Note 477 — Chapter I · (continued 2)

The terms Miezd and Darun require some farther illustration: the following is from the Zend-Avesta, vol. II. p. 534. The Miezd, that is, meats previously blessed and then eaten, either during or after the service; flowers, fruits, especially pomegranates and dates; rice, fragrant seeds, and perfumes; milk; the small cakes called Darun; the branches of the Hom and its juice, called Perahom; the roots of trees, particularly the pomegranate tree. The roots are cut, the milk, and in general all these offerings, are prepared with ceremonies described at great length in the Ravaets, or “ritual treatises.” These offerings, and the sacred implements, which are twenty-six in number, constitute the thirty-three objects as specified by Zoroaster in the latter part of the first Ha of the Izechné, vol. I. P. II. p. 87: “I invoke and laud all the mighty, the pure Dustúrs who have thirty-three objects around and near the Havan (the vase for holding the Perahom): they are pure, according to the ordinance of Zaradusht, who was instructed by the Supreme Lord himself.” The Daruns are small cakes of unleavened bread, nearly the form and thickness of a crown piece: there are two or four of these offered, according to the nature of the service. The Darun on which they place a little dressed meat is called Darun Fusesté, or “offered bread.”—D. S.