Editing Atar (section)

{{short description|Zoroastrian concept of holy fire}}
{{other uses}}
{{distinguish|Attar (disambiguation){{!}}Attar|Atari}}
{{For|the Australian student grading system|Australian Tertiary Admission Rank}}
{{Infobox deity
| type = Zoroastrian 
| deity_of =  God of Fire {{br}}
| image = [[File:Gold coin of Ardashir I.jpg|250px]]
| caption = Fire bowl on a coin of the Sasanian emperor [[Ardashir Babakan]].
| other_names = Ataxsh, Atash, Atarsh
| script_name = [[Avestan]]
| script = Ātar 𐬁𐬙𐬀𐬭
| gender = Male
| attributes = Guardian of Fire, Giver of Warmth
| symbol = Fire, Light and Illumination
| affiliation = The Thirty-Three Deities, [[List of Zoroastrian month days|Guardians of the Days of the Month]], The Twelve Deities, [[Classical elements|Four Elements]]
| day = 9th of each month in the [[Iranian calendar]]
| associated_deities = [[Asha Vahishta]], [[Verethragna]], [[Sraosha]]
| sacred_flower = [[Common sunflower|Sunflower]]
| festivals = [[Azargān]]
| Greek_equivalent = [[Hephaestus]]
|  Roman_equivalent = [[Vulcan (mythology)|Vulcan]]
| equivalent1_type= Indian 
| equivalent1 = [[Agni]]
}}
{{Zoroastrianism sidebar}}
'''Atar''', '''Atash''', '''Azar''' ({{langx|ae|𐬁𐬙𐬀𐬭|translit=ātar}}) or '''''Dāštāɣni''''',<ref name="Lubotsky">{{harvnb|Lubotsky|2011}}, s.v. ''agni-.''</ref> is the [[Zoroastrianism|Zoroastrian]] concept of [[fire worship|holy fire]], sometimes described in abstract terms as "burning and unburning fire" or "visible and invisible fire" (Mirza, 1987:389). It is considered to be the visible presence of [[Ahura Mazda]] and his [[Asha]] through the eponymous [[Yazata]]. The rituals for purifying a fire are performed 1,128 times a year.{{Citation needed|date=December 2021}}

In the [[Avestan language]], ''ātar'' is an attribute of sources of heat and light, of which the nominative singular form is ''ātarš'', source of [[Persian language|Persian]] ''ātaš'' (fire). It was once thought to be etymologically related to the [[Avestan]] ''āθrauuan'' / ''aθaurun'' ([[Vedic Sanskrit|Vedic]] ''[[atharvan]]''), a type of priest, but that is now considered unlikely (Boyce, 2002:16). The ultimate etymology of ''ātar'', previously unknown (Boyce, 2002:1), is now believed to be from the [[Proto-Indo-European language|Indo-European]] *h<sub>x</sub>eh<sub>x</sub>tr- 'fire'. This would make it a cognate to [[Latin]] ''[[wikt:ater#Latin|ater]]'' (black) and to [[Albanian language|Albanian]] ''[[vatër]]'' (definite form: ''vatra'') "hearth", "fireplace", which was loaned to [[Romanian language|Romanian]] ''vatră'' "hearth", "fireplace", and thereafter spread to [[Serbo-Croatian language|Serbo-Croat]] ''vatra'' "fire" and [[Ukrainian language|Ukrainian]] ''vatra'' "bonfire".<ref>{{Cite journal |jstor = 40997529|title = The Prehistory of the Albanian Vowel System: A Preliminary Exploration|journal = Studies in Slavic and General Linguistics|volume = 32:Evidence and Counter-Evidence: Essays in honour of Frederik Kortlandt. v 1: Balto-Slavic and Indo-European Linguistics|pages = 591–608|last1 = Vermeer|first1 = Willem|year = 2008|quote="Romanian also famously borrowed ''vatër'' 'hearth' with patently Tosk ''va-'' and proceeded to spread it to wherever Vlachs expanded subsequently."}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tzU3RIV2BWIC&q=atars&pg=PA202 |title=Encyclopedia of Indo-European Culture - James Mallory - Google Boeken |access-date=2012-08-27|isbn=9781884964985 |last1=Mallory |first1=J. P. |last2=Adams |first2=Douglas Q. |year=1997 |publisher=Taylor & Francis }}</ref>

In later Zoroastrianism, ''ātar'' ([[Persian language|Middle Persian]]: 𐭠𐭲𐭥𐭥𐭩 ''ādar'' or ''ādur'') is iconographically conflated with fire itself, which in Middle Persian is 𐭠𐭲𐭧𐭱 ''ātaxsh'', one of the primary objects of Zoroastrian symbolism.