page_title: Mount Damavand
section_title: Symbolism and mythology
hierarchical_section_title: Mount Damavand / Symbolism and mythology
caption_attribution_description: English: Damavand Smoke Hole at 5550m
context_page_description: Mount Damavand, a potentially active volcano 5600-m high, is a stratovolcano which is the highest peak in Iran and the highest volcano in Asia.
  Damāvand has a special place in Persian mythology and folklore. It is in the middle of the Alborz range, adjacent to Varārū, Sesang, Gol-e Zard, and Mīānrūd. It is near the southern coast of the Caspian Sea, in Amol County, Mazandaran Province, 66 kilometres northeast of the city of Tehran.
  Mount Damāvand is the 12th most prominent peak in the world and the second most prominent in Asia after Mount Everest. It is part of the Volcanic Seven Summits mountaineering challenge.
context_section_description: Damavand is a significant mountain in Persian mythology. It is the symbol of Iranian resistance against despotism and foreign rule in Persian poetry and literature. In Zoroastrian texts and mythology, the three-headed dragon Aži Dahāka was chained within Mount Damāvand, there to remain until the end of the world. In a later version of the same legend, the tyrant Zahhāk was also chained in a cave somewhere in Mount Damāvand after being defeated by Kāveh and Fereydūn. Persian poet Ferdowsi depicts this event in his masterpiece, the Shahnameh:
  بیاورد ضحاک را چون نوند
  به کوه دماوند کردش ببند
  biyâvarad Zahhâk râ čon navand
  be kuh-e Damâvand krdš beband
  He brought Zahhak like a horse to mount Damavand,
  
  And tied him at the peak tight and bound
  The mountain is said to hold magical powers in the Shahnameh. Damāvand has also been named in the Iranian legend of Arash (as recounted by Bal'ami) as the location from which the hero shot his magical arrow to mark the border of Iran, during the border dispute between Iran and Turan.
  The poem Damāvand by Mohammad Taqī Bahār is also one fine example of the mountain's significance in Persian literature. The first verse of this poem reads:
  ای دیو سپید پای در بند
  ای گنبد گیتی، ای دماوند
  Ey div-e sepid-e pâyi dar band,
  Ey gonbad-e giti, ey Damāvand
  O white giant with feet in chains
  
  O dome of the world, O Damāvand
  Mount Damavand is depicted on the reverse of the Iranian 10,000 rials banknote.
  The origins and meaning of the word "Damavand" is unclear, yet some prominent researchers have speculated that it probably means "The mountain from which smoke and ash arises", alluding to the volcanic nature of the mountain.
caption: Damavand Smoke Hole at 5550m
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