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Overview of the Angels Amesha Spentas · Yazatas Ahuras · Daevas Angra Mainyu

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Yazata is the Avestan language word for a Zoroastrian concept. The word has a wide range of meaning but generally signifies (or is an epithet of) a divinity. The term literally means "worthy of worship."

Yazata- is the stem form of a noun that in Avestan has the inflected nominative forms yazatō, pl. yazatåŋhō. These forms reflect Proto-Iranian *yazatah and pl. *yazatāhah. In Middle Persian the term became yazad or yazd, pl. yazdān, continuing in New Persian as izad.

Yazata- is originally an adjective derived from the verbal root yaz- "to worship, to honor, to venerate". From the same root comes Avestan yasna "worship, sacrifice, prayer". A yazata is accordingly "a being worthy of worship" or "a holy being".

Related terms in other languages are Sanskrit yájati "he worships, he sacrifices", yajatá- "worthy of worship, holy", yajñá "sacrifice", and Greek ἅγιος hagios "devoted to the gods, sacred, holy".

The term yazata is alread used in the Gathas, the oldest texts of Zoroastrianism and believed to have been composed by Zoroaster himself. In these hymns, yazata is used as a generic, applied to God as well as to the "divine sparks," that in later tradition are the Amesha Spentas. In the Gathas, the yazatas are effectively what the daevas are not, that is, the yazatas are to be worshipped while the daevas are to be rejected. The Gathas also collectively invoke the yazatas without providing a clue as to which entities are being invoked, and - given the structure and language of the hymns - it is generally not possible to determine whether these yazatas are abstract concepts or are manifest entities.

In the Younger Avesta, the yazatas are unambiguously entities, with divine powers but performing mundane tasks such as serving as charioteers for other divinities. Other divinites are described with anthropomorphic attributes, such as cradling a mace or bearing a crown upon their heads, or not letting sleep interrupt their vigil against the demons.

At some point during the late 5th or early 4th century BCE, the Achaemenids instituted a religious calendar in which each day of the month and month of the year was named after, and placed under the protection of, a particular yatata. These day-name and month-name dedications were not only of religious significance because they ensured that those divinities remained in the public consciousness, they also established a hierarchy among the yazatas, with specific exalted entities having key positions in the day-name dedications (see Zoroastrian calendar for details).

On the left, the yazata Mithra stands with raised barsom, sanctifying the investure of Sassanid emperor Ardashir I or II (3rd century CE bas-relief at Taq-e Bostan).
In Zoroastrian tradition, Mithra is one of the three assistants of Ahura Mazda Himself.

The 9th - 12th century texts of Zoroastrian tradition observe the yazatas (by then as Middle Persian yazads) in much the same way as the hymns of the Younger Avesta. In addition, in roles that are only alluded to in scripture, they assume characteristics of cosmological or eschatological consequence.

So for instance, Aredvi Sura Anahita (Ardvisur Nahid) is both a divinity of the waters as well as a rushing world river that encircles the earth but that is blocked up by Angra Mainyu (Ahriman) to cause drought. The blockage is removed by Verethragna (Vahram), and Tishtrya (Tir) gathers up the waters and spreads them over the earth (Zam) as rain. In stories with eschatological significance, Sraosha (Sarosh), Mithra (Mihr) and Rashnu (Rashn) are guardians of the Chinvat bridge, the bridge of the separator, across which all souls must pass.

Further, what the calendrical dedications had begin, the tradition completed: At the top of the hierarchy was Ahura Mazda, who was supported by the great heptad of Amesha Spentas (Ameshaspands/Mahraspands), through which the Creator realized ("created with his thought") the manifest universe. The Amesha Spenta's in turn had hamkars "assistants" or "cooperators", each a caretaker of one facet of creation.

In both tradition and scripture, the terms 'Amesha Spenta' and 'yazata' are sometimes used interchangeably. In general however, 'Amesha Spenta' signifies the six great "divine sparks." In tradition, yazata is the 1st of the 101 epithets of Ahura Mazda. The word also came to be applied to Zoroaster, but Zoroastrians to this day remain sharply critical of any attempts to divinify the prophet.

In 1878, Martin Haug proposed a new interpretation of scripture that allowed the yazatas to be compared to the angels of Christianity. This in turn provided the Zoroastrians of India (the Parsis) with a defence against Christian missionaries who were attempting to gain converts among the relatively wealthy and well-educated Zoroastrian community. One of the points of criticism raised by the missionaries was the - as they saw it - polytheism inherent to Zoroastrianism, while the Parsi community - until Haug's interpretation - had trouble defending themselves.

Haug's theories were subsequently disseminated as Parsi ones, which then eventually reached the west where they were seen to corroborate Haug. Today, these theories are so well entrenched that they are almost universally accepted as doctrine. In this scheme, the Amesha Spentas are the arch-angel retinue of God, each supported by host of lesser angels.

The best known of the yazatas is Mithra, a figure that predates Zoroastrianism, but in Zoroastrianism is one of the three hamkars of Ahura Mazda Himself.

• Peterson, Joseph H. (June 04, 2003), Angels in Zoroastrianism, Herndon: avesta.org, <http://avesta.org/angels.html>