Ameretat
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Amerdad (Avestan: 𐬀𐬨𐬆𐬭𐬆𐬙𐬁𐬙 Amərətāt) is the
The word amərətāt is grammatically feminine and the divinity Amerdad is a female entity. Etymologically, Avestan amərətāt derives from an Indo-Iranian root and is linguistically related to Vedic Sanskrit amṛtatva. In
In scripture
In the Gathas
Like the other
Already in the Gathas, Ameretat is closely allied with Haurvatat, the Amesha Spenta of "Wholeness" and health. 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.
In the Younger Avesta
The relationship between Ameretat and Haurvatat is carried 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 Ameretat is the demon (daeva) Shud "hunger", while Haurvatat's counterpart is Tarshna "thirst". 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).
In tradition
In the
According to the cosmological legends of the Bundahishn, when
In the calendrical dedication of Siroza 1.7, Ameretat is invoked on the seventh day of each month together with the Gaokarena (the "White Haoma"). This Younger Avestan allusion to immortality is properly developed in Bundahishn 27.2, where White Haoma is considered to be the "death-dispelling chief of plants." From this White Haoma, the ambrosia of immortality will be prepared for the final renovation of the world (Bd. 19.13; 30.25). Other chapters have the nectar being created from Ameretat herself (e.g. Bd. 26.113).
According to the Denkard's recollection of lost Avestan texts, Zoroaster's tan-gohr, his material self, was under the protection of Ameretat and Haurvatat up until the prophet's conception. The divinities caused the rains to nourish the grass, which six white cows then ate. Upon drinking the milk from those cows, Zoroaster's mother absorbed his tan-gohr. (Denkard 7.2.19 ff)
Through the association with plants and water, Ameretat and Haurvatat 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 that meals were to be taken in silence. In Book of Arda Viraz 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 hierarchy of
In the day-name and month-name dedications of the
In other religions
Haurvatat-Ameretat (
Bibliography
- 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