An Iconographical investigation on the images attributed to the Goddess Anahita in the Art of the Selucid and Parthian periods

Ardwīsūr Anāhīd, is the Middle Persian name of Arədvī Sūrā Anāhitā, a popular Zoroastrian yazatā; she is celebrated in Yašt 5 (known as the Ābān Yašt, q.v.) which is one of the longest and best preserved of the Avestan hymns. There has been written various books and articles on different aspects of her personality. Although many scholars in mythology, history, archaeology, art history, religion history etc, know Anāhitā as a well-identified goddess with a clear-cut profile, a critical investigation on the present knowledge about her indicates none of different aspects of her identity, including her origin, mythical function and specific rituals is of scientific clarity, and the apparent suspension in scientific researches about this goddess may be due to a dominant mentality in academic spaces, rather than to a scientific reliability achieved through analyses of rich documents. The mentioned mentality does not require, or even sometimes does not tolerate, the critical study of the present knowledge relevant to this goddess – who has been accepted since decades ago by prominent Iranian and non-Iranian researchers as to be a Persian goddess with partly identified personality, ceremonies and icons. Anāhitā’s representation and identification pose one of the most complex iconographic problems in the study of the visual arts of Iran. In literature she is mentioned by name, but her identification in art remains tentative since it rests primarily on her form, attributes, and activities. This goddess (goddess of water, fertilization and war) plays no significant role in Achaemenid theology and pantheon, with evidences showing her prominence for a short period as she appears only in the inscriptions of Artaxerxes II era (405-358 BC). During Seleucid (312-129 BC) and Parthian (247 BC-224 AD) periods, several Greek and Roman writers have implied to the shrine and/or statue of the goddess Anaitis, Artemis-Anaitis, Artemis-Persike, Aine etc. in the western regions of the two empires (Media, Elymais, Mesopotamia, Asia Minor). The inscriptions containing the name of mentioned goddess(es), however, have been obtained only from Asia Minor (though a few of the large number of inscriptions from the Syrian Palmyra have also indicated to a goddess called ‘nhyt). The name “Anaitis” is generally considered as the Greek equivalent of Ancient Persian “Anāhitā”, with her icon also being known as to be the icon of Anāhitā. Furthermore, there exist some feminine images from Seleucid and Parthian ages, ascribed to Anāhitā by some researchers. The present paper employs a contextual approach and utilizes library and museum resources to place the mentioned icons in the historical, ceremonial, mythical and artistic context of the ancient Western Asia, and verifies this iconology through a comparative analysis of the ancient East iconography. By using this approach, it is concluded that the traditional assignment of the mentioned feminine images to the goddess Anāhitā may not be based on strong evidences, because these icons all of which have been obtained from the Elymais territory (southwestern Iran, with Susa as the capital), originate from the ritual traditions of Elymais people, which in turn are deeply influenced by Semitic theology of Mesopotamia and partly affected by Hellenic myths iconography. Moreover, no image from among the artistic pieces of Seleucid and Parthian periods can be attributed to the goddess Anāhitā, with certainty.