Achaemenid Empire contains many references to Ahura Mazda of
Tiribazos, Satrap of Lydia, showing Ahura Mazda Whether the
Achaemenids were Zoroastrians 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 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 and 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 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 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.
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 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.
Sasanian Empire (left) with the ring of kingship. (
Naqsh-e Rostam, 3rd century AD) scene:
Anahita on the left as the patron
yazata of the
Sasanian dynasty behind
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 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 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 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 the form of fire or the sun. In the Iranian languages
Yidgha and
Munji, the sun is still called
ormozd.
Rashidun Caliphate Maneckji Nusserwanji Dhalla described the doctrine of the
Gayomarthians 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 the
15h century in which it is written that the Magi (Zoroastrians) believe that Allah and Iblis are brothers.
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" 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
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 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 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. ==In other religions==