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Document Details : Title: Les noms des Perses Author(s): PIRART, É. Journal: Journal Asiatique Volume: 283 Issue: 1 Date: 1995 Pages: 57-68 DOI: 10.2143/JA.283.1.556561 Abstract : According to Herodotus, the Persians also named themselves “the Arteans" (Ἀρταῖοι). By this name, they meant how pious they were: the etymon of this ethical designation, *̣rta+ḭá- (cf. vedic ̣rt̆āyú- “observing the ritual harmony"), equally explains the Avestan epithet ạšiia-, which so often qualifies Srausha. This god represents a deification of the sacrificer or worshiper who performs a ritual in which the cosmical harmony (*̣rtá-) is reflected. The name Πέ&#ραι (Old Persian pārsa- < *pārśṷa-) which the Persians usally received, according to the ̣Rgvedasamhita, refers to the mother of the twenty primitive Persian tribes' ancestors. Her name ParŚu “rib" probably alludes to the miraculous way they were born: as Indra and the Buddha did, through the ribs (pārŚvá-). |
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