ZERVANISM

An Iranian religion that has Zervan, or "Time," as its supreme god. It is not certain whether there is a reference to this god in the 12th-century b.c. text found in the Nuzi cuneiform tablets. He is not mentioned in Zoroaster's Gāthās. In the 4th century b.c. the Babylonian Berossus speaks of a "mythical king Zerovanus," and Eudemus of Rhodes, a pupil of Aristotle, mentions a philosopher by that name. His account, preserved by the Neoplatonist Damascius, seems to be a reply to this question of a Greek impressed by Iranian dualism: "What is the supreme and sole principle?" The answer is ambiguous, for, besides Time, Space is also cited as a name of the "infinite and intelligible all."

The appearance of astral fatalism in Iran, some centuries after Zoroaster, was due apparently to Greco-Babylonian influence, which gave new vigor to the old faith in the Time-God. Zervanism had a great vogue under the Arsacids and Sassanids. Official Mazdaism had to sustain a long struggle against it in the Sassanid period, and Mazdaism's success varied. The supreme god of Manichaeism is Zervan, not Ormazd; the supremacy of Ormazd was more theoretical than real. Thus in the Acts of the Christian martyrs of Iran there is frequent mention of Zervan as the supreme god of the Persians.

Official doctrine, as reflected in the avesta, tries to place Time and Space under the supreme authority of Ahura Mazda. In the Vidēvdāt, "Law against the Demons," one of the books of the Avesta, Zervan is more a principle than a god. He is described as imperishable and infinite. When he appears in more concrete form, it is as god of the three ages of man and as god of death. A distinction is made between Time "without limit" and Time "long to rule." As a god of three ages of man he had a close parallel in the Hellenistic god Aion, whose birth was celebrated on January 6, the date later adopted for the Epiphany. This may account for the tradition representing the Magi of Bethlehem as a youth, an adult, and an old man.

Zervanism and Mazdaism could be combined in two ways: Zervan could be absorbed into official Mazdaism, or he could retain the highest position and assume certain Mazdean features. This is illustrated in the myth of Zervan giving birth to the twins Ormazd and Ahriman, as recorded by the Armenian Eznik (5th century a.d.). This myth however, was condemned as heretical by orthodox Mazdaism.

See Also: persian religion, ancient; zoroaster (zarathushtra).

Bibliography: r. c. zaehner, Zurvan: A Zoroastrian Dilemma (New York 1955). j. duchesne-guillemin, La Religion de l'Iran ancien (Paris 1962). "Die Weisen aus dem Morgenlande, in Antaios (1965).

[j. duchesne-guillemin]