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The simurgh carries Zal to her nest, from the Book of Kings (Shahnama) by Firdausi

Title	The simurgh carries Zal to her nest, from the Book of Kings (Shahnama) by Firdausi
Publication Date:	1590-1600
Type	Document
Language	Persian
Digital	Yes
Manuscript	Yes
Physical Dimensions	408 mm x 262 mm (height x width)
Library:	Chester Beatty
Record ID	Per 277.12
Library Location	Persian collection
Date	1590-1600
Notes	The simurgh carries Zal to her nest, from the Book of Kings (Shahnama) by Firdausi. When Zal is born with white hair, his father Sam presumes this a bad omen, and the nobleman has the baby abandoned in the wilderness. There, the simurgh (a giant magical bird) finds him, and carries him back to her three simurgh chicks, seen in this painting, as they wait expectantly in their mountaintop nest. The dramatic moment is painted in vivid colour, with the steep rocky precipice jutting up out of the picture-frame, and the exquisitely-painted simurgh spreading her wings. When the simurgh reaches the nest with Zal, the chicks refuse to eat him, and so Zal is adopted into the family. Later in the story, the white-haired boy is reunited with his remorseful father, and Zal grows up to become a pivotal character in the Shahnama. Folio, ink, colours and gold on paper, Persian text in nasta`liq script, with painting (on recto), two illuminated rubrics ("Dream of Sam Nariman" and "Sam Nariman goes to seek Zal", on verso) and gold-painted borders, from the Book of Kings (Shahnama) by Abu al-Qasim Firdausi (d. 1022), attributed to the early reign of Safavid Shah `Abbas I (r. 1587-1629), Qazvin, Iran, undated, c. 1590-1600. This is one of twenty-two folios in the Chester Beatty, all from the same partial copy (possibly never fully completed) of Firdausi's Shahnama: ten folios are in a modern binding, twelve are mounted separately. Most of these folios are not directly sequential, and fall into three sets, narrating the earliest kings, Faridun and his descendants, and Rustam.
Materyal	Paper (material), Pigment (material), Ink (material), Gold
Nesne Adı	Folio / Bi-Folio (Codex)
Müstensih ve Üretim Yeri	Unknown, Qazvin
Yazı Tipi	Nasta'liq script

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The simurgh carries Zal to her nest, from the Book of Kings (Shahnama) by Firdausi

Publication Date 1590-1600

Type Document

Language Persian

Digital Yes

Manuscript Yes

Physical Dimensions 408 mm x 262 mm (height x width)

Library Chester Beatty

Record ID Per 277.12

Library Location Persian collection

Date 1590-1600

Notes The simurgh carries Zal to her nest, from the Book of Kings (Shahnama) by Firdausi. When Zal is born with white hair, his father Sam presumes this a bad omen, and the nobleman has the baby abandoned in the wilderness. There, the simurgh (a giant magical bird) finds him, and carries him back to her three simurgh chicks, seen in this painting, as they wait expectantly in their mountaintop nest. The dramatic moment is painted in vivid colour, with the steep rocky precipice jutting up out of the picture-frame, and the exquisitely-painted simurgh spreading her wings. When the simurgh reaches the nest with Zal, the chicks refuse to eat him, and so Zal is adopted into the family. Later in the story, the white-haired boy is reunited with his remorseful father, and Zal grows up to become a pivotal character in the Shahnama. Folio, ink, colours and gold on paper, Persian text in nasta`liq script, with painting (on recto), two illuminated rubrics ("Dream of Sam Nariman" and "Sam Nariman goes to seek Zal", on verso) and gold-painted borders, from the Book of Kings (Shahnama) by Abu al-Qasim Firdausi (d. 1022), attributed to the early reign of Safavid Shah `Abbas I (r. 1587-1629), Qazvin, Iran, undated, c. 1590-1600. This is one of twenty-two folios in the Chester Beatty, all from the same partial copy (possibly never fully completed) of Firdausi's Shahnama: ten folios are in a modern binding, twelve are mounted separately. Most of these folios are not directly sequential, and fall into three sets, narrating the earliest kings, Faridun and his descendants, and Rustam.

Materyal Paper (material), Pigment (material), Ink (material), Gold

Nesne Adı Folio / Bi-Folio (Codex)

Müstensih ve Üretim Yeri Unknown, Qazvin

Yazı Tipi Nasta'liq script