Topics (move over topic to see place in topic list)
04 Religious and philosophical literature and poetry
02 Religious and ideological symbols and iconographic motifs
04 Religious and philosophical literature and poetry
Keywords
eagles
Etana
Period
Modern
Channel
Uzbek culture
Text
Rustam travels together with his mother to the country of the devs and the peris. They stop at a desert spot and there spend two days. On the third day Rustam asks his mother whether it is possible for him to go to the steppe of Izgir. She gives her permission and Rustam sets off. When he climbs upon a hill at the juncture of the seven rivers, Rustam sees a plane-tree growing at the river bank and a bird’s nest on its top. Rustam looks to the other side and sees two dragons lying on the black ground. He leaps from his horse, goes to the dragons and kills them. The bird Sīmurgh comes to the spot and is delighted upon seeing the killed dragons. It says to Rustam: ‘You did a good deed in killing the dragons. Every day they ate one of my young. Say what good deed can I do for you?’ Rystam says that he has to get to the bottom of the river of the brilliants. Sīmurgh answers: ‘Sit on my back, and I shall fly off. You look to the earth and when the earth becomes as small as a kettle, you say to me: “Catch!”, and I shall throw myself as a stone into the river and divide it into two halves; then you can pick up the brilliants from the bottom.’
Bibliography
Aro 1976, 28
Aro, Jussi. “Anzu and Simurgh.” In: B. L. Eichler, J. W. Heimerdinger and Å. Sjöberg (eds.). Kramer Anniversary Volume. Cuneiform Studies in Honor of Samuel Noah Kramer. Alter Orient und Altes Testament 25. Kevelaer: Butzon and Bercker, Neukirchen-Vluyn: Neukirchener Verlag 1976, 25-28.
Frankfort 1955, no. 657
Frankfort, Henri. Stratified Cylinder Seals from the Diyala Region. The University of Chicago Oriental Institute Publications 72. Chicago IL: University of Chicago Press 1955. [PDF]
Kidajš-Pokrovskaja 1972, 322
Kidajš-Pokrovskaja, N. V. Rustamchan. Uzbekskij geroiko-romaničeskij ėpos (= Rustamchon. Ǔzbek dostoni). Moscow: Nauka 1972.
Illustrations (click an image to view the full-size version in a new window)
Fig. 1: Drawing of a modern impression of an Akkadian cylinder seal depicting Etana mounted on eagle’s back above sheepfold. From Tell Asmar, museum no. IM 14654. Taken from Frankfort 1955, no. 657. Feared to be stolen.
Fig. 2: Scenes from the life of Rustam on a Persian manuscript of the 14th century CE, showing Rustan under the protective gaze of the Simurgh.
