BABYLON AND PERSIA

76, MEDIA, BABYLON, AND PERSIA.period, as early as the Gathas. The only femaleAmesha-Spenta, whose sex, name, and attributionsare easily explained asa reminiscence of a rathermisty Aryan deity, whom we find in the Rig-Vedaunder the name of Aramati, and who, like herj'ounger Eranian namesake, personifies both theEarth and the virtue of devotion.6th and 7th. Haurvatat and Ameretat," Health and Immortalitj'," a divine couple almostnever mentioned or invoked separately, and who, by aprocess at once logical and poetical, remained closelyunited in the functions assigned to them in the ma¬terial world,that of guardians of the waters andthe plants on earth.The wholesomeness of purerunning water, both in itself and as provoking andfostering vegetation, and its healing properties, nat¬urally commended it to the care of the Genius ofHealth ;while the trees and plants, with their latentandever-replenished vitality, have always been ameet symbol of immortality.And one must havetravelled or lived in lands of drought and barrenness,where the course of the tiniest streamlet is markedbyits fringe of verdure or foliage, sometimes nowider than itself, where not a .spring or well but is.shaded by its palm or plane tree, fully to realize theaptness of the conception which unites the runningwater and the growing plant into the inseparablecouple, " Haurvatat and Ameretat," who arealsosaid to give food its rich and pleasant taste.16. It is quite evident from several passages thatthe Amesha-Spentas were originally one with Ahura-Mazda, who, on being asked by Zarathushtra which