04-22-2008, 07:30 PM
@Sean Manning
I have got it from a third source with no other information than its age (1000BC) and that it might be Elamite. I actually hope someone can provide additional information on it here.
@Jona Lendering
Sean should be right, I remember to have heard the description in the Anabasis and the Cyropedia. He might have seen it as standard of Artaxerxes II or heard a direct description at that time.
As you mentioned it the full legend of Achaemenes is preserved in Ferdowsis Shahnameh, although the character was replaced with a probably Parthian hero.
But Ferdowsi tells that it was the Simorgh Griffon who raised Achaemenes/Zaal, therefore it was the much more common Griffon, not the eagle in this story. AFAIK the Homa is the eagle in the Shahnameh, it is much less common but still an important motive in Aryan art especially while attacking a deer. Therefore the very common Griffon played a more important role in Aryan art while the eagle was most likely reserved for the king and the symbol of royal power.
The theory that the Fahavar was actually the eagle on the imperial standard is also valid but I would say that especially because of the Achaemenes legend a more Aryan origin with specific animals symbolising power is likely. In the Shahnameh e.g each hero has his own animal on his clan standard.
I have got it from a third source with no other information than its age (1000BC) and that it might be Elamite. I actually hope someone can provide additional information on it here.
@Jona Lendering
Sean should be right, I remember to have heard the description in the Anabasis and the Cyropedia. He might have seen it as standard of Artaxerxes II or heard a direct description at that time.
As you mentioned it the full legend of Achaemenes is preserved in Ferdowsis Shahnameh, although the character was replaced with a probably Parthian hero.
But Ferdowsi tells that it was the Simorgh Griffon who raised Achaemenes/Zaal, therefore it was the much more common Griffon, not the eagle in this story. AFAIK the Homa is the eagle in the Shahnameh, it is much less common but still an important motive in Aryan art especially while attacking a deer. Therefore the very common Griffon played a more important role in Aryan art while the eagle was most likely reserved for the king and the symbol of royal power.
The theory that the Fahavar was actually the eagle on the imperial standard is also valid but I would say that especially because of the Achaemenes legend a more Aryan origin with specific animals symbolising power is likely. In the Shahnameh e.g each hero has his own animal on his clan standard.
Bahram Ardavan-Dorood
