Avesta of particular manuscripts. A pre-Sasanian history of the Avesta, if it had one, is in the realm of legend and myth. The oldest surviving versions of these tales are found in the ninth to 11th century texts of Zoroastrian tradition (i.e. in the so-called "Pahlavi books"). The legends run as follows: The twenty-one "nask"s ("books") of the Avesta were created by Ahura Mazda and brought by Zoroaster to his patron Vishtaspa ("Denkard" 4A, 3A). Supposedly, Vishtaspa ("Dk" 3A) or another Kayanian, Daray ("Dk" 4B), then had two copies made, one of which was stored in the treasury, and the other
Violence and the Sacred Sacred" has been seen as hostile to religion. Violence and the Sacred Violence and the Sacred () is a 1972 book by the French anthropologist René Girard. The book received both positive and mixed reviews. "Violence and the Sacred" was written while Girard was distinguished professor at the State University of New York at Buffalo. Girard was influenced by the work of Georges Bataille. Girard discusses the ritual role of sacrifice. He reevaluates Sigmund Freud's "Totem and Taboo" (1913), writing that while it has been widely rejected, he views the work differently. He notes that Freud's concept of collective murder