Ahriman was the name of the evil principle in Zoroasterism, and even before in the ancient Persian religion. Ahriman is the lord of demons, the prince of chaos and doubt and destruction--perhaps he is the Prince of Persia that Daniel speaks of. He is opposed in every way to Ahura Mazda, a deity of light and goodness. The pre-Zoroaster Persians had the usual flock of deities, including these two. Zoroaster was a prophet circa 1500 BC who reformed this into a monotheism with a beneficent supreme creator, Ahura Mazda, and Ahriman, the spoiler. Ahura Mazda created all things in seven days, Ahriman would come along and destroy or corrupt Ahura Mazda's work for no reason except that he could, including the first couple of humans and their seed. His whispering and temptation caused doubt and sin to pollute the earth. He appears iconically as a typical demon with reptilian aspects: he also can appear as a handsome youth, or a snake. With regard to the timelines, it would appear there are a lot of similarities with the early Hebrew religion, and with the Chinese monotheism of Sheng Di. Both post-Babel echoes?
Thank you for the explanation. Love that you mentioned post Babel echos. The story/Tower of Babel has always fascinated me. It had a MUCH bigger impact than the Christian religion teaches about.
Ahriman was the name of the evil principle in Zoroasterism, and even before in the ancient Persian religion. Ahriman is the lord of demons, the prince of chaos and doubt and destruction--perhaps he is the Prince of Persia that Daniel speaks of. He is opposed in every way to Ahura Mazda, a deity of light and goodness. The pre-Zoroaster Persians had the usual flock of deities, including these two. Zoroaster was a prophet circa 1500 BC who reformed this into a monotheism with a beneficent supreme creator, Ahura Mazda, and Ahriman, the spoiler. Ahura Mazda created all things in seven days, Ahriman would come along and destroy or corrupt Ahura Mazda's work for no reason except that he could, including the first couple of humans and their seed. His whispering and temptation caused doubt and sin to pollute the earth. He appears iconically as a typical demon with reptilian aspects: he also can appear as a handsome youth, or a snake. With regard to the timelines, it would appear there are a lot of similarities with the early Hebrew religion, and with the Chinese monotheism of Sheng Di. Both post-Babel echoes?
Thank you for the explanation. Love that you mentioned post Babel echos. The story/Tower of Babel has always fascinated me. It had a MUCH bigger impact than the Christian religion teaches about.