'To lie' between myth and history. Some remarks on the meaning of the Old Persian verb duruj- in the light of Avestan mythology

The aim of this paper is to analyze the semantics of the Old Persian verb duruj-, usually translated as ‘to lie’, to deceive’. In order to better understand the semantic nuances and the contextual meanings of the Old Persian verb and to offer a comprehensive – albeit concise – description, this paper is divided into two main sections. The first part is devoted to a brief overview of various cultural-historical aspects starting from Iranian mythology, which – as is known – is closely linked to the world of ritual. Here, a key Indo-Iranian origin myth, that of Yima/Yama, is a significant example of the importance given to ‘lying’. The Old Persian verb duruj- will then be briefly framed within the Ancient Near East scenario which, as recently shown, presents interesting similarities with Old Persian. The second part of the work reviews occurrences of the verb duruj- in the light of contemporary semantic theories, showing that the verbal Indo-Iranian root was probably characterized by a particularly fuzzy semantics, which likely caused the formal variation that can be observed in the ancient languages of the group (Avestan, Old Persian and Vedic).