184 



MRS. WALTER MAUNDER, ON ASTRONOMICAL 



their analogy rather in the early chapters of Genesis. Darme- 

 steter says of them: " The first two chapters deal with mythical 

 matter, without any direct connection with the general object 

 of the Vendidad, and are remnants of an old epic and 

 cosmogonic literature. . . . Although there was no par- 

 ticular reason for placing them in the Vendidad, as soon as 

 they were admitted into it, they were put at the beginning, 

 because they referred to the first ages of the world." It is in 

 these two chapters that we find certain astronomical data that, 

 in my opinion, preclude the appropriateness of the word 

 " mythical " in connection with them. 



The first Fargarcl of the Vendidad gives a description of the 

 sixteen good lands created by Ahura Mazda : for 



" (1) Ahura Mazda spake unto Spitama Zarathustra, saying: 



(2) I have made every land dear to its dwellers, even though 

 it had no charms whatever in it : had I not made every land dear 

 to its dwellers, even though it had no charms whatever in it, then 

 the whole living world would have invaded the Airyana Vae^/o." 



The following is a list of these sixteen good lands : — 



1. Airyana Y&ego, by the good river Daitya. 



2. Sughdha. That is Sogdiana. 



3. " Strong, holy Mauru." That is Merv. 



4. "Beautiful Bakhdhi with high-lifted banners." That is Balkh. 



5. Nisaya that lies between Mouru and Bakhdhi." Unidentified. 



6. Haroyu. That is Herat. 



7. " Vaekereta, of the evil shadows." Unidentified but possibly 

 Kabul. 



8. " Urva of the rich pastures." Unidentified. 



9. " Khne?<ta in Vehrkana." That is the river Gorgan in 

 Hyrcania. 



10. "The beautiful Harahvaiti." That is Harut. 



11. " Bright glorious Haetuma^t." That is Helmend. 



12. " Ragha of the three Races." Rai or Rhaghes. 



13. " Strong, holy Fakhra." Unidentified. 



14. " The four-cornered Varena." Unidentified. 



15. " The Seven Rivers." That is the Panjab. 



16. " The land by the floods of the Rangha, where people live 

 without a head." Unidentified, though the Commentary says 

 Roman Mesopotamia. 



Darmesteter says : — 



" Of these sixteen lands there are certainly nine which have really 

 existed, and of which we know of the geographical position, as we 



