#persian mythology

[inspofromancientworld]

Legendary Creatures: Simurgh

By Alaexis - Own work, CC BY-SA 2.5, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=2115489

A simurgh (سیمرغ, also spelled senmurv, simorgh, simorg, simurg, simoorg, simorq or simourv) is a Persian bird that is related to the phoenix that spans an area from Georgia, to Armenia, and the Byzantine Empire and other areas that were influenced by the Persian Empire.

By Unknown author - This file has been provided by the British Library from its digital collections.Catalogue entry: IOSM J.67, CC0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=31453107

The word simurgh is related to the words meaning 'the bird of Saēna', a raptor, probably an eagle, falcon, or sparrowhawk as the Sanskrit śyenaḥ (श्येनः) meaning 'bird of prey'. Though it is also closely related to the phrase sī murğ (سی مرغ) that means 'thirty birds', which was used by Sufi poet Abū Ḥāmid bin Abū Bakr Ibrāhīm (c. 1145 – c. 1221; Persian: ابوحمید بن ابوبکر ابراهیم), better known by his pen-names Farīd ud-Dīn (فریدالدین) and ʿAṭṭār of Nishapur (عطار نیشاپوری) in his The Conference of the Birds as a word play.

By Nickmard Khoey - https://www.flickr.com/photos/nickmard/2887513290/in/set-72157607483985460/, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=5619184

The simurgh is frequently depicted as a winged creature, large enough to carry an elephant or a whale, with the body of a peacock, head of a dog, and claws of lions. Sometimes, it has a human face. It is old enough that it 'had seen the destruction of the world three times over'. It also plunges itself into flames every 1,700 years, similar to phoenixes.

By Painting: Unknown 7th century artist.Photographer: undetermined - This file has been extracted from another file, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=95912662

They are benevolent, purifying land, bestowing fertility, mediating the union between the Earth and the sky by serving as a messenger. It lived in the Tree of Life in the middle of the world sea. When it flew away from the Tree of Life, the Tree shook so hard that it lost leaves, which became the seeds of every plant. It also expresses the divine mandate of kingship and priesthood.

By From the Sarai Albums. - http://www.ee.bilkent.edu.tr/~history/Pictures1/im16.jpg, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=5760173

Abul-Qâsem Ferdowsi Tusi (940-ابوالقاسم فردوسی توسی 1019/1025), also Firdawsi or Ferdowsi (فردوسی) wrote the most famous story about the simurgh in his Shahnameh (Book of Kings). In it, a prince named Zal, son of Saam, was born albino, causing his father to cast him out, believing him to be demonic. A simurgh rescues him and raises him, teaching him wisdom as they have all knowledge. When Sal was old enough, he wanted to rejoing humanity and the simurgh and the simurgh gave him three feathers to call her should he need her help. He married a woman named Rudaba who had a difficult labor with their first child. The simurgh responded to his call for help and taught him to perform a cesarean section.

[godzillabreath]

Simurgh, the benevolent mythical bird with the dog head and the claws of a lion

[allmythologies]

talysh mythology: peri

peri are exquisite, winged spirits renowned for their beauty. depending on the source, they can either be there for good or for their own benefit. they are described in another reference work as mischievous beings that have been denied entry to paradise until they have completed penance for atonement.

[nantosueltas]

Rudabeh and Zal from the Shahnameh 🥹🫶🏼♥️✨

(I didn't read the story yet but as soon as I saw the pic in reference I had the urge to draw them bc how could I not 😭)udabeh and Zal from the Shahnameh 🥹🫶🏼♥️✨

[blackcur-rants]

Ideas for albums the Mechs could have done alongside their already existing ones

01. Cyberpunk retelling of events from "The Shahnameh" wherein King Jamshid and his Chief Engineer Mirdas create a powerful super-computer called the Zahhak to help them run their city...only for it to go crazy with power and absorb all the minds of the people into itself using a virus a la The Acheron before being defeated by the heroic hackers Kaveh and Fereydun (who are probably boyfriends in The Mechanisms Universe, because why not).

02. Film Noir retelling of the Hero Twins wherein they are detectives trying to bring down the Brotherhood of Xibalba crime syndicate society that runs their city.

03. Dickens crossover universe involving Fagin and the DeFarges as rival space pirates, Cartmanay and Twistperpip as polycules, Paul Dombey running a spaceship firm, the Dorrits having to escape from a prison planet, and Miss Havisham as a cyborg with Estella as her adopted daughter/repairwoman.

04. Steampunk crossover AU of all the Bronte works featuring Jane Eyre crushing on Helen Graham and queer tension between either Heathcliff and Rochester or between Heathcliff and Arthur Huntingdon or between Rochester and Arthur Huntingdon.

05. Retelling of a classic Shakespeare play, preferably one that hasn't already been adapted a billion times already.

06. Retelling of "The Romance of the Three Kingdoms" as a space opera about a war between different planets seeking to rule over the same solar system.

07. "Journey to the West" but it's about explorers on an unknown planet.

08. Polynesiian mythology retelling wherein Maui is a biio-engineer who keeps creating whole new planets and ecosystems by accident.

09. Space opera retelling of either "The Ramayana" or "The Mahabharata".

10. Russian mythology retelling about Marya Morevna and IIvan Tsarevic facing down a Koschei the Deathless who's actually a clone of King Cole alongside one of the Bogatyrs who in this retelling is in fact a former Rose Red.

11. Retelling of "Dream of the Red Chamber" wherein the house is a virtual reality computer simulation.

12. Steampunk retelling of "Les Miserables" featuring Javert as a cyborg.

13. Retelling of "War and Peace" with a Rose Red as Napoleon and Pierre trying to shoot down King Cole.

14. Sherlock Holmes but make it Film Noir.

15. Dracula or something Dracula related.

16. Snow Queen retelling.

@lady-asteria @carcosa-commune @cynicalclassicist @miralines @cinderswife

[mythologyolympics]

Mythology Olympics tournament round 1

Propaganda!

Nephthys or Nebet-Het in ancient Egyptian was a goddess in ancient Egyptian religion. A member of the Great Ennead of Heliopolis in Egyptian mythology, she was a daughter of Nut and Geb. Nephthys was typically paired with her sister Isis in funerary rites because of their role as protectors of the mummy and the god Osiris and as the sister-wife of Set. She was associated with mourning, the night/darkness, service (specifically temples), childbirth, the dead, protection, magic, health, embalming, and beer.

Anahita is the Old Persian form of the name of an Iranian goddess and appears in complete and earlier form as Aradvi Sura Anahita (Arədvī Sūrā Anāhitā), the Avestan name of an Indo-Iranian cosmological figure venerated as the divinity of "the Waters" (Aban) and hence associated with fertility, healing and wisdom. The symbol of goddess Anahita is the Lotus flower. Lotus Festival (Persian: Jashn-e Nilupar) is an Iranian festival that is held on the end of the first week of July. Holding this festival at this time was probably based on the blooming of lotus flowers at the beginning of summer.

[azural83]

I can't believe this bitch actually brings good luck

[crasswench]

Hamza arrives in Mecca, ca. 1562-1577

“The faces of all the living beings in the painting, whether human or animal, have been deliberately obliterated, probably in the 19th century.”

[aquakat-draws]

Traditional art dump

These are both "simurgh", a massive mythical bird in persian mythology. All about it could be found in "shahname", a book written by a very important Iranian writer "ferdowsi".

[thecrackshipawards]

The fairy who knocks on your door x The walrus who knocks on your door from that baddywronglegs poll vs Manticore from Persian mythology x Sphinx from Greek mythology

[ashitakaxsan]

Arash,you deserve So much:)

A Vital Servant in the Fate Grand Order series.Arash will give everything to help his Master and set human history on the proper path. Heroes exist to save Innocent people.

A hero of ancient persian origin,who became mainstay in the mythology of persia,today's Iran.As a warrior for King Manuchehr, who is dubbed the final king of ancient West Asia, he ended the war between the Persians and Turks that lasted 60 years,with his Great Self Sacrifice. How's that?

At he end of a long war between two countries, the enemy army of Turan sieged King Manuchehr’s army and this leads to the kings of both countries deciding to sign a peace treaty and establish their national borders. That entailed making someone climb Mount Damavand and shoot an arrow to the East from there, and the place where this arrow fell would mark the location of the national border.The only volunteer at the time was the Persian army’s best archer, Arash. During the first month of the summer, on a sunny morning of Tirgan (Persian for “summer solstice”), Arash gathered all of his strength,he streched s his bow more than ever before and shot an arrow. Most legends say the arrow kept flying the entire morning and landed at noon on the coast of the Oxus River in central Asia, 2500 km away from the shooting point.That river remained as the two countries’ border line until the 10th Century, when the Mongol armies pushed the Persian territory to the south.

He achieved this Great feat,at the cost of his Life.

[charliescreatures]

A dragon from Librum Prodigiosum ! The Jawzahr dragon, this immortal beast comes from Persian mythology! After being banished, he chases the sun and moon, causing eclipses- though the celestial bodies always escape!

[allmythologies]

a-z myths: sadwes (persian mythology)

sadwes is the ancient persian goddess of rain, hail, thunder, lightning and storms.

[nocturnal-riptide]

I was so busy geeking out about greek, Roman, Norse, and Egyptian mythologies that I totally forgot to do my research on Persian mythology which is so cool.

I need to read a lot of stories to learn it though; like how I learned other mythologies by reading uncle Rick's books. Any ideas where I should start?

[nmnmrsz]

Painting by Habiballah of Sava, ~1600.

Attar, The Conference of the Birds, ~1177.

The birds must cross seven valleys in order to find Simorgh, who lives on the mountain Qaf: 1. Yearning / Quest (the Wayfarer casts aside all dogma, belief, and unbelief), 2. Love (reason is abandoned for the sake of love), 3. Gnosis / Insight into Mystery (worldly knowledge becomes utterly useless), 4. Detachment / Independence (all desires and attachments to the world are given up. Here, what is assumed to be 'reality' vanishes), 5. Unity (the Wayfarer realizes that everything is connected and that the Beloved is beyond everything, including harmony, multiplicity, and eternity), 6. Wonderment / Bewilderment (entranced by the beauty of the Beloved, the Wayfarer becomes perplexed and, steeped in awe, finds that he has never known or understood anything), 7. Poverty / Fulfilment in Annihilation (the self disappears into the universe and the Wayfarer becomes timeless, existing in both the past and the future).

«.... You came as thirty birds and therefore saw these selfsame thirty birds, not less nor more; If you had come as forty, fifty – here. An answering forty, fifty, would appear; Though you have struggled, wandered, travelled far, it is yourselves you see and what you are.' (Who sees the Lord? It is himself each sees; What ant's sight could discern the Pleiades? What anvil could be lifted by an ant? Or could a fly subdue an elephant?) 'How much you thought you knew and saw; but you now know that all you trusted was untrue. Though you traversed the Valleys' depths and fought with all the dangers that the journey brought, the journey was in Me, the deeds were Mine – You slept secure in Being's inmost shrine. And since you came as thirty birds, you see these thirty birds when you discover Me, the Simorgh, Truth's last flawless jewel, the light in which you will be lost to mortal sight, dispersed to nothingness until once more you find in Me the selves you were before.' Then, as they listened to the Simorgh's words, a trembling dissolution filled the birds – The substance of their being was undone, and they were lost like shade before the sun; Neither the pilgrims nor their guide remained. The Simorgh ceased to speak, and silence reigned. .... All shadows are made nothing in the one unchanging light of Truth's eternal sun' .... Those who can speak still wander far away from that dark truth they struggle to convey, and by analogies they try to show the forms men's partial knowledge cannot know. (But these are not the subject for my rhyme; They need another book, another time - And those who merit them will one day see this Nothingness and this Eternity; While you still travel in your worldly state, you cannot pass beyond this glorious gate.) .... You have no knowledge of what lies ahead; Think deeply, ponder, do not be misled .... Blindly they saw themselves and deaf they heard - But who can speak of this? I know if I betrayed my knowledge I would surely die; If it were lawful for me to relate such truths to those who have not reached this state, those gone before us would have made some sign; But no Sign comes, and silence must be mine. Here eloquence can find no jewel but one, that silence when the longed-for goal is won. The greatest orator would here be made in love with silence and forget his trade, and I too cease: I have described the Way - Now, you must act - there is no more to say.»

[stearleart]

The dreaded manticore

Digital illustration of the dreaded manticore! A creature from Persian folklore. They're creatures said to have a human like face, needle like teeth, and a tail with venomous barbs that the creature could launch with great effect.