“Do ut des: Patterns of Exchange in Zoroastrianism”. A Memorial Lecture for Ilya Gershevitch. Delivered at the Royal Asiatic Society on 13 June 2002.

Hintze, Almut

Abstract

On the basis of the Avesta and the Rigveda, the article provides an outline the Indo-Iranian ritual involving a triangular configuration of patron, priest and god engaged in gift-exchange. By investigating the contexts of the much disputed, but important, Gathic word maga-, it highlights some aspects of the Old Avestan ritual governed by the same triangular pattern of ritually enacted gift-exchange. Finally, it discusses the Gathic evidence for exchange and
reciprocity in a non-ritual, religious context. It concludes that there are, in the Gathas, two distinct, but interpenetrary, exchange patterns: first, the inherited Indo-Iranian triangular model underlying the ritual activity and governing the relationship between Zarathustra and
some of his contemporaries and, secondly, a new pattern without Indo-Iranian antecedent, of a two-way relationship between any human being and Zarathustra’s god, Ahura
Mazda.

Citation

Hintze, A. (2004). “Do ut des: Patterns of Exchange in Zoroastrianism”. A Memorial Lecture for Ilya Gershevitch. Delivered at the Royal Asiatic Society on 13 June 2002. Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society, 14(1), 27-45. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1356186304003591

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Publication Date: Jan 1, 2004
• Deposit Date: Nov 29, 2012
• Publicly Available Date: Mar 11, 2025
• Journal: Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society
• Print ISSN: 1356-1863
• Electronic ISSN: 1474-0591
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 14
• Issue: 1
• Pages: 27-45
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/S1356186304003591