princes of Iran.*

* In a passage of Philo of Byblos the god is described as
having the head of a falcon or an eagle, perhaps by
confusion with one of the genii represented on the walls of
the palaces.

[Illustration: 013.jpg AN IRANIAN GENIUS IN FORM OF A WINGED BULL]

Drawn by Boudier, from a photograph.

He was named Ahurô-mazdâo or Ahura-mazdâ, the omniscient lord,*
_Spento-mainyus_, the spirit of good, _Mainyus-spenishtô_** the most
beneficent of spirits.

* _Ahura_ is derived from _Ahu_ = _Lord_: Mazdâo can be
analysed into the component parts, _maz = great_, and _dâo
= he who knows_. At first the two terms were
interchangeable, and even in the Gâthas the form Mazda Ahura
is employed much more often than the form Ahura Mazda. In
the Achsemenian inscriptions, Auramazdâ is only found as a
single word, except in an inscription of Xerxes, where the
two terms are in one passage separated and declined _Aurahya
mazdâha_. The form Ormuzd, Ormazd, usually employed by
Europeans, is that assumed by the name in modern Persian.

** These two names are given to him more especially in
connection with his antagonism to Angrômainyus.

Himself uncreated, he is the creator of all things, but he is assisted