Nasr (deity)

Hisham ibn Al-Kalbi's Book of Idols describes a temple to Nasr at Balkha, an otherwise unknown location.{{Cite book|last=al-Kalbi|first=Ibn|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QSvWCgAAQBAJ&q=nasr+himyar&pg=PA10|title=Book of Idols|date=2015-12-08|publisher=Princeton University Press|isbn=978-1-4008-7679-2|language=en}}File:Qaryat maria01.jpg]]

Reliefs depicting vultures (nasr) have been found in Himyar, including at Maṣna'at Māriya and Haddat Gulays,Paul Yule, [http://archiv.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/propylaeumdok/111/1/Yule_Eagle2005.pdf Late Ḥimyarite Vulture Reliefs], in: eds. W. Arnold, M. Jursa, W. Müller, S. Procházka, Philologisches und Historisches zwischen Anatolien und Sokotra, Analecta Semitica In Memorium Alexander Sima (Wiesbaden 2009), 447–455, {{ISBN|978-3-447-06104-9}} and Nasr appears in theophoric names.{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kjkpAQAAIAAJ&q=%22nasr%22+'theophoric%22|title=Proceedings of the Seminar for Arabian Studies|date=1975|language=en}} Some sources attribute the deity to "the dhū-l-Khila tribe of Himyar".{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6IAYAQAAIAAJ&q=himyar+nasr+names&pg=PA164|title=The Bombay Quarterly Magazine and Review|date=1853|language=en}}{{Cite book|last=al-Shidyāq|first=Aḥmad Fāris|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bt4WCgAAQBAJ&q=dhulkila+himyar&pg=PA197|title=Leg Over Leg: Volumes One and Two|date=2015-10-15|publisher=NYU Press|isbn=978-1-4798-0072-8|language=en}}{{Cite book|last=Tisdall|first=William St Clair|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vHowAQAAMAAJ&q=himyar+nasr+people&pg=PA38|title=The Original Sources of the Qur'ân|date=1911|publisher=Society for promoting Christian knowledge|language=en}}{{Cite book|last1=Lenormant|first1=François|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=inxCAAAAYAAJ&q=dhu+l%27kholosa&pg=PA378|title=Medes and Persians, Phoenicians, and Arabians|last2=Chevallier|first2=Elisabeth|date=1871|publisher=J.B. Lippincott|language=en}} 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;{{Cite book|last=Keane|first=Augustus Henry|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OY42AAAAMAAJ&q=himyar+nasr+%22of+the+east%22+%22west%22&pg=PA117|title=The Gold of Ophir, Whence Brought and by Whom?|date=1901|publisher=E. Stanford|language=en}} however these are now thought to read "eastward" and "westward" with n-s-r as a preposition.{{cite book |last=Hawting |first=G. R. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Mh134wJLwkIC&pg=PA115 |title=The Idea of Idolatry and the Emergence of Islam: From Polemic to History |date=1999 |publisher=Cambridge UP |isbn=9781139426350}}{{Efn|In a separate challenge to the theory of solstitial worship, Ḥisda relays that Ḥanan b. Rava interpreted Abba b. Aybo's claim that the temple was permanent (v.i.) to mean "constantly worshipped for the entire year." "Avodah Zarah 11b". http://www.sefaria.org. Retrieved 2021-03-06. This is accepted by Shlomo b. Yiṣḥaq, who notes, "permanent -- all year, for every day of the year would their worshippers make a festival and bring sacrifices". "Rashi on Avodah Zarah 11b:8:1". http://www.sefaria.org. Retrieved 2021-03-06.}} J. Spencer Trimingham believed Nasr was "a symbol of the sun". Trimingham, J. Spencer (1990). Christianity Among the Arabs in Pre-Islamic Times. Stacey Publishing. {{ISBN|978-1-900988-68-1}}. pg. 20

Nasr has been identified by some scholars with Maren-Shamash,{{Cite book|last1=Kaizer|first1=Ted|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5eN5DwAAQBAJ&q=%22hatra%22+nasr%22&pg=PA165|title=Frontiers in the Roman World: Proceedings of the Ninth Workshop of the International Network Impact of Empire (Durham, 16-19 April 2009)|last2=Hekster|first2=Olivier|date=2011-05-10|publisher=BRILL|isbn=978-90-04-21503-0|language=en}} who is often flanked by vultures in depictions at Hatra.{{Cite journal|last=Dirven|first=Lucinda|title=Horned Deities of Hatra. Meaning and Origin of a Hybrid Phenomenon, in Mesopotamia 50 (2015), 243-260|url=https://www.academia.edu/36828296|language=en}} Coins depicting vultures were also found at Hatra.{{Cite journal |last=Walker |first=John |date=1958 |title=The Coins of Hatra |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/42662772 |journal=The Numismatic Chronicle and Journal of the Royal Numismatic Society |volume=18 |pages=167–172 |issn=0267-7504}}

Many scholars suggest that Nasr should be identified with Nishra ({{Langx|tmr|נשרא|nishra|vulture}}), an idol mentioned by Aramaic texts.

An "Arabian" vulture-god is mentioned by the Babylonian Talmud and the Doctrine of Addai. This "Arabia" may be Arbayistan.{{Cite journal |last=Paz |first=Yakir |title='“Meishan Is Dead”: On the Historical Contexts of the Bavli’s Representations of the Jews in Southern Babylonia,' in: The Aggada of the Bavli and its Cultural World ed. Geoffrey Herman and Jeffrey Rubenstein (Providence, RI: Brown University Press, 2018), 47-99 |url=https://www.academia.edu/37198069/_Meishan_Is_Dead_On_the_Historical_Contexts_of_the_Bavli_s_Representations_of_the_Jews_in_Southern_Babylonia_in_The_Aggada_of_the_Bavli_and_its_Cultural_World_ed_Geoffrey_Herman_and_Jeffrey_Rubenstein_Providence_RI_Brown_University_Press_2018_47_99}} 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{{Efn|1=Printings and some MSS read כורסי Kursi, a [https://www.sefaria.org/Isaiah.46.1?vhe=Tanach_with_Ta%27amei_Hamikra&lang=bi&p2=Rashi_on_Isaiah.46.1.1&lang2=bi scatological quip] (Kursi resembles both the Aramaic בורסי\ף Borsippa and the Biblical Hebrew קורס squat). Borsippa's name is the butt of several Talmudic jokes; it is also called Bolsippa (as in, Balal S'fas jumbled the language of)B'reishit Rabbah 38:12 and Bor Shapi Empty Pit.b. Sanhedrin 109a}}, the temple of Atargatis in Manbij, the temple of Serapis{{Efn|1=Aramaic: צריפא (hapax). The reading Serapis is supported by:

• Shaick, Ronit Palistrant. [https://www.academia.edu/4084031 "Who is Standing Above the Lions in Ascalon?"]. Israel Numismatic Research, 7, 2012.
• Rodan, Simona (2019-09-30). [https://books.google.com/books?id=eRUSEAAAQBAJ&q=%22temple%22+ashkelon+%22talmud%22 Maritime-Related Cults in the Coastal Cities of Philistia during the Roman Period: Legacy and Change]. Archaeopress Publishing Ltd. {{ISBN|978-1-78969-257-0}}.
• Macalister, Robert Alexander Stewart (1980). [https://books.google.com/books?id=aB6TtLuaO2UC The Philistines: Their History and Civilization. Library of Alexandria.] {{ISBN|978-1-4655-1749-4}}.
• Greenfield, Jonas Carl (2001). [https://books.google.com/books?id=Sew9Lby_MVsC&q=temples+bel+nabu+talmud 'Al Kanfei Yonah. ] BRILL. {{ISBN|978-90-04-12170-6}}.
•  Clermont-Ganneau, Charles (1897). [https://books.google.com/books?id=LZ44AQAAMAAJ Bibliothèque de l'Ecole des hautes études...: Sciences philologiques et historiques (in French)]. aE. Bouillon.

Bochart argues for the emendation Aphrodite Urania based on Herodotus' identification of the Ashkelon temple in his Histories (1:105), some 750 years prior. See Venus Castina.

• Bochart, Samuel (1712). [https://books.google.com/books?id=TD2goOVsw1UC&q=%D7%AA%D7%A8%D7%A2%D7%AA%D7%90+%D7%A9%D7%91%D7%9E%D7%A4%D7%92&pg=RA3-PA163 Samuelis Bocharti Opera omnia. Hoc est Phaleg, Chanaan, et Hierozoicon. Quibus accesserunt Dissertationes variae ad illustrationem sacri codicis aliorumque monumentorum veterum. Praemittitur vita auctoris à Stephano Morino descripta...viri clarissimi Johannes Leusden & Petrus de Villemandy. Editio quarta] (in Latin). apud Cornelium Boutesteyn, & Samuelem Luchtmans.}} in Ashkelon, and the temple of Nishra{{Efn|1=Aramaic: נשרא (hapax). The reading vulture-god is supported by:

• Bochart, Samuel (1712). [https://books.google.com/books?id=TD2goOVsw1UC&q=%D7%AA%D7%A8%D7%A2%D7%AA%D7%90+%D7%A9%D7%91%D7%9E%D7%A4%D7%92&pg=RA3-PA163 Samuelis Bocharti Opera omnia. Hoc est Phaleg, Chanaan, et Hierozoicon. Quibus accesserunt Dissertationes variae ad illustrationem sacri codicis aliorumque monumentorum veterum. Praemittitur vita auctoris à Stephano Morino descripta...viri clarissimi Johannes Leusden & Petrus de Villemandy. Editio quarta] (in Latin). apud Cornelium Boutesteyn, & Samuelem Luchtmans.
• [https://books.google.com/books?id=11lJAAAAYAAJ&dq=%22nasr%22+%22talmud%22&pg=PA77 The Journal of Philology]. Macmillan and Company. 1880.
• Greenfield, Jonas Carl (2001). [https://books.google.com/books?id=Sew9Lby_MVsC&q=nasr 'Al Kanfei Yonah]. BRILL. {{ISBN|978-90-04-12170-6}}.
• Epstein, Isidore (1935). [https://books.google.com/books?id=lKDXAAAAMAAJ The Babylonian Talmud ...] Soncino Press.
• Neubauer, Adolf (1868). [https://books.google.com/books?id=DIgYKxhNNL8C&dq=%22nasr%22+%22talmud%22&pg=PA384 La Géographie du Talmud] (in French). Michel Lévy frères. {{ISBN|978-90-6041-048-6}}.
• Hastings, James (1908). [https://books.google.com/books?id=05tAAQAAIAAJ&dq=%22nasr%22+%22talmud%22&pg=PA662 Encyclopaedia of Religion and Ethics: A-Art]. C. Scribner's sons.
•  Clermont-Ganneau, Charles (1897). [https://books.google.com/books?id=LZ44AQAAMAAJ Bibliothèque de l'Ecole des hautes études...: Sciences philologiques et historiques (in French)]. aE. Bouillon.

The emendation Dushara is supported by:

• Rodan, Simona (2019-09-30). [https://books.google.com/books?id=eRUSEAAAQBAJ&q=%22temple%22+ashkelon+%22talmud%22 Maritime-Related Cults in the Coastal Cities of Philistia during the Roman Period: Legacy and Change]. Archaeopress Publishing Ltd. {{ISBN|978-1-78969-257-0}}
• Kasher, Aryeh (1990). [https://books.google.com/books?id=SNfZ4OjH_ukC Jews and Hellenistic Cities in Eretz-Israel: Relations of the Jews in Eretz-Israel with the Hellenistic Cities During the Second Temple Period (332 BCE - 70 CE)]. Mohr Siebeck. {{ISBN|978-3-16-145241-3}}.}} in Arabia".{{Cite web|title=Avodah Zarah 11b:8|url=https://www.sefaria.org/Avodah_Zarah.11b.8|access-date=2021-03-03|website=www.sefaria.org}}

Who is this Nebo, an idol made which ye worship, and Bel, which ye honor?{{Efn|rhet. Compare Isaiah 46:1}} Behold, there are those among you who adore Bath Nical, as the inhabitants of Harran your neighbours, and Atargatis, as the people of Manbij, and Nishra,{{Efn|נשרא, same spelling as the Talmud. Identified as the vulture-god by Clemont-Ganneau, among others.{{Cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LZ44AQAAMAAJ|title = Bibliothèque de l'Ecole des hautes études...: Sciences philologiques et historiques|last1 = Clermont-Ganneau|first1 = Charles|year = 1897}}}} as the Arabians; also the sun and the moon, as the rest of the inhabitants of Harran, who are as yourselves.{{Cite web|title=The Doctrine of Addai (1876). English Translation|url=http://www.tertullian.org/fathers/addai_2_text.htm|access-date=2021-03-05|website=www.tertullian.org}}{{Cite book|last=Greenfield|first=Jonas Carl|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Sew9Lby_MVsC&q=temples+bel+nabu+talmud|title='Al Kanfei Yonah|date=2001|publisher=BRILL|isbn=978-90-04-12170-6|language=en}}

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 [where] a standard stands, on which there is an idol named Nishar{{Efn|ܢܝܫܲܪ}}".{{Cite book |last=Harrak |first=Amir |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=v3wzSgkVp_gC&pg=PA69 |title=The Acts of Mār Mārī the Apostle |date=2005 |publisher=Society of Biblical Lit |isbn=978-1-58983-093-6 |pages=69 |language=en}}

A Mandaean magical text reads "Bel is turned from Babylon, Nebo turned from Borsippa, Nishra{{Efn|נישרא}} turned from Kashkar"; E. S. Dower says that "Nishra is obviously a corruption",{{Cite book |last=Dower |first=E. S. |url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.282672/page/n189 |title=The Journal Of The Royal Asiatic Socity Of Great Britain Ireland 1943 |date=1943 |pages=149, 168, 181 |chapter=A Mandaean Book of Black Magic}} and Walter Baumgartner agreed,{{Cite journal |last=Baumgartner |first=Walter |date=1950 |title=Zur Mandäerfrage |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/23614776 |journal=Hebrew Union College Annual |volume=23 |issue=1 |pages=67-68 |issn=0360-9049}} but Jonas C. Greenfield and Yakir Paz identify it with Nasr.

A further mention is found in one manuscript of Jacob of Serugh's On the Fall of the Idols, wherein the Persians are said to have been led by the devil to construct and worship Nishra.{{Cite book |last=Serug) |first=Jacob (of |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jAo7AQAAMAAJ |title=... Homiliae selectae Mar-Jacobi Sarugensis |date=1907 |publisher=O. Harrassowitz |pages=799}}{{Cite book |last=Vandenhoff |first=Bernhard |url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.56170/page/n263 |title=Oriens Christianus Vol.5 |date=1915 |pages=263 |chapter=Die Götterliste des Mar Jakob von Sarug}} However, Abbé Martin prefers the reading of another manuscript, "Nisroch".{{Cite journal |last=Martin |first=l'Abbe |date=1875 |title=Discours de Jaques des Saroug sur la chute des idoles |url=https://menadoc.bibliothek.uni-halle.de/dmg/periodical/titleinfo/47745 |journal=Zeitschrift der Deutschen Morgenländischen Gesellschaft |volume=29 |pages=111, 133}}

{{Notelist}}

{{Reflist}}{{Characters and names in the Quran}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nasr}}

Category:Arabian gods

Category:Vultures

Category:Birds in mythology