1.
Taq Bostan
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This example of Sassanid art is located 5 km from the city center of Kermanshah. It is located in the heart of the Zagros mountains, where it has endured almost 1,700 years of wind, originally, several sources were visible next to and below the reliefs and arches, some of which are now covered. Sources next to the reliefs still feed a large basin in front of the rock, the site has been turned into an archaeological park and a series of late Sasanian and Islamic column capitals have been brought together. The carvings, some of the finest and best-preserved examples of Persian sculpture under the Sassanids, include representations of the investitures of Ardashir II, Sassanid kings chose a beautiful setting for their rock reliefs along an historic Silk Road caravan route waypoint and campground. The reliefs are adjacent a sacred springs that empty into a reflecting pool at the base of a mountain cliff. Taq owsa and its rock relief are one of the 30 surviving Sassanid relics of the Zagros mountains. According to Arthur Pope, the founder of Iranian art and archeology Institute in the USA, art was characteristic of the Iranian people, the Taq-e Bostan complex comprise a rock relief standing on its own and several more reliefs associated with two rock cut arches. They illustrate the investiture ceremonies of Ardashir II, Shapur II, Shapur III and they also depict the hunting scenes of Khosrau II. The first Taq owsa or Taq bostan relief, and apparently the oldest, is a relief of the crowning ceremony of Ardashir II by his predecessor Shapur II or Ahura Mazda. There may be a mixture of the iconography of both identities. The two main figures are standing on the fallen Roman emperor Julianus Apostata, Ardashir played an important role in his defeat during the reign of Shapur II. Exceptional within Sasanian art is the fact that this is a portrait, Ardashir II was installed as interim ruler, awaiting the coming of age of the royal heir Shapur III. The fourth figure is the god Mithra who holds a barsum in his hands and stands on a lotus flower and he is the protector of oaths and is witness to this pact. Local beliefs and Persian folk tale interpreted the scene as the victory of the first Sasanian kings on Artabanus IV, the Mithra figure became the visual inspiration for representations of the prophet Zoroaster. Relief panel measured on 15.08.07 is approx, the smaller arch or iwan has on the upper part of the back wall two Pahlavi inscriptions identifying two royal figures as Shapur II and his son Shapur III. They are shown facing each other, the archs vestibule measures 6 x 5 x 3.6 meters. It has been suggested as having been built during the reign of Shapur III, however, the royal crown of Shapur III does not agree with those on his coins and is closer to that of his predecessor Ardashir II. It has been argued that the texts represent an usurpation of Ardashirs relief by Shapur III
2.
Khosrow II
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Khosrow II, entitled Aparvēz, also Khusraw Parvēz, was the last great king of the Sasanian Empire, reigning from 590 to 628. He was the son of Hormizd IV and the grandson of Khosrow I and he was the last king of Persia to have a lengthy reign before the Muslim conquest of Iran, which began five years after his death by execution. The Byzantines also regained the True Cross, which Khosrow had captured following his conquest of the Levant during the same 602–628 war. Khosrow and Shirin tells the story of his love for the Aramean or Roman princess Shirin, Khosrow is first mentioned in the 580s, when was at Partaw, the capital of Caucasian Albania. During his stay there, he served as the governor of the kingdom, furthermore, Khosrow II also served as the governor of Arbela around this period. According to a legend, Khosrow had a shabestan in which over 3,000 concubines resided, Khosrow was raised to the throne by his two uncles Vistahm and Vinduyih, who were the leaders of a palace coup that deposed, blinded and killed Hormizd IV. Furthermore, Persia was required to cease intervening in the affairs of Iberia and Armenia, after some time, Khosrow along with the Byzantine commander of the south, Comentiolus, invaded Mesopotamia. During this invasion, Nisibis and Martyropolis quickly defected to them, during the same period, Khosrow, feeling disrespected by Comentiolus, convinced Maurice to replace the latter with Narses as the commander of the south. Khosrow and Narses then penetrated deeper into Bahrams territory, seizing Dara and then Mardin on February, shortly after this, Khosrow sent one of his Iranian supporters, Mahbodh, to capture Ctesiphon, which he managed to accomplish. Meanwhile, Khosrows two uncles and John Mystacon, conquered northern Adurbadagan, and went further south in the region, where they defeated Bahram at Blarathon, however, Khosrow managed to deal with him by either having him assassinated or convince the Turks to execute him. Peace with the Byzantines was then officially concluded, for his aid, Maurice received much of Persian Armenia and western Georgia, and received the abolition of the subsidies which had formerly been paid to the Sasanians. Soon, however, Khosrow changed his intentions, trying to disassociate himself from his fathers murder, the Sasanian monarchs traditional mistrust of over-powerful magnates and Khosrows personal resentment of Vinduyihs patronising manner certainly contributed to this decision. Vinduyih was soon put to death, according to a Syriac source captured while trying to flee to his brother in the East, at the news of his brothers murder, Vistahm rose in open revolt. According to Dinawari, Vistahm sent a letter to Khosrow announcing his claim to the throne through his Parthian heritage, indeed, I am more deserving on account of my descent from Darius, son of Darius, who fought Alexander. You Sasanians deceitfully gained superiority over us and usurped our right and your ancestor Sasan was no more than a shepherd. Vistahms revolt, like Bahramss shortly before, found support and spread quickly, local magnates as well as the remnants of Bahram Chobins armies flocked to him, especially after he married Bahrams sister Gordiya. He even campaigned in the east, where he subdued two Hephthalite princes of Transoxiana, Shaug and Pariowk, the date of Vistahms uprising is uncertain. From his coinage, it is known that his rebellion lasted for seven years, the commonly accepted dates are ca
3.
Anahita
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Aredvi Sura Anahita is Ardwisur Anahid or Nahid in Middle- and Modern Persian, Anahit or Anaheed in Armenian. The Greek and Roman historians of classical antiquity refer to her either as Anaïtis or identified her with one of the divinities from their own pantheons,270 Anahita, a silicaceous S-type asteroid is named after her. Only Arədevī is specific to the divinity and it might have been derived from Arya devi The words sūra and anāhīta are generic Avestan language adjectives, and respectively mean mighty and pure. Both adjectives also appear as epithets of other divinities or divine concepts such as Haoma, both adjectives are also attested in Vedic Sanskrit. In its old Iranian form *Harahvatī, her name was given to the region, rich in rivers and it might have been derived from the Goddess Sarasvati. In the Persian texts of the Sassanid and later eras, Arədvī Sūra Anāhīta appears as Ardwisur Anāhīd, the evidence suggest a western Iranian origin of Anāhīta. She shares characteristics with Mat Zemlya in Slavic mythology and it was moreover the association with the planet Venus, it seems, which led Herodotus to record that the learnt to sacrifice to the heavenly goddess from the Assyrians and Arabians. Ishtar also apparently gave Aredvi Sura Anahita the epithet Banu, the Lady and it is completely unknown in the texts of the Avesta, but evident in Sassanid-era middle Persian inscriptions and in a middle Persian Zend translation of Yasna 68.13. Also in Zoroastrian texts from the post-conquest epoch, the divinity is referred to as Anahid the Lady, Ardwisur the Lady, according to Boyce, it is probable that there was once a Perso–Elamite divinity by the name of *Anahiti. It is then likely that it was this divinity that was an analogue of Ishtar, and that it is this divinity with which Aredvi Sura Anahita was conflated. The cosmological qualities of the river are alluded to in Yasht 5, but properly developed only in the Bundahishn. In both texts, Aredvi Sura Anahita is not only a divinity, but also the source of the world river and the world river itself. This source is at the top of the world mountain Hara Berezaiti, High Hara, around which the sky revolves and that is at the center of Airyanem Vaejah, the first of the lands created by Mazda. The water, warm and clear, flows through a hundred thousand golden channels towards Mount Hugar, on the summit of that mountain is Lake Urvis, the Turmoil, into which the waters flow, becoming quite purified and exiting through another golden channel. Another portion runs down to Vourukasha, the sea upon which the earth rests. In yet other chapters, the text equates the two, as in Ardwisur who is Anahid, the father and mother of the Waters and this legend of the river that descends from Mount Hara appears to have remained a part of living observance for many generations. A Greek inscription from Roman times found in Asia Minor reads the great goddess Anaïtis of high Hara, on Greek coins of the imperial epoch, she is spoken of as Anaïtis of the sacred water. Aredvi Sura Anahita is principally addressed in Yasht 5, also known as the Aban Yasht, Yasna 65 is the third of the hymns recited at the Ab-Zohr, the offering to the waters that accompanies the culminating rites of the Yasna service
4.
Ahura Mazda
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Ahura Mazda is the Avestan name for the creator and sole God of Zoroastrianism, the old Iranian religion which spread across Asia predating Christianity. Ahura Mazda is described as the highest spirit of worship in Zoroastrianism, the literal meaning of the word Ahura is mighty or lord and Mazda is wisdom. Ahura Mazda first appeared in the Achaemenid period under Darius Is Behistun Inscription, until Artaxerxes II, Ahura Mazda was worshipped and invoked alone. With Artaxerxes II, Ahura Mazda was invoked in a triad, with Mithra, images of Ahura Mazda began in the Parthian period, but were stopped and replaced with stone carved figures in the Sassanid period. Mazda, or rather the Avestan stem-form Mazdā-, nominative Mazdå and it is generally taken to be the proper name of the spirit, and like its Sanskrit cognate medhās, means intelligence or wisdom. Both the Avestan and Sanskrit words reflect Proto-Indo-Iranian *mazdhā-, from Proto-Indo-European *mn̩sdʰeh₁, literally meaning placing ones mind, the name was rendered as Ahuramazda during the Achaemenid era, Hormazd during the Parthian era, and Ohrmazd was used during the Sassanian era. The name may be attested on cuneiform tablets of Assyrian Assurbanipal, in the form Assara Mazaš, even though Ahura Mazda was a spirit in the Old Iranian religion, he had not yet been given the title of uncreated spirit. This title was given by Zoroaster, who proclaimed Ahura Mazda as the spirit, wholly wise, benevolent and good, as well as the creator. As Ahura Mazda is described as the creator and upholder of Asha, he is a supporter and guardian of justice, as a result of this vision, Zoroaster felt that he was chosen to spread and preach the religion. He stated that source of all goodness was the only Ahura worthy of the highest worship. He further stated that Ahura Mazda created spirits known as yazatas to aid him, Zoroaster proclaimed that all of the Iranian daevas were bad spirits and deserved no worship. These bad spirits were created by Angra Mainyu, the hostile, the existence of Angra Mainyu was the source of all sin and misery in the universe. Zoroaster claimed that Ahura Mazda was not an omnipotent God, nonetheless, Ahura Mazda is Angra Mainyus superior, not his equal. Angra Mainyu and his daevas which attempt to attract humans away from the path of righteousness would eventually be destroyed, whether the Achaemenids were Zoroastrians is a matter of much debate. However, it is known that the Achaemenids were worshipers of Ahura Mazda, the representation and invocation of Ahura Mazda can be seen on royal inscriptions written by Achaemenid kings. The most notable of all the inscriptions is the Behistun Inscription written by Darius I which contains references to Ahura Mazda. An inscription written in Greek was found in a late Achaemenid temple at Persepolis which invoked Ahura Mazda, on the Elamite Persepolis Fortification Tablet 377, Ahura Mazda is invoked along with Mithra and Voruna. Artaxerxes III makes this invocation to the three again in his reign
5.
Crescent
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A crescent shape is a symbol or emblem used to represent the lunar phase in the first quarter, or by extension a symbol representing the Moon itself. It is used as the symbol for the Moon. It was also the emblem of Diana-Artemis, and hence represented virginity, in Roman Catholic Marian veneration, it is associated with the Virgin Mary. From its use as roof finial in Ottoman era mosques, it has become associated with Islam. The crescent symbol is used to represent the Moon, not necessarily in a particular lunar phase. When used to represent a waxing or waning lunar phase, crescent or increscent refers to the waxing first quarter, the crescent symbol was long used as a symbol of the Moon in astrology, and by extension of Silver in alchemy. The astrological use of the symbol is attested in early Greek papyri containing horoscopes, in the 2nd-century Bianchinis planisphere, the personification of the Moon is shown with a crescent attached to her headdress. Its ancient association with Ishtar/Astarte and Diana is preserved in the Moon representing the female principle, as such, it belongs to the class of figures known as lune in planar geometry. The tapering towards the points of intersection of the two arcs are known as the horns of the crescent, the word crescent is derived etymologically from the present participle of the Latin verb crescere to grow, technically denoting the waxing moon. Unicode encodes a crescent at U+263D and a decrescent at U+263E, the Miscellaneous Symbols and Pictographs block provides variants with faces, FIRST QUARTER MOON WITH FACE at U+1F31B and LAST QUARTER MOON WITH FACE at U+1F31C. The crescent shape is used to represent the Moon, and the Moon deity Nanna/Sin from an early time, visible in Akkadian cylinder seals as early as 2300 BC. The crescent was used in the iconography of the Ancient Near East and was used transplanted by the Phoenicians in the 8th century BC as far as Carthage in modern Tunisia. The crescent and star also appears on coins of South Arabia. The combination of star and crescent also arises in the Ancient Near East, representing the Moon and Ishtar and it was inherited both in Sassanian and Hellenistic iconography. In the iconography of the Hellenistic period, the crescent became the symbol of Artemis-Diana, numerous depictions show Artemis-Diana wearing the crescent Moon as part of her headdress. The related symbol of the star and crescent was the emblem of the Mithradates dynasty in the Kingdom of Pontus and was used as the emblem of Byzantium. The crescent remained in use as an emblem in Sassanid Persia, in the Crusades it came to be associated with the Orient and was widely used in Crusader seals and coins. It was used as a charge by the later 13th century
6.
Avestan
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The Yaz culture of Bactria-Margiana has been regarded as a likely archaeological reflection of the early Eastern Iranian culture described in the Avesta. Avestans status as a language has ensured its continuing use for new compositions long after the language had ceased to be a living language. It is closely related to Vedic Sanskrit, the oldest preserved Indo-Aryan language, Avestan, which is associated with northeastern Iran, and Old Persian, which belongs to the southwest, together constitute what is called Old Iranian. The Old Iranian language group is a branch of the Indo-Iranian language group, Iranian languages are traditionally classified as eastern or western, and within this framework Avestan is classified as eastern. But this distinction is of limited meaning for Avestan, as the developments that later distinguish Eastern from Western Iranian had not yet occurred. Avestan does not display some typical Western Iranian innovations already visible in Old Persian, Old Avestan is closely related to Old Persian and also in some extent close in nature to Vedic Sanskrit. It is believed that it might be close to a dialect of Pashto as well. The Avestan language is attested in two forms, known as Old Avestan and Younger Avestan. Younger Avestan did not evolve from Old Avestan, the two not only in time, but are also different dialects. Every Avestan text, regardless of whether originally composed in Old or Younger Avestan, Karl Hoffmann traced the following stages for Avestan as found in the extant texts. In roughly chronological order, The natural language of the composers of the Gathas, the Yasna Haptanghaiti, the script used for writing Avestan developed during the 3rd or 4th century AD. By then the language had been extinct for centuries. As is still the case today, the liturgies were memorized by the priesthood, the script devised to render Avestan was natively known as Din dabireh religion writing. It has 53 distinct characters and is written right-to-left and these symbols, like those of all the Pahlavi scripts, are in turn based on Aramaic script symbols. Avestan also incorporates several letters from other writing systems, most notably the vowels, a few letters were free inventions, as were also the symbols used for punctuation. Also, the Avestan alphabet has one letter that has no corresponding sound in the Avestan language, Avestan script is alphabetic, and the large number of letters suggests that its design was due to the need to render the orally recited texts with high phonetic precision. The correct enunciation of the liturgies was considered necessary for the prayers to be effective, the Zoroastrians of India, who represent one of the largest surviving Zoroastrian communities worldwide, also transcribe Avestan in Brahmi-based scripts. Today, Avestan is most commonly typeset in Gujarati script, some Avestan letters with no corresponding symbol are synthesized with additional diacritical marks, for example, the /z/ in zaraϑuštra is written with j with a dot below
7.
Moon
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The Moon is an astronomical body that orbits planet Earth, being Earths only permanent natural satellite. It is the fifth-largest natural satellite in the Solar System, following Jupiters satellite Io, the Moon is second-densest satellite among those whose densities are known. The average distance of the Moon from the Earth is 384,400 km, the Moon is thought to have formed about 4.51 billion years ago, not long after Earth. It is the second-brightest regularly visible celestial object in Earths sky, after the Sun and its surface is actually dark, although compared to the night sky it appears very bright, with a reflectance just slightly higher than that of worn asphalt. Its prominence in the sky and its cycle of phases have made the Moon an important cultural influence since ancient times on language, calendars, art. The Moons gravitational influence produces the ocean tides, body tides, and this matching of apparent visual size will not continue in the far future. The Moons linear distance from Earth is currently increasing at a rate of 3.82 ±0.07 centimetres per year, since the Apollo 17 mission in 1972, the Moon has been visited only by uncrewed spacecraft. The usual English proper name for Earths natural satellite is the Moon, the noun moon is derived from moone, which developed from mone, which is derived from Old English mōna, which ultimately stems from Proto-Germanic *mǣnōn, like all Germanic language cognates. Occasionally, the name Luna is used, in literature, especially science fiction, Luna is used to distinguish it from other moons, while in poetry, the name has been used to denote personification of our moon. The principal modern English adjective pertaining to the Moon is lunar, a less common adjective is selenic, derived from the Ancient Greek Selene, from which is derived the prefix seleno-. Both the Greek Selene and the Roman goddess Diana were alternatively called Cynthia, the names Luna, Cynthia, and Selene are reflected in terminology for lunar orbits in words such as apolune, pericynthion, and selenocentric. The name Diana is connected to dies meaning day, several mechanisms have been proposed for the Moons formation 4.51 billion years ago, and some 60 million years after the origin of the Solar System. These hypotheses also cannot account for the angular momentum of the Earth–Moon system. This hypothesis, although not perfect, perhaps best explains the evidence, eighteen months prior to an October 1984 conference on lunar origins, Bill Hartmann, Roger Phillips, and Jeff Taylor challenged fellow lunar scientists, You have eighteen months. Go back to your Apollo data, go back to computer, do whatever you have to. Dont come to our conference unless you have something to say about the Moons birth, at the 1984 conference at Kona, Hawaii, the giant impact hypothesis emerged as the most popular. Afterward there were only two groups, the giant impact camp and the agnostics. Giant impacts are thought to have been common in the early Solar System, computer simulations of a giant impact have produced results that are consistent with the mass of the lunar core and the present angular momentum of the Earth–Moon system
8.
Month
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A month is a unit of time, used with calendars, which is approximately as long as a natural period related to the motion of the Moon, month and Moon are cognates. The traditional concept arose with the cycle of phases, such months are synodic months. From excavated tally sticks, researchers have deduced that people counted days in relation to the Moons phases as early as the Paleolithic age. Synodic months, based on the Moons orbital period with respect to the Earth-Sun line, are still the basis of many calendars today, the following types of months are mainly of significance in astronomy, most of them first recognized in Babylonian lunar astronomy. The sidereal month is defined as the Moons orbital period in a frame of reference. The exact duration of the period cannot be easily determined. However, it is equal to the time it takes the Moon to pass twice a fixed star. A synodic month is the most familiar lunar cycle, defined as the interval between two consecutive occurrences of a particular phase as seen by an observer on Earth. The mean length of the month is 29.53059 days. Due to the eccentricity of the orbit around Earth, the length of a synodic month can vary by up to seven hours. The tropical month is the time for the Moon to pass twice through the same equinox point of the sky. It is 27.32158 days, very slightly shorter than the sidereal month days, unlike the sidereal month, it can be measured precisely. An anomalistic month is the time the Moon takes to go from perigee to perigee - the point in the Moons orbit when it is closest to Earth. An anomalistic month is about 27.55455 days on average and its duration is about 27.21222 days on average. A synodic month is longer than a month because the Earth-Moon system is orbiting the Sun in the same direction as the Moon is orbiting the Earth. The Sun moves eastward with respect to the stars and it takes about 2.2 days longer for the Moon to return to the apparent position with respect to the Sun. An anomalistic month is longer than a month because the perigee moves in the same direction as the Moon is orbiting the Earth. Therefore, the Moon takes a longer to return to perigee than to return to the same star
9.
Persian language
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Persian, also known by its endonym Farsi, is one of the Western Iranian languages within the Indo-Iranian branch of the Indo-European language family. It is primarily spoken in Iran, Afghanistan, and Tajikistan and it is mostly written in the Persian alphabet, a modified variant of the Arabic script. Its grammar is similar to that of many contemporary European languages, Persian gets its name from its origin at the capital of the Achaemenid Empire, Persis, hence the name Persian. A Persian-speaking person may be referred to as Persophone, there are approximately 110 million Persian speakers worldwide, with the language holding official status in Iran, Afghanistan, and Tajikistan. For centuries, Persian has also been a cultural language in other regions of Western Asia, Central Asia. It also exerted influence on Arabic, particularly Bahrani Arabic. Persian is one of the Western Iranian languages within the Indo-European family, other Western Iranian languages are the Kurdish languages, Gilaki, Mazanderani, Talysh, and Balochi. Persian is classified as a member of the Southwestern subgroup within Western Iranian along with Lari, Kumzari, in Persian, the language is known by several names, Western Persian, Parsi or Farsi has been the name used by all native speakers until the 20th century. Since the latter decades of the 20th century, for reasons, in English. Tajiki is the variety of Persian spoken in Tajikistan and Uzbekistan by the Tajiks, according to the Oxford English Dictionary, the term Persian as a language name is first attested in English in the mid-16th century. Native Iranian Persian speakers call it Fārsi, Farsi is the Arabicized form of Pārsi, subsequent to Muslim conquest of Persia, due to a lack of the phoneme /p/ in Standard Arabic. The origin of the name Farsi and the place of origin of the language which is Fars Province is the Arabicized form of Pārs, in English, this language has historically been known as Persian, though Farsi has also gained some currency. Farsi is encountered in some literature as a name for the language. In modern English the word Farsi refers to the language while Parsi describes Zoroastrians, some Persian language scholars such as Ehsan Yarshater, editor of Encyclopædia Iranica, and University of Arizona professor Kamran Talattof, have also rejected the usage of Farsi in their articles. The international language-encoding standard ISO 639-1 uses the code fa, as its system is mostly based on the local names. The more detailed standard ISO 639-3 uses the name Persian for the dialect continuum spoken across Iran and Afghanistan and this consists of the individual languages Dari and Iranian Persian. Currently, Voice of America, BBC World Service, Deutsche Welle, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty also includes a Tajik service and an Afghan service. This is also the case for the American Association of Teachers of Persian, The Centre for Promotion of Persian Language and Literature, Persian is an Iranian language belonging to the Indo-Iranian branch of the Indo-European family of languages
10.
Zoroastrianism
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Ascribed to the teachings of the Iranian prophet Zoroaster, it exalts a deity of wisdom, Ahura Mazda, as its Supreme Being. Zoroastrianism was suppressed from the 7th century onwards following the Muslim conquest of Persia of 633-654, recent estimates place the current number of Zoroastrians at around 2.6 million, with most living in India and in Iran. Besides the Zoroastrian diaspora, the older Mithraic faith Yazdânism is still practised amongst Kurds, the religious philosophy of Zoroaster divided the early Iranian gods of Proto-Indo-Iranian tradition. The most important texts of the religion are those of the Avesta, in Zoroastrianism, the creator Ahura Mazda, through the Spenta Mainyu is an all-good father of Asha, in opposition to Druj and no evil originates from him. He and his works are evident to humanity through the six primary Amesha Spentas, Spenta Mainyu adjoined unto truth oppose the Spirits opposite, Angra Mainyu and its forces born of Akəm Manah. In Zoroastrianism, the purpose in life is to be among those who renew the world. to make the progress towards perfection. Its basic maxims include, Humata, Hukhta, Huvarshta, which mean, Good Thoughts, Good Words, there is only one path and that is the path of Truth. Do the right thing because it is the thing to do. The full name by which Zoroaster addressed the deity is, Ahura, The Lord Creator and he proclaimed that there is only one God, the singularly creative and sustaining force of the Universe. He also stated that human beings are given a right of choice, Zoroasters teachings focused on responsibility, and did not introduce a devil per se. The contesting force to Ahura Mazda was called Angra Mainyu, or angry spirit, post-Zoroastrian scripture introduced the concept of Ahriman, the Devil, which was effectively a personification of Angra Mainyu. The name Zoroaster is a Greek rendering of the name Zarathustra and he is known as Zartosht and Zardosht in Persian and Zaratosht in Gujarati. The Zoroastrian name of the religion is Mazdayasna, which combines Mazda- with the Avestan language word yasna, meaning worship, in English, an adherent of the faith is commonly called a Zoroastrian or a Zarathustrian. An older expression still used today is Behdin, meaning The best Religion | Beh < Middle Persian Weh + Din < Middle Persian dēn < Avestan Daēnā. In Zoroastrian liturgy the term is used as a title for an individual who has formally inducted into the religion in a Navjote ceremony. The term Mazdaism /ˈmæzdə. ɪzəm/ is a typical 19th century construct, taking Mazda- from the name Ahura Mazda, the March 2001 draft edition of the Oxford English Dictionary also records an alternate form, Mazdeism, perhaps derived from the French Mazdéisme, which first appeared in 1871. In older English sources, the terms Gheber and Gueber were used to refer to Zoroastrians, however, Zoroastrian philosophy is identified as having been known to Italian Renaissance Europe through an image of Zoroaster in Raphaels School of Athens by Giorgio Vasari in 1550. The Oxford English Dictionary records use of the term Zoroastrianism in 1874 in Archibald Sayces Principles of Comparative Philology, Zoroastrians believe that there is one universal, transcendent, supreme god, Ahura Mazda, or the Wise Lord
11.
Classical mythology
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Classical mythology or Greco-Roman mythology is both the body of and the study of myths from the ancient Greeks and Romans as they are used or transformed by cultural reception. Along with philosophy and political thought, mythology represents one of the major survivals of classical antiquity throughout later Western culture, the Greek word mythos refers to the spoken word or speech, but it also denotes a tale, story or narrative. Classical myths are also alluded to in scientific naming, particularly in astronomy, chemistry, and biology, and in the theory of Freud. During the Middle Ages and Renaissance, when Latin remained the dominant language in Europe for international educated discourse, mythological names almost always appeared in Latinized form. With the Greek revival of the 19th century, however, Greek names began to be used more often, classical mythology is a term often used to designate the myths belonging to the Greek and Roman traditions. A classical myth as it appears in later Western culture is usually a syncretism of various versions from both Greek and Latin sources. Greek myths were narratives related to ancient Greek religion, often concerned with the actions of gods and other supernatural beings, major sources for Greek myths include the Homeric epics, that is, the Iliad and the Odyssey, and the tragedies of Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides. Known versions are preserved in sophisticated literary works shaped by the artistry of individuals and by the conventions of genre, or in vase painting. In these forms, mythological narratives often serve purposes that are not primarily religious, such as entertainment and even comedy, Roman myths have a dynamic relation to Roman historiography, as in the early books of Livys Ab urbe condita. The literary collection of Greco-Roman myths with the greatest influence on later Western culture was the Metamorphoses of the Augustan poet Ovid. The myths as they appear in popular culture of the 20th and 21st centuries often have only a tangential relation to the stories as told in ancient Greek and Latin literature
12.
Historical Vedic religion
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The religion of the Vedic period was the religion of the Indo-Aryans of northern India. It is a predecessor of modern Hinduism, though significantly different from it. The Vedic liturgy is conserved in the portion of the four Vedas. The religious practices centered on a clergy administering rites, the complex Vedic rituals of Śrauta continue in coastal Andhra. The commonly proposed period of earlier Vedic age is dated back to 2nd millennium BCE, the Vedic religion was the religion of the Indo-Aryans, and existed in northern India from c.1750 to 500 BCE. The Indo-Aryans were a branch of the Indo-European language family, which originated in the Kurgan culture of the Central Asian steppes, the Vedic beliefs and practices of the pre-classical era were closely related to the hypothesised Proto-Indo-European religion, and the Indo-Iranian religion. According to Anthony, the Old Indic religion probably emerged among Indo-European immigrants in the zone between the Zeravshan River and Iran. It was a mixture of old Central Asian and new Indo-European elements. At least 383 non-Indo-European words were borrowed from this culture, including the god Indra, Indra was the subject of 250 hymns, a quarter of the Rig Veda. He was associated more than any other deity with Soma, a stimulant drug probably borrowed from the BMAC religion and his rise to prominence was a peculiar trait of the Old Indic speakers. The oldest inscriptions in Old Indic, the language of the Rig Veda, are not in northwestern India and Pakistan, but in northern Syria. The Mitanni kings took Old Indic throne names, and Old Indic technical terms were used for horse-riding and chariot-driving, the Old Indic term rta, meaning cosmic order and truth, the central concept of the Rig Veda, was also employed in the Mitanni kingdom. Old Indic gods, including Indra, were known in the Mitanni kingdom. David Gordon White cites three other scholars who have emphatically demonstrated that Vedic religion is partially derived from the Indus Valley Civilizations. Texts dating to the Vedic period, composed in Vedic Sanskrit, are mainly the four Vedic Samhitas, the Vedas record the liturgy connected with the rituals and sacrifices performed by the 16 or 17 Śrauta priests and the purohitas. According to traditional views, the hymns of the Rigveda and other Vedic hymns were divinely revealed to the rishis, in addition the Vedas are said to be apauraṣaya, a Sanskrit word meaning uncreated by man and which further reveals their eternal non-changing status. The mode of worship was worship of the elements like fire and rivers, worship of gods like Indra, chanting of hymns. The priests performed the rituals for the noblemen and wealthy commoners Vaishyas
13.
Sin (mythology)
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Sin /ˈsiːn/ or Nanna was the god of the moon in the Mesopotamian mythology of Akkad, Assyria and Babylonia. Nanna is a Sumerian deity, the son of Enlil and Ninlil, the two chief seats of Nannas/Sins worship were Ur in the south of Mesopotamia and Harran in the north. A moon god by the name was also worshipped in pre-Islamic South Arabia. The original meaning of the name Nanna is unknown, the earliest spelling found in Ur and Uruk is DLAK-32. NA. The name of Ur, spelled LAK-32. UNUGKI=URIM2KI, is derived from the theonym. He was also the father of Ishkur, the pre-classical sign LAK-32 later collapses with ŠEŠ, and the classical Sumerian spelling is DŠEŠ. KI, with the phonetic reading na-an-na. The technical term for the crescent moon could refer to the deity. Later, the name is spelled logographically as DNANNA, the Semitic moon god Suen/Sin is in origin a separate deity from Sumerian Nanna, but from the Akkadian Empire period the two undergo syncretization and are identified. The occasional Assyrian spelling of DNANNA-ar DSuen-e is due to association with Akkadian na-an-na-ru illuminator, lamp, the name of the Assyrian moon god Suen/Sîn is usually spelled as DEN. ZU, or simply with the numeral 30, DXXX. He is commonly designated as En-zu, which means lord of wisdom, during the period that Ur exercised a large measure of supremacy over the Euphrates valley, Sin was naturally regarded as the head of the pantheon. It is to this period that we must trace such designations of Sin as father of the gods, chief of the gods, creator of all things, and the like. The wisdom personified by the moon-god is likewise an expression of the science of astronomy or the practice of astrology and his wife was Ningal, who bore him Utu/Shamash and Inanna/Ishtar. The tendency to centralize the powers of the leads to the establishment of the doctrine of a triad consisting of Sin/Nanna. Sin had a made of lapis lazuli and rode on a winged bull. The bull was one of his symbols, through his father, Enlil, Bull of Heaven, along with the crescent, on cylinder seals, he is represented as an old man with a flowing beard and the crescent symbol. In the astral-theological system he is represented by the number 30 and this number probably refers to the average number of days in a lunar month, as measured between successive new moons. An important Sumerian text tells of the descent of Enlil and Ninlil, pregnant with Nanna/Sin, there, three substitutions are given to allow the ascent of Nanna/Sin. The story shows some similarities to the known as The Descent of Inanna
14.
Avesta
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The Avesta /əˈvɛstə/ is the primary collection of religious texts of Zoroastrianism, composed in the otherwise unrecorded Avestan language. The Avesta texts fall into different categories, arranged either by dialect. The principal text in the group is the Yasna, which takes its name from the Yasna ceremony, Zoroastrianisms primary act of worship. The most important portion of the Yasna texts are the five Gathas and these hymns, together with five other short Old Avestan texts that are also part of the Yasna, are in the Old Avestan language. The remainder of the Yasnas texts are in Younger Avestan, which is not only from a stage of the language. Extensions to the Yasna ceremony include the texts of the Vendidad, the Visperad extensions consist mainly of additional invocations of the divinities, while the Vendidad is a mixed collection of prose texts mostly dealing with purity laws. Even today, the Vendidad is the liturgical text that is not recited entirely from memory. Some of the materials of the extended Yasna are from the Yashts, unlike the Yasna, Visperad and Vendidad, the Yashts and the other lesser texts of the Avesta are no longer used liturgically in high rituals. Aside from the Yashts, these lesser texts include the Nyayesh texts, the Gah texts, the Siroza. Together, these texts are conventionally called Khordeh Avesta or Little Avesta texts. When the first Khordeh Avesta editions were printed in the 19th century, 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 ʾpstʾkʼ. In that context, abestāg texts are portrayed as received knowledge, 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 surviving texts of the Avesta, as they exist today and that master copy, now lost, is known as the Sassanian archetype. The oldest surviving manuscript of an Avestan language text is dated 1323 CE, summaries of the various Avesta texts found in the 9th/10th century texts of Zoroastrian tradition suggest that about three-quarters of the corpus has since been lost. A pre-Sasanian history of the Avesta, if it had one, is in the realm of legend, the oldest surviving versions of these tales are found in the ninth to 11th century texts of Zoroastrian tradition. The legends run as follows, The twenty-one nasks of the Avesta were created by Ahura Mazda, supposedly, Vishtaspa or another Kayanian, Daray, then had two copies made, one of which was stored in the treasury, and the other in the royal archives. Following Alexanders conquest, the Avesta was then supposedly destroyed or dispersed by the Greeks after they translated the scientific passages that they could make use of, the Denkard also transmits another legend related to the transmission of the Avesta. In that story, credit for collation and recension is given to the early Sasanian-era priest Tansar, who had the works collected
15.
Parthian Empire
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The Parthian Empire, also known as the Arsacid Empire, was a major Iranian political and cultural power in ancient Iran and Iraq. Mithridates I of Parthia greatly expanded the empire by seizing Media and Mesopotamia from the Seleucids, at its height, the Parthian Empire stretched from the northern reaches of the Euphrates, in what is now central-eastern Turkey, to eastern Iran. The empire, located on the Silk Road trade route between the Roman Empire in the Mediterranean Basin and the Han Empire of China, became a center of trade and commerce. The Parthians largely adopted the art, architecture, religious beliefs, and royal insignia of their culturally heterogeneous empire, which encompassed Persian, Hellenistic, and regional cultures. For about the first half of its existence, the Arsacid court adopted elements of Greek culture, the court did appoint a small number of satraps, largely outside Iran, but these satrapies were smaller and less powerful than the Achaemenid potentates. With the expansion of Arsacid power, the seat of government shifted from Nisa to Ctesiphon along the Tigris. The earliest enemies of the Parthians were the Seleucids in the west, however, as Parthia expanded westward, they came into conflict with the Kingdom of Armenia, and eventually the late Roman Republic. Rome and Parthia competed with other to establish the kings of Armenia as their subordinate clients. The Parthians soundly defeated Marcus Licinius Crassus at the Battle of Carrhae in 53 BC, however, Mark Antony led a counterattack against Parthia, although his successes were generally achieved in his absence, under the leadership of his lieutenant Ventidius. Also, various Roman emperors or their appointed generals invaded Mesopotamia in the course of the several Roman-Parthian Wars which ensued during the few centuries. The Romans captured the cities of Seleucia and Ctesiphon on multiple occasions during these conflicts, native Parthian sources, written in Parthian, Greek and other languages, are scarce when compared to Sassanid and even earlier Achaemenid sources. These include mainly Greek and Roman histories, but also Chinese histories, Parthian artwork is viewed by historians as a valid source for understanding aspects of society and culture that are otherwise absent in textual sources. The Parni most likely spoke an eastern Iranian language, in contrast to the northwestern Iranian language spoken at the time in Parthia, the latter was a northeastern province, first under the Achaemenid, and then the Seleucid empires. Why the Arsacid court retroactively chose 247 BC as the first year of the Arsacid era is uncertain, Bivar concludes that this was the year the Seleucids lost control of Parthia to Andragoras, the appointed satrap who rebelled against them. Hence, Arsaces I backdated his regnal years to the moment when Seleucid control over Parthia ceased, however, Vesta Sarkhosh Curtis asserts that this was simply the year Arsaces was made chief of the Parni tribe. It is unclear who immediately succeeded Arsaces I, Bivar and Katouzian affirm that it was his brother Tiridates I of Parthia, who in turn was succeeded by his son Arsaces II of Parthia in 211 BC. Yet Curtis and Brosius state that Arsaces II was the successor of Arsaces I, with Curtis claiming the succession took place in 211 BC. Bivar insists that 138 BC, the last regnal year of Mithridates I, is the first precisely established regnal date of Parthian history, due to these and other discrepancies, Bivar outlines two distinct royal chronologies accepted by historians
16.
Sasanian Empire
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The Sasanian Empire was founded by Ardashir I, after the fall of the Parthian Empire and the defeat of the last Arsacid king, Artabanus V. According to a legend, the vexilloid of the Sasanian Empire was the Derafsh Kaviani, in many ways, the Sasanian period witnessed the peak of ancient Iranian civilization. Persia influenced Roman culture considerably during the Sasanian period, the Sasanians cultural influence extended far beyond the empires territorial borders, reaching as far as Western Europe, Africa, China and India. It played a prominent role in the formation of both European and Asian medieval art, much of what later became known as Islamic culture in art, architecture, music and other subject matter was transferred from the Sasanians throughout the Muslim world. Conflicting accounts shroud the details of the fall of the Parthian Empire, the Sassanid Empire was established in Estakhr by Ardashir I. Papak was originally the ruler of a region called Khir, however, by the year 200, he managed to overthrow Gochihr, and appoint himself as the new ruler of the Bazrangids. His mother, Rodhagh, was the daughter of the governor of Pars. Papak and his eldest son Shapur managed to expand their power all of Pars. The subsequent events are unclear, due to the nature of the sources. It is certain, however, that following the death of Papak, Ardashir, sources reveal that Shapur, leaving for a meeting with his brother, was killed when the roof of a building collapsed on him. By the year 208, over the protests of his brothers who were put to death. Once Ardashir was appointed shahanshah, he moved his capital further to the south of Pars, the city, well supported by high mountains and easily defendable through narrow passes, became the center of Ardashirs efforts to gain more power. The city was surrounded by a high, circular wall, probably copied from that of Darabgird, in a second attempt to destroy Ardashir, Artabanus V himself met Ardashir in battle at Hormozgan, where Artabanus V met his death. Following the death of the Parthian ruler, Ardashir I went on to invade the provinces of the now defunct Parthian Empire. Ardashir was aided by the geography of the province of Fars, in the next few years, local rebellions would form around the empire. Nonetheless, Ardashir I further expanded his new empire to the east and northwest, conquering the provinces of Sistan, Gorgan, Khorasan, Margiana, Balkh and he also added Bahrain and Mosul to Sassanids possessions. In the west, assaults against Hatra, Armenia and Adiabene met with less success, in 230, he raided deep into Roman territory, and a Roman counter-offensive two years later ended inconclusively, although the Roman emperor, Alexander Severus, celebrated a triumph in Rome. Ardashir Is son Shapur I continued the expansion of the empire, conquering Bactria, invading Roman Mesopotamia, Shapur I captured Carrhae and Nisibis, but in 243 the Roman general Timesitheus defeated the Persians at Rhesaina and regained the lost territories
17.
Sanskrit
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Sanskrit is the primary liturgical language of Hinduism, a philosophical language of Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism, and a literary language and lingua franca of ancient and medieval South Asia. As a result of transmission of Hindu and Buddhist culture to Southeast Asia and parts of Central Asia, as one of the oldest Indo-European languages for which substantial written documentation exists, Sanskrit holds a prominent position in Indo-European studies. The body of Sanskrit literature encompasses a rich tradition of poetry and drama as well as scientific, technical, philosophical, the compositions of Sanskrit were orally transmitted for much of its early history by methods of memorization of exceptional complexity, rigor, and fidelity. Thereafter, variants and derivatives of the Brahmi script came to be used, Sanskrit is today one of the 22 languages listed in the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution of India, which mandates the Indian government to develop the language. It continues to be used as a ceremonial language in Hindu religious rituals and Buddhist practice in the form of hymns. The Sanskrit verbal adjective sáṃskṛta- may be translated as refined, elaborated, as a term for refined or elaborated speech, the adjective appears only in Epic and Classical Sanskrit in the Manusmṛti and the Mahabharata. The pre-Classical form of Sanskrit is known as Vedic Sanskrit, with the language of the Rigveda being the oldest and most archaic stage preserved, Classical Sanskrit is the standard register as laid out in the grammar of Pāṇini, around the fourth century BCE. Sanskrit, as defined by Pāṇini, evolved out of the earlier Vedic form, the present form of Vedic Sanskrit can be traced back to as early as the second millennium BCE. Scholars often distinguish Vedic Sanskrit and Classical or Pāṇinian Sanskrit as separate dialects, although they are quite similar, they differ in a number of essential points of phonology, vocabulary, grammar and syntax. Vedic Sanskrit is the language of the Vedas, a collection of hymns, incantations and theological and religio-philosophical discussions in the Brahmanas. Modern linguists consider the metrical hymns of the Rigveda Samhita to be the earliest, for nearly 2000 years, Sanskrit was the language of a cultural order that exerted influence across South Asia, Inner Asia, Southeast Asia, and to a certain extent East Asia. A significant form of post-Vedic Sanskrit is found in the Sanskrit of Indian epic poetry—the Ramayana, the deviations from Pāṇini in the epics are generally considered to be on account of interference from Prakrits, or innovations, and not because they are pre-Paninian. Traditional Sanskrit scholars call such deviations ārṣa, meaning of the ṛṣis, in some contexts, there are also more prakritisms than in Classical Sanskrit proper. There were four principal dialects of classical Sanskrit, paścimottarī, madhyadeśī, pūrvi, the predecessors of the first three dialects are attested in Vedic Brāhmaṇas, of which the first one was regarded as the purest. In the 2001 Census of India,14,035 Indians reported Sanskrit to be their first language, in India, Sanskrit is among the 14 original languages of the Eighth Schedule to the Constitution. The state of Uttarakhand in India has ruled Sanskrit as its official language. In October 2012 social activist Hemant Goswami filed a petition in the Punjab. More than 3,000 Sanskrit works have been composed since Indias independence in 1947, much of this work has been judged of high quality, in comparison to both classical Sanskrit literature and modern literature in other Indian languages
18.
Chandra
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In Hinduism, Chandra is a lunar god and a Graha. The Chandra is the lord of plants and vegetation, Chandra is described as young, beautiful, two-armed and having in his hands a club and a lotus. He rides his chariot across the sky night, pulled by ten white horses or an antelope. In Hindu mythology, Chandra is the father of Budha and he is married to 27 daughters of Daksha, after whom the Nakshatras in Hindu astrology are named. In Hindu mythology, there are versions of legends around Chandras family. In one, he meets Tara, the wife of Brihaspati, from their union, Tara became pregnant giving birth to Budha. Brihaspati becomes upset and declares a war, the Devas intervene, and Tara returns to Brihaspati. In another, Chandra marries the twenty-seven daughters of Daksha, the Moon favors Rohini – one of his wives, the others become upset and complain to Daksha. One popular story to account for the spot on the Moon is that Ganesha, once filled with food, fell from his mouse. Chandra laughed at this, for which Ganesha injured him by breaking off and throwing one of his tusks. Chandra is also the word in Sanskrit, Hindi and other Indian languages for the Moon and it is also a common Indian name, both male and female and exists as a name in many South East Asian languages that originate from Sanskrit. Indu, one of the names for Chandra, is also the name of the first chakra of Melakarta ragas in Carnatic music. The names of chakras are based on the associated with each name. In this case, there is one, the Moon and hence the first chakra is Indu, Chandra plays an important role in one of the first novel-length mystery stories in English, The Moonstone. The Sanskrit word Chandrayāna is used to refer to Indias lunar orbiters, navagraha Soma Media related to Chandra at Wikimedia Commons
19.
Yasht
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The Yashts are a collection of twenty-one hymns in the Younger Avestan language. Each of these hymns invokes a specific Zoroastrian divinity or concept, Yasht chapter and verse pointers are traditionally abbreviated as Yt. The word yasht derives from Avestan yešti, for venerate, since these are a part of the primary litury, they do not count among the twenty-one hymns of the Yasht collection. Most of the yazatas that the individual Yashts praise also have a dedication in the Zoroastrian calendar, the exceptions are Drvaspa and Vanant. The twenty-one yashts of the collection, Notes
20.
Amesha Spenta
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Significantly more common than the non-specific meaning of Amesha Spenta is a restrictive use of the term to refer to the great six divine sparks of Ahura Mazda. In Zoroastrian tradition, these are the first six emanations of the noncreated Creator, the expression Amesha Spenta does not occur in the Gathas, but it was probably coined by Zoroaster himself. Spenta is a word of his revelation, meaning furthering, strengthening, bounteous. The oldest attested use of the term is in Yasna 39.3, like all other verses of the Yasna Haptanghaiti, Yasna 39.3 is also in Gathic Avestan and is approximately as old as the hymns attributed to Zoroaster himself. The divine sparks that appear in the Gathic Yasna 47, if they appear at all, they do not necessarily appear immediately adjacent to the noun. But in later tradition, these adjectives are integral to the names themselves, while Vohu Manah, Aša Vahišta, and Xšaθra Vairya are consistently of neuter gender in Avestan grammar, in tradition they are considered masculine. Armaiti, Haurvatāt, and Amərətāt are invariably feminine, in the Gathas, each Amesha Spenta represents a good moral quality that mortals should strive to obtain. Thus, the doctrine of the six is that through good thoughts, words. Not evident in the Gathas and first appearing in the Younger Avesta are the oppositions of haurvatāt- wholeness to taršna- thirst and these latter assignments reflect Haurvatats identification with water and Ameretats identification with plants. In the Gathas, aša/arta is the most evident of the six, in the 238 verses of these hymns, aša-/arta- appears 157 times. Of the other concepts, only vohumanah- appears nearly as often, in comparison, the remaining four of the great sextet appear only 121 times altogether, xšaθra-,56 times, armaiti-,40, amərətāt-,14, haurvatāt-,11 times. In the context of Zoroastrian view of creation, the group of the Amesha Spenta is extended to include Ahura Mazda, however, in most scholastic texts, an unqualified referral to the Amesha Spenta is usually understood to include only great six. In Yasna 44.7,31.3, and 51.7 and it is also through this Bounteous Force, Creative Emanation, or Holy Spirit that Ahura Mazda is immanent in humankind, and how the Creator interacts with the world. The doctrine also has a dimension, in that each of the heptad is linked to one of the seven creations. These physical associations are only alluded to in the Gathas>, a systematic association is only present in later middle Persian texts, where each of the seven is listed with its special domain, Ahura Mazda → Middle Persian Ohrmazd is the highest spirit. This anomaly is explained in modern scholarship by the fact that, in Stone Age cosmogony, the sky was considered to be the first of the creations and this is also reflected in Zoroasters revelation, where the sky is of the hardest stone. Later, with the event of bronze and then iron tools, this sky evolved to being of crystal, in due course, Xšaθras association with a stony firmament was eclipsed by the association with a metallic sky, and thence to metals in general. In non-specific usage, the term Amesha Spenta denotes all the divinities that furthered or strengthened creation and all that are bounteous and it not only includes the ahuras, but also all the other divinities that are alluded to in these texts
21.
Fravashi
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Fravashi is the Avestan language term for the Zoroastrian concept of a personal spirit of an individual, whether dead, living, and yet-unborn. The fravashi of an individual sends out the urvan into the world to fight the battle of good versus evil. In the 9/10th-century works of Zoroastrian tradition, Avestan fravashi continues as Middle Persian fravard, fravahr, the last days of a year, called frawardigan, are dedicated to the fravashis. The first month of the year as well as the 19th day of each month are considered under the protection of, and named after, the winged-disc symbol of Zoroastrianism is traditionally interpreted as a depiction of a fravashi. The word fravashi is commonly perceived to have var- to choose, from reconstructed *fravarti, fravashi could then mean one who has been selected. The same root, in the sense of to choose/profess a faith, is found in the word fravarane, one interpretation considers a derivation from vart- turn hence turning away, departing, death. The Epistles of Zadspram, a 10th century exegetical work, derives fravashi from fra-vaxsh to grow forth, like most other Zoroastrian yazatas, the fravashis are not mentioned in the Gathas. The earliest mention of them is in the Old Avestan Yasna Haptanghaiti which includes an invocation of the fravashis of the righteous. In chapter 57 of the Yasna, the fravashis are responsible for the course of the sun, moon, and stars, and in nurturing waters and plants, and protecting the unborn in the womb. Yasht 13 is one of the eight great yashts, and at 158 verses the longest text in the collection and it is also the second-most frequently recited Yasht. Several different authors contributed to the hymn, and its quality is uneven, while some verses are rich in traditional poetic phrases. The frequently repeated kshnuman of Yasht 13 is We worship the good, strong, moreover, Mazda is presented as acknowledging that without the help of the fravashis, cattle and men would have been lost to Angra Mainyu. This declaration is wholly unorthodox, and unsupported by any other text, verses 14-15, as also several other verses scattered through the text, describe how the fravashis continue to sustain the material world and mankind in the post-creation phase of the world. Verses 16-17, as several other later verses, celebrate their military prowess and assistance in battle. Verse 20 includes an injunction to memorize their invocation, so as to be able to call on them in times of need, in 13. 49-52, the hymn turns to the function of the fravashis in relation to the dead. There, the fravashis of the dead are said to return to their homes during the last days of the year, hoping to be worshipped and receive gifts, in exchange for which they bless those who live there. 13. 65-68, the fravashi are associated with prosperity, and annually strive to ensure that family, settlement, tribe, and country has rain. Verses 149 and 155 are likewise related to the urvan of the dead, and while they are said to have martial prowess in some passages, elsewhere, they are co-eval with the relatively helpless urvan
22.
Persepolis
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Persepolis or Parsa, also known as Takht-e-Jamshid, was the ceremonial capital of the Achaemenid Empire. Persepolis is situated 60 km northeast of the city of Shiraz in Fars Province, the earliest remains of Persepolis date back to 515 BC. It exemplifies the Achaemenid style of architecture, UNESCO declared the ruins of Persepolis a World Heritage Site in 1979. The English word Persepolis is derived from Ancient Greek Persépolis, a compound of Pérsēs and pólis, to the ancient Persians, the city was known as Pārsa. Persepolis is near the small river Pulvar, which flows into the Kur River, the site includes a 125,000 square meter terrace, partly artificially constructed and partly cut out of a mountain, with its east side leaning on Rahmet Mountain. The other three sides are formed by retaining walls, which vary in height with the slope of the ground, rising from 5–13 metres on the west side was a double stair. From there, it slopes to the top. To create the level terrace, depressions were filled with soil and heavy rocks, archaeological evidence shows that the earliest remains of Persepolis date back to 515 BC. As the residence of the rulers of the empire, however, the countrys true capitals were Susa, Babylon and Ecbatana. This accounts for the fact that the Greeks were not acquainted with the city until Alexander the Great took, Darius I ordered the construction of the Apadana and the Council Hall, as well as the main imperial Treasury and its surroundings. These were completed during the reign of his son, Xerxes I, further construction of the buildings on the terrace continued until the downfall of the Achaemenid Empire. Around 519 BC, construction of a stairway was begun. The stairway was initially planned to be the entrance to the terrace 20 metres above the ground. The dual stairway, known as the Persepolitan Stairway, was built symmetrically on the side of the Great Wall. The 111 steps measured 6.9 metres wide, with treads of 31 centimetres and rises of 10 centimetres, originally, the steps were believed to have been constructed to allow for nobles and royalty to ascend by horseback. New theories, however, suggest that the shallow risers allowed visiting dignitaries to maintain an appearance while ascending. The top of the led to a small yard in the north-eastern side of the terrace. Grey limestone was the building material used at Persepolis
23.
Gavaevodata
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The primordial beast is killed in the creation myth, but from its marrow, organs and cithra the world is repopulated with animal life. The soul of the primordial bovine – geush urvan – returned to the world as the soul of livestock. Although geush urvan is an aspect of the primordial bovine in Zoroastrian tradition, and may also be that in the Younger Avesta, although Avestan gav- cow is grammatically feminine, the word is also used as a singular for the collective cattle. In English language translations Gavaevodata is often referred to as a in gender-neutral primordial ox, other translations refer to Gavaevodata as a bull. The -aevo. data of the name literally means created as one or solely created or uniquely created, Gavaevodata is only alluded to in the surviving texts of the Avesta, referred to by name in only two hymns. In other instances, for example in Yasht 13.85, the primordial beast is mentioned among the six material creations, but not by name. This is also the case for the The Cows Lament in Yasna 29, which -- as a Gatha -- is attributed to Zoroaster himself, and is thus the subject of a great deal of interpretation. In this allegorical text, the soul of the cow despairs over her condition that the forces of the lie have subjected to her. The divinities hold council, and decide that Zoroaster is the one who can alleviate her condition. At first she laments even more, holding Zoroaster to be incompetent, in both Siroza 1.12 and 2.12, Mah is again referred to as the Moon containing the cithra of cattle, and Gavaevodata is again referred to as the Bovine of many species. The mythology of the uniquely created bovine that is alluded to in the extant Avesta appears fully developed in the 9th-11th century Middle Persian texts of Zoroastrian tradition. In these texts, Avestan Gavaevodata appears as Middle Persian gaw i ew-dad or ewazdad or ewagdad, as also for all other Zoroastrian cosmological beliefs, the primary source of information on the primordial ox is the Bundahishn, a 9th-century text. In this text, the ox is a hermaphrodite, having both milk and semen. It is white, bright like the moon, and three measured poles in height, the uniquely created ox lived its life on the river Veh. Daiti, and on the opposite bank lived Gayomart/d, the mythical first human, gawi ewdads role in the creation myth runs as follows, During the first three-thousand year period, Ahura Mazdas fashioned the bovine as His fourth or fifth of six primordial material creations. But Ahriman assaulted the sky and Ormuzd fed the bovine medicinal mang to lessen its suffering, the bull immediately became feeble, and then dies. But as it lay dying its chihr was rescued and carried to the moon station, in the care of the moon, the chihr of the beast was purified and became the male and female pairs of the animals of many species. After the oxs death, fifty-five kinds of grain and twelve kinds of plants grew from its marrow
24.
Herodotus
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Herodotus was a Greek historian who was born in Halicarnassus in the Persian Empire and lived in the fifth century BC, a contemporary of Socrates. The Histories is the work which he is known to have produced. Despite Herodotus historical significance, little is known of his personal life and his place in history and his significance may be understood according to the traditions within which he worked. His work is the earliest Greek prose to have survived intact, of these only fragments of Hecataeuss work survive yet they allow us glimpses into the kind of tradition within which Herodotus wrote his own Histories. In his introduction to Hecataeus’s work, Genealogies, This points forward to the ‘folksy’ yet ‘international’ outlook typical of Herodotus. Yet, one scholar has described the work of Hecataeus as “a curious false start to history” since despite his critical spirit. It is possible that Herodotus borrowed much material from Hecataeus, as stated by Porphyry in a recorded by Eusebius. But Hecataeus did not record events that had occurred in living memory, unlike Herodotus, Herodotus claims to be better informed than his predecessors by relying on empirical observation to correct their excessive schematism. For example, He argues for continental asymmetry as opposed to the theory of a perfectly circular earth with Europe. Yet, he retains idealizing tendencies, as in his notions of the Danube. His debt to previous authors of prose ‘histories’ might be questionable, however, this point is one of the most contentious issues in modern scholarship. It is on account of the strange stories and the folk-tales he reported that his critics in early modern times branded him “The Father of Lies”. Even his own contemporaries found reason to scoff at his achievement, similarly, the Athenian historian Thucydides dismissed Herodotus as a “logos-writer”. Moreover, Thucydides developed a historical topic more in keeping with the Greek world-view, the interplay of civilizations was more relevant to Greeks living in Anatolia, such as Herodotus himself, for whom life within a foreign civilization was a recent memory. Modern scholars generally turn to Herodotus’s own writing for reliable information about his life, supplemented with ancient yet much later sources, modern accounts of his life typically go something like this, Herodotus was born at Halicarnassus around 484 BC. His name is not mentioned later in the tribute list of the Athenian Delian League, the epic poet Panyassis – a relative of Herodotus – is reported to have taken part in a failed uprising. Herodotus expresses affection for the island of Samos, and this is an indication that he might have lived there in his youth. So it is possible that his family was involved in an uprising against Lygdamis, leading to a period of exile on Samos, Herodotus wrote his Histories in the Ionian dialect, yet he was born in Halicarnassus, which was a Dorian settlement
25.
Tutelary deity
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A tutelary is a deity or spirit who is a guardian, patron or protector of a particular place, geographic feature, person, lineage, nation, culture or occupation. One type of deity is the genius, the personal deity or daimon of an individual from birth to death. Another form of personal tutelary spirit is the spirit of European folklore. Socrates spoke of hearing the voice of his spirit or daimonion. This sign I have had ever since I was a child, the Greeks also thought deities guarded specific places, for instance, Athena was the patron goddess of the city of Athens. Tutelary deities who guard and preserve a place or a person are fundamental to ancient Roman religion, the tutelary deity of a man was his Genius, or that of a woman her Juno. In the Imperial era, the Genius of the Emperor was a focus of Imperial cult, an emperor might also adopt a major deity as his personal patron or tutelary, as Augustus did Apollo. Each town or city had one or more deities, whose protection was considered particularly vital in time of war. Rome itself was protected by a goddess whose name was to be kept secret on pain of death. The Capitoline Triad of Juno, Jupiter, and Minerva were also tutelaries of Rome, the Italic towns had their own tutelary deities. Juno often had this function, as at the Latin town of Lanuvium and the Etruscan city of Veii, the tutelary deity of Praeneste was Fortuna, whose oracle was renowned. The depiction of some such as the Magna Mater as tower-crowned represents their capacity to preserve the city. Tutelary deities were also attached to sites of a smaller scale, such as storerooms, crossroads. The poet Martial lists the tutelary deities who watch over various aspects of his farm, the Lares Compitales were the tutelary gods of a neighborhood, each of which had a compitum devoted to these. During the Republic, the cult of local or neighborhood tutelaries sometimes became rallying points for political and social unrest, chinese folk religion, both past and present, includes a myriad of tutelary deities. Exceptional individuals may become deified after death, guan Yu is a well-known tutelary. In Korean shamanism, jangseung and sotdae were placed at the edge of villages to frighten off demons and they were also worshiped as deities. In Shinto, the spirits, or kami, which life to human bodies come from nature
26.
Anatolia
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Anatolia, in geography known as Asia Minor, Asian Turkey, Anatolian peninsula, or Anatolian plateau, is the westernmost protrusion of Asia, which makes up the majority of modern-day Turkey. The region is bounded by the Black Sea to the north, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, the Sea of Marmara forms a connection between the Black and Aegean Seas through the Bosphorus and Dardanelles straits and separates Anatolia from Thrace on the European mainland. Traditionally, Anatolia is considered to extend in the east to a line between the Gulf of Alexandretta and the Black Sea to the Armenian Highlands, thus, traditionally Anatolia is the territory that comprises approximately the western two-thirds of the Asian part of Turkey. The Turkification of Anatolia began under the Seljuk Empire in the late 11th century, however, various non-Turkic languages continue to be spoken by minorities in Anatolia today, including Kurdish, Assyrian, Armenian, Arabic, Laz, Georgian, and Greek. Traditionally, Anatolia is considered to extend in the east to a line running from the Gulf of Alexandretta to the Black Sea. This traditional geographical definition is used, for example, in the latest edition of Merriam-Websters Geographical Dictionary, under this definition, Anatolia is bounded to the east by the Armenian Highlands, and the Euphrates before that river bends to the southeast to enter Mesopotamia. To the southeast, it is bounded by the ranges that separate it from the Orontes valley in Syria, the first name the Greeks used for the Anatolian peninsula was Ἀσία, presumably after the name of the Assuwa league in western Anatolia. As the name of Asia came to be extended to areas east of the Mediterranean. The name Anatolia derives from the Greek ἀνατολή meaning “the East” or more literally “sunrise”, the precise reference of this term has varied over time, perhaps originally referring to the Aeolian, Ionian and Dorian colonies on the west coast of Asia Minor. In the Byzantine Empire, the Anatolic Theme was a theme covering the western, the modern Turkish form of Anatolia is Anadolu, which again derives from the Greek name Aνατολή. The Russian male name Anatoly and the French Anatole share the same linguistic origin, in English the name of Turkey for ancient Anatolia first appeared c. It is derived from the Medieval Latin Turchia, which was used by the Europeans to define the Seljuk controlled parts of Anatolia after the Battle of Manzikert. Human habitation in Anatolia dates back to the Paleolithic, neolithic Anatolia has been proposed as the homeland of the Indo-European language family, although linguists tend to favour a later origin in the steppes north of the Black Sea. However, it is clear that the Anatolian languages, the oldest branch of Indo-European, have spoken in Anatolia since at least the 19th century BC. The earliest historical records of Anatolia stem from the southeast of the region and are from the Mesopotamian-based Akkadian Empire during the reign of Sargon of Akkad in the 24th century BC, scholars generally believe the earliest indigenous populations of Anatolia were the Hattians and Hurrians. The region was famous for exporting raw materials, and areas of Hattian-, one of the numerous cuneiform records dated circa 20th century BC, found in Anatolia at the Assyrian colony of Kanesh, uses an advanced system of trading computations and credit lines. They were speakers of an Indo-European language, the Hittite language, originating from Nesa, they conquered Hattusa in the 18th century BC, imposing themselves over Hattian- and Hurrian-speaking populations. According to the most widely accepted Kurgan theory on the Proto-Indo-European homeland, however, the Hittites adopted the cuneiform script, invented in Mesopotamia
27.
Mithra
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Mithra is the Zoroastrian angelic Divinity of Covenant and Oath. In addition to being the Divinity of Contracts, Mithra is also a figure, an all-seeing Protector of Truth, and the Guardian of Cattle. The Romans attributed their Mithraic mysteries to Persian sources relating to Mithra, since the early 1970s the dominant scholarship has noted dissimilarities, and the mysteries are now considered a distinct Roman product formed, at most, by Roman perceptions of Zoroastrian ideas. Together with the Vedic common noun mitra, the Avestan common noun miθra derives from proto-Indo-Iranian *mitra, from the root mi- to bind, thus, etymologically mitra/miθra means that which causes binding, preserved in the Avestan word for Covenant, Contract, Oath. In Middle Iranian languages, miθra became mihr, from which New Persian مهر mihr, Wanetsi and Wazirwola mērə/myer, as a member of the Iranian ahuric triad, a feature that only Ahura Mazda and Ahura Berezaiti also have, Mithra is an exalted figure. Together with Rashnu Justice and Sraosha Obedience, Mithra is one of the three judges at the Chinvat Bridge, the Bridge of Separation that all Souls must cross, unlike Sraosha, Mithra is not however a Psychopomp, a guide of souls to the place of the dead. Should the Good Thoughts, Words and Deeds outweigh the Bad, as the Divinity of Contract, Mithra is undeceivable, infallible, eternally watchful, and never-resting. Mithra is additionally the protector of cattle, and his epithet is of Wide Pastures. He is Guardian of the waters and ensures that those pastures receive enough of it, the lack of Mithras presence in the texts was once a cause of some consternation amongst Iranists. An often repeated speculation of the first half of the 20th century was that the lack of any mention of Mithra in these texts implied that Zoroaster had rejected Mithra and this ex silentio speculation is no longer followed. The Avestan Hymn to Mithra is the longest, and one of the best preserved, Mithra is described in the Zoroastrian Avesta scriptures as Mithra of Wide Pastures, of the Thousand Ears, and of the Myriad Eyes, the Lofty, and the Everlasting. We sacrifice to Mithra, The Lord of all countries, Whom Ahura Mazda created the most glorious, Of the Supernatural Yazads. So may there come to us for Aid, Both Mithra and Ahura, Mithra is invoked in the inscriptions of two Achaemenid emperors. Boyce suggests that the reason for this was that Artaxerxes had chosen Anahita, Mithra is invoked again in the single known inscription of Artaxerxes III, A3Pa, found at Persepolis. In that inscription, that emperor too appeals to Ahuramazda and the God Mithra preserve me, my country, in the Zoroastrian calendar, the sixteenth day of the month and the seventh month of the year are dedicated to, and under the protection of, Mithra. The day on which the day-name and month-name dedications intersect is dedicated to the divinity of that day/month, in the case of Mithra, this was Jashan-e Mihragan, or just Mihragan in short. In Zoroastrian scripture, Mithra is distinct from the divinity of the Sun, however, in Zoroastrian tradition, Mithra evolved from being an all-seeing figure into a divinity co-identified with the Sun itself, effectively taking over Hvare. khshaetas role. How or when or why this occurred is uncertain, but it is attributed to conflation with Babylonian Shamash and/or Greek Apollo
28.
Kushan Empire
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The Kushan Empire was a syncretic empire, formed by Yuezhi, in the Bactrian territories in the early 1st century. Emperor Kanishka was a patron of Buddhism, however, as Kushans expanded southward. The Kushans were one of five branches of the Yuezhi confederation, the Kushans possibly used the Greek language initially for administrative purposes, but soon began to use Bactrian language. Kanishka sent his armies north of the Karakoram mountains, capturing territories as far as Kashgar, Khotan and Yarkant, in the Tarim Basin of modern-day Xinjiang, China. A direct road from Gandhara to China remained under Kushan control for more than a century, encouraging travel across the Karakoram, the Kushan dynasty had diplomatic contacts with the Roman Empire, Sasanian Persia, Aksumite Empire and Han China. The Kushan empire fragmented into semi-independent kingdoms in the 3rd century AD, in the 4th century, the Guptas, an Indian dynasty also pressed from the east. The last of the Kushan and Sasanian kingdoms were overwhelmed by invaders from the north. Historian H. G. Rawlinson states that the Kushana Period is a prelude to the age of Guptas. Chinese sources describe the Guishuang, i. e, as the historian John E. Hill has put it, For well over a century. There have been arguments about the ethnic and linguistic origins of the Da Yuezhi, Kushans, and the Tochari. The five tribes constituting the Yuezhi are known in Chinese history as Xiūmì, Guìshuāng, Shuāngmǐ, Xìdùn, the Yuezhi reached the Hellenic kingdom of Greco-Bactria around 135 BC. The displaced Greek dynasties resettled to the southeast in areas of the Hindu Kush, some traces remain of the presence of the Kushans in the area of Bactria and Sogdiana. Archaeological structures are known in Takht-I-Sangin, Surkh Kotal, and in the palace of Khalchayan, various sculptures and friezes are known, representing horse-riding archers, and significantly men with artificially deformed skulls, such as the Kushan prince of Khalchayan. The Chinese first referred to people as the Yuezhi and said they established the Kushan Empire. On the ruins of ancient Hellenistic cities such as Ai-Khanoum, the Kushans are known to have built fortresses, the earliest documented ruler, and the first one to proclaim himself as a Kushan ruler, was Heraios. He calls himself a tyrant on his coins, and also exhibits skull deformation and he may have been an ally of the Greeks, and he shared the same style of coinage. Heraios may have been the father of the first Kushan emperor Kujula Kadphises, Ban Gus Book of Han tells us the Kushans divided up Bactria in 128 BC. He invaded Anxi, and took the Gaofu region and he also defeated the whole of the kingdoms of Puda and Jibin
29.
Zoroastrian calendar
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This article treats the reckoning of days, months and years in the calendar used by adherents of the Zoroastrian faith. Zoroastrian religious festivals are discussed elsewhere, but have a relationship to Nawruz. Three distinct versions of the calendar are currently in use by different Zoroastrian communities, english spellings follow this recommended usage. The forerunner of all modern Zoroastrian calendars is the used to reckon dates in the Persian Empire. In 539 BC, Persias rulers conquered Babylon, and soon afterwards – at least by the 4th century BC – adopted the Babylonian luni-solar calendar for civil purposes, the earliest Zoroastrian calendar follows the Babylonian in relating the seventh and other days of the month to Ahura Mazda. This Avestan calendar of 360 days required regular correction to keep it synchronised with the solar year, older research suggests the first intercalation took place in 309 BC. They therefore counted years of the era of Alexander, the Parthians, who succeeded the Seleucids, continued the Seleucid/Hellenic tradition. Mary Boyce has observed that contemporary scholars are divided on whether this 365-day calendar was in fact preceded by a 360-day calendar of Zoroastrian observances. A 365-day calendar, with largely identical to the Egyptian calendar, was introduced shortly after the conquest of Egypt by the Achaemenid ruler Cambyses. The five additional days were inserted after the twelfth month and these five days were named Gatha or Gah days, after the ancient Avesta hymns of the same name. In AD224, when the Babylonian calendar was replaced by the Zoroastrian,1 Frawardin, the older custom of counting regnal years from the monarchs coronation was reinstated. At this point the calendar was realigned with the seasons by delaying the epagemonai by eight months and this caused confusion, since the new year now fell five days earlier than before, and some people continued to observe the old date. After 46 years, with 1 Frawardin now on 19 September, another reform was implemented by Ardashirs grandson Hormazd I. In later years the population had observed the Gatha days, hormazds reform was to link the popular and official observance dates to form continual six-day feasts. Nawruz was an exception, the first and the days of the month were celebrated as different occasions. Lesser Nawruz was observed on 1 Frawardin,6 Frawardin became Greater Nawruz, a day of special festivity. Mary Boyce has argued that sometime between AD399 and AD518 the six-day festivals were compressed to five days, the major feasts, or gahambars, of contemporary Zoroastrian practice, are still kept as five-day observances today. By the reign of Yazdegird III, the celebrations were again somewhat adrift with respect to their proper seasons
30.
Angra Mainyu
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Angra Mainyu is the Avestan-language name of Zoroastrianisms hypostasis of the destructive spirit. The Middle Persian equivalent is Ahriman, Avestan angra mainyu seems to have been an original conception of Zoroasters. In the Gathas, which are the oldest texts of Zoroastrianism and are attributed to the prophet himself, in the one instance in these hymns where the two words appear together, the concept spoken of is that of a mainyu that is angra. In this single instance—in Yasna 45. 2—the more bounteous of the spirits twain declares angra mainyu to be its absolute antithesis, a similar statement occurs in Yasna 30.3, where the antithesis is however aka mainyu, aka being the Avestan language word for evil. Hence, aka mainyu is the spirit or evil mind or evil thought, as contrasted with spenta mainyu, the bounteous spirit with which Ahura Mazda conceived of creation. The aka mainyu epithet recurs in Yasna 32.5, when the principle is identified with the daevas that deceive humankind, in Yasna 32.3, these daevas are identified as the offspring, not of Angra Mainyu, but of akem manah, evil thinking. A few verses earlier it is however the daebaaman, deceiver—not otherwise identified, in Yasna 32.13, the abode of the wicked is not the abode of Angra Mainyu, but the abode of the same worst thinking. One would have expected to reign in hell, since he had created death and how, at the end, Yasna 19.15 recalls that Ahura Mazdas recital of the Ahuna Vairya invocation puts Angra Mainyu in a stupor. In Yasna 9.8, Angra Mainyu creates Aži Dahaka, in Yasht 13, the Fravashis defuse Angra Mainyus plans to dry up the earth, and in Yasht 8.44 Angra Mainyu battles but cannot defeat Tishtrya and so prevent the rains. In Vendidad 19, Angra Mainyu urges Zoroaster to turn from the religion by promising him sovereignty of the world. On being rejected, Angra Mainyu assails the prophet with legions of demons, in Yasht 19.96, a verse that reflects a Gathic injunction, Angra Mainyu will be vanquished and Ahura Mazda will ultimately prevail. In Yasht 19. 46ff, Angra Mainyu and Spenta Mainyu battle for possession of khvaraenah, Yasht 15.43 assigns Angra Mainyu to the nether world, a world of darkness. So also Vendidad 19.47, but other passages in the chapter have him dwelling in the region of the daevas. There, Angra Mainyu is the daevanam daevo, daeva of daevas or chief of the daevas, the superlative daevo. taema is however assigned to the demon Paitisha. In an enumeration of the daevas in Vendidad 1.43, Angra Mainyu appears first, nowhere is Angra Mainyu said to be the creator of the daevas or their father. Zurvanism was a branch of Zoroastrianism that sought to resolve the dilemma of the spirits of Yasna 30.3. The resolution, which developed out of the contact with Chaldea, was to have both Ahura Mazda and Angra Mainyu as twin sons of the First Principle Time. Zurvanism was strongly criticized as a heresy during the Sassanid period of Iranian history, although the monist doctrine is not attested after the 10th century, some Zurvanite features are nonetheless still evident in present-day Zoroastrianism
31.
Jahi
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Jahi is the Avestan language name of Zoroastrianisms demoness of lasciviousness. As a hypostatic entity, Jahi is variously interpreted as hussy, rake, libertine, courtesan and her standard epithet is the Whore. In Zoroastrian tradition, Jahi appears as Middle Persian Jeh, characterized as the consort of Ahriman, in the hymn to Haoma, the devotee rejects the temptations of the polluting whore who sits down devouring Haomas sacrificial offering. In the hymn to Asha, the Holy term is a remedy against Jahi. In the hymn to Ashi, Fortune wails about how shamed she is by Jahis improper actions, in Vendidad 18.62, Jahi is characterized as causing Ahura Mazda the most grief. Her gaze takes the colors away from a third of, Vendidad 21.1 contains an oblique reference to Jahis cosmological role as the killer of Gav-aevo. data, the primordial creature from whose seed all animal creation originates. Ohrmazd, being omniscient, knows of the inevitability of the attack and creates fire with his thought, upon being attacked, Ohrmazd recites the Ahunawar invocation, thus revealing His ultimate victory to Ahriman, who then falls back confounded for another 3000 years. Incited, Ahriman defiles her with a kiss, and from this act Jeh is thenceforth afflicted with menstruation, in Zadspram 34.31, Jeh is appointed by Ahriman for the defilement of females, and it is this defilement that causes women to have their menses. In Shayest-ne-Shayest 3.29, Jehs gaze is said to be enough to kill
32.
Yazata
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Yazata is the Avestan language word for a Zoroastrian concept with a wide range of meanings but generally signifying a divinity. The yazatas collectively are the powers under Ohrmuzd, who is the greatest of the yazatas. Yazata is an Avestan language passive adjectival participle derived from yaz-, to worship, to honor, the word yasna – worship, sacrifice, oblation, prayer – comes from the same root. A yaza+ ta is accordingly a being worthy of worship, an object of worship or a holy being, as the stem form, yazata- has the inflected nominative forms yazatō, pl. yazatåŋhō. These forms reflect Proto-Iranian *yazatah and pl. *yazatāhah, in Middle Persian the term became yazad or yazd, pl. yazdān, continuing in New Persian as izad. The term yazata is used in the Gathas, the oldest texts of Zoroastrianism. In these hymns, yazata is used as a generic, applied to Ahura Mazda as well as to the divine sparks, that in later tradition are the Amesha Spentas. In the Gathas, the yazatas are effectively what the daevas are not, that is, in the Younger Avesta, the yazatas are unambiguously divine, with divine powers but performing mundane tasks such as serving as charioteers for other yazatas. Several yazatas are given anthropomorphic attributes, such as cradling a mace or bearing a crown upon their heads, relatively certain however is that the day-name dedications predate the Avestas Siroza, which contain explicit references to the yazatas as protectors/guardians of their respective days of the month. The 9th–12th century texts of Zoroastrian tradition observe the yazatas in much the way as the hymns of the Younger Avesta. In addition, in roles that are alluded to in scripture. For instance, Aredvi Sura Anahita is both a divinity of the waters as well as a rushing river that encircles the earth. The blockage is removed by Verethragna, and Tishtrya gathers up the waters, in stories with eschatological significance, Sraosha, Mithra, and Rashnu are guardians of the Chinvat bridge, the bridge of the separator, across which all souls must pass. The Amesha Spentas in turn had hamkars assistants or cooperators, each a caretaker of one facet of creation, in both tradition and scripture, the terms Amesha Spenta and yazata are sometimes used interchangeably. In general, however, Amesha Spenta signifies the six divine sparks. In tradition, yazata is the first of the 101 epithets of Ahura Mazda, the word also came to be applied to Zoroaster, but Zoroastrians to this day remain sharply critical of any attempts to deify the prophet. In the 1860s and 1870s, the linguist Martin Haug interpreted Zoroastrian scripture in Christian terms, in this scheme, the Amesha Spentas are the arch-angel retinue of Ahura Mazda, with the hamkars as the supporting host of lesser angels. At the time, Zoroastrianism lacked theologians of its own, in this situation, Haugs counter-interpretation came as a welcome relief, and was gratefully accepted as legitimate
33.
Vohu Manah
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Manah is cognate with the Sanskrit word Manas suggesting some commonality between the ideas of the Gathas and those of the rig veda. The opposite of Vohu Manah is Aka Manah, evil purpose, in the post-Gathic texts that expound the principles of Zoroastrian cosmogony, Vohu Manah is an Amesha Spenta, one of six divine sparks of Ahura Mazda that each represent one facet of creation. In the case of Vohu Manah, this is all animal creation, Vohu Manah is of neutral gender in Avestan grammar but in Zoroastrian tradition is considered masculine. In the Zoroastrian calendar, the day of each month as well as the eleventh month of each year are dedicated to Vohu Manah. In the Iranian civil calendar, which inherits the names of the months from the Zoroastrian calendar, the Achaemenid emperor Artaxerxes II had Vohu Manah as the second part of his throne name, which when translated into Greek appeared as Mnemon. New Persian Bahman remains a theophoric in present-day Iranian and Zoroastrian tradition, Amesha Spentas, the archangels of Zoroastrianism
34.
Men (deity)
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Mēn was a lunar god worshipped in the western interior parts of Anatolia. He is attested in various localised variants, such as Mēn Askaenos in Antioch in Pisidia, Mēn is often found in association with Persianate elements, especially with the goddess Anahita. The god is shown with the horns of a crescent emerging from behind his shoulders. Strabo describes Mēn as a god of the Phrygians. Mēn may be incluenced by the Zoroastrian lunar divinity Mah, in the Kingdom of Pontus, there was a temple estate dedicated to Mēn Pharnakou and Selene at Ameria, near Cabira. The temple was established by Pharnakes I in the 2nd century BC. The cult of Mēn Pharnakou in Pontus has been traced to the appearance of the star, autochthonous Mēn as attested in Anatolia is to be distinguished from his reception as a Phrygian god in Rome during the imperial period. Here, Mēn is depicted with a Phrygian cap and a belted tunic and he may be accompanied by bulls and lions in religious artwork. The Roman iconography of Mēn partly recalls that of Mithras, who wears a Phrygian cap and is commonly depicted with a bull and symbols of the sun. The Augustan History has the Roman emperor Caracalla venerate Lunus at Carrhae, david Magie suggests that Caracalla had actually visited the temple of Sin, the Mesopotamian Moon god. In later times, Mēn may also have been identified with both Attis of Phrygia and Sabazius of Thrace, Mah Ma Máni Guy Labarre, Les origines et la diffusion du culte de Men, in Bru, Hadrien, François Kirbihler and Stéphane Lebreton. L’Asie mineure dans l’Antiquité, Échanges, populations et territoires, 389-414, oliver Robert Gurney, Anatolian Religion, The Phrygians
35.
Asha
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Asha is the Avestan language term for a concept of cardinal importance to Zoroastrian theology and doctrine. In the moral sphere, aša/arta represents what has called the decisive confessional concept of Zoroastrianism. The opposite of Avestan aša is druj, lie, the significance of the term is complex, with a highly nuanced range of meaning. It is commonly summarized in accord with its implications of truth and right, order. For other connotations, see meaning below and its Old Persian equivalent is arta-. In Middle Iranian languages the term appears as ard-, the word is also the proper name of the divinity Asha, the Amesha Spenta that is the hypostasis or genius of Truth or Righteousness. In the Younger Avesta, this figure is commonly referred to as Asha Vahishta. The Middle Persian descendant is Ashawahist or Ardwahisht, New Persian Ardibehesht or Ordibehesht, in the Gathas, the oldest texts of Zoroastrianism and thought to have been composed by the prophet himself, it is seldom possible to distinguish between moral principle and the divinity. Later texts consistently use the Best epithet when speaking of the Amesha Spenta, Avestan aša and its Vedic equivalent ṛtá both derive from Proto-Indo-Iranian *ṛtá- truth, which in turn continues Proto-Indo-European *h2r-to- properly joined, right, true, from the root *h2ar. The word is attested in Old Persian as arta and it is unclear whether the Avestan variation between aša and arta is merely orthographical. Benveniste suggested š was only a convenient way of writing rt, Avestan druj, like its Vedic Sanskrit cousin druh, appears to derive from the PIE root *dhreugh, also continued in Persian دروغ / drūġ lie, German Trug fraud, deception. Old Norse draugr and Middle Irish airddrach mean spectre, spook, the Sanskrit cognate druh means affliction, afflicting demon. Aša cannot be rendered by some single word in another tongue but may be summarized as follows, It is, first of all. This true statement, because it is true, corresponds to an objective, recognized in it is a great cosmic principle since all things happen according to it. This cosmic force is imbued also with morality, as verbal Truth, la parole conforme, the correspondence between truth, reality and an all-encompassing cosmic principle is not far removed from Heraclitus conception of Logos. Both Avestan aša/arta and Vedic ŗtá- are commonly translated as truth as this best reflects both the meaning of the term as well as the opposition to their respective antonyms. The opposite of Avestan aša/arta is druj-, lie, similarly, the opposites of Vedic ṛtá- are ánṛta- and druh, likewise lie. That truth is also what was understood by the term as attested in Greek myth of, Isis and Osiris 47, Plutarch calls the divinity Αλήθεια Aletheia
36.
Kshathra Vairya
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Significantly more common than the non-specific meaning of Amesha Spenta is a restrictive use of the term to refer to the great six divine sparks of Ahura Mazda. In Zoroastrian tradition, these are the first six emanations of the noncreated Creator, the expression Amesha Spenta does not occur in the Gathas, but it was probably coined by Zoroaster himself. Spenta is a word of his revelation, meaning furthering, strengthening, bounteous. The oldest attested use of the term is in Yasna 39.3, like all other verses of the Yasna Haptanghaiti, Yasna 39.3 is also in Gathic Avestan and is approximately as old as the hymns attributed to Zoroaster himself. The divine sparks that appear in the Gathic Yasna 47, if they appear at all, they do not necessarily appear immediately adjacent to the noun. But in later tradition, these adjectives are integral to the names themselves, while Vohu Manah, Aša Vahišta, and Xšaθra Vairya are consistently of neuter gender in Avestan grammar, in tradition they are considered masculine. Armaiti, Haurvatāt, and Amərətāt are invariably feminine, in the Gathas, each Amesha Spenta represents a good moral quality that mortals should strive to obtain. Thus, the doctrine of the six is that through good thoughts, words. Not evident in the Gathas and first appearing in the Younger Avesta are the oppositions of haurvatāt- wholeness to taršna- thirst and these latter assignments reflect Haurvatats identification with water and Ameretats identification with plants. In the Gathas, aša/arta is the most evident of the six, in the 238 verses of these hymns, aša-/arta- appears 157 times. Of the other concepts, only vohumanah- appears nearly as often, in comparison, the remaining four of the great sextet appear only 121 times altogether, xšaθra-,56 times, armaiti-,40, amərətāt-,14, haurvatāt-,11 times. In the context of Zoroastrian view of creation, the group of the Amesha Spenta is extended to include Ahura Mazda, however, in most scholastic texts, an unqualified referral to the Amesha Spenta is usually understood to include only great six. In Yasna 44.7,31.3, and 51.7 and it is also through this Bounteous Force, Creative Emanation, or Holy Spirit that Ahura Mazda is immanent in humankind, and how the Creator interacts with the world. The doctrine also has a dimension, in that each of the heptad is linked to one of the seven creations. These physical associations are only alluded to in the Gathas>, a systematic association is only present in later middle Persian texts, where each of the seven is listed with its special domain, Ahura Mazda → Middle Persian Ohrmazd is the highest spirit. This anomaly is explained in modern scholarship by the fact that, in Stone Age cosmogony, the sky was considered to be the first of the creations and this is also reflected in Zoroasters revelation, where the sky is of the hardest stone. Later, with the event of bronze and then iron tools, this sky evolved to being of crystal, in due course, Xšaθras association with a stony firmament was eclipsed by the association with a metallic sky, and thence to metals in general. In non-specific usage, the term Amesha Spenta denotes all the divinities that furthered or strengthened creation and all that are bounteous and it not only includes the ahuras, but also all the other divinities that are alluded to in these texts
37.
Spenta Armaiti
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In Zoroastrianism, Spənta Ārmaiti is one of the Amesha Spentas, the six divine sparks. While older sources present the Amesha Spentas more as abstract entities, in later sources, in the Armenian mythology, her name appears as Sandaramet. In the Zoroastrian calendar, she is associated with the twelfth month, the fifth day of the twelfth month is hence her holy day, Sepandārmazgān
38.
Ameretat
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Ameretat is the Avestan language name of the Zoroastrian divinity/divine concept of immortality. Ameretat is the Amesha Spenta of long life on earth and perpetuality in the hereafter, the word amərətāt is grammatically feminine and the divinity Ameretat is a female entity. Etymologically, Avestan amərətāt derives from an Indo-Iranian root and is related to Vedic Sanskrit amṛtatva. In Sassanid Era Zoroastrian tradition, Ameretat appears as Middle Persian Amurdad, like the other Amesha Spentas also, Ameretat is already attested in the Gathas, the oldest texts of the Zoroastrianism and considered to have been composed by Zoroaster himself. And like most other principles, Ameretat is not unambiguously an entity in those hymns, unlike four of the other Amesha Spentas, Ameretat does not have a standing epithet that in later Avesta texts becomes an element of her proper name. Already in the Gathas, Ameretat is closely allied with Haurvatat, addressing Ahura Mazda in Yasna 34.11, the prophet Zoroaster exclaims that both Wholeness and Immortality are for sustenance in the Kingdom of God. In the same verse, as also in Yasna 45.10 and 51.7, the relationship between Ameretat and Haurvatat is carried forward into the Younger Avesta. The Younger Avestan texts allude to their respective guardianships of plant life and water and these associations with also reflect the Zoroastrian cosmological model in which each of the Amesha Spentas is identified with one aspect of creation. The antithetical counterpart of Ameretat is the demon Shud hunger, while Haurvatats counterpart is Tarshna thirst, Ameretat and Haurvatat are the only two Amesha Spentas who are not already assigned an antithetical counterpart in the Gathas. In the eschatological framework of Yasht 1.25, Ameretat and Haurvatat represent the reward of the righteous after death, throughout Zoroastrian scripture and tradition, these three principles are most consistently identified with the creations that they represent, respectively plant life, water, and earth. According to the legends of the Bundahishn, when Angra Mainyu withered the primordial plant, Ameretat crushed it to pulp. Tishtrya then took the water and spread it over the world as rain, in the calendrical dedication of Siroza 1.7, Ameretat is invoked on the seventh day of each month together with the Gaokarena. This Younger Avestan allusion to immortality is properly developed in Bundahishn 27.2, from this White Hom, the ambrosia of immortality will be prepared at the final renovation of the world. Other chapters have the nectar being created from Ameretat herself, according to the Denkards recollection of lost Avestan texts, Zoroasters tan-gohr, his material self, was under the protection of Ameretat and Haurvatat up until the prophets conception. The divinities caused the rains to nourish the grass, which six white cows then ate, upon drinking the milk from those cows, Zoroasters mother absorbed his tan-gohr. In Book of Arda Viraz 23. 6-8, the righteous Viraz sees a man punished in hell for consuming Hordad and Amurdad while unlawfully chattering while he chewed, in the hierarchy of yazatas, Ameretat has Rashnu, Arshtat, and Zam as assistants or cooperators. Rashnu and Arshtat both have roles in Zoroastrian eschatology while Zam is the divinity of the earth and nourisher of plants. In the day-name and month-name dedications of the Zoroastrian calendar, the day of the month and fifth month of the year are named after Ameretat/Amurdad/Mordad and are under her protection
39.
Atar
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Atar is the Zoroastrian concept of holy fire, sometimes described in abstract terms as burning and unburning fire or visible and invisible fire. It is considered to be the presence of Ahura Mazda. The rituals for purifying a fire are performed 1,128 times a year, in the Avestan language, ātar is an attribute of sources of heat and light, of which the nominative singular form is ātarš, source of Persian ātaš. It was once thought to be related to the Avestan āθrauuan / aθaurun, a type of priest. The ultimate etymology of ātar, previously unknown, is now believed to be from the Indo-European *hxehxtr- fire and this would make it related to the Latin ater and possibly a cognate of the Slavic vatra. In later Zoroastrianism, ātar is iconographically conflated with fire itself, Atar is already evident in the Gathas, the oldest texts of the compendium of the Avesta and believed to have been composed by Zoroaster himself. In the most ancient texts, atar is a medium, a faculty, through which judgement is passed, so, for example, justice is administered through atar, the blazing atar, through the heat of atar, through the blazing, shining, molten metal. An individual who has passed the fiery test, has attained physical and spiritual strength, wisdom, truth, however, among all the references to atar in the oldest texts, it is only once addressed independently of Ahura Mazda. In this exception, atar is spoken of in the third person masculine singular, altogether, there are said to have been some 30 kinds of fiery tests in all. Within this framework of the concept of divine illumination, atar radiates the other lights, there, identification in the realms of matter and of spirit serves only to bring more into prominence the main tenets of Zoroasters teachings in regard to Asha. A vestige of the ancient institution of ordeal by heat is present in Vendidad 4. Seen chronologically, the transition from atar as a vehicle of judgement to Atar Yazata the divinity presiding over blazing fire is abrupt, Asha Vahishtas association with atar is however carried forward, and they are often mentioned together. In Yasna 17.11, Atar is master of the house, Atar vohu-fryana, the atar of good affection, later qualified as the fire diffusing goodness, and the fire that consumes both water and food. Atar urvazishta, the atar of greatest bliss, later qualified as the fire of life. Atar vazishta, the atar most swift, later qualified as the fire in clouds, i. e. lightning, Atar spenishta, the atar most holy, ( described in Zend texts as the fire of prosperity and as the spiritual fire burning before Ohrmuzd. The description of the fires in the Sassanid era commentaries differs slightly from those described in the Bundahishn, in the latter, the description of the first and last kind of fire is reversed. During the late Achaemenid era, adar—as the quintessence of the Yazata Adar—was incorporated in the Zoroastrian hierarchy of angels, in that position, Adar is a helper of Asha Vahishta, the Amesha Spenta responsible for the luminaries. From among the associated with the Zoroastrian angels, Adars is the marigold
40.
Aban
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Apas is the Avestan language term for the waters, which, in its innumerable aggregate states, is represented by the Apas, the hypostases of the waters. To this day reverence for water is deeply ingrained in Zoroastrians, the ape zaothra ceremony—the culminating rite of the Yasna service —is literally for the strengthening of the waters. Avestan apas is grammatically feminine, and the Apas are female, the Middle Persian equivalents are ābān/Ābān, from which Parsi Gujarati āvā/Āvā derive. The Avestan common noun āpas corresponds exactly to Vedic Sanskrit āpas, in both Avestan and Vedic Sanskrit texts, the waters—whether as waves or drops, or collectively as streams, pools, rivers or wells—are represented by the Apas, the group of divinities of the waters. The identification of divinity with element is complete in both cultures, in the RigVeda the divinities are wholesome to drink, in the Avesta the divinities are good to bathe in, as also in the Indian religious texts, the waters are considered a primordial element. In Zoroastrian cosmogony, the waters are the creation, after that of the sky. Aside from Apas herself/themselves, no less than seven Zoroastrian divinities are identified with the waters, abans, a crater on Ariel, one of the moons of Uranus, is named after aban. Although not otherwise named, Boyce associates this Ahura with Apam Napat, in Yasna 38, which is dedicated to the earth and the sacred waters, apas/Apas is not only necessary for nourishment, but is considered the source of life. In Yasna 2.5 and 6.11, apas/Apas is Mazda-made, the merger of the two concepts probably came about due to prominence given to Aredvi Sura during the reign of Artaxerxes II and subsequent Achaemenid emperors. In other Avesta texts, the waters are implicitly associated with Armaiti, in Yasna 3.1, the eminence of Aban is reinforced by additionally assigning guardianship to another Amesha Spenta Haurvatat. According to the Bundahishn, aban was the second of the seven creations of the material universe, in a development of a cosmogonical view already alluded to in the Vendidad, aban is the essence of a great gathering place of the waters upon which the world ultimately rested. The great sea was fed by a mighty river, two rivers, one to the east and one to the west, flowed out of it and encircled the earth where they were then cleansed by Puitika, the tidal sea, before flowing back into the Vourukasha. In the Zoroastrian calendar, the day of the month is dedicated to the waters. Additionally, Aban is also the name of the month of the year of the Zoroastrian calendar, as well as that of the Iranian calendar of 1925. It might be the precursor of the month of Shaaban in the Hijri calendar. The celebration is accompanied by a practice of offering sweets and flowers to a river or the sea, from among the flowers associated with the yazatas, abans is the water-lily. New York, Mazda Pub. p.58, asiatica, Festschrift Friedrich Weller Zum 65. Persian art, Parthian and Sassanian dynasties, Aban Yasht, as translated by James Darmesteter inMüller, Friedrich Max
41.
Hvare-khshaeta
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Hvare. khshaeta is the Avestan language name of the Zoroastrian divinity of the Radiant Sun. Avestan Hvare khshaeta is a compound in which hvar Sun has khshaeta radiant as a stock epithet, Avestan hvar derives from the Indo-Iranian root *svar to shine, from which Vedic Sanskrit Surya — again Sun — also derives. In Middle Persian, Hvare khshaeta was contracted to Khwarshēd, continuing in New Persian as Khurshēd/Khorshīd, the short seven-verse 6th Yasht is dedicated to Hvare-khshaeta, as is also the Avestas litany to the Sun. The 11th day of the Zoroastrian calendar is dedicated to and is under the protection of Hvare-khshaeta, however, this is not without criticism, as the etymological connection between both gods has been called into question
42.
Tishtrya
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Tishtrya or Roozahang is the Avestan language name of a Zoroastrian benevolent divinity associated with life-bringing rainfall and fertility. Tishtrya is Tir in Middle- and Modern Persian, as has been judged from the archaic context in which Tishtrya appears in the texts of the Avesta, the divinity/concept is almost certainly of Indo-Iranian origin. In a hymn of the Avesta, Tishtrya is involved in a struggle against the drought-bringing demon Apaosha. According to the myth, in the form of a white horse the god did battle with the demon who. Apaosa soon gained the hand over Tishtrya, who was weakened from the lack of sufficient prayers. The yazata proceeded to call upon the Creator Ahura Mazda, who then intervened by offering a sacrifice to the overwhelmed god. Infused with the power brought by this sacrifice, Tishtrya was able to overcome Apaosa and this story serves to underscore the importance of votive offerings and sacrifice in religious tradition. In the Zoroastrian religious calendar, the 13th day of the month and the 4th month of the year are dedicated to Tishtrya/Tir, in the Iranian civil calendar, which inherits its month names from the Zoroastrian calendar, the 4th month is likewise named Tir. During the Achaemenid period, Tishtrya was conflated with Semitic Nabu-*Tiri, the Tiregan festival, previously associated with *Tiri, was likewise transferred to Tishtrya. During the Hellenic period, Tishtrya came to be associated with Pythian Apollo, patron of Delphi, the other names of Tishtrya in Persian is Roozahang, Shabahang and Varahang. Roozahang or Tishtrya is the God of Rainfall and it is a white, bright and afar star, bright and afar and its nature is water. A History of Zoroastrianism, Vol. I, a History of Zoroastrianism, Vol. II. Hinnells, John R. Library of the Worlds Myths and Legends, Persian Mythology
43.
Sraosha
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‹See Tfd› Sraosha is the Avestan name of the Zoroastrian yazata of Obedience or Observance, which is also the literal meaning of his name. In the Middle Persian commentaries of the 9th-12th centuries, the divinity appears as Srosh and this form appears in many variants in New Persian as well, for example سروش, Sorūsh. Unlike many of the other Yazatas, Sraosha is already attested in the Gathas, the oldest texts of Zoroastrianism and believed to have been composed by Zoroaster himself. In these earliest texts, Sraosha is routinely associated with the Amesha Spentas, in the Gathas, Sraoshas primary function is to propagate the religion of Ahura Mazda to humanity, as Sraosha himself learned it from Ahura Mazda. This is only alluded to in these old verses but is only properly developed in later texts. In the ethical goals of Zoroastrianism as expressed in Yasna 33.14 and this changes in Zoroastrian tradition, where Sraosha is identified with good words. In Yasna 33.5, the poet speaks of Sraosha as the greatest of all at the renovation of the world. In 50. 4-5, the sees the path of Sraosha as In 43.46. In 44.16, Sraosha and Vohu Manah are said to be brought to all humankind, Sraosha has two yashts dedicated to him. One of these is Yasna 56-57, which is part of the primary Zoroastrian act of adoration, Yasna 56-57 is a hidden yasht in that those verses describe a devotees relationship with Sraosha but do not directly address him. The other hymn to the divinity is Yasht 11, which is an invocation of Sraosha. Yasht 11 - like the other direct Yashts also - is not part of the liturgy of the Avesta proper, Yasht 11 has survived in a fragment of the Hadhokht Nask, which is today part of the Khordeh Avesta, the little Avesta. In Yasna 56-57, Sraosha is variously described as mighty, the word of reason. Sraosha possesses Truth and is stately and he is said to have been the first in all of creation to adore Ahura Mazda and the Amesha Spentas. He recited five holy verses in order to favor the great sextet, and he returned victorious from his battles with evil, which allowed the various aspects of creation to populate the world. Sraosha wanders about the teaching the religion of Mazda. Sraosha is frequently described as the lord of ritual and he propitiates haoma with sacrifice, in Yasht 11, mankind lives under Sraoshas constant guardianship. He is not interrupted by sleep in his constant vigil in which he wields his weapons against the druj, Sraosha teaches the word of Ahura Mazda to mankind
