Tahmuras or Tahmures was the third Shah of the mythical Pishdadian dynasty of Iran according to Ferdowsi's epic poem, the Shahnameh. He is considered the builder of Merv.
Tahmuras Defeating the Divs. Miniature by Reza Abbasi from the Shahnameh of Shah Abbas. Qazvin, c. 1590-1600. Chester Beatty Library
Lee Lawrie, Tahmurath (1939). Library of Congress John Adams Building, Washington, D.C.
The Pishdadian dynasty is a mythical line of primordial kings featured in Zoroastrian belief and Persian mythology. They are presented in legend as originally rulers of the world but whose realm was eventually limited to Ērānshahr or Greater Iran. Although there are scattered references to them in the Zoroastrian scriptures—the Avesta—and later Pahlavi literature, it is through the 11th-century Iranian national epic, the Shahnameh, that the canonical form of their legends is known. From the 9th century, Muslim writers, notably Tabari, re-told many of the Pishdadian legends in prose histories and other works. The Pishdadian kings and the stories relating to them have no basis in historical fact, however.
Image: Mir Musavvir 002 (Zahhak)
Image: Farîdûn, seated on his throne, surrounded by five courtiers
Image: Detail of Enthronement of Shah Zav Shahnama Iran Tabriz Ilkhanid period ca
Image: Garshâsp son of Zav on his throne (Shahnmaeh)