Cat 2: Zoroastrian fragment

Zoroastrianism was the traditional religion of Sogdiana. This ninth-century fragment is a rare example of Zoroastrian literature in Sogdian. The main part describes a scene in which the prophet Zoroaster addresses the 'supreme god' (Ahura Mazda). The preceding two lines contain a version of the 'Ashem vohu', one of the holiest prayers in Zoroastrian scripture. This text is given neither in standard Sogdian nor in standard Avestan, but in a fossilized Old Iranian language more archaic than either, which dates back to the Achaemenid empire, more than a 1000 years earlier than this manuscript.

Ink on paper
The British Library, Or.8212/84 (Ch.00289)