Identifying Zoroastrian Gods on Achaemenid seals

All over the Ancient Near East it was a custom to produce stamps and cylinder seals.
They were also produced in the Achaemenid Empire (c. 550–330 BC), one of the largest
empires in history.
There the use of these stamps and seals appears to have been restricted to officials of the
royal administration.
See: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Achaemenid_Empire

Ahura Mazda

Number 1
The Sun God The Moon God Tishtrya (Sirius)
The Achaemenid stamps and seals depict winged disks, kings, crescents, sphinxes and
griffins representing Zoroastrian Gods as well as the their owners.
In this paper I hope to identify some of them, starting with the Gods and griffins depicted
on the above imprint (late 6th- early 5th century B.C.)

The God seated on a winged disk, of course, represents Ahura Mazda, (The literal
meaning of the word Ahura is "mighty" or "lord" and Mazda is “wisdom.”)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ahura_Mazda
This winged sheep symbolizes Tishtrya, the god of the Sirius star.
1. He is indicated by the arrow above him as the Sumerians called this star:
“KAK.SI.SÁ” = shukudu; "The Arrow" and the later Persian and Pahlavi called it:
“Tir,” which has the same meaning:
“Sharing the Sanskrit titles for the whole, it (Sirius) was the Deer-slayer and the Hunter,
while the Vedas also have for it Tishiya or Tishiga, Tistrija, Tishtrya, the Tistar, or
Chieftain's Star. And this we find too in Persia; as also Sira. The later Persian and
Pahlavi have Tir, the Arrow. Edkins, however, considers Sirius, or Procyon, to be
Vanand, and Arcturus, Tistar.”
http://www.constellationsofwords.com/Constellations/CanisMajor.html

And thus Tishtrya flies as swiftly as the arrow:

6. “We sacrifice unto Tishtrya, the bright and glorious star; who flies, towards the sea
Vouru-Kasha, as swiftly as the arrow darted through the heavenly space1.”
8. Tishtar Yasht (Hymn to Tishtrya)

2. Besides that, on the above imprint he is depicted as a rampant winged sheep: in

Mesopotamia wild sheep symbolize planets or "traveling" stars.
"In the Ancient Near East it symbolized a planet: ”Planet” can be met in three forms:
dUDU.IDIM, MULUDU.IDIM or MULbi-ib-bu. UDU.IDIM, Akkadian bibbu in itself
means ‘wild sheep’; while fixed stars are a peacefully pasturing flock, planets as
“traveling” stars are wild sheep or even beasts lurking for sheep.” (Hommel 1909:
217)."
Published: http://www.folklore.ee/folklore/vol16/planets.pdf

On cylinder seals they symbolize either the constellation Aries or the Sirius star.
On the above imprint this winged sheep symbolizes Tishtrya, who is called: “the
first star” in the Tishtar Yasht:
12. “'We sacrifice unto Tishtrya; 'We sacrifice unto the rains of Tishtrya.
'We sacrifice unto the first star; we sacrifice unto the rains of the first star.”
8. Tishtar Yasht (Hymn to Tishtrya)
A king depicted within a crescent/disk represents the Moon God. The crescent of course
indicates New Moon and in the period of New Moon the Sun and the Moon move in
conjunction through the sky. That is why they are usually depicted together on Ancient
Near East cylinder seals.

On the above imprint the Sun may be symbolized by this rampant griffin. It has horns of a
sheep the head of a lion, the wings and feet of an eagle and the tail of a scorpion. These
animals represent spring and summer constellations: Leo, Wings and Cancer, as well as
Sirius (the sheep).
The eagle represents the constellation Wings:
"In Egypt the constellations Corvus and Crater were usually known as the constellation
“The Wings”(tm3t)."
Published: http://members.westnet.com.au/gary-david-thompson/page11-19.html

And on Oriental cylinder seals scorpions always represent the constellation

Cancer:
"The Crab, a variant of the Scorpion (Vide Vol. I. 60, 210), is frequently figured in a
somewhat similar manner. It appears in Lajard, M. PI. xxxv. 7 (Sup. p. 32), and liii. 4. In
PI. liii. 3 it is difficult to say whether two Crabs or Scorpions are intended. (As to the
Crab in art, vide Z. sec. iv.)"
Researches into the origin of the primitive constellations of the Greeks, Phoenicians and Babylonians by Robert Brown,
Jun., f.s.a.
 Number 2
Offer to Tishtrya who is rising above the Sun in Leo
On this imprint Tishtrya steps with one foot on a lion. This scene may symbolize that the
Sirius God is the morning star; rising above the horizon before sunrise. At that time this
happened on mid-July, when the sun passed Leo.
On the left a woman offers libations to Tishtrya, and as a return he may give her “wealth
of a male child:”
15. “Here he calls for people to assemble, here he asks, saying: "Who now will offer me the
libations with the Haoma and the holy meat? To whom shall I give wealth of male children, a
troop of male children, and the purification of his own soul? Now I ought to receive sacrifice and
prayer in the material world, by the law of excellent holiness."
8. Tishtar Yasht (Hymn to Tishtrya)
This “wealth of a male child” may be symbolized on top: here a child may float to a
vulva. This scene may symbolize that Tishtrya gives a child to the offering woman.

Number 3

Many Achaemenid cylinder seals depict Tishtrya, here he is indicated by a star, holding
two mythical animals aloft.
I think that these mythical animals symbolize “wealth of a child” and these scenes may
symbolize that Tishtrya gives this “child” to a married couple.
He holds two animals in his hands as he gives this “wealth of a child” twice: during the
begetting of this child and during his birth.

Number 4

I think that this “giving wealth of a child” is clearly symbolized on this unique imprint of
a Syrian cylinder seal (ca. 1600-1400 B.C.)
On the bottom of this imprint a man and a woman make love.
 And above them this winged Goddess holds two children aloft. This
scene may symbolize that she brings “wealth” or "life of a child" to this loving couple
just like Ningublaga brings life to the people:
1-4. "The lord, a furious angry storm against the enemy, ……, strong ……, my lord who brings
life to the people, whose own father ……, a great storm, a mighty raring ……, has …… -- the
lord whose manliness is impressively strong, ……!"
Name poem: an adab to Ningublaga for Iddin-Dagan (Iddin-Dagan C)
Published: The Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Literature

She holds these two children as she brings this “life” twice: during the begetting of this
child and during his birth.
By the way, the rosette besides her indicates that she is a Goddess of the Sirius star.

Number 5

On this drawing of a Jamdat Nasr cylinder seal from Ur a couple is copulating.

Next to them a naked Deity holds two hares (probably representing “life” from the
constellation Lepus). He may bring one these hares to this copulating couple.
After nine months the woman, now depicted with spreading legs, gives birth to the
begotten child. At the same time the naked deity may bring the other hare to her, which
means that the naked deity brings life during the begetting of a child as well as during his
birth.
By the way, the two rosettes beneath this Deity indicates that he is a Deity of the Sirius
star.

Number 6

On this imprint Tishtrya, indicated by the star, holds two sphinxes aloft.
These two sphinxes may symbolize “life” or “wealth of a male child.”
This scene may symbolize that the God of Sirius gives this “wealth of a male child” to a
loving couple.
He holds two sphinxes as he gives this “wealth” twice: during the begetting of this child
as well as during his birth.
On the left of this imprint the Ankh, symbolizing “life,” may emphasise that Tishtrya
gives this “life” during the begetting of a child.
In the middle the two wombs may symbolize that Tishtrya gives this “life” to the fertilized
woman who gives birth to her child in Gemini.
 Number 7

On this drawing of a cylinder seal Tishtrya, indicated by a star, holds two mythical
animals aloft. This scene may symbolize that he “gives wealth of a child” to a loving
couple.
He holds two animals, as he gives this “wealth” twice: during the begetting of this child
as well as during his birth.
The crescent symbolizes that this begetting happens at new moon: the presence of the
Moon appears to be necessary as it contains the seed of the King:
11. “I announce (and) carry out (this Yasna) for the two, for Ahura and Mithra, the lofty, and the
everlasting, and the Asha-sanctified, and for all the stars which are Spenta Mainyu's creatures,
and for the star Tishtrya, the resplendent and glorious, and for the Moon which contains the
seed of the Kine, and for the resplendent Sun, the swift-horsed, the eye of Ahura Mazda, and for
Mithra the province ruler. And I celebrate and carry out this Yasna for Ahura Mazda (once
again, and as to him who rules the month), the radiant, the glorious, and for the Fravashis of the
saints.”
Avesta: Yasna:
Sacred Liturgy and Gathas/Hymns of Zarathushtra

Number 8

On this drawing of a cylinder seal Tishtrya, indicated by a star, holds two birds aloft.
This scene may symbolize that he “gives wealth of a child” to a loving couple.
Once again, he holds two birds as he gives this “wealth” twice: during the begetting of a
child and during his birth.
The crescent symbolizes that the begetting happens at new moon: the presence of the
Moon appears to be necessary as it contains the seed of the King.
 Number 9

On this imprint Tishtrya holds two inverted lions aloft, gripping them by one hind leg,
their heads turned back. He stands with each foot on the rump of a winged sphinx.
• The two winged sphinxes may symbolize new moon: the Sun and the Moon in
conjunction.
The presence of the Moon is necessary as it contains the seed of the King,
but the presence of the Sun is necessary too: in the Greater Bundahishn we
read that “they (the Gods) filtered the seed (of Gayomard) by means of the
light of the Sun:”
5. When] Gayomard emitted the seed whilst passing away, they filtered the seed
by means of the light of the Sun; Neryosang guarded two parts of it, and
Spandarmad accepted one part; and [it remained within the earth] for forty years.
Greater Bundahishn
Translation by Behramgore Tehmuras Anklesaria.

• The two lions may symbolize “life” from the constellation Leo.
Tishtrya standing on two sphinxes may symbolize that he is the morning star: rising
above the horizon before sunrise.
At that time this happened on mid-July, when the sun passed Leo.
Like in all Ancient Near East Cultures the rising of Tishtrya appears to be an important
phenomenon in the Achaemenid Empire:
5. 'We sacrifice unto Tishtrya, the bright and glorious star; for whom long flocks and herds and
men, looking forward for him and deceived in their hope: "When shall we see him rise up, the
bright and glorious star Tishtrya? When will the springs run with waves as thick as a horse's
size and still thicker? Or will they never come?"
 8. Tishtar Yasht (Hymn to Tishtrya)

Number 10

And this imprint tells us about the same story:

• Standing on two sphinxes Tishtrya may have given “wealth of a child” to a loving
couple,
• These two sphinxes may have represented the Sun and the Moon in conjunction.
• Tishtrya standing on them symbolized that he was the morning star, rising above
the horizon before sunrise. At that time this happened at mid-July.
• Tishtrya held two winged bulls, symbolizing that the engendered child was born in
Taurus.
The conjunction of Sirius with the sun was an important phenomenon in the Ancient
World. According to F. X. Kugler S.J. the Babylonian goddess Ishtar was identical to
Sirius. He writes that at 3000 BC she lives in the bonds of love with Tammuz from her
heliacal setting, about April 1st, to her heliacal rising about June 20th,
“According to Kugler p. 244 Sternkunde Ishtar-Sirius lives in the bonds of love with Tammuz
from her heliacal setting, about May 1st, to her heliacal rising about July 20th, [calculated at
3000 BC, from April 1st to June 20th]. This is exactly the period of luxuriant vegetation and of
animal pairing."
Sumerian and Babylonian psalms by Stephen Langdon, ph. D.
In 139 BC in Egypt the heliacal rising of Sirius fell on July 20:
According to Roman writer Censorinus, the Egyptian New Year's Day fell on July 20 in the
Julian Calendar in 139 CE, which was a heliacal rising of Sirius in Egypt. From this it is
possible to calculate that the previous occasion on which this occurred was 1322 BC, and the
one before that was 2782 BCE.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Egyptian_calendar

And in the Achaemenid Empire (c. 550–330 BC),the heliacal rising of Sirius (Tishtrya)
fell on mid-July.

Number 11

On this picture Ahura Mazda is seated on a winged disk. He is the Zoroastrian creator
god:
“Ahura Mazda (/əˌhʊrəˌmæzdə/) (also known as Ohrmazd, Ahuramazda, Hourmazd, Hormazd,
Harzoo and Hurmuz, Lord or simply as spirit) is the Avestan name for the creator and sole God
of Zoroastrianism.”
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ahura_Mazda

In the Greater Bundahishn we read that Ohrmazd, (another name for Ahura Mazda,)
"created forth ten species of mankind":
1. One says in the Scripture: ["I created forth ten species of mankind": first, the shining and
white-eyed, that is Gayomard (first human being), up to ten species: as the ninth from Gayomard
was again one Gayomard, the tenth was the monkey, which one says is the lowest of mankind.
Greater Bundahishn
Translation by Behramgore Tehmuras Anklesaria.
 Number 12

The inscription on the imprint reads: Seal of Parshandata, son of Artadatan.

On top of the this imprint Ahura Mazda is seated on a Winged Sun disk. He "created
forth ten species of mankind."
Below Tishtrya holds a sphinx and a griffin aloft, which may symbolize that he gives
“wealth of a male child” to Artadatan during the begetting of Parshandata and during
his birth.

Number 13

On top of the this imprint Ahura Mazda is seated on a Winged Sun disk. He "created
forth ten species of mankind."
The dates of palm also played a role in the creation process of humanity, because fruit of
a tree was the ten races of humanity, as we read in the Greater Bundahishn:
10. Then] both of them changed from the astral body of a plant in to the astral body of a man, and that
 light, which is the soul, entered spiritually into them, that is, verily, they had grown up in the
semblance of a tree, whose fruit was the ten races of mankind.
Greater Bundahishn
On the left Tishtrya holds a sphinx and a griffin aloft, which may symbolize that he gives
“life” during the begetting of child and during his birth.

Number 14

On top of the this imprint Ahura Mazda is seated on a Winged Sun disk. He "created
forth ten species of mankind."
The dates of a palm tree may symbolize that fruit of a tree was the ten races of mankind.
On the right Tishtrya holds two inverted lions aloft. These lions symbolize “life” from the
constellation Leo.
He stands with each foot on two winged sphinxes. These sphinxes may represent the Sun
and the Moon..
Tishtrya standing on two sphinxes symbolizes that he is the morning star: he rises above
the horizon just before sunrise.
At that time this happened on mid-July, when the sun passed Leo.
 Number 15

On top of the this imprint with the Royal-Name Seals of Darius I, Ahura Mazda is seated
on a Winged Sun disk: he "created forth ten species of mankind."
The dates of the palm trees may symbolize that fruit of this tree was the ten races of
mankind.
The two sphinxes at the bottom may represent the Sun and the Moon.
Tishtrya stands with each foot on two winged sphinxes symbolizing that he is the morning
star: rising above the horizon before sunrise.
Tishtrya holds two inverted lions aloft, symbolizing that he gives “life” from the
constellation Leo to the parents of Darius I.
This scene symbolizes that he is the morning star: he rises above the horizon just before
sunrise.
At that time this happened on mid-July, when the sun passed Leo.

The period of conjunction of the God of the Sun, the God of the Moon and the God of
Sirius was important in the Ancient Near East, which means that they were depicted
together on many cylinder seals.
From the images on the Achaemenid cylinder seals it appears that of these three Gods
Tishtrya was the most important God as he brought offspring to humanity.

Tom van Bakel

Sint Pancras
Netherlands
tom.vanbakel@xs4all.nl

Quotations 8. Tishtar Yasht (Hymn to Tishtrya),

Translated by James Darmesteter, From Sacred Books of the East, American Edition,
1898.
Published: http://www.avesta.org/ka/index.html
Number 1
An Achaemenid chalcedony cylinder seal
Circa Late 6th-Early 5th Century B.C.
In the centre, the upper portion of a bearded king or God enclosed within a crescent with the
tinning ends joining to form a medallion, wearing a crown and a tunic, with one arm raised, the
other holding a circlet, a long tendril with a three-dot terminal falling from his shoulders in
back, the medallion framed by two rampant winged composite monsters, that to the left with the
body and head of a lion with splayed horns, the tail of a scorpion and the talons of a bird of
prey, that to the right with the body of a lion with a bearded human head and the horns of an
ibex, a winged solar disk with the bust of Ahura Mazda above, the God with one arm raised,
holding a circlet in the other, wearing a crown and tunic, a personal linear device in the field to
the right
24 x 12 mm.
http://www.christies.com/LotFinder/lot_details.aspx?from=searchresults&pos=4&intObj
ectID=2067304&sid=54ce771f-2d6b-4266-b066-9b87e6b0059f
Number 2
Impression from a blue chalcedony scaraboid seal from the Punjab showing Herakles stepping
over a dead lion to receive a jug from a nymph. 5th cent. BC. (London, British Museum, Walters
no. 524. W. 35 mm)
http://erenow.com/ancient/the-greeks-in-asia/3.html
Number 3
PFS 749
Cat.No. 302
Seals on the Persepolis Fortification Tablets, Volume !
Images of Heroic Encounters: Part 2: Plates

Number 4
A. 932. Vers deux lions dressés, dont les pattes antérieures sont opposées deux à deux,
s'avancent, de profil à gauche, quatre personnages semblables: ils sont vêtus d'un châle orné
d'une bande horizontale.Entre les pattes des lions, tige de plante renversée.
Au-dessous, formant comme un second registre, deux gazelles tuées sont étendues. Sujet disposé
entre deux traits horizontaux.
Terre brûlée.—29 x 15mm.—Inv. : N 8391 [3348](Acquisavant 1848).
Planche 97, fig. 22.
Décrit par Longpérier,NoticedesAntiquitésassyriennes,lre édit.
(1849),n° 47 b ; 3eédit. (1854),nO464.
A comparer avec les plantes des tablettes de Kerkouk, pl. 117
Published: Catalogue Des Cylindres Orientaux Cachets Et Pierres Gravées Du Musée Du Louvre

Number 5
Abb. 370: An ithyphallic male seizes a nude woman by the shoulders. She leans forward, her two
arms extended. A second woman squats on the ground with spread arms and legs (cf. Nos. 268-
70).
In the field, a nude man holds two hares by the hind legs. Branches and rosettes.
U. I5060. NE. corner of the Royal Cemetery area. P1. 50.
Ur excavations Archaic seal impressions no 370

Number 6
Seal: hero fighting two male winged daemons, with stars above.
Date: Neo-assyrian or neo-babylonian empire, 8th-7th centuries BCE
Medium: Chalcedony
Current location: Museum of Fine Arts of Lyon
Antiques department, first floor, room 12
Accession number: E408
Credit line: Purchased 1899
Notes Courtesy of Musée des beaux-arts de Lyon
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Seal_Hero_fighting_two_winged_deamons-MBA_Lyon_E408-IMG_0087.jpg

Number 7
PFS 102
Cat.No. 302
Seals on the Persepolis Fortification Tablets, Volume !
Images of Heroic Encounters: Part 2: Plates

Number 8
PFS 29
Cat.No. 302
Seals on the Persepolis Fortification Tablets, Volume !
Images of Heroic Encounters: Part 2: Plates

Number 9
Achaemenid Cylinder Seal
Circa 5th-Early 4th Century B.C.
A barrel-shaped banded agate seal.
A bearded Persian king holding two inverted lions aloft, gripping them by one hind leg, their
heads turned back, the king wearing a crown, tunic and trousers, standing with each foot on the
rump of a winged sphinx.
23,5 X 11 mm
http://www.christies.com/LotFinder/lot_details.aspx?pos=8&intObjectID=2034642&sid=

Number 10
Achaemenid Cylinder Seal
Circa 5th-Early 4th Century B.C.
a carnelian seal with gray areas and some green inclusions, with a bearded Persian king
gripping the foreleg of two rampant winged bulls with bearded and horned human faces, their
heads turned back, the king wearing a crown, tunic and trousers, standing on the rumps of two
adorsed lions with their heads turned back;
27 X 13 mm,
http://www.christies.com/LotFinder/lot_details.aspx?pos=8&intObjectID=2034642&sid=

Number 11
A close-up of a panel from the ruins of the 'North West Palace' in Nimrud, northern Iraq, dated
to 865-860 BCE.
Number 12
British Museum number: 89152
Date: 538BC-331BC
Period/Culture Achaemenid (Persepolitan, Early/Mature)
Description: figure (hero or king) in heraldic combat with two confronting monsters, ancillary
symbol and inscription. The figure stands facing right with torso presented frontally; he has
pointed beard and hair, worn in a page-boy style, which seems to come to a peak over the
forehead (perhaps a fillet over the brow), with fine striations across the crown; he is dressed in
the Persian robe which falls in three groups of folds (instead of the usual two); his arms are
outstretched and he grasps, to the left, the raised foreleg of a rampant, regardant, winged,
human-headed bull (lamassu), and to the right, the neck of a rampant, winged, snarling leo-
gryph. The bull monster has a long, square-tipped beard and its hair is bunched at the nape of
the neck; its head is covered with a high, square-topped polos, one foreleg hangs down, both
hind legs are on the ground and its tufted tail hangs down. The leo-gryph has mule's ears jutting
forward, and a crest marked by a line passing over its head, between the ears and along the back
of the neck; with one its lion's fore-claws it attacks the figure's arm and the other is pressed
against the figure's body as is the talon of one hind leg; its long, hanging tail curls at the tip and
its haunch muscles are well defined. Both creatures have two visible long straight wings, one
positioned upwards, the other down. Above and facing to right hovers the winged bust (of
Zorastrian god Ahuramazda?), similar in appearence to the personage, but with hand(s) raised;
he rises from a central sun-disc or ring; the wings are short and straight, the tail feathers flare
out and from each side of it emerge appendages like straight arms with forked ends looking like
outstretched hands. Four lines of script are placed horizontally to the right of the scene; chipped.
Inscription Language: Aramaic
Inscription Translation: Seal of Parshandata, son of Artadatan.
Inscription Comment: Dr Richard Parkinson (personal communication) believes that these
hieroglyphs have an apotropaic meaning; they are "ankḫ" meaning 'life', "siʒ" (a textile)
meaning 'perception' and "ỉb" (an animal heart) signifying 'heart' (the latter also suggested to
Merrillees by Dr Helen Whitehouse of the Ashmolean Museum), perhaps even 'mind' or
'intelligence'.
Number 13
Modern impression on clay of Achaemenid cylinder seal, 5th. cent. BCE. A winged solar disc
legitimises the Persian king who subdues two rampant Mesopotamian lamassu figures. A finely
detailed date-palm (Phoenix dactylifera) terminates. Seal: grey chalcedony, 28mm x 14mm.
Christie’s Antiquities sale catalogue, London, 7/11/01, Lot 605.Date: 6 February 2013, 19:03:53
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Cylinder_Seal,_Achaemenid,_modern_impression_05.jpg

Number 14
Cylinder seal and impression
Persia, Achaemenid period (ca. 550–330 B.C.)
Agate
32 x 15 mm
Seal no. 824
http://www.themorgan.org/collections/collectionsListThumbs.asp?page=5&id=Seals

Number 15
The Royal-Name Seals of Darius I
7.9. Collated drawing of PFUTS 18
Extraction & Control, Studies in honor of Matthew W. Stolper