Sūrīd ibn Salhouk (, also known as Saurit, Saurid, and more commonly known as Surid) is a legendary king from medieval Coptic and Islamic lore who is said to have lived 300 years before the biblical flood. In legends, Surid was often conflated with or identified as the biblical prophet

Enoch Enoch ( ; ''Henṓkh'') is a biblical figure and Patriarchs (Bible), patriarch prior to Noah's flood, and the son of Jared (biblical figure), Jared and father of Methuselah. He was of the Antediluvian period in the Hebrew Bible. The text of t ...

, the Muslim prophet

Idris Idris may refer to: People * Idris (name), a list of people and fictional characters with the given name or surname * Idris (prophet), Islamic prophet in the Qur'an, traditionally identified with Enoch, an ancestor of Noah in the Bible * Idris ...

, and

Hermes Trismegistus Hermes Trismegistus (from , "Hermes the Thrice-Greatest") is a legendary Hellenistic period figure that originated as a syncretic combination of the Greek god Hermes and the Egyptian god Thoth.A survey of the literary and archaeological eviden ...

. Surid, among other achievements, was often credited with building the

Pyramids of Giza The Giza pyramid complex (also called the Giza necropolis) in Egypt is home to the Great Pyramid, the pyramid of Khafre, and the pyramid of Menkaure, along with their associated pyramid complexes and the Great Sphinx. All were built during th ...

(structures that, in the middle ages, were believed by many to predate the biblical flood narrative). One legend in particular relates how, prior to the deluge, Surid had a terrifying dream of the world's end: In this dream, the "fixed stars had come down," and they "had grabbed the people and had hurled them between two mountains. These

hen Hen commonly refers to a female animal: a female chicken, other gallinaceous bird, any type of bird in general, or a lobster. It is also a slang term for a woman. Hen, HEN or Hens may also refer to: Places Norway *Hen, Buskerud, a village in R ...

closed over he peopleand the shining stars had become dark and gloomy." After consulting with his trusted advisor Philemon, Surid is said to have ordered the construction of the pyramids so that they could serve as his tomb and also house all the knowledge of Egypt, ensuring its survival during the flood. According to Martyn Smith, "The story of Surid and his antediluvian construction of the pyramids assigns to them a place in

sacred history Sacred history is the retelling of history narratives "with the aim of instilling religious faith" regardless of whether or not the narratives are founded on fact. In the context of the Hebrew texts that form the basis of Judaism, the term is use ...

and establishes a neutral narrative ground upon which Muslims and Christians could agree".

See also

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Further reading