Atar
Also known as: Adur, Azar, Atash
Mythological Narrative
Fire as a divine being, 'son of Ahura Mazda', the visible focus of Zoroastrian worship, who in the Zamyad Yasht faces down the three-mouthed dragon Azhi Dahaka in the struggle for the royal Glory.
Scholarly Commentary & Evolution
## Son of Ahura Mazda
The Avesta calls Atar, fire, 'the son of Ahura Mazda', and fire is the element through which Zoroastrians approach God: prayers are said facing a fire or another source of light, and consecrated fires are kept burning in fire temples. Fire is not itself worshipped as God, Zoroastrians emphasize, but honored as the purest of creations and the symbol of truth and divine light.
## Atar against the dragon
The Zamyad Yasht (Yasht 19) tells how the Good Spirit and the Evil Spirit struggled for the royal Glory (*khvarenah*) after it left Yima. Atar came forward to seize it, but the three-mouthed Azhi Dahaka rushed at him, threatening to extinguish him so that he would never again blaze on the earth; Atar drew back his hands. Then when Azhi tried to seize it, Atar threatened in turn to enter the dragon and blaze up in his jaws, and Azhi drew back. The Glory escaped into the sea Vouru-Kasha.
## The great fires
Sasanian tradition named three great fires: Adur Farnbag, the fire of the priests; Adur Gushnasp, the fire of the warriors and kings, housed at the sanctuary now called Takht-e Soleyman in northwestern Iran; and Adur Burzen-Mihr, the fire of the farmers. Fires are graded today as Atash Behram, Atash Adaran, and Atash Dadgah, according to their consecration.
Cross-Pantheon Parallels & Archetypes
Classical Art & Museum Artifacts
High-resolution museum artifacts, classical sculptures, pottery reliefs, and bronze idols preserving authentic historical representations of Atar.
Shiva as Lord of Dance (Nataraja)
Academic Discussion & Critique
Exchange peer-reviewed hypotheses, comparative Indo-European etymologies, and archaeological field interpretations regarding Atar.
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