Ahura Mazda
Ahura Mazda (Ahura Mazdah, Auhar Mazd) In Persian mythology, good creator god, the wise lord, later called Ohrmazd (Ormuzd). Ahura Mazda is continually battling the evil spirit Ahriman; in the end Ahura Mazda and the forces of goodness will prevail over Ahriman. In the beginning Ahura Mazda may have been connected with Mithra, before he was elevated to the role of supreme being in Persian religion. According to the prophet Zarathustra, Ahura Mazda created cosmic order. He created both the moral and material worlds and is the sovereign, omniscient god of order. Creator of all things, Ahura Mazda is himself uncreated and eternal. One of the hymns ascribed to Zarathustra says:
O Ahura Mazda, this I ask of thee: speak to me truly! How should I pray, when I wish to pray to one like you?
May one like you, O Mazda, who is friendly, teach one like me? And may you give us supporting aids through friendly Justice, And tell how you may come to use with Good Disposition?
A rock inscription placed by King Darius I has these lines to the god:
There is one God, omnipotent Ahura Mazda, It is He who has created the earth here; It is He who has created the heaven there; It is He who has created mortal man.
In Persian art Ahura Mazda is sometimes portrayed as a bearded man emerging from a winged creature. He is often described as wearing a star-decked robe, and the “swifthorsed sun” is said to be his eye. His throne is in the highest heaven, where he holds court as his angels minister to him.
SOURCE:
Encyclopedia of World Mythology and Legend, Third Edition – Written by Anthony S. Mercatante & James R. Dow– Copyright © 2009 by Anthony S. Mercatante
