Sām ( fa, سام), also (sam) transliterated Saam, is a mythical hero of ancient
Persia
Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...
, and an important character in the
Shahnameh
The ''Shahnameh'' or ''Shahnama'' ( fa, شاهنامه, Šāhnāme, lit=The Book of Kings, ) is a long epic poem written by the Persian poet Ferdowsi between c. 977 and 1010 CE and is the national epic of Greater Iran. Consisting of some 5 ...
epic. He was the son of
Nariman, grandson of
Garshasp and father to
Zāl
use both this parameter and , birth_date to display the person's date of birth, date of death, and age at death) -->
, death_place =
, death_cause =
, body_discovered =
, resting_place =
, resting_place_coordinates ...
. He was Iran's champion during the rule of
Fereydun,
Manuchehr and
Nowzar. He was appointed by Manuchehr to rule
Zabulistan
Zabulistan ( fa, زابلستان ''Zābulistān''/''Zābolistān''/''Zāwulistān'' or simply ''Zābul'', ps, زابل ''Zābəl''), was a historical region in southern Afghanistan roughly corresponding to the modern provinces of Zabul and ...
(Sistan), and then Mazandaran. After Manuchehr, because of Nowzar's corrupted and failed rulership, Iranian champions asked Sām to rule Iran. Sām didn't accept, he supported Nowzar and advised him to follow Fereydun and Manuchehr. Sām returned to
Mazandaran, and died soon after that.
Afrasiab
Afrasiab ( fa, ''afrāsiyāb''; ae, Fraŋrasyan; Middle-Persian: ''Frāsiyāv, Frāsiyāk'') is the name of the mythical king and hero of Turan. He is the main antagonist of the Persian epic Shahnameh, written by Ferdowsi.
The mythical kin ...
then attacked Zabulistan.
In Persian, based on Dehkhoda dictionary, Sām or Saam means Fire.
References
External links
A king's book of kings: the Shah-nameh of Shah Tahmasp an exhibition catalog from The Metropolitan Museum of Art (fully available online as PDF), which contains material on Sam
Kayanians
Shahnameh characters
{{Shahnameh-stub