Zurvan

Lion-headed deity from the mithraeum of Ostia Antica ( CIMRM 312)

Zervan (or Zervan ) is the creator god of Zurvanism [en], a form of Zoroastrianism . He is a personification of time and eternity.

He is the father of Ahura Mazda and his enemy Angra Mainyu .

His name comes from the Middle Persian term zurwān ("Time"), which derives from the Avestan zruvā ("Time").

Words carved in stone that include the letters zrw(n) and zraovo were discovered. These words make people think that in Sogdiana and Bactria, Zurvan was worshipped like a main god.

In the third century, his name was used by the Manichaeans, for the father of greatness

Sources

  • L. Brisson: The figure of Chronos in Orphic theogony. In: D. Tiffeneau (Hrsg. ): Myths and representations of time. 1985, S.37–55
  • Richard L. Gordon: Zurvan . In: Der Neue Pauly (DNP). Band 12, Metzler, Stuttgart 2002,ISBN 3-476-01470-3, Sp. 849 f.
  • S. Shaked: The Myth of Zurvan. In: I. Gruenewald ua (hrsg. ): Messiah and Christos. 1992, S.219–240
  • David Ulansey: Die Ursprünge des Mithraskultes. Theiss, Stuttgart 1998
  • Geo Widengren: Der Zervanismus. In: Iranische Geisteswelt von den Anfängen bis zum Islam. Holle, Baden-Baden 1961, (Lizenzausgabe für den Bertelsmann Lesering) S. 77–108, insbesondere S. 83 f. ( Der Zeitgott und sein Mythos )
  • Robert C. Zaehner: Zurvan : a Zoroastrian dilemma. Clarendon Press, Oxford 1955

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