Manya Saadi-nejad - Anahita

Anahita

ii

Anahita

A History and Reception of the Iranian

Water Goddess

Manya Saadi-nejad

9781838601119_txt_print.indd 3

21-08-2020 06:32:09

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First published in Great Britain 2021

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Contents

First and foremost, I would like to extend my warmest, heartfelt thanks to Professor Maria Macuch and Professor Almut Hintze, who were my supervisors during my Ph.D. at Freie Universitt, Berlin, for their support and helpful comments. I am grateful to Professors Mark Hale, Jean Kellens, and James R.

Russell for discussions that were as helpful as they were encouraging. I am eternally grateful to my parents Dr. Reza Saadi nejad and Azam Sadati, for their unconditional love and support. I would like to thank my son, Persia Shahdi, for his patience and support throughout the years I spent in writing this book.

And Finally, I would like to take this opportunity to thank Dr. Richard Foltz for his help and support, encouragement, and our valued conversation during many years.

The transcription of Avestan is based on the system of Karl Hoffman (Hoffmann 1975). For Pahlavi I have used the system of D. N. Mackenzie (Mackenzie 1986).

I have based my transcriptions from New Persian on those of the EncyclopdiaIranica (Yarshater 1982).

AM

Andarz durbd Mahraspandn

AS

Abdh ud Sahgh Sagistn

Av Avestan

AW

Aydgr Wuzurgmihr

AWN

Ard Wrz-Nmag

Bd

Bundahin

AP

dag Andarz Prytkn

Dk

Dnkard

GBd

Greater Bundahin

HN

Hxt Nask

HR

Husraw Kawdn ud Rdag-

KAP

Krnmag Ardaxr Ppagn

MP

Middle Persian

MX

Mng xrad

N

Nrangestn

NM

Nmagh Manuihr

NP

New Persian

Phl Pahlavi

PIE Proto-Indo-European

RV

g Veda

ahrestnh rnahr

Skt Sanskrit

x

Abbreviations

N

h-nmeh

Vd

Vdvdd

WZ

Wizdagh Zdsprm

Y

Yasna

Yt

Yat

ZWY

Zand Wahman Yat

This is a study of how the most important goddess of pre-Islamic Iran, Anahita, was transformed over time. Possibly having roots in the prehistoric river goddess(es) of the ancient proto-Indo-European peoples of the fifth millennium BCE or earlier, she emerges by the late Achaemenid period as one of the three principal deities of the Iranian pantheon, alongside Ahura Mazda and Mira.

An important Avestan hymn, the bn Yat, is composed in the honor of Anahita, establishing her role within the Zoroastrian religion. During the course of this process, she acquires additional functions, presumably from preexisting goddesses in the regions where Iranians came to live. Variations on the Iranian Anahita are found in the religious cultures of neighboring lands, such as Armenia, Bactria, and Sogdiana. With the coming of Islam, her cult disappeared, yet numerous aspects of it survived in female figures from Persian literature and through folk tales and rituals, usually Islamicized, which are often connected with water. This study aims to schematize these variations over time and space, in order to trace Anahitas development as a major figure in Iranian religion and the constantly evolving mix of her roles and attributes within culturally diverse communities throughout Greater Iran.

According to both the Avesta and the royal inscriptions of three successive Iranian empires, Anahita (along with Mira) was the most powerful deity created by the supreme being, Ahura Mazda. ore such sites are being identified all the time, and numerous place names throughout Iran (Pol-e doxtar, Qale-ye doxtar, etc.) may reflect her memory. Many holy sites across the Middle East are thought

Anhit

to have been originally temples devoted to Anahita

In the context of ancient Iranian religion, Anahita is noteworthy in a number of respects. First, she is the most prominent female deity among the Iranian goddesses, being worthy of worship, within a largely male pantheon of Iranian deities. Second, her visual aspect is more fully developed than of any other Iranian deity: she is a shape-shifter, alternately a goddess and a river, and has been described fully in both forms. Physical descriptions of her in the Avesta are very extensive and detailed. Some of the other deities mentioned in the Yasts do occasionally take on various shapes (animals and human beings). However, since in the Iranian belief system deities are not usually perceived in human forms, they are not generally anthropomorphized to the extent one sees in Greek and Mesopotamian mythology.

In her original form as a water goddess, Anahita is more involved in fertility, support, and healing. Over time, however, and perhaps partly through influence from non-Indo-European goddesses, she acquired additional functions and characteristics which tied her to the warrior and priestly functions as well. In contrast to the norm according to which a deity was connected to a particular social group, Anahita came to be associated with all of the three major social categories of ancient Iranian society: priests/rulers, warriors, and producers.

By the historical periodspecifically her appearance in the Avestan hymn devoted to her, the bn YatAnahita as the female yazata of the water

comes to possess three very different aspects: she is simultaneously (1) a spiritual ruler, (2) a mighty deity who supports warriors, and (3) a fertility goddes

Thus, through the acquisition of new characteristics, which were likely taken over from preexisting local, non-Iranian goddesses, Anahita assumed functions associated with the full range of her devotees needs and concerns at all social levels, giving her a uniquely important role in the emerging Iranian society.