The Jamasp Nameh (var: ''Jāmāsp Nāmag'', ''Jāmāsp Nāmeh'', "Story of
Jamasp
Jamasp (also spelled Zamasp or Djamasp; ; ''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 Sasanian throne upon the deposition of the latter ...
") is a
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 ...
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 (archaeology), artifact, document, diary, manuscript, autobiography, recording, or any other source of information that was cre ...
on
Medieval
In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with the fall of the West ...
Zoroastrian 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
Gathas, 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’s creation of the seven
Amašaspands was like lamps being lit one from another, none being diminished thereby.
The text has survived in three forms:
* a
Pahlavi manuscript, that is, a rendering of the Middle Persian language using an
Aramaic
Aramaic (; ) is a Northwest Semitic language that originated in the ancient region of Syria and quickly spread to Mesopotamia, the southern Levant, Sinai, southeastern Anatolia, and Eastern Arabia, where it has been continually written a ...
-derived script and accompanied by Aramaic
ideogram
An ideogram or ideograph (from Ancient Greek, Greek 'idea' + 'to write') is a symbol that is used within a given writing system to represent an idea or concept in a given language. (Ideograms are contrasted with phonogram (linguistics), phono ...
s. The Pahlavi manuscript is damaged and fragmented.
* a transmission in
Pazand, that is, a rendering of the Middle Persian language using Avestan script (also an Aramaic derivative) but without any non-Iranian vocabulary. The
Pazend version has survived in its entirety.
* a Modern
Persian translation in
Arabic script
The Arabic script is the writing system used for Arabic (Arabic alphabet) and several other languages of Asia and Africa. It is the second-most widely used alphabetic writing system in the world (after the Latin script), the second-most widel ...
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, 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 is the study of the origin of particular astrophysical objects or systems, and is most commonly used in ref ...
and
cosmology
Cosmology () is a branch of physics and metaphysics dealing with the nature of the universe, the cosmos. The term ''cosmology'' was first used in English in 1656 in Thomas Blount's ''Glossographia'', with the meaning of "a speaking of the wo ...
.
* The
Ayadgar-i Zariran, 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
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