Sykes' History of Persia - Heritage Institute

142
HISTORY OF PERSIA
The founder of this was Keiomarz, the Zoroastrian Adam,
who, with his two successors Hushang and Tahmurz, is
supposed
Iran.
to have laid the foundation of civilization in
Jamshid and Zohak.—But the most famous of these
legendary monarchs was Jamshid.^ To his credit is placed
the building of Persepolis —termed to this day Takht-i-
Jamshid or " The Throne of Jamshid "— the introduction
of the solar year, and the invention of most of the arts
and sciences on which civilization is based.^ His inven-
tion of wine is stated to have been due to an accident.
He had preserved some grapes which fermented and were
believed to be dangerous to life. One of the wives of
Jamshid was suffering from a painful malady and drank of
the fermented beverage in the belief that she would die ;
and was
but, on the contrary, she fell into a delightful sleep
cured. Persians from this date have termed wine *' sweet
poison," and in spite of the prohibitions of the Koran many
of the upper classes are addicted to drinking it.
Jamshid, after reigning for many years, was uplifted
with pride. He became a tyrant and declared himself a
was in-
god. For his impiety Zohak, a Syrian prince,
cited by the higher powers to attack him, and although
he fled to Sistan, to India, and even to distant China, he
was in the end made captive by his relentless foe. He
was put to a barbarous death, being fastened between two
boards and sawn in two with the backbone of a fish.
Zohak, at whose hands he perished so miserably, and who
conquered Persia, is legendary, the name being a corruption
of the primeval serpent, Aji-Dahak. In Persian
legend he is represented as an Arab prince invading Persia
from Syria, and as a monster from whose shoulders
hissing
snakes grew. The daily
rations of these snakes consisted
of the brains of two human beings and the ; levying of
this blood-tax led to the overthrow of the invader.
Feridun and Kawa.— Kawa, a blacksmith, whose sons
1 The first portion of the name is identical with that of Yama or Vima, who is
mentioned in Chapter IX. Shid signifies a king.
2 The Persian argument runs that whoever erected the buildings at Persepolis and
Pasargadae must have been aided by the Divs. As only Jamshid and Solomon had
power over them, they alone could have built these gigantic works.