Avesta people. The term "Avesta" is from the 9th/10th-century works of Zoroastrian tradition in which the word appears as Zoroastrian Middle Persian "abestāg", Book Pahlavi "ʾp(y)stʾkʼ". In that context, "abestāg" texts are portrayed as received knowledge, and are distinguished from the exegetical commentaries (the "zand") thereof. The literal meaning of the word "abestāg" is uncertain; it is generally acknowledged to be a learned borrowing from Avestan, but none of the suggested etymologies have been universally accepted. The widely repeated derivation from *"upa-stavaka" is from Christian Bartholomae ("Altiranisches Wörterbuch", 1904), who interpreted "abestāg" as a contraction of a hypothetical reconstructed Old Iranian
Nothing's Sacred (book) Nothing's Sacred (book) Nothing's Sacred is the autobiography of comedian Lewis Black. It was published in 2005, and republished in 2006 (paperback edition). The 2006 publication contains new material and one of the plays he wrote during his career as a playwright. The book has also been released in unabridged audio CD format, narrated by Black himself. The book is narrated in the same fashion as Black's stand-up routines, with explicit language, sarcasm, and constant fits of rage. The book primarily accounts Lewis' admiration for his seemingly eccentric family, his disregard for authority, his education, past habitual drug use, his