In the

Avesta The Avesta () is the primary collection of religious texts of Zoroastrianism, composed in the Avestan language. The Avesta texts fall into several different categories, arranged either by dialect, or by usage. The principal text in the lit ...

, reference is made to

seven 7 is a number, numeral, and glyph. 7 or seven may also refer to: * AD 7, the seventh year of the AD era * 7 BC, the seventh year before the AD era * The month of July Music Artists * Seven (Swiss singer) (born 1978), a Swiss recording artist ...

karshvar (''karšvrə'' <

Modern Persian New Persian ( fa, فارسی نو), also known as Modern Persian () and Dari (), is the current stage of the Persian language spoken since the 8th to 9th centuries until now in Greater Iran and surroundings. It is conventionally divided into thre ...

: ''kešvar'',

Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...

: '' kišvar''),

clime The climes (singular ''clime''; also ''clima'', plural ''climata'', from Greek κλίμα ''klima'', plural κλίματα ''klimata'', meaning "inclination" or "slope") in classical Greco-Roman geography and astronomy were the divisions of ...

s or zones, organizing the world map into a seven-storied

ziggurat A ziggurat (; Cuneiform: 𒅆𒂍𒉪, Akkadian: ', D-stem of ' 'to protrude, to build high', cognate with other Semitic languages like Hebrew ''zaqar'' (זָקַר) 'protrude') is a type of massive structure built in ancient Mesopotamia. It has ...

representing the cosmic mountain. The world is referred to as the ''haft keshvar''. The word has also been translated as "region", "state" or "

continent A continent is any of several large landmasses. Generally identified by convention rather than any strict criteria, up to seven geographical regions In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as zones, lands or territories, are areas t ...

". The Avesta describes the karshvar as superimposed concentric circles one above the other, with increasing size. These are separated by waters, mountains or forests. #Arezahi, #Savahi, #Fradadhafshu, #Vidadhafshu, #Vourubaresti, #Vourugaresti, #Hvaniratha. The story of the creation of these seven regions is told in Bundahishn when "rain first fell upon the earth".

Man A man is an adult male human. Prior to adulthood, a male human is referred to as a boy (a male child or adolescent). Like most other male mammals, a man's genome usually inherits an X chromosome from the mother and a Y chromo ...

lives in the karshvar Hvaniratha. p. 11. Hvaniratha is believed to be "central one" and whose size was as large as all others together. p. 95. The karshvar Hvaniratha is where "peak of Hara" (Alburz) had "grown from the roots of Elburz mountains". Sufi traditions postulate an eighth clime, the "heavenly Earth" or "cosmic North". In

Theosophy Theosophy is a religion established in the United States during the late 19th century. It was founded primarily by the Russian Helena Blavatsky and draws its teachings predominantly from Blavatsky's writings. Categorized by scholars of religion ...

, according to

H. P. Blavatsky Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, uk, Олена Петрівна Блаватська, Olena Petrivna Blavatska (; – 8 May 1891), often known as Madame Blavatsky, was a Russian mystic and author who co-founded the Theosophical Society in 1875 ...

(''The Devil's Own'', 1891),

Ahura Ahura (Avestan: 𐬀𐬵𐬎𐬭𐬀) is an Avestan language designation for a particular class of Zoroastrian divinities. The term is assumed to be linguistically related to the Asuras of Indian Vedic era. Etymology Avestan ''ahura'' "lord" der ...

is interpreted as a generic name for the sevenfold Deity, the Ruler of the Seven Worlds, and Hvaniratha is the middle plane (the fourth of seven), corresponding to

Earth Earth is the third planet from the Sun and the only astronomical object known to harbor life. While large volumes of water can be found throughout the Solar System, only Earth sustains liquid surface water. About 71% of Earth's surfa ...

Notes

Zoroastrianism {{Zoroastrianism-stub

See also

Notes