ALLUSIONS IN SACRED BOOKS OF THE HAST. 



191 



declivity of the sky ; and its gate is in the earth, a place of the 

 northern quarter, and is called the Arezur ridge." 



and the Bundahis says : 



" The Areznr ridge (of the Albnrz mountains) is a summit at the 

 gate of hell where they always hold the concourse of the demons."* 



By piecing together the various information given from the 

 time of Zarathustra onward, the conception presented to my 

 mind is this : — When Iran-Ve^ was no longer recognized as on 

 this earth, it was believed to be that circular portion of the 

 sky defined by the circumpolar stars, namely those that never 

 rise or set. The rampart of this enclosure was Haptok-ring, 

 the Persian name for the seven stars of the Plough. The 

 rampart of the earth was Mt. Alburz, lying all round its 

 horizon, and the sweep of the seven Plough stars at their 

 lowest touched Mt. Alburz at its most northerly point — the 

 ridge of Arezur, which was the gate of hell. Hell was, I judge, 

 a reflection of the circumpolar heavens, but hanging below the 

 northern horizon of the earth. Earth, heaven and hell, all 

 touched at the Arezur ridge in the extreme north. 



But there is a very pretty astronomical idea brought out in 

 connection with the function of the seven Plough stars as a 

 bulwark against an invasion from hell, for in the " Opinions of 

 the Spirit of Wisdom " (written, perhaps, about the fifth or sixth 

 century a.d.) it says that Haptok-ring, 



" with 99,999 guardian spirits of the righteous, is intrusted with the 

 gate and passage of hell, for the keeping back of those 99, 999 demons 

 and fiends, witches and wizards, who are in opposition to the sphere 

 and constellations. Its motion also is round about hell ; and its 

 special business is this, as it holds the twelve signs of the zodiac by 

 the hand, in their proper going and coming. And those twelve con- 

 stellations also proceed in like manner by the power and help of 

 Haptok-ring; and every single constellation when it comes in at 

 Alburz holds to Haptok-ring by the hand, and begs protection from 

 Haptok-ring" (Mkh. XLIX. 15-21). 



It is evident that the Plough stars do indicate to any careful 

 observer whereabout the various signs of the zodiac are, even 



* I should like here to point out that the fourfold heaven idea, current 

 in the time of the Bundahis and later was, astronomically, faulty. For 

 the faithful, on death, were escorted, first to the star station, then to the 

 moon station, then to the sun station, and lastly to the endless light, so 

 that the stars were supposed to be closer to the earth than 'the sun ; 

 closer indeed than the moon. 



