Tistrya, part 2: The Iranian Myth of the Star Sirius.

• Author: Skjaervo, P. Oktor

This is the companion volume to the author's Tistrya, part 1: The Avestan Hymn to Sirius, published in 1990. That volume contained the text and translation of the hymn (Yast 8 of the Avesta) with a philological commentary. In this volume, Panaino discusses the hymn in a wider perspective.

In the first chapter he reviews and evaluates the different theories about the identity of the star, concluding that the majority opinion that it is Sirius must be upheld against those who have argued differently.

In the second chapter Panaino discusses the much-debated topic of the connection between Tistrya and the rainy season. Since Sirius "begins its heliacal rise to reach its akme" in the month of Tir (June 21-July 21), "one of the most torrid months of the year in Iran" (p. 15), scholars have seen a contradiction with the myth according to which Tistrya liberates the heavenly waters. Panaino shows that the text does not link the liberation of the rains with the time of the star's rising and that considerable time may have passed before the rains started. This chapter also contains a discussion of the astronomical reality behind Tistrya's right with the "witches" commanded by the "witch of bad seasons," that he connects with the incidence of meteor showers.

In the two following chapters the origins and development of the various parts of the Tistrya myth are discussed: the myth of the liberation of the heavenly waters and its connections with Vedic Tisya, as well as other Indo-Iranian and Indo-European aspects of the myth; and possible ancient Near Eastern influences in the attribution to Tistrya of a star-arrow quality.

Chapter five is devoted to the relationship between Tistrya and Tir...