Anahit

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Anahit

Anahit was the goddess of fertility and birth (analog to Aphrodite), beauty and water in Armenia

Armenia

Armenia , officially the Republic of Armenia , is a landlocked mountainous country in South Caucasus between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea....
n mythology. In early periods she was the goddess of war. By the 1st century BC she was the main deity in Armenia along with Mithras.

The historian Berossus

Berossus

Berossus was a Hellenistic civilization-era Babylonian writer and Babylonian astronomy who was active at the beginning of the 3rd century BC....
identifies Anahit with Aphrodite

Aphrodite

Aphrodite is the classical Greek mythology goddess of love, sex, and beauty. According to Greek oral poet Hesiod, she was born when Uranus was castrated by his son Cronus....
, while medieval Armenian scribes identify her with Artemis

Artemis

In Greek mythology, Artemis was the daughter of Zeus and Leto, and the twin sister of Apollo. She was the Hellenic goddess of forests and hills, child birth/virginity/fertility, the hunt and was often depicted as a huntress carrying a bow and arrows.....
. According to Strabo

Strabo

Strabo was a Ancient Greeks history, geography and philosophy....
, Anahit's worship was dedicated to prostitution, while king Trdat

Tiridates III of Armenia

Tiridates III was the king of Iranian Arsacid Dynasty of Armenia , and is also known as Tiridates the Great ; some scholars incorrectly refer to him as Tiridates IV as a result of the fact that Tiridates I of Armenia reigned twice)....
extolls the: great Lady Anahit, the glory of our nation and vivifier .

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Anahit was the goddess of fertility and birth (analog to Aphrodite), beauty and water in Armenia
Armenia

Armenia , officially the Republic of Armenia , is a landlocked mountainous country in South Caucasus between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea....
n mythology. In early periods she was the goddess of war. By the 1st century BC she was the main deity in Armenia along with Mithras.

The historian Berossus
Berossus

Berossus was a Hellenistic civilization-era Babylonian writer and Babylonian astronomy who was active at the beginning of the 3rd century BC....
identifies Anahit with Aphrodite
Aphrodite

Aphrodite is the classical Greek mythology goddess of love, sex, and beauty. According to Greek oral poet Hesiod, she was born when Uranus was castrated by his son Cronus....
, while medieval Armenian scribes identify her with Artemis
Artemis

In Greek mythology, Artemis was the daughter of Zeus and Leto, and the twin sister of Apollo. She was the Hellenic goddess of forests and hills, child birth/virginity/fertility, the hunt and was often depicted as a huntress carrying a bow and arrows.....
. According to Strabo
Strabo

Strabo was a Ancient Greeks history, geography and philosophy....
, Anahit's worship was dedicated to prostitution, while king Trdat
Tiridates III of Armenia

Tiridates III was the king of Iranian Arsacid Dynasty of Armenia , and is also known as Tiridates the Great ; some scholars incorrectly refer to him as Tiridates IV as a result of the fact that Tiridates I of Armenia reigned twice)....
extolls the: great Lady Anahit, the glory of our nation and vivifier . . .; mother of all chastity, and issue of the great and valiant Aramazd
Aramazd

In Armenian mythology, Aramazd was the father of all gods and goddesses, the creator of heaven and earth. Aramazd was the source of earth?s fertility, making it fruitful and bountiful....
. In Armenia, Anahit-worship was established in Erez
Erzincan

Erzincan is the capital of Erzincan Province Provinces of Turkey in the eastern Anatolian region of Turkey. Nearby cities include Erzurum, Sivas, Tunceli, Bing?l, Elazig, Malatya, Gumushane, Bayburt, and Giresun....
, Armavir
Armavir, Armenia

Armavir is a city located in southwestern Armenia. The 1989 census reported that the city had a total population of 46,900, but this has declined considerably: the 2001 census counted 32,034; estimate for 2008 is 26,387....
, Artashat
Artashat

Artashat is a city on the Araks River in the Ararat valley. It is the provincial capital of the Ararat in Armenia. Once one of the oldest cities of Armenia, today Artashat is one of the modern cities of Armenia....
and Ashtishat. A mountain in Sophene
Sophene

For the kingdom, please see Kingdom of Sophene.Sophene was a province of the Armenian Kingdom and of the Roman Empire, located in the south-west of the kingdom....
district was known as Anahit's throne (Athor Anahta). The entire district of Erez, in the province of Akilisene (Ekeghiats), was called Anahtakan Gavar. The temple of Erez was the wealthiest and the noblest in Armenia, according to Plutarch
Plutarch

Lucius Mestrius Plutarchus , c. AD 46 ? 120 ? commonly known in English as Plutarch ? was a Ancient Rome historian , biographer, essayist, and Middle Platonism....
. During the expedition of Mark Antony
Mark Antony

Marcus Antonius , known in English as Marc Antony, was a Roman Republic politician and General. He was an important supporter and the best friend of Julius Caesar as a military commander and administrator, being Caesar's second cousin, once removed, by his mother Julia Antonia....
in Armenia, the statue was broken to pieces by the Roman soldiers. Pliny the Elder
Pliny the Elder

Gaius Plinius Secundus , better known as Pliny the Elder, was an ancient author, naturalist or natural philosopher and naval and military commander of some importance who wrote Natural History ....
gives us the following story about it: The Emperor Augustus, being invited to dinner by one of his generals, asked him if it were true that the wreckers of Anahit's statue had been punished by the wrathful goddess. No! answered the general, on the contrary, I have to-day the good fortune of treating you with one part of the hip of that gold statue. The Armenians erected a new golden statue of Anahit in Erez, which was worshiped before the time of St. Gregory Illuminator
Gregory the Illuminator

Saint Gregory the Illuminator or Saint Gregory the Enlightener , the founder and patron saint of the Armenian Apostolic Church was a religious leader credited with forging the Christian identity of Armenia via conversion from Armenian mythology....
. Religious prostitution, if it had existed at some previous period, seems to have been suppressed before that date. The annual festivity of the month Navasard, held in honor of Anahit, was the occasion of great gatherings, attended with dance, music, recitals, competitions, etc. The sick went to the temples in pilgrimage, asking for recovery. The symbol of ancient heathen Armenian medicine was the head of the bronze gilded statue of the goddess Anahit, which is currently in the British Museum
British Museum

The British Museum is a museum of human history and culture situated in London. Its collections, which number more than 7 million Object , are amongst the largest and most comprehensive in the world and originate from all continents, illustrating and documenting the story of human culture from its beginning to the present....
.

See also

Anahita
Anahita

is the Avestan language name of an Indo-Iranians cosmological figure, venerated as the divinity of 'the Waters' and hence associated with fertility, healing and wisdom....
Aramazd
Aramazd

In Armenian mythology, Aramazd was the father of all gods and goddesses, the creator of heaven and earth. Aramazd was the source of earth?s fertility, making it fruitful and bountiful....
Astghik
Astghik

Symbolized by skylight and wife or lover of Vahagn, Astghik, or Astlik, is the Armenian goddess of love, beauty, and water. The so called Vartavar festival, in mid June, is still the honorable celebration of her in Armenia were releasing doves and sprinkling water on each others are common....
Vahagn
Vahagn

Vahagn was a god worshiped anciently and historically in Armenia. Some time in his existence, he formed a "triad" with Aramazd and Anahit. Vahagn was identified with the Greek mythology Heracles....
Haik
Haik

Hayk is the legendary patriarch and founder of the Armenians. His story is told in the History of Armenia ....

External links and references

Vahagni Tsnunde Vishapakax
Armenian Mythology from the Tour Armenia site.
Armenian History site.

This article incorporates text from by Vahan M. Kurkjian
Vahan Kurkjian

Vahan M. Kurkjian was an Armenian author, historian, teacher, and community leader.In 1904, in Cairo, he published the Armenian newspaper Loussaper , in the pages of which he and other intellectuals called for a national union for the Armenian people....
, a publication in the public domain
Public domain

File:PD-icon.svgThe public domain is a range of abstract materials?commonly referred to as intellectual property?which are not owned or controlled by anyone....
.