. This is an eschatological identification, and in the liturgy recited on the third day after death she is invoked with Rashnu, Sraosha "Obedience" and
Mithra
Mithra ( ; ) is an ancient Iranian deity ('' yazata'') of covenants, light, oaths, justice, the Sun, contracts, and friendship. In addition to being the divinity of contracts, Mithra is also a judicial figure, an all-seeing protector of Truth ( ...
"Covenant", together the three guardians of the
Chinvat bridge.
[.]
In ''Sirozeh'' 1.26 and 2.26,
[.] Arshtat is invoked as the divinity presiding over the 26th day of the month (cf.
Zoroastrian calendar
Adherents of Zoroastrianism use three distinct versions of traditional calendars for Zoroastrian festivals, liturgical purposes. Those all derive from Middle Ages, medieval Iranian calendars and ultimately are based on the Babylonian calendar a ...
). Both verses associate her with the mythical Mount Ushidarena
the "keeper of intelligence" that in Zoroastrian tradition is where
Zoroaster
Zarathushtra Spitama, more commonly known as Zoroaster or Zarathustra, was an Iranian peoples, Iranian religious reformer who challenged the tenets of the contemporary Ancient Iranian religion, becoming the spiritual founder of Zoroastrianism ...
spent his years in isolation. ''Yasna'' 16.6 states the 26th day of the month is sacred to her.
Arshtat is once (''Visperad'' 7.2) identified with
Daena[.] (generally translated as "Religion").
In tradition
Arshtat's eschatological role is carried forward into the 9th–14th century texts of Zoroastrian tradition, where she appears as
Middle Persian
Middle Persian, also known by its endonym Pārsīk or Pārsīg ( Inscriptional Pahlavi script: , Manichaean script: , Avestan script: ) in its later form, is a Western Middle Iranian language which became the literary language of the Sasania ...
''Ashtad''.
Arshtat is an assayer of deeds at the
Chinvat bridge, the bridge of judgement that all souls must cross. in ''
Bundahishn
The ''Bundahishn'' (Middle Persian: , "Primal Creation") is an encyclopedic collection of beliefs about Zoroastrian cosmology written in the Book Pahlavi script. The original name of the work is not known. It is one of the most important extant ...
'' (37.10–14), Arshtat plays this role together with the
Amesha Spenta
In Zoroastrianism, the Amesha Spenta (—literally "Immortal (which is) holy/bounteous/furthering") are a class of seven divine entities emanating from Ahura Mazda, the highest divinity of the religion. Later Middle Persian variations of the ter ...
Ameretat
() is the Avestan language name of the Zoroastrianism, Zoroastrian divinity/divine concept of immortality. Amerdad is the Amesha Spenta of long life on earth and perpetuality in the hereafter.
The word ' is grammatically feminine and the divini ...
, of whom Arshtat is a ''hamkar'' "co-operator"; and in the ''
Book of Arda Wiraz'' (5.3), she stands there with
Mithra
Mithra ( ; ) is an ancient Iranian deity ('' yazata'') of covenants, light, oaths, justice, the Sun, contracts, and friendship. In addition to being the divinity of contracts, Mithra is also a judicial figure, an all-seeing protector of Truth ( ...
,
Rashnu
Rashnu () is the Avestan language name of the Zoroastrian ''yazata'' of justice. Together with Mithra and Sraosha, Rashnu is one of the three judges who pass judgment on the souls of people after death. Rashnu's standard appellation is "the very ...
,
Vayu-Vata
Vāyu-Vāta or ''Vāta-Vāyu'' (International Phonetic Alphabet, IPA: ) is the Avestan language name of a dual-natured Zoroastrianism, Zoroastrian divinity of the wind (Vayu) and of the atmosphere (Vata). The names are also used independently of ...
, and
Verethragna
Verethragna or Bahram () is a Zoroastrian yazata.
The neuter noun ''verethragna'' is related to Avestan ''verethra'', 'obstacle' and ''verethragnan'', 'victorious'. Representing this concept is the divinity Verethragna, who is the Hypostasis ( ...
.
In the apocalyptic ''Zand-i Wahman yasn'' (7.19-20), Arshtat—together with Nairyosangha, Mithra, Rashnu, Verethregna,
Sraosha and a personified
Khwarenah—assists the hero
Peshyotan.
References
Bibliography
* (fasc., 1979, Berlin: de Gruyter)
*
*
*: 826
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{{Zoroastrian Calendar
Yazatas