Bahamut

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Bahamut is a mythical creature which appeared in several cultural mythologies. However, in each culture it was described / named differently. It appeared in Arabian resources such as 1001 Nights stories and The Wonders of Creations book by (Zakariya al-Qazwini). In the Bible (Book of Job), it was called Behemoth, as well as in Jewish documents such as the Book of Enoch. (Geller ,2016). In Hinduism, it was called Akupara and it was described to be in the shape of a huge tortoise. In Greek myth it was referred to as The Titan.(Varady,2008)

Since my blog is about Arabian myth I will be focusing on the description of the Arabian version of Bahamut . 


(Fig.1: Bahamut) Illustration in the book The Wonders of Creations
  • Bahamut was described as a former hippopotamus or elephant who turned into a giant fish which has a bull on top of it. The bull holds a ruby mountain and there is an angel at the top of the mountain. (Book of Imaginary Beings by Borges).
  •  (Figure.1) is an Illustration of Bahamut in the book The Wonders of Creations by ( Zakariya al-Qazwini) which shows how the creature was imagined to look like. 
  • In literature (In One Thousand and One Nights) , "Bahamut is glimpsed by a man named Isa. Horror-stricken by Bahamut’s size, Isa loses consciousness. When he awakes, Allah (God) asks him if he has seen the enormous fish. Isa replies that he has only seen the bull on the fish’s head and that it was the length of three days’ journey. Allah then impresses Isa with the fact that he creates 40 fishes like Bahamut every day.” (Geller , 2016).

I’ve discovered this mythical creature during a web research  hoping to find uncommon Arabian myths, which could be refreshing to me as a researcher  and interesting to the audience, both Arabs and non -Arabs.   


My art and my story.



(Figure.3: The Key) Salma, 2019
(Figure.2: Bahamut) Salma , 2019



(Fig.2) shows when Aya and her friends took a small boat and sailed to a tiny island where the 
 key is located.  However, there is a guardian standing in front of the island, his name is Bahamut. In myths from different cultures Bahamut was described as a monstrous , powerful and dangerous beast. However, giving this myth a different perspective would be interesting. Therefore, I made the angel to be in control instead of the fish. The kids ask the angel if he knows where they can find the key . He tells them that they must solve a riddle in order to pass and get the key which is located behind him as shown in (Fig.3). 

The Riddle is the following : "I'm an eloquent who never spoke, and a judge who's never been taught , who Am I? "

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