Some Middle Iranian Denominations of the "Astrologers, " and their background

The present article attempts to outline the cultural and linguistic history of some Middle Persian, Sogdian, Parthian and Choresmian words concerning the definition of professions and arts corresponding to the fields of “astronomy” and “astrology.” Despite the fact that these two disciplines were not considered as properly distinguished and separate in Hellenistic antiquity as well as in other Oriental areas, the etymology of each term reveals an interesting background, which, especially in Pahlavi, presents some intriguing and unexpected connections with the Avestan tradition. The Sogdian tradition shows, in its turn, a remarkable Indian background, which played an important role in astral divination, and that was well known even in the Iranian Manichaean framework.