Iranian Studies

Ahurānῑ: Ahura’s Wives? Attributes of waters in Yasna 38 and its Zand

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

Ali Shahidi 1
Soulmaz Javadpour 2

1 Assistant Professor of Department of Ancient Iranian Culture and Languages and Iranian Studies, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran

2 PhD candidate of Ancient Iranian Culture and Languages, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran. Iran

https://doi.org/10.22059/jis.2024.382933.1310
Abstract
Yasna 38, which is the middle Yasn of the Haft (seven) Ha(t), is devoted to the praise of waters and women/goddesses. In the third and fifth paragraphs of this Yasna, some attributes are used for waters that are either unique or have a very low degree of repetition in the Avesta, and for this reason there is ambiguity about their meaning; Especially Ahurānῑ, which some have interpreted as "Ahura’s Wives". By comparing Zand of Yasna 38 and other Pahlavῑ religious texts, it seems that this text is the basis for dividing the types of water in that texts which increases the importance of its investigation. However, Zand's review does not help much to resolve the ambiguity in the meaning of this verse, because in most cases, they have repeated the Avestan word and only added a commentary to it. In some cases, the meaning or interpretation of Pahlavῑ, in terms of etymology and appearance, is not similar to the Avestan word, and it seems that there was no consensus about these words and their meaning at the time that Zand was compiled. The aim of this research was to compare the attributes and phrases expressed in the Avestan text and Zand. These words were translated and found their roots, and the extent of their adaptation was checked in two periods, and an attempt was made to answer these questions: to what extent were the interpretations of the author of Zand. How much were they loyal to the Avestan text, and to what extent has the trustworthiness of the translation been observed in their work, and to what extent have the thoughts and opinions of Sassanid Mobads in influenced this translation and interpretation.

Keywords

Avesta
Body Fluids
Haptaηhāiti
Yasna Haft Ha
Zand Yasna
Subjects
 
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https://titus.uni-frankfurt.de/indexe.html
Iranian Studies
Volume 14, Issue 3
Autumn 2024
Pages 113-130

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