Editing Shahnameh (section)

== Composition ==
[[File:Penjikent mural Hermitage hall 49.jpg|thumb|upright=1.6|'[[Rostam]] cycle', fragment of the [[Penjikent murals]] in the [[Hermitage Museum]]. 7-8th-century]]
[[Ferdowsi]] started writing the ''Shahnameh'' in 977 and completed it on 8 March 1010.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |last=Khaleghi-Motlagh |first=Djalal |title=Ferdowsi, Abu'l Qāsem i. Life |url=http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/ferdowsi-i |encyclopedia=[[Encyclopædia Iranica]] |access-date=27 May 2012 |date=26 January 2012 |quote=the poet refers [...] to the date of the ''Šāh-nāma's'' completion as the day of Ard (i.e., 25th) of Esfand in the year 378 Š. (400 Lunar)/8 March 1010 |archive-date=31 October 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191031194813/http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/ferdowsi-i |url-status=live }}</ref> The ''Shahnameh'' is a monument of poetry and [[historiography]], being mainly the poetical recast of what Ferdowsi, his contemporaries, and his predecessors regarded as the account of [[Iran]]'s ancient history. Many such accounts already existed in prose, an example being the [[Abu-Mansuri Shahnameh|''Shahnameh'' of Abu-Mansur]]. A small portion of Ferdowsi's work, in passages scattered throughout the ''Shahnameh'', is entirely of his own conception.

The ''Shahnameh'' is an epic poem of over 50,000 [[couplet]]s written in [[Persian language#Early New Persian|Early New Persian]]. It is based mainly on a prose work of the same name compiled in Ferdowsi's earlier life in his native [[Tus, Iran|Tus]]. This prose ''Shahnameh'' was in turn and for the most part the translation of a Pahlavi ([[Middle Persian]]) work, known as the ''[[Khwaday-Namag|Khwadāy-Nāmag]]'' "Book of Kings", a late Sasanian compilation of the history of the kings and heroes of Persia from mythical times down to the reign of [[Khosrow II]] (590–628). The ''Khwadāy-Nāmag'' contained historical information on the later Sasanian period, but it does not appear to have drawn on any historical sources for the earlier Sasanian period (3rd to 4th centuries).<ref>{{cite book|last=Zaehner|first=Robert Charles|title=Zurvan: a Zoroastrian Dilemma|year=1955|publisher=Biblo and Tannen|isbn=0-8196-0280-9|author-link=Robert Charles Zaehner|page=10}}</ref> Ferdowsi added material continuing the story to the overthrow of the Sasanians by the Muslim armies in the middle of the seventh century.

The first to undertake the versification of the Pahlavi chronicle was [[Daqiqi]], a contemporary of Ferdowsi, poet at the court of the [[Samanid Empire]], who came to a violent end after completing only 1,000 verses. These verses, which deal with the rise of the prophet [[Zoroaster]], were afterward incorporated by Ferdowsi, with acknowledgment, in his own poem. The style of the ''Shahnameh'' shows characteristics of both written and oral literature. Some claim that Ferdowsi also used Zoroastrian ''nasks'', such as the now-lost ''[[Chihrdad]],'' as sources as well.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.heritageinstitute.com/zoroastrianism/shahnameh/|title=Ferdowsi Shahnameh Introduction|first=Ed|last=Eduljee|website=www.heritageinstitute.com|accessdate=Oct 24, 2022|archive-date=January 28, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230128130710/https://www.heritageinstitute.com/zoroastrianism/shahnameh/|url-status=live}}</ref>

Many other [[Pahlavi scripts|Pahlavi]] sources were used in composing the epic, prominent being the ''[[Kar-Namag i Ardashir i Pabagan]]'', which was originally written during the late Sassanid era and gave accounts of how [[Ardashir I]] came to power which, because of its historical proximity, is thought to be highly accurate. The text is written in the late Middle Persian, which was the immediate ancestor of [[Persian language|Modern Persian]]. A great portion of the historical chronicles given in ''Shahnameh'' is based on this epic and there are in fact various phrases and words which can be matched between Ferdowsi's poem and this source, according to [[Zabihollah Safa]].<ref>{{cite book|last=Safa|first=Zabihollah|title=Hamase-sarâ'i dar Iran, Tehran 1945|year=2000}}</ref>