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Airyanem Vaejah
(; ; ; , 'the Arya Expanse') is considered in Zoroastrianism to be the homeland of the early Iranians and the place where Zarathustra received the religion from Ahura Mazda. The Avesta also names it as the first of the "sixteen perfect lands" that Ahura Mazda created for the Iranians. Based on these descriptions, modern scholarship initially focused on ''Airyanem Vaejah'' in an attempt to determine the homeland of the Iranians or Indo-Iranians in general. Among these early attempts, the region of Khwarezm emerged as a likely locale. More recent scholarship, however, no longer agrees as to where ''Airyanem Vaejah'' might have been located or to what extent it is a mythological rather than a specific historical place. Etymology and related words The Avestan and the Middle Persian are compound terms, where the first part is the adjective or genitive plural of Arya (, ; , ), respectively. This term also appears in Vedic Sanskrit as the self designation of the people of t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Arya (Iran)
Arya (, ; , ; , ; , ; , ) was the ethnonym used by Iranians during the early History of Iran. In contrast to cognates of Arya used by the Vedic people and Iranic steppe nomads, the term is commonly translated using the modern ethnonym Iranian. During Old Iranian times, the term was connected with one's lineage, with speaking an Iranian language and with the worship of Ahura Mazda. Being an Arya, therefore, had ethnic, linguistic and religious aspects. During the Middle Iranian period, it acquired a distinct political aspect through the concept of Eran Shahr (''Aryas' dominion''). Arya was also contrasted with Anarya (, ; , ), denoting non-Iranian lands and peoples. After the Islamic conquest of Iran, the ethnonym fell out of use, but the term Eran experienced a revival during the Iranian Renaissance, now as a toponym for Greater Iran. The modern ethnonym Iranian is a back-formation from the toponym Eran, itself a back-formation from the older Arya. Origin and deline ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mihr Yasht
The Mihr Yasht is the tenth Yasht of the 21 Yasht collection and is dedicated to the veneration of Mithra. It belongs to the so called ''Great Yashts'' and, with 145 stanzas, it is one of the longest in the collection. Overview The Mihr Yasht is named after Mithra, whose name in Middle Persian became mihr. Mithra is the Zoroastrian divinity associated with oaths, contracts and the Sun. The Mihr Yasht is the hymn of the sixteenth day of the month in the Zoroastrian calendar. It has 145 stanzas and belongs to the so called ''Great Yashts''. This term refers to the longer Yashts, which are often considered to be older and more important. Within this group, the Mihr Yasht is sometimes grouped together with Yashts 8, 13 and 14, into the hymnic group. Some parts of the Yasht have been incorporated into the Mihr Niyayishn, the second prayer from the Niyayishn collection, which is also dedicated to Mithra. History Mithra, the Zoroastrian divinity being praised in the Mihr Yasht, is r ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mantra (Zoroastrianism)
A or (, ) is a Zoroastrian prayer, prayer, sacred formula or inspired utterance considered in Zoroastrianism to have spiritual power. Their use already goes back to Zarathustra who described himself in his Gatha (Zoroaster), Gathas as a knower of manthras. Zoroastrian manthras are etymologically and functionally related to the Mantra, mantras known from the Dharmic religions, Indian tradition. However, they are not derived from Historical Vedic religion, Vedic mantras, but represent an independent, parallel development. Etymology Both Avestan wiktionary:𐬨𐬄𐬚𐬭𐬀#Avestan, 𐬨𐬄𐬚𐬭𐬀 () and Vedic wiktionary:मन्त्र#Sanskrit, मन्त्र () go back to a common, Proto-Indo-Iranian language, Proto-Indo-Iranian wiktionary:Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-Iranian/mántram, *mantram, which in turn is derived from the reconstructed Proto-Indo-European language, Proto-Indo-European verb wiktionary:Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/men-, *men (to think) ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Barsom
A barsom is a ritual implement used by Zoroastrian priests to solemnize certain sacred ceremonies. The word ''barsom'' derives from the Avestan language ''baresman'' (trisyllabic, '), which is in turn a substantive of ''barez'' "to grow high.". The later form – ''barsom'' – first appears in the 9th–12th-century texts of Zoroastrian tradition, and remains in use to the present day. The ''baresman'' is not related to the ''baresnum'', which is a purification ceremony. The ''baresman'' should also not be confused with the "mace", the ''varza'' (Avestan, MP ''gurz''). The ''varza'' is a metal rod, about one centimeter in thickness, often crowned with a bull's head. It has been suggested that the ''baresman'' may have a Zagrosian origin.. Physical characteristics Material In present-day use, the ''barsom'' is a bundle of short metal wires or rods, each about 20 cm in length. and made of brass or silver. The use of metal wires or rods is a relatively rece ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Haoma
(; Avestan: ) is a divine plant in Zoroastrianism and in later Persian culture and Persian mythology, mythology. has its origins in Indo-Iranian religion and is the cognate of Vedas, Vedic . Etymology Both Avestan and Sanskrit derived from Proto-Indo-Iranian language, proto-Indo-Iranian *. The root of the word , , and of , , suggests 'press' or 'pound'. In Old Persian cuneiform it was known as , as in the DNa inscription (c. 490 BC) which makes reference to "''haoma''-drinking Scythians" (). The Middle Persian form of the name is , which continues to be the name in Modern Persian language, Persian and other living Iranian languages (). As a plant In the Avesta The physical attributes, as described in the texts of the Avesta, include: * the plant has stems, roots and branches ( 10.5). * it has a plant ( 9.16). The term is only used in conjunction with a description of , and does not have an established translation. It refers to 'twigs' according to Dieter Taillieu, 'stalk ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Anahita
Anahita is the Old Persian form of the name of an Iranian goddess and appears in complete and earlier form as ('), 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 is ''Ardwisur Anahid'' (اردویسور آناهید) in Middle and Modern Persian, and '' Anahit'' in Armenian. An iconic shrine sects of Aredvi Sura Anahita was, together with other shrine sects, "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) 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 R ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Yasht
A Yasht (, ) is a hymn of praise composed in the Young Avestan language and dedicated to specific Zoroastrian divinities. The term commonly applies to the collection of 21 Yashts, although it may also refer to other texts within the wider Avesta collection. Name The English word ''yasht'' is derived from Middle Persian 𐭩𐭱𐭲 (, "prayer, worship"). In the Pahlavi literature, the word is used interchangeably with ''yasn''. Yasht probably originated from Avestan 𐬫𐬀𐬱𐬙𐬀 (, "honored") from 𐬫𐬀𐬰 (, "to worship, honor"). It may ultimately go back to Proto-Indo-European ''*yeh₂ǵ-'' or ''*Hyaǵ-''. Avestan 𐬫𐬀𐬱𐬙𐬀 is also the origin of two other terms. First, Avestan 𐬫𐬀𐬯𐬥𐬀 (, act of worship), which is a general Zoroastrian term for an act of worship or specifically the Yasna ritual, and, second, Avestan 𐬫𐬀𐬰𐬀𐬙𐬀 (, (being) worthy of worship), which is a general Zoroastrian term for divinity. The ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Vendidad
The Vendidad /ˈvendi'dæd/, also known as Videvdat, Videvdad or Juddēvdād, is a collection of texts within the greater compendium of the Avesta. However, unlike the other texts of the Avesta, the ''Vendidad'' is an ecclesiastical code, not a liturgical manual. Name The name of the texts is a contraction of the Avestan language ''Vî-Daêvô-Dāta'', "Given Against the ''Daeva''s (Demons)", and as the name suggests, the ''Vendidad'' is an enumeration of various manifestations of evil spirits, and ways to confound them. According to the Denkard, a 9th-century text, the ''Vendidad'' includes all of the ''Juddēvdād nask'' of the Sasanian Avesta. This makes it the only nask that has survived in its entirety. Content The ''Vendidad'''s different parts vary widely in character and in age. Although some portions are relatively recent in origin, the subject matter of the greater part is very old. In 1877, Karl Friedrich Geldner identified the texts as being linguistically disti ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sasanian Empire
The Sasanian Empire (), officially Eranshahr ( , "Empire of the Iranian peoples, Iranians"), was an List of monarchs of Iran, Iranian empire that was founded and ruled by the House of Sasan from 224 to 651. Enduring for over four centuries, the length of the Sasanian dynasty's reign over ancient Iran was second only to the directly preceding Arsacid dynasty of Parthia. Founded by Ardashir I, whose rise coincided with the decline of Arsacid influence in the face of both internal and external strife, the House of Sasan was highly determined to restore the legacy of the Achaemenid Empire by expanding and consolidating the Iranian nation's dominions. Most notably, after defeating Artabanus IV of Parthia during the Battle of Hormozdgan in 224, it began competing far more zealously with the neighbouring Roman Empire than the Arsacids had, thus sparking a new phase of the Roman–Iranian Wars. This effort by Ardashir's dynasty ultimately re-established Iran as a major power of late an ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Old Iranian
The Iranian languages, also called the Iranic languages, are a branch of the Indo-Iranian languages in the Indo-European language family that are spoken natively by the Iranian peoples, predominantly in the Iranian Plateau. The Iranian languages are grouped in three stages: Old Iranian (until 400 BCE), Middle Iranian (400 BCE – 900 CE) and New Iranian (since 900 CE). The two directly attested Old Iranian languages are Old Persian (from the Achaemenid Empire) and Old Avestan (the language of the Avesta). Of the Middle Iranian languages, the better understood and recorded ones are Middle Persian (from the Sasanian Empire), Parthian (from the Parthian Empire), and Bactrian (from the Kushan and Hephthalite empires). Number of speakers , ''Ethnologue'' estimates that there are 86 languages in the group. Terminology and grouping Etymology The term ''Iran'' derives directly from Middle Persian , first attested in a third-century inscription at Naqsh-e Rostam, with the ac ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Iran (word)
In Modern Persian, the word () derives immediately from 3rd-century Middle Persian (), initially meaning "of the Aryans" before acquiring a geographical connotation as a reference to the lands inhabited by the Aryans. In both the geographic and demonymic senses, ' is distinguished from the antonymic , literally meaning "non-Iran" (i.e., non-Aryan)... In the geographic sense, ' was also distinguished from ', which was the preferred endonym of the Sasanian Empire, notwithstanding the fact that it included lands that were not primarily inhabited by the various Iranic peoples. The term ''Iranian'' appears in ancient texts with diverse variations. This includes ''Arioi'' (Herodotus), '' Arianē'' (Eratosthenes apud Strabo), ''áreion'' ( Eudemus of Rhodes apud Damascius), ''Arianoi'' (Diodorus Siculus) in Greek and ''Ari'' in Armenian; those, in turn, come from the Iranian forms: ''ariya'' in Old Persian, ''airya'' in Avestan, ''ariao'' in Bactrian, ''ary'' in Parthian and '' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Persian Language
Persian ( ), also known by its endonym and exonym, endonym Farsi (, Fārsī ), is a Western Iranian languages, Western Iranian language belonging to the Iranian languages, Iranian branch of the Indo-Iranian languages, Indo-Iranian subdivision of the Indo-European languages. Persian is a pluricentric language predominantly spoken and used officially within Iran, Afghanistan, and Tajikistan in three mutual intelligibility, mutually intelligible standard language, standard varieties, respectively Iranian Persian (officially known as ''Persian''), Dari, Dari Persian (officially known as ''Dari'' since 1964), and Tajik language, Tajiki Persian (officially known as ''Tajik'' since 1999).Siddikzoda, S. "Tajik Language: Farsi or not Farsi?" in ''Media Insight Central Asia #27'', August 2002. It is also spoken natively in the Tajik variety by a significant population within Uzbekistan, as well as within other regions with a Persianate society, Persianate history in the cultural sphere o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
