Ahura Mazda was depicted in images starting from the 5th century BC, but during theSassanid period, these depictions were replaced by stone-carved figures—and eventually removed entirely—due to aniconoclastic movement supported by theSasanian dynasty. In the wake of theMuslim conquest of Persia (633-651 CE), Zoroastrianism was subject toreligious influence byIslam. Under the influence of Islam, Zoroastrian clergy raised the status of Ahura Mazda to that of theonly god and diminished the status ofAhriman to that of a created being.
'Mazda', or rather the Avestan stem-formMazdā-,nominativeMazdå, reflectsProto-Iranian*mazdáH (afeminine noun). It is generally taken to be the proper name of the spirit and, like itsVedic cognatemedhā́, means "intelligence" or "wisdom". Both the Avestan and the Sanskrit words reflectProto-Indo-Iranian*mazdʰáH, fromProto-Indo-European*mn̥sdʰh₁éh₂, literally meaning "placing (*dʰeh₁) one's mind (*mn̥-s)", hence "wise".[9]
Mazdaism is a religion that arose inEastern Iran, modern-day Afghanistan, andCentral Asia beginning in the early centuries of the first millennium.[11] Unlike inZoroastrianism, in Mazdaism Ahura Mazda is one of the gods, equal toMithra.[12]
The worship of Ahura Mazda, as some Zoroastrian historians believe, was not originated by Zoroaster, but existed before the prophet's message. According to Robert Zahner, the pre-Zoroastrian Ahura Mazda was undoubtedly associated with the concept of truth or the idea of some kind of "universal order," as well as with water, light, or the sun.[13]
Emile Benveniste points out that Ahura Mazda is an ancient deity and that the Zoroastrians used this name to refer to the Zoroastrian god. Even the central role assigned to this god in Mazdaism is not a Zoroastrian innovation. The title Mazdaism (worshipper of Mazda) found in Aramaic papyri from the Achaemenid period cannot be evidence that the Achaemenids were Zoroastrian, and the mention of the name Ahura Mazda in stone inscriptions is not evidence of this either. In the Achaemenid inscriptions, not only is Zoroastrianism not mentioned, but nothing else is mentioned that could give these inscriptions a Zoroastrian signal.[14]
In someZurvanist narratives, it is mentioned that Zurvan had a wife who gave birth to Ahura Mazda andAhriman; later, Ahura Mazda married his mother and had children with her, including the sun, dogs, pigs, donkeys, and cattle.[15]
But in other Zoroastrian traditions ( not Zurvanism narratives ), it is said that Ahura Mazda married his daughterSpenta Armaiti and she gave birth to Keyumars, and later she gave birth toMashya and Mashyana. These traditions are considered to be that Keyumars was born to the same mother as Mashya and Mashyana, and not that Mashya and Mashyana are the children of Keyumars.[16]
According to Zoroastrian tradition, at the age of 30, Zoroaster received a revelation: while fetching water at dawn for a sacred ritual, he saw the shining figure of anAmesha Spenta,Vohu Manah, who led Zoroaster to the presence of Ahura Mazda, where he was taught the cardinal principles of the "Good Religion" later known asZoroastrianism. As a result of this vision, Zoroaster felt that he was chosen to spread and preach the religion.[17] He stated that this source of all goodness was the Ahura, worthy of the highest worship. He further stated that Ahura Mazda created spirits known asyazatas to aid him. Zoroaster proclaimed that some Iranian gods weredaevas who deserved no worship. These "bad" deities were created byAngra Mainyu, the destructive spirit. Angra Mainyu was the source of all sin and misery in the universe. Zoroaster claimed that Ahura Mazda used the aid of humans in the cosmic struggle against Angra Mainyu. Nonetheless, Ahura Mazda is Angra Mainyu's superior, not his equal. Angra Mainyu and hisdaevas, which attempt to attract humans away from the Path ofAsha, would eventually be defeated.[18]
According toPlutarch,[19]Zoroaster named "Arimanius" as one of the two rivals who were the artificers of good and evil. In terms of sense perception, Oromazes was to be compared to light, and Arimanius to darkness and ignorance; between these wasMithras the Mediator. Arimanius received offerings that pertained towarding off evil andmourning.
In describing a ritual to Arimanius, Plutarch says the god was invoked asHades[20]: 68 gives the identification asPluto, the name of the Greek ruler of the underworld used most commonly in texts and inscriptions pertaining to themystery religions, and in Greek dramatists and philosophers of Athens in theClassical period. Turcan[21]: 232 notes that Plutarch makes of Arimanius "a sort oftenebrous Pluto". Plutarch, however, names the Greek god asHades, not the namePlouton used in theEleusinian tradition[a] ("The Hidden One") and darkness.[b]
The Arimanius ritual required an otherwise-unknown plant that Plutarch calls "omomi" (Haoma orSoma), which was to be pounded in a mortar and mixed with the blood of a sacrificed wolf. The substance was then carried to a place "where the sun never shines" and cast therein. He adds that "water-rats" belong to this god, and therefore proficient rat-killers are fortunate men.
Oromazes, born from the purest light, and Areimanius, born from darkness, are constantly at war with each other; and Oromazes created six gods, the first of Good Thought, the second of Truth, the third of Order, and, of the rest, one of Wisdom, one of Wealth, and one the Artificer of Pleasure in what is Honourable. But Areimanius created rivals, as it were, equal to these in number. Then Oromazes enlarged himself to thrice his former size, and removed himself as far distant from the Sun as the Sun is distant from the Earth, and adorned the heavens with stars. One star he set there before all others as a guardian and watchman, theDog-star. Twenty-four other gods he created and placed inan egg. But those created by Areimanius, who were equal in number to the others, pierced through the egg and made their way inside; hence evils are now combined with good. But a destined time shall come when it is decreed that Areimanius, engaged in bringing on pestilence and famine, shall by these be utterly annihilated and shall disappear; and then shall the earth become a level plain, and there shall be one manner of life and one form of government for a blessed people who shall all speak one tongue. — Plutarch[22][23]: 47
ScholarMary Boyce asserted that the passage shows a "fairly accurate" knowledge of basic Zoroastrianism.[24]
In hisLife of Themistocles, Plutarch has the Persian king invoke Arimanius by name, asking the god to cause the king's enemies to behave in such a way as to drive away their own best men; de Jong (1997)[25]: 313 doubted that a Persian king would pray to his own national religion's god of evil, particularly in public.
According to Plutarch, the king then made a sacrifice and got drunk – essentially arunning gag on Persian kings in Plutarch's writing, and thus dubious evidence for actual behavior.[25]: 314
Whether theAchaemenids were Zoroastrians is a matter of much debate. However, it is known that the Achaemenids were worshipers of Ahura Mazda.[26] The representation and invocation of Ahura Mazda can be seen on royal inscriptions written by Achaemenid kings.[27] The most notable of all the inscriptions is theBehistun Inscription written byDarius the Great which contains many references to Ahura Mazda. An inscription written in Greek was found in a late Achaemenid temple atPersepolis, which invoked Ahura Mazda and two other deities,Mithra andAnahita.Artaxerxes III makes this invocation Ahuramazda again during his reign.
In theElamite language Persepolis Fortification Tablets dated between 509 and 494 BC, offerings to Ahura Mazda are recorded in tablets #377, #338 (notably alongside Mitra), #339, and #771.[28]
The early Achaemenid period contained no representation of Ahura Mazda. The winged symbol with a male figure formerly regarded by European scholars as Ahura Mazda has been now speculated to represent the royalkhvarenah, the personification of divine power and regal glory. However, it was customary for every emperor fromCyrus untilDarius III to have an empty chariot drawn by white horses as a place for Ahura Mazda to accompany thePersian army on battles. The use of images of Ahura Mazda began in the westernsatraps of the Achaemenid Empire in the late 5th century BC. Under Artaxerxes II, the first literary reference, as well as a statue of Ahura Mazda, was built by a Persian governor ofLydia in 365 BC.[29]
It is known that the reverence for Ahura Mazda, as well as Anahita and Mithra, continued with the same traditions during this period. The worship of Ahura Mazda with symbolic images is noticed, but it stopped within the Sassanid period. Zoroastrianiconoclasm, which can be traced to the end of theParthian period and the beginning of the Sassanid, eventually put an end to the use of all images of Ahura Mazda in worship. However, Ahura Mazda remained symbolized by a dignified male figure, standing or on horseback, which is found in Sassanian investiture.[29]
Zurvanism revokes Zoroaster's original message of Ahura Mazda as the uncreated spirit and the "uncreated creator" of all and reduces him to a created spirit, one of two twin sons of Zurvan, their father and the primary spirit. Zurvanism also makes Ahura Mazda and Angra Mainyu of equal strength and only contrasting spirits.
Besides Zurvanism, the Sassanian kings demonstrated their devotion to Ahura Mazda in different fashions. Five kings took the nameHormizd andBahram II created the title of "Ohrmazd-mowbad", which was continued after theMuslim conquest of Persia and through Islamic times.
All devotional acts in Zoroastrianism originating from the Sassanian period begin with homage to Ahura Mazda. The fiveGāhs start with the declaration inMiddle Persian that "Ohrmazd is Lord" and incorporate theGathic verse "Whom, Mazda hast thou appointed my protector". Zoroastrian prayers are to be said in the presence of light, either in the form of fire or the sun. In the Iranian languagesYidgha andMunji, the sun is still calledormozd.[29]
Maneckji Nusserwanji Dhalla described the doctrine of theGayomarthians sect as another attempt to mitigate the dualism that has always been the essence of Zoroastrianism. This was due to the Prophet Muhammad’s emphasis on monotheism and the Muslims’ mockery of the doctrine of worshipping two gods, which made the Zoroastrians view dualism as a defect, so they added monotheism, which led to the Zoroastrians’ division into sects and he mentions examples of the Zoroastrian attempt to establish a monotheistic belief by diminishing the importance of Ahriman, including that Ahura Mazda and Ahriman were created from time, or that Ahura Mazda himself allowed the existence of evil, or that Ahriman was a corrupt angel who rebelled against Ahura Mazda. Then he mentions the name of a Persian book from the15h century in which it is written that the Magi (Zoroastrians) believe that Allah and Iblis are brothers.[33]
In 1884,Martin Haug proposed a new interpretation ofYasna 30.3 that subsequently influenced Zoroastrian doctrine significantly. According to Haug's interpretation, the "twin spirits" of 30.3 were Angra Mainyu and Spenta Mainyu, the former being literally the "Destructive Spirit"[n 4] and the latter being the "Bounteous Spirit" (of Ahura Mazda). Further, in Haug's scheme, Angra Mainyu was now not Ahura Mazda's binary opposite, but—like Spenta Mainyu—anemanation of Him. Haug also interpreted the concept of a free will ofYasna 45.9 as an accommodation to explain where Angra Mainyu came from since Ahura Mazda created only good. The free will made it possible for Angra Mainyu tochoose to be evil. Although these latter conclusions were not substantiated by Zoroastrian tradition,[9] at the time, Haug's interpretation was gratefully accepted by theParsis of Bombay since it provided a defense against Christian missionary rhetoric,[n 5] particularly the attacks on the Zoroastrian idea of an uncreated Evil that was as uncreated as God was. Following Haug, the Bombay Parsis began to defend themselves in the English-language press. The argument was that Angra Mainyu was not Mazda's binary opposite but his subordinate, who—as in Zurvanism also—chose to be evil. Consequently, Haug's theories were disseminated as a Parsi interpretation in the West, where they appeared to be corroborating Haug. Reinforcing themselves, Haug's ideas came to be iterated so often that they are today almost universally accepted as doctrine.[29][34][n 6]
Some scholars (Kuiper. IIJ I, 1957; Zimmer. Münchner Studien 1984:187–215) believe that Ahura Mazda originates from *vouruna-miθra, orVedicVaruna (andMitra).[citation needed] According to William W. Malandra both Varuna (in Vedic period) and Ahura Mazda (in old Iranian religion) represented same Indo-Iranian concept of a supreme "wise, all-knowing lord".[35]
Kushan coinage ofHuvishka with Ahuramazda on the reverse (Greek legend ωΡΟΜ,Orom[zdo]). 150–180 AD[36]
InManichaeism, the nameOhrmazd Bay ("god Ahura Mazda") was used for the primal figure Nāšā Qaḏmāyā, the "original man" and emanation of theFather of Greatness (in Manicheism calledZurvan) through whom after he sacrificed himself to defend the world of light was consumed by the forces of darkness. Although Ormuzd is freed from the world of darkness his "sons", often called his garments or weapons, remain. After a series of events, his sons, later known as theWorld Soul, will, for the most part, escape from matter and return to the world of light where they came from. Manicheans often identified many of Mani's cosmological figures with Zoroastrian ones. This may partly be because Mani was born in the greatly Zoroastrian Parthian Empire.
InSogdianBuddhism,Xwrmztʼ (Sogdian was written without a consistent representation of vowels) was the Sogdian derivation of the Avestan Ahura Mazda.[37][38] Adhvagh was often used as a title for Ahura Mazda. Via contacts withTurkic peoples like theUyghurs, this Sogdian name came to theMongols, who still name this deityQormusta Tengri (alsoQormusta orQormusda) is now a popular enough deity to appear in many contexts that are not explicitly Buddhist.[39]
The pre-ChristianArmenians heldAramazd as an important deity in their pantheon of gods. He is thought to be asyncretic deity, a combination of the autochthonous Armenian figuresAram and his sonAra and the Iranian Ahura Mazda. In modern-dayArmenia, Aramazd is a male first name.
bûnastah ("The origin of the formation of the world.")
frâxtañtah ("Broad end of all.")
jamakh ("Greatest cause.")
parjahtarah ("More exalted.")
tum-afayah ("Most innocent.")
abravañt ("Apart from everyone.")
parvañdah ("Relation with all.")
an-ayâfah ("Incomprehensible by anyone.")
ham-ayâfah ("Comprehensible of all.")
âdharô ("Most straight, most just.")
gîrâ ("Holding fast all.")
acim ("Without reason.")
cimnâ ("Reason of reasons.")
safinâ ("Increaser.")
âwzâ ("Causer of increase. The Lord of purity")
nâshâ ("Reaching all equally.")
parvarâ ("Nourisher.")
âyânah ("Protector of the world.")
âyaîn-âyânah ("Not of various kinds.")
an-âyanah ("Without form.")
xraoshît-tum ("Firmest.")
mînôtum ("Most invisible.")
vâsnâ ("Omnipresent.")
harvastum ("All in all.")
husipâs ("Worthy of thanks.")
har-hemît ("All good-natured.")
harnekfareh ("All good auspicious-glory.")
beshtarnâ ("Remover of affliction.")
tarônîs ("The triumphant.")
anaoshak ("Immortal.")
farashak ("Fulfiller of wishes.")
pazohadhad ("Creator of good nature.")
xavâpar ("Beneficient.")
awaxshâyâ ("Bestower of Love.")
awarzâ ("Excessive bringer.")
â-sitôh ("Undefeated, undistressed.")
raxôh ("Independent, carefree.")
varûn ("Protector from evil.")
a-frîpah ("Undeceivable.")
awe-frîftah ("Undeceived.")
adhvaî ("Unparalleled.")
kãme-rat ("Lord of wishes.")
framãn-kãm ("Only wish is His command.")
âyextan ("Without body.")
â-framôsh ("Unforgetful.")
hamârnâ ("Taker of accounts.")
snâyâ ("Recognizable, worth recognition.")
a-tars ("Fearless.")
a-bîsh ("Without affliction or torment.")
a-frâzdum ("Most exalted.")
hamcûn ("Always uniform.")
mînô-stîgar ("Creator of the Universe spiritually.")
a-mînôgar ("Creator of much spirituality.")
mînô-nahab ("Hidden in Spirits.")
âdhar-bâtgar ("Air of fire, i.e. transformer into air.")
âdhar-namgar ("Water of fire, i.e. transformer into water.")
bât-âdhargar ("Transformer of air into fire.")
bât-namgar ("Transformer of air into water.")
bât-gelgar ("Transformer of air into earth.")
bât-girdtum ("Transformer of air into girad, i.e. gathered.")
âdhar-kîbarît-tum ("Transformer of fire into jewels.")
bâtgarjâi ("Who creates air in all places.")
âwtum ("Creator of most excessive water.")
gel-âdhargar ("Transformer of the earth into fire.")
gel-vâdhgar ("Transformer of the earth into air.")
gel-namgar ("Transformer of the earth into water.")
gargar ("Artisan of artisans.")
garôgar ("Bestower of wishes.")
garâgar ("Creator of man")
garâgargar ("Creator of the entire creation")
a-garâgar ("Creator of four elements")
a-garâgargar ("Creator of clusters of the stars")
a-gûmãn ("Without doubt.")
a-jamãn ("Without time.")
a-h'uãn ("Without sleep.")
âmushthushyâr ("Intelligent.")
frashûtanâ ("Eternal protector-increaser.")
padhamãnî ("Maintainer of padman, i.e. the golden mean.")
pîrôzgar ("Victorious.")
h'udhâvañd ("Lord-Master of the Universe.")
ahuramazda ("Lord Omniscient.")
abarînkuhantavãn ("Of the most exalted rank in the power of maintaining the origin of the creations.")
abarîn-nô-tavã ("Of the most exalted rank in the power of rendering the creations anew.")
vaspãn ("Attainer to all the creations.")
vaspâr ("Bringer of and attainer to all.")
h'âwar ("Merciful.")
ahû ("Lord of the world.")
âwaxsîdâr ("Forgiver.")
dâdhâr ("The just creator.")
rayomañd ("Full of rae-lustre-splendour.")
h'arehmand ("Full of khoreh, i.e. glory.")
dâwar ("The just judge.")
kerfagar ("Lord of meritorious deeds.")
buxtâr ("Redeemer, saviour.")
frashôgar ("Restorer through increase of the soul.")
Coin ofHormizd I Kushanshah (277-286 AD).Pahlavi inscription: "The Mazda worshipper, the divine Hormizd the greatKushan king of kings"/ Pahlavi inscription: "Exalted god, Hormizd the great Kushan king of kings", Hormizd standing right, holding investiture wreath over altar and raising left hand in benedictional gesture toAnahita holding investiture wreath and sceptre.Merv mint
^For an explanation of the approximation ofmainyu as "spirit", seeAngra Mainyu.
^Most prominent of these voices was that of the Scottish Presbyterian ministerJohn Wilson, whose church was next door to the M. F. Cama Athornan Institute, the premier school for Zoroastrian priests. That the opinions of the Zoroastrian priesthood were barely represented in the debates that ensued was to some extent since the priesthood spoke Gujarati and not English, but also because they were (at the time) poorly equipped to debate with a classically trained theologian on his footing. Wilson had even taught himself Avestan.
^For a scholastic review of the theological developments in Indian Zoroastrianism, particularly concerning the devaluation of Angra Mainyu to a position where the (epitome of) pure evil became viewed as a creation of Mazda (and so compromised their figure of pure good), seeManeck 1997
^Cristian, Radu (13 March 2017)."Ahura Mazda".World History Encyclopedia. Retrieved17 May 2023.
^Wilkinson, Philip (1999). Spilling, Michael; Williams, Sophie; Dent, Marion (eds.).Illustrated Dictionary of Religions (First American ed.). New York:DK. p. 70.ISBN0-7894-4711-8.
^UESUGI, Heindio; CATT, Adam Alvah, eds. (2024).Old Avestan Dictionary (Thesis). Asian and African Lexicon. Vol. 67. Research Institute for Languages and Cultures of Asia and Africa; Tokyo Language of Foreign Studies. pp. 14–15.ISBN9784863375420.
^Маздаизм // Азәрбајҹан Совет Енсиклопедијасы: [10 ҹилддә]. VI ҹилд: Куба—Мисир. Бакы: Азәрбајҹан Совет Енсиклопедијасынын Баш Редаксијасы. Баш редактор: Ҹ. Б. Гулијев. 1982. С. 302.
^In Greek religion,Hades was the ruler of the dead or shades, but not an evil godper se, except in the sense that death might be considered a bad thing –κακόν,kakon.
Kuiper, Bernardus Franciscus Jacobus (1983), "Ahura",Encyclopaedia Iranica, vol. 1, New York: Routledge & Kegan Paul, pp. 682–683
Kuiper, Bernardus Franciscus Jacobus (1976), "Ahura Mazdā 'Lord Wisdom'?",Indo-Iranian Journal,18 (1–2):25–42,doi:10.1163/000000076790079465
Kuiper, F. B. J. (1997). "Avestan Mazdā-".F.B.J. Kuiper Selected Writings on Indian Linguistics and Philology. Leiden, The Netherlands: Brill. pp. 321–330.doi:10.1163/9789004653764_012.ISBN978-90-04-65376-4.
Ware, James R.; Kent, Roland G. (1924), "The Old Persian Cuneiform Inscriptions of Artaxerxes II and Artaxerxes III",Transactions and Proceedings of the American Philological Association,55, The Johns Hopkins University Press:52–61,doi:10.2307/283007,JSTOR283007
Kent, Roland G. (1950),Old Persian: Grammar, texts, lexicon, New Haven: American Oriental Society,ISBN0-940490-33-1{{citation}}:ISBN / Date incompatibility (help)
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