Shahbaz ( fa, شَهباز or شاه‌باز) is the name of a

fable Fable is a literary genre: a succinct fictional story, in prose or verse, that features animals, legendary creatures, plants, inanimate objects, or forces of nature that are anthropomorphized, and that illustrates or leads to a particular mor ...

d bird in

Persian mythology Persian mythology or Iranian mythology ( Persian:اساطیرشناسی ایرانی) is the body of the myths originally told by ancient Persians and other Iranian peoples, and a genre of Ancient Persian folklore. These stories concern the ori ...

. It is described as having a body similar to an

eagle Eagle is the common name for many large birds of prey of the family Accipitridae. Eagles belong to several groups of genera, some of which are closely related. Most of the 68 species of eagle are from Eurasia and Africa. Outside this area, j ...

, being bigger in size than a

hawk Hawks are birds of prey of the family Accipitridae. They are widely distributed and are found on all continents except Antarctica. * The subfamily Accipitrinae includes goshawks, sparrowhawks, sharp-shinned hawks and others. This subfa ...

falcon Falcons () are birds of prey in the genus ''Falco'', which includes about 40 species. Falcons are widely distributed on all continents of the world except Antarctica, though closely related raptors did occur there in the Eocene. Adult falcons ...

, and having inhabited an area within the

Zagros The Zagros Mountains ( ar, جبال زاغروس, translit=Jibal Zaghrus; fa, کوه‌های زاگرس, Kuh hā-ye Zāgros; ku, چیاکانی زاگرۆس, translit=Çiyakani Zagros; Turkish: ''Zagros Dağları''; Luri: ''Kuh hā-ye Zāgro ...

, the

Alborz The Alborz ( fa, البرز) range, also spelled as Alburz, Elburz or Elborz, is a mountain range in northern Iran that stretches from the border of Azerbaijan along the western and entire southern coast of the Caspian Sea and finally runs ...

, and the

Caucasus The Caucasus () or Caucasia (), is a region between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea, mainly comprising Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia (country), Georgia, and parts of Southern Russia. The Caucasus Mountains, including the Greater Caucasus range ...

within

Greater Iran Greater Iran ( fa, ایران بزرگ, translit=Irān-e Bozorg) refers to a region covering parts of Western Asia, Central Asia, South Asia, Xinjiang, and the Caucasus, where both Iranian culture and Iranian languages have had ...

. In ancient Persian mythology, the Shahbaz was a

god In monotheistic thought, God is usually viewed as the supreme being, creator, and principal object of faith. Swinburne, R.G. "God" in Honderich, Ted. (ed)''The Oxford Companion to Philosophy'', Oxford University Press, 1995. God is typically ...

who helped the

Iranian peoples The Iranian peoples or Iranic peoples are a diverse grouping of Indo-European peoples who are identified by their usage of the Iranian languages and other cultural similarities. The Proto-Iranians are believed to have emerged as a separat ...

and guided the

Faravahar The Faravahar ( fa, فروهر), also known as the Foruhar () or the Farre Kiyâni ( fa, فر کیانی, label=none), is one of the best-known symbols of Zoroastrianism, an Iranian religion. There are various interpretations of what the Far ...

to the Iranian lands.

History

The word ''Shahbaz'' literally translates to "royal falcon". It was standard practice for the Persian Shah to keep a royal falcon or another bird of prey. This symbol represented both strength and aggressiveness. The

ancient Egyptian deity Ancient Egyptian deities are the gods and goddesses worshipped in ancient Egypt. The beliefs and rituals surrounding these gods formed the core of ancient Egyptian religion, which emerged sometime in prehistory. Deities represented natural fo ...

Horus Horus or Heru, Hor, Har in Ancient Egyptian, is one of the most significant ancient Egyptian deities who served many functions, most notably as god of kingship and the sky. He was worshipped from at least the late prehistoric Egypt until the P ...

is speculated to have been the

archetype The concept of an archetype (; ) appears in areas relating to behavior, historical psychology, and literary analysis. An archetype can be any of the following: # a statement, pattern of behavior, prototype, "first" form, or a main model that ...

for the standard of

Cyrus the Great Cyrus II of Persia (; peo, 𐎤𐎢𐎽𐎢𐏁 ), commonly known as Cyrus the Great, was the founder of the Achaemenid Empire, the first Persian empire. Schmitt Achaemenid dynasty (i. The clan and dynasty) Under his rule, the empire embraced ...

, who founded the

Achaemenid Empire The Achaemenid Empire or Achaemenian Empire (; peo, 𐎧𐏁𐏂, , ), also called the First Persian Empire, was an ancient Iranian empire founded by Cyrus the Great in 550 BC. Based in Western Asia, it was contemporarily the largest em ...

. British explorer Richard F. Burton considered the symbol to refer to the goshawk species '' Accipiter gentilis.'' Shahbaz could have alternatively referred to another common bird over the skies of the

Iranian Plateau The Iranian plateau or Persian plateau is a geological feature in Western Asia, Central Asia, and South Asia. It comprises part of the Eurasian Plate and is wedged between the Arabian Plate and the Indian Plate; situated between the Zagros ...

: the eastern imperial eagle, though this observation has never been claimed by historians as merited. During the Achaemenid era, the Persian imperial flag was hence rectangular in shape, divided kite-like into four equal triangles alternating between two colours. The standard, a ceramic plaque with the fabled bird-like creature that is speculated to be the Shahbaz () carved out, was found during excavations at

Persepolis , native_name_lang = , alternate_name = , image = Gate of All Nations, Persepolis.jpg , image_size = , alt = , caption = Ruins of the Gate of All Nations, Persepolis. , map = , map_type ...

in the early 20th century. The belief is that this was the official symbol of the Achaemenid Empire under Cyrus the Great and his heirs.

References

Mythological birds of prey Persian legendary creatures Zoroastrian legendary creatures Persian mythology Asian mythology Horus Falcon deities {{Iran-hist-stub

History

See also

References