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138-657: Anahita / ɑː n ə ˈ h iː t ə / is the Old Persian form of the name of an Iranian goddess and appears in complete and earlier form as Aradvi Sura Anahita ( Arədvī Sūrā Anāhitā ), the Avestan name of an Indo-Iranian cosmological figure venerated as the divinity of "the Waters" ( Aban ) and hence associated with fertility, healing and wisdom. There is also a temple named Anahita in Iran. Aredvi Sura Anahita

276-415: A citramekhala (also called mayura , peacock ) is shown beside the goddess. The peacock symbolizes colorful splendor, the celebration of dance, and – as the devourer of snakes – the alchemical ability to transmute the serpent poison of self into the radiant plumage of enlightenment . Many different avatars and forms of Sarasvati have been attested in scriptures. She is venerated as MahaSarasvati in

414-468: A pustaka (book or script), a mālā (rosary, garland), a water pot and a musical instrument ( vīnā ). The book she holds symbolizes the Vedas representing the universal, divine, eternal, and true knowledge as well as all forms of learning. A mālā of crystals, representing the power of meditation, inner reflection, and spirituality. A pot of water represents the purifying power to separate right from wrong,

552-421: A "pre-Middle Persian," or "post-Old Persian." Old Persian subsequently evolved into Middle Persian , which is in turn the ancestor of New Persian . Professor Gilbert Lazard , a famous Iranologist and the author of the book Persian Grammar , states: The language known as New Persian, which usually is called at this period (early Islamic times) by the name of Parsi-Dari, can be classified linguistically as

690-586: A connection with Anahita, remains of a 2nd-century BCE Hellenic-style edifice at Kangavar continue to be a popular tourist attraction. Isidore also records another "royal place, a temple of Artemis, founded by Darius " at Basileia (Apadana), on the royal highway along the left bank of the Euphrates . During the Hellenistic Parthian period, Susa had its "Dianae templum augustissimum" far from Elymais where another temple, known to Strabo as

828-617: A continuation of Middle Persian, the official religious and literary language of Sassanian Iran, itself a continuation of Old Persian, the language of the Achaemenids. Unlike the other languages and dialects, ancient and modern, of the Iranian group such as Avestan , Parthian , Soghdian , Kurdish , Pashto , etc., Old, Middle and New Persian represent one and the same language at three states of its history. It had its origin in Fars and

966-572: A cow and a mother, and saw themselves as children sucking the milk of dhī from her. In Book 10 of the Rigveda , she is declared to be the "possessor of knowledge". In later sources, like the Yajur Veda , Sarasvati is directly identified with Vāc, becoming a deity called Sarasvatī-Vāc. In the Brahmanas , Sarasvati-Vac's role expands, becoming clearly identified with knowledge (which is what

1104-527: A cult of Leucothea , which Wesendonck and others have identified as an analogue of Anahita. The cult of Anahita may have also influenced Ainina and Danina , a paired deities of the Caucasian Iberians mentioned by the medieval Georgian chronicles. As a divinity Aredvi Sura Anahita is of enormous significance to the Zoroastrian religion, for as a representative of Aban ("the waters"), she

1242-534: A divinity of war and of the planet Venus or "Zohreh" in Arabic . It was moreover the association with the planet Venus, "it seems, which led Herodotus to record that the [ Persis ] learnt 'to sacrifice to "the heavenly goddess"' from the Assyrians and Arabians." There are sources who based their theory on this aspect. For instance, it was proposed that the ancient Persians worshiped the planet Venus as * Anahiti ,

1380-572: A feature of hers. She is called the mother of the Vedas in the Shanti Parva Book of the epic. Her beauty is also widely commented on by numerous passages and in one passage, the goddess herself states that her knowledge and her beauty arise from gifts made in the sacrifice. The Mahabharata also describes her as the daughter of the creator god Brahma. Later she is described as the celestial creative symphony who appeared when Brahma created

1518-532: A few changes in the shape of characters during the period it was used. This can be seen as a standardization of the heights of wedges, which in the beginning (i.e. in DB ) took only half the height of a line. The following phonemes are expressed in the Old Persian script: Notes: Lycian 𐊋𐊆𐊈𐊈𐊀𐊓𐊕𐊑𐊏𐊀 Kizzaprñna ~ 𐊈𐊆𐊖𐊀𐊓𐊕𐊑𐊏𐊀 Zisaprñna for (genuine) Old Persian *Ciçafarnā (besides

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1656-561: A flower or fruit or bird or child are identified as images of Anahita. Additionally, "it has been suggested that the colonnaded or serrated crowns [depicted] on Sasanian coins belong to Anahid." The cult flourished in Lydia even as late as the end of the Hellenistic period and early Parthian Empire , well into the lifetime of Jesus . The Lydians had temples to the divinity at Sardis , Philadelphia , Hierocaesarea , Hypaipa (where she

1794-502: A furious tirade against Ganga, accusing her of stealing Vishnu's love away from her. When Ganga appealed to her husband to help her, he opted to remain neutral, not wishing to participate in a quarrel between his three wives, whom he loved equally. When Lakshmi attempted to soothe Sarasvati's anger by reasoning with her, the jealous goddess grew angry with her as well, accusing her of disloyalty towards her. She cursed Lakshmi to be born as

1932-454: A golden embroidered robe, wearing a golden crown, necklace and earrings, golden breast-ornament, and gold-laced ankle-boots (5.123, 5.126-8). Aredvi Sura Anahita is bountiful to those who please her, stern to those who do not, and she resides in 'stately places' (5.101). The concept of Aredvi Sura Anahita is to a degree blurred with that of Ashi , the Gathic figure of Good Fortune, and many of

2070-442: A metaphor for the pursuit of wisdom amidst the complexities of life, the ability to discriminate between good and evil, truth from untruth, essence from the outward show, and the eternal from the evanescent. Due to her association with the swan, Sarasvati is also referred to as Hamsavāhini , which means "she who has a hamsa as her vehicle". The swan is also a symbolism for spiritual perfection, transcendence and moksha . Sometimes

2208-660: A river on earth, and that another would later become the spouse of Brahma. In the Rigveda , Sarasvati is primarily depicted as a river goddess, embodying fertility and purity, and is revered as the personification of the Sarasvati River. Her role as the nurturing, life-giving force of the river is celebrated in hymns, where she is described as "the best of mothers, of rivers, and of goddesses." A Rigvedic prayer also describes her as 'the best of mothers, of rivers and of goddesses'. However, as Sarasvati’s association with knowledge, speech, and culture grew in prominence through

2346-515: A sculptured figure of myself I made. Also, the analysis of certain Old Persian inscriptions are "supposed or claimed" to predate Darius the Great. Although it is true that the oldest attested Old Persian inscriptions are found on the Behistun monument from Darius, the creation of this "new type of writing" seems, according to Schmitt, "to have begun already under Cyrus the Great ". The script shows

2484-641: A section dealing with the creation of the stars and planets (5.4), the Bundahishn speaks of 'Anahid i Abaxtari', that is, the planet Venus. In yet other chapters, the text equates the two, as in "Ardwisur who is Anahid, the father and mother of the Waters " (3.17). 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

2622-473: A sheltering tree in Rigveda 7.95.5, while in 6:49:7 cd she is said to provide "protection which is difficult to assail." In some passages she even takes a fiercesome appearance and is called a "slayer of strangers" who is called on to "guard her devotees against slander". Her association with the combative storm gods called Maruts is related to her fierce fighting aspect and they are said to be her companions (at Rigveda 7:96:2c.). Like Indra, Sarasvati

2760-458: A similar way. Voices Active, Middle (them. pres. -aiy- , -ataiy- ), Passive ( -ya- ). Mostly the forms of first and third persons are attested. The only preserved Dual form is ajīva tam 'both lived'. Saraswati Saraswati ( Sanskrit : सरस्वती , IAST : Sarasvatī ), also spelled as Sarasvati , is one of the principal goddesses in Hinduism , revered as

2898-412: A somewhat confusing and inconsistent look: 'horse,' for instance, is [attested in Old Persian as] both asa (OPers.) and aspa (Med.)." Old Persian texts were written from left to right in the syllabic Old Persian cuneiform script and had 36 phonetic characters and 8 logograms . The usage of logograms is not obligatory. The script was surprisingly not a result of evolution of the script used in

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3036-476: A spiritual concept of a goddess that embodies knowledge, arts, music, melody, muse, language, rhetoric, eloquence, creative work and anything whose flow purifies the essence and self of a person. Sarasvati (Sanskrit: Sarasvatī ) is known by many names. Some examples of synonyms for Sarasvati include Sharada (bestower of essence or knowledge), Brahmani (power of Brahma), Brahmi (goddess of sciences), Bharadi (goddess of history), Vani and Vachi (both referring to

3174-657: A unique and distinctly human quality. She becomes linked with the dimension of reality characterized by clarity and intellectual order. Within the goddess oriented Shaktism tradition, Sarasvati is a key figure and venerated as the creative aspect of the Supreme Goddess . She is also significant in certain Vaishnava traditions, where she serves as one of Vishnu 's consorts and assists him in his divine functions. Despite her associations with these male deities, Sarasvati equally stands apart as an independent goddess in

3312-418: A western Iranian origin of Anāhīta . (see borrowing from Babylonia , below). Anahita also shares characteristics with Mat Syra Zemlya (Damp Mother Earth) of Slavic mythology . At some point prior to the 4th century BCE, this yazata was conflated with (an analogue of) Semitic Ištar , likewise a divinity of "maiden" fertility and from whom Aredvi Sura Anahita then inherited additional features of

3450-642: Is Ardwisur Anahid (اردویسور آناهید) in Middle and Modern Persian , and Anahit in Armenian . An iconic shrine cult of Aredvi Sura Anahita was, together with other shrine cults, "introduced apparently in the 4th century BCE and lasted until it was suppressed in the wake of an iconoclastic movement under the Sasanids ." The symbol of goddess Anahita is the Lotus flower . Lotus Festival (Persian: Jashn-e Nilupar)

3588-496: Is a direct descendant of Middle and Old Persian. Old Persian "presumably" has a Median language substrate . The Median element is readily identifiable because it did not share in the developments that were peculiar to Old Persian. Median forms "are found only in personal or geographical names [...] and some are typically from religious vocabulary and so could in principle also be influenced by Avestan ." "Sometimes, both Median and Old Persian forms are found, which gave Old Persian

3726-733: Is a key figure in the Indian goddess centered traditions which are today known as Shaktism . Sarasvati appears in the Puranic Devi Mahatmya ( Glory of the Goddess ), a central text for Shaktism which was appended to the Markandeya Purana during the 6th century CE. In this text, she is part of the "triple goddess" ( Tridevi ) along with Mahakali , and Mahalakshmi . In Shaktism, this trinity (the Shakta response to

3864-521: Is also called a slayer of Vritra , the snake like demon of drought who blocks rivers and as such is associated with destruction of enemies and removal of obstacles. The Yajur Veda sees her as being both the mother of Indra (having granted him rebirth through healing) and also as his consort. The Yajur Veda also contains a popular alternative version of the Gayatri Mantra focused on Sarasvati: Om. May we know Sarasvati. May we meditate on

4002-431: Is also said to be a manifestation of the supreme Mahadevi. In Tantric Shakta sources, Sarasvati takes many forms. A key tantric form is Matangi , a deity considered to be the "Tantric Sarasvati". Mātaṅgī retains many attributes of Sarasvati, like music and learning, but is also associated with defeating enemies, disease, pollution/impurity, and outcasts ( chandalas ). She is often offered half eaten or leftover food and

4140-427: Is an Iranian festival that is held on the end of the first week of July. Holding this festival at this time was probably based on the blooming of lotus flowers at the beginning of summer. 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. Based on

4278-404: Is associated with fertility, purifying the seed of men (5.1), purifying the wombs of women (5.1), encouraging the flow of milk for newborns (5.2). As a river divinity, she is responsible for the fertility of the soil and for the growth of crops that nurture both man and beast (5.3). She is a beautiful, strong maiden, wearing beaver skins (5.3,7,20,129). The association between water and wisdom that

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4416-556: Is associated with wealth, abundance, health, purity and healing. In Book 10 (10.17) of the Rigveda , Sarasvati is celebrated as a deity of healing and purifying water. In the Atharva Veda , her role as a healer and giver of life is also emphasized. In various sources, including the Yajur Veda , she is described as having healed Indra after he drank too much Soma . Sarasvati also governs dhī (Rigveda 1:3:12c.). Dhī

4554-584: 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, "the Lofty", one of the daughter-peaks of Hara Berezaiti. On the summit of that mountain is Lake Urvis, "the Turmoil", into which

4692-463: Is common to many ancient cultures is also evident in the Aban Yasht , for here Aredvi Sura is the divinity to whom priests and pupils should pray for insight and knowledge (5.86). In verse 5.120 she is seen to ride a chariot drawn by four horses named "wind", "rain", "clouds" and "sleet". In newer passages she is described as standing in "statuesque stillness", "ever observed", royally attired with

4830-446: Is communicated through speech) and as such, she is "the mother of the Vedas " as well as the Vedas themselves. The Shatapatha Brahmana states that "as all waters meet in the ocean...so all sciences (vidya) unite (ekayanam) in Vāc" (14:5:4:11). The Shatapatha Brahmana also presents Vāc as a secondary creator deity, having been the first deity created by the creator god Prajapati . She is

4968-415: Is differentiated by dialectical features, still easily recognizable from the dialect prevailing in north-western and eastern Iran. Middle Persian , also sometimes called Pahlavi, is a direct continuation of Old Persian and was used as the written official language of the country. Comparison of the evolution at each stage of the language shows great simplification in grammar and syntax. However, New Persian

5106-427: Is generally shown to have four arms, but sometimes just two. When shown with four hands, those hands symbolically mirror her husband Brahma's four heads, representing manas (mind, sense), buddhi (intellect, reasoning), citta (imagination, creativity), and ahamkāra (self consciousness, ego). Brahma represents the abstract, while she represents action and reality. The four hands hold items with symbolic meaning –

5244-477: Is green in color. Matangi is also part of the Shakta set of goddesses known as the ten Mahavidyas . Matangi is important in Shri Vidya Shaktism, where she is also known as the dark blue Shyamala ("dark in complexion") and is a manifestation of Lalita Tripurasundari 's Jñana Shakti (wisdom power), having arisen out of Lalita's sugarcane bow. She is celebrated in the holiday Syamala Navaratri and

5382-526: Is hailed as her representation." The Armenian cult of Anahit , as well as the pre-Christian Armenian religion in general, was very closely connected to Persian Zoroastrianism. Some Mandaean exorcism texts invoke the name of Nanai or Nanaia (the Semitic form of Anahita), pointing to contact between the Mandaeans and the cult of Anahita during the past. In his Life of Johnson , James Boswell tells

5520-552: Is in effect the divinity towards whom the Yasna service – the primary act of worship – is directed. (see Ab-Zohr ). "To this day reverence for water is deeply ingrained in Zoroastrians, and in orthodox communities offerings are regularly made to the household well or nearby stream." It is "very probable" that the shrine of Bibi Shahrbanu at royal Ray (Rhagae, central Media) was once dedicated to Anahita. Similarly, one of

5658-431: Is my desire!". She then left his form, causing him to reflect upon his misfortune. Sarasvati remains an important figure in the later medieval Puranic literature , where she appears in various myths and stories. Many Puranas relate the myth of her creation by the creator god Brahma and then describe how she became his consort. Sources which describe this myth include Markandeya Purana , Matsya Purana (which contains

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5796-478: Is not otherwise attested in other areas. Pliny reports that Mark Antony 's soldiers smashed an enormous statue of the divinity made of solid gold and then divided the pieces amongst themselves. Also according to Pliny, supported by Dio Cassius , Acilisene eventually came to be known as Anaetica. Dio Cassius also mentions that another region along the Cyrus River, on the borders of Albania and Iberia ,

5934-617: Is rendered in Elamite as Mirkānu- , rendering transcriptions such as V(a)rakāna , Varkāna or even Vurkāna questionable and making Vrkāna or Virkāna much more realistic (and equally for vrka- "wolf", Brdiya and other Old Persian words and names with syllabic /r/ ). While v usually became /v/ in Middle Persian, it became /b/ word-initially in New Persian, except before [u] (including

6072-410: Is seen as Lalita's prime minister. There are various chants and odes ( stotras ) to this deity, perhaps the most important being the Śrī Śyāmalā Daṇḍakam by the great Indian Sanskrit poet Kalidasa . The goddess Sarasvati is often depicted as a beautiful woman dressed in pure white, often seated on a white lotus , which symbolizes light, knowledge and truth. She not only embodies knowledge but also

6210-770: Is specific to the divinity. 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 and the Fravashis . Both adjectives are also attested in Vedic Sanskrit . As a divinity of the waters ( Abān ), the yazata is of Indo-Iranian origin, according to Lommel related to Sanskrit Sarasvatī that, like its Proto-Iranian equivalent * Harahwatī , derives from Indo-Iranian * Saraswatī . In its old Iranian form * Harahwatī , "her name

6348-564: Is supported by Arrian , who in 324 BCE wrote of a temple in Ecbatana dedicated to " Asclepius " (by inference presumed to be Anahita, likewise a divinity of healing), destroyed by Alexander because she had allowed his friend Hephaestion to die. The massive stone lion on the hill there (said to be part of a sepulchral monument to Hephaestion ) is today a symbol that visitors touch in hope of fertility. Plutarch records that Artaxerxes II had his concubine Aspasia consecrated as priestess at

6486-419: Is the inspired thought (especially that of the rishis ), it is intuition or intelligence – especially that associated with poetry and religion. Sarasvati is seen as a deity that can grant dhī ( Rigveda 6:49:7c.) if prayed to. Since speech requires inspired thought, she is also inextricably linked with speech and with the goddess of speech, Vāc , as well as with cows and motherhood. Vedic seers compare her to

6624-546: Is this divinity with which Aredvi Sura Anahita was conflated. The link between Anahita and Ishtar is part of the wider theory that Iranian kingship had Mesopotamian roots and that the Persian gods were natural extensions of the Babylonian deities, where Ahuramazda is considered an aspect of Marduk , Mithra for Shamash , and, finally, Anahita was Ishtar. This is supported by how Ishtar "apparently" gave Aredvi Sura Anahita

6762-586: The Brahmanda Purana (chapter 43). Sarasvati is tasked to reside on tip of the tongue of all beings, a river on the earth and as a part of Brahma. A legend in the Bhagavata Purana describes Sarasvati as originally being one of the three wives of Vishnu , along with Lakshmi and Ganga . In the midst of a conversation, Sarasvati observed that Ganga playfully kept glancing at Vishnu, behind Lakshmi and her back. Frustrated, Sarasvati launched

6900-541: The Bundahishn , a Zoroastrian account of creation finished in the 11th or 12th century CE. In both texts, Aredvi Sura Anahita is not only a divinity, but also the source of the world river and the (name of the) world river itself. The cosmological legend runs as follows: All the waters of the world created by Ahura Mazda originate from the source Aredvi Sura Anahita, the life-increasing, herd-increasing, fold-increasing, who makes prosperity for all countries. This source

7038-462: The Arsacids ), and had himself crowned in his stead. "By this time (the beginning of the 3rd century), Anāhita's headgear ( kolāh ) was worn as a mark of nobility", which in turn "suggests that she was goddess of the feudal warrior estate." Ardashir ( r. 226-241 CE) "would send the heads of the petty kings he defeated for display at her temple." During the reign of Bahram I ( r. 272-273 CE), in

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7176-670: The Euphrates in South-West Armenia), where the animals bore the brand of a torch on their heads. Following Tiridates' conversion to Christianity, the cult of Anahit was condemned and iconic representations of the divinity were destroyed. Attempts have been made to identify Anahita as one of the prime three divinities in Albania , but these are questionable. However, in the territories of the Moschi in Colchis , Strabo mentions

7314-668: The Indo-European language family . The oldest known text written in Old Persian is from the Behistun Inscriptions . Old Persian is one of the oldest Indo-European languages which are attested in original texts. The oldest date of use of Old Persian as a spoken language is not precisely known. According to certain historical assumptions about the early history and origin of ancient Persians in Southwestern Iran (where Achaemenids hailed from), Old Persian

7452-614: The Iranian language family , a branch of the Indo-Iranian language family, itself within the large family of Indo-European languages . The common ancestors of Indo-Iranians came from Central Asia sometime in the first half of the 2nd millennium BCE . The extinct and unattested Median language is another Old Iranian language related to Old Persian; both are classified as Western Iranian languages , and many Median names appear in Old Persian texts. The group of Old Iranian languages

7590-883: The Kural literature and its author Valluvar , she is referred to as Nāmagal and is believed to have composed the second verse. Outside Nepal and India, she is known in Burmese as Thurathadi ( သူရဿတီ , pronounced [θùja̰ðədì] or [θùɹa̰ðədì] ) or Tipitaka Medaw ( တိပိဋကမယ်တော် , pronounced [tḭpḭtəka̰ mɛ̀dɔ̀] ), in Chinese as Biàncáitiān ( 辯才天 ), in Japanese as Benzaiten ( 弁才天/弁財天 ) and in Thai as Suratsawadi ( สุรัสวดี ) or Saratsawadi ( สรัสวดี ). In Hinduism , Sarasvati has retained her significance as an important goddess, from

7728-491: The Levant , and from there to Armenia . The temples also served as an important source of income. From the Babylonian kings, the Achaemenids had taken over the concept of a mandatory temple tax, a one-tenth tithe which all inhabitants paid to the temple nearest to their land or other source of income. A share of this income called the quppu ša šarri or "kings chest" – an ingenious institution originally introduced by Nabonidus –

7866-590: The Median form *Ciθrafarnah ) = Tissaphernes suggests /t͡s/ as the pronunciation of ç (compare [1] and Kloekhorst 2008, p. 125 in [2] for this example, who, however, mistakenly writes Çiçafarnā , which contradicts the etymology [ PIIr. *Čitra-swarnas- ] and the Middle Persian form Čehrfar [ ç gives Middle Persian s ]). The phoneme /l/ does not occur in native Iranian vocabulary, only in borrowings from Akkadian (a new /l/ develops in Middle Persian from Old Persian /rd/ and

8004-715: The Sarasvati River and is mentioned as one among several northwestern Indian rivers such as the Drishadvati . Sarasvati, then, connotes a river deity. In Book 2, the Rigveda describes Sarasvati as the best of mothers, of rivers, of goddesses. Her importance grows in the later Vedas composed after the Rigveda as well as in the later Brahmana texts, and the word evolves in its meaning from "waters that purify", to "that which purifies", to " vach (speech) that purifies", to "knowledge that purifies", and ultimately into

8142-474: The Tulasi plant upon the earth. Ganga, now enraged that Lakshmi had been cursed because she had defended her, cursed Sarasvati that she would be incarnated as a river on earth. Sarasvati issued the same curse against Ganga, informing her that sinful men would cleanse themselves of their sins with her water. As a result, Vishnu proclaimed that one part of Sarasvati would remain with him, that another would exist as

8280-554: The Vedas , her characteristics and attributes are closely connected with the Sarasvati River , making her one of the earliest examples of a river goddess in Indian tradition. As a deity associated with a river, Sarasvati is revered for her dual abilities to purify and to nurture fertility. In later Vedic literature, particularly the Brahmanas , Sarasvati is increasingly identified with the Vedic goddess of speech, Vac , and eventually,

8418-633: The Vedic age up to the present day. She is praised in the Vedas as a water goddess of purification, while in the Dharmashastras , Sarasvati is invoked to remind the reader to meditate on virtue, and on the meaning ( artha ) of one's actions ( karma ). Sarasvati first appears in the Rigveda , the most ancient source of the Vedic religion . Sarawsati holds significant religious and symbolic value in

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8556-621: The goddess of knowledge, education, learning, arts, speech, poetry, music, purification, language and culture. Together with the goddesses Lakshmi and Parvati , she forms the trinity, known as the Tridevi . Sarasvati is a pan-Indian deity, venerated not only in Hinduism but also in Jainism and Buddhism . She is one of the prominent goddesses in the Vedic tradition (1500 to 500 BCE) who retains her significance in later Hinduism. In

8694-605: The " Ta Azara ", was dedicated to Athena/Artemis and where tame lions roamed the grounds. This may be a reference to the temple above the Tang-a Sarvak ravine in present-day Khuzestan Province . Other than this, no evidence of the cult in Western Iran from the Parthian period survives, but "it is reasonable to assume that the martial features of Anāhita (Ishtar) assured her popularity in the subsequent centuries among

8832-408: The "Mazdean lord, ..., king of kings, ..., grandson of lord Papak" (ShKZ 1, Naqsh-e Rustam ) records that he instituted fires for his daughter and three of his sons. His daughter's name: Anahid. The name of that fire: Adur-Anahid. Notwithstanding the dissolution of the temple cults, the triad Ahura Mazda, Anahita, and Mithra (as Artaxerxes II had invoked them) would continue to be prominent throughout

8970-419: The "most beloved mountain shrines of the Zoroastrians of Yazd, set beside a living spring and a great confluence of water-courses, is devoted to Banu-Pars, "the Lady of Persia"." However, and notwithstanding the widespread popularity of Anahita, "it is doubtful whether the current tendency is justified whereby almost every isolated figure in Sasanid art, whether sitting, standing, dancing, clothed, or semi-naked,

9108-410: The "pure one", and that, as these people settled in Eastern Iran, * Anahiti began to absorb elements of the cult of Ishtar. Indeed, according to Boyce, it is "probable" that there was once a Perso – Elamite divinity by the name of * Anahiti (as reconstructed from the Greek Anaitis ). It is then likely (so Boyce) that it was this divinity that was an analogue of Ishtar, and that it

9246-460: The Ephorate. Old Persian Old Persian appears primarily in the inscriptions, clay tablets and seals of the Achaemenid era ( c.  600 BCE to 300 BCE). Examples of Old Persian have been found in what is now Iran , Romania ( Gherla ), Armenia , Bahrain , Iraq , Turkey and Egypt , with the most important attestation by far being the contents of the Behistun Inscription (dated to 525 BCE). In 2007, research into

9384-410: The Iranian Plateau, give a good chronology but only an approximate geographical indication of what seem to be ancient Persians. In these records of the 9th century BCE, Parsuwash (along with Matai , presumably Medians) are first mentioned in the area of Lake Urmia in the records of Shalmaneser III . The exact identity of the Parsuwash is not known for certain, but from a linguistic viewpoint

9522-406: The Persians knew of no images of gods until Artaxerxes II erected those images. This is substantiated by Herodotus, whose mid-5th-century-BCE general remarks on the usages of the Perses, Herodotus notes that "it is not their custom to make and set up statues and images and altars, and those that make such they deem foolish, as I suppose, because they never believed the gods, as do the Greeks, to be

9660-432: The Rigveda, as a deified entity embodying attributes of abundance and power. Primarily linked with the celestial domain of Waters (Apas) and the formidable Storm Gods ( Maruts ), this deity forms an integral triadic association alongside the sacrificial goddesses Ila and Bharati within the pantheon. Sarasvati is described as a loud and powerful flood who roars like a bull and cannot be controlled. According to Witzel, she

9798-433: The Sasanid age, "and were indeed (with Tiri and Verethragna ) to remain the most popular of all divine beings in Western Iran." Moreover, the iconoclasm of Bahram I and later kings apparently did not extend to images where they themselves are represented. At an investiture scene at Naqsh-e Rustam , Narseh ( r. 293-302 CE) is seen receiving his crown from a female divinity identified as Anahita. Narseh, like Artaxerxes II,

9936-472: The Vadavagni in a pot to Sarasvati, and told her to originate from the plaksha tree. Sarasvati merged with the tree, and transformed into a river. From there, she flowed towards Pushkara . Sarasvati continued her journey towards the ocean, and stopped once at Pushkarini, where she redeemed humans from their sins. At last, she reached the end of her journey, and immersed the fire into the ocean. Sarasvati

10074-631: The Yasna service. Verses from Yasht 5 also form the greater part of the Aban Nyashes , the liturgy to the waters that are a part of the Khordeh Avesta . According to Nyberg and supported by Lommel and Widengren, the older portions of the Aban Yasht were originally composed at a very early date, perhaps not long after the Gathas themselves. Yasna 38, which is dedicated "to the earth and

10212-635: The Zoroastrian pantheon." According to an alternate theory, Anahita was perhaps "a daeva of the early and pure Zoroastrian faith, incorporated into the Zoroastrian religion and its revised canon" during the reign of " Artaxerxes I , the Constantine of that faith." The cosmological qualities of the world river are alluded to in Yasht 5 (see in the Avesta , below), but properly developed only in

10350-528: The Zoroastrian technical terms for a fire temple. The temple at Istakhr was likewise converted and, according to the Kartir inscription, henceforth known as the "Fire of Anahid the Lady." Sasanid iconoclasm, though administratively from the reign of Bahram I, may already have been supported by Bahram's father, Shapur I ( r. 241-272 CE). In an inscription in Middle Persian, Parthian and Greek at Ka'ba of Zoroaster ,

10488-715: The basis for her classic four armed form holding a book (representing the Vedas), mala , veena , and a water pot while being mounted on a swan ( hamsa ). According to the Matsya Purana , Brahma generated Sarasvati, here also called by other names like Shatarupa , Savitri, Gayatri and Brahmani , out of himself for the purpose of creation. The Matsya Purana then describes how Brahma begins to desire her intensely and cannot stop looking at her. Noticing his amorous glances, she begins circumambulating him. Not wishing to keep turning his face to see her, Brahma produced faces on

10626-486: The change of /rθ/ to /hl/ ). The phoneme /r/ can also form a syllable peak; both the way Persian names with syllabic /r/ (such as Brdiya ) are rendered in Elamite and its further development in Middle Persian suggest that before the syllabic /r/ , an epenthetic vowel [i] had developed already in the Old Persian period, which later became [u] after labials. For example, Old Persian Vᵃ-rᵃ-kᵃ-a-nᵃ /wr̩kaːna/

10764-412: The clean from the unclean, and essence from the inessential. In some texts, the pot of water is symbolism for soma – the drink that liberates and leads to knowledge. The most famous feature on Sarasvati is a musical instrument called a veena , represents all creative arts and sciences, and her holding it symbolizes expressing knowledge that creates harmony. Sarasvati is also associated with anurāga ,

10902-506: The consensus difficult are, among others, the difficult passage DB (IV lines 88–92) from Darius the Great who speaks of a new "form of writing" being made by himself which is said to be "in Aryan ": King Darius says: By the grace of Ahuramazda this is the inscription which I have made. Besides, it was in Aryan (" ariyâ ") script, and it was composed on clay tablets and on parchment. Besides,

11040-472: The cult of the ancient Mesopotamian goddess Inanna-Ishtar . According to one theory, this arose partly from a desire to make Anahita part of Zoroastrianism following the diffusion of her cult from the extreme northwest into the rest of Persia. According to Herman Lommel , the proper name of the divinity in Indo-Iranian times was Sarasvatī , which also means "she who possesses waters". In Avestan ,

11178-569: The cult" and Tiridates III , before his conversion to Christianity, "prayed officially to the triad Aramazd -Anahit- Vahagn but is said to have shown a special devotion to 'the great lady Anahit, ... the benefactress of the whole human race, mother of all knowledge, daughter of the great Aramazd'". According to Agathangelos , tradition required the Kings of Armenia to travel once a year to the temple at Eriza (Erez) in Acilisene in order to celebrate

11316-566: The daughter of Brahma. May the Goddess illuminate us. In Book 2 of Taittiriya Brahmana , Sarasvati is called "the mother of eloquent speech and melodious music". In the Hindu epic Mahabharata , "Sarasvati appears above all as a sacred river, along which pilgrimages are made. She is also represented as goddess of speech and knowledge." She is called "the best of rivers and greatest of streams", and with calm and tranquil waters, in contrast to

11454-688: The day is marked by helping young children learn how to write the letters of the alphabet. In Buddhism , she is venerated in many forms, including the East Asian Benzaiten (辯才天, "Eloquence Talent Deity"). In Jainism , Sarasvati is revered as the deity responsible for the dissemination of the Tirthankaras ' teachings and sermons. Traditional Sarasvati is a Sanskrit fusion word of saras (सरस्) meaning "pooling water", but also sometimes translated as "speech"; and vati (वती), meaning "she who possesses". Originally associated with

11592-471: The development of her cult, she was described as a syncretistic goddess, who was composed of two independent elements. The first is a manifestation of the Indo-Iranian idea of the Heavenly River who provides the waters to the rivers and streams flowing in the earth while the second is that of a goddess of uncertain origin, though maintaining her own unique characteristics, who became associated with

11730-527: The divinity is referred to as 'Anahid the Lady', 'Ardwisur the Lady' and 'Ardwisur the Lady of the waters'. Because the divinity is unattested in any old Western Iranian language , establishing characteristics prior to the introduction of Zoroastrianism in Western Iran ( c. 5th century BCE) is very much in the realm of speculation. Boyce concludes that "the Achaemenids' devotion to this goddess evidently survived their conversion to Zoroastrianism, and they appear to have used royal influence to have her adopted into

11868-461: The earliest known shrines being Sharada Peeth (6th–12th centuries CE) in Kashmir . Sarasvati continues to be widely worshipped across India, particularly on her designated festival day, Vasant Panchami (the fifth day of spring, and also known as Sarasvati Puja and Sarasvati Jayanti in many regions of India), when students honor her as the patron goddess of knowledge and education. Traditionally,

12006-478: The earth rests, and from which it flows to the seas and oceans of the world and purifies them. In the Bundahishn, the two halves of the name "Ardwisur Anahid" are occasionally treated independently of one another, that is, with Ardwisur as the representative of waters, and Anahid identified with the planet Venus: The water of the all lakes and seas have their origin with Ardwisur (10.2, 10.5), and in contrast, in

12144-408: The epenthetic vowel mentioned above), where it became /ɡ/ . This suggests that it was really pronounced as [w] . Old Persian has 3 types of grammatical number: singular, dual and plural. Old Persian has three grammatical genders : masculine, feminine and neuter. In contrast, Modern Persian (as well as Middle Persian ) is a genderless language . Old Persian stems: Adjectives are declined in

12282-539: The epithet Banu , 'the Lady', a typically Mesopotamian construct that is not attested as an epithet for a divinity in Iran before the common era. It is completely unknown in the texts of the Avesta , but evident in Sasanid-era middle Persian inscriptions (see Evidence of a cult , below) and in a middle Persian Zend translation of Yasna 68.13. Also in Zoroastrian texts from the post-conquest epoch (651 CE onwards),

12420-485: The events of the Tarakamaya War , the devas deposited their arsenal of weapons at the hermitage of Dadhichi . When they sought the return of these weapons, the sage informed them that he had imbibed all of their power with his penance, and offered his own bones instead, which could serve as the source of new weapons. Despite the objections of the deities, the sage sacrificed himself, and his bones were employed in

12558-433: The experience of the highest reality. Her iconography is typically in white themes from dress to flowers to swan – the colour symbolizing Sattwa Guna or purity, discrimination for true knowledge, insight and wisdom. Her dhyana mantra describes her to be as white as the moon, clad in a white dress, bedecked in white ornaments, radiating with beauty, holding a book and a pen in her hands (the book represents knowledge). She

12696-493: The festival of the divinity; Tiridates made this journey in the first year of his reign where he offered sacrifice and wreaths and boughs. The temple at Eriza appears to have been particularly famous, "the wealthiest and most venerable in Armenia", staffed with priests and priestesses, the latter from eminent families who would serve at the temple before marrying. This practice may again reveal Semitic syncretic influences, and

12834-414: The fire in the western ocean, in order to protect the universe. Sarasvati told Vishnu that she would only agree to assist them if her consort, Brahma , told her to do so. Brahma ordered her to deposit the Vadavagni in the western ocean. Sarasvati agreed, and accompanied by Ganga , she left Brahmaloka, and arrived at Sage Uttanka's ashrama . There, she met Shiva , who had decided to carry Ganga. He gave

12972-485: The flow of music/song, melodious speech, eloquent speaking respectively), Varnesvari (goddess of letters), Kavijihvagravasini (one who dwells on the tongue of poets). Other names include: Ambika, Bharati, Chandrika, Devi, Gomati, Hamsasana, Saudamini, Shvetambara, Subhadra, Vaishnavi, Vasudha, Vidya, Vidyarupa, and Vindhyavasini. In the Tiruvalluva Maalai , a collection of fifty-five Tamil verses praising

13110-446: The iconic cult of Anahita is from the Babylonian scholar-priest Berosus , who – although writing in 285 BCE, over 70 years after the reign of Artaxerxes II Mnemon – records that the emperor had been the first to make cult statues of Aphrodite Anaitis and place them in the temples of many of the empire's major cities, including Babylon , Susa , Ecbatana , Bactria , Persepolis , Damascus and Sardis . Also according to Berosus,

13248-634: The imperial epoch, she is spoken of as "Anaïtis of the sacred water ". Aredvi Sura Anahita is principally addressed in Yasht 5 ( Yasna 65), also known as the Aban Yasht , a hymn to the waters in Avestan and one of the longer and better preserved of the devotional hymns. Yasna 65 is the third of the hymns recited at the Ab-Zohr , the "offering to the waters" that accompanies the culminating rites of

13386-656: The later Hindu texts, her direct connection with the physical river diminished. Despite this, the Puranas sustain Sarasvati's riverine character by incorporating new narratives that preserve her role as a cosmic river in addition to her expanded identity. The story of Sarasvati becoming a river is introduced in the Srishti Khanda of Padma Purana as well as in Skanda Purana . In the Skanda Purana, after

13524-537: The likeness of men." As the cult was institutionalized, it began to spread widely, reaching beyond the borders of Persia taking root in Armenia and Asia Minor . The extraordinary innovation of the shrine cults can thus be dated to the late 5th century BCE (or very early 4th century BCE), even if this evidence is "not of the most satisfactory kind." Nonetheless, by 330 BCE and under Achaemenid royal patronage, these cults had been disseminated throughout Asia Minor and

13662-414: The love for and rhythm of music, which represents all emotions and feelings expressed in speech or music. A hamsa – either a swan or a goose – is often shown near her feet. In Hindu mythology , the hamsa is a sacred bird, which if offered a mixture of milk and water, is said to have a unique ability to separate and drink the milk alone, and leave the water behind. This characteristic of the bird serves as

13800-500: The male trimurti of the other Hindu sects) is a manifestation of Mahadevi , the supreme goddess (and the highest deity out of which all deities, male or female, are born), which is also known by other names like Adi Parashakti ("Primordial Supreme Power"). According to the Devi Mahatmya , this supreme goddess is the primordial creator which is supreme formless (nirguna) consciousness (i.e. parabrahman , absolute reality) and

13938-442: The manufacture of new arms by Vishvakarma . The sage's son, Pippalada , upon hearing these events, sought to wreak his vengeance on the devas by performing a penance. A mare emerged from his right thigh, which in turn gave birth to a fiery man, Vadava, who threatened to be the doom of all of creation. Vishnu convinced Vadava that his best course of action would be to swallow the devas one by one, and that he should begin by consuming

14076-453: The mighty torrential Vedic Sarasvati. Her banks are filled with priests and sages ( rishis ) who practice asceticism and sacrifices on her banks. There are numerous depictions of people making pilgrimages to the river to perform sacrifices and bathe in her waters and she often appears in her human form to great seers like Vasishtha . The Mahabharata also commonly presents her as a goddess of knowledge in her own right and sees Vac as merely

14214-457: The most extensive account), Vayu Purana and Brahmanda Purana . Other Puranas give her slightly different roles and see her as the consort of other gods, such as Vishnu. In various Puranas, rites for her worship are given, and she is mainly worshiped for her command over speech, knowledge, and music. Puranas like the Matsya also contain iconographic descriptions of Sarasvati, which provide

14352-405: The most glorious sanctuaries in the known world. Although the palace had been stripped by Alexander and the following Seleucid kings, when Antiochus III raided Ecbatana in 209 BCE, the temple "had the columns round it still gilded and a number of silver tiles were piled up in it, while a few gold bricks and a considerable quantity of silver ones remained." Polybius' reference to Alexander

14490-515: The name 𐬀𐬭𐬆𐬛𐬎𐬎𐬍⸱𐬯𐬏𐬭𐬁⸱𐬀𐬥𐬁𐬵𐬌𐬙𐬀 ( Arəduuī Sūrā Anāhitā ) means "of the waters, mighty, and immaculate". Like the Indian Sarasvatī, Anāhitā nurtures crops and herds; and she is hailed both as a divinity and as the mythical river which she personifies, "as great in bigness as all these waters which flow forth upon the earth" (Yasht 5.3). Only Arədvī (a word otherwise unknown, perhaps with an original meaning "moist")

14628-492: The nearby civilisation of Mesopotamia . Despite the fact that Old Persian was written in cuneiform script, the script was not a direct continuation of Mesopotamian tradition and in fact, according to Schmitt, was a "deliberate creation of the sixth century BCE". The origin of the Old Persian cuneiform script and the identification of the date and process of introduction are a matter of debate among Iranian scholars with no general agreement having been reached. The factors making

14766-558: The new compound divinity of waters with martial characteristics gradually usurped the position of Apam Napat , the great warlike water divinity of the Ahuric triad, finally causing the latter's place to be lost and his veneration to become limited to the obligatory verses recited at the Ab-Zohr . There are also parts in the Yasht that show discrepancies in the description of Anahita. There

14904-495: The one of Narseh. But, aside from the two rock carvings at Naqsh-e Rustam and Taq-e Bostan, "few figures unquestionably representing the goddess are known." The figure of a female on an Achaemenid cylinder seal has been identified as that of Anahita, as have a few reliefs from the Parthian era (250 BCE-226 CE), two of which are from ossuaries. In addition, Sasanid silverware depictions of nude or scantily dressed women seen holding

15042-473: The pantheon, worshipped without a consort. She is portrayed as a serene woman with a radiant white complexion, dressed in white attire, representing the quality of sattva (goodness). She has four arms, each holding a symbolic object: a book, a rosary, a water pot, and a musical instrument known as the veena . Beside her is her mount, either a hamsa (white goose or swan) or a peacock. Hindu temples dedicated to Sarasvati can be found worldwide, with one of

15180-408: The primordial water of creation, which was the foremost of both the devas and the asuras. Vadava wished to be accompanied to the source of these waters by a virgin, and so Sarasvati was dispatched for his purpose, despite her reluctance. She took him to Varuna , the god of the ocean, who then consumed the being. For good measure, Sarasvati transformed into a divine river, flowing with five channels into

15318-417: The river or rivers known as Sarasvati, this combination, therefore, means "she who has ponds, lakes, and pooling water" or occasionally "she who possesses speech". It is also a Sanskrit composite word of sarasu-ati (सरसु+अति) which means "one with plenty of water". The word Sarasvati appears both as a reference to a river and as a significant deity in the Rigveda . In initial passages, the word refers to

15456-481: The sacred waters" and is part of seven-chapter Yasna Haptanghāiti , is linguistically as old as the Gathas. In the Aban Yasht , the river yazata is described as "the great spring Ardvi Sura Anahita is the life-increasing, the herd-increasing, the fold-increasing who makes prosperity for all countries" (5.1). She is "wide flowing and healing", "efficacious against the daeva s ", "devoted to Ahura's lore" (5.1). She

15594-600: The sea, making the waters sacred. In the Padma Purana, it is stated that there was a terrible battle between the Bhargavas (a group of Brahmanas ) and the Hehayas (a group of Kshatriyas ). From this, an all-consuming fire called Vadavagni was born, which threatened to destroy the whole world. In some versions, a sage named Auva created it. Indra , Vishnu, and the devas visited Sarasvati, requesting her to deposit

15732-411: The sides and back of his head. Sarasvati then leapt into the sky and a fifth face emerged from Brahma, looking upwards. Unable to escape, Sarasvati marries him and they make love for one hundred years. Brahma felt shame and due to his incestuous act, the god loses his ascetic power ( tapas ) and his sons are left to create the world. The birth of Sarasvati from the mind of Brahma is also described in

15870-419: The story of Donald McQueen, who believed a building near Dunvegan Castle to be the ruins of a temple to Anahita. Samuel Johnson gave no credence to McQueen's beliefs, which Johnson said was based purely on phonological similarities of names. In Tad Williams' Bobby Dollar Series, Anahita is referred to as Anaita, a powerful goddess turned angel who acts as one of five members of a judgement collective known as

16008-489: The temple "to Diana of Ecbatana, whom they name Anaitis, that she might spend the remainder of her days in strict chastity." This does not however necessarily imply that chastity was a requirement of Anaitis priestesses. Isidore of Charax , in addition to a reference to the temple at Ecbatana ("a temple, sacred to Anaitis, they sacrifice there always") also notes a "temple of Artemis" at Concobar (Lower Media, today Kangavar ). Despite archaeological findings that refute

16146-576: The tridevi are her main saguna ("with form", manifest, incarnated) emanations. MahaSarasvati is said to be creative and active principle (which is Rajasic , energetic and active), while Mahalakshmi is the sustainer ( sattvic , "goodness") and Mahakali is the destroyer ( tamasic , "darkness"). In other influential Shakta texts, such as the Devi Bhagavata Purana and the Devi Upanishad , Sarasvati (along with all Hindu goddesses)

16284-591: The two merge into the singular goddess known in later tradition. Over time, her connection to the river diminishes, while her association with speech, poetry, music, and culture becomes more prominent. In classical and medieval Hinduism , Sarasvati is primarily recognized as the goddess of learning, arts and poetic inspiration, and as the inventor of the Sanskrit language . She is linked to the creator god Brahma , either as his consort or creation. In this role, she represents his creative power ( Shakti ), giving reality

16422-530: The universe. In the epic Ramayana , when the rakshasa brothers Ravana , Vibhishana and Kumbhakarna , performed a penance in order to propitiate Brahma, the creator deity offered each a boon. The devas pleaded with Brahma to not grant Kumbhakarna his boon. Brahma called upon his consort Sarasvati, and instructed her to utter that which the devas desired. She acquiesced, and when the rakshasa spoke to invoke his boon, she entered his mouth, causing him to say, "To sleep for innumerable years, O Lord of Lords, this

16560-539: The vast Persepolis Fortification Archive at the Oriental Institute at the University of Chicago unearthed Old Persian tablets, which suggest Old Persian was a written language in use for practical recording and not only for royal display. As a written language , Old Persian is attested in royal Achaemenid inscriptions. It is an Iranian language and as such a member of the Indo-Iranian branch of

16698-509: The verses of the Aban Yasht also appear in Yasht 17 ( Ard Yasht ), which is dedicated to Ashi. So also a description of the weapons bestowed upon worshippers (5.130), and the superiority in battle (5.34 et al.). These functions appears out of place in a hymn to the waters, and may have originally been from Yasht 17. Other verses in Yasht 5 have masculine instead of feminine pronouns, and thus again appear to be verses that were originally dedicated to other divinities. Boyce also suggests that

16836-480: The very instrument by which he created the world, flowing forth from him "like a continuous stream of water" according to the scripture. This is the basis for the Puranic stories about the relationship between Brahma (identified with Prajapati) and Sarasvati (identified with Vāc). In other Rigvedic passages, Sarasvati is praised as a mighty and unconquerable protector deity. She is offered praises and compared to

16974-407: The wake of an iconoclastic movement that had begun at about the same time as the shrine cult movement, the sanctuaries dedicated to a specific divinity were - by law - disassociated from that divinity by removal of the statuary and then either abandoned or converted into fire altars. So also the popular shrines to Mehr/ Mithra which retained the name Darb-e Mehr - Mithra's Gate - that is today one of

17112-561: The warrior classes of Parthian feudalism." In the 2nd century CE, the center of the cult in Parsa (Persia proper) was at Staxr (Istakhr). There, Anahita continued to be venerated in her martial role and it was at Istakhr that Sasan , after whom the Sasanid dynasty is named, served as high priest. Sasan's son, Papak, likewise a priest of that temple, overthrew the King of Istakhr (a vassal of

17250-404: The waters flow, becoming quite purified and exiting through another golden channel. Through that channel, which is at the height of a thousand men, one portion of the great spring Aredvi Sura Anahita drizzles in moisture upon the whole earth, where it dispels the dryness of the air and all the creatures of Mazda acquire health from it. Another portion runs down to Vourukasha, the great sea upon which

17388-421: The way she represented the commonly shared concept of the Heavenly River, which in the Vedas was represented by the goddess Sarasvatī (the later heavenly Ganga), she had no counterpart in the ancient text who bear the same name or one that remotely resembled hers. In the (Middle-)Persian texts of the Sasanid and later eras, Arədvī Sūra Anāhīta appears as Ardwisur Anāhīd . The evidence suggests

17526-486: The will of Ahura Mazda, Anahita, and Mithra I built this palace. May Ahura Mazda, Anahita, and Mithra protect me from all evil" (A²Hc 15–10). This is a remarkable break with tradition; no Achaemenid king before him had invoked any but Ahura Mazda alone by name although the Behistun inscription of Darius invokes Ahuramazda and "The other gods who are". The temple(s) of Anahita at Ecbatana (Hamadan) in Media must have once been

17664-486: The word matches Old Persian pārsa itself coming directly from the older word *pārćwa . Also, as Old Persian contains many words from another extinct Iranian language, Median , according to P. O. Skjærvø it is probable that Old Persian had already been spoken before the formation of the Achaemenid Empire and was spoken during most of the first half of the first millennium BCE. Old Persian belongs to

17802-547: Was also called "the land of Anaitis." Anahit was also venerated at Artashat ( Artaxata ), the capital of the Armenian Kingdom, where her temple was close to that of Tiur, the divinity of oracles. At Astishat, center of the cult of Vahagn , she was revered as voskimayr , the 'golden mother'. In 69 BCE, the soldiers of Lucullus saw cows consecrated to 'Persian Artemis' roaming freely at Tomisa in Sophene (on

17940-404: Was apparently also very devoted to Anahita, for in the investiture inscription at Paikuli (near Khaniqin , in present-day Iraq), Narseh invokes "Ormuzd and all the yazatas , and Anahid who is called the Lady." Anahita has also been identified as a figure in the investiture scene of Khusrow Parvez (Khosrau II, r. 590-628 CE) at Taq-e Bostan , but in this case not quite as convincingly as for

18078-530: Was associated with the Milky Way , indicating that she was seen as descending from heaven to earth. The goddess is mentioned in many Rigvedic hymns, and has three hymns dedicated to her (6:61 exclusively, and 7:95-96 which she shares with her male counterpart, Sarasvant). In Rigveda 2.41.16 she is called: "Best of mothers, the best of rivers, best of goddesses". As part of the Apas (water deities), Sarasvati

18216-511: Was given to the region, rich in rivers, whose modern capital is Kabul (Avestan Haraxaitī , Old Persian Hara(h)uvati- , Greek Arachosia )." "Like the Devi Saraswati, [Aredvi Sura Anahita] nurtures crops and herds; and is hailed both as a divinity and the mythical river that she personifies, 'as great in bigness as all these waters which flow forth upon the earth'." Some historians note that despite Anahita's Aryan roots and

18354-530: Was originally spoken by a tribe called Parsuwash , who arrived in the Iranian Plateau early in the 1st millennium BCE and finally migrated down into the area of present-day Fārs province . Their language, Old Persian, became the official language of the Achaemenid kings. Assyrian records, which in fact appear to provide the earliest evidence for ancient Iranian (Persian and Median) presence on

18492-439: Was presumably large; however, knowledge of it is restricted mainly to Old Persian, Avestan , and Median. The first two are the only languages in that group to have left written original texts, while Median is known mostly from loanwords in Old Persian. By the 4th century BCE, the late Achaemenid period , the inscriptions of Artaxerxes II and Artaxerxes III differ enough from the language of Darius' inscriptions to be called

18630-710: Was revered together with Omanos at Zela in Pontus . At Castabala, she is referred to as 'Artemis Perasia'. Anahita and Omanos had common altars in Cappadocia . "Hellenic influence [gave] a new impetus to the cult of images [and] positive evidence for this comes from Armenia, then a Zoroastrian land." According to Strabo, the "Armenians shared in the religion of the Perses and the Medes and particularly honored Anaitis". The kings of Armenia were "steadfast supporters of

18768-593: Was still revered as Artemis Anaitis or Persian Artemis in Classical and Roman times), Maeonia and elsewhere; the temple at Hierocaesarea reportedly having been founded by "Cyrus" (presumably Cyrus the Younger , brother of Artaxerxes II , who was satrap of Lydia between 407 and 401 BCE). In the 2nd century CE, the geographer Pausanias reports having personally witnessed (apparently Mazdean) ceremonies at Hypaipa and Hierocaesarea. According to Strabo , Anahita

18906-629: Was the case, for instance, of her beaver coat, which was described to an audience for whom the Yasht was redacted. It was clear that these do not know the animal given the fact that the Eurasian beaver (Castor fiber) were found in the Caucasus but did not range south of the Caspian Sea nor the rivers and lakes of the Aral-Caspian steppe . The earliest dateable and unambiguous reference to

19044-580: Was then turned over to the ruler. Nonetheless, Artaxerxes' close connection with the Anahita temples is "almost certainly the chief cause of this king's long-lasting fame among Zoroastrians, a fame which made it useful propaganda for the succeeding Arsacids to claim him (quite spuriously) for their ancestor." Artaxerxes II's devotion to Anahita is most apparent in his inscriptions, where her name appears directly after that of Ahura Mazda and before that of Mithra . Artaxerxes' inscription at Susa reads: "By

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