Editing Mah (section)

==In tradition==
[[File:Huvishka with Mao.jpg|thumb|Coinage of [[Kushan Empire|Kushan]] ruler [[Huvishka]], with the Lunar deity Mah (''Mao'') on the reverse, 2nd century CE. The lunar crescent appears behind the shoulders.<ref name="AHH327">{{cite book |last1=Dani |first1=Ahmad Hasan |last2=Harmatta |first2=János |title=History of Civilizations of Central Asia |year=1999 |publisher=Motilal Banarsidass Publ. |isbn=978-81-208-1408-0 |pages=327–328 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DguGWP0vGY8C&pg=PA327 |language=en}}</ref>]]
[[Herodotus]] states that the moon was the [[tutelary deity|tutelary]] divinity of the Iranian expatriates residing in [[Asia Minor]].<ref>{{cite book |author=Herodotus |author-link=Herodotus |title=Histories |at=7.3.7}}</ref> 
The divinity Mah appears together with [[Mithra]] on [[Kushan Empire|Kushan]] coins.

In the [[Zoroastrian calendar]], the twelfth day of the month is dedicated to and is under the protection of the Moon.

The Moon plays a prominent role in Zoroastrian cosmogony, in particular as described in detail in the  ''Bundahishn'', a text finished in the 12th&nbsp;century. The legend runs as follows:<ref>''Bundahishn''&nbsp;7</ref> [[Ahriman]] (Av: [[Angra Mainyu]]) incites Jeh ([[Jahi]]) the primeval whore to kill the primordial bovine Gawiewdad (Av. [[Gavaevodata]]). Jeh does as told, but as the creature lies dying, the ''chihr''<ref group=lower-alpha name="cithra"/> is rescued and placed in the care of the moon. This ''chihr'' is then the "prototype" (''karb'') of all creatures of the animal world.

In the hierarchy of [[yazata|''yazata''s]], the Moon is the assistant (or 'cooperator', ''hamkar'') of [[Vohu Manah]] (MP: Bahman), the [[Amesha Spenta]] of animal welfare, in particular of cattle. The identification with [[Vohu Manah]] - the [[hypostasis (linguistics)|hypostasis]] of "Good Purpose" or "Good Mind" - is reflected in other texts where the moon is associated with mental harmony and [[inner peace]].{{efn|''Mah'' is also the [[Persian language]] name of a species of fish, which gives rise to the Persian language expression, ''az mah ta mahi'', "from the moon to the ''mah''-fish", to mean "everything". That expression has its origin in Persian mythology, where the world is believed to sit on a rock, on the back of a bull, on a ''kamkam'', on the back of the ''mah'' fish, on water, on wind, and on the veil of darkness.{{citation needed|date=October 2019}}
<br/>
cf. ''[[The Rubaiyat]]'', Omar Khayyam,:<ref>{{cite book |title=The Rubaiyat |author=Khayyam, Omar |translator=Fitzgerald, Edward |at=stanza 52}}</ref> 
:Whose secret Presence, through Creation's veins
:Running, Quicksilver-like eludes your pains:
:Taking all shapes from ''Mah to Mahi''; and
:They change and perish all – but He remains;
}}