Post by Ardavarz on Jan 5, 2012 1:20:51 GMT 3
Some scholars think that theonym Mazda (or Ahura-Mazda) was not exclusively belonging to Zoroastrianism and so they use the term Mazdaism (not to be confused with Mazdakism!) as general designation for the pre-Zoroastrian religion of Iranians. For instance the cuneiform inscriptions of the Achaemenids mention the divine triad of Ahura-Mazda, Mithra and Anahita, but wheter they were Zoroastrians is debatable. Thus the Russian tibetologist B. I. Kuznetsov calls this "traditional Mazdaism" and believes it was the origin of Tibetan Bon. Lev Gumilëv calls it "Eastern Mithraism" and identifies it also with Mongolian Tengriism (there Xormuzta is an alternative name for Tengri; cf. also Altaic Kurbustu):gumilevica.kulichki.net/English/sik4c.htm#sik4para12. The Kazakh archeologist Alisher Akishev believes that what he calls "Saka (Sakian) Mithrasm" was a common tradition of the Steppe people both Iranian and Turkic, even Mongolian and Uralic.
I think that the theonym "Mazda" can be found also in the royal Scythian deity Thagi-Masada: Masada > Masda > Mazda from masa - "great" and dā - "to give/create" or "to know", thus meaning "Great Giver" or "Great Wise". The other part - "thagi" is found in Pazand texts of the Parsees (Zoroastrians in India) where it is glossed by Sanskrit śūra - "mighty". Herodotus identifies the Scythian Thagi-Masada with Greek Poseidon perhaps because of his association with "celestial waters" just as his Vedic counterpart Varuṇa and also Tengri/Tenger whose name (meaning "sky") closely resembles the Ural-Altaic word for "sea".
I think that the theonym "Mazda" can be found also in the royal Scythian deity Thagi-Masada: Masada > Masda > Mazda from masa - "great" and dā - "to give/create" or "to know", thus meaning "Great Giver" or "Great Wise". The other part - "thagi" is found in Pazand texts of the Parsees (Zoroastrians in India) where it is glossed by Sanskrit śūra - "mighty". Herodotus identifies the Scythian Thagi-Masada with Greek Poseidon perhaps because of his association with "celestial waters" just as his Vedic counterpart Varuṇa and also Tengri/Tenger whose name (meaning "sky") closely resembles the Ural-Altaic word for "sea".