IOverview
Zurvan means time in the old Iranian languages. Zurvanism, as scholars call it, was an interpretation within the religion in the Sasanian period that made Infinite Time the origin of both Ohrmazd, that is Ahura Mazda, and Ahriman, the destructive spirit, as twin brothers.
The tendency has no followers. According to English Wikipedia, it disappeared after the 10th century and left no trace in Zoroastrianism today. The library records it as a historical branch because it illuminates a long debate within the faith about where evil comes from, and because it is often mentioned in books on ancient Iranian religion.
IISources and History
The most striking thing about Zurvanism is that most of what we know about it comes from outsiders. The twin myth is recorded most fully by Eznik of Kolb, a fifth-century Armenian Christian writer, and by Theodore bar Konai, an eighth-century Christian writing in Syriac, both writing to refute it. A much earlier fragment is a note by Eudemus of Rhodes in the fourth century BCE, preserved in a later quotation by Damascius, saying that the Magi regarded Time or Space as the origin of all things. In the Pahlavi books of the Zoroastrians themselves, Zurvan appears only here and there, and orthodox works such as the Denkard contain passages rejecting the idea.
- 4th c. BCEEudemus's notePreserved in a later quotation, saying the Magi made Time or Space the origin.
- 224 to 651Sasanian eraZurvanism is thought to have been widespread and at times favoured at court.
- 5th c.Eznik of KolbAn Armenian writer records the twin myth.
- 8th c.Theodore bar KonaiA Syriac writer records the myth again.
- After 10th c.DisappearanceNo further trace among believers.
IIIThe Myth of the Twins
In the version these sources give, before anything existed there was only Zurvan. Zurvan offered sacrifice for a thousand years, wishing for a son. Near the end, Zurvan doubted whether the sacrifice would bear fruit. From the sacrifice came Ohrmazd, and from the doubt came Ahriman, both conceived in one womb. Zurvan promised the kingship to whichever emerged first. Ahriman tore his way out first and claimed the throne. Zurvan had to keep the promise but limited Ahriman's rule to nine thousand years, after which Ohrmazd would reign forever.
The myth changes the structure of the common teaching entirely. In the common teaching, Ahura Mazda is uncreated and evil is an intruder from outside. In the Zurvanite version, good and evil share a higher source, and Ohrmazd is no longer supreme. Many scholars see Zurvanism as a literal reading of the twin spirits in the Gathas, Yasna chapter 30: if the two spirits are twins, they must have a parent.
Misconception: Zurvanism was a sect with its own church, opposed to a Sasanian orthodox church. In fact: there is no evidence of a separate organisation. Many scholars regard it as a speculative current within the same priesthood, not a distinct community.
IVThe Scholarly Debate
The debate over Zurvanism is one of the longest in Iranian studies. In 1955 R. C. Zaehner published Zurvan: A Zoroastrian Dilemma, arguing that it was a major tendency, at times dominant, in the Sasanian period. Later scholars, including Mary Boyce, were more cautious and treated it as a deviation from the mainstream. Others doubt that it ever formed a clear group. On its origins, English Wikipedia notes that some see it as the priests' attempt to explain the twins in Zarathustra's words, others as having pre-Zoroastrian roots or Babylonian influence. Why it vanished after Islam reached Iran has no agreed answer either.
One interesting trace: in Manichaean texts in Middle Persian, the name Zurvan is used for the Father of Greatness, the supreme being of that religion, showing that the name was familiar to Iranians of the time.
VIn Vietnam
This section does not apply: Zurvanism is a historical tendency that vanished more than a thousand years ago and has no followers anywhere. Vietnamese readers may meet the name Zurvan in books on the history of religions and in fiction that borrows from ancient Iranian myth.
VISymbol of the Branch
No symbol of its own is recorded with a source for this branch, so the library uses the common symbol of the path.
VIIOther Branches of Zoroastrianism
Parsisપારસી ParsiDescendants of Zoroastrians who left Iran for Gujarat over a thousand years ago.
Iranian Zoroastriansزرتشتیان ZartoshtiyanZoroastrians who remained in Iran, centred in Yazd, Kerman and Tehran, with a Council of Mobeds in Tehran.Iranis (India)IraniZoroastrians who came from Qajar Iran to British India in the 19th and early 20th centuries, still speaking Zoroastrian Dari.Uses the common symbol of the pathShahenshahi calendar groupShahanshahi, ShenshaiFollowers of the traditional Indian Parsi calendar, the majority among Parsis.Uses the common symbol of the pathKadmi (Qadimi) calendar groupQadimi, KadmiA section of Parsis adopted the Qadimi calendar in 1745.Uses the common symbol of the pathFasli calendar groupFasli, called Bastani in IranA seasonal calendar with a leap day, proposed in 1906 and widely adopted in Iran after 1930 and in the West.Uses the common symbol of the pathReformist ZoroastriansReformistA tendency since the mid-19th century that takes the Gathas as the core and treats much ritual law as later accretion.Uses the common symbol of the pathIlm-e-KhshnoomIlm-e KhshnoomAn esoteric school started by Behramshah Shroff in India after 1875, teaching reincarnation and vegetarianism and keeping strict ritual observance.Uses the common symbol of the pathZoroastrian revival in Iraqi KurdistanZardeshti (Kurdish)A Kurdish revival movement officially recognised by the Kurdistan Regional Government in August 2015, with a fire temple in Sulaymaniyah.Uses the common symbol of the pathZurvanismZurvanA Sasanian-era tendency that made Infinite Time the source of both Ohrmazd and Ahriman.Uses the common symbol of the pathVIIISources
The library cross-checks the sources below. Where they disagree, the page gives both.
?Quick Questions
What is Zurvanism?
Zurvan means time. The Sasanian-era Zurvanite tendency made Infinite Time the origin of both Ohrmazd and Ahriman as twin brothers. It has no followers today.
Why do we know Zurvanism mostly through outsiders?
The twin myth is recorded most fully by Armenian and Syriac Christian writers who set out to refute it. The Zoroastrians' own Pahlavi books mention Zurvan only in passing and include passages rejecting the idea.
Was Zurvanism a separate sect?
There is no evidence of a separate organisation. Scholars still disagree: R. C. Zaehner saw it as a major Sasanian tendency, many others as a speculative current within the priesthood.