Keyumars

Keyumars (PerB|کیومرث, older Persian "Kayōmart") was the first shāh of the world according to the poet Firdausī's Shāhnāma. The character was based upon a figure from a Zoroastrian creation myth. In the Avesta he is called "Gayō Marətan" and in later Zoroastrian texts "Gayōmard" or "Gayōmart".

Name

The etymology of the name "Keyumars" can be traced to two words in the Avestan language: "gaya" meaning "life" and "marətan" meaning "mortal" or "human" (cf. Persian "mard" مرد "man"). According to Zoroastrian tradition, "Gayō Marətan" was the first human being, but his name may also stands for "human life" in its entirety. Keyumars is also a popular first name in contemporary Iran.

In Zoroastrian literature

According to the Zoroastrian creation myth, Gayōmart was the first human being, created by Ahura Mazda after he had created the Earth. Gayōmart was neither man nor woman. Angra Mainyu, the force of Evil, sent a demon to kill Gayōmart, from whose body sprang a tree, which bore the first man, Mashya, and the first woman, Mashyana.

In the Shāhnāma

Firdausī's great epic poem, the Shāhnāma, begins with the story of Keyumars. He was the first king to arise among humans, who at that time lived in mountain caves and wore the skins of leopards. God (Ahura Mazda) granted him the supernatural radiance called "farr" (Avestan "xvarənah"), reserved to kings. His son was Siyāmak (سیامک) was beloved of all except the devil Ahriman, who raised an army under the command of his own demonic son. When the angel Sorush (Avestan "Sraoša") warned Keyumars, Siyāmak led an army of his own. Siyāmak accepted a challenge to single combat and died at the hands of the demon.

Keyumars mourned for a year, and then Sorush advised him to fight Ahriman once more. Siyāmak's son Hushang was grown by this time and led the army that defeated Ahriman's son, who was bound and beheaded. Keyumars died after a thirty-year reign, leaving his throne to Hushang.