MAGIANSon late Sasanian administrative seals,89 but the only known example
of such an official in action is that of Tahm-Yazdagerd, the moghan
andarzbadh of Nasibin, who interrogated and executed Magian apos-
tates to Christianity at Kirkuk in 446.^90 This, in itself, indicates how
the priests, backed by the power of the state, sought to enforce con-
formity and membership among Magians. It also seems that an an-
darzpat might be asked to give an opinion when two written statements
were presented to a mobadh as evidence in a legal case.^91
In fact, the administration of law by Magian priests was another
factor in the formation of a communal identity in the late Sasanian
period. Although the jurisdiction of Magian judges was territorial and
decisions were made in accordance with royal rescripts,92 the body of
Sasanian law was intended for Magian Persians. Although the book
of laws (Datastan Namak) has perished, a digest (Matikan) containing
the opinions of jurists who lived in the fifth and sixth centuries has
survived. The Matikan thus reflects Sasanian legal theory and practice
as late as a rescript from the twenty-sixth year of Khusraw Parvlz
(616). It is concerned with legal procedure and documents, the status
of wives and slaves, marriage, divorce, adoption, and inheritance,
property rights and settlements, the guardianship of trusts and the
endowment of fire temples, sales, gifts, loans and debts, and penalties
for personal injury, adultery, robbery, and theft. Much of the law was
based on Magian ethical principles and religious requirements, so its
application by the priests as local judges spread a Magian way of life
among the Persian population.
Because Magian Persians were a minority in Iraq, Sasanian law
functioned there as personal law for them. In legal examples, going
to Asoristan amounted to leaving the country.93 Sasanian law was, in
fact, applied in Iraq and in matters of property tended to be incor-
porated in the legal traditions developed there by Jews and Christians.
However, to the extent that Jews and Christians produced their own
legal systems, Sasanian law served to distinguish Magians from non-
Magians in matters of personal status.
Certain religiously sanctioned social customs also emphasized the
89 Frye, Qasr·i Abu Nasr, pp. 48-49, 52, 61, 63.
90 K. Brockelmann, Syrische Grammatik (Berlin, 1899), Chrestomathie, p. 56*; Hoff-
mann, Persischer Miirtyrer, pp. 50-51.
91 Bulsara, Matfkan, pp. 22-25.
92 Ibid., pp. 64-65, 558-59.
93 Ibid., pp. 398-99, 516-17.