Zurvanism

Zurvanism is a theological current in Zoroastrianism that makes Zurvan, personified infinite time, the ultimate source of Ohrmazd and Ahriman.

Zurvan: Zurvan is the personification of time in Iranian religion, represented in Zurvanism as the source of Ohrmazd and Ahriman. The supreme principle whose role distinguishes Zurvanism from other Zoroastrian accounts.
Zurvanite creation myth: The Zurvanite creation myth tells how Zurvan's sacrifice and doubt lead to the birth of Ohrmazd and Ahriman. It gives the clearest narrative account of Zurvanism's divine genealogy.
Sasanian Empire: The Sasanian Empire was an Iranian state that ruled from 224 to 651 CE and promoted Zoroastrian institutions. Zurvanism is especially associated with theological debates in this imperial period.
Mazdean dualism: Mazdean dualism is the Zoroastrian account of conflict between the good creator and the destructive spirit. Unlike Zurvanism, it does not make both powers offspring of a higher time principle.
Zurvanism in Sasanian Iran: Zurvanism in Sasanian Iran concerns the extent and social setting of Zurvanite belief under Sasanian rule. The surviving evidence does not settle whether it was an official doctrine or one current among several.
Ohrmazd: Ohrmazd is the Zoroastrian creator deity associated with wisdom, goodness, and the ordering of the cosmos. Zurvanism makes Ohrmazd one of the twin offspring of Zurvan.
Cosmic dualism: Cosmic dualism explains the universe through opposing forces such as good and evil, order and disorder. Zurvanism preserves cosmic opposition while making both powers descendants of Zurvan.
Armenian sources on Zurvanism: Armenian Christian writers preserved accounts of Zurvanist teachings and their place in Sasanian religious life. Their reports are among the principal surviving witnesses to Zurvanism.
Zurvanite monism: Zurvanite monism is the interpretation that treats Zurvan as the ultimate unity underlying opposed divine powers. It highlights how Zurvan can serve as a single source without erasing cosmic opposition.
Zurvan in the Avesta: Zurvan appears in Avestan texts as a word for time, without the developed role assigned to him in Zurvanism. The contrast raises questions about how and when Zurvan became a supreme divine source.

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GathasCompared with: Its later systematized dualism differs from the Gathas’ presentation of moral and cosmic opposition.