This article investigates the structure and origin of the groups of Am a Sp tas (the seven highest divinities in Zoroastrianism) and their associated helpers, termed ham-kars (collaborators). The research highlights how these entities are organized, their historical context in Pahlavi literature and Avesta, and critiques previous interpretations regarding their relationships and significance within the Zoroastrian tradition. The findings aim to provide a clearer understanding of these divine figures and their roles in religious practices.

AI

The Zoroastrian divine guardians of the plants and the waters, Haurvatat and Ameretat, find themselves demonized in the Qur'an as two demonic beings, Hārūt and Mārūt, biding their time in a well in Babylon and teaching magic, apparently having taken on the roles of another winsome pair, the fallen angels Shemhazai and Azael. Their tuition is offered after the caveat that it is all a lie. Why then does no customer ever refuse their services? Haurvatāt and Amǝrǝtāt, "Wholeness" and "Immortality" are the rhyming pair amongst the seven Amǝša Spǝntas, the "Holy Immortals" of the Avesta who preside over the seven good creations of Ahura Mazdā: in the forms Xordād and Āmurdād they survive in modern Persian as names of months. In a Manichaean Middle Persian to Sogdian glossary, MP '(mwr)d'd hrwd'd is glossed as Sgd. hrwwṯ mrwwṯ, i.e., Amurdād Harwadād as Harwōt Marwōt. The names do not occur in a known Manichaean text so one does not know what the translator understood by them; and since the his not Sogdian, Henning suggested that the forms in the latter language "were probably borrowed from the same source from which Armenian Haurot Maurot are derived." 1 Armenian sources know the Amǝša Spǝntas as the "seven helper/adjutant (hamharz) gods (astuac-k')" but unlike a number of prominent yaza-tas they are not remembered as objects of cult and the names of only three are attested. Spǝntā Ārmaitī, Phl. Spandārmad, "Holy Devotion", the female guardian of earth and mother of mankind, in the NWMIr. form spandaramet-akan with a Pth. adjectival suffix translates the Biblical Gk. Dionysian revels detested by the Maccabees. The probably older form from SWIr., sandaramet-k' with pluralis tantum is the generic underworld; and by the Middle Ages the radically shortened sandark', cf. the analogous form Sondara in Cappadocian, are a class of chthonian demons 2. As for hawrot mawrot, it is the name of a flower. On Ascension Eve (Arm. Hambarjum), unmarried girls sprinkle its petals into a bowl of water in which they also place identifiable personal items and then stand vigil overnight under the stars. The heavens open then (so does the cave of the apocalyptic hero of the Sasun 1

2022

Journal of Ancient Near Eastern Religions 11 (2011): 148-69.

This study provides a reassessment of RS 1.004 (KTU 1.42), the longest known Hurrian text in the alphabetic cuneiform script, in light of its recurring formulae and overall structure. The key phrase in the text is ıd̠ r ḫ d̠ r ḫ d̠ ld̠ DN, which stands at the beginning of each of its 17 sections; based on comparisons with the language of the bilingual Hittite-Hurrian itkalzi-ritual, it is likely that each of these instances refers to an act of anointing by oil of the DN in question. Other formulaic elements in the text, as well as the place of this ritual in the context of Ugarit and the broader ancient Near East, will also be discussed.

The Ahuna Vairiia prayer is never repeated three times in extant Avestan texts and also the Pahlavi literature excludes this number of repetitions. This is because three repetitions of the Ahuna Vairiia are the Avestan text used for the very centre of the Zoroastrian long liturgy: the slaughter of the sacrificial victim and the meat offerings to the fire. Here again, we discover the central importance of the sacrifice when the Avestan texts used in the long and short liturgies got their current shape. Further, it is shown a ritual parallelism between the slaughter of the victim and the pounding of the haōma.

The Na ¯th or Ka ¯nphat ˙ a ¯ Yogı ¯s belong to a Hindu Shaiva ascetic and monastic tradition which had a lot of influence on the religious and literary landscape of precolonial India and is still counted among the important sectarian movements of modern India. This survey offers a brief overview of scholarship on three key areas: first, the relationship to Yoga and the link with Gorakhna ¯th as the supposed author of Sanskrit treatises on Hat ˙ ha Yoga; second, the interpretation of the vernacular literature of the Na ¯th Yogı ¯s, their legends, their strong relationship to power and their convergence with the bhakti milieu; and third, the Na ¯th Yogı ¯s as constituting a modern sectarian organization , and recent developments relating to their organisation and rituals. The Hindu ascetics known by the name of Na ¯th Yogı ¯s have different appellations such as Ka ¯nphat ˙ a ¯ Yogı ¯s (Yogı ¯s with split ears) or Gorakhna ¯thı ¯ Yogı ¯s or Ba ¯rahpanthı ¯s. The term Ka ¯nphat ˙ a ¯ Yogı ¯s or Yogı ¯s with split ears alludes to the hallmark of their sect (thick hooped earrings in slits cut in the cartilage of their ears) but this appellation is now considered derogatory and the Yogı ¯s themselves prefer to be called Dars´andha ¯rı ¯s, (the wearers of dars´an, as they call their earrings). The name Gorakhna ¯thı ¯ evokes the identity of their presumed founder, Gorakhna ¯th, and Ba ¯rahpanthı ¯ refers to the 12 panths or branches in which the sect is understood to be divided. None of these terms, however, is without its problems: the Yogı ¯s now reject the name Ka ¯nphat ˙ a ¯; scholars question the historicity of Gorakhna ¯th and relativize many of the characteristics that the Yogı ¯s consider inextricably linked to their identity; and the number of branches is more than twelve. Even though their past history is difficult to reconstruct, the Na ¯th Yogı ¯s, a Shaiva ascetic tradition, are recognized as a samprada ¯ya, a religious community rooted in the transmission of a fundamental teaching (Malinar 2011, pp. 156–64). Though their former prominence and influence has receded, they nevertheless number among the important Indian sects whose peripatetic ascetics still roam the Himalayan wilderness and whose various monastic establishments are scattered across the religious landscape of the Indian subcontinent. Few studies have been exclusively devoted to the Na ¯th Yogı ¯s, which makes the pioneering work by G. W. Briggs (Gorakhna ¯th and the Ka ¯nphata Yogı ¯s, 1938) particularly remarkable. Its constant republishing attests to its importance but also points to the need for new studies. Briggs's book gives an enormous amount of detailed information, combining factual observation with historical data, and examining both textual and oral traditions. Briggs provides a survey of the different places connected to the Yogı ¯s that he visited or heard about, describing their specificities, and he refers to the many legends of the main Na ¯th heroes as well as to the textual tradition, even providing a translation of the key Na ¯th Yogı ¯ text, the Goraks ˙ as´ataka. However, the accumulation of often contradictory details, and the different levels of analysis, undermine the coherence of the Religion Compass 7/5 (2013): 157–

“Structures, Events and Ritual Practice in the Rg-Veda : The Gharma and Atri’s Rescue by the Aśvins.” In: Language, Ritual and Poetics in Ancient India and Iran: Studies in honor of Shaul Migron (ed. David Shulman) : 87-135. Jerusalem: The Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities. 2010. In the recent translation published by Jamison and Brereton, Jamison mentions the present study but does not adress any of the arguments (The Rigveda: The Earliest Religious Poetry of India. Vols. I-III. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2014). The problems in Jamison's interpretation of hymns such as RV 8.73 and in the translation of hiména in RV 8.73.3 as "with snow" rather than "during the winter" remain therefore unresolved. This paper deals with a complex problem of interpretation regarding an event referred to in various brief statements dispersed in the Rg-Veda (RV): Atri’s rescue by the twin gods, the Aśvins. What makes it so difficult to resolve is the simultaneous involvement of several problem areas, each bearing a number of variables and uncertain factors. Interpretational decisions in one area have immediate implications for the others, so that if we insist on regularity and structure in one area, we must, so it seems, accept some irregularity in another, and vice versa. The first area is language. We would like to see structure and regularity in the morphology, syntax and semantics of the relevant passages. However, we must take into account that a poet may make intentional deviations from the standard in order to achieve certain effects. Next, there is myth. Here, again, we would like to see harmony and regularity in the statements found in diverse hymns in the Rg-Veda, and we would like to be able to reconstruct a relatively unitary underlying story or myth on their basis. But here, again, a poet may modify a received story or deviate from a standard myth – assuming the poet refers to an event on the basis of story or myth, and not on the basis of having been directly involved in it. These are the two areas on which interpreters of the RV have focused their attention in the last century and half or so, also with regard to Atri and the Aśvins. A third relevant area, that of ritual practice, has largely been neglected in this context. A critical reconsideration of all three areas and their interrelationships will lead to a new interpretation and evaluation of the Rg-Vedic story of Atri and the Aśvins. This article discusses critically earlier interpretations, including the one proposed by Stephanie Jamison in her well-researched and stimulating study The Ravenous Hyenas and the Wounded Sun: Myth and Ritual in Ancient India. Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1991. Within a strictly RV context this interpretation remains incoherent and it cannot be maintained unless by invoking statements from much later texts, especially the Śatapatha-brāhmaṇa.

Indo-Iranian Journal, 1999

REVIEWS 387 that the structure is stem + aan . t . e as in pook-+ aan . t . e 'without going', which is parallel to pookaate 'without going'. The origin of the suffix -aan . t . e is not clear. The description of the morphology, in general, is pregnant with details, illustrations and useful cross references. Thanks to the questionnaire, it is also clear what is missing in a language such as Malayalam when compared to the other languages.

GIRKE, F. (eds.). Ethiopian Images of Self and Other, 2014

The Hamar of southern Ethiopia not only gain a living from their cattle, but they also live together with them. The management of their herds calls for constant attention and daily care, especially because of the environmental conditions of their territory. 1 Their semi-nomadic way of life is an attempt to secure sufficient healthy pastures at all times of the year. Much of Hamar social life revolves around their cattle. The domestication of cattle provides the basis for the expression of relationships between humans and cattle, which are based on pastoral knowledge and techniques, as well as beliefs, representations, values, feelings, and affects. The fact that the relationship between humans and animals has become 'domestic,' that cattle are domesticated and controlled in their reproduction for the benefit of humans, who enter into new relations of intimacy with them, strengthens the bonds and blurs the boundaries between human and animal.

In this article, the historical, etymological and ethno-cultural aspects of the k‘a􀀂s, Armenian folk spirits/demons and their leader, the divine dragon-slayer Vahagn are considered. The k‘a􀀂s resemble the vi􀀁aps ‘dragons’ and dews ‘monsters:’ they live in the mountains and there have temples; they fight, hunt, steal wheat and wine from people; they love music, arrange weddings, drive people crazy, etc. The connections of the k‘a􀀂s and their leader with the mythological characters of Indo-European traditions are traced. In Armenian, the first meaning of k‘a􀀂 is ‘good, chosen, worthy;’ ‘of good/better quality.’ Notably, some Armenian spirits, including k‘a􀀂s, are often called ‘better than us.’ A new etymology of k‘a􀀂 is suggested (corrected version of H. Pedersen’s etymology proposed in 1906): *swo-sHdhyo- ‘self/own + right.’

ARMENIAN DEMONS CALLED KAJ: IMAGE AND NAME The article provides a study of Armenian demons, the kajs, and their superior deity — the dragonslayer Vahagn, in the historical-etymological and ethno-cultural perspective. Specifi cfeatures of kajs and their leader as imagined by ancient people are identifi ed: they resemble vishap-dragons and devs, live in the mountains and have temples there, make war, hunt, steal wheat and wine from people, love music, arrange weddings, drive people crazy, braid horsehair, and so on. Clear linkages are drawn between Armenian kajs and their leader with the mythological characters of Indo-European (Iranian, Indian) traditions. In Armenian, the fi rst meaning of k‘aǰ is ‘good, select; of fi ne / better quality’. This is exactly how some Armenian spirits, including kajs, are often referred to — as “good” — mezane laver, mezne ałekner ‘better than us,’ ałek manuk ‘good youngster / warrior’. This is also true to some other traditions: the Persian az mā behtarān, German Gude (cf. also the names of Indian vasu and sādhya). The article develops the etymology of the name k‘aǰ (a corrected version of that proposed by H. Pedersen in 1906): *swo-sHdhyo- — ‘self / own + right / righteous,’ i.e. ‘good’. This image passed into the Georgian and Ossetian traditions (Georgian kajs, Ossetian kadzi).

This is a small attempt to discuss a few terms found in the translated texts from a work compiled by R. David Yehudah he-Hasid. There is an outlined style of presentation to narrow the amount of research and comments of scholars, along with an investigative study of meanings assigned to them by various Kabbalists and Philosophers during the 13th and 14th centuries. By no means is this study an exhaustive research project, due to the nature of this topic it would be impossible, to do anything but skim the surface as outlined in the presentation.

This article investigates whether families at Deir el-Medîna consistently preferred to worship one particular deity, who could be understood as their ‘family god’ and whether this connection was fixed, binding and exclusive. It traces the religious titles held by three well-attested families at Deir el-Medîna (the Sennedjem (i) family, the Kasa (i) family and the heirs of the scribe Ramose (i), the stelae, offering tables, statues, graffiti and texts they generated in honour of various deities, and other references to personal and family worship of given gods. It turns out that none of these three families worshipped any single god from generation to generation throughout the Ramesside period, with the exception of the Sennedjem (i) family who maintained a consistent connection with the god Amun and his spouse Mut, perhaps because the local temples at Karnak maintained an annual cycle of feasts, processions and other activities in which worshippers could participate. Although these results apply only to these three families, these families spanned most of the village’s history and included both ordinary workmen and chief workmen and scribes, so that their experiences cover a broad span of religious practice at Deir el-Medîna.

Iran and the Caucasus, 2013

The paper is a critical study of the Armenian demonic nomenclature of the ancient and later periods, covering the Classical and Middle Armenian texts and modern dialects, including Western Armenian traditions, which were alive until the first decades of the 20th century among the population of the Armenian provinces of the Ottoman Empire. The author presents a full list of the Armenian demons of different periods, critically revising the origin of their names and functions on a comparative background.

This article presents and analyzes a new source on the relationship between hadith and Sufism, a juzʾ in the library of the University of Leipzig titled Juzʾ fīhi qiṣṣat al-ʿAbbās b. Ḥamza maʿa Dhī l-Nūn al-Miṣrī raḥmat Allāh ʿalayhi, “An Encounter of al-ʿAbbās b. Ḥamza with Dhū l-Nūn al-Miṣrī.” The text is an account of the visit of Abū l-Faḍl al-ʿAbbās b. Ḥamza b. Ashūsh of Nishapur (d. 288/901) to Dhū l-Nūn al-Miṣrī (d. ca 245/859-860), an influential figure in the early mystical tradition. By underlying the difference between a mainstream ḥadīth transmission and what the text calls ḥadīth al-riqāq (“heart-melting traditions”), the text helps to defend early ascetics and mystics against accusations of being “weak transmitters” of prophetical traditions Keywords: al-ʿAbbās b. Ḥamza; Dhū l-Nūn al-Miṣrī; ḥadīth; Sufism; miḥna

N. Strudwick, H. Strudwick (eds), Old Kingdom. New Perspectives: Egyptian Art and Archaeology, p. 229-233

Andrés-Toledo, M. Á. (2016). The Zoroastrian Law to Expel the Demons: Wīdēwdād 10-15. Critical Edition, Translation and Glossary of the Avestan and Pahlavi Texts. Iranica 23. Harrassowitz, Wiesbaden. ISBN: 978-3-447-10604-7

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