Editing Apam Napat (section)

{{Short description|Deity in the Indo-Iranian pantheon}}
{{Infobox deity
| type =  Zoroastrian
| deity_of = God of Water <br /> Son of the Waters
| other_names = Burz
| script_name = [[Avestan]]
| script = Apam Napat 𐬀𐬞𐬄𐬨 𐬥𐬀𐬞𐬁𐬙
| gender = Male
| symbol = Water
| affiliation = The Thirty-Three Deities, [[Classical elements|Four Elements]]
| mount = Swift Horse
| abode = [[Vourukasha]] Ocean
| festivals = [[Gahambars|Maidyoshahem]]
| equivalent1_type = Sumerian
| equivalent1 = [[Abzu]]
| equivalent2_type = Indian
| equivalent2 = [[Varuna]]
| greek_equivalent = [[Poseidon]]
| roman_equivalent = [[Neptune (mythology)|Neptune]]
}}
{{Zoroastrianism sidebar}}

'''Apam Napat''' is a deity in the [[Proto-Indo-Iranian religion|Indo-Iranian]] [[Pantheon (gods)|pantheon]] associated with water. His names in the [[Vedas]], '''''Apām Napāt''''', and in [[Zoroastrianism]], '''''Apąm Napāt''''', mean "child of the [[Ap (water)|waters]]" in [[Sanskrit]] and [[Avestan language|Avestan]] respectively. ''[[wikt:नपात्|Napāt]]'' ("grandson", "progeny") is cognate with [[Latin]] ''nepos'' and English ''[[nephew]]''.{{efn|name=a|[[Georges Dumézil]] and others have suggested an alternative origin for the name, which ties it etymologically to other Indo-European deities such as Etruscan [[Nethuns]], Celtic [[Nechtan (mythology)|Nechtan]] and Roman [[Neptune (mythology)|Neptune]] (see [[Neptune (mythology)#Etymology|etymology of Neptune]]).<ref>{{cite book |last=Philibert |first=Myriam |year=1997 |title=Les Mythes préceltiques |place=Monaco |publisher=Éditions du Rocher |pages=244–247}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Dumézil |first=Georges |author-link=Georges Dumézil |year=1995 |title=Mythe et Epopée |volume=III |publisher=Quarto Gallimard, pub. Éditions Gallimard |isbn=2-07-073656-3 |page=40}}</ref>}} In the [[Rig Veda]], he is described as the creator of all things.<ref name="RV2352" /> It is considered to originate from the [[Proto-Indo-European mythology|Proto-Indo-European]] [[Hepom Nepōts]].{{sfn|Mallory|Adams|2006|page=410}}

In the [[Vedas]] it is often apparent that ''Apām Napāt'' is being used as a title, not a proper name. This is most commonly applied to [[Agni]], god of fire, and occasionally to [[Savitr]], god of the sun. A correspondence has also been posited by [[Mary Boyce|Boyce]]<ref name=Boyce-1989/> between both the Vedic and Avestic traditions of Apam Napat, and [[Varuna]], who is also addressed as "Child of the Waters", and is considered a god of the sea.<ref name="Iranica">{{Cite web |title= Apąm Napāt |url=https://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/apam-napat |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240716182341/https://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/apam-napat |archive-date=2024-07-16 |website=[[Encyclopædia Iranica]]}}</ref><ref name="Boyce-1989">{{cite book |last=Boyce |first=Mary |author-link=Mary Boyce |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=F3gfAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA42 |title=A History of Zoroastrianism: The Early Period |publisher=BRILL |year=1989 |isbn=90-04-08847-4 |pages=42–43, 45, 47–48 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230301015630/https://books.google.com/books?id=F3gfAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA42#v=onepage&q&f=false |archive-date=2023-03-01 |url-status=live}}</ref>{{rp|pages=[https://books.google.com/books?id=F3gfAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA47 47–48]}} In the Iranian tradition, he is also called ''Burz'' ("high one," {{langx|fa|[[wikt:برز#Persian|برز]]|}}) and is a [[Yazata|''yazad'']].<ref name=Boyce-1989/>{{rp|pages=[https://books.google.com/books?id=F3gfAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA42 42–43]}}