Today I'll take you to Mardin, a medieval city in the heart of Mesopotamia where I first heard ancient and sad legend about Shahmaran, the present-day symbol of Mardin. As it supposed be in an oriental fairy tale, it is about love, sacrifice and wisdom.
So, take a break, put aside your concerns and imagine yourself sitting out on the terrace on the top of the hill drinking aromatic and refreshing beverage and overlooking boundless Mesopotamian plains...
There are many version of the legend, and I'll tell you the one I loved the most. 😊
Shahmaran (Turkish “Şahmeran”) is described as a creature being with a head of a beautiful woman, a body of a dragon and a second head of a poisonous snake at the tip of her tail. She is popular in the culture of Middle East and considered to be the queen of the serpents and the keeper of the wisdom.
The name of Shahmaran originates from the Persian words “Shah” (a the title for an Iranian ruler) and “Maran” (means snakes, plural from “Mar”). At the pagan time there was a cult of Shahmaran in the area of present Iran, Iraq and Turkey.
Unlike other ancient gods Shahmaran survived the coming of Christianity and even the spread of Islam. One version of it can be found in the book of One Thousand and One Nights.
Once a handsome young man walked in the mountains and accidentally went into a cave where thousands of magic snakes lived. These snakes were special, for they possessed the gift of immortality. When one snake died, its soul has gotten into another. These snakes were ruled by the beautiful queen Shahmaran. She was a beautiful woman with white skin up to the waist, and a snake below the waist. Shahmaran was a wise and kind snake lady with sacred knowledge about nature, the world and all living things in it.
The young man saw that he was surrounded by thousands of snakes, but what blinded him was the face of the most beautiful woman he had ever met. She approached the young man, stood right in front of him, smiled, held out her hands to him and said: "Do not be afraid of me. I am Shahmaran, the mistress of the country of snakes. I have lived in this cave since the creation of this world. I won't harm you. Welcome to my world and be my guest."
The next morning, Shahmaran invited the young man to have breakfast with her. He could not take his eyes off her beautiful white face while she told him the mysteries of plants and animals, and the story of the creation of this world...
Time passed, and the young man fell in love with Shahmaran.
Time had no power over life in the cave, but as the days passed, the young man began to miss his mother home, more and more. The day came, and Shahmaran told him:
“Oh my beloved. I know that if I let you go, you will betray me and tell others where I live. Our love has no life on earth. People are evil and envious, they will destroy our happiness. But I can't bear to see you sad because I love you so much. For this reason, I am letting you go. But I want you to promise me one thing: never go into the water with other people.”
The young man hugged Shahmaran and swore that he would never betray her.
Once the lord of Tarsus, where the young man lived, fell seriously ill, and no one could cure him. The lord had an evil vizier - a warlock. He knew about Shahmaran and wanted to take her power and knowledge. The vizier came to the ruler of Tarsus and told him that the only cure for his illness was Shahmaran the Queen of Snakes. If the master eats a piece of her flesh, his disease will pass. The ruler believed the vizier and ordered to find the snake queen as soon as possible, but no one knew where she lived.
Then the vizier learned that anyone who had ever seen the queen of snakes would be covered with scales when come into the water. And when the soldiers came to the village where the young man lived, they forcibly took all the people to a large hammam (Turkish bath). The young man remembered his promise and did not want to go, but he was forced to. And there everyone suddenly saw that his body was covered with scales.
When the soldiers found the cave and brought Shahmaran to the palace, the beautiful queen saw her lover. She said:
“I know you didn't betray me for your life. Now I will tell you my secret. Whoever tears off a piece from my tail and eats it will become a great sage and will know the secrets of this world. Whoever eats a piece of my head will immediately die a terrible death, and whoever eats a piece of the middle part of my body will be healed of his illness."
Before Shahmaran finished her words, the evil vizier killed her and cut her body into three parts. The vizier tore a piece out of the tail to learn the secrets of the world. The young man bit a piece of the head of his beloved in order to die on the spot due to pain and shame.
The evil vizier, having eaten the meat of the tail, died. The young man got all the secrets of the world, and the ruler of Tarsus was healed. Shahmaran was wise. She understood that after her death her beloved would be killed, so she saved him at the cost of her own life and passed on her knowledge to him, deceiving the sneaky vizier.
According to legend, the snakes did not hear the news that Shahmaran had died. Because when Shahmaran left the underground palace, she told the other snakes that she would go to the hammam first, and then to the wedding. When the underground snakes hear the drums playing on the ground, they think that the wedding is going on and wait for Shahmaran's return.
When the Day of Judgment comes and the drums stop, the snakes will realize that Shahmaran has died and will come to the surface to avenge her and invade everywhere, starting with the baths.
All photos used in this posts are from Mardin that I visited on my journey to Mesopotamia in September 2021. All of them are taken and owned by myself. Nobody can use them without my consent.