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Shahmaran

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Shahmaran[a] is a mythical creature, half-woman and half-snake, originating in Indo-Iranian and Turkic folklores.[1]

Shāhmārān
The Shahmaran
GroupingMythical creature
FolkloreIranian folklore, Turkish folklore, Kurdish mythology
Other name(s)Shah (king) of the Snakes

Etymology

The name Shāhmārān comes from the Persian words Shāh (شاه), and mārān (ماران; transl. 'snakes'; sg. مار mar). Hence, the name Shāhmārān literally means 'the king of snakes'.[2]

Description

Shahmaran is a mythical creature, half-snake and half-woman, portrayed as a dual-headed creature with a crown on each head, possessing a human female head on one end, and a snake's head on the other, possibly representing a phallic figure.[3] The human part is also decorated with a large necklace.[4][5]

Mythological accounts

Shahmaran is attested in Middle Eastern literature, such as in the tale "The Story of Yemliha: An Underground Queen" from the 1001 Arabian Nights, and in the Camasb-name.[6] Her story seems to be present in the Eastern part of the Anatolian peninsula,[7] or in southeastern and eastern Turkey (comprising areas of Kurd, Arab, Assyrian and Turkish communities).[8]

Jamasp-Name

Due to its antiquity, there are many variations of the same story.[9]

In one version, the first human Shahmaran encounters is a young man named Jamasp (Persian: Jāmāsp جاماسپ), who is also known by Yada Jamsab (other spellings are Jambs, Camasb, and Jamisav).[10][11][12] Jamasp gets stuck in a cave after he tries to steal honey with a few friends, his friends leave him alone in the cave.[10] He decides to explore the cave and finds a passage to a chamber that looks like a mystical and beautiful garden with thousands of off-white colored snakes and the Shahmaran living together harmoniously.[10][13] At this point Shahmaran and Jamasp fall in love and live in the cave chamber, and the Shahmaran teaches him about medicines and medicinal herbs.[10] Jamasp misses living above ground and wants to leave, he tells the Shahmaran he will not share the secret of her living there.[10] Many years pass.

The king of the town of Tarsus becomes ill and the vizier discovers the treatment of his condition requires Shahmaran's flesh.[13] Jamasp tells the townspeople where Shahmaran lives, according to the legend Shahmaran says, "blanch me in an earthen dish, give my extract to the vizier, and feed my flesh to the sultan."[13] They bring her to the town and kill her in a bath called, "Şahmaran Hamam".[10] The king eats her flesh and lives, the vizier drinks the extract and dies.[10][13] Jamasp drinks the water of Shahmaran and becomes a doctor, by gaining the Shahmaran's wisdom.[10][13][14]

In The Arabian Nights

A similar narrative is attested in the One Thousand and One Nights corpus, with the title The Queen of the Serpents: a Greek philosopher named Daniel has a son named Hasîb Karîm al-Dîn. At a certain point in the story, Hasîb falls into a cistern, but escapes and reaches the lair of serpents and meets their human-faced leader, who introduces herself as Yamlîkhâ, "queen of the serpents". After a while, Hasîb wishes to return to the upper world, but the queen of serpents warns him that he will enter a bathhouse and this will lead to her death. Despite her grim prediction, Hasîb promises never to enter a bathhouse and is let go. However, just as the serpent queen foretold, Hasîb enters a bathhouse, which initiates a chain of events that leads to an evil vizier summoning the queen from the well. Resigning to her fate, the queen instructs Hasîb: she is to be cut up and her meat cooked, and the broth must be placed in three phials; the first phial is to be given to the vizier, but Hasîb has but to drink from the second. It happens thus: the evil vizier drinks from the first phial and dies, while Hasîb drinks from the second one and gains universal knowledge about the sciences.[15] According to scholars Ulrich Marzolph [de] and Richard van Leewen, the hero's name, "Hâsib", is an Arabic rendering of the Persian name "Jamasp".[16]

 
Shahmaran pictures on sale in Mardin, Turkey

Kurdish folklore

The Kurds have traditionally viewed the serpent as a symbol of luck and strength, and they continue to have images of Shahmaran on glass or metal work, which is in turn displayed on their walls.[17][18][19]

Turkish folklore

In Turkey, Shahmaran is believed to live in the Mediterranean town of Tarsus, and a similar legend is told in the eastern portion of the country, namely Mardin, a town with a large Kurdish and Arab population.[12] In these regions her legend is commonly evoked, with her image depicted in embroidery, fabrics, rugs, and jewelry. The story and imagery of Shahmaran are considered a national treasure in Turkey.[13]

Scholars Wolfram Eberhard and Pertev Naili Boratav devised a classification system for Turkish folktales and narratives, called Typen türkischer Volksmärchen ("Turkish Folktale Catalogue"). In their joint work, they registered a Turkish tale type indexed as TTV 57, "Der Schlangenkönig Schahmeran" ("The Serpent King Shahmeran"), with 7 variants listed. In this tale type, the hero (a poor boy named Cami Sap, Camesel, or Canibis) goes to the woods and falls into a pit or hole where he meets Shahmeran; after some years down there, he returns to civilization; later, the antagonist (a local padishah or a sorcerer, depending on the variant) is alerted of Shahmeran's presence and wishes to consume of its flesh; Shahmeran instructs the poor boy: he is to cook its flesh and drink its broth, but only the second serving, and let the antagonist drink it first; the antagonist does and dies, while the hero becomes a skillful healer.[20]

Other accounts

Many of the versions of the story of Shahmaran are found in fictional books including the J.C. Mardrus translation of The Thousand Nights and One Night as the story of "Jemlia - the Sultan of Underground" and The Ring of Shah Maran, A Story from the Mountains of Kurdistan by Raphael Emmanuel (1944).[21][22][better source needed] The latter tells the folk story of a boy that shares bread with animals and earns the respect of Shahmaran.[22]

According to Uzbek folklorist Mansur Afzalov, in the Uzbek tale "Ибн Сино билан Ибн Хорис" ("Ibn Sina and Ibn Khoris"), Ibn Sina is welcomed by "Шохиморон" ("Shohimoron"), the snake king, into the snakes' den. Ibn Sina also drinks a broth made from the snake and gains magical powers.[23]

A version of the tale of Shahmaran was collected from an Uyghur source, titled Şahmaran’ın Hikâyesi ("The Story of Shahmaran"), wherein a youth named Cihanşah befriends Shahmaran, the ruler of the snakes which lives in the bottom of a well, and becomes vizier after drinking the third serving from a broth made with Shahmaran's flesh.[24]

Other uses

Dutch singer of Iranian descent, Sevdaliza, included a song titled "Shahmaran" on her debut studio album ISON.[25]

Since c. 2016, LGBTQ supporters in Turkey and locations in the Middle East have been using the image of Shahmaran as symbol of supporting LGBTQ issues.[12] Shahmaran's image has also been used to symbolize the strength of Kurdish women by artists Zehra Doğan and Canan Senol.[12][26] In 2020, the Mardin Metropolitan Municipality in Turkey hosted a public art exhibition, Shahmaran Mardin, featuring Shahmaran statues artist by Ayla Turan, that were decorated by local artists and businesses.[13]

The 2023 Netflix series Shahmaran is also built around the legend in a modern setting.[27]

Historical references

The Shah Maran–Daulatabad basin is an ancient irrigation system from the Iron Age, found in the 1960s and 1970s near Tepe Yahya in southwestern Iran.[28][29]

In Adana in southern Turkey, the Yılankale (Snake Castle) is locally known as the home of Shahmaran.[30][31]

Shahmeran Hamam, a historical hammam (Turkish bath) in Tarsus, Turkey, is associated with Shahmaran.[32]

See also

Mythological dragons, serpents, and snakes

Notes

  1. ^ Persian: شاهماران, romanized: Shahmaran; Kurdish: Şahmaran/Şamaran; Turkish: Şahmeran; Tatar: Şahmara, Zilant, Зилант, Aq Yılan; Chuvash: Вĕреçĕлен, lit. 'Fire snake'

References

  1. ^ Ross, Danielle (7 January 2020). "Debunking the 'Unfortunate Girl' Paradigm: Volga-Ural Muslim Women's Knowledge Culture and its Transformation across the Long Nineteenth Century". In Sartori, Paolo; Ross, Danielle (eds.). Sharīʿa in the Russian Empire: the reach and limits of Islamic law in Central Eurasia, 1550-1917. Edinburgh University Press. p. 141. doi:10.1515/9781474444316-005. ISBN 9781474444316. Retrieved 13 May 2023. ... serpent queen Shāhmārān, a character originating in Turkic or Indo-Iranian folklore.
  2. ^ Russell, James R. (1987). Zoroastrianism in Armenia. Harvard University Press. p. 422. ISBN 978-0674968509. (...) called Šahmaran (NP. šāh-i mārān 'king of the snakes' (...)
  3. ^ Baran, Suat (2020). "From Fairytale Character to Lost Goddess: The Archetypal Representation of Stepmother within Kurdish Folklore". In Korangy, Alireza (ed.). Kurdish Art and Identity: Verbal Art, Self-definition and Recent History. Berlin, Boston: De Gruyter. p. 92-93. doi:10.1515/9783110599626-004. ISBN 9783110599626. S2CID 242457615.
  4. ^ Sagaster, Börte (2009). "Şahmeran'ın Bacakları: Murathan Mungans Neuerzählung eines alten Mythos". Strukturelle Zwänge – Persönliche Freiheiten: Osmanen, Türken, Muslime: Reflexionen zu gesellschaftlichen Umbrüchen. Gedenkband zu Ehren Petra Kapperts (in German). Berlin, New York: De Gruyter. p. 323. doi:10.1515/9783110210651.323. ISBN 978-3-11-020055-3.
  5. ^ Deniz, Dilşa (2021). "The Shaymaran: Philosophy, Resistance, and the Defeat of the Lost Goddess of Kurdistan". The Pomegranate. 22 (2): 233–236. doi:10.1558/pome.38409. S2CID 239757941.
  6. ^ Baran, Suat (2020). "From Fairytale Character to Lost Goddess: The Archetypal Representation of Stepmother within Kurdish Folklore". In Korangy, Alireza (ed.). Kurdish Art and Identity: Verbal Art, Self-definition and Recent History. Berlin, Boston: De Gruyter. p. 92. doi:10.1515/9783110599626-004. ISBN 9783110599626. S2CID 242457615.
  7. ^ Sagaster, Börte (2009). "Şahmeran'ın Bacakları: Murathan Mungans Neuerzählung eines alten Mythos". Strukturelle Zwänge – Persönliche Freiheiten: Osmanen, Türken, Muslime: Reflexionen zu gesellschaftlichen Umbrüchen. Gedenkband zu Ehren Petra Kapperts (in German). Berlin, New York: De Gruyter. p. 323. doi:10.1515/9783110210651.323. ISBN 978-3-11-020055-3.
  8. ^ Baran, Suat (2020). "From Fairytale Character to Lost Goddess: The Archetypal Representation of Stepmother within Kurdish Folklore". In Korangy, Alireza (ed.). Kurdish Art and Identity: Verbal Art, Self-definition and Recent History. Berlin, Boston: De Gruyter. p. 92. doi:10.1515/9783110599626-004. ISBN 9783110599626. S2CID 242457615.
  9. ^ Sagaster, Börte (2009). "Şahmeran'ın Bacakları: Murathan Mungans Neuerzählung eines alten Mythos". Strukturelle Zwänge – Persönliche Freiheiten: Osmanen, Türken, Muslime: Reflexionen zu gesellschaftlichen Umbrüchen. Gedenkband zu Ehren Petra Kapperts (in German). Berlin, New York: De Gruyter. p. 323. doi:10.1515/9783110210651.323. ISBN 978-3-11-020055-3.
  10. ^ a b c d e f g h "ŞAHMARAN: The Urban Legend of Turkey". Kanaga TV Web Series. NNaco. 2016. Archived from the original on 2023-02-03. Retrieved 2020-04-27.
  11. ^ Ahmed, Mohammed M. A. (2008). A Fire in My Heart: Kurdish Tales. World folklore series. Diane Edgecomb, Mohammed M. A. Ahmed, Çeto Özel. Libraries Unlimited. pp. 107–108. ISBN 9781591584377. Archived from the original on 2023-02-03. Retrieved 2021-02-05.
  12. ^ a b c d Gruber, Christiane. "What the mythical figure of Şahmeran in Turkey represents and why activists use it". The Conversation. Archived from the original on 2021-05-24. Retrieved 2021-07-08.
  13. ^ a b c d e f g "Shahmaran tale to resonate through Mardin streets with the art of sculpture". Daily Sabah. 2020-03-01. Archived from the original on 2020-11-20. Retrieved 2020-04-28.
  14. ^ Deniz, Dilşa (2021). "The Shaymaran: Philosophy, Resistance, and the Defeat of the Lost Goddess of Kurdistan". The Pomegranate. 22 (2): 222–224. doi:10.1558/pome.38409. S2CID 239757941.
  15. ^ Marzolph, Ulrich [de]; van Leewen, Richard. The Arabian Nights Encyclopedia. Vol. I. California: ABC-Clio. 2004. pp. 348-350. ISBN 1-85109-640-X (e-book).
  16. ^ Marzolph, Ulrich [de]; van Leewen, Richard. The Arabian Nights Encyclopedia. Vol. I. California: ABC-Clio. 2004. p. 132. ISBN 1-85109-640-X (e-book).
  17. ^ Nicolaus, Peter (2011). "The Serpent Symbolism in the Yezidi Religious Tradition and the Snake in Yerevan". Iran & the Caucasus. 15 (1/2): 59. doi:10.1163/157338411X12870596615359. JSTOR 41430888. Furthermore, the serpent was, and still is, considered a symbol of good fortune and power among Kurdish people and the "image of Shahmaran (the queen of the serpents) is depicted on glass or metal work, seen hung on walls even today". Accessed 14 May 2023.
  18. ^ Baran, Suat (2020). "From Fairytale Character to Lost Goddess: The Archetypal Representation of Stepmother within Kurdish Folklore". In Korangy, Alireza (ed.). Kurdish Art and Identity: Verbal Art, Self-definition and Recent History. Berlin, Boston: De Gruyter. p. 92. doi:10.1515/9783110599626-004. ISBN 9783110599626. S2CID 242457615. Yet, regarding the collective cultural elements shared in the Middle East in general, and in Kurdistan in particular, the image of Shahmaran stands out as the most likely manifestation of the lost feminine archetype, or the Mother Earth. She is a powerful mythical figure in the region, and her image also appears on every traditional rural dwelling in the Kurdish prairie as a part of their collective culture and identity through the ages.
  19. ^ Deniz, Dilşa (2021). "The Shaymaran: Philosophy, Resistance, and the Defeat of the Lost Goddess of Kurdistan". The Pomegranate. 22 (2): 228–229. doi:10.1558/pome.38409. S2CID 239757941. [...] despite thousands of years of monotheist Islamic pressure, [Shaymaran's] image and myth, transmitted from generation to generation, and continues to be part of Kurdish home and everyday life. [...] Kurds have not stopped painting, engraving, printing, and embroidering her image or displaying it on their walls.
  20. ^ Eberhard, Wolfram; Boratav, Pertev Nailî. Typen türkischer Volksmärchen. Wiesbaden: Steiner, 1953. pp. 63-64.
  21. ^ Mardrus, Joseph Charles (1992). "Jemlia - the Sultan of Underground". The Thousand Nights and One Night. Vol. 7. pp. 68–131.
  22. ^ a b Emmanuel, Raphael (1944). The Ring of Shah Maran: A Story from the Mountains of Kurdistan. Danville, Illinois: Interstate Printers and Publishers. Archived from the original on 2023-02-03. Retrieved 2019-08-20.
  23. ^ Афзалов, M. [Afzalov, Mansur]. "Ҳайвонлар ҳақидаги эртаклар". In: "XX аср узбек фольклоршунослиги»: Антология. Тузувчилар [Editor]: О. Тулабоев ва бонщ. Тashkent: «O‘zbekiston milliy ensiklopediyasi» Давлат илмий нашриёти, 2017. p. 83. ISBN 978-9943-07-566-5 (In Uzbek)
  24. ^ Yalçınkaya, Fatoş (2021). Uygur sihir masallarının tip ve motif yapısı: İnceleme (in Turkish). Ankara: Atatürk Kültür Merkezi Başkanlığı. pp. 212-216 (Turkish summary for tale nr. 60). ISBN 978-975-17-4792-1.
  25. ^ "Sevdaliza's Painful 'Shahmaran' Visual Is A Silent Liberation For Voices Of The Oppressed". BET.com. Archived from the original on 2020-07-21. Retrieved 2019-08-20.
  26. ^ Acuner, Derya. "CANAN (Şenol)". AWARE Women artists / Femmes artistes. Archived from the original on 2023-02-03. Retrieved 2022-12-30.
  27. ^ "Şahmaran: Kadınlar ve Yılanlar" [Shahmaran: Women and Snakes] (in Turkish). Diken. 22 January 2023. Archived from the original on 2023-01-24. Retrieved 2023-01-24.
  28. ^ Adrianov, Boris V.; Mantellini, Simone (2013). Ancient Irrigation Systems of the Aral Sea Area: Ancient Irrigation Systems. Oxbow Books. p. 35. ISBN 9781782971672. Archived from the original on 2023-01-23. Retrieved 2019-08-20.
  29. ^ Wight Beale, Thomas; Lamberg-Karlovsky, C. C. (2004). Excavations at Tepe Yahya, Iran, 1967-1975, Volume I: The Early Periods. American School of Prehistoric Research Bulletins 38. Peabody Museum Press. ISBN 978-0873655415.
  30. ^ Murray, J. (1837). "A General Statement of the Labours and Proceedings of the Expedition to Euphrates, Under the Command of Colonel Chesney". The Journal of the Royal Geographical Society of London. 7: 420. Archived from the original on 2023-02-03. Retrieved 2019-08-20 – via Google Books.
  31. ^ "Snake Castle restored to welcome visitors". DailySabah. 2018-05-17. Archived from the original on 2019-08-20. Retrieved 2019-08-20.
  32. ^ "Tarsus Belediyesi - Turistik Yerler" [Tarsus Municipality - Touristic Places]. www.tarsus.bel.tr (in Turkish). Archived from the original on 2019-08-21. Retrieved 2019-08-21.

Further reading

Video

Short BBC documentary on the shahmaran [1]

 
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Shahmaran.
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