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Keyumars orKiomars (Persian:کیومرث) was the name of the first king (shah) of thePishdadian dynasty ofIran according to theShahnameh.
The name appears inAvestan in the form of𐬔𐬀𐬌𐬌𐬊 𐬨𐬆𐬭𐬆𐬙𐬀𐬥Gaiio Mərətan, or in medievalZoroastrian texts asGayōmard orGayōmart. In theAvesta he is the mythologicalfirst human being in the world. The corresponding name inMiddle Persian is𐭪𐭣𐭬𐭫𐭲Kayōmart. InFerdowsi'sShahnameh he appears as the firstshah of the world. He is also called thepišdād (پيشداد), the first to practice justice, the lawgiver.
The Avestan form means "the living mortal", fromgaya 'life' andmarətan 'mortal, human being'; cf. Persianmard 'human' (مَرد).
Keyumars is also a popular first name in Persian speaking countries (Iran,Afghanistan andTajikistan).
According to theZoroastriancreation myth, Gayōmart, who was neither male nor female, was the firsthuman, or, according to theAvesta, he was the first person to worshipAhura Mazda. The Avestan formsMashya andMashyana appear as the male and female first humans; their names are versions of the wordmarətan 'mortal'.
In the eighth book of theDenkard, a reference is made to the lostChihrdadnask (one of the 21 volumes of theSasanian Avesta). Apparently, this volume dealt with how the world and mankind were created, including the creation of Gayōmart. References are also made to theVarshtmānsar nask, which also included information about Gayōmart which Ahura Mazda had given toZoroaster: "For 30 centuries I kept the world from corruption and decay, when the 30th century came to an end theDīvs assaulted Gayōmart ... But I finally repelled them and plunged them into the darkness".
A concise summary of the story of Gayōmart according toMiddle Persian texts is given byZabihollah Safa:
Gayōmart Gar-shāh (King of the Mountains) was the first humanUhrmazd created. Before Gayōmart came, in the fifth "Gāh" (Ahura Mazda created the world in six Gāhs)Gavevagdāt (the primordial ox) had beencreated from mud inErān-vēdj (which was the middle of the earth) on the right side of the river "Veh-Dāit" ... In the sixth "Gāh" Gayōmart was created from mud ... on the left side of "Veh-Dāit", to help Uhrmazd and he was created in the form of a 15-year-old boy. They lived for 3000 years in peace, neither eating, speaking nor praying, although Gayōmart was inwardly considering these things. At the end of this 3000-year period (during whichAhriman lay stunned by Uhrmazd'sAhunawar incantation and could do nothing)Jēh (the demonic whore) cried out, awakening him ... whereupon Ahriman and his minions theDīvs fought with the light and, on the first day of spring (i.e. the 1st ofFarvardin, the Iranian New Year) Ahriman leaped forth onto the earth in the form of a dragon. He started to create death, illness, lust, thirst, hunger among all living things and disseminated throughout the world theKyrm (the class of evil creeping things which includes reptiles, insects and rodents) [...] In the catastrophe Gavevagdāt died (this being also the symbol of the old year giving way to the new, as depicted inPersepolis reliefs); and Ahriman left "Astovidat" (a Dīv) to guard Gayōmart, but could not kill him because his time had not yet come [...] he lived for 30 years afterwards and, when, finally, he died, fell upon his left side and shed his semen upon the ground, which was then fertilized by the sun [...] and after 40 years there grewMashya and Mashyana as two rhubarb plants ..."[1][page needed]
Ferdowsi's 11th-centuryepic poem, theShahnameh, begins with the story of Keyumars. He was the first king to arise among humans, who at that time lived in mountain caves and wore the skins of leopards. Keyumars was also the first human to introduce royal practices and the preparation of food and was also the first practitioner of law and justice. He was so powerful that all humans, tame animals, and wild animals paid homage to him. God (Ahura Mazda) granted Keyumars the supernatural radiance called thefarr (Avestanxvarənah), reserved for kings. His sonSiāmak (سیامک) was beloved of all except theDevil,Ahriman, who raised an army under the command of his own demonic son. When the angel Sorush (AvestanSraoša) warned Keyumars, Siāmak led an army of his own. Siāmak accepted a challenge to single combat and died at the hands of the demon.
Keyumars mourned for a year, and thenSorush advised him to fight Ahriman once more. Siāmak's sonHushang (AvestanHaošyaŋha) was grown by this time and led the army that defeated Ahriman's son, who was bound and beheaded. Keyumars died after a thirty-year reign, leaving his throne to Hushang.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link){{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link) (complete English verse translation)| Preceded by none | Legendary Kings of theShāhnāmeh 0–30 | Succeeded by |
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