Anahita: A History and Reception of the Iranian Water Goddess

Anahita was the most important goddess of pre-Islamic Iran. From her roots as an ancient Indo—European water deity her status was unrivalled by any other Iranian goddess throughout the course of three successive Iranian empires over a period of a thousand years.

The first scholarly book on Anahita, this study reconstructs the Indo—European water goddess through a comparison of Celtic, Slavic, Armenian and Indo—Iranian myths and rituals. Anahita's constantly—evolving description and functions...