Azhi Dahaka
Azhi Dahaka (also written Aži Dahāka ) is an arch demon from Persian mythology . The Middle Persian variant of the name is Zahāk (in German texts also Sohak ).
Known as the storm demon, this god was depicted as a serpent or dragon with three heads and six eyes. He is a Daēva , a servant of Ahriman , and when one day Frashokereti (comparable to the Apocalypse ) breaks out, Fereydūn binds him to Mount Damavand and is finally thrown into the stream of fire Ayohshust under Mount Damavand by the dragon slayer Garschasp .
This story was also adopted by Ferdousi in a modified form in his Shāhnāme . Zahāk , a king with two overgrown serpent heads on his shoulders, is the tyrant who is tied to a rock at the foot of Mount Damavand by the blacksmith Kaveh Ahangar .
The legend of Zahāk and Kaweh plays a central role in the Iranian New Year festival Nouruz . At that time, Aži Dahāka was held responsible by the Persians for the 1000 years of oppression by the Babylonians and Assyrians .
etymology
Azi (nominative Azis ) is the Iranian or Avestan word for 'snake' or 'dragon'. Its counterpart in Sanskrit is Ahi . Aži and Ahi are to be equated (as Indo-European. * H₂óg gleich-is) with the Greek óphis 'snake', in a nasal form (as * h₂éngʷʰ-is) the Latin anguis , which also means snake .
The meaning of the word Dahāka is ambiguous. Some possibilities are human or human-like (see Khotan Daha), large (see Pashto Lōy) or strange (see Scythian Dahae and Sanskrit Dasas). In Persian mythology the word Dahāka is taken as a proper name. In the Shahnama it appears as Ḍaḥḥāk (Zahhāk).
Aži Dahāka is the origin of the Persian word for dragon, Azhdahā (اژدها), from Middle Persian Azdahāg . It is also the name azhdarchidae , a family of extinct Flugsaurier (Pterosauria) derived.