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ANDARWAYWAZĪG

ANDARWAYWAZĪG

ANDARWĀYWĀZĪG, Middle Persian term for “acrobat, tumbler” (lit. “one who plays in the air”). It occurs in the Pahlavi andarz text Xusraw ī Kawādān ud rēdag-ē, sec. 62 (Pahl. Texts I, p. 32); also mentioned are jugglers and performers with all kinds of props, ranging from weapons to table vessels. These providers of entertainment at the banquets of the Sasanian nobility are classed together with musicians (cf. Jāḥeẓ¡’s remarks on the Sasanian ranking of entertainers, discussed in Christensen, Iran Sass., pp. 402-03). Although the Arabic version of the dialogue between Ḵosrow and his page pays careful attention to music (Ṯaʿālebī, Ḡorar, tr. pp. 709-l0), it does not refer to acrobatic entertainments.

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Brunner, Christopher J.. "ANDARWAYWAZĪG." Encyclopaedia Iranica. Published December 15, 1985. https://doi.org/10.1163/2330-4804_EIRO_COM_5431