Zoroastrianism

Tradition·Founded c. 1200 BCE·est. 100–200 thousand worldwide

Zoroastrianism

Branch
A Figure of Zoroastrianism

Anahita.

The waters, and the strength that comes with them. Kings sacrificed to her for victory, the Sasanians endowed her shrines heavily, and the ruined temple at Kangavar is one of the largest stone structures in Iran. Iranian Zoroastrians still make visits to springs and mountain shrines associated with her.

Names & titlesAredvi Sura Anahita — the Moist, Strong, Undefiled
DomainWaters, fertility, and the ritual purity of what flows
RelationsInvoked by kings for victory; her temple at Kangavar in Iran is monumental
Depicted asA tall young woman in a beaver-skin cloak with a jewelled diadem, standing upright
StandingThe great goddess of the tradition. Sasanian kings endowed her shrines heavily, and Iranian Zoroastrians still visit springs associated with her
Understanding it — context, not catechism: how this passage is held

Aredvi Sura Anahita — the moist, the strong, the undefiled — is the yazata of the waters and the most fully described divine figure in the Avesta after Ahura Mazda. The Aban Yasht gives her an unusually concrete portrait: a tall, strong, beautiful young woman, high-girdled, in a cloak of three hundred beaver skins, with a golden diadem of eight rays and a hundred stars, gold earrings and a square gold necklace, driving a chariot drawn by four horses named Wind, Rain, Cloud and Sleet. Kings and heroes sacrifice to her for victory. Artaxerxes II erected statues to her in the fourth century BCE — an innovation, since the tradition is otherwise aniconic — and the Sasanians endowed her shrines heavily; the enormous ruined structure at Kangavar in western Iran is traditionally associated with her, though the identification is disputed. Iranian Zoroastrians continue to make pilgrimages to mountain springs, notably the shrines around Yazd, and the association of flowing water with her persists in ordinary Iranian practice well beyond the Zoroastrian community.

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