The Sacred Books and Early Literature of the East

The early Persians subscribed to the philosophy of Zoroastrian cosmogony. The creation myth is described in the Bundahishn (literally “Primal Creation”), a collection of stories from the Zoroastrian tradition. Where many creation myths focus on the creation of the earth, sky, moon, sun and stars, the Persian myth centers on the first man and woman. According to the myth, Ohrmuzd, the chief deity, made the sky, earth and oceans and a beast called the Gayomart, a genderless monster-like being. Ahriman, the Spirit of Evil, who lived in Absolute Darkness, worked to destroy the Gayomart and sent Jahi, a powerful demon woman, to kill it. Jahi was successful in killing the Gayomart, but the moon god, Mah, captured its seed before its death. With this, all animal life grew on earth. From the Gayomart’s corpse, a tree sprouted. This tree was the origin of all plant life on the earth. Out of its branches grew Mashya and Mashyana, the first man and woman. Mashya and Mashyana aided Ohrmuzd in his battles, praised his works, and gave birth to 15 sets of twins, who scattered around the Earth and became the various races of humankind.