The simurgh (; ; also spelled ''senmurv, simorgh, simorg'', ''simurg'', ''simoorg, simorq'' or ''simourv'') is a benevolent bird in

Persian mythology Iranian mythology, or Persian mythology in western term (), 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 origin and nature of the worl ...

and

literature Literature is any collection of Writing, written work, but it is also used more narrowly for writings specifically considered to be an art form, especially novels, Play (theatre), plays, and poetry, poems. It includes both print and Electroni ...

. It bears some similarities with

mythological Myth is a genre of folklore consisting primarily of narratives that play a fundamental role in a society. For scholars, this is very different from the vernacular usage of the term "myth" that refers to a belief that is not true. Instead, the ...

birds from different origins, such as the phoenix ( ''quqnūs'') and the humā (). The figure can be found in all periods of

Iranian Iranian () may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Iran ** Iranian diaspora, Iranians living outside Iran ** Iranian architecture, architecture of Iran and parts of the rest of West Asia ** Iranian cuisine, cooking traditions and practic ...

art and literature and is also evident in the iconography of

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

, medieval Armenia, the

Eastern Roman Empire The Byzantine Empire, also known as the Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire centred on Constantinople during late antiquity and the Middle Ages. Having survived the events that caused the fall of the Western Roman E ...

, and other regions that were within the realm of Persian cultural influence.

Etymology

The Persian word ''sīmurğ'' () derives from

Middle Persian Middle Persian, also known by its endonym Pārsīk or Pārsīg ( Inscriptional Pahlavi script: , Manichaean script: , Avestan script: ) in its later form, is a Western Middle Iranian language which became the literary language of the Sasania ...

''sēnmurw'' and earlier ''sēnmuruγ'', also attested in Pazend texts as ''sīna-mrū''. The Middle Persian word comes from

Avestan Avestan ( ) is the liturgical language of Zoroastrianism. It belongs to the Iranian languages, Iranian branch of the Indo-European languages, Indo-European language family and was First language, originally spoken during the Avestan period, Old ...

''mərəγō Saēnō'' "the bird Saēna", originally a raptor, likely an

eagle Eagle is the common name for the golden eagle, bald eagle, and other birds of prey in the family of the Accipitridae. Eagles belong to several groups of Genus, genera, some of which are closely related. True eagles comprise the genus ''Aquila ( ...

falcon Falcons () are birds of prey in the genus ''Falco'', which includes about 40 species. Some small species of falcons with long, narrow wings are called hobbies, and some that hover while hunting are called kestrels. Falcons are widely distrib ...

, or sparrowhawk, as can be deduced from the etymological cognate

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; stem form ; nominal singular , ,) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in northwest South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cultural ...

''śyenaḥ'' (श्येनः) raptor,

and

bird of prey Birds of prey or predatory birds, also known as (although not the same as) raptors, are hypercarnivorous bird species that actively predation, hunt and feed on other vertebrates (mainly mammals, reptiles and smaller birds). In addition to speed ...

, which also appears as a divine figure. ''Saēna'' is also a personal name. The word was lent to Armenian as ''siramarg'' () '

peacock Peafowl is a common name for two bird species of the genus '' Pavo'' and one species of the closely related genus '' Afropavo'' within the tribe Pavonini of the family Phasianidae (the pheasants and their allies). Male peafowl are referred t ...

'. On the other hand, the phrase ''sī murğ'' () means "thirty birds" in Persian; this has been used by

Attar of Nishapur Faridoddin Abu Hamed Mohammad Attar Nishapuri ( – c. 1221; ), better known by his pen-names Faridoddin () and ʿAttar of Nishapur (, Attar means apothecary), was a poet, theoretician of Sufism, and hagiographer from Nishapur who had an immense ...

in his symbolic story of ''

The Conference of the Birds ''The'' is a grammatical article in English, denoting nouns that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The ...

'', the

frame story A frame story (also known as a frame tale, frame narrative, sandwich narrative, or intercalation) is a literary technique that serves as a companion piece to a story within a story, where an introductory or main narrative sets the stage either fo ...

of which employs a play on the name.

Mythology

Form and function

The Simurgh is depicted in Iranian art as a winged creature in the shape of a bird, gigantic enough to carry off an elephant or a whale. It appears as a peacock with the head of a dog and the claws of a lion – sometimes, however, also with a human face. The Simurgh is inherently benevolent. Being part mammal, they suckle their young. The Simurgh has an enmity towards snakes, and its natural habitat is a place with plenty of water. Its feathers are said to be the colour of copper in some versions, and though it was originally described as being a dog-bird, later it was shown with either the head of a man or a dog (Bearded vultures are variably orange or rust of plumage on their head, breast, and leg feathers, but this is thought to be cosmetic. This colouration comes from dust-bathing or rubbing iron-rich mud on its body). "''Si-''", the first element in the name, has been connected in

folk etymology Folk etymology – also known as (generative) popular etymology, analogical reformation, (morphological) reanalysis and etymological reinterpretation – is a change in a word or phrase resulting from the replacement of an unfamiliar form by a mo ...

to Modern Persian ''si'' ‘thirty’. Although this prefix is not historically related to the origin of the name ''simurgh'', "thirty" has nonetheless been the basis for legends incorporating that number – for instance, that the simurgh was as large as thirty birds or had thirty colours (''siræng''). Other suggested etymologies include Pahlavi ''sin murgh'' ‘eagle bird’ and Avestan ''saeno merego'' ‘eagle’. Iranian legends consider the bird so old that it had seen the destruction of the world three times over. The simurgh learned so much by living so long that it is thought to possess the knowledge of all the ages. In one legend, the simurgh was said to live 1,700 years before plunging itself into flames (much like the phoenix). The simurgh was considered to purify the land and waters and hence bestow fertility. The creature represented the union between the Earth and the sky, serving as mediator and messenger between the two. The simurgh roosted in Gaokerena, the Hōm (Avestan: ''Haoma'') Tree of Life, which stands in the middle of the world sea ( Vourukasha). The plant is potent medicine and is called all-healing, and the seeds of all plants are deposited on it. When the simurgh took flight, the leaves of the tree of life shook, making all the seeds of every plant fall out. These seeds floated around the world on the winds of

Vayu-Vata Vāyu-Vāta or ''Vāta-Vāyu'' (International Phonetic Alphabet, IPA: ) is the Avestan language name of a dual-natured Zoroastrianism, Zoroastrian divinity of the wind (Vayu) and of the atmosphere (Vata). The names are also used independently of ...

and the rains of Tishtrya, in cosmology taking root to become every type of plant that ever lived and curing all the illnesses of mankind. The relationship between the simurgh and Hōm is extremely close. Like the simurgh, Hōm is represented as a bird, a messenger, and the essence of purity that can heal any illness or wound. Hōm – appointed as the first priest – is the essence of divinity, a property it shares with the simurgh. The Hōm is in addition the vehicle of '' farr(ah)'' (MPers: ''khwarrah'', , ''kavaēm kharēno'') ‘divine glory; fortune’. ''Farrah'' in turn represents the divine mandate that was the foundation of a king's authority. It appears as a bird resting on the head or shoulder of would-be kings and clerics, indicating Ormuzd's acceptance of that individual as his divine representative on Earth. For the commoner, Bahrām wraps fortune/glory "around the house of the worshipper, for wealth in cattle, like the great bird Saena, and as the watery clouds cover the great mountains" ('' Yasht'' 14.41, cf. the rains of Tishtrya above). Like the simurgh, ''farrah'' is also associated with the waters of ''Vourukasha'' (''Yasht'' 19.51, 56–57). In Yašt 12.17 Simorgh's (Saēna's) tree stands in the middle of the sea Vourukaša, it has good and potent medicine and is called all-healing, and the seeds of all plants are deposited on it. SchoolOfTabriz3

In the ''Shahnameh''

The simurgh made its most famous appearance in

Ferdowsi Abu'l-Qâsem Ferdowsi Tusi (also Firdawsi, ; 940 – 1019/1025) was a Persians, Persian poet and the author of ''Shahnameh'' ("Book of Kings"), which is one of the world's longest epic poetry, epic poems created by a single poet, and the gre ...

's epic ''

Shahnameh The ''Shahnameh'' (, ), also transliterated ''Shahnama'', is a long epic poem written by the Persian literature, Persian poet Ferdowsi between and 1010 CE and is the national epic of Greater Iran. Consisting of some 50,000 distichs or couple ...

'' (Book of Kings), where its involvement with Prince Zal is described. According to the ''Shahnameh'', Zal, the son of Saam, was born albino. When Saam saw his albino son, he assumed that the child was the spawn of devils, and abandoned the infant on the mountain ''

Alborz The Alborz ( ) 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 northeast and merge ...

''. The child's cries were heard by the tender-hearted simurgh, who lived atop this peak, and she retrieved the child and raised him as her own. Zal was taught much wisdom from the loving simurgh, who has all knowledge, but the time came when he grew into a man and yearned to rejoin the world of men. Though the simurgh was terribly saddened, she gave him three golden feathers which he was to burn if he ever needed her assistance. Upon returning to his kingdom, Zal fell in love and married the beautiful Rudaba. When it came time for their son to be born, the labor was prolonged and terrible; Zal was certain that his wife would die in labour. Rudaba was near death when Zal decided to summon the simurgh. The simurgh appeared and instructed him upon how to perform a cesarean section thus saving Rudaba and the child, who became one of the greatest Persian heroes,

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. Simurgh also shows up in the story of the Seven Trials of Esfandiyar in the latter's 5th labor. After killing the wicked enchantress, Esfandiyar fights a simurgh, and despite the simurgh's many powers, Esfandiyar strikes it in the neck, decapitating it. The simurgh's offspring then rise to fight Esfandiyar, but they, too, are slain.

In Persian Sufi poetry

In classical and modern Persian literature the simorḡ is frequently mentioned, particularly as a metaphor for God in Sufi mysticism. In the 12th century '' Conference of the Birds'', Iranian Sufi poet Farid ud-Din Attar wrote of a band of pilgrim birds in search of the simurgh. In the poem, the birds of the world gather to decide who is to be their king, as they have none. The

hoopoe Hoopoes () are colourful birds found across Africa, Asia, and Europe, notable for their distinctive "Crest (feathers), crown" of feathers which can be raised or lowered at will. Two living and one extinct species are recognized, though for many y ...

, the wisest of them all, suggests that they should find the legendary simorgh, a mythical Persian bird roughly equivalent to the western phoenix. The hoopoe leads the birds, each of whom represent a human fault which prevents man from attaining enlightenment. When the group of thirty birds finally reach the dwelling place of the simorgh, all they find is a lake in which they see their own reflection. This scene employs a pun on the Persian expression for "thirty birds" (''si morgh''). The phrase also appears three times in Rumi's

Masnavi The ''Masnavi'', or ''Masnavi-ye-Ma'navi'' (, DIN 31635, DMG: ''Mas̲navī-e maʻnavī''), also written ''Mathnawi'', or ''Mathnavi'', is an extensive poem written in Persian language, Persian by Jalal al-Din Muhammad Rumi, also known as Rumi. I ...

, e.g. in Book VI, Story IX: "The nest of the ''sī murğ'' is beyond Mount Qaf" (as translated by E.H. Whinfield). Through heavy Persian influence, the simurgh was introduced to the

Arabic Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...

-speaking world, where the concept was conflated with other Arabic mythical birds such as the ghoghnus, a bird having some mythical relation with the

date palm ''Phoenix dactylifera'', commonly known as the date palm, is a flowering-plant species in the palm family Arecaceae, cultivated for its edible sweet #Fruits, fruit called dates. The species is widely cultivated across North Africa, northern A ...

, and further developed as the ''rukh'' (the origin of the English word " roc"). Representations of simurgh were adopted in early

Umayyad The Umayyad Caliphate or Umayyad Empire (, ; ) was the second caliphate established after the death of the Islamic prophet Muhammad and was ruled by the Umayyad dynasty. Uthman ibn Affan, the third of the Rashidun caliphs, was also a membe ...

art and coinage.

In Kurdish folklore

Simurgh is shortened to "sīmir" in the

Kurdish language Kurdish (, , ) is a Northwestern Iranian languages, Northwestern Iranian language or dialect continuum, group of languages spoken by Kurds in the region of Kurdistan, namely in southeast Turkish Kurdistan, Turkey, northern Iraqi Kurdistan, Ira ...

. The scholar C. V. Trever quotes two Kurdish folktales about the bird. These versions go back to the common stock of Iranian simorḡ stories. In one of the folk tales, a hero rescues the simurgh's offspring by killing a snake that was crawling up the tree to feed upon them. As a reward, the simurgh gives him three of her feathers which the hero can use to call for her help by burning them. Later, the hero uses the feathers, and the simurgh carries him to a distant land. In the other tale, the simurgh carries the hero out of the netherworld; here the simurgh feeds its young with its teats, a trait which agrees with the description of the simurgh in the

book of Zadspram. In another tale, simurgh feeds the hero on the journey while the hero feeds simurgh with pieces of sheep's fat.

In popular culture

Ambrose Bierce Ambrose Gwinnett Bierce (June 24, 1842 – ) was an American short story writer, journalist, poet, and American Civil War veteran. His book '' The Devil's Dictionary'' was named one of "The 100 Greatest Masterpieces of American Literature" by the ...

's '' The Devil's Dictionary'' (1906) characterizes the Simurgh as "omnipotent on condition that it do nothing" and likens it to the role of the

rabble Rabble may refer to: * Hoi polloi, a negative term for the common people * rabble.ca, a Canadian website * An arrow in the arcade game '' Libble Rabble'' * Rabble of Devilkin, characters in the ''Dungeons & Dragons'' roleplaying game * '' Rabble ...

in a

republic A republic, based on the Latin phrase ''res publica'' ('public affair' or 'people's affair'), is a State (polity), state in which Power (social and political), political power rests with the public (people), typically through their Representat ...

. *The title of

Salman Rushdie Sir Ahmed Salman Rushdie ( ; born 19 June 1947) is an Indian-born British and American novelist. His work often combines magic realism with historical fiction and primarily deals with connections, disruptions, and migrations between Eastern wor ...

's first novel, '' Grimus'' (1975), is an anagram of Simurg. *Simurgh is the name of a proxy tool introduced in 2009 that helps residents of Iran avoid government censorship of websites. * The Crystal Simorgh is an award given by Fajr International Film Festival. * The Simorgh is one of the creatures encountered by the protagonists in the 2006 movie Azur & Asmar: The Princes' Quest. * The Simurgh is the name of one of the Endbringers in the 2011 Worm (web serial). * In the Yugioh card game, Simorgh is the boss monster of its own archetype. * A Simurgh card from a fictional collectible card game serves as a major plot device in the sci-fi novel ''Entanglement'', by Gibson Monk. *A simurgh appeared in chapter 49 of the manga Delicious in Dungeon as Laios contemplates various bird-like monsters. It is shown large enough to hold an elephant in its talons. *The Simurgh is featured in Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown, a 2024 video game in which it indirectly grants the player character various time-manipulation powers used to progress in the game. *In her poem "Garden Simurgh", Kathleen Raine describes how 'I hung out nuts for the blue-tits but the sparrows came, / All thirty of them / With a flurry of wings, / One mind in thirty vociferous selves...' eventually concluding that no 'wonder-bird' should be deemed 'more miraculous' than these 'two-a-farthing sparrows / Each feather bearing the carelessly-worn signature / Of the universe'.

Gallery

File:500rials-IRI-simorgh.jpg, Simorgh on the reverse of an Iranian 500 rials coin File:Zal in the Nest of Simurgh LACMA M.73.5.447.jpg, Simurgh at its nest File:Nadir Madrasah Phoenix.JPG, Decoration outside of Nadir Divan-Beghi madrasah,

Bukhara Bukhara ( ) is the List of cities in Uzbekistan, seventh-largest city in Uzbekistan by population, with 280,187 residents . It is the capital of Bukhara Region. People have inhabited the region around Bukhara for at least five millennia, and t ...

File:Basawan. The Flight of the Simurgh. ca. 1590, Sadruddin Aga Khan Collection.jpg, Painting of the Simurgh made in the

Mughal Empire The Mughal Empire was an Early modern period, early modern empire in South Asia. At its peak, the empire stretched from the outer fringes of the Indus River Basin in the west, northern Afghanistan in the northwest, and Kashmir in the north, to ...

File:Detail. Simurgh platter. From Iran. Samanids dynasty. 9th-10th century CE. Islamic Art Museum (Museum für Islamische Kunst), Berlin.jpg, Simurgh platter. From Iran. Samanid dynasty, 9th–10th century CE. Museum für Islamische Kunst, Berlin

Notes

References

External links

* {{Shahnameh Female legendary creatures Legendary birds Mythological hybrids Monsters National symbols of Iran Persian legendary creatures Shahnameh characters Phoenix birds