A Green Leaf: Papers in Honour of Professor Jes P. Asmussen.

• Author: Skjaervo, Prods Oktor

By W. Sundermann, J. Duchesne-Guillemin and F. Vahman. Acta Iranica 28, deuxieme serie, Hommages et Opera Minora. Leiden: E. J. BRILL, 1988. Pp. xxix + 547, 24 plates. HFl 150, $75.

This is an extremely rich and multifaceted volume, a worthy tribute to the scholarship and personality of Jes P. Asmussen. The table of contents is followed by a useful alphabetical list of authors; a dedication signed by J. Duchesne-Guillemin, W. Sundermann, and F. Vahman; the biography and bibliography of the honorand; and the acknowledgment of the financial support of the Danish David Foundation. The articles are arranged according to subject matter, as indicated below.

1. Iranian texts and languages.

   1. Old Iranian. G. Ito, in "Gathica XVI: On Yasna 32:16," proposes a number of new readings and interpretations of Gathic words: ainhya [i.e., anhiia] with ms. J3 instead of anhaiia, 1st sing. subj. of anhiia

   2. Middle Iranian. M. Back discusses the word "Kirdegan" of the Sasanian inscriptions, as well as its attestations in Book Pahlavi and Manichean texts, concluding that it means "liturgy, Gottesdienst"(3) Persian aspanur; awadag "generation," the derivation of which from Old Persian uvada "lineage"(6) cannot be correct, as intervocalic d would not survive in Middle Persian (other than in Avestan loanwords). He also discusses wslyn', which he regards as a misspelling of xwarayen, a legal term for a woman who arranges her own marriage.(7) A. Tafazzoli discusses a mention by al-Biruni of "The King's Seat in the Fire-Temple," transmitted as, to be read as dengahu.

   3. Other Middle Iranian languages, Irano-Aramaica. W. Eilers, in "Euphonisches i und der aramaische Emphaticus auf -ya," surveys in characteristic manner a "universal" linguistic phenomenon. R. Emmerick edits and translates "Some Verses from the Lankavatarasutra in Khotanese" included in the 10th-century Khotanese miscellany of Buddhist doctrinal texts, the Manjusrinairatmyavatarasutra. The Sanskrit and Tibetan texts are compared. J. Greenfield discusses the expression "Nergol dhspt," connecting the Iranian title dhspt with the Iranian loanwords in Armenian dahc and dahcpat, "executioner, chief executioner," a reference to Nergal's function as "keeper of the underworld and the god of pestilence" (p. 141). N. Sims-Williams, in "Syro-Sogdica III: Syriac Elements in Sogdian," gives a list of all the Syriac words in Christian Sogdian texts and discusses their morphology. P. O. Skjaervo edits and translates "The Khotanese Hrdayasutra," a prajnaparamita text.(8) The Khotanese translation is from the "longer" version. The Sanskrit and Tibetan texts are compared, and a glossary and excerpts from a Late Khotanese (10th century?) commentary on the sutra are included. W. Sundermann, in...