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57-457: Significantly more common than the non-specific meaning of Amesha Spenta (see below ) is a restrictive use of the term to refer to the great seven divine entities emanating from Ahura Mazda . In Zoroastrian tradition, these are the first seven emanations of the uncreated creator, through whom all subsequent creation was accomplished. This fundamental doctrine is only alluded to in the Avesta , but

114-521: A "uniquely Zoroastrian" way: not only as abstract "aspects" of Ahura Mazda but also worthy of reverence themselves and personified or represented in all material things. The relationship between Ahura Mazda and the Amesha Spenta is an altogether subtle one. In Yasna 31.11 of the Gathas, Ahura Mazda is said to have created the universe with his "thought". In other passages, such as Yasna 45.4, he

171-630: 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. Some scholars (Kuiper. IIJ I, 1957; Zimmer. Münchner Studien 1984:187–215) believe that Ahura Mazda originates from *vouruna-miθra, or Vedic Varuna (and Mitra ). According to William W. Malandra both Varuna (in Vedic period) and Ahura Mazda (in old Iranian religion) represented same Indo-Iranian concept of

228-556: A consistent representation of vowels) was the name used in place of Ahura Mazda. Via contacts with Turkic peoples like the Uyghurs , this Sogdian name came to the Mongols , who still name this deity Qormusta Tengri (also Qormusta or Qormusda ) is now a popular enough deity to appear in many contexts that are not explicitly Buddhist. The pre-Christian Armenians held Aramazd as an important deity in their pantheon of gods. He

285-464: 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 name Hormizd and Bahram II created the title of "Ohrmazd-mowbad", which was continued after

342-504: A guardian and watchman, the Dog-star . Twenty-four other gods he created and placed in an 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

399-476: A heretical and divergent form of Zoroastrianism , termed Zurvanism , emerged. It gained adherents throughout the Sasanian Empire , most notably the royal lineage of Sasanian emperors . Under the reign of Shapur I , Zurvanism spread and became a widespread cult. Zurvanism revokes Zoroaster's original message of Ahura Mazda as the uncreated spirit and the "uncreated creator" of all and reduces him to

456-530: A late Achaemenid temple at Persepolis , which invoked Ahura Mazda and two other deities, Mithra and Anahita . Artaxerxes III makes this invocation Ahuramazda again during his reign. In the Elamite language Persepolis Fortification Tablets dated between 509–494 BC, offerings to Ahura Mazda are recorded in tablets #377, #338 (notably alongside Mitra), #339, and #771. The early Achaemenid period contained no representation of Ahura Mazda. The winged symbol with

513-472: A male figure formerly regarded by European scholars as Ahura Mazda has been now speculated to represent the royal khvarenah , the personification of divine power and regal glory. However, it was customary for every emperor from Cyrus until Darius III to have an empty chariot drawn by white horses as a place for Ahura Mazda to accompany the Persian army on battles. The use of images of Ahura Mazda began in

570-433: A physical dimension, in that each of the heptad is linked to one of the seven creations, which in ancient philosophy were the foundation of the universe. A systematic association is only present in later Middle Persian texts, where each of the seven is listed with its "special domain": In the Gathas, Xšaθra [ Vairya ] does not have an association with a specific creation, and it is only in later texts that this Amesha Spenta

627-457: A series of events, his sons, later known as the World 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. In Sogdian Buddhism , Xwrmztʼ (Sogdian was written without

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684-575: A supreme "wise, all-knowing lord". In Manichaeism , the name Ohrmazd Bay ("god Ahura Mazda") was used for the primal figure Nāšā Qaḏmāyā, the "original man" and emanation of the Father of Greatness (in Manicheism called Zurvan ) 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

741-521: A way as to drive away their own best men; de Jong (1997) 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 a running gag on Persian kings in Plutarch's writing, and thus dubious evidence for actual behavior. Whether the Achaemenids were Zoroastrians

798-643: Is a matter of much debate. However, it is known that the Achaemenids were worshipers of Ahura Mazda. The representation and invocation of Ahura Mazda can be seen on royal inscriptions written by Achaemenid kings. The most notable of all the inscriptions is the Behistun Inscription written by Darius the Great which contains many references to Ahura Mazda. An inscription written in Greek was found in

855-519: Is assumed to be linguistically related to the Asuras of Indian Vedic era. Avestan ahura "lord" derives from Proto-Indo-Iranian language *Hásuras , also attested in an Indian context as Rigvedic asura . As suggested by the similarity to the Old Norse æsir , Indo-Iranian *Hásuras may have an even earlier Proto-Indo-European language root. The Rigveda says that Asura such as

912-571: Is cognate with Proto-Germanic *ansuz . Finnish Indologist Asko Parpola locates a borrowing from Proto-Indo-Aryan *asera- to the Uralic languages , with the meaning 'lord, prince'. 'Mazda', or rather the Avestan stem-form Mazdā- , nominative Mazdå , reflects Proto-Iranian *mazdáH (a feminine noun). It is generally taken to be the proper name of the spirit and, like its Vedic cognate medhā́ , means " intelligence " or " wisdom ". Both

969-575: Is considered the guardian of metals. This anomaly is explained in modern scholarship by the fact that, in Stone Age cosmogony, the sky was considered to be the first of the creations (and thought to be of stone), but metal has no place among the creations (the Bronze and Iron Ages were yet to come). This is also reflected in Zoroaster's revelation, where the sky is "of the hardest stone". Later, with

1026-513: Is described as the metaphorical "father" of the individual Amesha Spenta, which, even though it is figurative, suggests a familial closeness. In particular, the relationship between Ahura Mazda and Spenta Mainyu is multifaceted and complex and "as hard to define as that of Yahweh and the Holy Spirit in Judaism and Christianity." A veneration for the Amesha Spenta through the living world

1083-588: Is noticed, but it stopped within the Sassanid period. Zoroastrian iconoclasm , which can be traced to the end of the Parthian 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. During the Sassanid Empire,

1140-541: Is opposed to the druj- (deceit, lies), spəṇta-mainyu to angra-mainyu, vohu-manah is opposed to aka-manah- , xšaθra- to dušae-xšaθra- , and armaiti- to taraemaiti- . Not evident in the Gathas and first appearing in the Younger Avesta are the oppositions of haurvatāt- (wholeness) to taršna- (thirst), and amərətāt- (life) to šud- (hunger). These latter assignments reflect Haurvatat's identification with water and Ameretat's identification with plants. In

1197-529: Is particularly evident in the 9th-14th century texts of Zoroastrian tradition, but there are also instances in the Avesta proper where it is used this way. In Yasna 1.2 for instance, the yazata Atar is declared to be "the most active of the Amesha Spentas." Even in present-day Zoroastrianism, the term is frequently used to refer to the thirty-three divinities that have either a day-name dedication in

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1254-517: Is still present in modern Zoroastrian tradition and is evident in every religious ceremony, when each of the Amesha Spenta is visibly represented by objects of which they are the guardians. In addition, the first seven days of the month of the Zoroastrian calendar are dedicated to the great heptad and to creation, acknowledging the preeminence of the Amesha Spenta and so ensuring the inculcation of their doctrine. Ethical and ontological dualism in

1311-533: Is systematically described in later Middle Persian language texts, in particular in the Bundahishn , an 11th or 12th century work that recounts Zoroastrian cosmology . The expression Amesha Spenta does not occur in the Gathas , but "it was probably coined by Zoroaster himself. Spenta is a characteristic word of his revelation, meaning furthering, strengthening, bounteous, holy ." The oldest attested use of

1368-517: Is the creator deity and god of the sky in the ancient Iranian religion Zoroastrianism . He is the first and most frequently invoked spirit in the Yasna . The literal meaning of the word Ahura is "lord", and that of Mazda is "wisdom". The first notable invocation of Ahura Mazda occurred during the Achaemenid period ( c.  550–330 BC ) with the Behistun Inscription of Darius

1425-514: Is thought to be a syncretic deity, a combination of the autochthonous Armenian figures Aram and his son Ara and the Iranian Ahura Mazda. In modern-day Armenia , Aramazd is a male first name. Ahura Ahura (Avestan: 𐬀𐬵𐬎𐬭𐬀) is an Avestan language designation of a type of deity inherited by Zoroastrianism from the prehistoric Indo-Iranian religion, and denotes a particular class of Zoroastrian divinities. The term

1482-493: The Ahura s (a term that in the Gathas is also used in the plural but only includes Ahura Mazda by name), but also all the other divinities that are alluded to in these texts. In this non-specific sense of the term, Amesha Spenta is then equivalent to the term yazata . Non-specific usage is significantly less common than the use of the term to specifically denote the great divine entities (see above ). The non-specific usage

1539-467: The Indo-Iranian religion, he had not yet been given the title of "uncreated spirit". This title was given by Zoroaster , who proclaimed Ahura Mazda as the uncreated spirit, wholly wise, benevolent, and sound, as well as the creator and upholder of Asha . According to Zoroastrian tradition, at the age of 30, Zoroaster received a revelation: while fetching water at dawn for a sacred ritual, he saw

1596-643: The Muslim conquest of Persia and through Islamic times. All devotional acts in Zoroastrianism originating from the Sassanian period begin with homage to Ahura Mazda. The five Gāhs start with the declaration in Middle Persian that "Ohrmazd is Lord" and incorporate the Gathic verse "Whom, Mazda hast thou appointed my protector". Zoroastrian prayers are to be said in the presence of light, either in

1653-464: The Persian army on battles. Images of Ahura Mazda, however, were present from the 5th century BC but were stopped and replaced with stone-carved figures in the Sassanid period and later removed altogether through an iconoclastic movement supported by the Sassanid dynasty . The most likely etymology is from Proto-Indo-European *h₂ḿ̥suros , from *h₂ems- ("to engender, beget"), and therefore it

1710-529: The Zoroastrian calendar or that have a Yasht dedicated to them (or both). This general, non-specific, meaning of the term Amesha Spenta also has an equivalent in the Vedic Sanskrit Vishve Amrtas , which is the collective term for all supernatural beings (lit: 'all immortals'). The doctrine of the Amesha Spenta, through their connection with creation, unites ethereal and spiritual concepts with material and manifest objects in

1767-471: The ahura s and to rebuff the daeva s and others who act "at Lie's command". That should not, however, be construed to reflect a view of a primordial opposition. Although the daeva s would, in later Zoroastrian tradition, appear as malign creatures, in the Gathas the daeva s are (collectively) gods that are to be rejected. The Gathas do not specify which of the divinities other than Ahura Mazda are considered to be ahura s but does mention other ahuras in

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1824-478: The Avestan and the Sanskrit words reflect Proto-Indo-Iranian *mazdʰáH , from Proto-Indo-European *mn̥sdʰh₁éh₂ , literally meaning "placing ( *dʰeh₁ ) one's mind ( *mn̥-s )", hence "wise". In Old Persian , during the Achaemenid era , the name was either depicted using the cuneiform logograms 𐏈 or 𐏉 (genitive 𐏊 ), or spelled out as 𐎠𐎢𐎼𐎶𐏀𐎭𐎠 ( a-u-r-m-z-d-a , Auramazdā ). In Parthian,

1881-481: The Gathas, aša/arta is the most evident of the seven, and also the most commonly associated with wisdom ( mazda- ). In the 238 verses of these hymns, aša-/arta- appears 157 times. Of the other concepts, only vohumanah- appears nearly as often (136 occurrences). In comparison, the remaining four of the great sextet appear only 121 times altogether: xšaθra- : 56 times; armaiti- : 40; amərətāt- : 14; haurvatāt- : 11 times. In

1938-469: The Gathas, each Amesha Spenta represents a good moral quality that mortals should strive to obtain. Thus, the doctrine of the great seven is that through good thoughts, words, and deeds, each individual should endeavor to assimilate the qualities of an Amesha Spenta into oneself. Each of the seven has an antithetical counterpart, and five of the seven are already assigned one in the Gathas: aša/arta- (truth)

1995-519: The Great . Until the reign of Artaxerxes II ( c.  405/404–358 BC ), Ahura Mazda was worshipped and invoked alone in all extant royal inscriptions. With Artaxerxes II, Ahura Mazda was gathered in a triad with Mithra and Anahita . In the Achaemenid period, there are no known representations of Ahura Mazda at the royal court other than the custom for every emperor to have an empty chariot drawn by white horses to invite Ahura Mazda to accompany

2052-565: The Reformist school of thought, believe that ethereal spirit and physical manifestation are not separable in any sense and that a reverence of Ahura Mazda's creations is ultimately a worship of the Creator. In the second half of the 19th century, Martin Haug proposed that Zoroaster himself had viewed the Amesha Spenta as merely philosophical abstractions and that a personification of the heptad

2109-670: The collective sense. In the Fravaraneh , the traditional name for the Zoroastrian credo summarized in Yasna 12.1, the adherent declares: "I profess myself a Mazda worshiper, a follower of the teachings of Zoroaster, rejecting the daevas , ... " This effectively defines ahura by defining what ahura is not. In the Younger Avesta , three divinities of the Zoroastrian pantheon are repeatedly identified as ahuric. These three are Ahura Mazda , Mithra , and Apam Napat ,

2166-420: The context of Zoroastrian cosmology, the group of the Amesha Spenta is extended to include Ahura Mazda , represented by (or together with) Spenta Mainyu , who is the instrument or "active principle" of the act of creation. It is also through this "Bounteous Force", "Creative Emanation", or "Holy Spirit" that Ahura Mazda is immanent in humankind, and how the Creator interacts with the world. The doctrine also has

2223-506: 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 his daevas , which attempt to attract humans away from the Path of Asha , would eventually be defeated. According to Plutarch , Zoroaster named " Arimanius " as one of

2280-479: 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 Scholar Mary Boyce asserted that the passage shows a "fairly accurate" knowledge of basic Zoroastrianism. In his Life of Themistocles , Plutarch has the Persian king invoke Arimanius by name, asking the god to cause the king's enemies to behave in such

2337-446: The event of bronze and then iron tools, this sky evolved to being of crystal, which was seen as both of stone and of metal. In due course, Xšaθra's association with a stony firmament was eclipsed by the association with a metallic sky, and thence to metals in general. In non-specific usage, the term Amesha Spenta denotes all the divinities that furthered or strengthened creation and all that are bounteous and holy. It not only includes

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2394-622: 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

2451-458: The form of fire or the sun. In the Iranian languages Yidgha and Munji , the sun is still called ormozd . In 1884, Martin Haug proposed a new interpretation of Yasna 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" and

2508-449: The immanence of the Amesha Spenta as indicative of (in their view) a Zoroastrian polytheistic tradition worthy of attack. A frequent target for criticism was the Zoroastrian credo in which the adherent declares, "I profess to be a worshiper of Mazda, follower of the teachings of Zoroaster, ... one who praises and reveres the Amesha Spenta" (the Fravaraneh , Yasna 12.1). Some modern Zoroastrian theologians, especially those identifying with

2565-507: 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—an emanation of Him. Haug also interpreted the concept of a free will of Yasna 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 to choose to be evil. Although these latter conclusions were not substantiated by Zoroastrian tradition, at

2622-666: The name of the Greek ruler of the underworld used most commonly in texts and inscriptions pertaining to the mystery religions , and in Greek dramatists and philosophers of Athens in the Classical period . Turcan notes that Plutarch makes of Arimanius "a sort of tenebrous Pluto". Plutarch, however, names the Greek god as Hades , not the name Plouton used in the Eleusinian tradition ("The Hidden One") and darkness. The Arimanius ritual required an otherwise-unknown plant that Plutarch calls " omomi " ( Haoma or Soma ), which

2679-400: The name was written as 𐭀𐭇𐭅𐭓𐭌𐭆𐭃 ( ʾḥwrmzd , Ahurmazd ), while 𐭠𐭥𐭧𐭥𐭬𐭦𐭣𐭩 ( ʾwhrmzdy , Ōhramazdē ) was the Middle Persian term used during the Sassanid era . The name may be attested on cuneiform tablets of Assyrian Assurbanipal , in the form Assara Mazaš , but that interpretation is very controversial. Even though it is speculated that Ahura Mazda was a spirit in

2736-408: The oldest texts. If they appear at all, they do not necessarily appear immediately adjacent to the noun. But in later tradition, these adjectives are integral to the names themselves. While Vohu Manah , Aša Vahišta , and Xšaθra Vairya are consistently of neuter gender in Avestan grammar; in tradition they are considered masculine. Armaiti , Haurvatāt , and Amərətāt are invariably feminine. In

2793-550: The same entity "accounts for the difficulty which some aspects of the doctrine have presented for Western scholars". The reverence of the Amesha Spenta and the Yazatas has been frequently attacked by non-Zoroastrian sources for its polytheist nature, not only in modern times but also the Sassanid era . While the "worship of the elements" was a repeated accusation during the 4th and 5th centuries, ⁣ Christian missionaries (such as John Wilson ) in 19th-century India specifically targeted

2850-728: The shining figure of the Amesha 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 as Zoroastrianism . As a result of this vision, Zoroaster felt that he was chosen to spread and preach the religion. 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 as yazata s to aid him. Zoroaster proclaimed that some Iranian gods were daevas who deserved no worship. These "bad" deities were created by Angra Mainyu ,

2907-627: The term is in part of the Yasna Haptanghaiti and in which the two elements of the name occur in reverse order, that is, as Spenta Amesha . Like all other verses of the Yasna Haptanghaiti , Yasna 39.3 is also in Gathic Avestan and is approximately as old as the hymns attributed to Zoroaster himself. The attributes vohu "good", vahišta "best", vairya "desirable" and spenta "holy" are not always present in

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2964-768: The time, Haug's interpretation was gratefully accepted by the Parsis of Bombay since it provided a defense against Christian missionary rhetoric, 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

3021-468: 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 was Mithras the Mediator. Arimanius received offerings that pertained to warding off evil and mourning . In describing a ritual to Arimanius, Plutarch says the god was invoked as Hades gives the identification as Pluto ,

3078-468: The western satraps 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 of Lydia in 365 BC. 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

3135-427: The “Father Asura”, Varuṇa , and Mitra , are “older gods” who originally ruled over the primeval undifferentiated Chaos. It is commonly supposed that Indo-Iranian *Hásuras was the proper name of a specific divinity with whom other divinities were later identified. In the Gathas , the oldest hymns of Zoroastrianism and thought to have been composed by Zoroaster , followers are exhorted to pay reverence to only

3192-674: Was really a later corruption. The Parsis of Bombay gratefully accepted Haug's premise as a defense against the Christian missionaries and subsequently disseminated the idea as a Parsi interpretation, which corroborated Haug's theory. The "continuing monotheism" principle eventually became so popular that it is now almost universally accepted as doctrine. Ahura Mazda Ahura Mazda ( / ə ˌ h ʊər ə ˈ m æ z d ə / ; Avestan : 𐬀𐬵𐬎𐬭𐬀 𐬨𐬀𐬰𐬛𐬁 , romanized:  Ahura Mazdā ; Persian : اهورا مزدا , romanized :  Ahurâ Mazdâ ), also known as Horomazes ,

3249-460: 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. Plutarch then gives a cosmogonical myth: Oromazes, born from the purest light, and Areimanius, born from darkness, are constantly at war with each other; and Oromazes created six gods,

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