Cambridge Ancient Hi.. - Index of

sasanid kings and the zoroastrian priests 647
with a more glorious house. Kayanid names (e.g. Kavadh, Khusro) only
enter royal nomenclature in the late fifth century and probably reflect a
change at that time in strategies for dynastic legitimation. Furthermore, it
is the mythological Kayanid link which eventually introduces into royal
genealogies an Achaemenid element that had not been present in previous
centuries. This Achaemenid link was clearly derived from the Alexander
Romance, which had become popular at the Sasanid court in the first half of
the sixth century. The Sasanid genealogies preserved in Arabic and New
Persian sources that derive from lost Pahlavi historiography reflect, as
often, the conditions and traditions of the last century of Sasanid rule; little
genuine knowledge was preserved. 25
iii. sasanid kings and the zoroastrian priests
Divine sanction was an important part of royal legitimation, and it is therefore
necessary to investigate the relations between monarchs and the
Zoroastrian priesthood, the repository of pristine mythological traditions.
The orthodox view that Sasanid kings relied on the support of the
Zoroastrian priesthood, whose beliefs they in turn actively encouraged and
whose power within their realm they enhanced, has been largely modified
in recent decades. 26 True, the term mazdesn, ‘Mazda-worshipping’, recurs
frequently on the Sasanid monuments as a royal epithet, but this need not
imply automatic recognition of one organized priesthood as sole exponent
of this deity’s cult. Kings could perhaps best consolidate royal power by
fostering variety, both inside the ‘Zoroastrian church’ and between
different religions.
For the orthodox view, difficulties arise already with the personality of
the founder of the dynasty, Ardashir I. According to the Zoroastrian tradition
enshrined in the Denkard, a post-Sasanid Zoroastrian encyclopedia,
this monarch ought to be considered as the great restorer of the
Zoroastrian faith, under whose aegis the priest Tansar collected the scattered
remnants of the Avestan books that had survived though the period
after Alexander’s conquests. 27 The picture that emerges from the Res Gestae
Divi Saporis is rather different: it makes no mention either of Tansar or of
any other member of the Zoroastrian priesthood except Kirder, whose
appearance is rather inconspicuous. Ardashir himself can reliably be
described as a worshipper of Anahita of Stakhr, whereas evidence of his
attachment to Ahura Mazda is more equivocal. As worshipped by the early
Sasanids, Anahita was the goddess of victory at whose shrine the severed
heads of vanquished enemies were habitually dedicated. If the devotion of
25 Cf. Nöldeke (1887) 87–8;(1920) 13. 26 For a survey of views, see Schippmann (1990) 92–102.
27 Shaki (1981).
Cambridge Histories Online © Cambridge University Press, 2008