Editing Sogdia (section)

===Young Avestan period (c. 900–500 BC)===
{{further|Avestan period|Avestan geography}}
In the [[Avesta]], namely in the [[Mihr Yasht]] and the [[Vendidad]], the [[toponym]] of Gava ({{lang|ae|gava-, gāum}}) is mentioned as the land of the Sogdians. Gava is, therefore, interpreted as referring to Sogdia during the [[Avestan period|time of the Avesta]].{{Sfn|Grenet|2005|p=30|ps=: "Of a total of sixteen countries, seven have always been identified beyond doubt, as they kept their name until historical times or even to the present day. Five of these countries are at the beginning of the list, directly following Airyanem Vaējah: Gava "inhabited by the Sogdians", Merv, Bactria, Nisāya said to be "between 
Margiana and Bactria" and therefore corresponding at least in part to medieval Juzjān in northwest Afghanistan. Then comes the sixth country, Harōiva [.]"}} Although there is no universal consensus on the chronology of the Avesta, most scholars today argue for an early chronology, which would place the composition of [[Avestan|Young Avestan]] texts like the Mihr Yasht and the Vendiad in the first half of the first millennium BCE.{{Sfn|Skjaervø|1995|loc=p.166 "The fact that the oldest Young Avestan texts apparently contain no reference to western Iran, including Media, would seem to indicate that they were composed in eastern Iran before the Median domination reached the area."}}

[[File:Young avestan geography.png|thumb|Overview over the geographical horizon of the [[Avestan period|Young Avestan period]]. Sources for the different localizations are given in the file description.]]
The first mention of Gava is found in the Mihr Yasht, ie., the hymn dedicated to the [[Zoroastrian]] [[yazata|deity]] [[Mithra]]. In verse 10.14 it is described how Mithra reaches [[Hara Berezaiti|Mount Hara]] and looks at the entirety of the Airyoshayan ({{lang|ae|airiio.shaiianem}}, 'lands of the [[Arya (Iran)|Arya]]'),

{{Blockquote|
<poem>
where navigable rivers rush with wide a swell
towards Parutian Ishkata, [[Herat|Haraivian]] [[Margu]], Gava Sogdia ({{lang|ae|gaom-ca suγδəm}}), and [[Chorasmia]].
</poem>
|Mihr Yasht 10.14 (translated by Ilya Gershovitch).{{Sfn|Gershevitch|1967|pp=79–80}}}}

The second mention is found in the first chapter of the Vendidad, which consists of a list of the sixteen good [[Avestan geography|regions]] created by [[Ahura Mazda]] for the Iranians. Gava is the second region mentioned on the list, directly behind [[Airyanem Vaejah]], the homeland of [[Zarathustra]] and the Iranians, according to Zoroastrian tradition:

{{Blockquote|
<poem>
The second of the good lands and countries which I, Ahura Mazda, created, was the Gava of the Sogdians ({{lang|ae|gāum yim suγδō.shaiianəm}}).
Thereupon came [[Angra Mainyu]], who is all death, and he counter-created the locust, which brings death unto cattle and plants.
</poem>
|Vendidad 1.4 (translated by [[James Darmesteter]]).{{Sfn|Darmesteter|1880|pp=5–9}}}}

While it is widely accepted that Gava referred to the region inhabited by the Sogdians during the Avestan period, its meaning is not clear.{{Sfn|Lurje|2017|loc= "The earliest records of the name of Sogdiana (Soḡd) are found in the Avesta (Vendīdād, 1.4; Yašt 10.14; the by-name of Sogdian lands in the Avesta is Gauua[.]"}} For example, [[Willem Vogelsang|Vogelsang]] connects it with Gabae, a Sogdian stronghold in western Sogdia and speculates that during the time of the Avesta, the center of Sogdia may have been closer to [[Bukhara]] instead of [[Samarkand]].{{Sfn|Vogelsang|2000|p=51|ps=: "If Gava and Gabae refer to an identical place, then the present text appears to refer to a situation whereby the center of Sogdia was to lie, not at Samarkand, but further to the west, perhaps at or near Bukhara."}}