According to the Quran, Nasr () was a
pre-Islamic Arabian deity at the time of the
Noah
Noah (; , also Noach) appears as the last of the Antediluvian Patriarchs (Bible), patriarchs in the traditions of Abrahamic religions. His story appears in the Hebrew Bible (Book of Genesis, chapters 5–9), the Quran and Baháʼí literature, ...
:
In Balkha
Hisham ibn Al-Kalbi's ''
Book of Idols
The ''Book of Idols'' ('), written by the Arab scholar Hisham ibn al-Kalbi (737–819), is the most popular Islamic work about the religion in pre-Islamic Arabia. Arabian religion before Muhammad is described as polytheistic and idolatrous. Ibn a ...
'' describes a temple to Nasr at
Balkha, an otherwise unknown location.

In Himyar
Reliefs depicting vultures (''nasr'') have been found in
Himyar
Himyar was a polity in the southern highlands of Yemen, as well as the name of the region which it claimed. Until 110 BCE, it was integrated into the Qatabanian kingdom, afterwards being recognized as an independent kingdom. According to class ...
, including at
Maṣna'at Māriya and Haddat Gulays, and Nasr appears in theophoric names.
Some sources attribute the deity to "the dhū-l-Khila tribe of Himyar".
Himyaritic inscriptions were thought to describe "the vulture of the east" and "the vulture of the west", which
Augustus Henry Keane interpreted as solstitial worship; however these are now thought to read "eastward" and "westward" with ''n-s-r'' as a preposition.
J. Spencer Trimingham believed Nasr was "a symbol of the sun".
In Hatra
Nasr has been identified by some scholars with Maren-
Shamash
Shamash (Akkadian language, Akkadian: ''šamaš''), also known as Utu (Sumerian language, Sumerian: dutu "Sun") was the List of Mesopotamian deities, ancient Mesopotamian Solar deity, sun god. He was believed to see everything that happened in t ...
,
who is often flanked by vultures in depictions at
Hatra
Hatra (; (); ) was an ancient Arab city in Upper Mesopotamia located in present-day eastern Nineveh Governorate in northern Iraq. The ruins of the city lie northwest of Baghdad and southwest of Mosul. It is considered the richest archaeologi ...
. Coins depicting vultures were also found at Hatra.
Nishra
Many scholars suggest that Nasr should be identified with Nishra (), an idol mentioned by Aramaic texts.
In "Arabia"
An "Arabian" vulture-god is mentioned by the
Babylonian Talmud
The Talmud (; ) is the central text of Rabbinic Judaism and the primary source of Jewish religious law (''halakha'') and Jewish theology. Until the advent of modernity, in nearly all Jewish communities, the Talmud was the centerpiece of Jewi ...
and the ''
Doctrine of Addai''. This "Arabia" may be
Arbayistan
Arbāyistān ( �rbstn; Middle Persian: ''Arbāyistān'', ''Arāwastān'', ''Arwāstān''; Armenian: ''Arvastan'') or Beth Arabaye ( Syriac: ''Bēṯ ʿArbāyē'') was a Sasanian province in Late Antiquity. Due to its situation and its road syste ...
.
The Talmud, ''
Avodah Zarah'' 11b, reads:
Ḥanan b. Ḥisda says that Abba b. Aybo says, and some say it was Ḥanan b. Rava who said that Abba b. Aybo says, "There are five permanent idolatrous temples: the temple of Bel in Babylon, the temple of Nebo in Borsippa
Borsippa (Sumerian language, Sumerian: BAD.SI.(A).AB.BAKI or Birs Nimrud, having been identified with Nimrod) is an archeological site in Babylon Governorate, Iraq, built on both sides of a lake about southwest of Babylon on the east bank of th ...
, the temple of Atargatis
Atargatis (known as Derceto by the Greeks) was the chief goddess of northern Syria in Classical antiquity. Primarily she was a fertility goddess, but, as the ''baalat'' ("mistress") of her city and people she was also responsible for their prot ...
in Manbij
Manbij (; ; ) is a city in the northeast of Aleppo Governorate in northern Syria, west of the Euphrates. The 2004 census gives its population as nearly 100,000. , the temple of Serapis
Serapis or Sarapis is a Egyptian Greeks, Graeco-Egyptian god. A Religious syncretism, syncretic deity derived from the worship of the Egyptian Osiris and Apis (deity), Apis, Serapis was extensively popularized in the third century BC on the ord ...
in Ashkelon
Ashkelon ( ; , ; ) or Ashqelon, is a coastal city in the Southern District (Israel), Southern District of Israel on the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean coast, south of Tel Aviv, and north of the border with the Gaza Strip.
The modern city i ...
, and the temple of Nishra in Arabia".
A similar mention appears in the Doctrine of Addai:
Who is this Nebo, an idol made which ye worship, and Bel, which ye honor? Behold, there are those among you who adore Bath Nical, as the inhabitants of Harran your neighbours, and Atargatis
Atargatis (known as Derceto by the Greeks) was the chief goddess of northern Syria in Classical antiquity. Primarily she was a fertility goddess, but, as the ''baalat'' ("mistress") of her city and people she was also responsible for their prot ...
, as the people of Manbij
Manbij (; ; ) is a city in the northeast of Aleppo Governorate in northern Syria, west of the Euphrates. The 2004 census gives its population as nearly 100,000. , and Nishra, as the Arabians; also the sun and the moon, as the rest of the inhabitants of Harran, who are as yourselves.
In Kashkar
In the ''
Acts of Mar Mari'', which derives from the ''Doctrine'', Mari Mari is told to "Convert the city of
Kashkar, where a demon in the likeness of a ''nishra'' is worshipped and
here
Here may refer to:
Music
* ''Here'' (Adrian Belew album), 1994
* ''Here'' (Alicia Keys album), 2016
* ''Here'' (Cal Tjader album), 1979
* ''Here'' (Edward Sharpe album), 2012
* ''Here'' (Idina Menzel album), 2004
* ''Here'' (Merzbow album), ...
a standard stands, on which there is an idol named Nishar".
A
Mandaean magical text reads "Bel is turned from Babylon, Nebo turned from Borsippa, Nishra turned from Kashkar";
E. S. Dower says that "Nishra is obviously a corruption", and
Walter Baumgartner agreed, but
Jonas C. Greenfield and Yakir Paz identify it with Nasr.
In Persia
A further mention is found in one manuscript of
Jacob of Serugh
Jacob of Serugh (, ; ; 452–521), also called Jacob of Sarug or Mar Jacob (), was one of the foremost poets and theologians of the Syriac Christian tradition, second only to Ephrem the Syrian and equal to Narsai. He lived most of his life as ...
's ''On the Fall of the Idols'', wherein the
Persians
Persians ( ), or the Persian people (), are an Iranian ethnic group from West Asia that came from an earlier group called the Proto-Iranians, which likely split from the Indo-Iranians in 1800 BCE from either Afghanistan or Central Asia. They ...
are said to have been led by the devil to construct and worship Nishra''.''
However,
Abbé Martin prefers the reading of another manuscript, "
Nisroch".
Notes
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nasr
Arabian gods
Vultures
Birds in mythology