===As the name of a planet===
[[File:Ancient Parthian relief carving of the god Nergal from Hatra.jpg|thumb|Syncretic [[Parthian art|Parthian]] relief carving of Bahram (Nergal) from Hatra in [[Iraq]], dating to the 1st or 2nd century AD]]
In the astronomical and calendrical reforms of the [[Sasanian Empire|Sasanian]] (224-651 CE), the planet [[Mars]] was named Bahram. Zaehner attributes this to the syncretic influences of the [[Chaldea]]n astral-theological system, where Babylonian [[Nergal]] is both the god of war and the name of the red planet.{{sfn|Zaehner|1955|p=147–}} (see also: "Fatalistic" [[Zurvanism]]).