Ahura Mazda
The creator god of Zoroastrianism, the force for good and the opponent of Ahriman; also called Ormazd. The name is Avestan, and means literally ‘wise deity’.
Aryan
A group of Indo-European speaking people who spread through Iran and N. India in the early 2nd millenium bce. This is the so-called Aryan invasion.
Pahlavi texts
The Zoroastrian sacred book, the Avesta, was translated into the Middle Iranian or Pahlavi language from the no- longer-understood older Avestan language beginning in about 250 c.e. These ...
Roman mythology
As Greek mythology cannot be separated from its background of indigenous pre-Greek cultures, Roman mythology is intricately influenced by ancient Italic cultures, especially those of other Latin ...
soma
An intoxicating drink prepared from a plant and used in Vedic ritual, believed to be the drink of the gods.
Varuna
In Hinduism, one of the gods in the Rig Veda. Originally the sovereign lord of the universe and guardian of cosmic law, he is known in later Hinduism as god of the waters.
Yasht
Yashts (Yásts) are hymns in the Zoroastrian (see Zoroastrianism) Avesta (see Avesta), containing much of what is known of Iranian mythology.
Yasna
In the Zoroastrian sacred book of Iran, the Avesta, the Yasna is the collection of the seventeen “songs” (gathas) of Zoroaster and other, longer hymns. The Yasna is the part of the Avesta used during ...
Zend-Avesta
The Zoroastrian sacred writings, comprising the Avesta (the text) and Zend (the commentary).
Zoroaster
(c. 628–c. 551 bc),Persian prophet and founder of Zoroastrianism; Avestan name Zarathustra. Little is known of his life, but traditionally he was born in Persia and began to preach the tenets of what ...
Zoroastrian Cosmogony
Several stories of creation exist in the Iranian tradition. One story tells how Yima (see Yima), the primal man, king of the Golden Age, and later a solar deity, pierced the Earth with a golden ...
Zoroastrianism
Iranian religion derived from the teachings of Zoroaster (Zarathustra) (probably early-second millennium bc), which still has devotees (e.g. the Parsees of India). The most important architectural ...
