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Anahita, Mother of Deity in Ancient Iran

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  • Anahita, Mother of Deity in Ancient Iran

    Persian Journal, Iran
    Nov. 3, 2004

    Anahita, Mother of Deity in Ancient Iran
    Nov 3, 2004, 14:15
    Iranchamber


    Mutual love between mother and child is an instinct found in almost all
    living creatures, even the very primitive species. This instinct is all
    the more prominent in human being, the most sophisticated of creatures,
    expanding to social dimensions. From this standpoint, mother, as a
    symbol of affection, fertility and creation, could be regarded as the
    first god men have worshiped.

    It seems that the worship of mother started since the concept of family
    and being born from a common ancestor was formed. Among men, the
    concept of family in its social meaning dates back to the caved welling
    era, i.e. when the Neanderthals took refuge in caves as a result of the
    third Ice Age, where it emerged eventually as homo sapiens after
    undergoing an evolutionary period. During this time, some 30,000 years
    ago, man discovered fire, warming up his cave. The number of caves and
    their internal space was limited and could host a limited number of
    men. Therefore, the concept of family bonds and bloods ties, which
    already existed as an instinct in other species, was intensified,
    eventually emerging as a social requirement.

    Competition over dwelling in warm caves was a solid reason for
    primitive men not to admit non-related primitive men to their caves.
    Only family members with a common birth ties to a common ancestor were
    permitted to enter the caves. This ancestor could only be the mother,
    because at that time, sexual behavior among men was a natural and
    non-social one, only the strongest males in the cave being allowed to
    procreate, a behavior which is necessary to produce healthier offspring
    and is practiced among many species of animals and particularly
    mammals. Therefore, cave-dwelling women could have several husbands
    during their fertility period, so that tracing family ties through
    males was impossible. Thus being attributed to a family tree leading
    back to the mother was the permit to live in the cave, which in turn
    translated into survival. This was adequate reason to turn the
    mother/child instinct into a sacred belief in a common ancestor.

    Paleontology confirms the theory suggesting that the mother goddess was
    the first divinity to be worshiped. The earliest relics showing signs
    of religious beliefs among primitive tribes are statuettes of mother,
    depicting her in large buttocks and breasts, signifying feminine
    characteristics, or girls arrived at puberty and ripe for marriage.

    The elapsing of thousands of years has meant that modern science has
    not yet penetrated the depth of the secrets of mother goddesses in the
    early stone ages. However, there exists a lot of information about the
    quality of the sanctity of mother goddesses in later historical
    periods, the oldest of which have been found in Susa, Iran. The
    documents which have been found in the form of tens of mother goddess
    statuettes date back to early 4th millennium, BC. The number and the
    age of these statuettes gives good reason to suggest that the origin of
    mother goddess was the Iranian Plateau, whence the tradition of
    worshiping these goddesses have expanded throughout the world as a
    result of the migration of Aryans.
    With the ending of the Ice Age and the shifting of men's habitat from
    caves to foothills and the discovery of agriculture the tradition of
    worshiping mother goddess was continued, with mother goddess surviving
    as the origin of fertility, the goddess of family, the goddess of
    procreation and later the goddess of agriculture and productivity.

    In Susa, south of Iran, mother goddess was worshiped at least since
    early 4th millennium BC, with numerous statuettes of her found in the
    area. The tradition of worshiping the mother goddess spilled over to
    Mesopotamia, where it continued for thousands of years to come.
    Iranian-origin Sumerians were skilled astronomers, attaching each of
    the gods to certain star or planets. The mother goddess was sometimes
    attributed to the moon and some times to Venus. The reason behind this
    duality lies in the tradition of incest, which was not only allowed,
    but also sanctified in ancient Iran. According to this tradition which
    dates back to the cave dwelling period, the kings and noble men of Iran
    had to marry their close relatives, the offspring of such marriages
    enjoying priority to inherit the crown. The same tradition was observed
    among the divinities, so much so that the ancient goddesses appear
    alternately as the mother, the sister or the wife of the masculine god,
    having different ranks.
    That is why Anahita, the Iranian goddess, sometimes appears, as mother
    earth and the goddess of fertility and birth, and sometimes as Venus,
    the goddess of music, love, jealousy and coquetry. Nahid is alternately
    the wife, the sister or the mother of god. However, when she is the
    wife and mother of god, her symbol is the moon, and when she represents
    the goddess of love and music, the planet Venus. An Armenian myth says:
    "the devil knew that if the god had intercourse with his mother, the
    sun would be born, and if with his sister, the moon would be born."
    Sumerians were a seafaring people, their ships trafficking in the
    Mediterranean Sea. Therefore, it is very likely that they promoted the
    worship of mother goddesses in the Mediterranean coats of Europe and
    North Africa. Or perhaps the goddess made its advent with the expansion
    of the Aryan race and its migration to India, Central Asia and central
    Europe.

    In any case, historical evidences show that in the late 3rd millennium
    BC, worshiping mother goddesses was common in Iran, India, Central
    Asia, Mesopotamia, Syria, North Africa, and Europe.

    An even more interesting point is the evidence found about the
    worshiping of such a goddess in South America, implying that probably
    Sumerian seamen had discovered the New Continent eons before
    Christopher Columbus. Evidence supporting this suggestion is a monolith
    stone called the Gate of the Sun in Tiahunaku. According to the myth
    imprinted on the slab, a golden ship descended from the stars, carrying
    a woman named Oriana. Her mission was to become the earth's
    grandmother, who returned to the stars after giving birth to 70
    earthling children. The concepts of worshiping the sun and the moon and
    mother goddesses and the figures on the slab are all Persian and
    Sumerian concepts, making such a resemblance unlikely without any
    connection.

    The oldest statuette of mother goddess found in Europe, in Austria,
    dates back to the 3rd millennium, BC. Another similar statuette found
    in Moravia shows a mother goddess holding her breasts up with her large
    hands. In Greece, too, the mother goddess was worshiped as a
    birth-giving goddess through the entire Neolithic period.

    The close connection between the mother goddess and the moon, and
    worshiping her which has been found all over the world shows a
    correspondence between the lunar month and the menstruation period of
    women, i.e. 28 days. This significant resemblance which basically
    indicates the passage of time in ancient times before the discovery of
    astronomy and invention of the clock has contributed to the relation
    between the two creatures, and that is one reason why women are
    described as the moon. In later historical periods, religions that in
    some way worshiped the mother goddess continued to use the lunar
    calendar, in contrast with religions based on the worship of the sun.

    The Iranian mother goddess was also worshiped in the east, including
    India. Anatolian mother goddesses too had many temples. According to a
    Roman historian, noble girls were asked to practice prostitution in
    such temples before getting married. This tradition which was current
    also among Venus worshipers of Egypt has its roots in the group
    marriages of the matriarchal aroid mentioned earlier. A statuette of
    Venus with a dolphin has been found in Tunisia.

    The tradition of worshiping Venus was also widespread in ancient
    Arabia, where 360 gods and goddesses were adored. Venus's special day
    of the week is Friday and the form of this goddess is a cube, which is
    the sacred form for Arabs.
    In addition to the very ancient relics found in Susa, Girschmann
    discovered a statuette of a mother goddess in the Gian mound near
    Nahavand in 1931. He relates the object to 2,500 years ago.

    In the Chaghagavaneh mound near Eslam-abad Gharb, a 7-cm mother goddess
    statuette was found which dates back to 2,900 years ago. The figure is
    headless and naked, resting her hands on her stomach.

    On bronze objects found in Lorestan, dating back to the first
    millennium BC, figures of mother goddesses are seen. These objects are
    usually copper or bronze clips, bearing a circular plate at the end,
    with the imprint of the head of the mother goddess. Also in the
    southern and western parts of Iran several examples of such objects
    with the figure of the mother goddess have been found. The most
    fascinating example is a clay statuette 18.13-cm high, decked with
    emerald earrings, bracelet and necklace. This goddess is fully
    comparable to the Anahita of later periods. The statuette is kept at
    the Philadelphia museum. In the Gorgan region of Iran, the oldest such
    relics have been found, dating back to 5,000 years ago.

    On Achaemenid coins, the head of Nahid is seen in a halo of light. Also
    in Achamenian scripture, mention is made of Anahita, alongside with two
    other gods, namely Ahuramazda and Mehr, and perhaps they could be
    regarded as mother and child, just as in Christianity, the trinity is
    made up of God, Virgin Mary and Jesus (sun) Christ. The fact that the
    words Mehr and sun both mean the sunlight reflects the connection
    between the two religions.

    Worship of Anahita continued in the Sassanid period. In one of the
    tablets in Naqsh-e Rostam, near Persepolis, the Sassanid king is
    depicted receiving the kingdom ring from Nahid. On metal vessels of the
    Sassanid era too, hundred of Nahid figures can be seen.

    After, the occupation of Iran by Moslem Arabs, the ritual of respecting
    woman and mother and the sanctity of Nahid continued in different
    forms. However, it became a secret creed, reflected in Iranian culture
    and literature, particularly in the sophist poetry.

    On the other hand, the indispensable bond between Nahid and music and
    love has found manifestations in Iranian sophism.
    The relics of the mother goddess in Iran are numerous and diversified
    some of, which are located in remote mountains, indicating the secret
    nature of the ritual.
    Bridges in different parts of the country reflect the relation between
    Nahid and water.
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