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Illustration from the First Small Shahnama, c.1300 showing Ilkhanid Mongols
Zahhak bound on mount Damavand
Chapter 5 - Zahhak (1000 years)



A larger image of Zahhak bound on mount Damavand. First Small Shahnama. Chester Beatty Library, Dublin, Per 104.3


The tyrant Zahhak is imprisoned under Mount Damavand, from the Book of Kings (Shahnama) by Firdausi
Object no.: Per 104.3
Object name: Folio / Bi-Folio (Codex)
Creator and production place: Unknown, Iran
Object category: Manuscript
Collection: Persian collection
Production date: c. 1300
Dimensions: 236 mm x 220 mm (height x width)
Material: Paper, Ink, Pigment, Gold
Language: Persian (language)
Script type: Naskh script
Description: Observed by Faridun with his ox-head mace, the tyrant Zahhak is chained and imprisoned under Mount Damavand, folio from the Book of Kings (Shahnama) of Firdausi. Detached folio, ink, pigments and gold on paper, later mounted onto gold-flecked card, Persian text with painting and chapter-heading, probably Tabriz, Iran, c. 1300. This folio is from a dispersed manuscript known to scholars as the "First Small Shahnama", of which seventy-seven folios are now in the Chester Beatty. The "Small Shahnama" manuscripts are the earliest known illustrated examples of the Book of Kings (Shahnama), the epic Persian poem composed c. 1010 by Firdausi. Two manuscripts are dispersed, and a third is in the Freer Gallery in Washington, DC. Of small format, these three manuscripts are undated, but usually attributed to c. 1300 on stylistic grounds. Details of iconography confirm that production was after the Mongol invasions of Iran and Iraq, and the establishment of Ilkhanid rule in 1258.
Source: Chester Beatty Library, Dublin



Chester Beatty Library, Dublin
Title of Work: Shahnama (First Small)
Manuscript: Per 104
Accession Number: Per 104.003
Chapter 5 - Zahhak (1000 years)
Scene: Zahhak bound on mount Damavand
English Title: Zahhak is chained to the rock on Mount Damavand
Dimensions (h x w): 64 x 120 mm
Format: Rectangular within borders
Reconstructed Folio: 011v
Gregorian Date: 1300 (circa)
School: Baghdad
Source: Shahnama Project

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