The Simurgh
In Persian legend, a vast, wise bird nests on the highest mountain, raised an abandoned prince, and gave him feathers to burn if he ever needed her.
What was reported
The Simurgh is a giant, kindly bird of Persian myth, so old she has seen the world destroyed and remade three times. She lives on the peak of the Alborz mountains, or on the mythical Mount Qaf at the edge of the world.
In the Shahnameh, she finds the baby Zal, abandoned on the mountainside because of his white hair, and raises him. When he leaves, she gives him three feathers; burning one will summon her. Later she helps his son Rostam. In the poet Attar's Conference of the Birds, the birds of the world seek her, and find she is themselves: si morgh, 'thirty birds'.
Explanations offered
The Simurgh is a figure of myth and mystical poetry, a symbol of wisdom and the divine. She appears in Persian art, carpets and architecture, and today on emblems and coins.
- When
- Told since ancient times
- Where
- Alborz mountains, Iran
- Witnesses
- Persian myth and poetry
- Status
- Legend
Famous cases are real, widely reported events. Each file sets out what witnesses said and the explanations that have been offered, without taking a side.
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