The relationship between the Vedic and Avestan traditions is central to understanding Indo-Iranian and Indo-European history. The corpus contains primary Avestan texts and studies of Zoroastrianism.

Vedic and Avestan Parallels

The Rig Veda and the Avesta share:

Linguistic closeness: The Gathas and the Rig Veda are mutually intelligible to a significant degree
Shared divinities: Deva (Vedic) / Daeva (Avestan — demonized), Ahura (Avestan) / Asura (Vedic)
Ritual elements: Soma/Haoma, fire worship, sacrifice
Social structure: Threefold division of priests, warriors, and pastoralists

The Vendidad

The Videvdad (Vendidad) is a key Avestan text containing:

Laws for purity and dealing with dead matter
Mythological accounts of Yima (Yama) and the expansion of the world
Geographical descriptions of Aryan lands (Aryana Vaejah)
The 16 good lands created by Ahura Mazda

The Gathas

Dating to the 2nd millennium BCE (traditionally to Zoroaster himself, c. 1500–1200 BCE; some scholars propose earlier), the Gathas are the oldest part of the Avesta, composed in an Old Avestan dialect very close to Vedic Sanskrit.

Origins of Zoroastrianism

The corpus contains studies on:

The date of Zoroaster (ranging from 6000 BCE to 600 BCE)
The rise of Zoroastrian dualism (Ahura Mazda vs. Angra Mainyu)
The development of Mithraism from Indo-Iranian roots
Zoroastrian influence on Judaism, Christianity, and Gnosticism

Iranians vs. Vedic Aryans

The relationship between Iranian and Vedic Aryan cultures:

Both claim the arya identity
The split is both linguistic and religious (the deva/daeva inversion)
The chronology of separation is debated
Evidence for shared Central Asian or Bactrian origins

Anton Perdih