He floated around as a spirit for 3,000 years before coming to the notice of Ahura Mazda who asked if he would like to take part in an experiment called Mortality.

Well, thought Gayomart, anything was better than everlasting boredom. At least he would be provided with a skull to be bored out of.

Gayomart found being a mortal much to his liking — and he was able to indulge in gardening, the hobby of a lifetime which he had always craved. Starting from scratch and knowing nothing about genetics or germination, it was always full of happy surprises.

He was delighted when one of his finest plants produced a human couple, which he called Mashya and Masyoi. They ran around just like himself after they had been picked.

His experiments were viewed with great interest by Ahriman the God of Evil, who was always looking for ways to cause extra misery. At the time he had a girlfiend called Jeh, who also reveled in utmost nastiness.

So they killed Gayomart for fun and took over the contents of his vegetable plot, namely Mashya and Mashyoi, and took them off for an Underworld Harvest Festival.

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Article last revised on May 14, 2019 by Rowan Allen.
Editors: Peter J. Allen, Chas Saunders

References: Coming soon.

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