The Spand or Spend nask was one of the Gathic ''nasks'' (volumes) 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 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 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 ...

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

. 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 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 it consisted of ca. 9,900 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. 20,500 words of translation and commentary in Pahlavi.

Content

Based on the descriptions in later sources, it is clear that the Spand nask contained a detailed description of the life of Zarathustra. As such, it is considered to be a major source for later texts that covered this topic. For example, it is considered to be the main source for Book 7 of the Denkard. Likewise, the meeting of Zarathustra and

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 th ...

in the

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 Za ...

may be taken from the Spand nask. Another text is

Book of Arda Viraf The ''Book of Arda Viraf'' (Middle Persian: ''Ardā Wirāz nāmag'', lit. 'Book of the Righteous Wirāz') is a Zoroastrian text written in Middle Persian. It contains about 8,800 words. It describes the dream-journey of a devout Zoroastrian (the ...

, whose description of hell may have been based on this work.

References

Citations

Bibliography

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External links

Summary of the Spand nask according to Book 8 of the Denkard
by

Summary of the Spand nask in the Rivayats
by Ervad Bamanji Nusserwanji Dhabhar {{Zoroastrian literature Zoroastrian texts Lost documents