سلسلهٔ طراحی‌ها و مدل‌سازی‌های اساطیر ایران کهنسال

Sam and the Dragon of Kashf-rud: A Shahnameh Epic

The paladin Sam — father of Zal and grandfather of Rostam — astride the dragon of Kashf-rud, the historic river of Tus that flows past the tomb of Ferdowsi. Material: the artist’s own hand-made sculpting clay — in fact a “material compound”. Dimensions: height ≈ 50 cm; length × width ≈ 60 × 30 cm. Execution: about six months of study, research and form-finding, roughly seven years ago. The work was built from no picture or painting; its final form is the fruit of that six-month research, and it was unveiled at the Asman Gallery — the fourteenth National Fajr Visual Arts Exhibition (Khorasan Razavi). The first physical member of the Asatir-e Iran-e Kohansal series.

Tahmurasp the Demon-Binder: A Shahnameh Epic

Tahmurasp, the legendary Shah of Persia, chained the demons and mastered the unseen forces. Rather than destroying his enemies, he bound them—forcing the dark forces to reveal their greatest secret in exchange for mercy: the gift of writing and literacy. A timeless story from Ferdowsi's masterpiece on how wisdom triumphs over chaos.

Hoshang and the Discovery of the Divine Fire: A Shahnameh Epic

And from the sparks of two stones, a fire was born… The second figure in our Shahnameh Character Design series: Hoshang — father of Tahmurasp, son of Siyamak and grandson of Keyumars. A wise and just king who guided humankind from primitive life toward civilization through his knowledge. One day, crossing a mountain, he came upon a fearsome black demon. He raised a great stone to strike it, yet the rock struck another and a spark leapt forth; fire blazed and the demon vanished. Hoshang named this light “the Divine Radiance” and founded the ancient festival of Sadeh to keep that day alive. With this discovery he gave humanity toolmaking, cooking, the smelting of iron and agriculture, and drove the demons to the mountains. This low-poly statue — with sharp edges and smooth facets — reflects that first spark of civilization in the hard veins of the mountains; every facet a symbol of the raw forces Hoshang mastered. The power of the mace in his grip, beside the calm of his face, portrays the contrast between force and wisdom: a modern, geometric recreation of an ancient myth.

Banu Goshasp, Daughter of Rostam Dastan: A Shahnameh Epic

In the heart of the sky-piercing mountains of Zabulistan, where the echo of epic resounds through the air, Banu Goshasp — daughter of Rostam Dastan — chose a path beyond traditional roles. She traded ornaments and silk for the bow and the sword, and with steel and blood inscribed her name among the legendary paladins. She was the mistress of arms who trained Faramarz, the shatterer of the dread spells of the King of the Peris; and even in the trial arena of her own father she brought Rostam — the hero of Sistan, who had arrived in the guise of an unknown warrior — down with a sword wound and emerged victorious. Her valor became world-renowned and many suitors came to the field; but Banu Goshasp’s condition was a body of steel and a will even firmer than her sword. At last Giv, the paladin, overcame her, and from this union Bijan was born — another jewel in the crown of the Shahnameh’s heroes. Yet Goshasp was not a woman to remain in the shadow of Rostam’s name, nor to leave the arena after marriage. She herself became a legend flowing in the veins of Iran’s epic. The narrative draws on Ferdowsi’s Shahnameh and the Banu Goshasp-nama.

Espahbad Farrukhan the Great: An Epic of Resilience at the Dawn of Iran’s Solitude

In an era when the shadow of conquest lay heavy across the land of Iran, in the rugged mountains and misty forests of the north, an epic of resistance was being written. Espahbad Farrukhan I, renowned as “Farrukhan the Great”, the wise and brave ruler of the Dabuyid dynasty of Tabaristan, became the sole hope of the native people for preserving the Sasanian creed and lineage. Farrukhan moved the capital to Tabaristan and, with unmatched military ingenuity, turned it into an impregnable fortress. He simultaneously held back the Turkish onslaught from the east and the Dailamite invasion from the west; yet his greatest trial was against the Umayyad armies. Relying on the courage of his soldiers and his precise command of the terrain, Farrukhan ensnared and defeated Yazid ibn al-Muhallab, the famed Arab commander, in a fearsome battle — so that his name was immortalized in history as the true defender of the frontiers of Iranian identity. Until the end of his life (728 CE) he ruled over a land whose dignity never broke before the foreigner. The narrative draws on the historical accounts of Tabaristan — Ibn Isfandiyar’s “Tarikh-e Tabaristan” and the records of the Dabuyid dynasty.

Kaveh the Blacksmith: The Smith’s Hammer and the Eternal Banner

When the blacksmith’s hammer becomes a devastating weapon and his leather apron an everlasting banner, Kaveh is no mere mythic hero — he is the voice of a people’s long-swallowed wrath, risen against the tyranny of Zahhak. In this model I have sought a different perspective on this legend; another model is also in the works and will be uploaded soon.

In Ferdowsi’s Shahnameh, Kaveh raised his leather apron upon a spear, and it became the Derafsh-e Kaviani — the banner that rallied a people in chains around him and seated Fereydon upon the throne of Iran. The hammer that once rang on the anvil now struck the foundations of tyranny, and the name of the Kaviani banner became eternal. The narrative draws on Ferdowsi’s Shahnameh — the uprising of Kaveh and the Derafsh-e Kaviani.

Kay Kavus: The Strangest Decision of a King in the Shahnameh

One of the strangest decisions of a king in the Shahnameh: after successive victories, Kay Kavus imagined that no power could any longer stand against him; yet it was precisely from that moment that the path of his downfall began. Having pacified Iran, he said: “It is time to rise from my throne and bring the world under my command.”

The army of Kay Kavus passed through Turan and China, brought Makran to submission, and bent Barbaristan to its knees after a bloody battle. These victories swelled his pride and drew him toward a land beyond the sea: Hamavaran. Hundreds of ships were built, and the Iranian army set out for the land where the greatest mistake of Kay Kavus’s life was destined to unfold… The Shahnameh warns again and again: at times, successive victories are more dangerous than defeat — for pride is an enemy that is not seen before the fall. The narrative draws on Ferdowsi’s Shahnameh — the campaigns of Kay Kavus and the Hamavaran episode. Soundtrack: Master Alizadeh — “Az Pa Na-rafta-i” (Fatadam az Pa be Natavani).

Siyamak: The Leopard Skin and the Beginning of Justice-Seeking

At the dawn of Iran’s mythic history, Siyamak — son of Keyumars — stands for purity, beauty, and wisdom: a prince who made sovereignty and love one with nature. In shaping and modeling this piece, the artist has sought to capture the serene majesty of the first manifestation of the Kavian Glory in his face and figure — a splendor before the storm.

When the malice of Ahriman and the black demon cast its shadow over the world, Siyamak went to battle the darkness with matchless courage, clad in nothing but a leopard skin, without any armor. This sculptural group re-creates the dramatic moment of the encounter of purity with corruption — the embodiment of epic innocence in its lines, acute angles, and volumes.

Siyamak’s martyrdom was not his end; it was the beginning of awakening, justice-seeking, and the victory of his son Hushang over Ahriman. The blood of Siyamak is the root of the first epic of justice-seeking in the Shahnameh. This seventh volume of the “Ancient Iranian Myths” series was created to keep alive the memory of a spirit that never yielded to darkness. The narrative draws on Ferdowsi’s Shahnameh — the story of Keyumars, Siyamak, and the rise of Hushang.

داستان و زندگی‌نامهٔ سهراب

داستان از شکار آغاز می‌شود: رستم در مرزِ توران خوابش برد و رخش، اسبِ افسانه‌ای‌اش، به دست سواران توران افتاد. رستم پیاده به سمنگان رسید؛ شاه سمنگان از او پذیرایی کرد و در دلِ شب، دخترش تهمینه — که از نام و داستانِ رستم شنیده و دل به او باخته بود — به بالینش آمد و از او فرزندی خواست. بامدادان رستم، مهره‌ای جهانی‌شناخت از بازوی خود گشود و به تهمینه سپرد: اگر دختر آمد در گیسویش ببند، اگر پسر آمد بر بازویش — که یادگارِ پدر باشد — و بر رخش به ایران بازگشت.

شاهنامه از زادنِ پسری چون ماه می‌گوید: «چو نه ماه بگذشت بر دخت شاه / یکی پورش آمد چو تابنده ماه»؛ تهمینه نامش را سهراب گذاشت. تندرشدنِ او شگفتی‌برانگیز بود: «چو یک ماه شد، همچو یک سال بود / برش چون بر رستم زال بود»؛ سه‌ساله چوگان به دست گرفت، پنج‌ساله دل به تیر و پیکان داد و «چو ده ساله شد زان زمین کس نبود / که یارست با او نبرد آزمود». روزی بر مادر رفت و پرسید: از تخمِ کیم و کدامین گهرم و چه بگویم وقتی کسی از پدرم بپرسد؟ تهمینه راز را گشود: «تو پور گو پیلتن رستمی» — و نامهٔ پدر را با سه یاقوتِ رخشان در سه مهرهٔ زر به او نشان داد.

سهراب گفت چنین تبار نباید از او پنهان بماند؛ از میان ترکانِ جنگ‌آور لشکری بی‌کران برانگیخت — اما مقصودش غنیمت و تاج نبود. می‌خواست کی‌کاووس را از راه براندازد و «به رستم دهم تخت و گرز و کلاه»؛ می‌خواست پدر را بر تختِ ایران بنشاند و خود در سایه‌اش بماند: «چو رستم پدر باشد و من پسر / نباید به گیتی کسی تاجور».

کی‌کاووس از نامِ سهراب بیمناک شد و باور نکرد که این جوان پسرِ رستم باشد؛ سرانجام رستم — که از نبرد با جوانی ناشناس سر باز می‌زد — به میدان فرستاده شد. سه روز، دو تنِ بی‌همتا به کشتی گرفتند و در واپسین گرهِ کار، رستم پلنگ‌یالِ جوان را بر زمین زد و تیغش را بر دلِ شیرِ بیدار بردرید: «سبک تیغ تیز از میان برکشید / بر شیر بیدار دل بردرید». سهراب در همان خون گفت: «کاین بر من از من رسید / زمانه به دست تو دادم کلید» — این ضربت از خودم به من رسید؛ کلیدِ سرنوشتم را زمانه به دستِ تو داد.

از میان خون، مهرهٔ بازوبند برآمد — همان یادگارِ پدر — و «چو بشنید رستم سرش خیره گشت / جهان پیش چشم اندرش تیره گشت». رستم از کی‌کاووس نوشدارو خواست و درمان نیامد؛ سهراب در واپسین دم، پدرِ سوگوار را از ویران‌کردنِ خویش بازداشت. خیمه‌ها سوخت و رستم بر پیکرِ جوان سوگ خورد. فردوسی این تراژدی را با تصویری جاودان آغاز کرده است: «اگر تندبادی براید ز کنج / به خاک افگند نارسیده ترنج» — تندبادی برخاست و ترنجِ نارسیده بر خاک افتاد؛ سهراب، جوانی که هنوز به تابستانِ زندگی نرسیده بود، قربانیِ جنگی شد که خود آغازش نکرده بود.

سهراب در یک نگاه

• پدر: رستم دستان، پهلوانِ ایران
• مادر: تهمینه، دخترِ شاهِ سمنگان
• زادگاه: سمنگان، در مرزِ توران
• نشانِ شناخت: مهرهٔ بازوبند — یادگارِ پدر که پس از ضربت، راز را آشکار کرد
• نام‌آوری: در ده‌سالگی، کسی را یارای نبرد با او نبود
• آرزو: نشاندنِ رستم بر تختِ ایران و پیمانِ پدر و پسر
• سرانجام: به ضربتِ پدر در نبردِ سه‌روزه؛ شناختنِ یکدیگر از مهرهٔ بازوبند
• میراث: بنیانِ ضرب‌المثلِ «نوشدارو پس از مرگ سهراب»

داستان و زندگی‌نامه برگرفته از شاهنامهٔ فردوسی است — داستانِ رستم و سهراب؛ ابیاتِ نقل‌شده از بخش‌های ۱، ۵ و ۱۸ داستان سهراب.

Sohrab; the Unripe Orange of the Shahnameh

Sohrab is the ninth design of the “Ancient Iranian Myths” series: designed and modeled in the low-poly method for final execution in urban space, in metal with a final nano coating. In the video, the figure is introduced through four complete views — front, two side views, and back — the very language an execution-ready design requires; for the mythology series is a set of designs ready for public space, and every model can become tomorrow’s urban monument.

Poetry and text: Afsaneh-Nama (@afsane_nama1 on Instagram)

The Story and Biography of Sohrab

The story begins with a hunt: Rostam fell asleep on the border of Turan, and Rakhsh, his legendary horse, fell into the hands of Turanian riders. Rostam reached Samangan on foot; the king of Samangan welcomed him, and in the depth of night his daughter Tahmineh — who had heard of Rostam’s name and story and had given her heart to him — came to his bedside and asked for a child of him. At dawn Rostam loosened a world-known bead from his arm and entrusted it to Tahmineh: bind it in her hair if a daughter is born, on his arm if a son — a keepsake from the father — and rode back to Iran on Rakhsh.

The Shahnameh tells of a son born like a radiant moon: “When nine months had passed upon the king’s daughter, she brought forth a son like a shining moon”; Tahmineh named him Sohrab. His swift growth was wondrous: “When he was one month old, he was as a one-year-old; his form was as the form of Rostam, son of Zal.” At three he took up the mallet, at five his heart turned to bow and arrow, and “when he was ten, no one on earth was found who dared try battle with him.” One day he went to his mother and asked: of what seed and what lineage am I, and what shall I say when someone asks of my father? Tahmineh opened the secret: “You are the son of the elephant-bodied Rostam” — and showed him his father’s letter with three radiant rubies set in three golden beads.

Sohrab declared that such a lineage must not be hidden from him; he raised a boundless army from among the warlike Turks — yet his aim was neither plunder nor a crown. He wished to cast Kay Kavus from his way and “give throne, mace and crown to Rostam”; to seat his father upon the throne of Iran and himself remain in his shadow: “If Rostam be the father and I the son, none in the world should wear the crown.”

Kay Kavus grew fearful of Sohrab’s name and refused to believe the youth was Rostam’s son; in the end Rostam — who had at first declined battle with an unknown young man — was sent to the field. For three days the two unequalled warriors wrestled, and at the final lock Rostam cast the lion-maned youth to the ground and drove his sword into the heart of the waking lion: “He drew the sharp sword from his midst / and pierced the heart of the waking lion.” Sohrab, in that blood, said: “This came to me from my own self; fate gave the key into your hand” — this blow reached me from myself; time placed the key of my destiny in your hand.

From amid the blood rose the bead upon the arm — that keepsake of a father — and “when Rostam heard, his head grew motionless; the world turned dark before his eyes.” Rostam asked Kay Kavus for the healing remedy (noshdaru), and no remedy came; in his last moments Sohrab held his grieving father back from destroying himself. The tents were burned, and Rostam mourned over the young body. Ferdowsi opens this tragedy with an immortal image: “If a fierce wind arise from a corner / it casts the unripe orange to the dust” — the wind arose, and the unripe orange fell; Sohrab, a youth who had not yet reached the summer of life, became the victim of a war he himself had not begun.

Sohrab at a Glance

• Father: Rostam Dastan, the paladin of Iran
• Mother: Tahmineh, daughter of the king of Samangan
• Birthplace: Samangan, on the border of Turan
• Token of recognition: the arm-bead — a father’s keepsake that revealed the secret after the blow
• Renown: at ten years of age, no one could try battle with him
• Aspiration: to seat Rostam on Iran’s throne — the covenant of father and son
• End: struck down by his father in a three-day battle; they knew one another by the arm-bead
• Legacy: the origin of the Persian saying “Noshdarou after Sohrab’s death” — the remedy that comes too late

The story and biography are drawn from Ferdowsi’s Shahnameh — the tale of Rostam and Sohrab; quoted verses come from sections 1, 5 and 18 of the Sohrab story.

نخستین پادشاه جهان کی بود؟ پاسخِ شاهنامه

شاهنامه از سخن‌گوی دهقان آغاز می‌شود که پرسید کدام نامِ بزرگ بر گیتی گذشته است، و پاسخ می‌دهد: «چنین گفت کآیین تخت و کلاه / کیومرث آورد و او بود شاه». کیومرث نخستین کسی بود که دیهیم بر سر نهاد: «کیومرث شد بر جهان کدخدای / نخستین به کوه اندرون ساخت جای»؛ بخت و تختش بر کوه برآمد و خود و همنوعانش پلنگینه پوشیدند، و در روزگار او «از او اندر آمد همی پرورش / که پوشیدنی نو بود و نو خورش» — نخستین پوشاک و خوراکِ بشر در سایهٔ او پدید آمد. سی سال بر جهان شاه بود: «به گیتی درون سال سی شاه بود / به خوبی چو خورشید بر گاه بود».

از او پسرِ فرخنده‌ای ماند: «سیامک بودش نام و فرخنده بود / کیومرث را دل بدو زنده بود» — همان سیامکی که مدل ۷ سلسله است و به دست دیوِ سیاهِ اهرمن کشته شد؛ و نوه‌اش هوشنگ (مدل ۲ سلسله) کینِ پدرش را گرفت. سه نسلِ نخستِ شاهنامه — کیومرث، سیامک، هوشنگ — همه اکنون کارتِ دوزبانهٔ خود را در دفتر آثار دارند و سرِ خاندان، با این مدلِ دهم به آنان می‌پیوندد.

یادداشت منبع: بر پایهٔ شاهنامهٔ فردوسی، بخش «کیومرث» (گفتار یکم)؛ ابیاتِ نقل‌شده عیناً از گنجور.

Keyumars: The First King of the World

Keyumars, the tenth model of the series, is the first king of the world. In the artist’s words: “Emerging from ancient Persian mythology and Ferdowsi’s Shahnameh, where human civilization took its very first steps, stands Keyumars” — and the modeling of this sculpture is a tribute to human origins, the dawn of history, and the primal connection between man and nature.

In this piece the artist has sought to capture the majesty, mythical wisdom, and authenticity of the world’s first king through expressive sculptural form, the lines of the face, and the rich clay texture. In the video, Keyumars sits enthroned upon a stone seat carved with cuneiform-like marks — crowned with great ram horns, a long beard, a fur mantle, and a tall staff topped by a bird’s skull — a wolf pelt hangs at the base of the throne, and the Saro emblem sits atop the frame: the Shahnameh’s opening scene, given a body ready to be imagined in public space.

Who was the first king of the world? The Shahnameh’s answer is clear: “Thus it is told: the throne and the crown — Keyumars brought them, and he was king.” He was the first to set the diadem upon his head: “Keyumars became the steward of the world; first of all he made his dwelling within the mountain” — his fortune and throne rose upon the mountain, and he wore the leopard skin, himself and all his people. In his time “from him came nurture: clothing was new, and food was new” — the first garments and nourishment of humankind arose under him; and “in the world he was king for thirty years, fair as the sun upon his seat.”

A blessed son followed him: “Siyamak was his name, and blessed; Keyumars’ heart lived through him” — the same Siyamak who is model 7 of the series and was slain by Ahriman’s black demon; and his grandson Hushang (model 2 of the series) avenged his father. The first three generations of the Shahnameh — Keyumars, Siyamak, Hushang — now all hold their own bilingual cards in the portfolio, and the head of the family joins them with this tenth model.

Source note: based on Ferdowsi’s Shahnameh, the “Keyumars” section (First Disc); quoted verses follow Ganjoor verbatim.

سه‌گانهٔ معنایی اثر

تضاد سنگینی و رهایی: تیرگی خمیر سیاه و سنگینی آهن نماد اسارت ظاهری است، در حالی که راست‌قامتی و ژست حماسی فیگور، نشان‌دهندهٔ رهایی مطلق ذهن و روح اوست.

اراده در اوج بی‌دفاعی: بر اساس روایات تاریخی، او حتی در سخت‌ترین لحظات حاضر نشد زردی چهره‌اش فتحی برای دشمن باشد؛ رفتاری که نشان می‌دهد در همان غل و زنجیر هم فرمانروای مطلق ارادهٔ خود بود.

دگرگونی نمادین زنجیر: زنجیر در این فرم، دیگر نشان‌دهندهٔ شکست نیست؛ گواهی است بر پایداری و مدرکی بر این‌که دشمن برای مهار چنین اراده‌ای، چاره‌ای جز متوسل‌شدن به خشن‌ترین ابزارها نداشته است.

بابک در تاریخ؛ حکایتِ چهرهٔ سرخ

بابک خرمدین (۷۹۵ یا ۷۹۸ – ژانویهٔ ۸۳۸ میلادی)، زادهٔ اردبیل و رهبر جنبش خرمدینان، بیش از بیست سال از دلِ دژِ کوهستانی بَذ در آذربایجان در برابر خلافت عباسی ایستاد؛ قیامی که از سال ۲۰۱ هجری آغاز شد و سپاهیان خلافت را بارها در هم شکست. سرانجام معتصم در سال ۲۲۰ قمری افشین را برای سرکوب او گماشت؛ در ۲۲۲ قمری دژ بَذ سقوط کرد، بابک گریخت و در راه ارمنستان گرفتار آمد؛ او را به سامرا بردند، سوار بر فیل به نمایش گذاشتند و در ژانویهٔ ۸۳۸ اعدامش کردند.

ماندگارترین روایت، واپسین لحظات اوست: چون یکی از دست‌هایش را بریدند، بابک با خونِ جاری از بازویش چهره‌اش را سرخ کرد. وقتی پرسیدند چرا، پاسخ داد تا کسی نگوید رویِ او از ترس زرد شده است — همان «اراده در اوج بی‌دفاعی» که این پیکره آن را مجسم می‌کند.

یادداشت منبع: بر پایهٔ روایات تاریخی سرگذشت بابک خرمدین؛ حکایتِ سرخ‌کردنِ چهره با خون، از مشهورترین نقل‌های واپسین لحظات اوست.

Model XI: Babak Khorramdin – The Unbroken Spirit in Bondage

A sculptured narrative of a moment where the body is bound, yet the spirit stands entirely free...

In the 11th entry of the “Ancient Iranian Mythology Series,” we capture a figure who redefined resilience at history’s most tragic crossroads. In this sculpture, the contrast between physical restraint and structural poise conveys inner liberation.

Three Pillars of the Composition:

Contrast of Weight & Freedom: the darkness of the black clay and the heaviness of iron symbolize the outward captivity, while the upright bearing and heroic gesture of the figure declare the absolute freedom of his mind and spirit.

Willpower at the Peak of Defenselessness: according to historical accounts, even in his hardest moments he refused to let the paleness of his face become a victory for the enemy — a conduct showing that even in irons he remained the absolute ruler of his own will.

The Symbolic Transformation of the Chain: in this form the chain no longer signifies defeat; it is testimony to perseverance and proof that to harness such a will, the enemy had no recourse but the cruelest of instruments.

In the video, the three-part composition reveals itself: Babak stands upright at the center of the frame with both hands raised, chains hanging from his wrists — no longer binding him; at the base of the figure sits a captive and facing him a guard with a chain in hand, while a tangled chain lies on the stone platform. The darkness of the black clay and the weight of iron set the heaviness of outward captivity against the figure’s upright poise, and the Saro emblem sits at the edge of the frame.

Babak Khorramdin (795 or 798 – January 838 CE), born in Ardabil and leader of the Khurram-Dinān movement, stood for more than twenty years against the Abbasid caliphate from the mountain fortress of Badd in Azerbaijan — a revolt that began in 201 AH (816/817 CE) and repeatedly shattered the caliphate’s armies. Finally, in 220 AH (835 CE), Caliph al-Mu’tasim sent Afshin to crush him; the fortress fell in 222 AH (837 CE), Babak fled and was captured on the way to Armenia; he was taken to Samarra, paraded on an elephant, and executed in January 838.

The most enduring account belongs to his final moments: when one of his hands was severed, Babak stained his face with the blood gushing from his arm. Asked why, he answered so that no one would say his face had turned pale with fear — the very “willpower at the peak of defenselessness” that this figure embodies.

Source note: based on historical accounts of the life of Babak Khorramdin; the story of staining his face with blood is among the best-known narrations of his final hours. Caption and English title by the artist.

داستان ضحاک؛ هزار سال سلطه و یک عمر در بند

ضحاک پسرِ مرداس، شاهِ عرب بود؛ در شاهنامه، اهریمن در پیکرهٔ جوانی به نامِ آشپز به درگاه او راه یافت و خورش‌های خون‌آلود آورد — و آن‌گاه که از پاداش خواسته‌اش چیزی نپذیرفت جز بوسه‌ای بر دوش‌ها، از هر بوسه ماری سیاه رویید. بریدنِ مارها کار نساخت و جُرّاح گفت: جز به مغزِ سرِ انسان آرام نمی‌گیرند. از آن روزگار، ضحاک پدرش مرداس را کشت و بر تخت نشست و — چنان‌که آغازِ روایت شاهنامه می‌گوید — «چو ضحاک شد بر جهان شهریار»: هزار سال فرمان راند و جهان را به ستم گرفت.

هر شب دو نوجوان از شهریان به خوراک مارها برده می‌شد؛ اما آشپزانِ دربار، ارمایل و گرمایل، رحمت آوردند: هر شب یکی را رها می‌کردند و مغزِ گوسفند می‌آمیختند — و فردوسی نژاد کردان را از نسل همین دو رحمت‌پیشگان می‌داند. کابوسِ ضحاک و پیشگوییِ موبدان، خواب از چشم او ربود؛ کاوهٔ آهنگر پیش‌بندِ چرمینش را بر نیزه برافراشت — درفشِ کاویانی — و فریدونِ جوان، که با شیرِ گاوِ برمایه پرورده شده بود، با گرزِ گاوسر به میدان آمد. در واپسین نبرد فریدون گرز بر سرِ او کوفت: «بر آن گُرزهٔ گاوسر دست برد / بزد بر سرش، ترگ بشکست خرد».

فریدون گرز فروآورد که بکشد، اما سروش درآمد: «مزن گفت کاو را نیامد زمان». پس کمندی از چرم شیر آورد و «به تندی ببستش دو دست و میان / که نگشاید آن بند پیل ژیان»؛ ضحاک را «بسته خوار» بر پشت هیون نهادند و به فرمانِ سروش راهی کوه کردند: «که این بسته را تا دماوند کوه / ببر همچنان تازیان بی‌گروه». در غاری بن‌ناپدید، «مسمارهای گران» آوردند و چنان بستند که «فرو بست دستش بر آن کوه باز / بدان تا بماند به سختی دراز».

و ضحاک هنوز زنده است و در بند است. شاهنامه کار او را با مرگ نمی‌بندد، با زنجیر می‌بندد: «گسسته شد از خویش و پیوند او / بمانده بدان گونه در بند او». در شرح‌های شاهنامه (چون شرح دکتر محجوب) و روایت‌های تاریخی چون تاریخ سیستان آمده که او تا فرجامِ کارِ جهان در دماوند دربند است و آن‌گاه که زنجیرش در پایانِ زمان می‌گسلد، پایانِ کارش به دست گرشاسب — جدِ رستم — گرزبه‌دست خواهد بود. برای همین است که دماوند در ادبیات ما هم قهرمانِ سرمای است و هم زندانِ ستم؛ و برای همین است که در این پیکره، مارهای دوشِ او خشم را نشان می‌دهند، اما اورنگ و سکوتِ فرم، صلابتِ یک افسانهٔ ناتمام را.

اژی‌دهاک در یک نگاه

• نام در اوستا: اژی‌دهاک — در شاهنامه: ضحاک ماردوش (اژدهادوش)
• پدر: مرداس، شاهِ عرب — به دست خودِ پسر کشته شد
• نشانِ لعنت: دو مارِ سیاه روییده از دوش، خوراکشان مغزِ سرِ انسان
• فرمانروایی: هزار سال بر جهان — «چو ضحاک شد بر جهان شهریار»
• خیزش: کاوهٔ آهنگر و درفشِ کاویانی
• شکست: به دست فریدون با گرزِ گاوسر — «ترگ بشکست خرد»
• سرنوشت: در غاری در دماوند به بند کشیده شد — «فرو بست دستش بر آن کوه باز»
• فرجام: زنده و در بند تا پایانِ جهان؛ در فرجامِ زمان، به دست گرشاسب جدِ رستم

یادداشت منبع: بر پایهٔ شاهنامهٔ فردوسی، گفتار سوم — بخش ضحاک؛ ابیاتِ نقل‌شده عیناً از گنجور (بخش ۱۲، «بند کردن فریدون ضحاک را»؛ چاپ مسکو/خالقی مطلق). روایتِ زنده‌ماندنِ ضحاک در بند و فرجامِ گرشاسب: شرح شاهنامهٔ دکتر محجوب و تاریخ سیستان. صدای روایتِ ویدئو: برداشت از صفحهٔ شاهنامه با نیلوفر (اینستاگرام: @shahname.ba.niloofar).

Azhi Dahak (Zahhak-e Mardoush): Wrath on the Shoulders, Majesty on the Throne

Azhi Dahak — an immortal narrative of darkness, power and Shahnameh scholarship, shaped in clay and figure. Azhi Dahak, the symbol of domination and of the draconic nature, is the twelfth station of my volumetric journey into the depths of the ancient Persian myths.

The details of the face, the wrath of the serpents risen upon the shoulders, and the majesty seated upon the throne — all were shaped in search of giving sculptural form to the authenticity of this historical legend. In the video the full presentation sheet is shown: Zahhak enthroned with sword and mantle, the two serpents risen from his shoulders, the three-quarter face study, the serpent figures themselves, and two standing robed figures wearing serpent-crested caps — with the lettering “AZIHIDEHAK” and the Saro emblem in the frame.

The tale of Zahhak: a thousand years of dominion and a lifetime in bonds. Zahhak, son of Mardas, king of the Arabs: in the Shahnameh, Ahriman entered his court in the guise of a young cook serving blood-stained dishes — and, accepting no reward but a kiss upon each shoulder, caused two black serpents to spring from those kisses. Cutting them availed nothing, and the surgeon said they would only be quieted with the brains of young men. Zahhak slew his own father, seized the throne, and — as the Shahnameh opens his tale — “when Zahhak became king of the world,” he reigned a thousand years and filled the earth with tyranny.

Every night two youths were led to the serpents; yet the two court cooks, Armail and Garmail, chose mercy: each night they freed one of the two and mixed in sheep’s brains — and Ferdowsi makes the race of the Kurds descend from these two merciful men. Zahhak’s dream and the priests’ reading of it robbed him of sleep; Kaveh the smith raised his leather apron upon a lance — the Kavi banner — and the young Fereydun, nurtured on the milk of the wondrous cow, came to the field with the ox-headed mace. In the last combat Fereydun struck him down: “He reached for the ox-headed mace and smote his head — the helm shattered to pieces.”

Fereydun brought down the mace to kill him, but Sorush appeared: “Strike not — his appointed hour has not come.” So Fereydun made a leash of lion’s hide and “swiftly bound his two hands and his waist, a bond no elephant could break”; they loaded Zahhak, bound and abased, upon a camel and drove him toward the mountain: “Carry this captive to the mountain of Damavand, driving him on without a host.” In a hidden cave they brought mighty nails and bound him so that “he fastened his hand to that mountain’s rock, to remain in long hardship.”

And Zahhak is still alive and still in bonds. The Shahnameh does not end him with death; it ends him with a chain: “Severed were his kin and all his ties; he remained, just as he was — in bonds.” The commentaries on the Shahnameh (such as Dr. Mahjub’s) and historical accounts such as the Tarikh-e Sistan relate that he remains chained in Damavand until the end of the world; and when his chain breaks at the end of time, his final end will come at the hands of Garshasp — Rostam’s ancestor — wielder of the mace. Thus Damavand in our literature is both the hero of pride and the prison of tyranny; and thus in this sculpture the serpents on his shoulders show wrath, while the throne and the silence of the form hold the majesty of an unfinished legend.

Azhi Dahak at a glance: Avestan name — Azhi Dahak; in the Shahnameh — Zahhak-e Mardoush (the serpent-shouldered). Father — Mardas, king of the Arabs, slain by his own son. Mark of the curse — two black serpents from his shoulders, fed on human brains. Reign — a thousand years over the world. Uprising — Kaveh the smith and the Kavi banner. Defeat — by Fereydun with the ox-headed mace. Fate — chained in a cave in Damavand. End — alive and bound until the end of the world, to fall at last to Garshasp.

Source note: based on Ferdowsi’s Shahnameh, Third Disc — the Zahhak section; quoted verses follow Ganjoor verbatim (Part 12, “Fereydun Binds Zahhak”; Moscow/Khaligi-Motlaq text). The account of Zahhak remaining alive in his bonds and of Garshasp’s final blow follows Dr. Mahjub’s commentary on the Shahnameh and the Tarikh-e Sistan. The narration heard in the video draws upon the readings of @shahname.ba.niloofar (“Shahnameh with Niloofar”).

داستان باربد؛ سازِ شاهان و سوگِ آهنگ

در دربار ساسانیان موسیقی جایگاهی همیشگی داشت و خسرو پرویز (۵۹۰–۶۲۸ میلادی) بزرگ‌ترین حامی آن بود؛ دورهٔ فرمانروایی او عصر طلایی موسیقی ایران شمرده می‌شود. در آن دربار خنیاگرانِ نامی فراوان بودند — نکیسا، بامشاد، سرکش، رامتین و آزادوار چنگی — اما نامِ باربد از همه برتر نشست: شاعر، خنیاگر، بربت‌نواز و ترانه‌سرا؛ و به گواهی منابع، «شاه‌رامشگرانِ» دربار. نام او در منابع عرب به شکل «فهلبد/پهلبد» آمده — عربی‌شدهٔ نامِ پهلوی‌اش؛ «بار» به معنای اجازهٔ بار یافتن و «بد» به معنای صاحب و خدایگان: کسی که اجازهٔ همیشگیِ بار یافتن به درگاه شاه را دارد.

شاهنامه صعود او را چنین روایت می‌کند: راهِ درگاه به رویش بسته شده بود، زیرا سرکش — خنیاگرِ ارشد — به دربان گفته بود: «که از من به سال و هنر برترست / نباید که در پیش خسرو شود». باربد نومید از بارگاه برگشت: «چو نومید برگشت زان بارگاه / ابا بربط آمد سوی باغ شاه». لباسِ سبز پوشید و در باغِ شاهی پنهان شد؛ باغبانی به نام مردوی یاری‌اش کرد و در نوروزِ شاه، دو هفته در جشن‌گاه باغ ماند و سه سرودِ «دادآفرید»، «پیکار گرد» و «سبز در سبز» را برای خسرو نواخت. شاه بی‌درنگ شیفته شد و او را بر سرِ سرکش نشانَد و مهترِ رامشگران کرد.

نام باربد با نظامی گره خورده که به موسیقی ایران داد: هفت «خسروانی»، سی «لحن» و سیصدوشصت «دستان» — برابرِ هفته، ماه و سالِ گاه‌شماری ایرانی؛ به روایت حمدالله مستوفی هر روزِ سال یکی از دستان‌ها را برای شاه می‌نواخت، و به روایت جرجانی «هرگز یک ترانه را دو بار در حضور شاه ننواخت». از داستان‌های ماندگارش، ماجرای شبدیز است: خسرو فرمان داده بود هر که خبر مرگ اسب محبوبش را بگوید جان بدهد؛ پس از مرگ شبدیز، باربد آهنگی سوگناک نواخت و شاه با ناله گفت: «شبدیز مرده است» — و باربد پاسخ داد: «بله، شاهنشاه؛ شما اعلام کردید». تنها بازماندهٔ مکتوب از او سه مصراعی است که ابن خردادبه در «کتاب اللهو و الملاهی» ثبت کرده و شفیعی‌کدکنی آن را کهن‌ترین نمونهٔ شعر فارسی دری می‌داند: «قیصر ماه ماند و خاقان خورشید / آن من خدای ابر ماند کامغاران / که خواهد ماه پوشد که خواهد خورشید».

فرجامِ باربد در شاهنامه نه با یک ترانه، با یک سوگ بسته می‌شود. چون خسرو پرویز به دست پسرش شیرویه کشته شد، باربد «ز جهرم بیامد سوی طیسفون / پر از آب مژگان و دل پر ز خون» و در برابر تخت، شیون برآورد: «کجا آن بزرگی و آن دستگاه / کجات آن همه فر و تخت و کلاه». آن‌گاه سوگند خورد که دیگر برای شاهِ بداندیش ننوازد: «بسوزم همه آلت خویش را / بدان تا نبینم بداندیش را» — «ببرید هر چارانگشت خویش»، به خانه رفت، آتشی برافروخت و «همه آلت خویش یکسر بسوخت». این‌گونه نامش ماند: جایزهٔ باربدِ جشنوارهٔ موسیقی فجر، تالار باربدِ فرهنگستان هنر، و بربتی که در شعر فارسی نمادِ دوران طلایی موسیقی ایران شد.

باربد در یک نگاه

• پیشه: شاعر، خنیاگر، بربت‌نواز و ترانه‌سرای دربار خسرو پرویز (۵۹۰–۶۲۸ میلادی)
• لقب دربار: «شاه‌رامشگران» — مهترِ رامشگرانِ دربار
• ساز: بربت — به روایت شاهمردان رازی، خودِ او مخترع این ساز؛ بعدها عود جای آن را گرفت
• نام: عربی‌شدهٔ «پهلبد» پهلوی — صاحبِ اجازهٔ همیشگیِ بار یافتن به درگاه
• نظام موسیقی: هفت خسروانی، سی لحن، سیصدوشصت دستان — برابرِ هفته، ماه و سال
• صعود: سه سرودِ نهان‌آسا در باغِ نوروزی — «دادآفرید»، «پیکار گرد»، «سبز در سبز» (شاهنامه، بخش ۷۰ خسرو پرویز)
• داستان ماندگار: خبرِ مرگ شبدیز با آهنگ، نه با سخنِ بنای اعدام
• فرجام: شیون بر خسرو، بریدن چهار انگشت و سوزاندنِ آلاتِ موسیقی (شاهنامه، بخش ۴ پادشاهی شیرویه)

یادداشت منبع: بر پایهٔ شاهنامهٔ فردوسی؛ ابیاتِ نقل‌شده عیناً از گنجور (پادشاهی خسرو پرویز، بخش ۷۰ — «راه بستن سرکش بر باربد، نواختن سه سرود نهان بر سرو و مهتر شدن او بر رامشگران»؛ پادشاهی شیرویه، بخش ۴ — «شیون باربد بر مرگ خسرو، بریدن چهار انگشت و سوختن آلات خویش»؛ چاپ مسکو). روایات تاریخی: کتاب اللهو و الملاهی ابن خردادبه، خسرو و شیرین نظامی، غرر السیر ثعالبی و تاریخ گزیده حمدالله مستوفی. صدای روایتِ ویدئو: با صدای گرم امیرالاهی (اینستاگرام: @amirelaahi2).

Barbad: The Pride of the Music of Iran's Land

Barbad — the pride of the music of Iran's land, and the thirteenth work of my series on the myths and luminaries of ancient Iran. Music flourished in Sassanid Iran and sounded continually in the Sassanid court. Barbad was among the Iranian musicians most favored by the Sassanid shahs; he may well be called the greatest musician of ancient Iran.

In the video the full presentation sheet is shown: Barbad standing with a tall Sassanid-style cap, flowing wavy hair and a long robe, the barbat held to his chest — in four views: full-front, two profiles and the back — together with the three-quarter face study and the Saro emblem in the frame.

The tale of Barbad: the lute of kings and the elegy of strings. In the Sassanid court music held a permanent place, and Khosrow II Parviz (r. 590–628) was its greatest patron; his reign is regarded as the golden age of Iranian music. That court held famed minstrels — Nakisa, Bamshad, Sarkash, Ramin and Azadvar the harpist — but Barbad's name rose above them all: poet, minstrel, barbat-player and songwriter, and, by the testimony of the sources, the “Shah-ramshgaran” — master of the court minstrels. In Arabic sources his name appears as “Fahlbad/Pahlbad”, the Arabized form of his Middle Persian name: “bar” (leave to appear at court) and “bad” (lord, holder) — one who holds perpetual leave to appear before the king.

The Shahnameh recounts his rise thus: the court gate was closed to him, for Sarkash — the chief musician — had told the gatekeeper, “He is senior to me in years and art; he must not come before Khosrow.” Barbad turned back in despair — “in despair he returned from that court, and with his barbat came to the Shah's garden.” He dressed in green and hid in the royal garden; a gardener named Marduy helped him, and through the two weeks of the Shah's Nowruz festival he played for Khosrow the three songs “Dad-Afarid”, “Peykar-e Gerd” and “Sabz dar Sabz”. The shah was at once enchanted: he crowned Barbad above Sarkash and made him master of the minstrels.

Barbad's name is bound to the system he gave Iranian music: seven “Khosravani” modes, thirty “lahn” and three hundred and sixty “dastan” — matching the week, the month and the year of the Iranian calendar; per Hamdallah Mustawfi he played one dastan for the shah on every day of the year, and per Jorjani “he never played the same song twice before the shah.” Among his enduring tales is that of Shabdiz: Khosrow had decreed death to whoever announced the death of his beloved horse; when Shabdiz died, Barbad played a mournful air and the shah cried out, “Shabdiz is dead” — and Barbad answered: “Yes, Shahanshah; you have announced it.” The only written relic of his is a three-verse piece that Ibn Khordadbeh recorded in his Kitab al-Lahw wa-l-Malahi — which Shafi'i Kadkani calls the oldest surviving specimen of Persian (Dari) poetry: “Caesar is as our moon, the Khagan our sun; ours is the Lord of clouds, the wielder of fate — he wills the moon be veiled, he wills the sun.”

The Shahnameh ends Barbad not with a song but with an elegy. When Khosrow Parviz was murdered by his son Shiruy, Barbad “came from Jahrom toward Ctesiphon, eyes brimming with tears and heart full of blood,” and before the throne raised his lament: “Where is that greatness and that state? Where all that splendor, throne and crown?” Then he swore never to play for a tyrant: “Let me burn all my instruments, so that I see no evil-minded one” — “he cut off his four fingers,” went home, lit a fire and “burned all his instruments at once.” Thus his name has lived on: the Barbad Award of the Fajr Music Festival, the Barbad Hall of the Academy of Arts, and the barbat itself, which in Persian poetry became the emblem of the golden age of Iranian music.

Barbad at a glance: profession — poet, minstrel, barbat-player and songwriter at the court of Khosrow II Parviz (590–628 CE); title — “Shah-ramshgaran”, master of the court minstrels; instrument — the barbat, whose invention is credited to him (per Shahmardan Razi), later supplanted by the oud; name — Arabized “Pahlbad”, holder of perpetual leave to appear at court; system — seven Khosravani, thirty lahn, 360 dastan, matching week, month and year; rise — three songs sung hidden in the Nowruz garden (“Dad-Afarid”, “Peykar-e Gerd”, “Sabz dar Sabz” — Shahnameh, Khosrow Parviz, Part 70); enduring tale — announcing Shabdiz's death in song, not in the words that carried a death sentence; end — the lament for Khosrow, cutting four fingers and burning his instruments (Shahnameh, Reign of Shiruy, Part 4).

Source note: based on Ferdowsi's Shahnameh; quoted verses follow Ganjoor verbatim (Reign of Khosrow Parviz, Part 70 — “Sarkash bars Barbad's way”; Reign of Shiruy, Part 4 — “Barbad's lament for Khosrow”; Moscow edition). Historical accounts: Ibn Khordadbeh's Kitab al-Lahw wa-l-Malahi, Nizami's Khosrow and Shirin, Tha'alibi's Gharr al-Siyar, and Hamdallah Mustawfi's Tarikh-e Gozide. The narration heard in the video is in the warm voice of Amir Elahi (Instagram: @amirelaahi2).

داستان یوتاب؛ دروازهٔ پارس و درخششی که ماند

زمستانِ سال ۳۳۰ پیش از میلاد؛ سوسا سقوط کرده بود و اسکندر مقدونی با سپاهی گران به سوی تخت جمشید می‌تاخت. تنها راهِ ورود به قلب پارس، گذرگاهی کوهستانی بود که «دروازهٔ پارس» خوانده می‌شود — تنگه‌ای که امروز آن را در ناحیهٔ کهگیلویه‌وبویراحمد و ممسنی (و به روایتی تنگ‌تکاب نزدیک بهبهان) نشان می‌دهند. آریوبرزن، ساتراپ پارس در دورهٔ داریوش سوم، در این تنگه سنگر گرفت و در روایت‌های ملی، بانویی کنارِ او ایستاد: یوتاب، خواهرِ کوچک‌ترش — شاهزاده‌ای که در فنون رزم و فرماندهی آموزش دیده بود و بخشی از نیروهای مدافع پارس را هدایت می‌کرد. تفاوتِ قوا حیرت‌انگیز بود: حدود ۷۰۰ تا ۲٬۰۰۰ ایرانی در برابر نزدیک به ۱۷٬۰۰۰ مقدونی؛ و نبرد به روایت منابع، ۲۰ ژانویهٔ ۳۳۰ پیش از میلاد در گرفت.

از بالای تنگه، سنگ‌های غول‌پیکر و تیربارانِ مداوم بر سر سپاه اسکندر فرو ریخت؛ یورشِ نخست شکست خورد و اسکندر — که از راهِ مستقیم نمی‌توانست بگذرد — به جست‌وجوی میان‌بر رفت. چوپانی محلی (به روایتی اسیری جنگی) راهِ کوهستانیِ سخت‌گذر را نشان داد؛ اسکندر سپاهش را بخش کرد — به روایت ویکی‌پدیا، با همراهی فیلوتاس و کراتروس — و از راهِ کوهستان به پشتِ مدافعان فرود آمد: محاصرهٔ کامل از جلو و عقب.

در روایت‌های ملی، یوتاب تسلیم نشد؛ شمشیر و سپر در خطِ مقدم، تا واپسین نفس کنار برادرش جنگید. سرنوشتِ آریوبرزن را منابع یکسان نوشته‌اند — یا در همان تنگه تا مرگ جنگید و یا پس از گریز به پارسه، در برابر دروازه‌های بسته، راهی جز نبرد نیافت — اما دربارهٔ یوتاب، روایتِ ملی یکصدا است. کاوهٔ فرخ در کتاب «سایه‌هایی در کویر: ایران باستان در جنگ» چنین آورده است: «برخی از افسانه‌های ایرانی از درخشش جنگجوی زن ایرانی، یوتاب، خواهر آریوبرزن نام برده‌اند که تا مرگ سرسختانه جنگید.» راه به تخت جمشید گشوده شد؛ چند ماه بعد، کاخ‌های پارسه در آتش رفت.

این نبرد، آخرین مقاومتِ سازمان‌یافتهٔ هخامنشیان در برابر اسکندر شمرده می‌شود و جایِ آن هنوز در حافظهٔ ایران زنده است: تندیسِ آریوبرزن در یاسوج، و نامِ یوتاب که به نامِ دختران و نمادِ شجاعت و ایستادگیِ زن ایرانی بدل شده است — همان «درخشان و بی‌همتایی» که نامش وعده می‌داد. و اکنون قلمِ سارو این بانو را از حافظهٔ ملی به پیکره بازگردانده است: نخستین بانویِ جنگجوی سلسله، مدلِ چهاردهم.

یوتاب در یک نگاه

• نام: یوتاب — «درخشان، یکتا و بی‌همتا»؛ و به روایتی «همیشه‌تابنده»
• خانواده در روایت ملی: خواهرِ کوچک‌ترِ آریوبرزن ساتراپ پارس (دورهٔ داریوش سوم) — فرزند آرتابازد
• آموزش: فنون رزم و فرماندهی — هدایت بخشی از نیروهای مدافع پارس در کارزارها
• میدان: نبرد دروازهٔ پارس (دربند پارس)، ۲۰ ژانویهٔ ۳۳۰ پیش از میلاد
• قوای دو طرف: ۷۰۰–۲٬۰۰۰ ایرانی در برابر حدود ۱۷٬۰۰۰ مقدونی
• تاکتیک دفاع: سنگر در بالای تنگه و بارانِ سنگ و تیر — وادارکردن اسکندر به عقب‌نشینی
• دگردیسی نبرد: نشان‌دادن راهِ کوهستانی به اسکندر توسط چوپانی محلی و محاصرهٔ مدافعان از پشت
• میراث: نماد شجاعت زن ایرانی؛ تندیسِ آریوبرزن در یاسوج؛ و نخستین بانوی جنگجوی سلسلهٔ سارو (مدل ۱۴)

یادداشت منبع: نبرد دروازهٔ پارس (۲۰ ژانویهٔ ۳۳۰ پ.م) در منابع کلاسیک — آرین (آناباسیس اسکندر)، دیودور سیسیلی و کوینتوس کورتیوس روفوس — به‌تفصیل روایت شده و آریوبرزن ساتراپ پارس در آن شناخته‌شده است؛ اما در این منابع نامی از یوتاب نرفته است. نخستین بازتاب مکتوبِ روایتِ او، کتاب کاوهٔ فرخ، «سایه‌هایی در کویر: ایران باستان در جنگ» است که با ارجاع به «برخی افسانه‌های ایرانی» از یوتابِ خواهر آریوبرزن یاد می‌کند. در منابع دورهٔ اشکانی نیز «یوتاپا» خواهرِ آریوبرزن دوم فرمانروای ماد آترپاتن است (که به همسری مهرداد سوم کماژن درآمد) و برخی پژوهشگران خاستگاه خلطِ دو روایت را همین هم‌نامی می‌دانند. معنای نام: «درخشان، یکتا و بی‌همتا» (دیکشنری‌های فارسی). صدای ویدئو: موسیقی پس‌زمینه، بدون روایت گفتاری. مجسمه: قلمِ خودِ هنرمند.

Youtab: The Shining Lady of the Persian Gate

Youtab — the Achaemenid woman commander and sister of Ariobarzanes — is one of the most prominent emblems of courage and steadfastness in the history of ancient Iran; her likeness has been recreated here as the fourteenth work of my series on the myths and heroes of ancient Iran. In Old Persian, “Youtab” means “shining”, “unique and peerless”, or “possessing a lasting radiance”. She was the daughter of Artabazos and the younger sister of Ariobarzanes (satrap and celebrated commander of Pars in the reign of Darius III of the Achaemenids). Youtab was no mere princess: she was trained in the arts of war and command, and in campaigns she led part of the forces defending Pars.

After Susa fell, Alexander of Macedon marched with a great army upon Persepolis. The only way into the heart of Pars was a mountain pass — the “Persian Gate” (in the region of today's Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad or Mamasani). Ariobarzanes and Youtab, with a small but resolute force, fortified themselves atop the gorge. When the Macedonians advanced, the Iranians hurled colossal boulders and dense volleys of arrows, striking Alexander's army so hard that it was driven back. Blocked, Alexander — guided by a local shepherd (or a prisoner of war) through rugged mountain trails — fell upon the Iranians from behind and surrounded them. Beset from front and rear, Youtab and Ariobarzanes refused to yield; Youtab held the front line with sword and shield and — as the Iranian legends tell — fought stubbornly to her last breath.

The video shows the full presentation sheet: Youtab in armour atop a crag, advancing — a crested helmet with face-guard, hair flowing from beneath it, an embossed cuirass, a pleated leather skirt and cloak, a round shield on her left arm and a sword in her right hand — in four views: full-front, two profiles/back views and the back — together with the Saro emblem in the frame.

Winter, 330 BCE: Susa had fallen and Alexander was racing toward Persepolis. The only way into the heart of Pars was the mountain pass known as the “Persian Gate” — a gorge today located in the region of Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad and Mamasani (and, in one account, Tang-e Takab near Behbahan). Ariobarzanes, satrap of Pars under Darius III, fortified the pass, and in the national narratives a woman stood beside him: Youtab, his younger sister — a princess trained in war and command who led part of the defending forces. The disparity was staggering: some 700 to 2,000 Iranians against nearly 17,000 Macedonians; the battle, by the sources, was joined on 20 January 330 BCE.

From above the gorge, colossal boulders and ceaseless volleys of arrows rained down on Alexander's army; the first assault failed, and Alexander — unable to pass directly — went looking for a bypass. A local shepherd (or, in one telling, a war captive) showed him a rugged mountain trail; Alexander split his force — per Wikipedia, accompanied by Philotas and Craterus — and descended behind the defenders: complete encirclement, front and rear.

In the national narratives Youtab did not yield: sword and shield on the front line, she fought to her last breath beside her brother. The sources write Ariobarzanes' end variously — he either fought to the death in the gorge itself, or, escaping toward Persepolis, found only closed gates and no way but battle — but about Youtab the national account is unanimous. Kaveh Farrokh records in “Shadows in the Desert: Ancient Persia at War”: “Some Iranian legends speak of the brilliance of the Iranian woman warrior, Youtab, sister of Ariobarzanes, who fought stubbornly to the death.” The way to Persepolis lay open; months later the palaces of Parsa went up in flames.

This battle is counted as the Achaemenids' last organized resistance to Alexander, and its place is still alive in Iran's memory: the statue of Ariobarzanes in Yasuj, and the name Youtab, which has become a girl's name and an emblem of Iranian women's courage and steadfastness — the very “shining, peerless” light her name promised. And now Saro's hand has returned this lady from national memory to sculpted form: the first woman warrior of the series, model fourteen.

Youtab at a glance: name — “shining, unique and peerless”, or per one account “ever-radiant”; family in the national narrative — younger sister of Ariobarzanes, satrap of Pars under Darius III, daughter of Artabazos; training — the arts of war and command, leading part of the forces defending Pars; battlefield — the Battle of the Persian Gate, 20 January 330 BCE; forces — 700–2,000 Iranians against some 17,000 Macedonians; defence — fortifying the top of the gorge with volleys of rock and arrow, driving Alexander back; reversal — a local shepherd showing Alexander the mountain trail and the encirclement of the defenders from behind; legacy — an emblem of Iranian women's courage, the statue of Ariobarzanes in Yasuj, and the first woman warrior of Saro's series (model 14).

Source note: the Battle of the Persian Gate (20 January 330 BCE) is recounted in detail in the classical sources — Arrian (The Anabasis of Alexander), Diodorus Siculus and Quintus Curtius Rufus — where Ariobarzanes, satrap of Pars, is well attested; but no Youtab is named in those sources. The earliest written reflection of her story is Kaveh Farrokh's “Shadows in the Desert: Ancient Persia at War”, which, citing “some Iranian legends”, speaks of Youtab the sister of Ariobarzanes. In Parthian-era sources “Iotapa” is the sister of Ariobarzanes II, ruler of Media Atropatene (married to Mithridates III of Commagene), and some researchers take this shared name as the origin of the conflation of the two accounts. Name meaning: “shining, unique and peerless” (Persian dictionaries). The video's sound is background music, without spoken narration. Sculpture: the artist's own hand.

داستان زال؛ از رهاسازی تا پیمانِ پر

سام، پهلوانِ بزرگِ ایران، سال‌ها چشم به راهِ فرزندی نشسته بود؛ سرانجام نوزادی یافت اما سپیدمو — سر تا پا سفید. در آن هنگام، سپیدیِ مو را شگونِ نیک نمی‌دانستند؛ مردانِ آیین و سرداران آن را نشانِ آفت خواندند و سام — که شرمِ مردم را بر خود سنگین‌تر می‌دید — دل را به سنگ بست و کودک را در پای کوهِ البرز افکند تا یا دِیو و درنده بخورد و یا کسی بیابدش. اما آوای گریهٔ نوزاد در دلِ کوه پیچید و به آشیانهٔ سیمرغ رسید؛ سیمرغ به مهری که خداوند در نهاد او گذاشته بود، نوزاد را برداشت و در کنار چنگاله‌های خود خواباند.

زال در آشیانه بزرگ شد؛ با چنگاله‌های سیمرغ هم‌بازی بود، از او آموخت و جز آشیانه خانه‌ای و جز او مادری ندید. سال‌ها گذشت؛ رهگذرانِ کوه‌راه از دیدنِ جوانی سروقامت در بلندای البرز شگفت‌زده می‌شدند و خبر، از دهان به دهان رفت — تا سام در خواب پیکی دید که آگاهش کرد پسرش زنده است. پشیمان و شرمنده، با هدایا و آیینی بزرگ به البرز آمد و در آنجا جوانی دید چون سروِ آزاده، و سیمرغ بر فرازش بال گشوده بود.

وداع دشوارترین لحظه بود: زال در آغوشِ سیمرغ اشک ریخت و سیمرغ با بوسه و سخنِ نیک دلداری‌اش داد — «تو برای فرمانروایی میان مردمان آفریده شده‌ای» — و شاخه‌ای از پرِ خویش به او سپرد. زال به خانهٔ سام بازگشت و بر تختِ پدری نشست؛ و همان زال، پدرِ رستم شد — پدری که نامش در شاهنامه با قید «زالِ زَر» جاودانه است.

در راهِ بازگشت به سیستان، از کنارِ کابل گذشت؛ کاخِ مهراب و آوازهٔ رودابه — دخترِ کمال — دلش را گرفت. خواستگاری و پاسخ، و آن صحنهٔ مشهور: رودابه گفت گیسوانش را از سرِ دیوار بند کند تا زال بر آن بالا رود؛ زال نپذیرفت که پایِ مهرِ او به خفت ماند — طنابِ هفتاد ذرع فرمود و بر دیوار رفت. سرانجام به داوریِ ستارگان و رضایتِ منوچهر، زال و رودابه به هم رسیدند — و حاصلِ آن پیوند، رستم بود.

در این داستان، سیمرغ صورتِ مهرِ آسمانی است و پر، رشتهٔ پیوندِ زمین و آسمان؛ زال حلقهٔ پیوندِ نسل‌ها شد — از سام تا رستم — و آنچه این نسل را در دو بحرانِ مرگ‌آور نجات داد، نه تیغ بود و نه زور؛ مهرِ نگه‌داری‌شده‌ای بود که یک روز به دادش رسید. شاید از این روست که فردوسی، داستانِ زال و سیمرغ را در همان آغازِ کارنامهٔ ایران می‌نهد: تا بگوید پهلوانیِ رستم از یک پیمانِ مادرانه آغاز شد.

زال در یک نگاه

• نام: زال — به سبب سپیدمویی؛ در شاهنامه «زالِ زَر» نیز خوانده شده
• پدر: سامِ نریمان، پهلوان بزرگ ایران — فرزندِ نریمان و نوهٔ گرشاسب
• پرورنده: سیمرغِ البرز — مادری که زال را از نوزادی به آشیانه برد و بزرگ کرد
• همسر: رودابه، دختر مهرابِ کابلی — از تبار اژی‌دهاک، اما ستاره‌بختِ نیک
• فرزندان: رستم، پهلوانِ پهلوانان — و زواره
• پیمانِ پر: دو سوختنِ پر — زایش رستم و نبردِ رستم و اسفندیار
• رازِ گزان‌ترین: تنها چوبِ آن درخت بود که تیرش بر اسفندیار کارساز شد
• جایگاه در شاهنامه: حلقهٔ پیوندِ سام و رستم؛ نمادِ مهرِ بی‌دریغ و پیمانِ جاودان

Zal & Simorgh: The Covenant of the Feather

The story of Zal’s parting from the Simorgh is among the most tender and pivotal narratives of Ferdowsi’s Shahnameh; its climactic scene has been recreated here as the fifteenth model of the Persian Myths design & modeling series. Zal, son of Sam-e Nariman — the great paladin of Iran and grandson of Garshasp — was born with white hair. Sam read the white hair as an omen of blight and a mark of shame, and — against his own heart — abandoned the infant at the foot of Mount Alborz. That night the child’s cry reached the eyrie of the Simorgh, the mythical bird nesting high on Alborz. Filled with the mercy God had placed in her, the Simorgh swept down, carried Zal to her nest beside her own chicks, nursed and raised him, and became his mother.

When Sam learned in a dream that his white-haired son was alive, he came to the foot of Alborz in deep repentance to take Zal back. The Simorgh, who had raised Zal with love from infancy, knew that the time had come for him to return to the world of men. Zal, who knew the Simorgh as his only mother and refuge, wept bitterly at the parting. She comforted him and reminded him that his destiny was kingship and heroism among humans.

To keep her bond with Zal and to give him assurance, the Simorgh plucked a feather from her wing and gave it to him, sealing an eternal covenant: whenever you are caught in hardship, illness or a battle whose knot cannot be untied, cast a piece of this feather into the fire; when its smoke rises to the sky, I shall come like a dark cloud amid wind and thunder, and drive calamity from you and your house.

Twice in Iran’s mythic history the feather saved Zal’s line at the darkest hour. First, at Rostam’s birth: the infant was so large that Rudabeh’s life was in danger. Zal burned the feather; the Simorgh descended and taught him to let Rudabeh drink wine until she fell into deep sleep, then open her flank, deliver the child, and heal the wound with a healing balm. Thus Rostam, the paladin of paladins, was born through his mother’s opened flank while she lived — among the earliest caesarean accounts in world heroic literature.

The second time came in the war of Rostam and Esfandiyar: arrow and sword had no effect on Esfandiyar’s wondrously hardened body, and Rostam’s cause was at a dead end. Zal again cast the feather into the fire; the Simorgh came and unlocked the secret: no weapon prevails against Esfandiyar except an arrow cut from the branch of the gazan-tin tree — a marvelous tamarisk by the salt waste and the sea — and the target is his eye. Rostam made the gazan-tin arrow, and Esfandiyar fell. Thus the covenant of the feather delivered two successive generations from destruction.

The video shows the full presentation sheet: Zal — with flowing hair and worn garments — standing atop a crag, hands raised to the sky, while the Simorgh’s talon descends toward him from the eyrie, her wave-like tail-feathers streaming in the wind: the moment of parting from the nest and the covenant of the feather — in three views, with the Saro emblem in the frame.

Zal at a glance: name — for his white hair; also called “Zal-e Zar” (the golden Zal) in the Shahnameh; father — Sam-e Nariman, paladin of Iran, son of Nariman and grandson of Garshasp; foster-mother — the Simorgh of Alborz; wife — Rudabeh, daughter of Mehrab of Kabul (of Zahhak’s line, yet blessed by the stars); sons — Rostam, the paladin of paladins, and Zavareh; the covenant — the feather burned twice, at Rostam’s birth and in the Esfandiyar war; the gazan-tin — the only wood whose arrow could pierce Esfandiyar; place in the Shahnameh — the link between Sam and Rostam, an emblem of selfless love and an eternal covenant.

Sculpture: the artist’s own hand. The video’s sound is background music, without spoken narration.

گردآفرید؛ آن‌سوی رزم

گردآفرید یعنی «پهلوانِ آفریده» — نامش با همان «گرد»ی آغاز می‌شود که در گردان و سپهدار، نشانهٔ پهلوانی است. حضورش در شاهنامه کوتاه است — چند صد بیت از داستان سهراب — اما چنان برجسته که پس از هزار سال، در نقاشی و نمایش و ادبیات، همیشه زنده بوده است. فردوسی او را با دو صفت می‌سازد: رزم و چاره — او هم شمشیر می‌زند و هم می‌اندیشد، و این دومین، کارسازتر است.

نبرد گردآفرید و سهراب از مضمون‌های محبوب نگارگری ایرانی است؛ شاهنامهٔ شاه تهماسب نیز نگاره‌ای مشهور از این رزم دارد. در این نگاره‌ها معمولاً لحظهٔ آشکار شدنِ گیسوان انتخاب شده است — همان لحظه‌ای که رزم به شگفتی، و شگفتی به سخن می‌رسد.

در فرهنگ امروز ایران، نام گردآفرید برای زنان، نشانِ ایستادگی و خرد است؛ او نمادِ آن‌گونه‌ای است که در حماسه، زن می‌تواند هم پهلوان باشد و هم خردورز — و سرنوشتِ یک لشکر را با هر دو دگرگون کند.

گردآفرید در یک نگاه

• نام: گردآفرید — به چمِ «پهلوانِ آفریده»؛ «گرد» در حماسه، نشانهٔ پهلوانی است
• پدر: گژدهم، کدخدای دژ سپید
• زمان و مکان: روزگار کیکاوس — دژ سپید، در مرزِ ایران و توران
• رقیب: سهراب، فرزندِ جوانِ رستم و تهمینه — سردارِ لشکر توران
• رزم: کمان‌داریِ چابک؛ نیزهٔ سهراب را دو نیم کرد — و او را به درنگ واداشت
• رازِ گیسوان: زلفین زیر کلاه‌خود؛ با فرودِ ضربهٔ سهراب آشکار شد و نبرد به سخن بدل گشت
• چاره: بهانه و بازگشت به دژ، نامه به کیکاوس، شب‌کوچِ مردم — دژ خالی، تیغ بی‌نشان
• جایگاه: نخستین شیرزنِ شاهنامه؛ نمادِ شجاعت و خرد — و حلقهٔ پیوندِ خبرِ سهراب به دربار ایران

Gordafarid: The Arrow and the Hair

The story of Gordafarid is among the most thrilling and beloved narratives of Ferdowsi’s Shahnameh; its climactic scene has been recreated here as the sixteenth model of the Persian Myths design & modeling series. When the Turanian army, led by the young Sohrab, swept toward Iran’s borders, the first battleground was the White Fortress. Hajir, the fortress champion, rode out against Sohrab but fell into his hands. With Hajir captured and the fortress trembling with fear of disgrace, Gordafarid, daughter of Gazhdaham, lord of the fortress, could not bear the shame of defeat. Furious, she donned a suit of armor, hid her lovely hair beneath a helmet so that none would know her sex, mounted her steed, and — like a ravening lion — rode out of the fortress, crying to the Turanian host: where are your champions and battle-tested chiefs? — and challenged Sohrab to single combat.

Gordafarid drew her bow with perfect skill and rained arrow after arrow upon Sohrab. Astonished at the daring and agility of this unknown warrior, Sohrab charged in fury. A hard battle ensued: Sohrab’s spear struck her girdle and tore her armor apart — but Gordafarid drew a keen sword and cut his spear in two. She wheeled her horse in a masterly maneuver and raced toward the fortress; Sohrab galloped after her and, in the narrow way, with one blow swept the helmet from her head. At that instant her long black tresses were freed from the armor’s bonds, and Gordafarid’s sun-like face was revealed.

The battlefield fell silent at once. Sohrab realized that this agile champion was a girl — and he marveled that a woman such as this should come to the arena from the Iranian host. He dismounted and said gently: I will fight you no more; seek no release from me — come with me, I will take Iran and Turan by my own arm and give you the crown, the treasure, and the lordship of both.

Gordafarid knew there was no escape from this youth save by stratagem. So she composed her face, praised his lion-like valor with winsome words, and found a pretext to return inside the fortress; the gate was opened, she entered, and the gate was shut. The people came to meet her and said: O kind-hearted lion-woman, you have both fought and contrived — no disgrace has come upon our house from what you have done.

That very night the White Fortress was emptied of its people. A letter was written to Kay Kavus — what enemy has come, this youth who bound Hajir thus — and a courier slipped past the Turanian camp before dawn. When day broke and Sohrab entered the fortress, the gates stood open, and nothing remained but wind and walls. Thus a single warrior-woman, with battle and with wisdom, delivered the fortress folk from death and carried Sohrab’s name and message to the court of Iran — before his sword could taste Iranian blood.

Gordafarid is the first lion-woman of Iran’s national epic. In a tale whose end is the tragedy of Sohrab, she is the only one who overpowered Sohrab in combat and forced him to pause — and that pause became Iran’s respite. Sohrab’s fate — and that of his father Rostam, who unknowingly slew his own son — is recreated in a separate piece of this series.

The video opens with the artist’s cinematic prologue: a woman in a palace announcing that Sohrab will reach the White Fortress tomorrow; then the full presentation sheet: Gordafarid in helmet, armor and cloak, spear raised high and the lion-emblazoned shield in hand — in three views, with the Saro emblem in the frame.

Sculpture: the artist’s own hand. The video’s sound is background music, without spoken narration.

سپندارمذ؛ مادرِ آدمیان از خاک

Sepandarmaz — Avestan Spəntā Ārmaiti, “holy devotion” — one of the six great Amesha Spentas, daughter of Ahura Mazda, guardian of the earth and of faithful women. The Gathas say she gave body and breath (Y 30.7); as the Earth herself she nurtured Gayomard’s seed until Mashya & Mashyana arose from the rhubarb plant. Her name-day feast, Sepandarmazgan (5 Esfand), was — per Biruni — a festival of women, love and the farmer’s earth. Episode 26 of the ongoing documented series; every artistic liberty is declared. Sculpture by Mahmoud Kohansal “Saro”.

شهناز و ارنواز؛ مادرانِ سه نژاد

Shahnaz & Arnavaz — the two women of Jamshid’s house in Zahhak’s palace. Ferdowsi calls them Jamshid’s daughters; the Avestan tradition (Arənauuāčī & Savanghavāčī) calls them his sisters. They quietly resisted, revealed Zahhak’s whereabouts to Fereydun, and became the ancestral mothers of Salm, Tur and Iraj — the maternal line of Iran’s kings. Episode 27 of the ongoing documented series; every artistic liberty is declared. Sculpture by Mahmoud Kohansal “Saro”.

پشنگ؛ پدرِ افراسیاب، خاستگاهِ طوفانِ توران

Pashang — king of Turan and father of Afrasiyab. Encyclopaedia Iranica: “all sources agree on the name of his father, Pašang.” The Bundahishn genealogy counts seven generations from Fereydun through Tur; in Arabic sources he is “Fashanj,” and Afrasiyab himself is styled “Pur-e Pashang” — son of Pashang. In the Shahnameh he launches the invasions of Nowzar’s era, renews the war after Zav, and — after Rostam defeats Afrasiyab — it is Pashang who signs the peace at the Oxus. The “origin of the storm” is documented: steppe-lander invasions and the drought motif; his dynasty even appears in myth as the bridegroom of the earth goddess Spandarmat. Episode 28 of the ongoing documented series; every artistic liberty is declared. Sculpture by Mahmoud Kohansal “Saro”.

بهرام گور؛ شاهِ ساسانی که صیادِ گور شد و صیدِ زمانه

Bahram V — “Bahram Gur” — the Sasanian King of Kings (r. 420–438 CE). Iranica records his youth at the Lakhmid court of Hira (Naʿman and Monḍer), his legendary accession by lifting the royal crown from between two hungry lions, his victory over the Hephthalites with offerings to the fire temple of Ādur Gušnasp, and his nickname “Gur” (onager) born from a memorable hunt. He remitted taxes at festivals and brought thousands of Indian minstrels (lūrīs) into Iran. The Shahnameh tells his tragic love of Azadeh; Nezami’s Haft Peykar makes him the hero of the Seven Domes; Hafez sealed the legend: “Bahram, who caught gur all his life — see how the grave caught Bahram.” Episode 29 of the ongoing documented series; every artistic liberty is declared. Sculpture by Mahmoud Kohansal “Saro”.

سام؛ پهلوانِ کهنِ ایران که اژدهای رودِ توس را از میان برداشت

Sam, son of Nariman and grandfather of Rostam, is the veteran pahlavan of Manuchehr’s era in Ferdowsi’s Shahnameh — and the slayer of the Dragon of Kashaf Rud. In “Sam’s letter to Manuchehr” the epic records: “Such a dragon rose from the Kashaf river and turned the world upside down; from city to city reached his height, from mountain to mountain his breadth,” and after the battle “the Kashaf river ran blood and yellow; the earth became a place of rest.” The Kashaf Rud flows past Mashhad and watered ancient Tus — Ferdowsi’s birthplace. Three generations, three dragons: Garshasp, Sam, and Rostam. Episode 31 of the ongoing documented series; every artistic liberty is declared. Sculpture by Mahmoud Kohansal “Saro”.

مگابیزوس؛ سرداری که هم مصر را فتح کرد و هم بر شاهِ خود شورید — و بخشیده شد

Megabyzus (Old Persian Bagabuxša, ‘god-saved’), the Achaemenid grand general of the 5th century BC: son of Zopyrus, brother-in-law of Xerxes, listed by Herodotus (7.90) among the chief commanders of the Greek expedition. He crushed the Inaros revolt in Egypt (460–455 BC) — the eighteen-month siege of Prosopitis and the canal that drained the Nile (Thucydides 1.109–110; Diodorus 11.74–77) — then himself revolted against Artaxerxes I and was pardoned. Episode 32 of the ongoing documented series; sculpture by Mahmoud Kohansal “Saro”.

فرهاد چهارم؛ شاهی که روم را شکست — و درفش‌های حران، سه دهه در دستِ ایران ماند

Phraates IV (Parthian Frahāt, ‘the acquired’), King of Kings of Parthia (37 BC–AD 2). In 36 BC he shattered Mark Antony’s invasion of some 100,000 men: Parthian horse-archers burned the siege train, and eighteen battles of the one-month retreat cost Rome two-fifths of its army (Plutarch, Antony 36–50; Dio 49). In 20 BC Augustus chose diplomacy — the legionary standards lost at Carrhae in 53 BC returned to Rome in exchange for the Parthian prince. The King who defeated Rome was later poisoned (2 BC) by Musa, the Italian gift of Augustus. Episode 33 of the ongoing documented series; sculpture by Mahmoud Kohansal “Saro”.

پوران‌دخت؛ بانویی که تخت را با داد گرفت — و تاریخ نامش را بر سکه نگه داشت

Purandokht (Boran) — daughter of Khosrow II and the first woman to sit on the Sasanian throne (accession spring 630 CE; regnal year 1 runs 17 June 629 – 16 June 630). Ferdowsi devotes a section of the Shahnameh to her crowning by the nobles and her covenant of justice; the sources record her peace embassy to Heraclius led by Catholicos Ishoʿyahb III, her gold and silver coinage bearing the winged, crescent-topped crown, her title “Queen of Queens” (bānbishnān bānbishn), and her reforms of bridges and farmers’ rights. Her death is a tragic enigma: a week’s illness in the Shahnameh, strangulation in Syriac chronicles, abdication in Pirnia. Episode 34 of the ongoing documented series; every artistic liberty is declared. Sculpture by Mahmoud Kohansal “Saro”.

فرانک؛ بانویی که دو بار فریدون را از مرگ رهاند و یک بار او را پخت

Faranak — wife of Abtin and mother of Fereydun — is among the first wise mothers of the Shahnameh. When the mobads read Zahhak’s dream and said his overthrower would rise from Abtin’s seed, the king killed the father and hunted the newborn “openly and in secret.” Faranak hid her child with the keeper of Bormayeh the cow — “accept him as a father, raise him on her milk” — and when the news reached Zahhak she snatched the boy away and fled once more. Sixteen years later Fereydun descended from Alborz and asked his mother first; her counsel — “do not see the world through the eye of youth” — seasoned the hero who would shatter the tyranny with the ox-head mace. In the Avesta the mother is unnamed (Thraetaona “of the house of Athwya”, Drvasp Yasht 13–14); Faranak is the Shahnameh’s gift — while the Kush-nameh calls her Fararang, daughter of the king of Silla. Episode 35 of the ongoing documented series; every artistic liberty is declared. Sculpture by Mahmoud Kohansal “Saro”.

اردشیر بابکان؛ شبان‌زاده‌ای که فرِّ شهریاری را بر دوشِ اسبش نشست

Ardashir Babakan (Ardashir I, r. 224–242 CE) — founder of the Sasanian Empire. The Kar-Namag i Ardashir i Pabagan records the three dreams of Papak (the sun shining from Sasan the shepherd’s head, a white elephant, the three sacred fires), Sasan’s hidden descent from Dara son of Dara, the escape from the Parthian court with a wise handmaiden, and the great ram — the royal Glory (xwarrah) — riding behind then upon Ardashir’s saddle. At Hormozdagan (28 April 224 CE) he defeated Artabanus IV and took the title Shahanshah on the field of battle (Encyclopaedia Iranica, “ARDAŠĪR I i. History”, J. Wiesehöfer, Vol. II, Fasc. 4, pp. 371-376). He founded the round city of Ardashir-Khwarrah (Gur/Firuzabad) and a dynasty that ruled for 423 years. Episode 36 of the ongoing documented series; every artistic liberty is declared. Sculpture by Mahmoud Kohansal “Saro”.

مازیار؛ سپهبدی که بارِ ایران را تا واپسین نفس بر دوش کشید

Mazyar ben Qarin (Mah-i Yazyar — “he whose helper is the moon-god”), the last Ispahbad of the Qarinvand house, one of the seven great Parthian clans tracing back to Sukhra, effective ruler of Sasanian Iran (484–493 CE); his father Qarin received the Ispahbadate of Tabaristan from Khosrow I Anushirvan in 565 CE. Tabari records his titles from al-Ma'mun's letter: “Gil of Gilan, Ispahbad of Ispahbads, Padashkhwargarshah” — the ancient style of the rulers of Tabaristan. In 839 CE (224 AH) he rose against the Abbasid caliph al-Mu'tasim and Abdallah ibn Tahir; the Tarikh-e Tabaristan quotes his pledge with Afshin and Babak “to take back the kingship from the Arabs and restore it to the house of the Kayanids.” Betrayed by his own brother Kuhyar, he was captured without a battle, paraded on an adorned elephant to Samarra, and — by the accounts — died under 450 lashes; his body was gibbeted in 225 AH. A century later Mardavij of the Ziyarids pursued the same ideal. His statue stands today at the head of Mazyar Street in Sari. In this model he kneels on a bed of relief flowers, bearing the globe with “IRAN” carved upon it, his hand resting on that very word. Episode 37 of the ongoing documented series; every artistic liberty is declared. Sculpture by Mahmoud Kohansal “Saro”.