The Zend Avesta, Part 2 of 3: The Sirozahs, Yasts and Nyayis (Forgotten Books)

This is part II of the Sacred Books of the East Zend Avesta translation. This portion of the Avesta is of great interest to the study of comparative mythology. Many of these are of also of outstanding literary value. Many of the texts in this part were originally hymns to very ancient gods and goddesses, such as Mithra, Anahita, as well as celestial bodies such as the sun, moon and the star Sirius, Tishtrya. These deities were retained in Zoroastrian mythology as demigods, somewhat like the Aeons of the Gnostics. There are also a number of texts which enumerate a huge body of legendary personages, some of whom also appear in the Shah Nama, the Persian national epic. Yast XII is a moving poetic description of the Zoroastrian after-death experience. (Quote from sacred-texts.com)

About the Author

Thomas Firminger Thiselton-Dyer (1843 - 1928)
Sir William Turner Thiselton-Dyer FLS FRS KCMG (July 28, 1843-December 23, 1928) was a British botanist.

Thiselton-Dyer was born in Westminster, London. Initially studying mathematics at Oxford University, he graduated in natural science in 1867. He became Professor of Natural History at the Royal Agricultural College in Cirencester and then Professor of Botany at the Royal College of Science in Dublin. In 1872, he became professor at the Royal Horticultural Society in London, being recommended by Joseph Hooker.

Then in 1875, Thiselton-Dyer was offered the Assistant Directorship at Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, under Hooker, where he was to stay for thirty years. Thiselton-Dyer spent considerable time on the Colonies, e.g. introducing rubber to plantations of Sri Lanka and Malaya, and the introduction of cacao from Trinidad to plantations in Sri Lanka. In 1877, he was given charge of an international research labor