Sykes' History of Persia - Heritage Institute

ACHAEMENIAN KiNG GUARDED BY TWO SpHINXES.
(From a Seal in the Louvre.)
CHAPTER XII
THE HEROIC AGE OF PERSIA
Deem every day in thy life as a leaf in thy history j
Be careful, therefore, that nothing be written in it unworthy of posterity.
A Maxim of Feridun.
The Legendary Nature of Early Persian History.—
The rise of the Persians, who have given their name to
the great empire which, albeit with vicissitudes, has existed
for more than 2400 years and has been a leading power
for more than half its existence, was an event of the
greatest importance to mankind. As previous chapters
have shown, the country can claim through Media, in-
habited by a kindred Aryan people, and through Elam,
the home of the founder of the empire and still a province
of Persia, an existence of close on 6000 years.
In this chapter we are dealing with the heroic age of
Persia, which, as given by Firdausi in his great epic the
Shahnama or " History of the Kings," is the only early
history ever read or believed by Persians. And yet what
Firdausi wrote is a mixture of legend and fable even after
the historical period is reached. Not that the poet did
^
not use the best information at his disposal ; but, viewed
in the light we possess to-day, his sources were limited
and, in many cases, entirely untrustworthy.
The Pishdadian Dynasty.—The history of Persia, so
far as its inhabitants know it, begins with a legendary
dynasty, termed Pishdadian or " Earliest Law Givers."
* This question is also dealt with in Chapters XLI. and LIV.
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