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Zam

Zam () is the Avestan language term for the Zoroastrian concept of "earth", in both the sense of land and soil and in the sense of the world. The earth is viewed as a primordial element in Zoroastrian tradition, and represented by a minor divinity, Zam, who is the hypostasis of the "earth". The word itself, changed to ''Zamin'' in Modern Persian, is cognate to the Baltic ''Zemes'', Slavic ''Zem'', Serbian Zemlja, Greco-Thracian ''Semele'', meaning the planet Earth, as well as soil.

The element ''zam'' exists with the same meaning in Middle Persian, which is the language of the texts of Zoroastrian tradition. The divinity Zam, however, appears in the later language as ''Zamyad'', which is a contraction of ''Zam Yazad'', i.e. the ''yazata Zam''.

Zam of the earth is not related to the Zam of the ''Shahnameh''. That Zam—''Zahhak-e-Maar-Doosh'' (''Aži Dahāka'' in Avestan, ''Azhdshak'' in Middle Persian)—is the king of dragons, who slew Jamshid. Provided by Wikipedia