March 15, 2019
The annual Now Ruz celebration has been observed in Iran for more than 2,500 years. Thus, it carries a rich body of myths preserved in folklore and literature.
The ancient Iranians were Zoroastrians-a tiny minority of them still lives in Iran today-and many of the rituals associated with Now Ruz were established by them. The actual holiday itself is popularly believed to have been originated by the legendary Shah Jamshid to celebrate the brilliant spring sun and to commemorate justice, order, and humanitarianism.
According to folklore, Jamshid is reputed to have ruled Iran as shah for 700 years. This is believed to have been a golden age of justice, harmony, and the development of the civilized arts. Jamshid is even credited with having built Persepolis, which in Persian is called Takht-i Jamshid, literally, the Throne of Jamshid.
Many myths explain how Jamshid came to establish the new year on the first day of spring. Here are a few of them:
According to one legend, Jamshid originally was known as Shah Jam. On the first day of spring, he delighted in the warm rays of the sun. Thus, he had his bejeweled throne placed on a high hill in Azerbaijan and, with his crown upon his head, he sat facing the rising sun.
As the jewels in the Shah’s crown and throne caught the rays of the sun, the amazed crowd of onlookers cried out at the glittering reflection, “sheed,” which means luster. The word was then added to Shah Jam’s name. Jamshid then declared that day—the first day of spring—as the start of the new year and called upon all his subjects to join in celebration.
Another myth says Jamshid encountered a swallow while being carried across the sky on his throne. Afraid that her nest full of eggs, which were along the Shah’s path, would be harmed, the swallow begged Jamshid to avoid the nest.
The Shah readily obliged and, when he got down from his throne, the grateful swallow offered Jamshid the leg of a locust and sprinkled water over him. This offering to the king is said to explain the custom of presenting gifts to friends and relatives at Now Ruz, and of sprinkling one another with rose water.
In the 9th Century, the historian Mohammed Ben Jarie Tabari recorded what was already at that time an ancient folk legend: Shah Jamshid as the representative of justice and the Now Ruz holiday as the embodiment of this virtue. According to Tabari:
When Shah Jamshid ascended the throne, he assembled the elders of the kingdom to ask them what of his rule would be most remembered. The elders replied that his good deeds would be his legacy. So Shah Jamshid quickly spread justice throughout the land, promising, “I shall oversee the justice done on the days of judgment….You come to me and guide me to the ways of doing good and I shall do them.”
The first day the Shah sat in judgment was Hormozd, the first day of spring. In honor of this new beginning for his kingdom, Jamshid proclaimed a new day, Now Ruz. Thus, Now Ruz represents the beginning of justice, and of a new era of order and humanism.
One of the best known Now Ruz stories was recorded in the 11th Century by the philosopher and scientist Abu Raihan Biruni in his book Assar al-Baghieh (“Surviving Monuments”): “Ahriman, the evil spirit, removed the blessing and abundance from the land in such a manner that people could find neither food nor drink. They were suffocating, because he had captured the winds. Trees ceased to grow. The world was at an end.
“Then Ahura Mazda, the great lord of creation, ordered Jamshid, the king of the earth, to act.” Jamshid went to the south and called on Ahriman, staying in his house and keeping him captive until the disaster was overcome. Returning to earth, Jamshid’s chariot shone so brightly in the sky that his people gazed with amazement at what they thought were two suns. “That day every stream that had gone dry begged to flow again. People gathered around them exclaiming, ‘It is ruz-e now’ (a new day), and began putting barley in tubs to germinate.”