Shahnameh
The Shahnameh (Persian: شاهنامه, romanized: Šāhnāme, lit. 'The Book of Kings', pronounced [ʃɒːhnɒːˈme]), also transliterated Shahnama, 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 50,000 "distichs" or couplets (two-line verses), the Shahnameh is one of the world's longest epic poems, and the longest epic poem created by a single author. It tells mainly the mythical and to some extent the historical past of the Persian Empire from the creation of the world until the Muslim conquest in the seventh century. Iran, Azerbaijan, Afghanistan, Tajikistan and the greater region influenced by Persian culture such as Armenia, Dagestan, Georgia, Turkey, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan celebrate this national epic.
| Shahnameh | |
|---|---|
| The Book of Kings | |
| by Ferdowsi | |
Court of Keyumars, Miniature by Sultan Muhammad from the Shahnameh of Shah Tahmasp . Aga Khan Museum | |
| Original title | شاهنامه |
| Written | 977–1010 CE |
| Country | Iran |
| Language | Classical Persian |
| Subject(s) | Persian mythology, history of Iran |
| Genre(s) | epic poem |
| Meter | Lines of 22 syllables with two rhyming couplets in the same metre (bahr-i mutaqarib-i mahzuf) |
| Publication date | 1010 |
| Published in English | 1832 |
| Media type | manuscript |
| Lines | c. 50,000 depending on manuscript |
| Preceded by | Khwaday-Namag |
| Full text | |
| Shah Nameh at Wikisource | |
The work is of central importance in Persian culture and Persian language. It is regarded as a literary masterpiece, and definitive of the ethno-national cultural identity of Iran.