The Mythology Book

198

TWO SPIRITS, ONE

GOOD, THE OTHER

EVIL, IN THOUGHT,

WORD, AND DEED

AHURA MAZDA AND AHRIMAN

A

ccording to a particular

branch of ancient

Zoroastrianism known

as Zurvanism, Zurvan, the god of

time, existed before anything else

in the universe and had the ability

to create beings out of nothingness.

Zurvan longed to have children,

so he created twin sons, Ahura

Mazda and Ahriman. They were

the fundamental and opposite

aspects of nature—the light and

the dark, the good and the evil—

that were essential to the balance

of the universe. Ahura Mazda was

infinitely good and created light,

the world, the moon, and stars, and

finally, the “good mind”—the

essential goodness of every

being and thing in the world.

In reply, evil Ahriman resolved

to make a world of his own. Hating

all things good, he created the very

opposite of his brother’s works,

producing demons and dangerous

creatures. Through his malicious

work, disease, suffering, and death

entered the world. Ahura Mazda

was determined to thwart the

works of his evil brother.

The first humans

Ahura Mazda fashioned

humankind, designing them to

be fundamentally good creatures.

He first created Keyumars, or

Gayomard, a human who some

Zoroastrian sources call the first

king to rule the earth. Ahriman

tried his best to destroy his brother’s

creation, finally succeeding when

he poisoned and killed him.

Gayomard’s death meant that

humankind would always be

mortal—yet his remains fertilized

the ground, producing two rhubarb

plants. Ahura Mazda took a soul

and breathed it into the plants.

They became Mashya and Mashyoi,

a man and a woman considered the

ancestors of all humanity. Ahura

IN BRIEF

THEME

Good versus evil

SOURCES

Avesta, Anonymous,

collected ca.3rd century ce;

Bundahishn (“Primal

Creation”), Anonymous,

ca. 8th–9th centuries ce.

SETTING

The beginning and end

of time.

KEY FIGURES

Zurvan The first being.

Ahura Mazda A god who

lived in the light; creator of

everything good.

Ahriman A dark god and

Ahura Mazda’s twin brother;

the creator of everything bad.

Saoshyant The savior of the

world.

Zoroaster/Zarathustra

Prophet of Ahura Mazda;

author of Zoroastrian texts.

This snarling beast may be a

lion-griffin symbolizing evil Ahriman.

Made by metalworkers around the

2nd century ce, it was found near

Helmand River in Afghanistan.

US_198-199_Ahura_Mazda.indd 198 30/11/17 4:56 pm

199

Ahura Mazda depicted on a fire

temple in Yazd, Iran. The ca. 6th-

century bce emblem incorporates and

adapts the winged solar disc of Ashur,

an ancient Assyrian deity.

See also: The war of the gods 140–41 ■ The twilight of the gods 150–57 ■ Pangu and the creation of the world 214–15

ASIA

Mazda told them that they were

perfect, should obey the law, and

must not worship demons—but

they were given free will to choose

between good and evil.

Before long, Mashya and

Mashyoi began to question their

obedience to Ahura Mazda’s

instructions and their reliance on

his creation. Instead, they came

up with their own innovations,

such as fire, clothes, building, and

war. They had originally lived off

only plants, but now they began

to hunt and eat meat. The demons’

power over humanity was growing

stronger. Eventually, Ahura Mazda

gave Mashya and Mashyoi the

ability to have children, and they

in turn began to populate the earth.

End times

Neither Ahura Mazda nor Ahriman

could totally defeat the other, so

the brothers remained locked in

an eternal struggle between good

and evil. The war between Ahura

Mazda and Ahriman will finally

culminate at the end of time, with

an apocalyptic battle in which the

world will come to an end and the

dead will be resurrected and

judged. A savior called Saoshyant

(“one who brings benefit”) will rise

up and help Ahura Mazda in the

fight for light against the many evil

creations of Ahriman.

When Ahriman is finally

defeated, Saoshyant will resurrect

the dead, and humanity will begin

again. The children of Ahura

Mazda will be some of the first

dead to be resurrected. This time,

Ahriman will have no influence of

Zoroastrian texts

The teachings of Zoroastrianism

are based on ancient Persian

literature, most specifically the

Avesta, which was transmitted

orally for centuries before being

collected and written down

during Persia’s Achaemenid

empire of 550–330 bce.

Within the Avesta, the most

critical section is the “Gathas,”

a collection of hymns attributed

to the prophet Zarathustra

(or Zoroaster in Greek). Said to

have been given to the prophet

by Ahura Mazda himself, the

“Gathas” contains much of

the mythology and cosmology

of Zoroastrianism. Zarathustra

was likely revising an existing

polytheistic religion into what

would become a dualist one.

Mostly compiled in the 8th

and 9th centuries ce in Persia

and India, the Bundahishn

further developed the Avesta’s

stories on the origins and fate

of the universe. While not

considered scripture, the

Bundahishn helped codify

the Zoroastrian belief system.

[Ahura Mazda] is the

most firm, the wisest, and

the one ... whose body is

the most perfect, who attains

his ends the most infallibly.

Avesta

any kind, and will have created

nothing evil, not even death.

Humanity will have the ability to

live to its full potential—without

any demons, disease, or

destruction—and good will

triumph over evil once and for all. ■

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