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| English: Author: Kevin McCormick (Photo credit: Wikipedia) |
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| English: Darius I the Great's inscription. Possibly an influence in the stele series for the Ptolemies, III, IV, and V-(V for the Rosetta Stone); Ptolemy II also had a Victory Stele, though not bilingual. (Photo credit: Wikipedia) |
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| Ahura Mazda (right) Invests Ardashir I With the Ring of Kingship (Photo credit: A.Davey) |
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| Ahura Mazda (Photo credit: A.Davey) |
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| Ahura Mazda (Photo credit: A.Davey) |
Ahura Mazda (
/əhˌʊrəmˈæzdə/;
[1]), (also known as
Ohrmazd,
Ahuramazda,
Hourmazd,
Hormazd,
and
Hurmuz,
Lord
or simply as
spirit) is the
Avestan name for a
higher spirit of the Old
Iranian
religion who was proclaimed as the uncreated
spirit by
Zoroaster, the founder of
Zoroastrianism. Ahura
Mazda is described as the highest spirit of worship in Zoroastrianism, along
with being the first and most frequently invoked spirit in the
Yasna.
The literal meaning of the word
Ahura
means light and
Mazda means wisdom.
Ahura Mazda first
appeared in the
Achaemenid
period (c. 550 – 330 BCE) under
Darius I's
Behistun Inscription.
Until
Artaxerxes II
(405–04 to 359–58 BCE), Ahura Mazda was worshiped and invoked alone. With
Artaxerxes II, Ahura Mazda was invoked in a triad, with
Mithra and
Apam Napat. In the
Achaemenid period, there are no representations of Ahura Mazda 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 began in the
Parthian
period, but were stopped and replaced with stone carved figures in the
Sassanid period.
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