ABSTRACT
The life of the law-giver of Iran is nothing but a tissue of legends in which vain efforts have been made to disentangle some historical basis. His very name is impossible to explain in at all a satisfactory manner. In the Avesta he is called Zarathushtra, sometimes preceded by Spitama, which seems to be a family name and connected with spit, meaning ' white '. Ushtra is a camel. But it is the first part of the name, Zarath, which causes all the difficulty, especially the mute spirant dental th. If it were not for this, one would think of zara, and the whole name might mean ' Owning golden camels ', but it is highly unlikely. 1
