Amesha Spenta

In Zoroastrianism, the Amesha Spenta (Aməša Spəṇta—literally "Immortal (which is) holy/bounteous/furthering") are a class of seven divine entities emanating from Ahura Mazda, the highest divinity of the religion. Later Middle Persian variations of the term include the contraction 'Ameshaspand' as well as the specifically Zoroastrian 'Mahraspand' and 'Amahraspand'. Significantly more common than the non-specific meaning of Amesha Spenta (see below) is a restrictive use of the term to refer to the great seven divine entities emanating from Ahura Mazda. In Zoroastrian tradition, these are the first seven emanations of the uncreated creator, through whom all subsequent creation was accomplished. This fundamental doctrine is only alluded to in the Avesta, but is systematically described in later Middle Persian language texts, in particular in the Bundahishn, an 11th or 12th century work that recounts Zoroastrian cosmology. The expression Amesha Spenta does not occur in the Gathas, but "it was probably coined by Zoroaster himself. Spenta is a characteristic word of his revelation, meaning furthering, strengthening, bounteous, holy." The oldest attested use of the term is in part of the Yasna Haptanghaiti and in which the two elements of the name occur in reverse order, that is, as Spenta Amesha. Like all other verses of the Yasna Haptanghaiti, Yasna 39.3 is also in Gathic Avestan and is approximately as old as the hymns attributed to Zoroaster himself. {| |+Amesha Spenta in the Gathas ! Gathic name