Ashi: The Yazata of Reward and Fortune
Ashi in Zoroastrian myth: the yazata of reward, recompense, and good fortune, daughter of Ahura Mazda, who bestows blessings on the righteous and drives the chariot of Mithra.
Read article →Kurdish History Journal
Kurdish Art and Culture
Articles filed under Kurdish Art and Culture.
The Primordial Bovine and the Cow’s Lament: Gavaevodata and Geush Urvan
Zoroastrian texts give the bovine two related but distinct roles: a suffering voice seeking protection in Yasna 29, and a first creature whose death is followed by renewed life in the Bundahishn. Reading the texts separately reveals how lament, responsibility and creation developed across Avestan and Middle Persian literature.
Read article →Faridun Tests His Sons: The Dragon, Their Names and the Painted Story
Faridun’s dragon test compares three responses to danger before the naming of Salm, Tur and Iraj. Reading a specific translation beside a Safavid manuscript painting makes the episode’s judgments, imagery and textual setting clearer.
Read article →Mardas: The Pious Father of the Tyrant
Mardas in the Shahnameh: the pious and just king, father of the tyrant Zahhak, betrayed through the plot of the evil spirit so that his corrupt son could seize the throne.
Read article →Siyamak: Loss and Succession at the Beginning of the Shahnameh
Siyamak, also spelled Siamak, is Kayumars’s son in Ferdowsi’s Shahnameh. His killing interrupts the first king’s peaceful court and links the story of founding kingship to mourning, vengeance and the next generation.
Read article →Kay Qobad: The First King of the Kayanians
Kay Qobad in the Shahnameh: the founder of the Kayanian dynasty, the reclusive prince of Mount Alborz brought to the throne by Rostam to restore Iran after the fall of Nowzar.
Read article →Zav in the Shahnameh: Succession, Drought and Peace
Zav, the son of Tahmasp, becomes king after Nowzar in the Shahnameh. His short reign turns from a disputed succession and exhausted armies towards negotiated peace. The Persian text, an early English translation and a fourteenth-century painting preserve different aspects of the episode.
Read article →Nariman: Epic Genealogy, Mount Sepand and Kurdish Retellings
Nariman belongs to the heroic family of Sam, Zal and Rostam. His story involves a mountain fortress, differing genealogies and a manuscript tradition that should be distinguished from a historical royal biography.
Read article →Mehrab Kaboli in the Shahnameh: Family, Conflict and Sindukht’s Diplomacy
Mehrab of Kabul is Rudaba’s father and Rostam’s maternal grandfather in the Shahnameh. His story involves tribute, feared ancestry, threats within his household and Sindukht’s negotiations to protect Kabul. It is an epic narrative, rather than a securely dated royal biography.
Read article →Abtin: The Noble Father of Faridun
Abtin in the Shahnameh: the noble father of Faridun, a descendant of the ancient kings slain by the tyrant Zahhak, whose death set his son on the path to free the world.
Read article →Faranak in the Shahnameh: Refuge, Counsel and Generosity
Faranak protects the infant Fereydun, explains his family’s past and cautions him against rash revenge. Reading the poem’s episodes also reveals her generosity after his victory and the difference between narrative and modern interpretation.
Read article →Arnavaz and Shahrnaz: The Princesses Freed from Zahhak
Arnavaz and Shahrnaz in the Shahnameh: the princesses of Jamshid's house, seized by the tyrant Zahhak and freed by Faridun, who became the mothers of Salm, Tur, and Iraj.
Read article →Kahram (Kohram): Balkh, Arjasp and the Brazen Hold in the Shahnameh
The Turanian commander’s attack on Balkh and later capture belong to distinct stages of the epic, whose passages also give different family relationships.
Read article →Peshotan: Counsel in the Shahnameh and Immortality in Zoroastrian Texts
Peshotan appears as Esfandiyar’s brother and a voice of restraint in Ferdowsi’s Shahnameh. Middle Persian religious texts give him another role: an immortal associated with Kangdez and the restoration of religious life.
Read article →Jamasp: Wisdom, Prophecy and the Tragedy of Esfandiyar
Jamasp is remembered as a wise adviser to Goshtasp and a figure of Zoroastrian tradition. His warning about Esfandiyar’s death is central to the Shahnameh, but his appearances in scripture, religious literature and epic need to be read in their different settings.
Read article →Bidarafsh: Envoy, Sorcerer and Zarir’s Killer in Two Epic Traditions
Bidarafsh carries Arjasp’s ultimatum and kills Zarir, but his own death differs between the Memorial of Zarer and the Shahnameh. Reading the versions separately reveals more than a single repeated description of an epic villain.
Read article →Bastur: Zarir’s Son in the Memorial of Zarer and the Shahnameh
Bastur mourns Zarir and seeks revenge, but the Middle Persian Memorial and the Shahnameh give different accounts of who kills his father’s killer.
Read article →Arjasp: The Wars of Goshtasp and the Changing Epic Tradition
Arjasp appears as an enemy of Vishtaspa in the Avesta and as the ruler opposing Goshtasp in later epic. Comparing the hymn, the Memorial of Zarer and the Shahnameh reveals different battles, agents and endings.
Read article →The Seven Labours of Esfandiyar: Trials and the Rescue at Ruyin Dezh
In Ferdowsi’s Shahnameh, Esfandiyar takes a dangerous route through wolves, lions, a dragon, a sorceress, a great bird and hostile terrain to reach the fortress where his sisters are held. The journey leads from individual combat to a carefully coordinated rescue.
Read article →Arzhang Div: Rostam’s Sixth Labour and the Rescue of Kay Kavus
Arzhang is the demon commander killed before Rostam reaches the captive Kay Kavus. The Shahnameh’s sequence, a later illustrated manuscript and a separate namesake clarify his place in the story.
Read article →The Seven Labours of Rostam: The Haft Khan
The Seven Labours of Rostam (Haft Khan) in the Shahnameh: the famous sequence of seven trials, from the lion and the dragon to the slaying of the White Demon.
Read article →The White Div: Rostam’s Seventh Trial in the Shahnameh
The White Div is the supernatural adversary Rostam defeats at the end of his seven trials in Ferdowsi’s Shahnameh. Reading the Persian episode alongside manuscript paintings clarifies the cave battle, the healing of Kay Kavus and the story’s distinct rulers.
Read article →Akvan Div: Rostam’s Choice of Mountain or Sea
Akvan Div is the shapeshifting demon who carries Rostam into the air in Ferdowsi’s Shahnameh. The Persian episode turns on a deceptive choice, a dangerous swim and a return to combat; it also contains the poet’s own reflection on what a demon means.
Read article →Puladvand: Rostam’s Wrestling Opponent in the Shahnameh
Puladvand joins Afrasiab, defeats Iranian champions and wrestles Rostam. The epic episode ends with his survival and withdrawal, not a death in the arena.
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