Dahmā Āfriti, a Zoroastrian Prayer-Deity

Dahmā Āfriti is the personification of a Zoroastrian prayer blessing the house and the community of the worshipper. This prayer is contained in the Avestan text Yasna (where it is placed after the end of the most sacred core of the text). During the history of the Zoroastrian tradition (starting from the period of composition of the Avesta itself), the Dahmā Āfriti was personified as a deity. different functions were attributed to this deity, such as that of giving protection to the world, and that of helping the soul in its otherworldly journey after death. The paper will investigate on the evolution of the figure of Dahmā Āfriti, based on an investigation of her role in the Avesta and in the Pahlavi texts, as well as on the rituals performed in her honour.