Yazata
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Yazata (
Etymology
Yazata is an
As the stem form, yazata- has the
Related terms in other languages are
In scripture
The term yazata is already used in the
The Gathas also collectively invoke the yazatas without providing a clue as to which entities are being invoked, and—given the structure and language of the hymns—it is generally not possible to determine whether these yazatas are abstract concepts or are manifest entities. Amongst the lesser Yazatas being invoked by name by the poet of the Gathas are Sraosha, Ashi, Atar, Geush Tashan, Geush Urvan, Tushnamaiti, and Iza, and all of which "win mention in his hymns, it seems, because of their close association with rituals of sacrifice and worship".[5]
In the Younger Avesta, the yazatas are unambiguously divine, with divine powers though performing mundane tasks such as serving as charioteers for other yazatas. Several yazatas are given anthropomorphic attributes, such as cradling a mace or bearing a crown upon their heads, or not letting sleep interrupt their vigil against the demons.
At some point during the late 5th or early 4th century BCE, the
Although these day-name dedications are mirrored in scripture, it cannot be determined whether these day-name assignments were provoked by an antecedent list in scripture (e.g. Yasna 16), or whether the day-name dedications provoked the compilation of such lists. Relatively certain however is that the day-name dedications predate the Avesta's Siroza ("30 days"), which contain explicit references to the yazatas as protectors/guardians of their respective days of the month.
In tradition
The 9th–12th century texts of Zoroastrian tradition observe the yazatas (by then as Middle Persian yazads) in much the same way as the hymns of the Younger Avesta. In addition, in roles that are only alluded to in scripture, they assume characteristics of cosmological or eschatological consequence.
For instance,
Further, what the calendrical dedications had begun, the tradition completed: at the top of the hierarchy was Ahura Mazda, who was supported by the great heptad of Amesha Spentas (Ameshaspands/Mahraspands), through which the Creator realized ("created with his thought") the manifest universe. The Amesha Spentas in turn had hamkars, "assistants" or "cooperators", each a caretaker of one facet of creation.
In both tradition and scripture, the terms 'Amesha Spenta' and 'yazata' are sometimes used interchangeably. In general, however, 'Amesha Spenta' signifies the six divine emanations of Ahura Mazda.
Outside of the traditional yazatas, local and foreign deities may have been incorporated into local religious practice in various distant territories of the Persian Empires. This features prominently in Zoroastrian worship in Armenia, the Kushan Empire, Sogdia, China, and other regions where Zoroastrianism was practiced outside of Iran.[8]
In the present day
In the 1860s and 1870s, the linguist Martin Haug interpreted Zoroastrian scripture in Christian terms, and compared the yazatas to the angels of Christianity. In this scheme, the Amesha Spentas are the arch-angel retinue of Ahura Mazda, with the hamkars as the supporting host of lesser angels.
At the time Haug wrote his translations, the
Haug's interpretations were subsequently disseminated as Zoroastrian ones, which then eventually reached the west where they were seen to corroborate Haug. Like most of Haug's interpretations, this comparison is today so well entrenched that a gloss of 'yazata' as 'angel' is almost universally accepted; both in publications intended for a general audience[10][11] as well as in (non-philological) academic literature.[12][13]
Amongst the Muslims of Iran, Sraosha came to be "arguably the most popular of all the subordinate Yazatas", for as the angel Surush, only he (of the entire Zoroastrian pantheon) is still venerated by name.[14]
Notes
- ^ Pokorny, in his comparative dictionary on Indo-European languages, considers Yazata-, yaz-, yasna, Sanskrit yájati and yajñá, and Greek ἅγιος (hagios) all to be derivatives of a Proto-Indo-European (PIE) root i̪agʲ- (i̪ag´-) "religiös verehren"[4] ("religiously venerate"), though some, partially derivative, authorities, such as Calvert Watkins' PIE Roots appendix to The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, give no indication that Greek term is still considered a reflex of this PIE root.
See also
- Uthra-Mandaean light beings that compare to Yazata
References
- ^ Boyce 2001, p. xxi.
- ^ Geiger 1885, p. xlix.
- ^ Büchner 1934, p. 1161.
- ^ Pokorny 1930, p. I.195
- ^ Boyce 1972, p. 195.
- ^ "AMƎŠA SPƎNTA – Encyclopaedia Iranica". www.iranicaonline.org. Retrieved 2019-07-14.
- ^ Boyce 1969, p. 24.
- ISBN 978-1-444-33135-6.
- ^ "HAUG, MARTIN – Encyclopaedia Iranica". www.iranicaonline.org. Retrieved 2020-04-03.
- ^ cf. Gray 1927, p. 562.
- ^ cf. Edwards 1927, p. 21.
- ^ cf. Luhrmann 2002, p. 871.
- ^ cf. Dhalla 1914, p. 135.
- ^ Boyce 1993, p. 214.
- Bibliography
- Boyce, Mary (1969), "On Mithra's Part in Zoroastrianism", Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, 32 (1): 10–34, .
- Boyce, Mary (1972), History of Zoroastrianism, vol. I, Leiden: Brill
- Boyce, Mary (1983), "Aməša Spənta", Encyclopaedia Iranica, vol. 1, New York: Routledge & Kegan Paul.
- Boyce, Mary (1993), "Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies", Dahma Āfriti and Some Related Problems, vol. 56, pp. 209–218
- Boyce, Mary (2001), Zoroastrians: Their Religious Beliefs and Practices, London: Routledge
- Büchner, V. F. (1934), "Yazdān", in Houtsma, Martijn Theodor (ed.), Encyclopedia of Islam, vol. IV (1st ed.), Leyden: Brill.
- Dhalla, Maneckji Nusserwanji (1914), Zoroastrian Theology, New York: OUP
- Edwards, E. (1927), "Sacrifice (Iranian)", in Hastings, James (ed.), Encyclopedia of Religion and Ethics, vol. XI, Edinburgh: T & T Clark
- Geiger, Wilhelm (1885), Civilization of the Eastern Iranians in Ancient Times, Oxford: OUP/H. Frowde
- Gray, Louis H. (1927), "Jews in Zoroastrianism", in Hastings, James (ed.), Encyclopedia of Religion and Ethics, vol. VII, Edinburgh: T & T Clark
- Luhrmann, T. M. (2002), "Evil in the Sands of Time: Theology and Identity Politics among the Zoroastrian Parsis", The Journal of Asian Studies, 61 (3): 861–889, doi:10.2307/3096349
- Maneck, Susan Stiles (1997), The Death of Ahriman: Culture, Identity and Theological Change Among the Parsis of India, Bombay: K. R. Cama Oriental Institute
- Pokorny, J. (1930), Vergleichendes Wörterbuch der Indogermanischen Sprachen (Comparative Dictionary of the Indo-European Languages), vol. I, Berlin/Leipzig: Walter De Gruyter.
- Watkins, Calvert (2000), "Appendix: PIE Roots", The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (4th ed.), New York: Houghton Mifflin.
Further reading
- Peterson, Joseph H. (June 4, 2003), Angels in Zoroastrianism, Herndon: avesta.org
External links
- Media related to Yazatas at Wikimedia Commons