BABYLON AND PERSIA

Aryan myths in the avesta. 85them up a sacrifice, with meat and clothes in his hand, and a prayerWorthy of bliss, the awful Fravashis of the faithful, satisfied, un¬harmed, and unoffended, bless thus :' May there be in this houseflocks of animals and men !May there be a swift horse and a solidchariot !May there be a man who knows how to praise God andrule in his assembly ! ' . . ."21. It is not the Fravashis alone who ask thusopenly and eagerly for gifts and offerings.We sawthe Storm-god Tishtrya crying out for sacrifices to" bring him strength," when sorely pressed by theDrought-Fiend Apaosha.So does Mithra, wishingfor strength to perform his appointed work, ever cryout to Ahura-Mazda :" Who will offer me a sacrifice ? ... If men would worshipme with a sacrifice in which I were invoked by my own name, asthey worship the other Yazatas,... I would come to the faith¬ful at the appointed time of my Ijeautiful immortal life."Ardvi-Siira Anahita, as she drives forward on herchariot, drawn by four white horses, and holding thereins, longs for the worship of men, and thinks in herheart : " Who will praise me ? Who will offer mea sacrifice, with libations cleanly prepared and wellstrained,together with the Haoma and meat ? "22. The old Aryan conception of the efficacy, thecompelling force of sacrifice, asserts itself with greatemphasis in the Avesta, where we see not only thefamous mythical heroes sacrificing hundreds andthousands of bullocks, horses, and sheep to variousdeities, principally Haoma, Ardvi-Sura Anahita, andVayu, when asking for some special boon, but thegods offering sacrifices to each other on the heightsof the Hara-Berezaiti.Nay, Ahura-Mazda himself