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Zurvan
YUHAN SOHRAB-DINSHAW VEVAINA
Zurvan is a deity associated with Time in
ZOROASTRIANISM and is the supreme deity in
Middle Persian texts in Manichaeism (see
MANI/MANICHAEISM). There remains doubt as to
whether Zurvanism was a distinct religious
movement in the ancient and Late Antique
Iranian world (Zaehner 1955) or should
be seen as a Zoroastrian “heresy” (Boyce
1990), or even as the dominant form of Zoroastrianism (Christensen 1944). We face a historiographical challenge in that there are
unresolved discrepancies between the indigenous Zoroastrian sources, which are almost
completely silent on the subject, and the
foreign accounts of Classical, Armenian,
Syriac, and Islamic authors such as PLUTARCH
(ca. 46–120 CE), Ełishe Vardapet (d. 480 CE),
Theodore bar Konai (ninth century), and
al-Shahrastani (d. 1153), in which Zurvan
features prominently.
As part of a monist cosmogony, Zurvan, as
the hypostasis of Time, was the father of twin
deities: one good, Ohrmazd (see AHURA MAZDA),
and one evil, AHRIMAN. Most accounts agree
that Ahriman was conceived due to a moment
of “doubt” on the part of “Father Time,” an
otherwise omnipotent and omniscient godhead. The Armenian Christian apologist,
Eznik of Kołb stated, “And after offering sacrifices for a thousand years he [Zurvan] began
to ponder, saying, ‘Are these sacrifices which
I offer of any use, and shall I have a son
Ohrmazd, or do I strive in vain?’ And while
he considered thus, Ohrmazd and Ahriman
were conceived in their mother’s womb”
(Patton 2009).
The origins of this myth appear to be based
on interpretations of Yasna 30.3 in the Gathas
“poems” of the AVESTA: “These are the two
spirits in the beginning, twins who have been
heard of as the two dreams, the two thoughts,
the two words, and the two actions, the better
and the evil. . .” (Humbach and Ichaporia
1994). An orthodox Zoroastrian defense of
dualism states, “And from the sayings
of Zarathustra, about how the demon Arsh
howled to mankind: ‘Ohrmazd and Ahrimen
were brothers from one womb!’ . . . And
about how the demon Arsh lied about the
separate origin of light and darkness, about
the goodness of him who is most (full of)
light through (good) choice and actions,
and about the badness of him who is (full of)
darkness.”
Despite oft-repeated claims to the contrary,
we do not appear to have any iconographic,
ritual, ethical, or other performative indices on
which to evaluate whether there were distinctive social practices associated with Zurvan.
Increasingly, scholars have come to cast doubts
on the socio-economic or political impact of
Zurvanite trends in ancient and Late Antique
Iranian society (Shaked 1994). Besides Zurvan
being the supreme god in the Manichaean
Middle Persian texts from Turfan, China,
theophoric names such as Izrudukma “of
Zurvan’s seed/stock” from the fifth century
BCE Persepolis Fortification Tablets (see PERSEPOLIS TABLETS), Syriac names such as Zarvandād
“created/made by Zurvan,” and Sogdian names
such as Zrwmbntk “slave of Zurvan” testify to
the popularity and importance of Zurvan in
the greater Iranian world.
SEE ALSO: Achaemenid Dynasty; Religion,
Persian; Sasanians.
REFERENCES AND SUGGESTED READINGS
Boyce, M. (1990) “Some further reflections on
Zurvanism.” In Iranica Varia: papers in honor of
Professor Ehsan Yarshater: 20–9. Leiden.
Christensen, A. (1944) L’Iran sous les Sassanides,
2nd ed. Copenhagen.
Humbach, H. and Ichaporia, P. (1994) The heritage
of Zarathushtra: a new translation of his Gāthās.
Heidelberg.
The Encyclopedia of Ancient History, First Edition. Edited by Roger S. Bagnall, Kai Brodersen, Craige B. Champion, Andrew Erskine,
and Sabine R. Huebner, print pages 7187–7188.
© 2013 Blackwell Publishing Ltd. Published 2013 by Blackwell Publishing Ltd.
DOI: 10.1002/9781444338386.wbeah12216
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Patton, K. C. (2009) Religion of the gods: ritual,
paradox, and reflexivity. Oxford.
Shaked, Sh. (1994) “The Myth of Zurvan:
cosmogony and eschatology.” In I. Gruenwald
et al., eds., Messiah and Christos. Studies
in the Jewish origins of Christianity
presented to David Flusser: 219–40.
Tübingen.
Zaehner, R. C. (1955) Zurvan: a Zoroastrian
dilemma. Oxford.