OR'MAZD, or ORrhITYZD (Pers.. from Phl. Ailharmazd.OPers.Altromazda, Av. Ahura Mazda, Lord Wisdom). In the Zoroastrian religion. the Supreme Being. In the Avesta (q.v.) lie is repre seated as the head of the heavenly host and as sovereign over the realm of good, light, and truth. In the Old Persian Inscriptions, as well as in the Pahlavi texts and the Avesta, he is the creator of all that is gobd in the world. Ormazd is the guardian of mankind; he is a giver of re wards; but he may mete out punishment as well. His throne is in the heavens, in the realm of eternal light, where his presence is manifested by splendor and glory. This is the sense in which we must understand the Avesta when it alludes to Ahura Alazda's 'form.' Auramazda is repre sented on the sculptured rocks of Behistun as a crowned and bearded figure in a winged circle above the head of King Darius, a conception borrowed from Assyro-Babylonian art. In the. Sassanian bas-reliefs, Ormazd is portrayed on horseback presenting the Imperial crown to Arda shir.
The spiritual side of Ahura Mazda is constantly dwelt upon in the Avesta. He creates through his 'Holy Spirit,' which is a `spirit of intelligence' as contrasted with the ignorance and lack of prescience on the part of Ahriman (q.v.). in the philosophic development of Zoroastrianism this spiritual essence of Ahura Mazda is often conceived to be an emanation separate and apart from the divinity. acting in opposition to the Evil Spirit, Angra Mainyu, and yet of the same substance as Ormazd. From this transcendental
Zoroastrian view it is possible to understand how the different Iranian sects early began to tend toward monothei,m as opposed to the earlier dualism which made Ahriman self-existent, a-nd coeval, though not coeternal, with Ormazd. This mdfying tendency sometimes postulated Bound less Time, or Eternity, as the source alike of Ormazd and Ahriman; sometimes it is presup posed that the Holy Spirit and the Evil Spirit were the children of Ormazd, the wicked prin ciple being due to a moment of doubt on the part of the great god. But in all cases Ormazd rises supreme as the acknowledged head and sovereign of the heavenly kingdom. Ahura Mazda is attended by a hand of six (or seven) archangels, 'Immortal Holy Ones,' and also by a score or more of angels and a host of minor spirits.
In viewing the Zoroastrian conception of Or mazd we must also allow the existence of a few reminiscences of naturalistic ideas, a tinge here and there of the sky god warring against the ser pent demon of the heavens. But these survivals are very slight. The same is true of the occa sional Vanilla of the Vedas, as an old Aryan conception of God. Ormazd as a deity stands far above both Hindu and Babylonian ideals, and approaches the Judtro-Christian conception of Jehovah.