Amshaspand

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The Amschaspand ( Avestisch : Ameša Spenta ) are in the religion of Zarathustra the six immortal sages, the seven highest spirits in the realm of light, who stand by Ahura Mazda in the fight against Ahriman . According to some followers of Zarathustra, they are pure allegories and are often invoked, especially the last two, as goods which Ahura Mazdā is asked to give to the pious.

In the hymns of Zarathustra, the Gathas , they appear as the essential qualities of Ahura Mazda. In the course of later epochs there was an increasing personification of these characteristics, so that they finally appeared as deities. In Yasna 45.4 Zarathustra appears as the "father" of Ameša Spenta.

They are partly represented with the following terms: virtue , truthfulness , domination or possession , good disposition , humility or wisdom , maturity, health and longevity or immortality .

This is followed by the six Ameša Spenta, which in the Avesta are partly Ahura Mazda, partly Spenta Mainyu and partly Sraoša. The first entry in each case gives the Avestan, the second the neo-Persian and the third a German translation.

  1. Vohu manah, Bahman: Good thought
  2. Aša vahišta, Ordibehešt: Best Truthfulness / Righteousness
  3. Xšathra vairya, Šahrivar: domination
  4. Spenta armaiti, Esfand: Holy Thought, Holy Humility / Piety
  5. Haurvatat, Ḫordad: maturity, wholeness
  6. Ameretat, Amordad: Immortality

The six Ameša Spentas mentioned refer to six months of the year in today's Iranian calendar .

literature

  • The Zend Avesta. Ulrich Hannemann (Ed.), Weißensee-Verlag, Berlin 2011, ISBN 3-899-98199-5
  • Encyclopaedia of Ancient Iran . Hashem-e Razi, Tehran, Sokhan, 2002.
  • Avesta. Translation of the text . Jalil Doostkhah. Morvarid, 1996.
  • A Concise Pahlavi Dictionary . DN MacKenzie. Routledge Curzon, 2005.
  • Gatha. The heavenly chants of Zoroaster . Translation. A Madjderey. 2000.

See also

Web links