case, fall about the age of Daniel and
Ezekiel, when a knowledge of the Hebrew scriptures, and
of their contents, became spread through.the East. Hence
we may find an explanation' of many remarkable passages
in this series of represétftations. But though it is probable
that the moral part of the Mythos, as well as the
astrological, is-of later origin, and borrowed1-from ^western
nations, there is enough to prove, that the basis of ?the
cosmogony is derived from the East. Of these traits I shall
take notice in the following paragraph.
That the religion and mythology of the Medes and Pers
sians were derived, in part, from Assyria and Babylon,
appears the more probable when we consider the fact,5 that
they obtained from the same quarter the art of writing; It
has been the opinion of M. Burnouf, and others wh&have
pursued the investigation of cuneiform'inscriptions, that the
letters in which they are written belonged, öriginally/«tsoj=-the
Semitic language, and have been forced into tbeusmof an
Indo-European dialect, the words of which they are not pro*-
perly fitted to express. One only, out of threé modes- of
arranging the characters, has produced words andjentences
which can yet be deeyphered. The other two are supposed
to be appropriate to languages foreign to the Iranian race,
probably to the Babylonian and Assyrian. From the fact,
that the Persians, who,—as Burnouf conjectures with probability,
were, before their intercourse with the Assyrians
began, an unlettered people,-^obtained from them the use of
writing, it is the more probable that their mythology was
derived in part from the same quarter.
J?a%:ag,mph 5.—Further inquiries into the history of the
Arian race. Ancient traditions of Migrations, preserved
jt, ,in the, Vendid,ad. .
Though there is reasonvto believe that the Medes and
Persians^de^ivejl from Assyria the use of letters, at least of
$îat kind* ofwritingwhich was employed in inscribing upon
iStone, and many-parts of t,theirt,vmythological system ;
.yet their language affords unequivocal evidence,!, that the
people themself* are of kindred origin with*.the natives,
ât least with the dominant, race of India. They have, besides,
a tradition,.,of their migration from remote1 countries in the
East.
. This tradition is delivered in one of a . series tof very remarkable,;
passages in the^Yendidad, relating to the ancient
history qf> tbé Arian rape.y.,
• The first Fargard, or section, of the Vendidad, enumerates
the towns .or|ihâbitablevtraèts which were first'created hy
Ormuzd, and successively becàmé*thefiwglMngr places of the
Arianhabe... In; th^vsecond fargard the migrations of tÉè-.
people of. Ormuzd are(jjrficordfedt?* They advanced from one
Région to another, under.the cpnduct of Djemshid; who,‘as I
havej saidrbefore, the Zendavesta,* not .a triumphant
warrior, like the Djemshid of the»SHahnameh, but an inspired
patriarch, wh'Oj> like Ahrjaham, or1like Mosës;’ leads from one
region to • another, under the command of Ormuzd, thè
.chosen race. This • part of the Zendish. books has the
aspect jof simple and patriarchal antiquity, and probably
contains a very ancient piece of‘4his|ory, .preserVed, perhaps
hy oral tradition, from timelf long antecedent to the age of
writing among the Persians; The original dwelling-place5,
was Eerïené Véedjô, the pure Iran. “IGè lieu, étoit plus
beau que le Monde entière. 1 Rien n’égalait la beauté de ce
lieu de delices.”* Then came the deadly Ahriman, and made
in the river which waters Eerïené, the serpent of winter. * “ Il
y eut dix mois d’hiver, et deux de chaud.” This was the
* Vendidad, tom. 26 ; Zendavesta, by Anquétil dn Perron.