Gender: Feminine
Usage: Persian, Persian Mythology
Other Scripts: آناهیتا(Persian) 𐎠𐎴𐏃𐎡𐎫(Old Persian)
Pronounced: aw-naw-hee-TAW(Persian)
Means
"immaculate, undefiled" in Old Persian, from the Old Iranian prefix *
an- "not" combined with *
āhita "unclean, dirty". This was the name of an Iranian goddess of fertility and water. In the Zoroastrian religious texts the
Avesta she is called
𐬀𐬭𐬆𐬛𐬎𐬎𐬍 (Arəduuī) in Avestan, with
𐬀𐬥𐬁𐬵𐬌𐬙𐬀 (anāhita) appearing only as a descriptive epithet
[1]. In origin she is possibly identical to the Indian goddess
Saraswati. She has historically been identified with the Semitic goddess
Ishtar and the Greek goddess
Artemis.