The Manifestation of "Cow-fish" Myth in Iranian Art on the basis of Ancient Sources, with an Emphasis on Pictorial Rugs

This article seeks to analyze and explain one of the ancient and cosmological ideas of the people living on the plateau of Iran, called “cow-fish”. The authors of this essay have tried to study and explain the mythological and religious roots as well as the public beliefs concerning such a myth by using historical documents and the method of reflection, besides a comparative study of ancient narratives and stories with some examples obtained from the history of Iranian art.
The necessity and importance of conducting this research is to become familiar with the wide range of subjects used in the art of ancient people, the origin of ancient motifs, the significance of them in the past and their absence in the present time. A visual study of such works helps us identify the mindset and culture of earlier artists. The main focus of the research is on the interpretation and decoding of the body of an angel or goddess standing on a cow in a carpet with cow-fish motif. Therefore, by carefully studying this myth and examining it in history, an extensive essay has been presented to record the art and thoughts of designers and weavers in this field.
The research methodology in the present article is descriptive-analytical with a comparative approach using the reflection method, and the method of collecting information is based on library sources. The results confirm a continuation of the reflection of cultural and social issues on the works of art and the thematic relations of cow-fish myth in ancient literature, folklore and Iranian art up to the end of the Qājār period.
The woman standing in the carpet frame is identified as Sepandarmaz, angel who is the guardian of the earth on behalf of Ahura Mazda and is the protector of animals, closely related to Mām-e Mahin. Dressed in a cloak full of mixed animal motifs, this angel is reminiscent of the mother and the original female creature, which due to the creative role of “woman and mother”, stands in a higher hierarchy than the creation of animals and plants laid by a cow. Furthermore, the image of a cow with hybrid animals is the body of the “first created cow” (Gav Aevo Data). Gathering and combining the animals in the dress of angel and the body of cow is the reconstruction of the original and eternal body of Māme Mahin and the first created cow in the age of the creation of Minavi Ahura Mazda.
According to the narrations in the ancient Avesta and Pahlavi sources, the unification of the corpses inside the body of the sacred cow in the cow-fish carpet is a reconstruction and reference to the body of the first great animal that was sacrificed to create plants and animals from its body parts. By gathering and achieving unity in the body of a cow or the body of another creature, such beings reach the homeland and womb and the safe place from which they were born, so that at the beginning of spring the story of creation is repeated. Iranians considered this myth as the origin of the creation of the world and passed it on to succeeding generations in the form of oral, written and illustrated tales. They have paid particular attention to this tale during the New Year and the ancient Nowruz ceremony.