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Atar, Atash, Azar (Avestan: 𐬁𐬙𐬀𐬭, romanized: ātar) or Dāštāɣni,[1] 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.[citation needed]
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). It was once thought to be etymologically related to the Avestan āθrauuan / aθaurun (Vedic atharvan), a type of priest, but that is now considered unlikely (Boyce, 2002:16). The ultimate etymology of ātar, previously unknown (Boyce, 2002:1), is now believed to be from the Indo-European *hxehxtr- 'fire'. This would make it a cognate to Latin ater (black) and to Albanian vatër (definite form: vatra) "hearth", "fireplace", which was loaned to Romanian vatră "hearth", "fireplace", and thereafter spread to Serbo-Croat vatra "fire" and Ukrainian vatra "bonfire".[2][3]
In later Zoroastrianism, ātar (Middle Persian: 𐭠𐭲𐭥𐭥𐭩 ādar or ādur) is iconographically conflated with fire itself, which in Middle Persian is 𐭠𐭲𐭧𐭱 ātaxsh, one of the primary objects of Zoroastrian symbolism.
- ^ Lubotsky 2011, s.v. agni-.
- ^ Vermeer, Willem (2008). "The Prehistory of the Albanian Vowel System: A Preliminary Exploration". Studies in Slavic and General Linguistics. 32:Evidence and Counter-Evidence: Essays in honour of Frederik Kortlandt. v 1: Balto-Slavic and Indo-European Linguistics: 591–608. JSTOR 40997529.
Romanian also famously borrowed vatër 'hearth' with patently Tosk va- and proceeded to spread it to wherever Vlachs expanded subsequently.
- ^ Mallory, J. P.; Adams, Douglas Q. (1997). Encyclopedia of Indo-European Culture - James Mallory - Google Boeken. Taylor & Francis. ISBN 9781884964985. Retrieved 2012-08-27.