Author: Kamran Kashiri/ Photo by: National Museum of Iran
When the world, created by the wise lord Ahura Mazda, was still intact and free from Ahriman’s malice, the earth was enclosed like the yolk at the heart of an egg by the sky, its shell, and half of the earth was covered by water, like the white surrounding the yolk. When the evil spirit Ahriman attacked the Earth and broke the sky, his malicious creatures, the Khrafstars, polluted the water and the soil. The force of Ahriman’s impact on the earth caused the mountains to rise up and valleys were formed between them. Ahriman’s victory over Ahura Mazda seemed decisive.
But this was only the beginning. Ahura Mazda’s creatures responded in kind and a great battle began. Each creature attacked its nemesis. The angel Tishtar (Tishtrya) created a deluge and washed all of Ahriman’s evil creatures into the sea; because of this the water, once fresh and pure, turned salty and bitter – just like seawater today.
But since there were now mountains and valleys on the earth, from the deluge, streams, currents and rivers came into being – fresh waters that could sustain and keep life. And, since each heavenly creation should have a guardian, Ahura Mazda made Anahita the keeper of fresh waters and streams.
Anahita: Deeds and Duties
Anahita, in the Avestan language, means clean, without pollution, pure. In the Avesta, the sacred book of the Zoroastrians, a long and beautiful hymn, ‘Aban Yasht’, is dedicated to her. She is called ‘the owner of a thousand lakes and a thousand rivers, each as long as the 40-day journey of a fast horse rider’. She cleans all polluted and impure waters, even the seed of men and wombs of women. Such is the glory of Anahita that Ahura Mazda himself regards her as one of his most powerful companions.
In ‘Aban Yasht’, a detailed description of Anahita’s appearance is provided: she is tall and beautiful, with light skin and shoulders as strong and broad as a horse. Dressed in gold and jewellery, she wears a crown made of a hundred stars and has a chariot led by four purebred white steeds: rain, hail, cloud and wind. Her mansions, which are found by lakes and rivers, are decorated with a thousand shining windows and a thousand well-sculpted columns; each mansion is elevated on a thousand pillars.
So great is the might of Anahita that all of ancient Iran’s mythical figures and heroes pay tribute to her in order that their wishes be answered; each brings to her a hundred horses, a thousand cattle and ten thousand sheep…
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