UNESCO Parzor is happy to announce the first of the Educational Outreach programmes in collaboration with SOAS, University of London.
Professor Almut Hintze, Zarthoshty Brothers Professor of Zoroastrianism, will be offering a 10 day Course at the Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute, Pune this July. Due to a kind donation there is no fee for this course. At the end of an intensive programme the student will have acquired an Introduction to Avestan, with a comparative perspective of the Indo- Iranian heritage shared by Vedic and Avestan.
Therefore this Course is of interest to all those who are students of Vedic Studies and will add to their knowledge.
Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute, Pune and SOAS, University of London, supported by UNESCOPARZOR
proudly announce the course
An Introduction to the Avestan Language
Made possible through a generous donation from France, this free course enables students of all backgrounds to study the ancient language of Zoroastriansm.
The course is designed to provide students with a clear understanding of the basic principles of the Avestan language in a way that enables them to translate simple Avestan texts.
Dates: Monday, 6 July – Friday, 17 July 2015
Venue: Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute, Pune, India
Teacher in Charge: Almut Hintze, Zartoshty Brothers Professor of Zoroastrianism, SOAS, University of London
An Introduction to the Avestan Language
Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute, Pune
6–17 July 2015
Mon-Fri: 11am–1pm & 2–4pm
About the course. The Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute is delighted to announce a short term course in Avestan Language and Literature that has been made possible thanks to the donation
of a donor from France. The course will be conducted at the Institute from 6–17 July 2015. This course is an introduction to the language of the Avesta, the earliest and sacred text of the
Zoroastrian community in Iran, India and a world-wide diaspora. No prior knowledge of the language is required, but familiarity with Sanskrit will be an advantage as Avestan will be studied in
comparison with Vedic Sanskrit. The course is designed to provide students with a clear understanding of the basic principles of the Avestan language in a way that enables them to translate simple Avestan texts and to analyse their grammar.
Students who complete the course successfully will be able to handle simple primary sources of the Zoroastrian religion in the original Avestan and to assess critically translations made by various scholars. The course is based on lessons covering basic grammar and on the reading of texts. The essential course books are in English and no knowledge of any other specific language will be required, though a general familiarity with standard grammatical terminology and concepts will be an advantage.
Significance of the course.
This course has been made possible thanks to a donation of an anonymous donor from France. It is designed to benefit students and scholars of various disciplines and the wider public, in particular the Parsi community. It contributes to Oriental Studies, Vedic Studies and Indian Culture by teaching the Avestan language in a comparative perspective that takes into account the common Indo-Iranian heritage shared by Vedic and Avestan. The course thus contributes to Vedic as well as Zoroastrian Studies.
The Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute is ideally suited for hosting this course thanks to its excellent location and collections of books and documents, in particular of Avestan manuscripts.
The course is designed to contribute to BORI’s outstanding reputation as a centre of Oriental Studies.
The course teacher
Prof. AlmutHintze is Zartoshty Brothers Professor of Zoroastrianism in the Department of the Study of Religions, School of Oriental & African Studies, University of London. Holding degrees from the universities of Heidelberg, Oxford, Erlangen and Berlin, her field is Indo- Iranian Studies with special emphasis on Avestan language, Zoroastrian literature, beliefs and religious practice. Her major publications include a study of the semantics of words for ‘reward’ in Vedic and Avestan (2000), commentaries and annotated editions of Zoroastrian sacred texts, such as the AvestanZamyādYašt (1994) and the YasnaHaptanghaiti (2007), and, with Dastur F M Kotwal, a facsimile edition of the KhordeAvesta and Yasht manuscript E1. She is currently leading a team of young scholars working on an edition and translation of the Avestan and Pahlavi versions of a major Zoroastrian ritual, the Yasna.
Attendance of this course is free of charge.
For more details, please contact:
Prof. Dr. S. S. Bahulkar,
Honorary Secretary In-charge
Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute, Pune 411 004 India
Email: shrikant.bahulkar@gmail.com
Phones: +91-9272296556 (Cell Phone)
+91-20-25661363 (Office, Direct Line); +91-20-25656932 (Office)
