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59-511: The religious significance of gathering purifying and consecrating several fires is to purify and return to Ahura Mazda his first pure creation in its pristine form, to become a focus of worship and His eternal pure symbol, never allowed to go out. The sacred fire at Udvada Atash Behram , for example, kindled in 721 CE in Sanjan, burns continually to this day, now in Udvada since 1741, and housed in

118-630: 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

177-772: 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 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

236-556: 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

295-464: 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

354-418: A dyer this purificatory process is done 80 times, from fire obtained from king's palace 70 times, on fire from a potter 61 times, from a brick maker for 75 times, on fire from an ascetic 50 times, on fire from goldsmith 60 times, from the mint 55 times, from ironsmith, armourer and baker and brewer 61 times each, from fire obtained from warriors home 35 times, from a shepherd's home 33 times and fire from home of

413-403: A dyer which was purified 80 times, 80 days prayers as detailed above would cover 3 days dedicated to the second Amesha Spenta Vohuman then two months totalling 60 days to all 30 divinities and the third month prayers would be recited for the balance 17 days ending with day dedicated to Rashna Yazata. (3+30+30+17 days=80 times.) Applying the same pattern to the purified fire from fire obtained from

472-504: 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

531-476: 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

590-537: A high priest 44 times, the fire obtained by striking two flints the purificatory is repeated 144 times, the last fire of each of 16 fires thus purified as result from the set number of times shown here, and the final 16 purified fires are ready for consecration. Each of these purified 16 fires is assigned to a team of priests who have all undergone the Bareshnum purification ceremony. The prayers recited over these fires first begin by going through basic prayers such as

649-433: A large censer by priests who have undergone the Bareshnum especially for this purpose, and then for the next three days Yasna and Vendidad are recited in honour of Sarosh Yazata, the great Yazata who since creation is assigned to protect Ahura Mazda's creation every night. Thereafter for next thirty days these set of liturgy, Yasna Vendidad and the mandatory prayers are recited before the assembled fire, each day in honour of

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708-530: 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

767-466: A magnificent Persian style temple building since 1742. The 16 types of fire required for an Atash Behram are: Whereas fires from professions/work listed above is obtained by a Zoroastrian layman or priest approaching the person and requesting he be allowed to collect burning embers from the fire, in the case of fire from a burning corpse, the Zoroastrian waits for the corpse to burn down, then with

826-472: 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

885-445: A metal ladle, with a handle at least three feet in length, he fills the ladle with sandalwood or other inflammable wood filings, these ignite by heat from the burning embers of the pyre, the person making sure the ladle does not touch the hot embers of the funeral pyre. In the case of fire from atmospheric lightning, the Zoroastrian community of the region approaches neighbouring townsfolk and villagers to look out for lightning strike on

944-457: 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

1003-575: 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

1062-456: A tree or plant (which may take months or a year to happen), and collects the burning embers without delay and conveys it in a ladle to the priests assigned the elaborate work of consecration. The 16 fires so collected are taken through an elaborate process of purification. In the case of the fire from a funeral pyre, the process of purification is repeated for 91 times by holding a ladle filled with sandalwood filings and frankincense 15 inches over

1121-521: 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

1180-430: Is a list of Atash Behrams that still survive today. [REDACTED] 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 , is the creator deity and god of the sky in the ancient Iranian religion Zoroastrianism . He

1239-643: 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

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1298-534: Is inadvisable ( Geldner , Humbach ), others argue that such a view is excessively skeptical ( Spiegel , Darmesteter ). The risks of misinterpretation are real, but lacking alternates, such dependencies are perhaps necessary. "The Middle Persian translation seldom offers an appropriate point of departure for a detailed scholarly approach to the Gathas, but an intensive comparison of its single lines and their respective glosses with their Gathic originals usually reveals

1357-588: 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,

1416-511: 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 the Great . Until the reign of Artaxerxes II ( c.  405/404–358 BC ), Ahura Mazda

1475-614: 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. Gathas The Gathas ( / ˈ ɡ ɑː t ə z , - t ɑː z / ) are 17 hymns in the Avestan language from the Zoroastrian oral tradition of the Avesta , the oldest surviving text fragment of which dates from 1323 CE. They are traditionally believed to have been composed by

1534-573: 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, 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

1593-580: 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

1652-644: The Yasna , and are divided into five major sections: With the exception of Ahunavaiti Gatha, that is named after the Ahuna Vairya prayer ( Yasna 27, not in the Gathas), the names of the Gathas reflect the first word(s) of the first hymn within them. The meter of the hymns is historically related to the Vedic tristubh-jagati family of meters. Hymns of these meters are recited, not sung. The sequential order of

1711-573: The kushti Sarosh Baj the Gah prayers, and then the 72 chapters of the Yasna (which contain the Gathas sacred poems said to have been composed by the prophet Zarathustra and thus the most sacred ) along with the Vendidad are recited over the fires the same number of times as the purification numbers of each fire. On the purified fire drawn from a funeral pyre, these Yasnas and Vendidad are recited in

1770-561: 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

1829-442: The 28th day) thus totalling 91 times in 91 days (3+30+30+28=91). Similarly, in the now purified fire from lightning the same set of prayers are done for 90 days as 3+30+30+27 days but first three days dedicated to Daep Meher Yazata, then two months of 30 days beginning with Daep Meher and ending with day of Geush Yazata, and then 27 days these liturgies ending with day dedicated on the 27th day to Khurshed Yazata; on fire obtained from

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1888-413: 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 is cognate with Proto-Germanic *ansuz . Finnish Indologist Asko Parpola locates

1947-539: The Gathas is structurally interrupted by the Yasna Haptanghaiti ("seven-chapter Yasna ", chapters 35–41, linguistically as old as the Gathas but in prose) and by two other minor hymns at Yasna 42 and 52. The language of the Gathas, Gathic or Old Avestan , belongs to the old Iranian language group that is a sub-group of Eastern families of the Indo-European languages . Although arising from

2006-521: The Yazata that presides over that day. Now this great Atash Behram fire is considered a king and on the day which the founders, who can be an individual or a family or combined people of the place called Anjuman, have decided to enthrone the fire in its consecrated room within temple, it is carried there in a procession with pomp headed by the High Priest and placed on the large censer in the center of

2065-514: The age of 30, Zoroaster received a revelation: while fetching water at dawn for a sacred ritual, he saw 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

2124-573: The consecrated room. The first Boi reciting the Atash Niyash (the liturgy in honour of Adar Yazata who presides over all Fires) is performed, and the great ritual that lasted a year or more ends with few days of performing Jashans of thanksgivings and merriment amongst Zoroastrians of the place (refer J J Modi The Religious Ceremonies and Customs of the Parsis now also available in Avesta.org). This

2183-450: 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 the two rivals who were the artificers of good and evil. In terms of sense perception, Oromazes

2242-513: The divine essences of truth ( Asha ), the good-mind ( Vohu Manah ), and the spirit of righteousness. Some other verses are addressed to the public that may have come to hear the prophet, and in these verses, he exhorts his audience to live a life as Ahura Mazda has directed, and pleads to Ahura Mazda to intervene on their behalf. Other verses, from which some aspects of Zoroaster's life have been inferred, are semi-(auto)biographical, but all revolve around Zarathustra's mission to promote his view of

2301-479: 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

2360-419: The fire and igniting the contents in the ladle - this is repeated by igniting a fresh fire from the previous one, each time igniting a fresh fire, the previous one allowed to die out, each new fire is placed in a new pit or in a fresh metal vase; this is repeated 91 times, the 91st fire is then ready for consecration. In case of fire from lightning this process is done for 90 times, similarly on fire obtained from

2419-622: 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

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2478-502: The five Gathas ) are kept separate and kept burning with sandalwood and frankincense. On the first Gatha day the final ceremony of combining the 16 fires and consecration of this begins with the recitation in the dawn part of the Ushahin Geh (this Geh begins at midnight and up to the first sign of dawn the next morning.) Now, the 16 fires are, beginning with the consecrated fire from fire from funeral pyre, ceremoniously gathered into

2537-412: The following traditional pattern: for the first three days these prayers are dedicated to and invoked in the name of Ahura Mazda , then the next two sets of Zoroastrian calendar thirty days these prayers are dedicated to Ahura Mazda and the six Amesha Spentas and 23 Yazatas and in the third month prayers are said for only 28 days (to Ahura Mazda, the six Amesha Spentas and up to Zamyad Yazad, (Yazata of

2596-500: The form Assara Mazaš , but that interpretation is very controversial. Even though it is speculated that Ahura Mazda was a spirit in 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

2655-509: 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

2714-436: The king, consecration involve prayers over 70 times which would be three days prayers dedicated to the third Amesha Spenta Asha Vahista (Ardibehsth) then two sets of 30 day months dedicated to 30 divinities and the balance of only seven days ending with the day dedicated to Adar Amesha Spenta, totalling 70 days of prayer. (3+30+30+7=70) Similar formulae as detailed are applied to the rest of the 16 purified fires; for example, to

2773-568: The labour that underlies the effort [of translating the hymns]. The most abstract and perplexing thought, veiled further by archaic language, only half understood by later students of the seer's own race and tongue, tends to make the Gathas the hardest problem to be attempted by those who would investigate the literary monuments." Some of the verses of the Gathas are directly addressed to the Omniscient Creator Ahura Mazda . These verses, devotional in character, expound on

2832-507: 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

2891-510: The nature of ancient Iranian religious poetry, that is extremely terse. The 17 hymns of the Gathas consist of 238 stanzas , of about 1300 lines or 6000 words in total. They were later incorporated into the 72-chapter Yasna (chapter: ha or had , from the Avestan ha'iti , 'cut'), that in turn is the primary liturgical collection of texts within the greater compendium of the Avesta . The 17 hymns are identified by their chapter numbers in

2950-534: The prophet Zarathushtra (Zoroaster) himself. They form the core of the Zoroastrian liturgy (the Yasna ). They are arranged in five different modes or metres. The Avestan term gāθā (𐬔𐬁𐬚𐬁 "hymn", but also "mode, metre") is cognate with Sanskrit gāthā (गाथा), both from the Proto-Indo-Iranian word *gaHtʰáH , from the root *gaH- "to sing". The Gathas are in verse, metrical in

3009-470: The purified fire from the house of a priest, the prayers are recited for 3+30 full month days+ 11 days of second month, totalling to 44 recitations of the Yasna and Vendidad for 44 days, corresponding to the 44 times this fire was purified. These 16 purified and consecrated fires, which until the last day of the year (the Zoroastrian calendar has 12 months of 30 days each, the last five days piously dedicated to

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3068-486: The same family, it is still not possible to translate them using Proto Sanskrit or Pali . Sassanid era translations and commentaries (the Zend ) have been used to interpret the Gathas, but by the 3rd century the Avestan language was virtually extinct, and a dependency on the medieval texts is often discouraged as the commentaries are frequently conjectural. While some scholars argue that an interpretation using younger texts

3127-768: 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

3186-645: The train of thought of the translator. This obviously reflects the Gatha interpretation by the priests of the Sasanian period, the general view of which is closer to the original than what is sometimes taught about the Gathas in our time." The problems that face a translator of the Avestan Gathas are significant: "No one who has ever read a stanza of [the Gathas] in the original will be under any illusions as to

3245-468: 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

3304-470: 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 , 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

3363-477: 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 , the name of the Greek ruler of the underworld used most commonly in texts and inscriptions pertaining to

3422-460: 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,

3481-508: 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 the Persian army on battles. Images of Ahura Mazda, however, were present from

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