Hara Berezaiti

Hara Berezaiti (Avestan: 𐬵𐬀𐬭𐬁⸱𐬠𐬆𐬭𐬆𐬰𐬀𐬌𐬙𐬍, lit. 'High Watch') is a mythical mountain or mountain range in Zoroastrian tradition. Over time, it has been associated with a number of real-world mountains in Iran and neighboring regions.^[1]

In the Avesta, mount Hara is the home of Mithra. In later texts like the Bundahishn, it appears as a center of the world around which the stars and planets revolve.^[2] It is also the gateway to the afterlife. In Iranian legend, it was on Hara Berezaiti that the hero Fereydun fettered Zahhak. Modern version of its name appear in many mountains and mountain ranges over the Iranian world.

Etymology

Hara Berezaiti (Avestan: 𐬵𐬀𐬭𐬁⸱𐬠𐬆𐬭𐬆𐬰𐬀𐬌𐬙𐬍, harā.bərəzaitī) is the term used in the Avesta, whereas Sassanian era texts, like the Bundahishn use Harborz (Middle Persian: hlbwlč).^[3] They are generally interpreted to mean High Watch or High Guard.^[1]

The first term (Avestan: 𐬀𐬌𐬙𐬍, harā; Middle Persian: hl) is assumed to be derived from Proto-Indo-European (PIE) *ser- with the meaning of to keep watch or to guard (compare e.g. English conserve or observe).^[4] The second term (Avestan: 𐬠𐬆𐬭𐬆𐬰𐬀𐬧𐬙, bərəzat; Middle Persian: bwlč) derives from PIE *bʰérǵʰonts and PIE *bʰerǵʰ-, respectively, both with the meaning of tall or lofty (compare e.g. English barrow or borough).^[5] It is continued in Persian borz (برز), meaning tall.

Avestan Hara Berezaiti and Middle Persian Harborz are the origin of Persian Alborz (البرز) and derivatives like Elbrus. These appear as toponyms for a number of real-world mountains and mountain ranges in Iran (see below).

In the Avesta

 

Approximate location of the Iranian lands surveyed Mithra from mount Hara in the Avesta

The Avesta is the collection of canocial scriptures of Zoroastrianism and presents the world view of the Iranian peoples during the Old Iranian period.^[1] In these texts, Mount Hara is mentioned several times in the Yasna and a number of Yashts.

In verse Y. 57.19 the personification of Haoma is mentioned offering to the Zoroastrian divinity Sraosha on Mount Hara. The same is said in the Mihr Yasht with respect to Mithra (see below) and figures like Hushang and Yima are likewise said to have offered sacrifice there, to the Anahita, Drvaspa, and Vayu in the Yashts dedicated to these divinities. Verse Y. 42.3 also shows that Hara was sometimes called Hukairya (of good activity).^[6]

Mount Hara is most often mentioned in the Mihr Yasht dedicated to Mithra. Verses Yt. 10.12-14 describe how Mithra reaches Mount Hara and survey the lands of the Iranians, where "navigable rivers rush with wide a swell towards Parutian Ishkata, Haraivian Margu, Sogdian Gava, and Chorasmia." Verses Yt. 10.50-51 state how his abode above Mount Hara was built by Ahura Mazda and the Amesha Spentas and verses Yt. 10.88-94 describe how he is worshipped on the highest peak of Hara by Haoma.^[7]

In Zoroastrian tradition

Additional material on the Zoroastrian view of mount Hara is given in the Bundahishn, an encyclopedia on Zoroastrian knowledge, compiled in Sassanian times and written in Middle Persian. According to the Bundahishn, earth was initially created as flat. Out of this flat earth, mount Hara would grow for 800 years until finally reaching to highest point in heaven.^[8]

Hara was thought to be situated at the center of the seven climes that formed the world. It is the source of all waters and from its peak Aredvi Sura Anahita would flow into the world ocean vourukasha. Night and day were caused by the mountain blocking the sun during the daily cycle. Its peak was supposed to be a place of primordial purity, unaffected by the works of Angra Mainyu like darkness, diseases or pollution. It was also the place from where the dead could pass the bridge of judgement to either the House of Lies or the House of Song.^[1] Due to its centrality in the cosmic world order, mount Hara has been compared to mount Meru found in the closely-related Old Indic texts.^[9]

In Iranian epic tradition

Mount Hara also appears in Ferdowsi's Shahnameh under the name Alborz situated in Ērānvēj. It is the place of refuge for Fereydun when he is sought for by the spies of Zahhāk. It is the dwelling-place of the Simorgh, where he brings up the infant Zāl. It is also the region where Kai Kobad dwells before being summoned to the throne of Iran by Rostam.^[10]

Modern identification

Although mount Hara appears in Zoroastrian texts as a mythological mountain, it has been variously identified with real mountains and mountain ranges throughout Iranian history.^[11][12] One example is the Alborz mountain range, which contains Iran's highest peak, mount Damavand. Another example is Mount Elbrus the highest mountain of the Caucasus Mountains. Next to these prominent examples, many smaller mountains have been name after mount Hara. One example is Mount Alborz located in the Jahrom County of Fars province.^[13]

Mountains or mountain ranges named after Mount Hara

•  
  Damavand in the Alborz mountain range
•  
  Mount Elbrus in the Caucasus Mountains, seen from the north
•  
  Mount Alborz in Jahrom County, Fars province
•  
  Shah Alborz, a peak in the Alborz mountain range

See also

• Mount Meru
• *Harahvati Aredvi Sura Anahita, the source of all waters in the world that descends from the mythical Mount Hara.
• Airyanem Vaejah, the first of the lands created by Ahura Mazda.
• Avestan geography

References

Citations

1. Boyce 2011, pp. 811-813.
2. Houtsma 1987, p. 616.
3. MacKenzie 1971, p. 43.
4. Pokorny 1959, p. 910.
5. MacKenzie 1971, p. 19.
6. Hintze 2014.
7. Gershevitch 1967.
8. Schwartz 1985, p. 643.
9. Bailey 1961, p. 12.
10. Shahbazi 2009.
11. Boyce 1996, p. 144: "But just as the name Hara is used both of a mythical mountain (home of Mithra and Aredvi Sura and supporter of the Cinvat Bridge) and also of various local ranges, so the name Airyanem Vaejah appears to have been used both of a mythical land at the centre of the world, and also of wherever the "Airyas" or Avestan people found themselves living.".
12. Eilers 2014, p. 810: "At what point the name of this mythic primeval range came to be applied to the mountains we nowadays know as Alborz is an open question. To begin with, any huge chain of mountains was probably given the name Alborz.".
13. Eilers 2014, p. 810: "An obviously secondary derivation is found in the mountain name Alborz, near the village Pāznūya[.]".

Bibliography

• Bailey, Harold Walter (1961). Indo-Scythian Studies: Khotanese Texts. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9780521040808.
• Boyce, Mary (1996). A History Of Zoroastrianism: The Early Period. Brill.
• Boyce, Mary (2011). "Alborz ii. In Myth and Legend". Encyclopædia Iranica. Vol. II. Iranica Foundation.
• Eilers, Wilhelm (2014). "ALBORZ i. The Name". Encyclopædia Iranica. Vol. I. Iranica Foundation.
• Gershevitch, Ilya (1967). The Avestan Hymn to Mithra. Cambridge University Press.
• Hintze, Almut (2014). "MIHR YAŠT". Encyclopædia Iranica. Iranica Foundation.
• Houtsma, Martijn Theodoor (1987). E.J. Brill's First Encyclopaedia of Islam, 1913-1936. E.J. Brill. p. 616. ISBN 9004097961. Retrieved 6 December 2022.
• MacKenzie, David Neil (1971). A Concise Pahlavi Dictionary. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-713559-4.
• Pokorny, Julius (1959). Indogermanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch.
• Schwartz, Martin (1985). "The old Eastern Iranian World View According to the Avesta". In Gershevitch, I. (ed.). The Cambridge History of Iran, Volume 2: The Median and Achaemenian Periods. Cambridge University Press. pp. 640–663. doi:10.1017/CHOL9780521200912.014. ISBN 9781139054935.
• Shahbazi, Alireza Shapur (2009). "ZĀL". Encyclopædia Iranica. Iranica Foundation.