Art of Phoenix Bird

Art of Phoenix bird

The Phoenix has been
around for 7000 years and
has appeared in many
different forms. Today it
represents a rebirth and
renewal the phoenix often
appears after disasters for
example it was put onto the
flag

and seal of the city and county of San Francisco after the earthquake of 1906 to
symbolize the cities regeneration afterwards. It appears on the coat or arms of a
number of cities, towns and universities often after major rebuilding after a fire like
Chicago and of course Phoenix Arizona has it’s namesake on it’s flag. It also appears
on commemorative and medals coins after the World War to represent the new Europe
thought it was also the Symbol for the 1st 2nd and 3rd Reich.

Many Chinese and Japanese anime and manga series feature phoenix as well as
series such as x-man and power rangers. The phoenix also appears in many stories
and Novels - J K Rowling’s Harry Potter, E Nesbit’s The Phoenix and the carpet, C S
Lewis’s the Magicians Nephew and the Last Battle and the search for a phoenix forms
an important side plot in Terry Pratchett’s novel Carpe Jugulum. Shakespeare also
frequently mentioned the bird.
Most recently the phoenix touched down on Mars and is currently searching for signs of
life opening up a new chapter in human history and if it finds water the possibility
humans starting a new life away from earth.

It is consistently described as a large bird but this is also ambiguous, as large can
mean many sizes. Thought it has lead some to believe the Egyptian Benu bird, which
was usually depicted as a heron, could have been based on a new species of heron
found in excavations in Umm-an-Ner, it was larger than any species now living. It is
speculated that the Egyptians may have seen this large bird as an extremely rare
visitor or from tales of travelers who had traded on the Arabian Seaways
.
The Greeks and Romans knew the Egyptian Benu Bird as the Phoenix. A legendary
and gentle bird without parents and offspring it nurtured itself on sunlight and dew and
lived by a well in Phoenicia, brilliant in appearance and song, its feathers were gold,
red and white and could stop the God Apollo (Greek Sun God) with it’s song. A semi-
immortal being, the Phoenix had a lifespan of 500 years and when about to die, it would
build a nest in the form of a funeral pyre, when consumed by the flames; a young
Phoenix would arise from the ashes. It’s the appearance was often the herald to
important events to come.

The Egyptian Benu bird and the Phoenix are connected, both are sun or fire birds and
go through a cycle of death and rebirth and are thus symbols of regeneration and
renewal. The Egyptian Benu bird is identified with Ra, the Sun God and strongly
connected with the Temple of the Sun God at Heliopolis, which was revered by the
Egyptians as the sacred mound from where the Sun god, in his aspect as the Benu
Bird, arose to renew Egypt; another feature which was shared by both the phoenix and
the Benu Bird. It was also recognized as the symbol of a regenerated Osiris. The Benu
is thought to have originated in either Egypt or Arabia according to the Greeks, spent
most of its life in Phoenicia modern day Lebanon. It is thought by many that the myths
surrounding the Phoenix were a misunderstanding of the Egyptian myths if the Benu
Bird. It is possible that the legend comes from what Herodotus wrote of the Phoenix.

“I have not seen a phoenix myself, except in paintings, for it is very rare and visits the
country (so at least they say in Heliopolis) only at intervals of 500 years, on the
occasion of the death of the parent bird. To judge by the paintings, its plumage is
partly golden, partly red, and in shape and size it is exactly like an eagle. There is a
story about the phoenix: it brings its parent in a lump of myrrh all the way from Arabia
and buries the body in the Temple of the Sun. To perform the feat, the bird first shapes
some myrrh into a sort of egg as big as it finds, by testing, that it can carry; then it
hollows the lump out, puts its father inside and smears more myrrh over the opening.
The egg-shaped lump is then just the same weight as it was originally. Finally, it is
carried by the bird to the Temple of the Sun in Egypt.”

A creation myth of Heliopolis tells of the first dawn and a benu skimming over the
waters until it comes to rest on a rock. As it did so, it opened its beak and a cry echoed
over the water. The world was filled with “that which it had not known”; the cry of the
Benu Bird and what is and is not to be was determined. The Benu Bird, brought life and
light to the world.

The Benu Bird was said to have created itself from a fire which burned at the top of the
sacred persea tree at Heliopolis that rested on the Benben Stone, a pillar topped by a
pyramid shaped stone or obelisk, which became the most sacred object worshipped in
the city. The capstones of the pyramids and the pyramids themselves were thought to
be a representation of the Benben Stone and the Pharaohs buried beneath were
under the direct protection of the Sun God.

The Benu’s call began the cycle of time. The twenty four hour day was split into two
with twelve hours for the day and twelve for the night, ten days made up the Egyptian
week, and 3 week or thirty days equaled a month, the year as now was made up of
twelve months (365 days) and then years made up periods of 1460 years in which the
civil and astronomical calendars diverged and then coincided again. The Temple of the
Benu Bird at Heliopolis was primarily concerned with the regulation of this calendar and
the Benu Bird itself was the deity concerned with the division of time.

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However far the Phoenix has
come, it started out either in
ancient Egypt or Arabia and was
known to ancient Egyptians as
the Benu bird. The word Benu in
Egyptian means both a reddish
purple (crimson), heron and
palm tree. It is derived from the
root Bn, which means
“ascension” or “to rise”. There
are many descriptions of the
Benu Bird ranging from a heron
the most common form and the
physical manifestation of both Ra
and Osiris, to an eagle like bird,
a yellow wagtail, and a golden
hawk with a heron’s head. The
coloring of its plumage is also
varied; it is either whole or in part
red, gold, purple, crimson, azure,
scarlet, plum rose and black.