ʾhlmn'

ʾhlmn'

Middle Persian

FWOTD – 2 August 2014

Alternative forms

• ʾhlymn' (/Ahreman/) – Book Pahlavi
• 𐭠𐭧𐭫𐭬𐭭𐭩‎ (ʾḥlmny /Ahreman/) – Inscriptional Pahlavi
• 𐫀𐫍𐫡𐫖𐫗‎ (ʾhrmn /Ahreman/) – Manichaean
• 𐬁𐬵𐬭𐬆𐬨𐬀𐬥‎ (Āhrəman) – Pazend

Etymology

From Avestan 𐬀𐬢𐬭𐬀⸱𐬨𐬀𐬌𐬥𐬌𐬌𐬎‎ (aŋra.maⁱniiu, “Angra Mainyu”), compound of 𐬀𐬢𐬭𐬀‎ (aŋra, “destruction, destructive”) and 𐬨𐬀𐬌𐬥𐬌𐬌𐬎‎ (maⁱniiu, “spirit, mind, essence, emanation etc.”). Compare Old Armenian Արհմն (Arhmn) and Ancient Greek Ἀρειμανιος (Areimanios, “Arimanius”), Iranian borrowings.

Proper noun

ʾhlmn' in Book Pahlavi, written upside down.

ʾhlmn' • (/Ahreman/)

1. (Book Pahlavi, Zoroastrianism) Ahriman, Angra Mainyu, the Evil Spirit
   • Bundahišn, codex DH 1970: 1

     ʾhlmn' BYN tʾlykyh PWN AHLdʾnšnyh Wztʾlkʾmkyh zwplpʾdk YHWWNt'

     Ahreman andar tārīgīh pad pas-dānišnīh ud-zadār-kāmagīh zufr-pāyag būd.

     Ahrimen was in darkness in backward knowledge and desire to destroy in the depth.

Usage notes

In Book Pahlavi, the word is traditionally always written upside down.

Antonyms

• ʾwhrmẕd (/Ohrmazd/)

Descendants

• Persian: اهریمن‎ (Ahriman)

References

• MacKenzie, D. N. (1971), “Ahreman”, in A concise Pahlavi dictionary, London, New York, Toronto: Oxford University Press, page 7