Gayomarth
Gayōmarth , Gajumarth also Gajomartan ( Persian گيومرتtranslates as "mortal life"; other names: Gaja Maretan, "Gajomard" in Pehlewi , "Gajomart" in Shahnameh ) is the first person or first human ruler of the (Iranian) world mentioned in the Avesta ( Yasht 13.87) in Persian mythology .
Gayomarth in mythology
He is "shining as the sun", a large and impressive figure made from earth; it was as wide as it was high. It was through him that culture arose ; he brought the people the first clothes ( leopard skin , " leopard skin") and food . His reign lasted thirty peaceful years on earth and his son and pride - Sijāmak - would succeed him. The malevolent evil spirit Angra Mainju (Ahriman), against whom Gayomarth fought, contemplated the annihilation of the kingdom by challenging Sijāmak to fight and ultimately dividing it in half.
By foreshadowing what was happening, Gayōmarth determined his grandson Huschang (Hōšang) as his successor, who should finally avenge his father Sijāmak.
Mythology says that his semen was purified by the sun after his death. Forty years after it was returned to the earth, a rhubarb plant grows from its seed , from which the first mortal man ( mashia ) and the first mortal woman ( mashyanag ) are formed.
These two first people, deceived by Angra Mainju, worshiped him as creator and thus committed their first sin. Instead of living in peace, they erred in corruption and in evil. Only after 50 years did they have twins, who were devoured by themselves.
After a long period of sterility, they had twins again, which not only established the origin of the human race, but also that of the Iranians and their various tribes.
| Quote from Bundahishn XV, 1-9): |
| Revelation says of the nature of man that Gajomard, when he was dying, gave off seeds; this seed was completely purified by the movement of sunlight [...] and in forty years and the fifteen years of its fifteen leaves grew in the shape of a rivas plant [rhubarb] with a stem Matro and Matrojao [Maschja und Maschjanag] from the earth in the Way that their arms rested behind and on their shoulders, and one fused to the other, they were connected and both equal [...]. And both changed their shape from a plant to that of a man, and the spiritual breath entered them, which is the soul; [...] Ahura Mazda said: “[...] You are human beings, you are the ancestors of the whole world, and you were created by me in perfect piety; full of piety fulfills the duty of the law, [...] speak good words, do good deeds, and do not worship demons [...]. ”But later hostility entered their minds and their minds were utterly corrupt, and they proclaimed, that the evil spirit created the water and the earth, the plants and the animals. |
Gayomarth in Schahname - Legend I.
Gayomarth is described by Ferdosi as the first ruler of the world and the first ShahinSchah . Thus he established the idea of an inviolable royal dignity ( avestisch khvarenah ; Pahlavi : farr ). He is considered the founder of human civilization.
"The researcher in the book of antiquity,
Who makes known the hero of the saying,
Says so that the crown and the throne founded Art
Gajumarth" and became ruler.
...
He and his band wore leopard skin.
From him the manners emanated,
before that there was neither dress nor feast. "
Gayomarth lived on a "magic mountain" and fought to secure the world for humanity, against the mountain dwellers and against his adversary Ahriman , who appears as a symbol of evil in verse 25 of the poem.
Gayomarth had a son, Sijamak , who is killed by the son of Ahriman, a black demon. Gayomarth overcomes his grief and, in order to avenge the death of his son, goes with his grandson Huschang against the black demon. Hushang captures the demon and kills him.
After Gayomarth's death, Huschang succeeds him on the throne.
The basic theme of the Persian epic, the fight of good against evil, is already addressed in the first saga of Ferdosis Schahname. Ultimately, good wins in which the black demon is defeated. But this does not mean that evil disappears from the world, because Ahriman continues to live.
literature
- Vesta Sarkhosh Curtis: Persian Myths . Reclam, Stuttgart 1994, ISBN 3-15-010399-1 .
- Gayomarth . In: Ehsan Yarshater (Ed.): Encyclopædia Iranica (English, including references)
- Friedrich Rückert : Firdosi's Book of Kings (Schahname) Sage I-XIII. 1890. Reprint: epubli GmbH, Berlin, 2010, pp. 3–8.
- Uta von Witzleben : Firdausi: Stories from the Schahnameh. Eugen Diederichs Verlag, Düsseldorf and Cologne 1960, pp. 13-17 ( The rulers of the mythical time , The saga of Kajumars ... ).
Individual evidence
- ↑ Jürgen Ehlers (ed. And trans.): Abū'l-Qāsem Ferdausi: Rostam - The legends from the Šāhnāme . Philipp Reclam jun., Stuttgart, 2002, p. 364
- ↑ Friedrich Rückert : Firdosi's King Book (Schahname) Sage I-XIII. 1890. Reprint: epubli GmbH, Berlin, 2010, p. 3.
- ^ Peter Lamborn Wilson , Karl Schlamminger: Weaver of Tales. Persian Picture Rugs / Persian tapestries. Linked myths. Callwey, Munich 1980, ISBN 3-7667-0532-6 , pp. 79-139 ( The Kings ), here: pp. 79 f. ( Hushang Shah ).
| predecessor | Office | successor |
|---|---|---|
| - |
King of Shahnama 0 - 30 |
Hushang |