Zurvan and the Philosophy of Time: On the Necessity of Reinterpretation

1- This article is divided into two parts.The first part presents selected excerpts from ancient Zoroastrian and Zurvanite texts, supplemented with explanatory notes. This section serves as the historical and philosophical foundation of the study, demonstrating how the myth of Zurvan contains profound ontological and philosophical dimensions. The author’s inspiration for the Zurvanian worldview and theoretical framework has been drawn primarily from these sources. The second part adopts a systematic scholarly structure, addressing various aspects of the Zurvan myth. Its aim is to familiarize readers—particularly philosophers, mathematicians, and physicists outside Iran—with the necessity of reinterpreting this myth and its relevance to the development of the contemporary Zurvanian framework. Zarvanian Worldview “Ahura Mazda commands bounded time to move, and material creation begins.” …When Ahura Mazda (fearing the power of Ahriman) sought assistance, he realized that Ahriman would never reconcile with any mediator of light. Thus, Time belongs to both, and in guiding and rightly directing the world, both are dependent upon it….