The Vaetha nask is the name of a short Avestan text, which is extant in the Fragments collection. Despite its name, the Vaetha nask was not part of the 21 nasks 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 ...

and its origins remain unclear.

Name

The Vaetha nask is not referenced in other Avestan literature. Its name is instead derived from the first words in the text reading: ', which translates to "the knowledge of the Mazdayasnian religion, Ahura Mazdā said." The Avestan term is commonly

transliterated Transliteration is a type of conversion of a text from one writing system, script to another that involves swapping Letter (alphabet), letters (thus ''wikt:trans-#Prefix, trans-'' + ''wikt:littera#Latin, liter-'') in predictable ways, such as ...

into

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

and

Greek script The Greek alphabet has been used to write the Greek language since the late 9th or early 8th century BC. It was derived from the earlier Phoenician alphabet, and is the earliest known alphabetic script to systematically write vowels as w ...

phonetically as either ' or '.

Content

The text of the Vaetha nask covers various topics. A major focus is the marital relationship between Zoroastrians and non-Zoroastrians, children born from such a union, their inheritance and conversions to Zoroastrianism. It has been speculated that this topic reflects the situation when Zoroastrianism existed as a minority religion and the problems arising from that situation. Large parts of the text are quotations from 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 ...

, whereas other parts mirror passages in the

Frahang-i Oim-evak ''Frahang-i Oīm-Ēwak'' is an old Avestan- Middle Persian dictionary A dictionary is a listing of lexemes from the lexicon of one or more specific languages, often arranged Alphabetical order, alphabetically (or by Semitic root, consonant ...

Provenance

According to the text itself, the Vaetha nask was one of the fragrads of the Nikatum nask, which in turn was one of the 21 nasks of the

. This origin was accepted initially by Western scholars. Due to the corrupt Avestan and Middle Persian of the text, however, this provenance was soon doubted. According to F. M. Kotwal for example, the text is a 19th century forgery. In their 1969 edition of the text, Humbach and Kaikhusroo, however, assumed it to be an apocryphical text, which predates the 18th century. More recently, Hamid Moein has also affirmed its apocryphical nature.

Manuscripts

The ''Vaetha nask'' is extant through two different manuscript traditions: one with the Avestan text alone and one with a translation and commentary in Middle Persian. A complete list of all available manuscripts was presented by Humbach and Kaikhusroo in their 1969 edition of the text. Digital versions of manuscripts F3d and T38 are available through the Avestan Digital Archive.

References

Citations

Bibliography

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External links

Avestan text of the Vaetha nask
at avesta.org

by Humbach and Jamaspasa {{Zoroastrian literature Zoroastrian texts