(no subject)

The current situation in Iran as seen through the lens of the Shahnameh, "Iran's other book":

Life Imitates Art: Iran's Opposition and Ferdowsi's Shahnameh

To which compare (N.B. "Azhi Dahaka" = "Zahhak"):

Avesta Yasht 19: Hymn to the Earth

(no subject)

Relief from Naqsh-i Rustam, 3-4th c. CE. Goddess Anahita on the right invests King Narseh (293-304) with the symbol of kingship.

Thoughts occasioned by the "Sea of Green"

Dumézil thought there was a connection between the name “Neptune” and the name of the Vedic and Avestan water deity Apam Napat, “child of the waters”, who was also in Persian theology the guardian (together with Anahita) of the luminous aura of legitimate sovereignty—the xvarnah (khvarnah) or in later Persian, such as the Shahnameh, the farr—which resided in the cosmic waters. I wonder if Neptune had in early times any association with sovereignty?



Neptune, 4th c. CE mosaic from Tunisia.