FIRST IRANIAN GODDESS OF PRODUCTIVITY AND VALUES
By Manouchehr Saadat Noury – Persian Journal
Persian Journal, Iran
July 21 2005
INTRODUCTION:
A myth (in Persian: Afssaaneh or Osstureh) is an ancient story or set
of stories, especially explaining in a literary way the early history
of a group of people or about natural events and facts. These stories
usually deals with mythical creatures or heros which are imaginary or
not real. Most of the times, a myth relates the events, conditions,
and deeds of gods and goddesses or superhuman beings that are outside
ordinary human life and yet basic to it. These events are set in a
time altogether different from historical time, often at the
beginning of creation or at an early stage of prehistory. A culture’s
myth is usually closely related to its religious beliefs and rituals.
One of the famous myths in Iranian culture is considered to be the
Myth of ANAHITA who is also known as the first Iranian Goddess (in
Persian: Nakhosteen Khodda Zan-e-Iran). In this article the precedent
for early worship in Iran, various names and meanings of ANAHITA,
mythological and the historical aspects of ANAHITA, the First Iranian
Goddess of Productivity and Values, are studied and discussed.
EARLY WORSHIP IN IRAN:
In studying the ancient religions of the peoples of the Iranian
plateau, researchers documented that a powerful sacred group, the
Magi (in Persian: Magh-haa), dominated the Median Dynasty or Medes
(728-550 BC) and Achaemenid Dynasty or Persian Empire (550-330 BC).
According to Greek historian Herodotus, the Magi (the plural of
Magus) were the sacred sects of the Medes. But their power was
curtailed by Cyrus the Great, the founder of the Persian Empire, and
by his son Cambyses II. Then the Magi revolted against Cambyses II
and set up a rival claimant to the throne, one of their own, who took
the name of Smerdis. The Persians under Darius I (521-486 BC)
defeated Smerdis and his forces. The sects of the Magi continued in
Persia, though their influence was limited after that political
setback. During the Classical era (555 BC to AD 300), some Magi
remained in Iran, and some migrated westward, settling in Greece, and
then in Rome, Italy.
The Magi were responsible for chanting accounts of the origin and
descent of the gods and the goddesses in pre-Zoroastrian times. The
chief god of the pre-Zoroastrian era was AHURA MAZDA, the creator of
the universe and the one who maintains the cosmic and social order.
MITHRA was the second most important deity. Other major deities
included ANAHITA, the goddess of productivity and values; RASHNU, the
god of justice; and astral deities such as TISHTRYA or Tistriyn,
identified with the star Sirius. Until the reign of Achaemenian
Artaxerxes II (ruled 404-358 BC), the ancient Iranians did not use to
build temples or make images of their gods and goddesses, and they
preferred to worship in the open. The central ritual consisted of a
festive meal at which the worshipers made animal sacrifices and
invited the deity to attend as a guest. Fire was regarded as a sacred
element. The sacred drink named Hauma, which contained a
mind-altering medicine, was used to inspire worshipers with insight
into truth (in Persian: Raasti) and to stimulate warriors (in
Persian: Delavaraan or Razmandeggaan) going into battle. The name of
the drink was possibly derived from HAOMA or Homa that was the lord
of all medicinal plants in the ancient Iranian mythology.
NAME OF ANAHITA IN DIFFERENT CULTURES:
In Persian culture, the myth is called as Anahita, Anahit, Anahiti,
and Ardvi Sura Anahita. In Modern Persian, it is called as Nahid
(spelled also as Naheed), which is the name of planet Venus. In Greek
culture, it is called as Anahitis. The Greeks also associated
Anahitis with either Athena or Aphrodite. It should be noted that
there is a complete distinction between the Persian Myth of Anahita
and Anat or Anath. In contrary to Anahita, Anat or Anath was a
goddess of the Canaanites, Phoenicians, and Egyptians, which was
regarded as the goddess of war and violence. The Egyptians usually
depicted Anat carrying a spear, axe and shield, and wearing a tall
crown surmounted by two ostrich feathers.
VARIOUS MEANINGS OF ANAHITA:
Here is the list of the various meanings of Anahita as reported by
different groups of researchers: productivity (in Persian:
Faraavaresh or Soodmandi), values (Arzesh-haa), fertility (Baarvari),
immaculate (Biggonaah-o-Moghadass), perfect (Dorost-o-Tamaam-Ayaar),
water (Aab), plants and green (Nabaat-o-Sabz), clean (Paak),
untainted (Bi-aib), innocent (Biggonaah-o-Mobaraa), benefactor
(Niko-Kaar), patroness or supporter of females (Poshtibaan-e-Zanaan),
and pure (Naab-o-Sareh).
THE MYTHOLOGICAL ASPECTS OF ANAHITA:
Anahita was and still is regarded as an ancient Persian Myth. She
embodied the physical and metaphorical qualities of water, especially
the productive flow of water from the fountain in the stars. She also
ruled semen and human fertility. She was viewed as the “Golden
Mother”, “Goddess of Productivity”, and as a “Warrior Maiden”. She is
associated with rivers and lakes, as the “Water of Birth”. Though
Anahita as a myth is originally considered as an ancient Persian
Myth, some authors have also reported that she may have been a direct
borrowing from the Near East, or may have acquired Near Eastern
characteristics from a confrontation between Iranian and Mesopotomian
cultures. However, there is no reliable evidence to support those
reports.
Anahita is usually portrayed as a virgin, dressed in a golden cloak,
and wearing a diamond tiara (sometimes also carrying a water
pitcher). The dove and the peacock are her sacred animals. Anahita is
also represented dressed in gleaming gold with a crown and jewels.
Anahita is often shown wearing a golden kerchief, square gold
earrings, and a jeweled diadem, and wrapped in a golden-embroidered
cloak adorned with thirty otter skins. (Otter is a four-legged mammal
with short brown fur, which swims well and eats fish). Anahita is
also portrayed and honored with offerings of green branches and white
heifers. And she is sometimes depicted as driving a chariot drawn by
four white horses, representing Wind, Rain, Clouds, and Hail. (A
chariot was a two wheeled vehicle used in ancient times for racing
and fighting and a horse used to pull it).
THE HISTORICAL ASPECTS OF ANAHITA:
The first Iranian goddess of productivity, and values, ANAHITA, was
widely worshiped in ACHAEMENIAN TIMES. Achaemenian Artaxerxus II who
reigned from 404 Bc to 358 BC ordered that images of Anahita should
be erected in all the principal cities of the Persian Empire. It is
documented that many temples were also built in her honor in Susa or
Shoosh (the first Iranian federal capital), Ecbatana (city of
Hamadaan located 400 km southwest of Tehran in present-day Iran), and
in Babylon (about 110 km south of Baghdad in present-day Iraq).
Later, Anahita was widely worshiped in various parts of Armenia, Asia
Minor and the West. Armenians called out to Anahita as the “Great
Lady Anahita, Nation Glory and Life-Giver, Mother of Sobriety, and
Benefactor of Humanity.”
Anahita is not present in the earliest parts of the AVESTA; her cult
would have been alien or unfamiliar to the Henotheistic Spirit (the
devotion to a single god while accepting the existence of other gods)
of the Zarathushtra presented in the GATHAS. By the later AVESTIC
PERIOD (from about 553 BC to about AD 200) and onward, however, more
lenient Zoroastrian Clergies (in Persian: Moabedaan-e-Zartoshti) had
adapted the goddess to the new religion. The fifth Yasht, the “Hymn
to the Water”, praises Anahita as one “who hates the gods of Daevas
(in Persian: Deev-haa) or the enemies of true religion and obeys the
laws of Ahura”.
By the HELLENISTIC era (330 ? 310 BC), if not before, Anahita’s cult
came to be closely associated with that of MITHRA.
The ANAHITA TEMPLES have been built in many Iranian cities like
Kangavar, Bishapur ( an ancient city in south of present-day Faliyan)
and other places during different eras. An inscription from 200 BC
dedicates a SELEUCID temple in western Iran to “Anahita, as the
Immaculate Virgin Mother of the Lord Mithra”. The ANAHITA TEMPLE at
Kangavar city of Kermanshah (a western province in present-day Iran)
is possibly the most important one. It is speculated that the
architectural structure of this temple is a combination of the Greek
and Persian styles and
some researchers suggest that the temple is related to a girl named
Anahita, the daughter of Din Mehr, who enjoyed a very high status
with the ancient Iranians.
TODAY, DIFFERENT CONSTRUCTIONS (HOUSES, STORES, STREETS, ETC) HAVE
BEEN BUILT ON THE SURFACE OF THIS VALUABLE HISTORICAL SITE, AND ONLY
A PART OF THE TEMPLE HAS REMAINED INTACT BECAUSE IT NEIGBORS THE
MOSQUE OF IMAMZADEH (IN PERSIAN: MASJED-E-EMAAMZAADEH).