The Routledge Dictionary of Gods and Goddesses , Devil and Demons
Later Ormazd (old Persian=‘Lord or wisdom’). The name of the one true God preached by Zarathustra. Originally Ahura Mazda was conceived as ruling over the oppositional pair Spenta Mainyu and Angru Mainyu (→ Ahriman), but later he became conceptually identified with Spenta Mainyu. In the teaching of Zarathustra, light is made visible by Ahura Mazda and serves in his praise.
Subsequently the paramount light, the sun, appears as the form of the god, and in the Avesta the sun and the moon are described as his eyes. Over against the world of truth and light which he has created, stands the anti-world of deception and darkness. By means of fire, Ahura Mazda can distinguish good from evil. On Achaemenian seals the god is depicted in a winged ring (the sun or the moon); sometimes his body projects upwards out of the ring. This type of representation was taken over from Assyria (cf. illustration to → Assur).
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