Anahita, the immaculate lady of the springs
By Ralf Ittermann · last reviewed on
Anahita is a goddess of Persian tradition.
Giver of all water at the Achaemenid court. The entry honors her as the immaculate lady of the springs, giver of all water at the Achaemenid court.
Anahita, in full Aredvi Sura Anahita, is the Zoroastrian goddess of the waters, fertility, healing and wisdom, the mythical source of all earthly water.
Her principal source is the Aban Yasht. Artaxerxes II was the first Achaemenid ruler to name her alongside Ahura Mazda in his inscriptions.
Type: High goddess of the waters
Origin: Iranian highlands
Texts: Aban Yasht, inscriptions of Artaxerxes II
Period: Avestan era to the present
Appearance: woman with a starry crown and a chariot drawn by four horses
Source Context
Period of the Texts
Attested since the Avestan era, politically significant from Artaxerxes II onwards in the 4th century BCE.
Area of Diffusion
The Iranian highlands, Asia Minor and the Armenian region, with temple images in the royal cities.
Sources
Good: the Aban Yasht, royal inscriptions and Greek-Roman accounts.
Name and variants
Avestan: Ardvi, moist, Sura, strong, Anahita, immaculate: the moist, strong, immaculate one.
Appearance and symbolism
Appearance
A tall woman in a beaver-fur garment, with a starry crown and a chariot drawn by four white horses.
Effect
Waters the land and the herds, purifies seed and womb, grants victory and insight.
Profile: Anahita
The most important aspects of the water goddess at a glance.
High deity of the Aban Yasht and the Achaemenid inscriptions.
Water, fertility, healing, victory and wisdom.
A woman in beaver fur with a starry crown and a chariot drawn by four horses.
Grants water and offspring, bestows victory and insight.
Temple images under Artaxerxes II, consecrated priestesses, the temple of Kangavar.
The Vedic river goddess Ganga belongs to the same type.
The Aban Yasht and the rise under Artaxerxes II
The elements of her name, Ardvi, moist, Sura, strong, and Anahita, immaculate, combine to form the moist, strong, immaculate one: source of all earthly waters.
Artaxerxes II was the first Achaemenid ruler to name Anahita alongside Ahura Mazda in his inscriptions; before this, the figure had merged with Ishtar.
National symbol and the temple of Kangavar
Anahita is a symbol of a pre-Islamic deity of Persia; the temple of Kangavar is regarded as a monument of identity.
In religious studies, she is a yazata with an elevated cult and an example of religious syncretism.
Temple cult, not warding off
Veneration in the temple, not warding off: the best known, though archaeologically disputed, reference point is the temple of Kangavar. Her cult includes holy water, amulets and smoke cleansing.
Water goddesses compared
As a water goddess, Anahita is close to the Indian Sarasvati; historically she merged with Ishtar, and later with Artemis. What distinguishes her from Apam Napat, the older child of the waters, is her temple cult.
Frequently asked questions about Anahita
Water goddess or fertility goddess?
Both: she purifies seed and womb, nourishes crops and herds, and grants healing and victory.
Why is she historically significant?
Artaxerxes II was the first Achaemenid king to include her alongside Ahura Mazda.
Further links
Internal links:
Literature (selection)
Further standard works in the bibliography.
As a Persian water goddess, Anahita combines the goddess of springs, royal power and healing in a single figure: where other water beings guard only one body of water, she is the source of all water itself.
