Az ( Āz , Middle and New Persian ; Avestian Āzi ) is a demon in Persian mythology . Āz already appears in the oldest Iranian writings, the writings of the Avesta , the sacred book of the Zoroastrian religion . Here Āzi appears as the " Daeva " of greed. In the further course of Persian history the figure experiences an increasing personification and can be found in later works as a "demon" in the narrower sense, a " div ". In Middle Persian literature, especially in Manichaean and Zurvanist- influenced texts, Āz occupies a considerably higher position in the hierarchy of demons than in Avestan writings, for example in the Zurvanist-oriented work "Wizidagīhā-ī Zātspram" as "Commander-in-Chief" of the demonic powers and in a Manichaean representation as the "mother of all demons". In contrast to the avestical Āzi, which has more of the meaning of the demon of greed, Āz includes sexual desire and comes close to the Latin term " concupiscentia ".
Individual evidence
↑ Zurvan. A Zoroastrian dilemma. Robert Charles Zaehner. Biblo and Tannen, 1972. ISBN 0-8196-0280-9 .
