The empire of Mithradates at his death included Parthia proper, Hyrcania, Media, Babylonia, Assyria, Elymais, Persis(?), and the districts of Tapuria and Traxiana.[1] Mithradates was the first Parthian ruler whose name did honor to the god Mithra; and the worship of this god, hitherto largely officially ignored, must have received official sanction. The Mithra yasht of the Vendidad must have been composed in the last years of the reign of Mithradates."[2]
The language of official communication of the Parthian government was probably Pahlavi, that is, Persian written in Aramaic characters. Whole Aramaic words are rather frequently written, for which the reader substitutes their Persian equivalents. Persian in Aramaic characters appears on the tomb of Darius I. The writing on the early coins of Persis, which date roughly about 250–150 b.c., could be either Aramaic or Pahlavi. The introduction of Pahlavi into the government offices may well have been coincident with Parthian expansion over Iran; cer-
- ↑ It is often assumed that the lands listed in the Vendidad, fargard i, belonged to Mithradates I; cf. E. Benveniste, "L'Êrân-vêž et l'origine légendaire des Iraniens," Bull. School of Or. Studies, VII (1933–35), 272. This cannot be, since it is very doubtful, for example, whether Mithradates I ever held Mesene. Even if he did, its conquest must be placed after the occupation of Sogdiana by the Yüeh-chi.
- ↑ Besides the points noted above, the Mithra yasht was evidently written in a period of expansion. The western boundary had reached the Tigris but not the Euphrates; see ibid. xxvii. 104. Cf. also Olmstead, "Intertestamental Studies," JAOS, LVI (1936), 253, n. 40, and Debevoise, "Parthian Problems," AJSL, XLVII (1930/31), 81.
