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Kay Kāvus

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Kay Kāvus on his flying throne. Illustration from aPersianmanuscript.

Kay Kāvus(Persian:کیکاووس;Avestan:𐬐𐬀𐬎𐬎𐬌 𐬎𐬯𐬀𐬥 Kauui Usan); sometimesKai-KáúsorKai-Kaus,[1][2]is amythologicalshahofGreater Iranand a character in theShāhnāmeh.He is the son ofKay Qobādand the father of princeSeyāvash.Kāvus rules Iran for one hundred and fifty years during which he is frequently though increasingly grudgingly aided by the famous heroRostam.He is succeeded by his grandsonKay Khosrow.

The flying throne[edit]

The Flying Throne of Kay Kāvuswas a legendary eagle-propelled craft built by Kay Kāvus, used for flying the king all the way toChina.[3][4]

According to theShāhnāmeh,Kāvus had a flyingcraftmade consisting of athroneto the corners of which were attached four long poles pointing upward. It was made of wood and gold and he attached specially trained eagles. Pieces of meat were attached at the top of each pole and the ravenous eagles were chained to the feet. As the eagles tried to reach the meat they caused the throne to fly. The craft flew the king all the way to China, where the eagles grew tired and the craft came down. Rostam eventually had to rescue the king who, miraculously, survived the crash.

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^Firdawsī,The Sháh námeh of the Persian poet Firdausí.Oriental Translation Fund. Volume 21 of Publications, Oriental Translation Fund. Translated by James Atkinson. Printed for the Oriental Translation Fund of Great Britain and Ireland; sold by J. Murray, 1832, 532.
  2. ^"The Origins Of Ideas of Space Flight".Informatics.org. Archived fromthe originalon May 19, 2011.RetrievedMay 2,2012.
  3. ^"The Shahnameh of Ferdowsi: An Icon to National Identity".Archived fromthe originalon May 21, 2005.RetrievedJuly 19,2005.
  4. ^Book Review: Into the Air,Social Studies for Kids

External links[edit]

Preceded by Legendary Kings of theShāhnāma
150 years(2541–2691afterKeyumars)
Succeeded by