Ahura Mazda

==History==

===Achaemenid Empire===
[[File:Darius I the Great's inscription.jpg|thumb|The [[Behistun Inscription]] contains many references to Ahura Mazda]]
[[File:CILICIA, Soloi. Tiribazos, Satrap of Lydia. Second reign, 388-380 BC.jpg|thumb|[[Stater]] of [[Tiribazus|Tiribazos]], Satrap of Lydia, {{Circa|380 BC}} showing Ahura Mazda]]

Whether the [[Achaemenid Empire|Achaemenids]] were Zoroastrians is a matter of much debate. However, it is known that the Achaemenids were worshipers of Ahura Mazda.{{sfn|Bromiley|1995|p=126}} The representation and invocation of Ahura Mazda can be seen on royal inscriptions written by Achaemenid kings.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Hanson|first=Victor Davis|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XGr16-CxpH8C|title=Carnage and Culture: Landmark Battles in the Rise to Western Power|date=2007-12-18|publisher=Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group|isbn=978-0-307-42518-8|language=en}}</ref> 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 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.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Hallock |first=Richard |url=https://oi.uchicago.edu/sites/oi.uchicago.edu/files/uploads/shared/docs/oip92.pdf |title=Persepolis Fortification Tablets |publisher=The University of Chicago Press |year=1969 |location=Chicago, Illinois |pages=151, 771}}</ref>

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 royal ''[[khvarenah]]'', the personification of divine power and regal glory. However, it was customary for every emperor from [[Cyrus the Great|Cyrus]] until [[Darius III]] to have an empty chariot drawn by white horses as a place for Ahura Mazda to accompany the [[Military history of Iran#Achaemenid Empire (550–330 BCE)|Persian army]] on battles. The use of images of Ahura Mazda began in the western [[satrap]]s 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.{{sfn|Boyce|1983|p=686}}

===Parthian Empire===
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. Zoroastrian [[iconoclasm]], which can be traced to the end of the [[Parthian Empire|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.{{Sfn|Boyce|1983|p=686}}

===Sasanian Empire===
[[File:Irnp105-Grobowce Naqsh-E Rustam.jpg|thumb|300px| Ahura Mazda (on the right, with high crown) presents [[Ardashir I]] (left) with the ring of kingship. ([[Naqsh-e Rostam]], 3rd century AD)]]
[[File:Taghe bostan.JPG|right|thumb|300px|[[Investiture]] scene: [[Anahita]] on the left as the patron ''[[yazata]]'' of the [[Sasanian dynasty]] behind [[Khosrow II|Emperor Khosrow II]], with Ahura Mazda presenting the [[khvarenah]] of sovereignty on the right. [[Taq-e Bostan]], [[Iran]]]]

During the Sassanid Empire, a heretical and divergent{{sfn|Corduan|1998|p=123}}{{sfn|King|2005|p=314}}{{sfn|Whitrow|2003|p=8}} form of [[Zoroastrianism]], termed [[Zurvanism]], emerged. It gained adherents throughout the [[Sasanian Empire]], most notably the royal lineage of [[List of monarchs of the Sasanian Empire|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 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 (disambiguation)|Hormizd]] and [[Bahram II]] created the title of "Ohrmazd-mowbad", which was continued after 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 ''[[Gāh]]s'' start with the declaration in [[Middle Persian]] that "Ohrmazd is Lord" and incorporate the [[Gatha (Zoroaster)|Gathic]] 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 languages [[Yidgha language|Yidgha]] and [[Munji language|Munji]], the sun is still called ''ormozd''.{{Sfn|Boyce|1983|p=686}}

===Present-day Zoroastrianism===
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"<ref group="n">For an explanation of the approximation of ''mainyu'' as "spirit", see [[Angra Mainyu]].</ref> 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—an [[Emanationism|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,{{sfn|Boyce|1983|p=685}} at the time, Haug's interpretation was gratefully accepted by the [[Parsis]] of Bombay since it provided a defense against Christian missionary rhetoric,<ref group="n">Most prominent of these voices was that of the Scottish Presbyterian minister [[John Wilson (scholar)|John 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.</ref> 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.{{sfn|Boyce|1983|p=686}}{{sfn|Maneck|1997|pp=182ff}}<ref group="n">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), see {{harvnb|Maneck|1997}}</ref>