Średnioperski poemat "Drzewo Asyryjskie" i jego partyjska geneza

Średnioperski poemat "Drzewo Asyryjskie" i jego partyjska geneza

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Średnioperski poemat "Drzewo Asyryjskie" i jego partyjska geneza

Bibliographic description

title:	Średnioperski poemat "Drzewo Asyryjskie" i jego partyjska geneza
alternative title:	The Middle Persian poem "Draxt ī Asūrīg" (The Assyrian tree) and its Parthian origin
title original:	درخت آسوری
author:	Paraskiewicz Kinga
date of publication :	2007
place of publication : name of publisher:	Kraków : Księgarnia Akademicka
pages:	189
ISBN:	978-83-7188-969-1
notes:	Autorka podpisana: Kinga Maciuszak. Opracowanie filologiczne, komentarz, przekł. z jęz. średnioper. i rekonstrukcja tekstu partyjskiego K. Maciuszak. Tekst częśc. transkrybowany z średnioper. Alfabet częśc. arab. Bibliogr. s. 165-172. Indeks. Streszcz. ang.
language:	Polish
abstract in Polish:	Prezentowana książka stanowi efekt wieloletnich studiów nad językiem średnioperskim (pehlewi) i literaturą perską z epoki przedmuzułmańskiej. Jest poświęcona anonimowemu poematowi Draxt ī āsūrīg (Drzewo asyryjskie), którego treścią jest spór toczony przez demoniczną palmę i mazdejską kozę. Autorka podejmuje próbę wyjaśnienia genezy tego utworu a także zawartej w nim bogatej symboliki w kontekście szeroko rozumianej kultury Bliskiego Wschodu. Obok komentarza filologicznego – analizującego zarówno warstwę językową jak i literacko-kulturową w oparciu o tło religioznawczo-historyczne – praca ta zawiera pierwsze tłumaczenie poematu na język polski oraz rekonstrukcję partyjskiego oryginału. Książka ta jest jednym z pierwszych kroków na drodze przywracania literaturze irańskiej, kojarzonej głównie z arcydziełami perskimi, zabytków zaginionej twórczości okresu średnioirańskiego; jest próbą wydobycia jej z mroków historii i przywrócenia utraconego miejsca w kanonie starożytnej literatury światowej.
abstract in English:	The knotty Pahlavi poem Draxt ī āsūrīg concerning a contest for superiority between a demoniac date palm and an uncanny goat, belongs to Middle Persian wisdom literature, which was intended both to sharpen the wits and to give instruction. This poem, due to the language mixture (Pahlavi with many Parthian elements), its verse form and rare vocabulary, presents considerable difficulties. It contains not only many irregular lexical items, but also special vocabulary of a rare occurrence, which are to be found neither in any other published Middle Persian texts nor extant glossaries. The establishment of the original spelling of certain words of this originally Parthian composition, owing to alternations in the course of oral transmission, redaction in the Book Pahlavi script, the usual corruptions and mistakes made by more or less ignorant scribes and generations of copyists, is a challenging task. In spite of numerous scholarly and editorial efforts (cf. Blochet 1895, Unvala 1921, Bartholo-mae 1922, Smith 1923, Benveniste 1930, Henning 1950, Bolognesi 1953, M. Navvābi 1967, Shaki 1975, Brunner 1980, Oriān 1992), discussion and commentary on the text have been by no means full so far. There is no doubt that this poem – originally a song – is a Middle Persian adaptation of a Parthian unwritten or lost original. Almost certainly, this Pahlavi rendering had also been orally transmitted until after the Arab conquest, and then, was written down by order of Zoroastrian priests, who concentrated their activities on the preservation of religious and wisdom literature. Among other things, there is still no agreement as to its character. According to some scholars, the dispute exposes the opposition between two faiths, with goat representing Zoroastrianism and the palm standing for the pagan religions of Assyria and Babylonia, in which a cult of trees formed an important part. Many others, quite contrary, claim it is a rare example of a secular verse text; in fact a manifestation of the contrast between pastoral (the goat) and agricultural life (the palm-tree). Although all these suggestions seem to be reasonable, there are also other traces, which allow us to view the meaning of this symbolic text with a fresh relationship. Numerous hints and references to the Mazdayasnian faith in the text could allow us to consider it not to be quite secular in spirit, although it lacks the usual Zoroastrian admonitory approach (typical for other Pahlavi texts against Jews, Christians, Manichaeans, Buddhists). It is well known that harshness, severity and orthodox attitude towards the religion did not characterize the Parthians, but their successors, the Sasanians. The Parthians had a political idea, central to which was a commitment to Iran as a national concept and considered themselves to be the heirs of the Achaemenids. Moreover they maintained in general the Achaemenian tolerance regarding the beliefs of non-Iranians. Therefore the theory that the text is a religious polemic against Mesopotamian faith is rather weak. One can assume that, the horned goat represents the Parthian empire, its power, pride and might (a huge horn) and its cultural legacy, being a mixture of Iranian tradition and Greek motives. The goat seems to be the heir of the three-legged, white ass living in the Wourukasha sea, the goat who fed the first human couple Mashya and Mashyana, and also the Greek Amalthea and the Alexander the Great kingdom (cf. the vision from the Book of Daniel). It is as tolerant as Parthians used to be. It feeds every man, and every nation, despite the religion they profess. In the textual remains of ancient Iranian culture there is a notable absence of the plant and animal fables so abundant in Western classical tradition. The form of the original Mesopotamian fable (two opponents: plant versus animal) forced its Parthian composer to choose, what personage would represent his ideas better (i.e. would be the winner): he chose the goat (contrary to Near Eastern texts where the tree always wins, and the goat is the looser). Thus the text is a rearrangement (re-telling) of for-eign fable patterns with Iranian motifs and characters. The importance of goats in the Iranian world is not to be overestimated. For the poor in Iran, as in many dry regions, the goat plays the role of both the cow and the sheep. Moreover, the Parthians’ enemy, the Romans considered it to be an animal harmful. In the first century B.C. Varro in De re rustica, I. 2.18-20 discoursed on their destructiveness to vines, which allegedly provided the motive for their sacrifice to Bacchus. Fables represent universal truth, which can be referred to any situation, religious or political. The Assyrian Tree is such a parable, where the horned animal symbolizes Iranian (Parthian) legal right and authority, while the proud tall tree represents any foreign kingdom, boasting of its superiority (cf. the Biblical visions). Since finally the greatest Parthian’s opponents proved to be not Romans or Greeks, but Sasanians, their relatives, one may assume that this text afterwards could have been also aimed at them.
keywords in Polish:	Draxt i asurik, język pahlavi
keywords in English:	Draxt ī Āsūrīg, Pahlavi language
number of pulisher's sheets:	7
affiliation:	Wydział Filologiczny : Instytut Orientalistyki
type:	book
subtype:	critical edition

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