History of the Faravahar(فروهر)
Faravahar
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(OP *fravarti > MP: prʾwhr)[1] is one of the best-known symbols of Zoroastrianism, the state religion of ancient Iran. This religious-cultural symbol was adapted by the Pahlavi dynasty to represent the Iranian nation.
The etymology of Faravahar is the Middle Persian root /frwr/ (the Pahlavi script of Middle Persian did not represent short vowels), and the word is thus variously pronounced/written farohar, frohar, frawahr, fravahr and so forth, as there is no agreed upon method of transliterating the Middle Persian word into English. In Dekhoda's dictionary and the 17th century Persian dictionary Burhan Qati', it appears as فروهر "furuhar".
The Encyclopedia Iranica renders it as frawahr (this reflects the Pazend dibacheh form, corresponding to Book Pahlavi prʾwhr).
The winged disc has a long history in the art and culture of the ancient Near and Middle East. Historically, the symbol is influenced by the "winged sun" hieroglyph appearing on Bronze Age royal seals (Luwian SOL SUUS, symbolizing royal power in particular) . In Neo-Assyrian times, a human bust is added to the disk, the "feather-robed archer" interpreted as symbolizing Ashur.
While the symbol is currently thought to represent a Fravashi (c. a guardian angel) and from which it derives its name (see below), what it represented in the minds of those who adapted it from earlier Mesopotamian and Egyptian reliefs is unclear.
Because the symbol first appears on royal inscriptions, it is also thought to represent the 'Divine Royal Glory' (khvarenah), or the Fravashi of the king, or represented the divine mandate that was the foundation of a king's authority.
This relationship between the name of the symbol and the class of divine entities it represents, reflects the current belief that the symbol represents a Fravashi.
However, there is no physical description of the Fravashis in the Avesta, the sacred texts of Zoroastrianism, and in Avestan the entities are grammatically feminine.
In present-day Zoroastrianism, the faravahar is said to be a reminder of one's purpose in life, which is to live in such a way that the soul progresses towards frasho-kereti, or union with Ahura Mazda, the supreme divinity in Zoroastrianism.
Although there are a number of interpretations of the individual elements of the symbol, none of them are older than the 20th century
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پاسخ : Faravahar(فروهر)متن انگليسي
In Iranian Culture
فروهر در فرهنگ ايرانيان
Even after the Islamic conquest of PersiaZoroastrianism continued to be part of Iranian culture in which throughout the year festivities are celebrated such as the Persian New Year or Nowrouz, Mehregan and ChaharShanbe Souri which are remnants of Zoroastrian traditions.
From the start of the 20th century the Farvahar icon found itself in public places and became a known icon amongst all Iranians. The Shahname by Ferdowsi is Iran's national epic and contains stories (partly historical and partly mythical) from pre-islamic Zoroastrian times.
The tumb of Ferdowsi which is visited by numerous Iranians every year, contains the Farvahar icon as well.
After the Islamic Revolution of 1979 the Lion and Sun which was part of Iran's original national flag had been banned by the government from public places in order to prevent people from being reminded of life prior to the revolution, nevertheless Farvahar icons were not removed.
As a result, the Farvahar icon became a national symbol amongst the people which became somewhat tolerated by the government compared to the Lion and Sun. The Farvahar is the most worn pendant amongst Iranians and has become a national symbol rather than a religious icon, although it's Zoroastrian roots are certainly not ignored.
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- The Encyclopedia Iranica gives several Middle Iranian renderings: fraward, frawahr, frōhar, frawaš, frawaxš. The form frawahr reflects the Pazend dibacheh form, corresponding to Book Pahlavi prʾwhr).
پاسخ : History of the Faravahar(فروهر)
History of the Faravahar
The history of the Faravahar design begins in ancient Egypt, with a stylized bird pattern which is known as the spread-eagle.
A spread-eagle as it is called in heraldry - features a flying bird shown from below, with its wings, tail, and legs outstretched.
Such designs have been used in cultures throughout history, including American, where the seal of the U.S. Government features a spread-eagle.
An Egyptian spread-eagledevice is featured in the treasure of Tut-ankh-amoun which has a bird's body with a human head, and in which hieroglyphic symbols are held in the outstretched talons. These features will later re- appear, transformed, in the Faravahar.
Closer still to the Faravahar are Egyptian designs which feature a sun-disc with wings. This winged sun-disc represents Horus, the hawk-god believed by the ancient Egyptians to be incarnate in Pharaoh, the god-king.
The winged disc was from the beginning a symbol of divine kingship, or the divine favor upon a king.
Very early on (second millennium B.C.) this design had migrated from Egypt to the ancient Near East. It appears above the carved figure of a Hittite king, (The Hittites flourished from about 1400-1200 B.C.) symbolizing a god's favor in the spread-eagle form.
In Syria it is shown on a seal from the Mitanni civilization (c.1450-1360 BC).
The proto-Faravahar symbol may also have a native Mesopotamianorigin, which was combined with the Egyptian symbol in ancient Assyria.
Assyrian art also associates the winged disc with divinity and divine protection of the king and people.
It appears both with and without a human figure.
Without the human figure, it is a symbol of the sun-god Shamash, but with the human figure, it is the symbol of the Assyrian national god Assur.
This appears on many carvings and seals. The Assyrian versions of the winged disc sometimes have the kingly figure inside the disc, and others have him arising from within the disc in a design that is very close to the Faravahar as it appears in Persian art.
The graphic evolution from the spread-eagle is evident in the stylized Assyrian version of the design, where the bird's legs are abstracted into wavy streamers on either side of the disc which end either in claws or in scrolls, as they do in the Persian design.
By the time of the Achaemenid kings (dynasty flourished from about 600 B.C. to 330 B.C.), then, the design that would become the Faravahar had already been in use for at least 1000 years, from Egypt to Syria and then to Assyria.
The early Achaemenids conquered Mesopotamian lands in the 6th century B.C., and re-patriated all the peoples subject to Babylonian rule, the Jews among them.
These same Achaemenids also adopted Assyrian and Babylonian motifs for their monumental art, including the winged disc.
The Persian Faravahar is carved on the rock-cut tombs of the Achaemenid kings at Bisetoon in Iran, and varies from one carving to the other. In one it is very much like the Assyrian version, with squared-off wavy wings.
But it is in the carvings of Persepolis, center of the Achaemenid dynasty, that the Faravahar reaches its most elaborate and finely wrought perfection. The Faravahar of Persepolis is the one that has been adopted by Zoroastrians as their symbol.
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It appears in more than one form at Persepolis
پاسخ : History of the Faravahar(فروهر)
