Document of the Month 11/25: The Festival of Sada. A History of Two Iranian Festivals: Nawrūz and Sada

Ms.Heb.8333.188, housed in the National Library of Israel, is a well-preserved paper bifolio from a codex. It is written in a clear and legible hand, with spacious layout and generous side margins. The fragment appears to derive from a short history of the world according to the Iranian tradition, that is, a kind of abregé of materials similar to those that have fed into Firdawsī’s famous epic poem, the Shāhnāma. Unlike the Shāhnāma, NLI, Ms.Heb.8333.188 is written in prose. It briefly summarizes the well-known information about the auspicious reign of the mythical Iranian king Jamshīd, who is here called Jam, and depicts it as a period of security, prosperity and happiness.