14 Facts About Ahura Mazda

1.

Ahura Mazda, known as Oromasdes, Ohrmazd, Ahuramazda, Hourmazd, Hormazd, Hormaz and Hurmuz, is the creator deity in Zoroastrianism.

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2.

Ahura Mazda is the first and most frequently invoked spirit in the Yasna.

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3.

Images of Ahura Mazda were present from the 5th century BC but were stopped and replaced with stone-carved figures in the Sassanid period and later removed altogether through an iconoclastic movement supported by the Sassanid dynasty.

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4.

Ahura Mazda stated that this source of all goodness was the Ahura, worthy of the highest worship.

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5.

Ahura Mazda further stated that Ahura Mazda created spirits known as yazatas to aid him.

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6.

Zoroaster claimed that Ahura Mazda used the aid of humans in the cosmic struggle against Angra Mainyu.

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7.

The representation and invocation of Ahura Mazda can be seen on royal inscriptions written by Achaemenid kings.

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8.

Amongst the earliest surviving inscription, on the Elamite Persepolis Fortification Tablet 377, Ahura Mazda is invoked along with Mithra and Apam Napat, Vedic Varuna .

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9.

Ahura Mazda is the Guardian deity of the West, meaning regions west of India.

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10.

The winged symbol with a male figure formerly regarded by European scholars as Ahura Mazda has been now speculated to represent the royal xvar?nah, the personification of divine power and regal glory.

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11.

The use of images of Ahura Mazda began in the western satraps of the Achaemenid Empire in the late 5th century BC.

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12.

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.

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13.

However, Ahura Mazda remained symbolized by a dignified male figure, standing or on horseback, which is found in Sassanian investiture.

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14.

Ahura Mazda is thought to be a syncretic deity, a combination of the autochthonous Armenian figures Aram and his son Ara and the Iranian Ahura Mazda.

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