The ‘House of Song’, the *‘House of Clay’, Arm. gerezman, and Caucaso-Albanica

Abstract

Abstract This paper begins with an examination of the phrase /garah dmāna-/, the most common designation for Paradise in the Gathas, for which the traditional translation ‘House of Song’ is upheld. Its dualistic opposite /drujah dmāna-/ ‘House of Wrongness’ for Hell leads to the question of why for Paradise one doesn’t have the expected opposite *‘House of Rightness’ instead of ‘House of Song’. The answer proceeds from the etymologically unrelated Armenian gerezman ‘grave, tomb’, whose origin has been hitherto unknown, despite attempts toward its etymology. In view of the Indo-European phrase for the grave (i.e., burial mound) as ‘the House of Clay’, it is then suggested that the Arm. word is from a Median phrase, which is reconstructed as *gṛda- *zmani- ‘*clay (*zmani-) house (*gṛda-)’. The phonic similarity of this phrase to /garah dmāna-/ (/garah/ ‘song’s’ and /dmāna-/ ‘house’), with referential contrast is then seen as the chief motivation for Zarathushtra’s use of /garah dmāna-/ for ‘Paradise’. Then there ensues a discussion of the archeological-historical contexts for the latter development. Next, a phonologically systematic account is offered for Arm. gerezman becoming “Caucasian Albanian” garazman ‘grave, tomb’, in accord with hitherto unnoted aspects of “Caucasian Albanian” historical vocalism. The modern Udi derivative of garazman, i.e. gärämzä, is also accounted for. The loanwords in “Caucasian Albanian” are then divided into two main strata, first the Armenian (Iranian loans and indigenous Arm. words), including some forms from Armenian antedating Armenian literacy, and second a stratum of words, which are here called “Parthic”, of a vintage par with Manichean Parthian. These “Parthic” words, with their religious references, point to an Iranian group which (after the Armenian phase of loanwords) influenced the development of Christianity among the “Caucasian Albanians”, suggesting the existence of a “Christian Parthian”.