Pahlavi Wisdom Literature and the Tradition of Hemerology in pre-Islamic Iran

The Pahlavi literature has transmitted to us two samples of hemerologies: a shorter one is contained in the collection of pieces of advice attributed to the Sassanian high priest Adurbād ī Mahraspandān, and a longer one is found in the Wizīrkard ī dēnīg (a text of uncertain date, dealing with several different topics). Both hemerologies list the religious and daily activities that it is appropriate to perform in each of the 30 days that compose the Zoroastrian month. The paper will set these two texts in the context of the wisdom genre, a literary genre which aimed at establishing the good religious and daily behavior, and which was very popular in pre-Islamic Iran. The paper will also present a hypothesis on the development of the hemerologies in the Zoroastrian literature, from the origins (that can be connected to a Mesopotamian influence) to the early Islamic times.