Anahita and Ishtar: Connections to the Planet Venus

Anahita was a goddess associated with water, fertility, wisdom, warfare, and eventually the planet Venus. During the Achaemenid dynasty in Persia, she became incorporated into the Zoroastrian religion as a Yazata, a type of minor divinity. Her association with warfare and the planet Venus was not very prominent before the Achaemenid Period, leading some to conclude that her cult and persona may have become influenced by the goddess Ishtar. In becoming associated with Ishtar, she may have taken on the characteristics of a Venus god/Venus goddess, a type of god which appears to occur across cultures associated with the planet Venus. 

Anahita’s Story

Before the Achaemenid Period, Aredvi Sura Anahita or Ardwisur Anahid was essentially a water goddess. Her two common names are titles that come from the words aredvi and anahita meaning strong or mighty and undefiled or pure respectively and aredvi meaning moist or humid. These three Old Persian words were all used to describe the goddess and eventually came to be used more often than her proper name, Sarasvasti which means “she who keeps the waters.” Anahita was believed to be a personification of the world river which flowed from the legendary peak Mount Hara and into the sea of Vourukasa from which all water in the world was said to come.