Atar

Atar (Avestan ātar) is the Zoroastrian concept of holy fire, sometimes described in abstract terms as "burning and unburning fire" or "visible and invisible fire" (Mirza, 1987:389).

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 āteš (fire). It was once thought to be etymologically related to the Avestan āθrauuan / aθaurun (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 Indo-European *h_xeh_xtr- 'fire'. This would make it related to the Latin ater (fire, see Aether) and a cognate of the Slavic vatra (fire), all ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *at(h)r (“burn; fire”).

In later Zoroastrianism, ātar (in middle Persian: ādar or ādur) is iconographically conflated with fire itself, which in middle Persian is ātaxsh, one of the primary objects of Zoroastrian symbolism.

Atar (name)

Atar is both a given name and a surname. Notable people with the name include:

Atar (disambiguation)

Atar is the Zoroastrian concept for "burning and unburning fire" and "visible and invisible fire".

Atar may also refer to:

See also