The+Shah-nameh

=**//The Shah-nameh //**= Spencer Hudson, Ann Dao, and Nick Whittaker  // "I've reached the end of this great history And all the land will fill with talk of me I shall not die, these seeds I've sown will save My name and reputation from the grave And men of sense and wisdom will proclaim When I have gone, my praises and my fame." // //**- Abolqasem Ferdowsi** //
 * "The Persian Book of Kings" **
 * Written by the Persian poet Ferdowsi around 1000 AD, the Shahname, literally meaning 'Book of Kings,' is structured according to the mythical and historical reign of 50 Persian Kings. It is also, however, a story of survival. Persia had been conquered, first by the Arabs who brought Islam, and later by barbarians from central Asia. Iranians say it was Ferdowsi, with a single great book, who preserved the Persian language, history and mythology from being erased. The epic can be roughly divided into three parts: the first part tells of the mythical creation of Persia and its earliest mythical past; the second part tells of the legendary Kings and the heroes Rostam and Sohrab; the third part blends historical fact with legend, telling of the semi-mythical adventures of actual historical Kings. **

** Opens with a cosmography and the creation of the world out of nothing. **
 * __ Part I, the Mythical Age: __**
 * ** The reign of Jamshid for 700 hundred years. **
 * ** The rule of Zahhak the evil Serpent King who is finally killed by the blacksmith. **
 * ** The rule of Faridun and his sons. **
 * __ Part II, the Heroic Age: __**
 * ** The birth and reign of Zal. **
 * ** The birth of his son Rostam. **
 * ** The reign of Rostam for 300 years, during which he overcomes seven heroic trials and many demons, marries Tahmina. **
 * ** The birth of Sohrab. **
 * ** The death of Sohrab by his own father, Rostam. **
 * __ Part III, the Historical Age: __**
 * ** The reigns and adventures of, among others: Key Khosrow; Siyavush; Goshtasp; Esfandiyar; Darius; Alexander, and Bahram Gur. **

**// The Tragedy of Sohrab //**


 * Rostam was unaware that he had a son, Sohrab, by Princess Tahmina. He had not seen the Princess for many years. After years without any real knowledge of one another, Rostam and Sohrab faced each other in battle, fighting on opposing sides. Rostam did not recognise his own son, although Sohrab had suspicions that Rostam may be his father. **
 * They fought in single combat and Rostam wrestled Sohrab to the ground, stabbing him fatally. As he lay dying, Sohrab recalled how his love for his father – the mighty Rostam - had brought him there in the first place. Rostam, to his horror, realised the truth. He saw his own arm bracelet on Sohrab, which he had given to Tahmina many years before and which Tahmina had given to Sohrab before the battle, in the hope that it might protect him. **
 * But he realised the truth too late. He had killed his own son, ‘the person who was dearer to him tha **** n all others’. This is one of the most tragic episodes of the Shahname. **

Inspired Artworks __**
 * __


 * Also known as manuscript illumination, this art flourished in Islamic Iran from the 14th to the 17th centuries. It is an art of brilliant colours, masterful brushwork, graceful calligraphy, all created and nourished by the patronage of Islamic princes and rulers. Persian miniatures are found in books (manuscripts) produced for the elite of Iran. Only the very rich and powerful could afford to commission a manscript with miniature paintings. The best painters and calligraphers were celebrities, highly sought after and lavishly supported. **


 * Some of the most beautiful examples of Persian miniature paintings are the illuminated versions of the //Shahnameh//. The most noted of these manuscripts are the //Houghton Shahnameh,// //Great Mongol Shahnameh// and the //Bayasanghori Shâhnâmeh.// Many delicate, masterful miniature paintings were made during the Safavid period from the 16th to 18th centuries C.E. **



=
 **A hero in this area of the world is considered to be one who has “the backbone of the Persian empire.” This means that a hero in this part of the country is one who defends their country. In the //Shahnameh //, those who served the king or the ruler of the land in battle were considered a hero. So if they were ** **a soldier, general, or commander they would be considered a hero in this part of the world. In this ancient writing,the //Shahnameh //, the most famous hero is Rostam. He was known as the hero of heros. Rostam was able to preserve the independence of his country and also he was able to protect people from their enemies.** =====



Valuable to the Characters ** What the characters in these stories value is to win. Everybody loves to win, but in this book, if you don’t win, losing shows that you are disgraceful to your people. When that person lost and they have not died yet, that person most likely will take revenge one the person who created their down fall. An example of this would be in the first story. Kaiumer’s kingdom was attacked by Ahriman the Evil son, Deev. So Kaiumer told his son, Saiamukto defeat the Deev. However, Saiamukto was not successful and was killed by Deev. Because of this Kaiumer wept for a year, not only did he just weep, but the entire kingdom including the animals that were there cried. Than Kaiumer orders his grandson to defeat Deev in revenge of his father. Although this shows that the characters of this book take revenge, it also shows how losing a kingdom or a son is able to break people and is able to give them the ability to try to fight again and attempt to win. **



Attraction to Young Children **Children are often interested in these stories due to a simple yet interesting plot and solid set of characters. The tales are typically epic and have a strong theme regarding the type of story. Varying from a story of revenge to a tale of love, children are easily attracted to Shahnameh due to the diversity between stories and their messages.**  **Also, the relationship of these stories to the history of region have fancied children as an intriguing collection of readings regarding their own culture.**

=//__Our Favorite Stories __//=

__<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 200%; line-height: 115%;">**The Death of Rostam** __ <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 80%; line-height: 115%;">(Nick's Favorite Story) **<span style="color: #008000; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13pt; line-height: 115%;"> The king of Cabul and Shugdad thought about how they could destroy Rostam. Shugdad ****<span style="color: #008000; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13pt; line-height: 115%;">asked to hold a feast, where he ** **<span style="color: #008000; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13pt; line-height: 115%;">would get drunk and the king would insult Shugdad. And when Shagdad was insulted, he would ride off and get Rastam and Rakhsh and his steed to avenge his insulter. And when the three of them got back, Rostam and Rakhsh should fall into a ditch that is filled with spears and swords, that was built after Shugdad ledt to fetch Rostam. At the feast, Shugdad got drunk, insulted, and went to go fetch Rostam. On their way back to the feast, Rostam and Rakhsh did not fall into the pit instead they got an apology for the king and was offered to stay the night and go hunting the next morning. The next morning, on the way to the hunt, Rakhsh saw the newly turned soil from those who have dug the ditch and was erie about passing though it. But Rostam forced him to and Rakhsh fell into the ditch that was full of spears and swords and died. When Rostam saw this he asked Shugdad if it was him who has planned out this deed. And Shugdad did not deny it. So Rostam asked Shugdad for his bow and gave Shugdad a little time to hide. Shugdad hid in a hollow trunk of a tree. Rostam shot his bow through the tree trunk and pierced Shugdad’s heart. When Rostam was on his way home, his horse tripped on a tree root and killed Rostam. A warrior went to Rostam's son and told him about how Shugdad tried to kill his father. Rostam's son gatherd an army together and tried to avenge his father's death. His son killed everyman in sight, killed the king of Cabul and destroyed the land.Rostam and Rakhsh wasfound and placed in a tomb. **

__** The Story of Faridoon and his Three Sons **__ (Spencer's Favorite Story) ** Faridoon became king of a vast country which included today’s northern Afghanistan, eastern Iran and parts of Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan and Pakistan. He re-established the rule of law as in the time of Jamshid. The Peshdadian people were free of tyranny again after the long rule of Zohak and once again a Pesdadian sat on the throne of Jamshid. ** When Iraj arrived at Tur’s place where Silim was also present he was well received at first. He behaved and looked as a good king and the soldiers of Silim and Tur began to admire him and called him the real king. Tur and Silim were scared and Tur killed Iraj. They cut off his head and sent it back to Faridoon. When Faridoon received this, his sorrow was immense; from that day on he lived only to get revenge for the death of Iraj. Soon after Iraj’s death, his wife Mah-afrid gave birth to a daughter. When she grew up she was married to a noble named Pashung. They had a son named Minuchehr. Faridoon decided to name Minuchehr his heir and taught him all the arts of government and war. As soon as Minuchehr was 16 years old, Faridoon gave him a big army and told him to make war on Tur and Silim to avenge Iraj’s death. Tur and Silim tried to make peace and invited Minuchehr to their capital to talk peace. Faridoon remembered what had happened to Iraj and replied that the only way they would see Minuchehr would be at the head of a large army dressed in steel. In the war that followed Minuchehr’s army led by Shahpur and Sirueh the sons of Kavah and Sam and Karun, the sons of Nariman defeated the army of Tur and Silim. Minuchehr himself killed Tur and Silim and he sent Tur’s head back to Faridoon to show that revenge had been taken. ** Soon after, Faridoon died at the age of 120 years. He left the young Minuchehr in the experienced and loyal care of his generals Nariman and Sam. The family of Nariman and Sam gave Iran great hero-soldiers, who protected Iran from many enemies including Turan. **
 * __ The Story of Zal and Rudabeh __** (Ann's Favorite Story) ** Young Zal soon got tired of Zabulistan and decided to see the world. He traveled to **[[image:http://www.jaedproductions.com/nimakiann.org/images/libret/p_z&rminat.jpg align="right"]]** Kabulistan, which was ruled by Mihrab. Just outside the capital he pitched his camp and Mihrab came to visit him. When he returned to his palace he described the young man to his wife Sindokht and his beautiful daughter Rudabeh. Rudabeh wanted to see this young man and told her maids to arrange a secret meeting. When they met, Zal and Rudabeh fell hopelessly in love with each other and decided to get married. On hearing the news, Mihrab was frightened. He was afraid that king Minuchehr would not like the idea of the marriage since Mihrab was a descendent of Zohak and would not give permission for the marriage. When Zal wrote to Sam, Sam was happy but told Zal to keep it a secret until Sam returned from fighting in Mazinderan, as he wanted to bring the news personally to Minuchehr. When the king got the news he was furious and asked Sam to wage war on Kabulistan and kill Mihrab. When Mihrab heard about this, he was so scared that he was about to kill Rudabeh. Sindokht however kept her mind and went to Sam with many presents and requested that the two lovers be allowed to marry. Sam agreed to make the king change his mind. He sent a letter to the king and made Zal carry it personally. In the letter he reminded the king of the services that his family had performed for the throne and of their loyalty and asked the king to give his permission so that Zal and Rudabeh could be happily married. Minuchehr finally relented, especially when his astrologers told him that the marriage would be good for Iran. So after a great deal of trouble the two lovers were married. **
 * Faridoon had three sons: Tur and Silim were from one mother and Iraj the youngest was from another. Iraj was Faridoon’s favorite son. When the three grew up to manhood, Faridoon decided to give up being king and he divided his kingdom into three parts. The lands north of the Amu River were given to Tur. The valleys of Afghanistan and Iran went to Iraj and the rest of the kingdom went to Silim. Faridoon stayed with his favorite son Iraj. The lands that Tur and Silim got were not as fertile as those that Iraj got. They became jealous of Iraj and wrote to Faridoon that they wanted a better distribution, otherwise they would got to war. When Iraj saw the letter he was very unhappy. He was sorry that his brothers were jealous. He asked Faridoon to divide up his own lands between the two of them. In the interest of brotherhood and peace he decided to go to Tur and Silim and make this offer himself.
 * Silim and Tur’ sons were allowed to rule their father’s lands. The land that had been Tur’s was now known as Turan, and the land which had belonged to Iraj was now known as Iran. Of Silim’s land we don’t know anything. In the future we will see that Iran and Turan became great enemies and many wars were fought between the two.

[|http://zoreled.org/shahnameh.aspx] [|http://payvand.com/news/06/dec/1068.html] [|http://www.bl.uk/learning/cult/inside/corner/shah/synopsis.html] [|http://www.bl.uk/learning/cult/inside/shahnamestories/storyeight/sohrabdeath.html=]