Echoes of the Avesta? Tracing Pre-Islamic Heritage in Persian Epics

Long before the arrival of Islam, the lands of ancient Iran were shaped by the hymns and myths of Zoroaster’s followers, preserved in the sacred verses of the Avesta. When later poets wove their grand epics—above all, Ferdowsī’s Shāhnāmeh—they carried forward faint yet unmistakable traces of that pre-Islamic heritage. In this post, we’ll follow the breadcrumbs from the Avesta’s cosmic vision into Persia’s medieval storytelling tradition.

1. The Avesta’s Vision: A Cosmic Drama

The Avesta—the holy book of Zoroastrianism—lays out a world governed by two primal forces:

• Ahura Mazda, the Wise Lord who embodies truth (asha) and life

• Angra Mainyu (Ahriman), the spirit of deceit and decay

Its hymns celebrate the first creatures, the archetypal king Yima (later Jamshīd), and the promise of a golden age. Though the Avesta survives only in fragmentary form, its dualistic cosmology and lofty ideals of justice and divine glory (farr, or khvarnah) ran deep in Iranian lore.

2. From Pahlavi Chronicles to New Persian Verse

Between the Avesta and the great Persian epics lay centuries of Middle Persian (Pahlavi) writings—court histories, royal biographies, and short epic tales like the Āyādgār-i Zarīrān. These works, often penned in Sassanian fire-temple circles, transmitted mythic names (Jamshīd, Zāl, Rostam) and motifs (the simurgh, the farr-bestowing bird) into the medieval imagination.

When Ferdowsī set out to compose his Shāhnāmeh (late 10th–early 11th century), he drew on these Pahlavi sources—now largely lost—alongside oral traditions. His stated aim was to “restore the Iranians’ ancient glory,” …