The Jamasp Nameh (var: ''Jāmāsp Nāmag'', ''Jāmāsp Nāmeh'', "Story of
Jamasp
Jamasp (also spelled Zamasp or Djamasp; pal, 𐭩𐭠𐭬𐭠𐭮𐭯; fa, جاماسپ ''Jāmāsp'') was Sasanian King of Kings of Iran from 496 to 498/9. He was a son of Peroz I and younger brother of Kavad I. Jamasp was installed on the Sasa ...
") is a
Middle Persian
Middle Persian or Pahlavi, also known by its endonym Pārsīk or Pārsīg () in its later form, is a Western Middle Iranian language which became the literary language of the Sasanian Empire. For some time after the Sasanian collapse, Middle P ...
book of revelations. In an extended sense, it is also a
primary source
In the study of history as an academic discipline, a primary source (also called an original source) is an artifact, document, diary, manuscript, autobiography, recording, or any other source of information that was created at the time under ...
on
Medieval
In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...
Zoroastrian
Zoroastrianism is an Iranian religion and one of the world's oldest organized faiths, based on the teachings of the Iranian-speaking prophet Zoroaster. It has a dualistic cosmology of good and evil within the framework of a monotheisti ...
doctrine and legend. The work is also known as the ''Ayādgār ī Jāmāspīg'' or ''Ayātkār-ī Jāmāspīk'', meaning "
nMemoriam of Jamasp".
The text takes the form of a series of questions and answers between
Vishtasp and Jamasp, both of whom were amongst
Zoroaster's immediate and closest disciples. Vishtasp was the princely protector and patron of Zoroaster while Jamasp was a nobleman at Vishtasp's court. Both are figures mentioned in the
, the oldest hymns of Zoroastrianism and believed to have been composed by Zoroaster.
Here (chap. 3.6-7) there occurs a striking theological statement, that
Ohrmazd
Ahura Mazda (; ae, , translit=Ahura Mazdā; ), also known as Oromasdes, Ohrmazd, Ahuramazda, Hoormazd, Hormazd, Hormaz and Hurmuz, is the creator deity in Zoroastrianism. He is the first and most frequently invoked spirit in the ''Yasna''. ...
’s creation of the seven
Amašaspands was like lamps being lit one from another, none being diminished thereby.
The question-answer series is a common literary technique in
Zoroastrian literature. In the past, and among Zoroastrians themselves, this technique was frequently misunderstood to be an indication of a first-hand account. The text has survived in three forms:
* a
Pahlavi manuscript, that is, a rendering of the Middle Persian language using an
Aramaic
The Aramaic languages, short Aramaic ( syc, ܐܪܡܝܐ, Arāmāyā; oar, 𐤀𐤓𐤌𐤉𐤀; arc, 𐡀𐡓𐡌𐡉𐡀; tmr, אֲרָמִית), are a language family containing many varieties (languages and dialects) that originated i ...
-derived script and accompanied by Aramaic
ideogram
An ideogram or ideograph (from Greek "idea" and "to write") is a graphic symbol that represents an idea or concept, independent of any particular language, and specific words or phrases. Some ideograms are comprehensible only by famili ...
s. The Pahlavi manuscript is damaged and fragmented.
* a transmission in
Pazand
Pazend () or Pazand ( pal, 𐭯𐭠𐭰𐭭𐭣; ae, 𐬞𐬀𐬌𐬙𐬌 𐬰𐬀𐬌𐬥𐬙𐬌) is one of the writing systems used for the Middle Persian language. It was based on the Avestan alphabet, a phonetic alphabet originally used to w ...
, that is, a rendering of the Middle Persian language using Avestan script (also an Aramaic derivative) but without any non-Iranian vocabulary. The
Pazend
Pazend () or Pazand ( pal, 𐭯𐭠𐭰𐭭𐭣; ae, 𐬞𐬀𐬌𐬙𐬌 𐬰𐬀𐬌𐬥𐬙𐬌) is one of the writing systems used for the Middle Persian language. It was based on the Avestan alphabet, a phonetic alphabet originally used t ...
version has survived in its entirety.
* a Modern
Persian translation in
Arabic script
The Arabic script is the writing system used for Arabic and several other languages of Asia and Africa. It is the second-most widely used writing system in the world by number of countries using it or a script directly derived from it, and th ...
has also survived. It is slightly younger than the other two manuscripts.
See also
* The
Dēnkard, a 10th-century compendium of the Zoroastrian beliefs and customs.
* The
Bundahishn
''Bundahishn'' (Avestan: , "Primal Creation") is the name traditionally given to an encyclopedic collection of Zoroastrian cosmogony and cosmology written in Book Pahlavi. The original name of the work is not known.
Although the ''Bundahishn'' ...
, a Zoroastrian account of Mazdaen
cosmogony
Cosmogony is any model concerning the origin of the cosmos or the universe.
Overview
Scientific theories
In astronomy, cosmogony refers to the study of the origin of particular astrophysical objects or systems, and is most commonly used ...
and
cosmology
Cosmology () is a branch of physics and metaphysics dealing with the nature of the universe. The term ''cosmology'' was first used in English in 1656 in Thomas Blount's ''Glossographia'', and in 1731 taken up in Latin by German philosopher ...
.
* The
Ayadgar-i Zariran
''Ayādgār ī Zarērān'' (and other approximations of ambiguous Book Pahlavi ''ʾbyʾtkʾr y zlyln''), meaning "Memorial of Zarēr", is a Zoroastrian Middle Persian heroic poem that, in its surviving manuscript form, represents one of the earlie ...
, a Zoroastrian epic story
*
Frashokereti, Zoroastrian eschatology
Bibliography
*
Boyce, Mary AYĀDGĀR Ī JĀMĀSPĪG' in Encyclopædia Iranica.
*Bailey, H.W. ''To the Zamasp-Namak. I.'' BSOS 6, 1930–32, pp. 56–68
*Bailey, H.W. ''To the Zamasp Namak. II.'' BSOS 6, (1930–32), pp. 581–600
*
References
Zoroastrian texts
{{Zoroastrianism-book-stub