Deity Β· Persian Β· c. 1000 BCE
Ahura Mazda
Also called Ohrmazd, Hormuz Β· also recorded as Ahuramazda, Ormuzd, Oromasdes, π¬π¬΅π¬π¬π¬ π¬¨π¬π¬°π¬π¬ (per Wikidata)
The uncreated god of Zoroastrianism, opposed by Angra Mainyu β the pairing that probably gave Judaism and Christianity their two-sided cosmos.
Narrow source base
Before the Persian period, Hebrew scripture has no organised opposing kingdom; the satan is a functionary and evil is not a rival power. After the exile β after direct and prolonged contact with a religion built on two principles, each with its own hierarchy of spirits, in a war that ends at a final judgment with a resurrection β those features start appearing. Causation is genuinely hard to prove and specialists disagree, but the structural parallel is not in dispute.
Identity
Where does the name come from?
Where it was actually worshipped
The fire temples, though the fire is what is tended rather than the god: the Atash Behram at Yazd has burned continuously for something over a millennium. Naqsh-e Rustam carries him in relief, investing the Achaemenid king.
A figure with temples and a figure that only ever existed on a page are different kinds of thing, and the difference is easy to lose once both are entries in a list.
At a glance
Vitals
Vitals
Also known as
- First attested
- The Avesta Β· c. 1000-400 BCE
- Rank
- The Wise Lord
- Pantheon
- Persian
- Order
- Zoroastrian
- Base of operations
- The fire temples, though the fire is what is tended rather than the god: the Atash Behram at Yazd has burned continuously for something over a millennium. Naqsh-e Rustam carries him in relief, investing the Achaemenid king.
- Era
- c. 1000 BCE
- Traditions
- Zoroastrian
- Placed in
- The Paired OrdersDevas and Asuras
Traits
- Domain
- Truth, light, creation, order (asha)
- Traditional form
- Not represented; later shown as a winged disc
Stats
Known connections
Chain of command
2 sites
Where was it worshipped?
Attested cult sites, located against the Pleiades gazetteer of the ancient world where it reaches and against Wikidata everywhere else. An absence here is not evidence that no cult existed: a good number of figures never had one, and the entry above says so where that is the case.
The fire is what is tended rather than the god; this one has burned for something over a millennium.
31.881, 54.373 Β· Wikidata Q5953466
The Achaemenid necropolis, whose reliefs show Ahura Mazda handing the ring of kingship to the king.
In relief, investing the Achaemenid king.
29.989, 52.875 Β· Wikidata Q648705
3 attributed
What is it said to do?
Where these powers cluster
The 3 offices attributed to Ahura Mazda, grouped by kind. Segment width is the share of powers falling in each category.
A bar dominated by one colour means a specialist; an even spread means a figure the sources credit with almost anything.
- divination1
- martial1
- material1
divination
martial
material
3 marks
Which marks is it attached to?
A mark a figure carries and a mark used against a figure are opposite claims, so each link says which it is.
The Faravahar
Carried as an emblem
The traditional identification, contested: the reliefs carry no caption naming him.
The Fire Altar
Carried as an emblem
The fire is addressed as his; facing it is facing him.
The Winged Disc
Carried as an emblem
The Persian end of the same borrowing chain β see the faravahar.
2 texts
Which texts say so, and where do they disagree?
When these texts were written
Each dot is one of the 2 texts that names Ahura Mazda, placed at that text's approximate date.
A wide spread means the figure was carried across many centuries and traditions; a tight cluster means a single period produced the whole record.
2 texts spanning roughly 1,550 years
Where the texts differ
- Name: given as Ahura Mazda, Ohrmazd
Creates through Spenta Mainyu; opposed at every point by Angra Mainyu.
Omniscient and good but not yet omnipotent: the text opens with him and the destructive spirit each in their own region, and the whole of creation is his opening move in a war with a fixed term of nine thousand years. A god who has to win rather than a god who cannot lose is the specific shape of Iranian dualism, and it is the shape later monotheism declined to take.
Connections
What is it connected to?
Identified with Zeus
The Greek reading of the Persian supreme god. Recorded by Wikidata (P460); not asserted by a text this corpus carries.
Identified with Michael
Not a derivation β but the Amesha Spentas supply the model of ranked spirits under one lord.
Identified with El
High gods presiding over ranked subordinate spirits.
Served by The Amesha Spentas
Six emanations, each with a named demonic counterpart β the earliest matched hierarchy.
Identified with Varuna
Both called asura/ahura and both keepers of cosmic order β the clearest Indo-Iranian survival.
Placement
Where does it sit in the hierarchies?
Answered from the sources
Common questions
Which texts mention Ahura Mazda?
Is Ahura Mazda the same as Zeus?
What rank is Ahura Mazda?
How else is Ahura Mazda spelled?
What is Ahura Mazda said to do?
How old is Ahura Mazda?
Nearest in the corpus
If Ahura Mazda is what you came for, these are next
Chosen by proximity rather than by popularity: the same pantheon first, then the same rank, then the same kind of figure.
Mithra
Lord of Covenant Β· Persian
God of the binding contract, worshipped from India to Roman Britain. No other deity in this compendium can be traced across three civilisations so cleanly.
Aeshma
Daeva of Wrath Β· Persian
The demon of wrath and of the bloody club. He also supplies the most defensible etymology for Asmodeus: *Aeshma-daeva* to *Ashmedai* to *Asmodeus*.
Angra Mainyu
The Destructive Spirit Β· Persian
The hostile principle, with his own army of daevas β the first fully developed adversary in the record, and the likely structural template for Satan.
Sraosha
Yazata of Obedience Β· Persian
He guards the soul for three nights after death and stands directly opposed to Aeshma. It is an angel's job description, written before there were angels.
The Amesha Spentas
Six Great Emanations Β· Persian
Six emanations of Ahura Mazda, each paired against a specific demon β the earliest ranked, functionally-paired hierarchy of spirits anywhere.
Zahhak
The Serpent King Β· Persian
The three-headed serpent of the Avesta, who becomes in the Shahnameh a tyrant with snakes on his shoulders fed on human brains, chained beneath a mountain until the end.
The books behind Ahura Mazda
Every claim on this profile is attributed to one of these. They are public domain, listed oldest first, and each links to a full text where one is freely available.
The Avesta
Attributed to Zarathustra and later priests Β· c. 1000-400 BCE Β· Avestan
Read The Avesta in full βCover: CC0 Β· Daderot Β· Wikimedia file page
Bundahishn
Anonymous Zoroastrian; tr. E. W. West Β· 9th c. CE, from older material Β· Middle Persian
Read Bundahishn in full βCover: CC BY-SA 3.0 Β· The original uploader was Ploxhoi at English Wikipedia Β· Wikimedia file page
Corpus last revised 29 August 2026. A reference siteβs credibility rests on being maintained, so this is the date the sourced records last changed β not the date the page was rebuilt.