3 2 9

                Comparative Studies of 

  

   South Asia, Afric

a and  

  

 the Middle East 

           Vol. 30, No. 3, 2010

         doi 10

.1215/1089201x-2010-017  

   © 2011 by Duke University Press 

Sacred Plants and the Cultic Beverage Haoma

Kazim Abdullaev

enturies of research on the cultic beverage haoma have produced an abundant wealth of scholarship. In fact, any additional mention of this subject may seem redundant, except to state that the present study relies on the existing literature in order to fur-

ther evaluate new conclusions that are extracted from less frequently discussed artifacts. This analysis follows a historical and cultural approach and is based on archaeological findings from the Bronze Age and the early medieval period, present in the stratigraphic layers in Bactria, Margiana, and Sogdiana. The surviving material from the antique period is not as useful as that from these eras, which despite their large chronological gap, provide sufficient archaeological sources on the continuous use of the haoma plant.1 The criterion used in the selection of the material for this study is thematic and based on the reliability of the sources.

The absence of explicit identification of the haoma plant in the Avesta has produced a wide range of hypotheses and conclusions. Commentary on the interchangeability of different plants in the preparation of the soma drink, the Indian parallel of haoma, has led to contra-dictory hypotheses, including the identification of haoma with the fungus of the fly agaric.2 Consequently, determining the composition of haoma is still a topic of dispute. Ephedra is often the suggested plant in this connection. This interpretation is supported by conclusive proof such as the use of ephedra until the present time in the ritual practices of contemporary Zoroastrian- Parsis. The fact that Parsis have over the centuries brought ephedra from Persia and stored it in temple depositories further supports the identification of haoma and ephe-dra.3 Proponents and opponents of the theory that haoma and ephedra were the same plant trace this connection to evidence from ancient Iran and Central Asia.4 The ethnoreligious studies of Mary Boyce are especially important in this regard.5

The question of the relationship between haoma and ephedra is further complicated as we learn that narcotic plants or substances are not necessarily related to the haoma and the cul-tic rites of Zoroastrians and their predecessors. In the ancient world there are known examples

I express my gratitude to Richard Salomon, Heinrich von Staden, Firoozeh Papan- Matin, Oscar Bandelin, Joel Walker, Eugenia Ba-danova, and Alexander Galak for their help and advice.

1.  Raymond A. Bowman, Aramaic Ritual Texts from Persepolis, Oriental Institute Publications 91 (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1970), no. 43, 11. See also ‘Ali Sami, Persepolis, 6th ed. (Shi-raz, Iran: 1970), 98  –  99, pl. on 105. Sami provides a discussion of the significance and the cultic importance of stone pestles and mortars dated to the time of Artaxerxes 1 (464 and 452 BC).

2.  R. Gordon Wasson, Soma: Divine Mushroom of Immortality (The Hague: Mouton, 1969). See also John Brough “Soma and Amanita muscaria,” Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies (hereafter BSOAS), 34 (1971): 331  –  62.

3.  Sir Aurel Stein, “On the Ephedra, the Hum Plant, and the Soma,” BSOAS 4 (1931): 501  –  14.

4.  R. E. Emmerich, “Ein Mannlein steht im Walde”(“A Little Man Stands in the Forest”), Acta Iranica 10 (1985): 179  –  84; I. M. Steblin- Kamenski, “Flora iranskoy prarodiny” (“Flora of the Ira-nian Homeland”), Etimologiya 1972 (Moscow, 1974): 138  –  40; Gernot I. Windfuhr, “Haoma/Soma: The Plant,” Acta Iranica 11 (1985): 699  –  725.

5.  Mary Boyce, “Haoma, Priest of the Sacrific,” in W. B. Henning Memorial Volume, ed. Mary Boyce and Ilya Gershevich (London: Lund Humphries, 1970), 62  –  80.

3 3 0

            

            

     Comparative  

            

           S

tudies of  

            

     South Asia,  

           A

frica and the  

      Middle East

of the use of narcotic drugs for medicinal, thera-peutic, and ritualistic practices.6 Sir Aurel Stein’s discovery of the burials in the Lop Nur desert (Tarim basin), where the utter aridity of the cli-mate preserved some organic objects and bodies of the deceased, revealed sacks containing twigs of ephedra.7 Stein did not draw any definitive conclusions on the significance of this discovery. The presence of ephedra at the burial site could indicate that it was used for its cultic and reli-gious qualities or as an embalming plant. New evidence from the late Bronze Age in Turkmeni-stan also points to the cult of haoma and the use of narcotic plants. Research on this evidence and the writing of V. I. Sarianidi on temple and cult practices of the ancient inhabitants of this region, and especially his use of the term “proto- Zoroastrian,” generated considerable discussion and criticism among scholars.8 Notwithstanding the abrupt use of the term “proto- Zoroastrian,” the importance of Sarianidi’s investigation was not entirely diminished.9 His arguments could be interpreted as a reference to those elements that were incorporated into Zoroastrian reli-gious practices of the later epochs and were gradually systematized into religious doctrines.10 Another criticism against Sarianidi pointed to the contradictory nature of the source data that

questioned whether Persians were building any temples at this time.11 This epoch, preceding the formation of Zoroastrianism as a religion, is so distant from our time that one cannot assert such a hypothesis with complete certainty. In fact, as history has shown, it is rare that the data from written sources and archaeological materi-als confirm and reinforce each other.

Archaeological studies demonstrate that Zoroastrian religious sources are for the most part found in Central Asia, the Bactrian- Margian Archaeological Complex (BMAC). Archaeologi-cal discoveries such as temple complexes and other cult constructions prove Herodotus inac-curate when he says (1.131), “These are the cus-toms, so far as I know, which the Persians prac-tice: Images and temples and altars they do not consider it lawful to erect, nay they even charge with folly those who do these things; and this, as it seems to me, because they do not account the gods to be in the likeness of men as do the Hellenes.” 12 It is not clear whether Herodotus is discussing a specific place and the customs of that locality or the general tendency among Persians to avoid building temples. The Iranian- speaking ethnic groups that settled on the enor-mous territory of the Iranian plateau shared diverse cultural and religious customs. This fact

6.  Narcotic drugs were widely used in antiquity. See, e.g., Herodotus’s History: “The Scythians, as I said, take some of this hemp- seed, and, creeping under the felt coverings, throw it upon the red- hot stones; immediately it smokes, and gives out such a vapour as no Grecian vapour- bath can exceed; the Scyths, delighted, shout for joy, and this vapour serves them instead of a water- bath; for they never by any chance wash their bodies with water.” Herodotus, The His-tory, trans. G. C. Macaulay and rev. Donald Lateiner (New York: Barnes and Noble Classics), vol. 11, bk 4. See also John M. Riddle, Quid pro quo: Studies in the History of Drugs (Hampshire, UK: Variorum, 1992); Théophraste (Theoprastus), Recherches sur les plan-tes (Research on Plants), Suzanne Amigue, ed., trans., 5 vols. (Paris: Belles Lettres), vol. 1, bks. 1  –  2 (1988); vol. 2, bks. 3  –  4 (1989); vol. 3, bks. 5  –  6 (1993); vol. 4, bks. 7  –  8 (2003); vol. 5, bk. 9 (2006).

7.  It is striking the safety that was taken in regard to both the buried and the funeral inventory, as is evident in the photographs in Sir Aurel Stein, Inner-most Asia: Detailed Report of Explorations in Central Asia, Kan- su, and Eastern Iran (Oxford, UK: Clarendon, 1928), vol. 1, figs. 171  –  72. Stein explains: “The bodies were enveloped in a shroud of coarse canvas. The shroud in the case of the two best preserved burials, both of middle- aged men, had its edge near the head or where it lay across the breast tied up into two lit-

tle bunches. One of these proved to contain grains of wheat, and the other a quantity of small broken twigs.” Stein, “On the Ephedra,” 503.

8.  See Frantz Grenet, “Nekotorye zamechaniya o kornyah zoroastrizma v Sredney Azii” (“Observations on the Origin of Zoroastrianism in Central Asia”), Vestnik drevney istorii (hereafter VDI), 188 (1989): 170  –  71; V. A. Gaibov and G. A. Koshelenko, “Togolok 21 i problemy religioznoy istorii drevney Margiany” (“Togolok- 21 and the Problems of Religious History in Ancient Margiana”), VDI, 188 (1989): 171 – 73; I. V. Pyankov, “Togolok 21 i puti ego istoricheskoy inter-pretatsii” (“Togolok- 21 and Ways to Interpret Its History”), VDI, 188 (1989): 179 – 81; V. A. Livshits and I. M. Steblin- Kamenski, “Protozoroastrizm?” (“Proto- Zoroastrianism?”), VDI, 188 (1989): 174  –  76; B. A. Lit-vinskiy, “Protoiranski hram v Margiane?” (“A Proto- Iranian Temple in Margiana? ”), VDI,  188 (1989): 177  –  79; C. C. Lamberg- Karlovsky, “Civilization, State, or Tribe? Bactria and Margiana in the Bronze Age (Review of Askarov and Shirinov; Sarianidi),” Review of Archaeology, 24 (2003); and V. I. Sarianidi, “Moy otvet K. Lambergu- Karlovskomu” (“My Answer to K. Lamberg- Karlovsky”), 1 April 2008, ashga.sitecity.ru /ltext_1405172346.phtml?p_ident=ltext_1405172346 .p_1405172641.

9.  Livshits and Steblin- Kamenski, “Protozoroastrizm,” 174.

10.  One such element in the funeral practice of the ancient population of Bactria is the archaeologi-cal fixation of findings of dissected bones gathered in one locus in the burials of the Bronze Age period (Dzharkutan, Buston). This peculiarity may indicate that before the burial the corpse was exposed at a special open location (a prototype of the dakhma?). See V. I. Ionesov, “Novye issledovaniya mogil’nika epohi bronzy Dzharkutan 4B” (“Recent Research on the Bronze Age Burial Ground of Dzharkutan 4B”), Is-toriya material’noy kul’tury Uzbekistana, no. 22 (1988): 9, fig. 3; Ionesov, “O novyh pogrebeniyah Dzharku-tana” (“On Recent Burials at Dzharkutan”), Istoriya material’noy kul’tury Uzbekistana, no. 23 (1990): 143; Ionesov, “K izucheniyu pogrebal’nyh komplek-sov Dzharkutana” (“Study of the Burial Complex at Dzharkutan”), Istoriya material’noy kul’tury Uzbeki-stana, no. 27 (1996): 24.

11.  Livshits and Steblin- Kamenski, “Protozoroastrizm,” 174. See also Mary Boyce, Zoroastriytsy: Verovaniya i obychai (The Zoroastrians: Their Religious Beliefs and Practices) (Moscow: Nauka, 1987), 59.

12.  Herodotus, The Histories, trans. G. C. Macaulay, rev. Donald Lateiner (New York: Barnes and Noble Classics, 2002), 50. Cf. Strabo, Geography, trans. Hor-ace Leonard Jones (New York: Loeb Classical Library, 1930), 175.

3 3 1

Kazi

m A

bdul

laev

  

Sacr

ed P

lant

s an

d th

e Cu

ltic 

Beve

rage

 Hao

ma

is overlooked in the Greek worldview of Hero-dotus, for whom temples had certain defined characteristics. As architectural constructions, they exemplified the finest achievements of the Greek art intended for the dwelling of the deities who were personified as statues and images.13 This perspective excludes buildings in the val-leys of Murgab and Oxus as temples. In a similar vein, a historical interpretation of the Central Asian cult practices cannot be determined on the basis of orthodox measures borrowed from Zoroastrian doctrines. For instance, some widely popular ossuary funeral practices in Central Asia during the Sassanian period do not follow the orthodox and canonical Zoroastrian rites of burial of the time.14 For instance, the custom of burying the gathered bones of a body after ex-posing it in a special place (dakhma ) in a ceramic box prompted some scholars to argue for the existence of a branch of Zoroastrianism in the northeastern provinces of the Sassanid state.15

A similar kind of diversity exists in the case of the haoma potion and its identification with an actual plant. Excavations, particularly in Bactria and Margiana, have revealed cult chambers in temple complexes where sacred beverages were manufactured. Sarianidi’s ex-cavations on the sites of Gonur, Togolok- 1, and Togolok- 21 outline this archaeological com-plex’s special feature to be the inclusion of all the rooms and constructions into the temple household that carried cult procedures and di-

vine services in connection with religious festi-vals and ceremonies.16 In this specific case, the discussion focuses on the production of the cult beverage, which theoretically can be identified as haoma or haoma- like drinks, whose use in cult rites and rituals, as attested by the rock- stone inscriptions of the Achaemenid kings, was common in Central Asia.

Saka HaomavargaThe term Saka Haomavarga appears in the Persian inscriptions as Amyrgian Scythians in Herodotus’s History.17 They were a Central Asian tribe whose precise location remains open to dispute. George Rawlinson connected the Saka Haomavarga with the eastern Scythians on the boundaries of India.18 Friedrich C. Andreas ar-gued that Saka included three important tribes: Saka, Saka Tigrakhauda, and Saka Haoma-varga.19 M. A. Dandamaev identified the Sakas of the Persian inscriptions with the Saka Hao-mavarga.20 A comparative study of the use of Saka in the Achaemenid inscriptions indicates that when Persians encountered one Saka tribe they called it simply Saka, but when they sub-ordinated it, they distinguished one tribe from the other.

The inscription of Dareios from Suse (DSe) mentions the Saka Haomavarga and Saka in association with the ethnic group that is identified by its attire as the “Pointed Caps.” Dareios inscriptions at Naksh- i Rustam (DNa)

13.  James Redfield, “Herodotus the Tourist,” Classical Philology 80 (1985): 97  –  118. “The Persians do not build temples or make images ‘and they charge with folly those who do such things, because, I think, they do not hold the gods anthropomorphic, as the Greeks (obviously) [κατα'  περ] do’ (Herodotus, History, vol. 1, bk. 131). It is through the discussion and comparison of diverse nomoi that the observing traveler becomes explicitly conscious of the relativism of culture; each people has its own nomoi and makes sense of them in its own terms. Often, however, the discussion is over before it has properly begun. We may compare the traveler evoked in Plato’s Laws (637C) who arrives in Taras during the feast of Dionysus to find the whole population drunk in the street. Initially the traveler is disapproving, but then: “There is one answer which seems to resolve the question, so that the behavior is not wrong but right. For anyone will say in answer to the wondering stranger who looks upon something contrary to his own habits: ‘Do not wonder, stranger. This is our nomos; perhaps you in such matters have a different one.’ ” Redfield, “Herodotus the Tourist,” 97  –  118.

14. Bactria cannot be included in the historical territo-ries south of the slopes of Gissar (Baysuntau and Ku-gitangtau), where iron gates with the system of for-tifications are located (contemporary Surkhandarya region).

15.  Srednyaya Azia i Dalniy Vostok v epokhu srednev-ekov’ya/ Srednyaya Azia v rannem srednevekov’e (Central Asia and the Far East in the Medieval Epoch. Central Asia in Early Medieval Age) (Moscow: Nauka, 1999), 218  –  19.

16.  V. I. Sarianidi, The Necropolis of Gonur (Athens: Kapon, 2007).

17. V. V. Grigoryev, O skifskom narode sakah (The Saka Scythians) (St. Petersburg, 1871), 8; Ferdinand Justi, Geschichte des alten Persien (A History of Ancient Per-sia) (Berlin, 1879), seit 57; B. A. Litvinskiy, “Saka Hau-mavarga” (“Saka Haomavarga”), in Beiträge zur Alten Geschichte und deren Nachleben: Festschrift für Franz Altheim zum 6.10.1968 (Contributions on Ancient His-tory and Its Influences: Festschrift for Franz Altheim, for 6 October 1968), ed. Ruth Stiehl and Hans E. Stier, 2 vols. (Berlin: de Gruyter, 1969), vol. 1, seit 117, 115  –  26.

18.  History of Herodotus — a New English Version, ed. George Rawlinson (London, 1962), 1:53n5.

19.  Friedrich C. Andreas, “Uber einige Fragen der alte-sten persischen Geschichte” (“Questions on the His-tory of Ancient Persia”), in Verhandlungen des XIII: In-ternationalen Orientalisten Kongresses (Proceedings of the Thirteenth International Congress of Orientalists), Hamburg, September 1902 (Leiden, 1904), seit 94.

20.  M. A. Dandamaev, “Pohod Dariya protiv skifs-kogo plemeni tigrahauda” (“The Campaign of Da-rius against the Scythian Tribe Tigrakhauda”), Kratkie soobscheniya Instituta arheologii, 61 (1963): 178  –  80.

3 3 2

            

            

     Comparative  

            

           S

tudies of  

            

     South Asia,  

           A

frica and the  

      Middle East

refer to Sakâ, Haumavargâ, tigraxaudâ, and Bâbirush. They refer to Scythians as Saka- paradrayya. In the inscription of Dareios from Khamadan, Scythia is connected with Sogdi-ana as the eastern boundary of Persian power. In the inscription of Xerxos from Persepolis (XPh), Haomavarga and the Pointed Cap Sakas are identified as territories. Dandamaev con-cludes that in all the inscriptions Saka Haoma-varga and the Pointed Caps are localized in the proximity of Central Asian satrapies. Scythians were a mix of people between the Ionian and the Thracian. Consequently, Saka Haomavarga and the Pointed Cap Sakas lived in the terri-tory of Central Asia, and the Scythians in the north Black Sea area. In the fifth column of Bisitun, an inscription under the bulky name “the Saka, which bear Pointed cap,” mentions the Saka tribe Tigrakhauda. In the inscription of Daraeios from Naksh- i Rustama the general name “sakas” disappears and the specific tribes of Haomavarga, Tigrakhauda, and the “overseas Sakas” are listed. The Saka Haomavarga were among the first of the Scythian tribes, which the Persians subjugated probably as early as the time of Cyrus’s campaign in Central Asia.21 They were known to the Greeks by the name Amyrgian Scythians.22 Archaeological excava-tions of the numerous barrows at the mountain slopes of the eastern Pamirs, which were studied by A. N. Bernshtam and later by B. A. Litvinskiy, gave rise to the question of identifying the tribes of antiquity in this territory.23 On the basis of analysis of toponymic data, Litvinskiy concludes that the tribes of the eastern Pamirs may be the Saka Haomavarga of Persian inscriptions and the Amyrgian Scythians that Herodotus dis-

cusses.24 Those who challenge this view com-pare the names Amyrgoy and Haomavarga with the hydronim Murgab in southeastern Turkme-nia, which they identify as the Amyrgian plain.25 These discussions delineate the geographic ter-ritory where haoma was considered sacred and, consequently, facilitate a comprehensive analy-sis of the archaeological findings that refer to this mysterious Avestan flora praised in the an-cient hymns. In this context, the archaeological sites Togolok- 1, Togolok- 21, and Gonur are es-pecially important. As mentioned earlier, these sites were discovered by Sarianidi in the Murgab valley in the lower reaches of the ancient river’s bed of Murgab (Turkmenistan), in the south-eastern part of the Kara- Kum desert.

Togolok- 1, a settlement, held a central position in the oasis. Its area includes a temple that was frequented by the local population of the settlement and the satellite territories. It was built on the slopes of a hill, next to the settle-ment fortress. The latter had a central yard sur-rounded with narrow corridors. Among the sev-eral rooms built around the yard was a special room designated for preparing the intoxicat-ing beverage haoma for use in cultic rituals.26 This room contained clay and ceramic vats that were placed into the floor. Another important, related structure was a room located across the yard and in close proximity to the haoma production room. This room, distinguished for the gutters installed in it, was built at an el-evated ground level, which, as Sarianidi argues, facilitated the flow of the blood of sacrificial animals beyond the confines of the room and into the yard. He further explains that “not only the walls, but also the floors of many rooms of

21.  If we take into account the expansion of Achae-menid kings in the northern and northeastern di-rections — that is, through Ragi, the Caspian Gates, further through Hyrcania into Parthia and Margi-ana — then it is more plausible that, on their way, the Achaemenids could have first met the tribes of Saka Haomavarga, which were located in the territory of modern Turkmenistan. The tribes that populated the eastern Pamirs were those removed from and less ac-cessible to Achaemenid power.

22.  Dandamaev, “Pohod Dariya,” 102.

23. A. N. Bernshtam, Istoriko- arheologicheskie ocherki Tsentral’nogo Tyan Shanya i Pamiro- Alaya (Historical- Archaeological Essays on the Central Tian- Shan and Pamir- Alay Regions) (Leningrad: Nauka, 1952); Bernshtam, “Saki Pamira” (“Pamir Sakas”), VDI, 55 

(1956): 123  –  42; G. G. Babanskaya and Yu. A. Zadneprov-skiy, “Arheologicheskie izucheniya A. N. Bernshtama na Pamire v 1956 g.” (“The Archaeological Study of A. N. Bernshtam on the Pamirs, 1956”), Trudy Akade-mii Nauk Tadjik SSR (Stalinabad), 91 (1959): 53  –  61; B. A. Litvinskiy, “Raskopki mogil’nikov na Vostochnom  Pamire v 1958 g.” (“Burial Site Excavations on the Ea-stern Pamirs, 1958”), Trudy Akademii Nauk Tadjik SSR (Dushanbe), 31 (1961): 50  –  62; Litvinskiy, Archaeologi-cal Discoveries on the Eastern Pamirs and the Problem of Contacts between Central Asia, China, and India in Antiquity (Moscow: Nauka, 1960).

24.  In this sense Stein’s observation concerning the anthropological type of those buried in the Lop Nur desert is interesting. He writes, “The appearance of heads and faces clearly suggested the Homo Alpinus

type, which, as Mr. T. A. Joyce’s analysis of the anthro-pometric materials collected by me has shown, is best represented nowadays among Iranian- speaking hill-men of the valleys adjoining the Pamirs.” Stein, “On the Ephedra,” 502. See also Aurel Stein, Serindia: De-tailed Report of Explorations in Central Asia and West-ernmost China (London: Clarendon Press, 1921) 3:1351; and Stein, Innermost Asia, 2:996  –  97.

25.  Litvinskiy, “Saka Haumavarga,” 115  –  26.

26.  V. I. Sarianidi, Margush: Drevnevostochnoe tsar-stvo v staroy del’te Murgaba (Margush: An Ancient Oriental Kingdom in the Old Delta of the Murgab River) (Ashgabat, Turkmenistan: Tυrkmendöwlethabarlary, 2002), 162  –  63.

3 3 3

Kazi

m A

bdul

laev

  

Sacr

ed P

lant

s an

d th

e Cu

ltic 

Beve

rage

 Hao

ma

the fortress inside the temple were thoroughly coated by white gypsum, which indisputably indicates their special importance.” 27 The pres-ence of this room close to the haoma room sug-gests the ritualistic nature of these activities.

Togolok- 21, located south of Gonur, is a monumental temple structure. At this site, sev-eral special rooms also were found where clay vats with ceramic basins had been imbedded into the ground. Cisterns coated by gypsum, similar to the gutters in the temple of Togolok- 1, were also discovered. The walls of vats were coated to prevent liquid leakage. At another Gonur temple the same kind of vats were found in which, botanists argued, grass used for the preparation of soma- haoma was soaked.28 These vats were large and contained microscopic twigs of ephedra. The rock graters and pestles in some of the rooms preserved excessive amounts of microscopic grains of poppy.29 The discovery of strainers in the same locales completes the list of objects needed for producing intoxicating and hallucinogenic beverages. As this evidence shows, for the inhabitants of Margush country, the ingredients used in this process were poppy and ephedra. A special kind of Ephedra interme-dia still grows in the foothills of Kopet- Dag. It is sound to assume that, in antiquity, the plant reached the southeastern Kara- Kum desert from here.30 This evidence asserts that the temple of Togolok- 21 produced and consumed intoxicat-ing beverages that were used in the temple ritu-als and ceremonies. This is the first time that archaeological findings establish this practice as far back as antiquity.31

Similar evidence was found elsewhere in Gonur, which is known as the capital of Margush country.32 The temple at this site is a miniature

replica of the temples of Togolok- 1 and Togolok- 21. The architectural composition of the temple consists of a central yard and its surrounding corridors, a special room for producing the sacred beverage, an elevated ground with ves-sels imbedded into it, and remnants of gypsum coating used for preserving the objects. Labora-tory analysis of the vessels’ contents revealed the remains of hemp.33 The temple of Dzharkutan, in northern Bactria, also shows similar architec-tural characteristics.34 The distiller room at this site is especially important for this discussion. A small room, it stands alone, separate from the rest of the structure.35 In the later period this construction is immured and completely cov-ered with gypsum. The presence of this room at the temple suggests that the liquid was a sa-cred intoxicant with ritualistic significance. The evidence from Margiana, Togolok- 1, Togolok- 21, Gonur, and Dzharkutan shows that these temple communities produced the beverage that was often referred to as haoma.

Plant Images on Stone Seals and Amulets from MargianaSarianidi makes a passing reference to the image of a narcotic plant on an amulet he found at the Margiana excavation site.36 Although his reference is brief, he is famous for pointing only to information that is significant.37 The image under consideration is seen on stone amulets and on cylindrical seals at temple and burial sites. After comparing these images with the actual plant that still grows in the region, I am convinced that the artists who created these artifacts must have been inspired by aesthetic values as well as the cultic qualities of the plant and its uncommon properties. It is sound to say

27.  Ibid., 163, my translation.

28. “Viktor Sarianidi i ego Margiana” (“Victor Sarianidi and His Margiana”), Turkmenistan, 15 (2006), www .turkmenistaninfo.ru/?page_id=6&type=article& elem_id=page_6/magazine_33/260&lang_id=ru.

29.  See N. R. Meyer- Melikyan, “Analysis of Floral Re-mains from Togolok 21,” in Margiana and Protozoro-astrism, by V. I. Sarianidi (Athens: Kapon, 1998), app. 2, 178  –  79.

30.  V. I. Sarianidi, “Protozoroastriyskiy hram v Mar-giane i problema vozniknoveniya zoroastrizma” (“A Proto- Zoroastrian Temple in Margiana and the Prob-lem of the Emergence of Zoroastrianism”), VDI, 188 (1989): 158.

31.  Ibid., 174  –  75.

32.  Ibid., 189.

33.  Ibid. See also N. R. Meyer- Melikyan and N. A. Ave-tov, “Analysis of Floral Remains in the Ceramic Vessel from the Gonur Temenos,” in Sarianidi, Margiana and Protozoroastrism, 176  –  77.

34. Grenet, “O kornyah zoroastrizma,” 170  –  71. Grenet investigates the similarities between the cult charac-teristics of the temples of Togolok- 21 and Dzharkutan.

35. A. A. Askarov and T. Shirinov, Rannyaya gorodskaya kul’tura epohi bronzy yuga Srednei Azii (Samarkand, Uzbekistan: Izd- vo Instituta arheologii, 1993), 108.

36.  V. I. Sarianidi, “Pechati- amulety murgabskogo  stilya” (“Seals- Amulets of the Murgab Style”), Sovets-kaya arheologiya, no. 1 (1976): 42  –  68.

37.  Sarianidi, “My Answer to Lamberg- Karlovsky.”

3 3 4

            

            

     Comparative  

            

           S

tudies of  

            

     South Asia,  

           A

frica and the  

      Middle East

that these artists were connected with the cult. The existence of these artifacts further rein-forces the hypothesis that the haoma plant had a central place in the lives of the Saka Haoma-varga of the Margiana region.

An amulet bearing the image of an ephe-dra was found at the Gonur excavation site. The image is engraved on both sides of a greenish, square piece of stone.38 Sarianidi misidentifies the image as a saxaul, a typical desert plant that grows on the plains of Central Asia.39 Comparing this image with a range of plants confirms that it bears an unmistakable resemblance to the bush of ephedra, whose thick branches sprout from its short stem.40 The same image is engraved on a stone seal from the settlement of Auchin- 1.41 Another example in this category is a seal from the lower part of the Murgab River.42 The other plants in this category are hemp (cannabis) and poppy, whose remains were detected in the temple complexes of Gonur and Togolok.43 One such artifact is a cylindrical seal with the image of a poppy engraved on one end.44 This seal was discovered at the burial settlement of Togolok- 1 in a vessel together with two Murgab- style amu-lets. This discovery represents the first case of joint findings at a funeral complex. Images of poppies appear on other forms of decorative and applied artifacts such as at the Sapallitepa site (1600 –1400 BC) south of modern Uzbeki-stan, a considerable distance from Dzharkutan. In this genre, a popular motif was depicting the globe of the poppy, mainly on a hairpin.45 This is meaningful because the medicinal and thera-

peutic properties of the plant were expected to transfer through its image to the area that was hurt or vulnerable in order to heal and protect that area. The discovery of such artifacts con-firms that, just as narcotic plants were celebrated in ritualistic rites and esteemed for their appear-ance in the holy texts, they enjoyed popular ap-peal for their healing qualities.

The Haoma Plant in the Sacred TextsIn the texts of the older Avesta, the Gathas, there are some references to the concrete prop-erties of the haoma plant. It is noted that it is yellow (zairi- gaona, golden) and grows in the mountains: “I make my claim on thee, o yellow one, for inspiration. I make my claim on thee for strength; I make my claim on thee for vic-tory; I make my claim on thee for health and healing when healing is my need” (Hom- Yasht, 9.17).46 The Zend- Avesta speaks about haoma, and especially “white haoma,” in mythical terms and locates the plant in a cosmological geogra-phy: haoma grows in the Vorukasha sea and is guarded by the fish Kara.47 However, the text does not specify whether “white hom” is an ac-tual divine plant revered for its hallucinogenic properties, which correspond to a fantastic, cos-mic world. The Rig- Veda provides an excellent parallel in the form of soma whose preparation involves different kinds of herbs. The Zoroas-trian liturgical texts refer to haoma in concep-tual and abstract terms but are clear about its narcotic qualities that induce physical and psy-chotropic effects.

38.  Sarianidi, “Pechati- amulety,” 51, figs. 11  –  12. The amulet is flat, has a lentil- like form, and measures 1.7 x 1.6 x 0.8 cm. There are two open- ended holes in the alternate angles.

39.  Sarianidi, “Pechati- amulety,” 51. White saxaul (Haloxylon persicum) and black saxaul (Haloxylon aphyllum) grow in the desert area of Central Asia. Saxauls grow as bushes or as small trees, to a height of 1.5  – 12.0 m., with forked branches and segmented fragile young offshoots. The plant’s leaves are green in summer and dull gray to brown in autumn. Its flow-ers are bisexual and grow on short twigs in the cavi-ties of squamiform bracts.

40.  The ephedra plant, from the family of Ephe-draceae, is a long- standing, branchy, evergreen bush with a height of 20  –  50 cm. Its ligneous stems grow vertically from the base, with segmented, smooth green branches. Its flowers are small and unisexual and are assembled into small spikelets. This plant 

grows in the steppe and desert zones; in the plains; on cliffs, chalky, bare terrain, pebbles, and lime; and in sandy and rocky soils.

41. Sarianidi, “Pechati- amulety,” 52  –  53, figs. 16a, 16b, 16g.

42.  I. S. Masimov, “Novye nahodki pechatey epohi bronzy s nizoviy Murgaba” (“New Findings of Bronze Age Seals in the Lower Murgab”), Sovetskaya arheo-logiya, no. 2 (1981): figs. 4 and 9.

43.  They are Cannabis of sativa L. and Cannabis in-dica L., respectively. From the Cannabaceae family, this annual grassy diclinous plant grows from 30 to 180 cm., and in tropical climates up to 5 m., with a vertical branchy stem. When its hemp is ripened, its leaves separate and exude a strongly reeking resin that contains hallucinogenic alkaloids. The difference between “resin cannabis” and “fiber cannabis” is de-termined by a climatic factor.

44 .  V.  I .  Sarianidi,  “Siro- Hettskie  bozhestva  v Baktriysko- margianskom panteone” (“The Syro- Hittite Deities in the Bactrian- Margian Pantheon”), VDI, 188 (1989): 20, fig. 5: 1, 2.

45.  A. A. Askarov, Drevnezemledel’cheskaya kul’tura epohi bronzy yuga Uzbekistana (Early Farming Culture of the Bronze Age in Southern Uzbekistan) (Tashkent: Fan, 1977), 100.

46.  From The Sacred Books of the East, trans. Law-rence Heyworth Mills, American ed. (1898).

47.  Arthur Christensen, L’Iran sous les sassanides (Co-penhagen: Levin and Munksgaard/Ejnar Munksgaard, 1936), 136  –  54.

3 3 5

Kazi

m A

bdul

laev

  

Sacr

ed P

lant

s an

d th

e Cu

ltic 

Beve

rage

 Hao

ma

The Hom- Yasht encodes the name of the plant but reveals some information on its prepa-ration, which requires the observance of ritual rites and prayers throughout the process. It is known that the beverage includes auxiliary in-gredients such as milk, the fat of a bull, and bar-ley grains. These ingredients have symbolic and ritualistic significance and are used for improv-ing the taste, decreasing toxicity, and quench-ing hunger. A remarkable property of haoma is expressed in the epithet duraosa (Vedic durosa), which I. Gershevich translates as “pain- killer.” 48 Another attribute is baesazya, meaning “heal-ing” or “treatment that heals.” 49 The Avestan classification of the beverage is very similar to its Indian counterpart, the soma.50 In all prob-ability, the beverage’s hallucinogenic property is manifested in the visionary meditations of the Magians: “Magi spend their time in the worship of the gods, in sacrifices and in prayers, imply-ing that none but themselves have the ear of the gods. . . . Moreover, they say that the air is full of shapes which stream forth like vapor and enter the eyes of keen- sighted seers.” 51 These visions can be induced by the psychedelic effects of a substance such as haoma or soma. Psychedelic experience consists of the endurance of uncom-mon forms of consciousness that take one into a trance, meditation, and a dream state.52 The possibility to expand the consciousness and the limits of perception enables one to receive in-formation that is otherwise inaccessible to the mind. Eastern spiritual teachings have desig-nated terms for the tendency of the mind to prevent this altered state of consciousness from expressing itself. These terms include Samadkhi

in Hinduism, Dhyana in Buddhism, and Satori in Zen. Going beyond this limit is both a psyche-delic and a religious feeling. The highly inspired worship of original Zoroastrianism is a theologi-cal meditation before the fire.53 As discussed earlier, among the plants of Margiana temples, cannabis, poppy, and ephedra are psychedelic substances. Cannabis and poppy belong to the hallucinogen- opiates group, and ephedra to the psycho- stimulators. Users of these narcotics experience euphoria and a sensation of good-ness and clemency. These are accompanied by a sharpening of external and internal sensations. Noise finds an extraordinary internal echo, and the conception of time and space is changed.54 In a state of spiritual ecstasy, one is confident, as if enjoying the authority of God. Margian Magians in all likelihood studied these substances and understood their effect on the human mind and body. They knew how to combine different hal-lucinogens and stimulants and consume them in a specific order to maximize their effect. These substances were used during ritualistic practices in which participants’ repetition of prayers and incantations took them into special realms of consciousness where they witnessed vivid visions and attained religious ecstasy.

Zoroaster and HaomaThe monotheistic and highly principled de-mands of the teachings of Zoroaster inevitably had to address the issue of other deities and also the ritualistic practices of the ancient cults. Although it was acknowledged that the cult of haoma and its use of the cult beverage had an adverse influence on the spiritual and physical

48.  For the epithet duraosa-  (cf. Vedic durosa- ), see H. W. Bailey, “Dvara matinam,” BSOAS 20 (1957): 49  –  59; Ilya Gershevich, “An Iranianist’s View of the Soma Controversy,” in Mémorial Jean de Menasce, Philippe Gignoux and Ahmed Tafazzoli, eds. (Lou-vain, Belgium: Fondation Culturelle Iranienne, 1976), 49; and Mary Boyce, A History of Zoroastianism, vol. 1, Under the Achaemenians (Leiden: Brill), 162n102.

49.  W. Belardi, The Pahlavi Book of the Righteous Viraz, Tome 10 (Rome: Biblioteca di ricerche linguis-tiche e filologiche, 1979), 116, 119, 211n6. This  beverage with the special properties is encountered in the ex-pression mang i besaz.

50.  That the hallucinogenic properties of the soma beverage were connected with the fungus fly aga-rics is R. Gordon Wasson’s theory. See Wasson, Soma; André Bareau, Journal Asiatique 257 (1969): 173  –  76 (review of Wasson) ; F. B. J. Kuiper, Indo- Iranian Jour-

nal 12 (1970): 279  –  85, review; John Brough, “Soma and Amanita muscaria,” BSOAS 34 (1971): 331  –  62 (criticism of Wasson’s theory); R. Gordon Wasson, Soma and the Fly- Agaric: Mr. Wasson’s Rejoinder to Professor Brough (Cambridge, MA: Botanical Museum of Harvard Uni-versity, 1972); John Brough, “Problems of the ‘Soma- Mushroom’ Theory,” Indologica Taurinnensia 1 (1973): 21  –  32; Gershevich, “An Iranianist’s View”; and Boyce, History, 157. See also Gérard Fussmann, “Pour une problematique nouvelle des religions indiennes an-ciennes” (“For a New Problem on Ancient Indian Re-ligions”), Journal Asiatique 41 (1977): 21  –  70; Giuseppe Tucci, “On Swat: The Dards and Connected Problems,” East and West 27 (1977): 9  –  104, nn. 33, 36a.

51.  Diogenes Laertius, Lives of Eminent Philosophers, trans. R. D. Hicks (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1950), 9.

52.  Bernard Aaronson and Humphry Osmond, eds., Psychedelics: The Uses and Implications of Hallucino-genic Drugs (New York: Anchor Books, 1970), 277  –  79.

53.  Mircéa Eliade, Histoire des croyances et des idées religieuses de l’âge de la pierre aux mysteres d’Eleusis, 3 vols. (Paris: 1976), 1:329; Gherardo Gnoli, “Lichtsym-bolik in alt- Iran: Haoma- Ritus und Erloser- Mythos” (“Light Symbolism in Old Iran: Haoma Rite and Erlo-ser Myth”), Antaios 5 (1967): 528  –  49; Gherardo Gnoli, “Questioni sull’ interpretazione della dottrina ga-thica” (“Disputes on the Interpretations of the Gathic Doctine”), Annali dell’Istituto Universitario Orientale di Napoli 21 (1971): 341  –  70; Gherardo Gnoli, “Problems and Prospects of the Studies on Persian Religion,” in Problems and Methods in the History of Religions, eds. Ugo Bianchi, C. Jouco Bleeker, and Alessandro Bausani (Leiden: Brill, 1972), 67  –  101.

54.  Aaronson and Osmond, Psychedelics, 134  –  35.

3 3 6

            

            

     Comparative  

            

           S

tudies of  

            

     South Asia,  

           A

frica and the  

      Middle East

states of the potential followers of Zoroaster, ul-timately the prophet was defeated in his stance against haoma, whose stupefying properties he had condemned. The cult of haoma, with its godly incarnation, was incorporated into the Zoroastrian religion.55 The tradition of using the cult beverage developed over time, with a focus on the extraordinary influence that the beverage exerted on the mental condition of humans to the degree that they were able to perform wondrous and divine actions. The pow-erful presence of the cult was such that it was rehabilitated in later times in the Zend- Avesta through dialogue between Zoroaster and the personified, anthropomorphic image of haoma. Gherardo Gnoli considers this influence in great detail.56 He notes that Zoroaster condemns the sacrifice of animals to haoma, an indication that at some point the need arose for the spiritual reconsideration of some of the cult traditions that accompanied the mysterious dedications. These traditions were some of the common sources for Indo- Iranian religious practices and attempts for understanding mental visions, in-ternal self- contemplations, and the appearance of inner illuminations.57 At the center of this de-velopment is the cult of haoma, which Zoroaster condemns for its stimulating and hallucino-genic qualities (muthrem ahya madahya ) (Yasna 48.10). In the Yasnas it is stated that “Karapans break the rules, established for the herdsman’s life” (51.14). “They train people to the evil mat-ters in order to destroy life” (46.11). “With the aid of intoxicating abomination beverage, they intentionally fool people” (48.10). If we assume that Zoroaster allowed the practice of applying a hallucinogenic beverage in the Zoroastrian

community, then the question arises whether this practice was the result of simple artificial experiences or was associated with a spiritual ecstatic state achieved artificially.58 One should note that the Gathic type of religious experi-ence, with its structure of internal visions and insights, is in accord with the Indo- Iranian tra-dition, which serves as the prototype for creat-ing conceptual doctrines of faith.

The remaining question concerns the identity of those who consumed the sacred bev-erage. Whether they were the priests and the parishioners or only one and not the other is unclear. According to Gnoli, the rite connected with the use of haoma is not characteristic of the ordinary Zoroastrian community.59 How-ever, in the early stages of the religion’s forma-tion the prophet complained of the “loathsome potion” that fools people in the head, confirm-ing that excessive use of this “potion” was un-dertaken by the entire Zoroastrian community. This point is demonstrated in appendix 3 in the work by Willem Caland and Victor Henry, who demonstrate that the worship of haoma and the offering associated with it were newly introduced into Zoroastrian Mazdeism.60 The status of the priest- Magian, who occupies a spe-cial position in the Zoroastrian community and is entitled to special privileges, is not a focus in this study; however, it must be noted that the au-thority of Magian xsatra (the earthly kingdom of Ahura Mazda), by means of which the priest can reach “enlightenment” (cisti ), can be obtained once the priest partakes in the community of the magi.61 This uncommon knowledge and special mode of perception are not transferred by physical organs and feelings (Yasna 51.16:

55.  V. N. Toporov, “Haoma,” in Mify narodov mira (Myths of the Peoples of the World) (Moscow: Sovets-kaya entsiklopediya, 1985), 2:578  –  79.

56.  Gherardo Gnoli, Zoroaster in History, Biennial Yar-shater Lecture Series, Vol. 2 (New York: Bibliotheca Persica, 2000), 188.

57.  Ibid.

58.  Gnoli (Zoroaster, 191n40) indicates that the use of hallucinogenic means and the connection with the mental state of followers were subjects of debate in the Zoroastrian literature between philologists of ancient Iranian language Henrik Samuel Nyberg and Walter Bruno Henning. See also J. Aro, “ Zarathustran arvoitus,” Demavend 3 (1969): 1  –  20; and Kurt  Rudolph, “Zarathustra, Priester und Prophet: Neue Aspekte der Zarathustra- bzw. Gāthā- Forsching,” Numen 8 (1961): 81  –  116.

59.  Gnoli, Zoroaster, 193.

60.  Victor Henry, “Esquisse d’une liturgie indo- iranienne” (“An Outline of Indo- Iranian Liturgy”) in L’Agnistoma: Description complète de la forme nor-male du sacrifice de Soma (L’Agnistoma: A Complete Description of the Normative Form of Soma Sacrifice), ed. Willem Caland and Victor Henry (Paris, 1906  –  7), 2 vols., 1:469  –  90; Gnoli, Zoroaster, 79.

61.  On the priest- Magian, see Gherardo Gnoli, “Lo stato di maga,” Annali dell’Istituto Universitario Orientale di Napoli 15 (1965): 105  –  17; Mircea Eliade, “Spirit, Light, and Seed,” History of Religions 11 (1971): 18; J. Duchesne- Guillemin, “La réligion des Achémé-nides” (“The Religion of Achaemenides”), in Acha-meniden Geschichte (Achaemenid History), no. 68, 59  –  82; Eliade, Histoire, 1:329. On cisti or c ista, see Emile Benveniste- Renou, “Vrtra et Vrtragna: Etude 

de mythologie indo- iranien” (“Vrtra and Vrtragna: A study of Indo- Iranian Mythology”), Cahiers de la Société Asiatique 3 (1936): 56  –  63; Henrik Samuel Ny-berg, Die Religionen des alten Iran (Religions of An-cient Iran), trans. H. H. Schaeder (Osnabruk: 1966), 71, 81, 440; Geo Widengren, Stand und Aufgaben der iranischen religionsgeschichte (Leiden: Brill, 1955), 93; A. Closs, Erlosendes Wissen: Ein kritische Ruckblick von manis “d” nysn’ zu Zzarathutras “cisti,” in Le origini dello gnosticismo: Colloquio di messina 13 – 18 Aprile 1966 (The Origins of Gnosticism, Colloquim of Messina 13 – 14 April 1966), supplements to Numen, vol. 12, ed. U. Bianchi (Leiden: Brill, 1967), 265  –  79, esp. 271.

3 3 7

Kazi

m A

bdul

laev

  

Sacr

ed P

lant

s an

d th

e Cu

ltic 

Beve

rage

 Hao

ma

Tam kava vistaspo magahya xsatra nasat vanheus padebis mananho yam cistim [By the power of the maga Kavi Vistaspa obtained, on the paths of the Good Thought, this illumination]). Gnoli is referring to the concept of the eye of reason and the inner substance of consciousness (xrateus doithrabyo), with which Astvat- Ereta (“Incarnat-ing of truth,” the name of one of three Future Saviors in the Hymn of Xvarno) in Zamyad- Yast will make the entire solid world immortal.62

One of the reliefs of the Achaemenid pe-riod, at Daskyleion in Turkey, depicts the cult of the sacred beverage and its offerings, which involved the participation of accomplished Magians.63 The image represents two priests holding barsoms (bundles of slender tamarisk branches) in both hands, which are raised in prayer. In the background, on the platform, the heads of sacrificial animals, bull and ram, are resting. Curiously, another component is lo-cated among the fragment to the left of this proces sion. Given its long vertical lines, this component may have been constructed as an altar or as an entrance into a room. It can be as-sumed that this was the entrance to a secluded place where the haoma beverage was prepared and it was through this passage that the sacrifi-cial animals were taken out into the open.

Poppy Imagery on Ossuary ReliefsThe personages on the ossuaries’ reliefs were compared with Amesha Spentas of Avestic my-thology in a 1984 study by G. A. Pugachenkova, with subsequent interpretations in her later works.64 Analyzing iconography on ossuaries, Pugachenkova concludes that they “are directly connected with the cult of corpses (decedents), with the funeral rites, which existed in Sogdi-ana.” She considers that the personages “are

Sogdian clergymen, by their appearance, their garments, whose attributes are personified by means of the Amesha Spentas of Avestic my-thology, connected with the faith in the arrival of deceased persons at native places in the days of the Fervardedzhan holiday. They seemingly create the dedicatory liturgy, carrying out the becoming rites, with which their attributes are connected.” 65

An ossuary from the sett lement of Ishtykhan, in the Samarqand region (Uzbeki-stan), bears a relief composition with the image of three personages: a man in the center, with a woman on either side. The female figure on the right, dressed in a garment with thin folds that flutter in large waves, represents a female deity. She stands frontally with her right foot forward, and in her left hand, raised almost to the level of the arms, her elbow bent, she holds a pestle and mortar: cultic objects used for the prepa-ration of the sacred beverage (haoma). In her right hand, she holds an object that Pugachen-kova misidentifies as a pair of “pincers.” 66 This item is a long stem, bifurcated at its top end. In spite of the low relief of the image, it can clearly be seen that the ends of the stem are in globu-lar form. Frantz Grenet argues that this plant image makes the personages of ossuaries com-parable to the Amesha Spenta of Avestic my-thology.67 Grenet’s identification of the plant as ephedra is, however, questionable. The morpho-logical structure of this plant is completely dif-ferent and is represented by the densely located articulations on the thin stems. In my view, the long stem with the globular box at the end could be seen as representing the haoma plant. It is logical to imagine that if in one hand the personage holds a mortar for preparing haoma, then the plant in the other hand is haoma or

62.  Gnoli, Zoroaster, 194.

63.  On Daskyleion, see John Curtis and Nigel Tallis, eds., Forgotten Empire: The World of Ancient Persia (Berkeley: University of California Press, 2005), 152, fig. 57.

64.  G. A. Pugachenkova, “Miankalskie ossuarii — pamyatniki kul’tury Drevnego Sogda” (“Miankal Os-suaries: Monuments of Ancient Sogdian Culture”), in Nauka i chelovechestvo (Science and Humanity), ed. Znanie (Moscow: Znanie, 1984), 79  –  90; Pugachen-kova, “Les ostoteques de Miankal” (“The Ossuaries of Miankal”), Mesopotamia 20 (1985): 29  –  65; Pugachen-kova, Drevnosti Miankalya (The Antiquities of Mian-kal) (Tashkent: Fan, 1989), 156  –  74.

65.  Pugachenkova, Drevnosti Miankalya, 163, my translations.

66.  Ibid.

67.  Frantz Grenet, “Interpretatsiya dekora ossuariev iz Biyanaymana i Miankalya” (“Interpretation of the Scenes on Ossuaries from Biyanayman and Miankal”), in Gorodskaya kul’tura Baktrii- Toharistana i Sogda: Antichnost’, rannee srednevekov’e (The Urban Culture of Bactria- Tokharistan and Sogdiana: In Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages) (Tashkent: Fan, 1987), 42  –  53.

3 3 8

            

            

     Comparative  

            

           S

tudies of  

            

     South Asia,  

           A

frica and the  

      Middle East

poppy, since it can also be argued that the drink was prepared with poppy as a base ingredient. Grenet explains that to identify the woman holding the haoma and the mortar with Hor-dad — the patroness of waters — is problematic because haoma refers to the plant, but the func-tion of Amurdad (Zoroastrian god, literally “im-mortal”) is to safeguard immortality by means of “white haoma.” 68

In the Hom- Yasht, haoma bears the epithet “removing death.” In the pantheon of Amesha Spenta, as represented on the ossuary reliefs, Amurdad is mostly accorded the epithet “im-mortal.” This is done, specifically, by means of the “white hom,” which grows in the Vorukasha sea and ensures immortality on doomsday. Soshyans and his assistants will provide offer-ings for the revival of corpses by killing the bull Hadyosh, from whose fat and white hom they will prepare the beverage of immortality and give it to all people, thus granting immortality to all. Hordad (or Aurvat, Haurvatat, meaning “in-tegrity”) personifies the completeness of physi-cal existence and is antithetical to diseases, old age, and death.69 At the same time, Hordad is considered the patroness of the aqueous sacred element. According to Grenet, “For those who know myth and ritual, haoma, just as mortar, could be associated with water.” 70 The “Yasn” ceremony of the Avestic text describes the cult emanation of the mortar not only as the tool of technical value in the preparation of the sacred beverage but also as the receptacle in which the different components that form the basis of haoma are adjoined. Grenet explains: “In the name of good waters we worship by this offering, containing Haoma, which contains milk, which contains pomegranate tree, placed according to rule; in the name of good waters we worship the water of Haoma. We worship the stone mortar, we worship the metallic mortar.” 71

If the plant on the Ishtykhan ossuary is poppy, then it can be argued that the plant was used in the preparation of the sacred beverage haoma in Central Asia and in particular in Sog-diana in the early medieval period. This does not rule out the inclusion of other ingredients, such as ephedra, in the prescription of haoma. This point is supported by evidence from the temples of Margiana from the Bronze Age. The relief of Ishtykhan’s ossuary demonstrates the use of the poppy image and shows the nature and peculiarities of this plant in combination with the mortar and pestle. Other representa-tions of the ossuaries in the same composition are not as clear or as informed in depicting sim-ilar motifs. The reliefs of the Sogdian ossuaries, especially from the Koshtepa site in southern Sogdiana, also provide the image of the poppy.

Terra- Cotta Composition from Southern Sogdiana with the Poppy Worship SceneArchaeological excavations at the Koshtepa site discovered a terra- cotta disk dating back to AD 5 – 7. The clay disk, typical of the ceramic pro-ductions in the region of Kashkadarya, held the image of a poppy in its center. R. H. Suleymanov was the first to write about this artifact and ac-curately determine the image of the poppy and its cultic significance.72 His classification of this item in the category of braziers was, neverthe-less, inaccurate because the disk — similar to other objects found in temple excavations and known to have been used for religious functions such as libation- ceremonies in Zoroastrian rit-ual practices — has a decorative style and does not bear any trace of fire or of marks produced by mechanical or physical pressure.73 There are primitive figurines stuck on the edges and along the diameter of the disk. Two “stems of columns” are raised along the line of its diam-eter. One is crowned in the upper part by the

68.  Ibid., 51.

69.  L. Lelekov, “Amertat,” Mify narodov mira, 1:67.

70.  Grenet, “Interpretatsiya decora,” 51, my transla-tion.

71.  Ibid., 52, my translation.

72.  R. H. Suleymanov, Drevniy Nahsheb (Ancient Nah-sheb) (Tashkent: Fan, 2000), 269, fig. 182.2.

73.  The diameter of the disk, over the lower ground surface, is 29 cm.; the disk’s height to the edge of the border is 4 cm.; and the height of the figurines is from 1.5 to 3.0 cm. Moreover, the lower part of the figures seemingly merges into the overall mass, forming a “border.” The height of the poppy together with the stem- column is 11.5 cm. The height of the altar from the edge of the border is 10.5 cm.; the height of the altar to the base of the animals’ heads is 6 cm. The thickness of the object’s wall is from 1.2 to 1.5 cm.

3 3 9

Kazi

m A

bdul

laev

  

Sacr

ed P

lant

s an

d th

e Cu

ltic 

Beve

rage

 Hao

ma

head of a poppy, and the other by two animal heads turned to opposite sides. On the head inverted away from the composition side, two round flat reliefs are preserved. A round relief can be seen near the right and left eyes and on the forehead. The stem of the column whose top is designed in the shape of a poppy globe is dented with curvatures. It is possible to assume that the column is a symbol for the straight stem of the poppy plant. The globe of the poppy is highlighted in the upper part with the “crown,” or toothed edge.

The second vertical “column” is located along the edge of the disk’s round base.74 Its upper part forms a small reservoir whose edge is designed in the form of six pointed vertical branches. Below, along both sides of this reser-voir, are two animal heads, whose species can-not be accurately determined because of the primitive style of the design. The animals have large eyes, and the shape of their heads, with massive projections that can be interpreted as horns, make them look like bulls. This disk can be seen as depicting a round area for a religious ceremony with an altar, with the heads of the beasts representing sacrificial animals. The base of the disk represents a round area where the ritual action was performed. It should be noted that compositions depicting ceremonial dance or any action around an object are not popular motifs in the ancient arts. The rare instances when these motifs occur include a late Bronze Age terra- cotta composition from Margiana.75 Other terra- cotta compositions with dance scenes around a tree are found in Cyprus, dat-ing to 1000 BC. A similar composition is found in Colima, Mexico, dating from between 300

BC and AD 100. It depicts a group of men danc-ing around a mushroom effigy.76 The terra- cotta composition at Koshtepa could be another in-stance of primitive, vertically confronting figu-rines with short horizontal hand branches, making it difficult to study the images’ anthro-pomorphic quality. That notwithstanding, if we take into account the places where the terra- cotta is chipped, we can conclude that there are forty figures positioned in the lines and semi-circles. This scene reveals a certain procession that was carried out as the participants lined up in circles. The hands of the figures are held in an elongated horizontal gesture, known in Christian art as oranta. This motif is seen in cer-tain Christian seals from the Sassanian period, but it is absent from the ancient art of Iranian- speaking people.77 In addition, the reconstruc-tion of the terra- cotta disk composition cannot be modeled on the basis of Zoroastrian iconog-raphy. Although it is difficult to speak about the details of the figures, who are practically lost from the artifact, judging by their outlines that are extant in the continuous rolled mass with the expansion to the base, one can assume that they are clad in long dresses that extend to the heel. The horizontal position of their arms does not necessarily imply traditional prayer position, because in prayer the arms are, for the most part, slightly separated to the sides and bent at the elbows, and the hands are lifted upward.

A unique model of the art of early me-dieval Sogdiana, this terra- cotta composition demonstrates the cultic scene with the ritualis-tic worship of and offering to the poppy, which is possibly the personification of haoma. In ad-dition, the number of participants at this cer-

74.  The importance of the terra- cotta composi-tion from Koshtepa is the arrangement of the two components described above and, precisely, the so- called altar and poppy. The location of the altar is clear; however, since the terra- cotta was found, the arrangement of the poppy has changed twice. The first version is represented in Suleymanov’s Drevniy Nahsheb (fig. 182.2), where the poppy is placed in the middle — in the row of figures, along the diameter. The second version is represented in the composition after a recent restoration, in which the poppy was in-correctly moved to “the altar.” Finally, the third ver-sion was made after the original by the author who found it, A. Raimkulov. In this, the most reliable ver-sion, in my view, the poppy is placed on the edge of the disk’s base, opposite the altar.

75.  V. I. Sarianidi, Margiana and Protozoroastrism (Athens: Kapon, 2007), pl. 10, fig. 10.

76.  Richard Evan Schultes and Albert Hofmann, Plants of the Gods: Origins of Hallucinogenic Use (New York: McGraw- Hill, 1979), 149.

77.  Judith A. Lerner, Christian Seals of the Sassanian Pe-riod (Istanbul: Nederlands Historisch- archaeologisch Instituut, 1977); Jeffrey Spier, Late Antique and Early Christian Gems (Wiesbaden: Reichert, 2007), catalog nos. 520  –  21.

3 4 0

            

            

     Comparative  

            

           S

tudies of  

            

     South Asia,  

           A

frica and the  

      Middle East

emony is forty, as suggested by the number of figures on the artifact. These personages could be priests (Magians), who moved in a circle, along with other specific steps and motions, as they repeated incantations. In this case, the up-lifted hands mostly resemble a praying posture. In spite of the hypothetical nature of this in-terpretation and the fact that this artifact from southern Sogdiana is unique among the art of Central Asia, it holds an exceptional value in of-fering insight on the religious practices and the cult rites of the population of ancient Sogdiana. The scene of the circular procession can be as-sociated with a similar scene described in the ninth chapter of the “Younger Yasna,” dedicated to the glorification of the haoma. This dedica-tion is described through a repetitive and circu-lar diction.78 It is difficult to conclude that the composition from southern Sogdiana functions as an illustration of this text, but the ritual “of circuit” is completely in accord with the image illustrated in the terra- cotta.79

ConclusionThe archaeological discoveries in recent de-cades and the analyses of the artifacts and other evidence from sites in Central Asia reveal new information on the ancient religious cul-tural life of the region, which was home to the Saka Haomavarga tribe. The ancient regions of Margiana, Bactria, and Sogdiana still hold ar-chaeological evidence that will constitute new discoveries, which may confirm or refute the hy-potheses and the conclusions that are proposed by the present article. This study has proposed arguments that address and raise further ques-tions about the complex nature of the composi-tion of the cult beverage and the level of the

knowledge of Central Asian priests in the fields of botany, pharmacopoeia, and pharmacology. These subjects call for further investigation. In the same vein, the accumulation of archaeo-logical sources and newly discovered sources re-quires a historical interpretative approach at a qualitatively new level. Such a methodology will produce new insight on the religious and cul-tural life of the ancient people who inhabited the Central Asian region.

78.  Avesta v russkih perevodah (Avesta in Russian Translations), ed. I. V. Rak (St. Petersburg: Nauka, 1997), 149  –  50.

79.  Ibid., 149n4. Zaleman writes: “The ritual of the preparation of the beverage Haoma included ac-tions, which consisted in the fact that the priest ac-complished several circuits around the mortar for the squeezing of the juice of Haoma, reciting in this case 19  –  21 stanzas of ‘Hom- yasht.’ However, the terra- cotta representation from southern Sogdiana, if we allow that in it is present a sacrificial altar and the image of poppy, more resembles the scene of wor-ship. Theoretically it is not possible to exclude the el-ements of worship in the process of the ceremony of the production of the cult beverage.”