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Anāhiti, also called Anāhitā, ancient Iranian goddess of royalty, war, and fertility; she is particularly associated with the last. Possibly of Mesopotamian origin, her cult was made prominent by Artaxerxes II, and statues and temples were set up in her honour throughout the Persian empire. A common cult of the various peoples of the empire at that time, it persisted in Asia Minor long afterward. In the Avesta she is called Ardvī Sūrā Anāhitā (“Damp, Strong, Untainted”); this seems to be an amalgam of two originally separate deities. In Greece Anāhiti was identified with Athena and Artemis.
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ancient Iranian religion: AnāhitiOne of the longest Avestan
Yashts is to the powerful goddess whose full name is given as Ardvī Sūrā Anāhitā, literally “the damp, strong, untainted.” In fact, the long name seems to combine two originally separate names and, hence, two individual deities, Ardvī Sūrā…
ancient Iran: Zoroastrianism…as Verethraghna (Wahrām), Mithra, and Anāhitā (Anāhīd) were still associated with the names of fire temples or classes of fires. Divine names were also used to designate the 30 days of each month and of the 12 months of the year, plus five epact days, called
gahānīg, to align the…
Zoroastrianism: The reformation of Zarathustra…Auramazda, Mithra and the goddess Anahita (Anahit), which proves only a change of emphasis, not the appearance of new deities.…