#ancient Persia

• Ahuramazda — The supreme deity, creator of heaven, earth, and the entire universal order in the Zoroastrian religion (or Mazdeism). In ancient Persian theology, he represents the spirit of absolute good, truth, light, and divine wisdom, involved in a structural cosmic conflict of a dualistic nature against Ahriman, the supreme force of darkness and destruction.
• Apadana — An architectural term designating a massive audience hall of hypostyle form (with the ceiling supported by rows of massive columns), characteristic of the royal palaces in Ancient Persia (especially those from the Achaemenid Empire period, such as in Persepolis and Susa). This monumental structure was used by monarchs for grand imperial receptions and public assemblies, being renowned for its complex decorative bas-reliefs.
• Avesta — The collection of sacred texts of Zoroastrianism (the ancient religion of Persia), written in the Avestan language, an ancient Iranian language closely related to Vedic Sanskrit; it comprises religious hymns attributed to the prophet Zoroaster (the Gathas), prayers, liturgical rituals, and cosmological and moral law codes. Additionally, the name may appear as a modern toponym, denoting an industrial town in Sweden renowned for its metallurgy history.
• Avestan — Pertaining to the Avesta, the sacred texts of Zoroastrianism in ancient Persia, or to the people who created them; as a masculine noun, it denotes the Avestan language, an extremely important ancient Iranian language of the Indo-European family, closely related to Vedic Sanskrit and used exclusively for liturgical and religious purposes. This idiom represents a fundamental source for the comparative study of Oriental languages and mythologies.