Sām ( fa, سام), also (sam) transliterated Saam, is a mythical hero of ancient
Persia
Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...
, and an important character in the
Shahnameh
The ''Shahnameh'' or ''Shahnama'' ( fa, شاهنامه, Šāhnāme, lit=The Book of Kings, ) is a long epic poem written by the Persian poet Ferdowsi between c. 977 and 1010 CE and is the national epic of Greater Iran. Consisting of some 50 ...
epic. He was the son of
Nariman, grandson of
Garshasp
Garshāsp ( fa, گرشاسپ ) was, in Persian mythology, the last Shah of the Pishdadian dynasty of Persia according to ''Shahnameh''. He was a descendant of Zaav, ruling over the Persian Empire for about nine years. His name is shared with a ...
and father to
Zāl
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. He was Iran's champion during the rule of
Fereydun
Fereydun ( ae, 𐬚𐬭𐬀𐬉𐬙𐬀𐬊𐬥𐬀, Θraētaona, pal, 𐭯𐭫𐭩𐭲𐭥𐭭, ; New Persian: , ''Fereydūn/Farīdūn'') is an Iranian mythical king and hero from the Pishdadian dynasty. He is known as an emblem of victory, just ...
,
Manuchehr
Manūchehr Help:IPA/English">mænuː'tʃer.html" ;"title="Help:IPA/English.html" ;"title="nowiki/>Help:IPA/English">mænuː'tʃer">Help:IPA/English.html" ;"title="nowiki/>Help:IPA/English">mænuː'tʃer (, older Persian Manōčihr, Avestan ...
and
Nowzar
Nowzar () is the ninth Shah of the Pishdadian dynasty of Persia according to ''Shahnameh''. He is the son of Manuchehr and becomes the Shah of Iran after his father's death. His reign of seven years comes to an end when he is killed by Afrasiab d ...
. He was appointed by Manuchehr to rule
Zabulistan
Zabulistan ( fa, زابلستان ''Zābulistān''/''Zābolistān''/''Zāwulistān'' or simply ''Zābul'', ps, زابل ''Zābəl''), was a historical region in southern Afghanistan roughly corresponding to the modern provinces of Zabul and ...
(Sistan), and then Mazandaran. After Manuchehr, because of Nowzar's corrupted and failed rulership, Iranian champions asked Sām to rule Iran. Sām didn't accept, he supported Nowzar and advised him to follow Fereydun and Manuchehr. Sām returned to
Mazandaran, and died soon after that.
Afrasiab
Afrasiab ( fa, ''afrāsiyāb''; ae, Fraŋrasyan; Middle-Persian: ''Frāsiyāv, Frāsiyāk'') is the name of the mythical king and hero of Turan. He is the main antagonist of the Persian epic Shahnameh, written by Ferdowsi.
The mythical king ...
then attacked Zabulistan.
In Persian, based on Dehkhoda dictionary, Sām or Saam means Fire.
References
External links
A king's book of kings: the Shah-nameh of Shah Tahmasp an exhibition catalog from The Metropolitan Museum of Art (fully available online as PDF), which contains material on Sam
Kayanians
Shahnameh characters
{{Shahnameh-stub