Egypt & Near East
Solar Barque of Ra
Solar Barque of Ra
Crossing the sky by day and the underworld by night, it makes the sun rise again.
MountFirst recorded c. 2400 BCE
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Photograph: A page from a Shahnameh manuscript painted in India around 1450, Rustam Lassos Rakhsh. Between Persian text above and below, a herd of horses runs on a meadow among people holding lassos.
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1,970 × 3,000 PX1970×3000
ArchiveEgypt & Near East · Mount
Rakhsh
Rakhsh (رخش)
Fights lions to protect its master, strong as an elephant and swift as the wind.
- Owner
- The hero Rustam
- Maker
- Unknown
- First record
- Ferdowsi, Shahnameh1010
- Gallery
- Egypt & Near East
Notes on the photograph 3
Story
In the Persian epic the Shahnameh (Book of Kings), young Rustam tested many horses to find one that could carry him. Horses sank to the ground when he merely pressed on them, but one colt, spotted red like rose petals, did not budge. That horse was Rakhsh.
On the first night of the Seven Trials undertaken by Rustam to rescue the king, Rakhsh alone killed a lion that was stalking his sleeping master. In the third trial, when a dragon drew near, the horse kept waking Rustam to warn him.
Rakhsh fought beside Rustam all his life and, at the end, fell with him into a pit dug by a traitor, and they died together.
The object in the photo
The photograph shows "Rustam Lassos Rakhsh", Folio from a Shahnama (Book of Kings)(India, ca. 1450), a real museum object that evokes the legendary artifact.
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