The Avestan language noun haurvatat is grammatically feminine and in scripture the divinity Haurvatat is a female entity. However, in tradition (K)Hordad was/is considered male; this development is attributed to the loss of grammatical gender in Middle Persian. In Isis and Osiris 46, Plutarch translates Haurvatat as Πλοῦτος ploutos "wealth, riches" and equates the divinity with "Plutus," the Greek god of riches.
Scripture
Gathas
Like the other Amesha Spentas also, Haurvatat is already attested in the Gathas, the oldest texts of the Zoroastrianism and considered to have been composed by Zoroaster himself. And like most other principles, Haurvatat is not unambiguously an entity in those hymns. Unlike four of the other Amesha Spentas, Haurvatat does not have a standing epithet that in later Avesta texts becomes an element of her proper name.
Already in the Gathas, Haurvatat is closely allied with Ameretat, the Amesha Spenta of "Immortality". Addressing Ahura Mazda in Yasna 34.11, the prophet Zoroaster exclaims that "both Wholeness and Immortality are for sustenance" in the Kingdom of God. In the same verse, as also in Yasna 45.10 and 51.7, parallels are drawn between Ameretat and Haurvatat on the one hand and "endurance and strength" on the other.
Younger Avesta
The relationship between Ameretat and Haurvatat is carries forward into the Younger Avesta (Yasna 1.2; 3.1; 4.1; 6.17; 7.26; 8.1 etc.; Yasht 1.15; 10.92). The Younger Avestan texts allude to their respective guardianships of plant life and water (comparable with the Gathic allusion to sustenence), but these identifications are only properly developed in later tradition (see below). These associations with also reflect the Zoroastrian cosmological model in which each of the Amesha Spentas is identified with one aspect of creation.
The antithetical counterpart of Haurvatat is demon (daeva) Tarshna "thirst," while Ameretat's is Shud "hunger." Ameretat and Haurvatat are the only two Amesha Spentas who are not already assigned an antithetical counterpart in the Gathas. In the eschatological framework of Yasht 1.25, Ameretat and Haurvatat represent the reward of the righteous after death (cf.Ashi and ashavan). Haurvatat and Ameretat will destroy the demons of hunger and thirst at the final renovation of the world (Yasht 19.95-96).
Unlike Ameretat, Haurvatat has a Yasht consecrated to her (Yasht 4), and is invoked as the protector of the seasons and years (Yasht 4.0, Siroza 1.6, 2.6). In Yasht 4.1, Haurvatat is described as having been created by Ahura Mazda for "the help, joy, comfort, and pleasure of the ashavan." The righteous can put demons to flight by invoking the name of Haurvatat (Yasht 4.2). In Yasht 4.4, Haurvatat is implored to give mankind the power to withstand the seductive attacks of the Pairikas, the devilish sprites of Angra Mainyu.
Tradition
Through the association with plants and water, Ameretat (MP: Amurdad) and Haurvatat (MP: Hordad) are consequently identified with food and drink (cf. sustenance in the Gathas, above), and traditionally it was out of respect for these two Amesha Spentas (MP: Ameshaspand) that meals were to be taken in silence. In Book of Arda Viraf 23.6–8, the righteous Viraz sees a man punished in hell "for consuming Hordad and Amurdad while unlawfully chattering while he chewed."
In the Bundahishn, a Zoroastrian account of creation completed in the 12th century, Ameretat and Haurvatat appear—together with Spenta Armaiti (MP: Spendarmad), the third female Amesha Spenta—on the left hand of Ahura Mazda (Bundahishn 26.8). Throughout Zoroastrian scripture and tradition, these three principles are most consistently identified with the creations that they represent: respectively plant life, water, and earth. In Arda Viraf 35.13, the three daughters of Zoroaster are described to be in the image of Armaiti, Ameretat, and Haurvatat.
In the hierarchy of yazatas, Haurvatat has as her assistants or cooperators (hamkars) three lesser yazatas: Vata-Vayu of the wind and atmosphere, Manthra Spenta of "bountiful spells" and the Fravashis, the hordes of guardian spirits.
In the day-name and month-name dedications of the Zoroastrian calendar (that makes the basis for the Jalali calendar), the sixth day of the month and third month of the year are named after Haurvatat/Hordad/Khordad/Xordad and are under her protection. The Iranian civil calendar of 1925 reinstated Zoroastrian month-name conventions and hence also has Khordad as the third month of the year, beginning at May 22 (21. in leap years). This calendar is thus the one with which western astrology is most accurately corresponding. Khordad confers exactly with Gemini, the passage of the sun through the ecliptical segment of 60 - 90 degrees from vernal equinox.
Religiosity
Haurvatat-Ameretat (Pahlavihrwdʼdʼmwrdʼd) appears in Sogdian language texts as hrwwt mrwwt.[citation needed] A relationship to Armenianhawrotmawrot has been suggested but is not confirmed.[citation needed] According to Islam tradition, Al-Quran mentions two Angels sent to Babil (Babylon) named Harut and Marut, to test people faith because they teach witchcraft and sorcery. These entities stated that they were sent to test the faith of the people before teaching them.
Bibliography
Boyce, Mary (1975), History of Zoroastrianism, vol.1, Leiden: Brill, pp.205–208
Boyce, Mary (1983), "Amurdād", Encyclopaedia Iranica, vol.1, New York: Routledge & Kegan Paul, pp.997–998
Dhalla, Maneckji N. (1938), History of Zoroastrianism, New York: OUP, pp.171–172
Panaino, Antonio (2004), "Hordād", Encyclopaedia Iranica, vol.12, Costa Mesa: Mazda, archived from the original on 2007-10-06, retrieved 2007-07-20
Angra Mainyu or Ahriman is the Avestan name of Zoroastrianism's hypostasis of the "destructive/evil spirit" and the main adversary in Zoroastrianism either of the Spenta Mainyu, the "holy/creative spirits/mentality", or directly of Ahura Mazda, the highest deity of Zoroastrianism. The Middle Persian equivalent is Ahriman 𐭠𐭧𐭫𐭬𐭭𐭩. The name can appear in English-language works as Ahrimanes.
Atar, Atash, Azar or Dāštāɣni, is the Zoroastrian concept of holy fire, sometimes described in abstract terms as "burning and unburning fire" or "visible and invisible fire". It is considered to be the visible presence of Ahura Mazda and his Asha through the eponymous Yazata. The rituals for purifying a fire are performed 1,128 times a year.
Saoshyant is an Avestan-language term that literally means "one who brings benefit", and which is used in several different ways in Zoroastrian scripture and tradition. In particular, the expression is the proper name of the Saoshyant, an eschatological saviour figure who brings about Frashokereti, the final renovation of the world in which evil is finally destroyed. The term was contracted to Soshans in Zoroastrian tradition and came to apply to three saviour figures that were prophesied to progressively bring about the final renovation.
Yasna is the Avestan name of Zoroastrianism's principal act of worship. It is also the name of the primary liturgical collection of Avesta texts, recited during that yasna ceremony.
In Zoroastrianism, the Amesha Spenta are a class of seven divine entities emanating from Ahura Mazda, the highest divinity of the religion. Later Middle Persian variations of the term include the contraction 'Ameshaspand' as well as the specifically Zoroastrian 'Mahraspand' and 'Amahraspand'.
A daeva is a Zoroastrian supernatural entity with disagreeable characteristics. In the Gathas, the oldest texts of the Zoroastrian canon, the daevas are "gods that are rejected". This meaning is – subject to interpretation – perhaps also evident in the Old Persian "daiva inscription" of the 5th century BCE. In the Younger Avesta, the daeva's are divinities that promote chaos and disorder. In later tradition and folklore, the dēws are personifications of every imaginable evil. Over time, the Daeva myth as Div became integrated to islam.
Yazata is the Avestan word for a Zoroastrian concept with a wide range of meanings but generally signifying a divinity. The term literally means "worthy of worship or veneration", and is thus, in this more general sense, also applied to certain healing plants, primordial creatures, the fravashis of the dead, and to certain prayers that are themselves considered holy. The yazatas collectively are "the good powers under Ahura Mazda", who is "the greatest of the yazatas".
Sraosha, is the Avestan name of the Zoroastrian yazata of "Conscience" and "Observance", which is also the literal meaning of his name.
Fravashi is the Avestan term for the Zoroastrian concept of a personal spirit of an individual, whether dead, living, or yet-unborn. The fravashi of an individual sends out the urvan into the material world to fight the battle of good versus evil. On the morning of the fourth day after death, the urvan returns to its fravashi, where its experiences in the material world are collected to assist the next generation in their fight between good and evil.
Ahuna Vairya is the first of Zoroastrianism's four Gathic Avestan mantras. The text, which appears in Yasna 27.13, is also known after its opening words yatha ahu vairyo. In Zoroastrian tradition, the mantra is also known as the ahun(a)war.
Zam is the Avestan language term for the Zoroastrian concept of "earth", in both the sense of land and soil and in the sense of the world. The earth is viewed as a primordial element in Zoroastrian tradition, and represented by a minor divinity, Zam, who is the hypostasis of the "earth". The word itself, changed to Zamin in Modern Persian, is cognate to the Baltic Zemes, Slavic Zem, Serbian Zemlja, Greco-Thracian Semele, meaning the planet Earth, as well as soil.
Dahman or Dahman Afrin is the Avestan language name of a Zoroastrian concept, later considered to be the embodiment of prayer, and ultimately (also) as a divinity, one of the yazatas.
Apas is the Avestan language term for "the waters", which, in its innumerable aggregate states, is represented by the Apas, the hypostases of the waters.
Asha or arta is a Zoroastrian concept with a complex and highly nuanced range of meaning. It is commonly summarized in accord with its contextual implications of 'truth' and 'right', 'order' and 'right working'. It is of cardinal importance to Zoroastrian theology and doctrine. In the moral sphere, aṣ̌a/arta represents what has been called "the decisive confessional concept of Zoroastrianism". The opposite of Avestan aṣ̌a is 𐬛𐬭𐬎𐬘 druj, "deceit, falsehood".
Ahurani is the Avestan language name of a Zoroastrian divinity associated with "the waters" (āpō). In scripture, the expression ahurani appears both in the singular and in the plural, and may - subject to context - either denote a specific divinity named Ahurani, or a class of divinities that are ahuranis.
Aka Manah is the Avestan language name for the Zoroastrian daeva "Evil Mind", "Evil Purpose", "Evil Thinking", or "Evil Intention". Aka Manah also known as Akoman in Middle Persian and Akvan in New Persian, represents the malevolent force of sensual desire that was sent by Ahriman to seduce the prophet Zoroaster. His eternal opponent is Vohu Manah. Aka Manah is the hypostatic abstraction of accusative akem manah, "manah made evil". The objectification of this malign influence is the demon Aka/Akem Manah, who appears in later texts as Middle Persian Akoman and New Persian Akvan.
Ameretat is the Avestan language name of the Zoroastrian divinity/divine concept of immortality. Amerdad is the Amesha Spenta of long life on earth and perpetuality in the hereafter.
In the Avesta, airyaman is both an Avestan language common noun and the proper name of a Zoroastrian divinity.
This is an alphabetical list of topics related to Zoroastrianism. This list is not complete, please add more to it as needed.
The Yenghe hatam is one of the four major mantras, and one of the most important prayers in Zoroastrianism. It is interpreted as a call to pray specifically to the Amesha Spentas, or generally to all Zoroastrian divinities.
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