Angra Mainyu
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- For the Warhammer 40,000 character of Ahriman, go to Ahriman (Warhammer 40,000)
- For the Final Fantasy monsters of Ahriman, go to Ahriman (Final Fantasy)
Template:Zoroastrianism Angra Mainyu (Avestan) or Ahriman (Middle Persian اهريمن) is the Evil Spirit of the god Ahura Mazda in Zoroastrianism.
The name does not occur in the Old Persian inscriptions. In the Avesta he is called the twin-brother of the Holy Spirit, and contrasted with Spenta Mainyu. He is the all-destroying Satan, the source of all evil in the world and like Ahura Mazda, existed since the beginning of the world. Ahriman chose evil consciously, and by this act he created death. On Judgment Day he will be defeated by Spenta Mainya and will disappear from the present world forever. The later sect of the Zurvanites held that both were visible manifestations of the primeval principle zruvan akarana (infinite time).
The Zoroastrian belief in Angra Mainyu was passed onto Judeo-Christian beliefs through the concept of Satan, the chief agent of evil. Prior to Babylonian captivity (586-538 BC), Judaism held the belief that Satan was an agent of God and that he tested man's loyalty to God. After Cyrus the Great permitted the Jews to return to Jerusalem Satan became God's rival and the lord of evilTemplate:Fact.
The dualism of Zoroastrianism was a seminal influence on the Book of Revelation and on Apocalyptic literature. Neoplatonism also references Ahriman.
Angra Mainyu is not equivalent to the Christian Satan. By contrasting Angra Mainyu with Spenta Mainyu, Zoroaster distinguished the two poles of a particular dynamic, that of creation and destruction, which was whole within Ahura Mazda. One can see similar sentiments in the Dravidian and later Hindu conception of Shiva.
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fa:اهریمن fr:Ahriman it:Angra Mainyu nl:Ahriman ja:アンラ・マンユ pl:Aryman pt:Arimã ro: Angra Maynu sv:Ahriman tr:Ehrimen