The Husparam nask is the seventeenth ''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, but its content can be reconstructed 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 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 J ...

. The Nirangestan and Herbedestan are considered to have originally been part of this nask.

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

, a series of epistles from the 15th - 17th century, give a short overview on the content of the Husparam 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 Husparam nask was part of the legal nasks and it content, consequently convered a wide range of legal topics. It consisted of either 30 or 60 ''fragards'' (chapters) depending on the source.

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 Husparam nask consisted of ca. 44.900 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. 403.600 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 ...

Pahlavi 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 ...

, making it the third longest nask overall.

In the extant Avesta

Two texts in the extant Avesta are considered to have been part of the Husparam nask, namely the ''Nirangestan'' and ''Herbedestan''. The Herbedestan is mainly a text concerned with the education of Zoroastrian priests, namely the Herbeds. The Nirangestan follows the Herbedestan in the extant text and covers matters of the ritual. Together with 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 ...

, these two texts comprise the only surviving parts of the legal nasks and represent the remnants of the Zoroastrian learned tradition, compared to the liturgical tradition that forms the rest of the extant Avesta.

References

Citations

Bibliography

* * * * * * * * *

External links

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