Mesopotamian or Iranian? A New Investigation on the Origin of the Goddess Anāhitā
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 9979984 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Alireza Qaderi (corresponding author) |
| Year | 2017 |
| Volume | 51 |
| Issue | 2 |
| Pages | 171-194 |
| Publication date | 2017-07-31 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Iranian Studies (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0021-0862 • E-ISSN: 1475-4819 |
| Publisher | Cambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1080/00210862.2017.1348223 |
| OpenAlex | W2739974808 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 30 |
Arədvī Sūrā Anāhitā, a popular Zoroastrian yazatā, is celebrated in Yašt 5 (Ābān Yašt). Anāhitā is mostly believed to be an Indo-Iranian or Iranian deity who has absorbed influences from the creed and iconography of Ishtar, the Mesopotamian goddess, in the course of history. The type and the degree of such influences are still under debate. The paper places this goddess into the context of ancient Western Asia. Findings are presented in two sections: in the first section, the Indo-Iranian, Iranian and western Iranian origins of Anāhitā are questioned, and in the following section two points are clarified: first, the Mesopotamian origin for Anāhitā is more consistent with historical and archaeological evidence, and second, Anāhitā is the same as Annunit/Annunitum, Sippar—Amnamum’s goddess of war and victory and the avatar of Antu, who was added to the list of his royal patron deities as a result of political and military developments early in the reign of Artaxerxes II
Ancient history · Archaeology · Context (archaeology · Creed · Iconography · Islam · Persian · Political science · Politics · Reign · Section (typography · Theology · Victory · Zoroastrianism · Ancient Near East History · Classics · Eurasian Exchange Networks · Historical, Religious, and Philosophical Studies · History · Law · Philosophy
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| Citation velocity | historical |
|---|---|
| Highly cited | No |