Bible Dictionary: Aryan

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Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary

1. (n.) One of a primitive people supposed to have lived in prehistoric times, in Central Asia, east of the Caspian Sea, and north of the Hindoo Koosh and Paropamisan Mountains, and to have been the stock from which sprang the Hindoo, Persian, Greek, Latin, Celtic, Teutonic, Slavonic, and other races; one of that ethnological division of mankind called also Indo-European or Indo-Germanic.

2. (n.) The language of the original Aryans.

3. (a.) of or pertaining to the people called Aryans; Indo-European; Indo-Germanic; as, the Aryan stock, the Aryan languages.

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

ARMENIAN; ARYAN; RELIGION

ar-me'-ni-an, ar'-i-an. This greatly resembled that of Persia, though Zoroastrianism and its dualistic system were not professed. We are thus enabled to judge how far the religion of the Avesta is due to Zoroaster's reformation. Aramazd (Ahura Mazda), creator of heaven and earth, was father of all the chief deities. His spouse was probably Spandaramet (Spenta Armaiti), goddess of the earth, who was later held to preside over the underworld (compare Persephone; Hellenistic). Among her assistants as genii of fertility were Horot and Morot (HaurvataT and AmeretaT), tutelary deities of Mt. Massis (now styled Ararat). Aramazd's worship seems to have fallen very much into the background in favor of that of inferior deities, among the chief of whom was his daughter Anahit (Anahita), who had temples in many places. Her statues were often of the precious metals, and among her many names were "Golden Mother" and "Goddess of the Golden Image."

Hence to the present day the word "Golden" enters into many Armenian names. White heifers and green boughs were offered her as goddess of fruitfulness, nor was religious prostitution in her honor uncommon. Next in popularity came her sister Astghik ("the little star"), i.e. the planet Venus, goddess of beauty, wife of the deified hero Vahagn (Verethraghna). He sprang from heaven, earth, and sea, and overthrew dragons and other evil beings. Another of Anahit's sisters was Nane (compare Assyrian Nana, Nannaea), afterward identified with Athene. Her brother Mihr (Mithra) had the sun as his symbol in the sky and the sacred fire on earth, both being objects of worship. In his temples a sacred fire was rekindled once a year. Aramazd's messenger and scribe was Tiur or Tir, who entered men's deeds in the "Book of Life." He led men after death to Aramazd for judgment. Before birth he wrote men's fates on their foreheads. The place of punishment was Dzhokhk'h (= Persian Duzakh). To the sun and moon sacrifices were offered on the mountain-tops. Rivers and sacred springs and other natural objects were also adored. Prayer was offered facing eastward. Omens were taken from the rustling of the leaves of the sacred Sonean forest. Armavir was the religious capital.

Among inferior spiritual existences were the Arlezk'h, who licked the wounds of those slain in battle and restored them to life. The Parikk'h were evidently the Pairakas (Peris) of Persia. The Armenian mythology told of huge dragons which sometimes appeared as men, sometimes as worms, or basilisks, elves, sea-bulls, dragon-lions, etc. As in Persia, the demons made darts out of the parings of a man's nails to injure him with. Therefore these parings, together with teeth and trimmings of hair, must be hidden in some sacred place.

LITERATURE.

Eznik Goghbatzi; Agathangelos; Moses of Khorene; Eghishe; Palasanean; Faustus Byzantinus; Chhamchheantz; Plutarch; Strabo; Tacitus. See my "Conversion of Armenia," R.T.S.; The Expositor T, II, 202.

W. St. Clair Tisdall

Library

Native Christians.
... [Sidenote: THE CONVERSION OF NON-ARYAN TRIBES.]. Among the non-Aryan tribes,
the Kols and the Santhals, occupying the hills and forests ...
/.../chapter xxvi native christians.htm

Our Opinion is Directly Opposed to the Pelagian Heresy
... If the same person, who is either an Aryan or a Samosatenian, is likewise earnest
about the perfection of righteousness in this life, he will deny that this ...
/.../arminius/the works of james arminius vol 2/our opinion is directly opposed.htm

The Medes and the Second Chaldaean Empire
... first inhabitants of Chaldaea; others belonged to tribes of a fresh stock, that
of the Aryans, and more particularly to the Iranian branch of the Aryan family. ...
/.../chapter iiithe medes and the.htm

Cyrus, the Servant Of-The Lord {4}
... He and his hardy Persians should be specially interesting to us. For in them first
does our race, the Aryan race, appear in authentic history. ...
/.../kingsley/historical lectures and essays/cyrus the servant of-the lord.htm

The Servant of the Lord.
... He and his hardy Persians should be specially interesting to us. For in them first
does our race, the Aryan race, appear in authentic history. ...
/.../kingsley/lectures delivered in america in 1874/lecture iv the servant of.htm

The New Crusade --Serampore and the Brotherhood
... William Ward, and two others sent out"Landing at the Iona of Southern Asia"Meeting
of Ward and Carey"First attempt to evangelise the non-Aryan hill tribes ...
/.../smith/the life of william carey/chapter v the new crusadeserampore.htm

Europeans in India.
... migration should increase. Non-Aryan tribes occupy a large part of the mountains
and forests of Central and Eastern India. They have ...
/.../chapter xxx europeans in india.htm

Philosophical Basis, and Antecedents of Manichæism.
... 500 years before the commencement of the Christian era," writes Professor Monier
Williams, [2] "a great stir seems to have taken place in Indo-Aryan, as in ...
/.../chapter ii name basis and.htm

Discredit, from the Date of the Incarnation, of Idol-Cultus ...
... Döllinger i. 109, &c., and Coulanges, La Cité Antique, Book III. ch. vi.,
and V. iii.((the substance in Barker's Aryan Civilisation). ...
/.../select works and letters or athanasius/section 46 discredit from the.htm

Of the Situation of Britain and Ireland, and of their Ancient
... According to one view, they belonged to the pre-Aryan inhabitants of Britain,
pushed westward and northward by the Celtic invaders. ...
/.../bede/bedes ecclesiastical history of england/chap i of the situation.htm

Thesaurus

Aryan
... 3. (a.) of or pertaining to the people called Aryans; Indo-European; Indo-Germanic;
as, the Aryan stock, the Aryan languages. Int. ... ARMENIAN; ARYAN; RELIGION. ...
/a/aryan.htm - 9k

Medes (15 Occurrences)
... Like most Aryan nations they were at first divided into small village communities
each governed by its own chiefs (called in Assyrian chazanati by Assur-bani ...
/m/medes.htm - 18k

Armenia (2 Occurrences)
... ARMENIA. ar-me'-ni-a: I. GEOGRAPHY II. ANCIENT HISTORY 1. Turanian Armenians Their
Religion 2. Aryan Armenians: History to 114 AD LITERATURE I. Geography. ...
/a/armenia.htm - 21k

Persians (6 Occurrences)
... airya; Sanskrit, arya, "noble"); compare the Naqsh i Rustam Inscription, where Darius
I calls himself "a Persian, son of a Persian, an Aryan, of Aryan descent ...
/p/persians.htm - 20k

Japheth (12 Occurrences)
... Genesis (10). The three great races thus distinguished are called the Semitic,
Aryan, and Turanian (Allophylian). "Setting aside ...
/j/japheth.htm - 15k

Hittites (39 Occurrences)
... Sources 2. Chronology 3. Egyptian Invasions: XVIIIth Dynasty 4. "The Great King"
5. Egyptian Invasions: XIXth Dynasty 6. Declension of Power: Aryan Invasion 7 ...
/h/hittites.htm - 55k

Armenian
... language is now recognized by philologists to be, not a dialect or subdivision of
ancient Persian or Iranian, but a distinct branch of the Aryan or Indo ...
/a/armenian.htm - 18k

Persian (4 Occurrences)
... The Persian language, ancient and modern alike, is an Aryan tongue. ... It will be seen
that Ayestic is not the source of the Aryan part of the present tongue. ...
/p/persian.htm - 45k

Tarshish (24 Occurrences)
... Easton's Bible Dictionary A Sanscrit or Aryan word, meaning "the sea coast.".
(1.) One of the "sons" of Javan (Genesis 10:4; 1 Chronicles 1:7). ...
/t/tarshish.htm - 17k

Macedonia (23 Occurrences)
... But we find a well-marked tradition in ancient times that the race comprised a Hellenic
element and a non-Hellenic, though Aryan, element, closely akin to the ...
/m/macedonia.htm - 40k

Subtopics

Aryan

Related Terms

Medes (15 Occurrences)

Armenia (2 Occurrences)

Persians (6 Occurrences)

Japheth (12 Occurrences)

Hittites (39 Occurrences)

Armenian

Persian (4 Occurrences)

Tarshish (24 Occurrences)

Macedonia (23 Occurrences)