The Barish nask is the eighth ''nask'' (volume) of the

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 t ...

. The work itself is lost and no texts in the extant Avesta can be clearly identified as having belonged to it. Its content, however, can be reconstructed to some degree from references in Book 8 of the

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" an ...

and the Rivayats.

Sources

The nask itself is no longer extant. Some information on its content are given in Book 8 of the

, a 9th-10th century compendium of Zoroastrianism. In addition, the Rivayats, a series of epistles from the 15th - 17th century, give a short overview on the content of the Barish nask.

In the Sasanian Avesta

The

was organized into 21 ''nasks'', i.e., volumes, which were grouped into 3 divisions; the Gāhānīg (Gathic nasks), Hada Mānsrīg ( manthras connected with the ritual), and Dādīg (legal nasks). Within this scheme, the Barish nask was part of the ritual nasks and its content has been described as concerning ethical and moral topics. According to the Rivayats, it consisted of 60 chapters, only 12 of which having survived the alleged destruction of the Avesta by

Alexander the Great Alexander III of Macedon (; 20/21 July 356 BC – 10/11 June 323 BC), most commonly known as Alexander the Great, was a king of the Ancient Greece, ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia (ancient kingdom), Macedon. He succeeded his father Philip ...

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 ...

estimates, that the Barish nask consisted of ca. 4.400 words of

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 ...

text accompanied by ca. 14.600 words of

commentary Commentary or commentaries may refer to: Publications * ''Commentary'' (magazine), a U.S. public affairs journal, founded in 1945 and formerly published by the American Jewish Committee * Caesar's Commentaries (disambiguation), a number of works ...

in Pahlavi.

In the extant Avesta

Owing to the short description given in the sources, a reconstruction of its content is difficult and no text in the extant

has been identified by modern scholarship as having originally belonged to the Barish nask. According to

James Darmesteter James Darmesteter (28 March 184919 October 1894) was a French author, orientalist, and antiquarian. Biography He was born of Jewish parents at Château-Salins, in Lorraine. The family name had originated in their earlier home of Darmstadt. He was ...

, some of the description from the Denkard are similar to the Mēnōy ī xrad, the Tahmuras fragments and some of the

Middle Persian Middle Persian, also known by its endonym Pārsīk or Pārsīg ( Inscriptional Pahlavi script: , Manichaean script: , Avestan script: ) in its later form, is a Western Middle Iranian language which became the literary language of the Sasania ...

of the

Vendidad The Vendidad /ˈvendi'dæd/, also known as Videvdat, Videvdad or Juddēvdād, is a collection of texts within the greater compendium of the Avesta. However, unlike the other texts of the Avesta, the ''Vendidad'' is an ecclesiastical code, not a ...

. In addition, some parts of Book 6 of the Denkard may be based on this nask.

References

Citations

Bibliography

* * * * * * * *

External links

Summary of the Barish nask according to Book 8 of the Denkard
{{Zoroastrian literature Zoroastrian texts Lost documents