Explore Iranica

ḠAṢB, a concept in Shiʿite law (usurpation, unlawful seizure). See Supplement.

GASTEIGER, ALBERT JOSEPH (“Gāstager Khan”; b. Innsbruck, 28 March 1823; d. Bozen, 5 July 1890; Figure 1), baron of Ravenstein and Kobach, Austrian engineering officer, instructor at the Dār al-fonūn (q.v.), and the manager of all civilian and military buildings of the Persian government from 1860 to 1888. He received…

GATHAS (GĀΘĀS), the core of the great Mazdayasnian liturgy, the Yasna, consisting of five gāθās, or modes of song (gā) that comprise seventeen songs composed in Old Avestan language (OAv.), and arranged according to their five different syllabic meters. i. Texts. ii. Translations.

GATHAS  i. TEXTS Each single song covers one chapter (Av. hāiti-, Phl. hā) of the Yasna. The Gatha collection is introduced by two Old Avestan meditational formulas, the Yaθā Ahū vairiio (= Ahuna vairiia, Y. 27.13; see AHUNWAR) and the Aṧəm vohū (q.v., Y. 27.14), and by the Yeŋ́hē hātąm…

ii. TRANSLATIONS Of the entire corpus of the Avesta, the Gathas have been translated far more frequently than any of its other divisions. The reason for their popularity is the challenge they pose to any Iranist who has been drawn into their study. They are formidable in their linguistic and…

GAUB(A)RUVA, Old Persian personal name, spelled g-u-b-ru-u-v (DB IV 84 etc.) and reflected in Elamite Kam-bar-ma, Babylonian Gu-ba-ru(-ʾ) (DB etc.), Ku-bar-ra (DNc 1), Gu-ba(r)-ri, etc., Aramaic gwbrw (not gwbrwh, as restored in the past), Greek Gōbrýās, Gōbrýēs, and Latin Gobryas. The reading of the Old Persian form cannot be ascertained…

GAUDEREAU, MARTIN (b. Langeais,in Indre-et-Loire, France, 1663; d. Paris, 29 May 1743), French missionary priest (and later Abbé) who left valuable observations on Persia and played a part in Franco-Persian relations (see FRANCE ii). He studied at Tours and at the Séminaire des Missions Étrangères, Paris. He had an audience…

GAUGAMELA, site of one of the greatest battles in history, resulting in the decisive victory of Alexander the Great over Darius III (qq.v.) on 1 October 331 B.C.E. (the date, long debated, is now certain: see A. J. Sachs and H. Hunger, Astronomical Diaries and Related Texts from Babylonia, Vienna,…

GAUMĀTA, according to the Bīsotūn inscriptions (q.v.), the Magian pretender who seized the Achaemenid throne by claiming to be Bardiya (Smerdis), the son of Cyrus the Great (qq.v.). No event has been more abundantly documented and more bitterly discussed in the rich history of the Achaemenids than the transition of…

GĀV-ZABĀN (lit. ”ox-tongue,” in reference to the rough, tongue-shaped leaves of the plant), the popular designation for several medicinal species of the borage family (Boraginaceae). The term gāv-zabān seems to be an old calque of Ar. lesān al-ṯawr, by which the earliest Arabic translator of Dioscorides (1st century C.E.), Eṣṭefan…

ḠĀVĀL (also known as daf, q.v.), the most widespread percussion instrument in the Republic of Azerbaijan, played as much in artistic as in popular music and professional ensembles. It is also used in Armenia and the Persian Azerbaijan. In Azerbaijan gāvāl is made up of a circular wooden frame of…