FereydunFereydun (Θraētaona, 𐭯𐭫𐭩𐭲𐭥𐭭, ; New Persian: فریدون, Fereydūn/Farīdūn) is an Iranian mythical king and Hero from the Pishdadian dynasty. He is known as an emblem of victory, justice, and generosity in Persian literature. According to Abolala Soudavar, Fereydun is partially a reflection of Cyrus the Great (550-530 BC), the first Achaemenid King of Kings. All of the forms of the name shown above derive, by regular sound laws, from Proto-Iranian *Θraitauna- (Avestan Θraētaona-) and Proto-Indo-Iranian *Traitaunas.
JamshidJamshid (dʒæmˈʃiːd) (جمشید, Jamshēd; Middle- and New Persian: جم, Jam) also known as Yima (Avestan: 𐬫𐬌𐬨𐬀 Yima; Pashto/Dari: یما Yama) is the fourth Shah of the mythological Pishdadian dynasty of Iran according to Shahnameh. In Persian mythology and folklore, Jamshid is described as the fourth and greatest king of the epigraphically unattested Pishdadian Dynasty (before the Kayanian dynasty). This role is already alluded to in Zoroastrian scripture (e.g.
KhvarenahKhvarenah (also spelled khwarenah or xwarra(h): 𐬓𐬀𐬭𐬆𐬥𐬀𐬵 ) is an Avestan word for a Zoroastrian concept literally denoting "glory" or "splendour" but understood as a divine mystical force or power projected upon and aiding the appointed. The neuter noun thus also connotes "(divine) royal glory", reflecting the perceived divine empowerment of kings. The term also carries a secondary meaning of "(good) fortune"; those who possess it are able to complete their mission or function.
AneranAnērān (Middle Persian, 𐭠𐭭𐭩𐭥𐭠𐭭) or Anīrân (Modern Persian, انیران) is an ethno-linguistic term that signifies "non-Iranian" or "non-Iran" (non-Aryan). Thus, in a general sense, 'Aniran' signifies lands where Iranian languages are not spoken. In a pejorative sense, it denotes "a political and religious enemy of Iran and Zoroastrianism." The term 'Aniran' derives from Middle Persian anērān, Pahlavi ʼnyrʼn, an antonym of ērān that in turn denoted either the people or the Sasanian Empire.
Kaveh the BlacksmithKaveh the Blacksmith (Kāve Āhangar ) is a 5000-year-old figure in Iranian mythology who leads an uprising against a ruthless foreign ruler, Zahāk. His story is narrated in the Shahnameh, the national epic of Iran (Persia), by the 10th-century Persian poet Ferdowsi. According to ancient legends, Kāveh was a blacksmith who launched a national uprising against the evil foreign tyrant Zahāk, after losing two of his children to serpents of Zahāk. Kāveh expelled the foreigners and re-established the rule of Iranians.
VerethragnaVerethragna or Bahram (𐬬𐬆𐬭𐬆𐬚𐬭𐬀𐬖𐬥𐬀 vərəθraγna) is an Indo-Iranian deity. The neuter noun verethragna is related to Avestan verethra, 'obstacle' and verethragnan, 'victorious'. Representing this concept is the divinity Verethragna, who is the hypostasis of "victory", and "as a giver of victory Verethragna plainly enjoyed the greatest popularity of old." In Zoroastrian Middle Persian, Verethragna became 𐭥𐭫𐭧𐭫𐭠𐭭 Warahrām, from which Vahram, Vehram, Bahram, Behram and other variants derive. The word has a cognate in Vedic Sanskrit.
AnahitaAnahita ɑːnə'hiːtə is the Old Persian form of the name of an Iranian goddess and appears in complete and earlier form as Aredvi Sura Anahita (Arədvī Sūrā Anāhitā), the Avestan name of an Indo-Iranian cosmological figure venerated as the divinity of "the Waters" (Aban) and hence associated with fertility, healing and wisdom. There is also a temple named Anahita in Iran. Aredvi Sura Anahita is Ardwisur Anahid (اردویسور آناهید) or Nahid (ناهید) in Middle and Modern Persian, and Anahit in Armenian.
Iranian peoplesThe Iranian peoples or Iranic peoples are a diverse grouping of Indo-European peoples who are identified by their usage of the Iranian languages and other cultural similarities. The Proto-Iranians are believed to have emerged as a separate branch of the Indo-Iranians in Central Asia around the mid-2nd millennium BC. At their peak of expansion in the mid-1st millennium BC, the territory of the Iranian peoples stretched across the entire Eurasian Steppe, from the Danubian plains in the west to the Ordos Plateau in the east and the Iranian Plateau in the south.
DaevaA daeva (Avestan: 𐬛𐬀𐬉𐬎𐬎𐬀 daēuua) is a Zoroastrian supernatural entity with disagreeable characteristics. In the Gathas, the oldest texts of the Zoroastrian canon, the daevas are "gods that are (to be) rejected". This meaning is – subject to interpretation – perhaps also evident in the Old Persian "daiva inscription" of the 5th century BCE. In the Younger Avesta, the daevas are divinities that promote chaos and disorder. In later tradition and folklore, the dēws (Zoroastrian Middle Persian; New Persian divs) are personifications of every imaginable evil.
AtarAtar, Atash, Azar (𐬁𐬙𐬀𐬭) or Dāštāɣni, is the Zoroastrian concept of holy fire, sometimes described in abstract terms as "burning and unburning fire" or "visible and invisible fire" (Mirza, 1987:389). It is considered to be the visible presence of Ahura Mazda and his Asha through the eponymous Yazata. The rituals for purifying a fire are performed 1,128 times a year. In the Avestan language, ātar is an attribute of sources of heat and light, of which the nominative singular form is ātarš, source of Persian ātaš (fire).
