5 sections of this entry are open to everyone: the summary, the people, the symbols, the lineage and the sources. The other 9 (Name and epithets, In the ancient sources, The myths, Worship and archaeology, How the god was depicted, What scholars debate, After antiquity, Did you know?, Codex relic) are part of the full Codex: PRO opens the whole study of all 500 deities, and without a subscription you can read one full entry a day, just like in the app.
The Persian deities belong to Zoroastrianism, the faith of the ancient Persian Empire, founded on the teachings of Zarathustra. Centered on the cosmic struggle between good (Ahura Mazda) and evil (Angra Mainyu), it influenced Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. It is still practiced by Zoroastrian communities in Iran and India (the Parsis).
In the fire temples, priests keep sacred flames that have burned for centuries — the one in Yazd, Iran, for over 1,500 years. Nowruz, the Persian new year at the spring equinox, and Yalda night, at the winter solstice, celebrate the victory of light over darkness.
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At a glance
Ahura Mazda (Avestan: Mazdā Ahura or Ahura Mazdā; Old Persian: Auramazdā; Middle Persian: Ohrmazd or Hormizd) is the supreme uncreated deity, omniscient creator of all that is good, and guardian of the cosmic order (Asha) in Zoroastrianism and ancient Persian imperial religion. Proclaimed by the prophet Zarathustra (Zoroaster) in the oldest poetic hymns of the Avesta — the Gathas — as the sole primordial source of spiritual and physical benevolence, Ahura Mazda stands at the center of Mazdaean ethical theology in irreconcilable opposition to Angra Mainyu (Ahriman), the destructive spirit of the Lie (Druj). In the Gathic revelation, Ahura Mazda brings forth existence through sovereign thought and through his Bounteous Spirit (Spenta Mainyu), assisted by the six Holy Immortals (Amesha Spentas), who embody transcendent divine attributes and govern vital aspects of creation: righteous mind, cosmic truth, desirable dominion, holy devotion, wholeness, and immortality. Under the Achaemenid dynasty (c. 550–330 BC), Great Kings such as Darius I and Xerxes I inscribed monumental trilingual cuneiform texts upon the cliffs of Behistun, Naqsh-e Rustam, and Persepolis, recording the foundational imperial creed that acknowledges Auramazda as the great god who fashioned heaven, earth, mankind, and happiness for humanity, while conferring legitimate sovereignty upon the realm. In Sasanian Middle Persian literature, notably the Bundahishn, Zoroastrian theology formulated cosmic history into a grand chronological structure of spiritual planning (menog) and physical realization (getig), culminating in the final renovation of the cosmos and eradication of evil (Frashokereti).
8 min read · Reviewed on September 30, 2026 · How we research
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Sacred symbols
The sacred fire, the sun, the winged faravahar and the light
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Family
Ahura Mazda
Children
Spenta Mainyu (the Bounteous Spirit through whom Ahura Mazda accomplishes active creation)Amesha Spentas (the six emanated Holy Immortals: Vohu Manah, Asha Vahishta, Khshathra Vairya, Spenta Armaiti, Haurvatat, and Ameretat)AAtarGeush Urvan (the Soul of the Primordial Bovine, whose lamentation before the Creator inaugurates Zarathustra's ethical mission)
Genealogy according to Avesta (Gathas: Yasna 28–34, 43–51; Yasna 1.1; Yasht 1); Inscrições Aquemênidas (Dario I: Behistun DB, Naqsh-e Rustam DNa, Persépolis DPd; Xerxes I: XPh); Textos Pálavi (Bundahishn 1; Denkard 3 e 5); Mary Boyce (1975, 1982, 1984); Jacques Duchesne-Guillemin (1958, 1973)
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Sources and further reading
Primary sources
Zarathushtra (attributed) & Mills, Lawrence H. (trans.), The Zend-Avesta, Part III: The Yasna, Visparad, Âfrînagân, Gâhs, and Miscellaneous Fragments (Sacred Books of the East, Vol. 31). translation: Full edition in English at the Internet Sacred Text Archive. read
Avesta.org Digital Archive, Avesta: Yasna (Sacred Liturgy and Gathas of Zarathushtra). translation: Complete liturgical text and comparative translation of the Gathas. read
Darius I & Kent, Roland G., Old Persian: Grammar, Texts, Lexicon (Behistun inscriptions DB, Naqsh-e Rustam DNa and Persepolis DPd). translation: Corpus of Old Persian cuneiform inscriptions archived at the Internet Archive. read
Livius.org (Jona Lendering, Ed.), The Behistun Inscription (DB, Columns I-V): Old Persian Text and English Translation. translation: Digital critical edition of the epigraphic texts of Darius I at Livius.org. read
Livius.org (Jona Lendering, Ed.), Naqsh-e Rustam: Inscription DNa of Darius I. translation: Cuneiform text and translation of the imperial inscription of Naqsh-e Rustam. read
West, Edward William (trans.), Pahlavi Texts, Part I: The Bundahis-Bahman Yast, and Shayast La-Shayast (Sacred Books of the East, Vol. 5). translation: Full text of the Pahlavi cosmology at the Internet Sacred Text Archive. read
Avesta.org Digital Archive, The Bundahishn ('Creation'), or Knowledge from the Zand (Pahlavi Text). translation: Complete digital edition of the 36 chapters of the Bundahishn. read
Herodotus & Godley, A. D. (trans.), The Histories (Book I, Chapter 131: Persian Customs and Religion). translation: Full text in Greek and English at the Perseus Digital Library. read
Studies
Boyce, Mary, AHURA MAZDĀ. Encyclopaedia Iranica, Vol. I, Fasc. 7, pp. 684–687, 1984. open
Boyce, Mary, A History of Zoroastrianism, Vol. 1: The Early Period. E.J. Brill, Leiden, 1975. open
Boyce, Mary, A History of Zoroastrianism, Vol. 2: Under the Achaemenians. E.J. Brill, Leiden, 1982. open
Boyce, Mary, A Persian Stronghold of Zoroastrianism. Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1977. open
Duchesne-Guillemin, Jacques, The Western Response to Zoroaster. Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1958. open
Kent, Roland G., Old Persian: Grammar, Texts, Lexicon. American Oriental Society, New Haven, 1953. open
Wikipedia, Ahura Mazda. Wikimedia Foundation, 2024. open
Name and epithets
The compound theonym Ahura Mazda derives from Proto-Indo-Iranian linguistic roots and carries profound socio-religious meaning.
In the ancient sources
Avesta (Gathas: Yasna 28–34, 43–51, 53), c. 1200–1000 BC (oral composition, preserved in 13th-century AD liturgical manuscripts).
The myths
Cosmogonic Inquiry and the Architecture of Light (Yasna 44). In the forty-fourth chapter of the Yasna, known as the Ushtavaiti Gatha, the prophet Zarathustra addresses a sequence of profound cosmological inquiries to th…
Worship and archaeology
Zoroastrian worship directed toward Ahura Mazda emphasizes personal and ritual purity and the historic absence of carved anthropomorphic statues within temples.
How the god was depicted
Visual representations of Ahura Mazda evolved significantly across Iranian antiquity. During the Achaemenid period (6th–4th centuries BC), the royal court adopted the winged disc motif featuring a bearded figure holding…
What scholars debate
Monotheism versus Radical Dualism in Gathic and Later Theology. Scholars of Iranian religion, notably Martin Haug (1862), Jacques Duchesne-Guillemin (1958), and Mary Boyce (1975, 1984), explored whether Zarathustra's or…
After antiquity
Ahura Mazda's theological architecture profoundly shaped the history of world religions and ethical thought. Key concepts central to Mazdaean revelation — such as linear eschatological history, individual moral judgment…
Did you know?
King Darius I's inscription on the southern terrace wall of Persepolis (DPd § 3) includes an iconic cuneiform prayer entreating Auramazda to protect the Persian homeland from three great perils: enemy armies (hainā), fa…
Codex relic
Eternal Flame of Truth. The sacred fire that burns unceasingly in the temples, the visible symbol of divine light and wisdom.
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