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Spand Nask
The Spand or Spend nask was one of the Gathic ''nasks'' (volumes) of the Sasanian Avesta. The work is lost but based on later descriptions it contained the details of the life of Zarathustra and is considered to be the source of later biographies. Sources The Spand nask itself is no longer extant but references can be found in later Zoroastrian writings. First, the 8th book of the Denkard provides in chapter 14 a description of its content. In addition, the Rivayats, a series of exchanges from the 15th - 17th century, give a short overview. Structure The Spand nask belonged to the so called, Gathic nasks, one of the three divisions of the Sasanian Avesta. Both the Denkard and the Rivayats agree that it was of 13th nask and according to the Rivayats it consisted of 60 sections. Edward William West estimates, that it consisted of ca. 9,900 words of Avestan text accompanied by ca. 20,500 words of translation and commentary in Pahlavi. Content Based on the descriptions in late ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sasanian Avesta
The Sasanian Avesta or Great Avesta refers to the anthology of Zoroastrian literature produced during the Sasanian period. Most of this work is now lost, but its content and structure can be reconstructed from references found in a number of texts from the 9th century onward. Compared to the extant Avesta, the Sasanian Avesta was much larger and organized into 21 distinct volumes called ''nasks'' (Avestan: ''naska''; Middle Persian: ''nask'', 'bundle'). Of those, only one is preserved in its entirety, while others are either lost or only preserved in fragments. Sources The most important source on the Sasanian Avesta is the Denkard, a 9th-10th century compendium of Zoroastrianism. The 8th and 9th book of the Denkard give an overview of the Avesta as it was available at the time. Whereas the 8th book lists the content, the 9th book provides a lengthy summary on a number of its nasks In addition, the Rivayats, a series of epistles from the 15th - 17th century, also list its con ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lost Literary Work
A lost literary work (referred throughout this article just as a lost work) is a document, literary work, or piece of multimedia, produced of which no surviving copies are known to exist, meaning it can be known only through reference, or literary fragments. This term most commonly applies to works from the classical world, although it is increasingly used in relation to modern works. A work may be lost to history through the destruction of an original manuscript and all later copies. Works—or, commonly, small fragments of works—have survived by being found by archaeologists during investigations, or accidentally by laypersons such as, for example, the finding Nag Hammadi library scrolls. Works also survived when they were reused as bookbinding materials, quoted or included in other works, or as palimpsests, where an original document is imperfectly erased so the substrate on which it was written can be reused. The discovery, in 1822, of Cicero's '' De re publica'' was ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Zoroastrian Literature
Zoroastrian literature is the corpus of literary texts produced within the religious tradition of Zoroastrianism. These texts span the languages of Avestan, named after the famous Zoroastrian work known as the Avesta, and Middle Persian (Pahlavi), which includes a range of Middle Persian literature. Avesta The Avesta is the oldest extant primary source of Zoroastrian literature, although the term "Avesta" designates not one text but a group of texts written in the Old Iranian language called Avestan, attested from the 2nd to 1st millennia BC. The types of manuscripts preserve Avestan texts, the oldest of which dates to the 13th century AD: those liturgical manuscripts which combine passages from various Avestan texts alongside ritual instructions in various languages such as Pahlavi, and those which simply present the text alongside a Pahlavi translation/commentary, an example of the latter being the Zend. The former category can be further subdivided into long and short liturgi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Denkard
The ''Dēnkard'' or ''Dēnkart'' (Middle Persian: 𐭣𐭩𐭭𐭪𐭠𐭫𐭲 "Acts of Religion") is a 10th-century compendium of Zoroastrian beliefs and customs during the time. The ''Denkard'' has been called an "Encyclopedia of Mazdaism" and is a valuable source of Zoroastrian literature especially during its Middle Persian iteration. The ''Denkard'' is not considered a sacred text by a majority of Zoroastrians, but is still considered worthy of study. Name The name traditionally given to the compendium reflects a phrase from the colophons, which speaks of the /, from Avestan meaning "acts" (also in the sense of "chapters"), and , from Avestan , literally "insight" or "revelation", but more commonly translated as "religion." Accordingly, means "religious acts" or "acts of religion." The ambiguity of or in the title reflects the orthography of Pahlavi writing, in which the letter may sometimes denote /d/. Date and authorship The individual chapters vary in age, style ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rivayats
The ''Rivayats'' (also spelled as ''Revayats'') are a series of exchanges between the Zoroastrian community in India and their co-religionists in early modern Iran. They have been ascribed the same importance of the Talmud to Judaism by Jivanji Jamshedji Modi. The word Rivayat has disputed etymology. Some claim the word to have origins from Arabic but this is contentious. Overview The content of each Rivayat varies but they are usually queries on matters of worship, customs, rituals and observance. The issues range form the mundane, such as queries about the preparation of ink for the writing of religious documents, to important issues including conversion. Over three centuries, twenty-two Rivayats were sent from India to Persia. The first Revayat was brought in 1478 AD by Nariman Hoshang of Broach. Hoshang was a layman, supported by Chang Asa a notable leader of the Navsari Parsi community. Hoshang spent a year in Yazd, learning Persian and supported himself by 'petty trade'. E ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gatha (Zoroaster)
The Gathas () are 17 hymns in the Avestan language from the Zoroastrian oral tradition of the Avesta. The oldest surviving text fragment dates from 1323 CE, but they are believed by scholars to have been composed before 1000 BCE and passed down orally for centuries. They are traditionally believed to have been composed by the prophet Zarathushtra (Zoroaster) himself. They form the core of the Zoroastrian liturgy (the Yasna). They are arranged in five different modes or metres. The Avestan term ' (𐬔𐬁𐬚𐬁 "hymn", but also "mode, metre") is cognate with Sanskrit '' gāthā'' (गाथा), both from the Proto-Indo-Iranian word ''*gaHtʰáH'', from the root ''*gaH-'' "to sing". Structure and organization The Gathas are in verse, metrical in the nature of ancient Iranian religious poetry, that is extremely terse. The 17 hymns of the Gathas consist of 238 stanzas, of about 1300 lines or 6000 words in total. They were later incorporated into the 72-chapter ''Yasna'' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Edward William West
Edward William West (1824-1905), usually styled E. W. West, was a scholarly English engineer, orientalist, and translator of Zoroastrian texts. He was educated at King's College London. He prepared five volumes of Pahlavi texts (the ''Marvels of Zoroastrianism'') for Prof. Max Müller's monumental Sacred Books of the East The ''Sacred Books of the East'' is a monumental 50-volume set of English translations of Asian religious texts, edited by Max Müller and published by the Oxford University Press between 1879 and 1910. It incorporates the essential sacred texts ... series, published from the years 1880 to 1897. References * 1824 births 1905 deaths Alumni of King's College London English Indologists Zoroastrian studies scholars {{UK-engineer-stub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Avestan
Avestan ( ) is the liturgical language of Zoroastrianism. It belongs to the Iranian languages, Iranian branch of the Indo-European languages, Indo-European language family and was First language, originally spoken during the Avestan period, Old Iranian period ( – 400 BCE) by the Arya (Iran), Iranians living in the Avestan geography, eastern portion of Greater Iran. After Avestan Language death, became extinct, its religious texts were first transmitted Oral literature, orally until being collected and Sasanian Avesta, put into writing during the Sasanian empire, Sasanian period ( – 500 CE). The Avesta, extant material falls into two Variety (linguistics), groups: Old Avestan ( – 900 BCE) and Younger Avestan ( – 400 BCE). The immediate ancestor of Old Avestan was the Proto-Iranian language, a sister language to the Proto-Indo-Aryan language, with both having developed from the earlier Proto-Indo-Iranian language. As such, Old Avestan is quite close in both grammar and lexi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Zend
Zend or Zand () is a Zoroastrian term for Middle Persian or Pahlavi versions and commentaries of Avestan texts. These translations were produced in the late Sasanian period. ''Zand'' glosses and commentaries exist in several languages, including in the Avestan language itself. These Avestan language exegeses sometimes accompany the original text being commented upon, but are more often elsewhere in the canon. An example of exegesis in the Avestan language itself includes '' Yasna'' 19–21, which is a set of three Younger Avestan commentaries on the three Gathic Avestan 'high prayers' of ''Yasna'' 27. ''Zand'' also appears to have once existed in a variety of Middle Iranian languages, but of these Middle Iranian commentaries, the Middle Persian ''zand'' is the only one to survive fully, and is for this reason regarded as 'the' ''zand''. With the notable exception of the '' Yashts'', almost all surviving Avestan texts have their Middle Persian ''zand'', which in some manuscripts a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pahlavi Scripts
Pahlavi may refer to: Iranian royalty * Seven Parthian clans, ruling Parthian families during the Sasanian Empire * Pahlavi dynasty, the ruling house of Imperial State of Persia/Iran from 1925 until 1979 ** Reza Shah Pahlavi (1878–1944), Shah of Persia from 1925 to 1941 ** Hamdamsaltaneh Pahlavi (1903–1992), first child and daughter of Reza Shah ** Shams Pahlavi (1917–1996), elder sister of Mohammad Reza Pahlavi ** Ashraf Pahlavi (1919–2016), twin sister of Mohammad Reza Pahlavi **Mohammad Reza Pahlavi (1919–1980), Shah of Iran from 1941 to 1979 ** Ali Reza Pahlavi I (1922–1954), brother of Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, second son of Reza Shah ** Gholamreza Pahlavi (1923–2017), half-brother of Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, last living child of Reza Shah ** Abdul Reza Pahlavi (1924–2004), half-brother of Mohammad Reza Pahlavi ** Fatimeh Pahlavi (1928–1987), Reza Shah's tenth child and half-sister of Mohammad Reza Pahlavi. ** Hamid Reza Pahlavi (1932–1992), Reza Shah's elevent ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Vohu Manah
Vohu Manah (Avestan: 𐬬𐬊𐬵𐬎⸱𐬨𐬀𐬥𐬀𐬵 ''vohu manah'') is the Avestan language term for a Zoroastrian concept, generally translated as "Good Purpose", "Good Mind", or "Good Thought", referring to the good state of mind that enables an individual to accomplish their duties. Its Middle Persian equivalent, as attested in the Pahlavi script texts of Zoroastrian tradition, is 𐭥𐭤𐭥𐭬𐭭 ''Wahman'', which is a borrowing of the Avestan language expression and has the same meaning, and which continues in New Persian as ''Bahman'' and variants. Manah is cognate with the Sanskrit word Manas suggesting some commonality between the ideas of the Gathas and those of the Rigveda. The opposite of Vohu Manah is ''akem manah'' or Aka Manah, "evil purpose" or "evil mind". The term is a compound of the words ''vohu'' "good" and ''manah'' "mind, thought, purpose", cognate with the Vedic words ''vásu'' and ''mánas'', both with the same meaning. Both of these d ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Wizidagiha-i Zadspram
The ''Wizīdagīhā-ī Zādspram'' (or ''Vizīdagīhā-ī Zādspram''), also known as the ''Anthology'' or ''Selections'' ''of Zadspram'', is a Pahlavi language composition of Zoroastrian literature from the 9th-century scholar and high priest Zadspram, who was primarily active ca. 880 AD. His works were composed closely in time to the Denkard and the Bundahishn and treats similar subjects, but is independent of them. The primary subject matters of the book include a description of Zoroastrian cosmology, the life of the prophet Zoroaster, and then the eschatological end. The work also delves into matters of medicine, astrology, and zoology. Some sections of the work derive from the Zend, an earlier Zoroastrian commentary. Alongside the Bundahisn, the ''Selections of Zadspram'' is one of the two primary systematic treatments of Zoroastrian cosmology known from Zoroastrian literature. Zoology The third chapter of the Anthologies fixates on enumerating the different types of livi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
