Shahnameh (Jules Mohl edition) / The Story of Zahhak and Kaveh the Blacksmith

Shahnameh, the Persian epic poem by Ferdowsi, here presented in the edition of Jules Mohl, contains the story of Zahhak and Kaveh the Blacksmith. The story follows the tyrannical rule of Zahhak, a king whose shoulders sprout serpents fed on human brains, and the uprising sparked by Kaveh, a blacksmith who loses his sons to Zahhak's cruelty. Kaveh rises against the king, and his leather apron becomes a banner of resistance. The episode is one of the most celebrated in the Shahnameh, representing the struggle of the common people against oppression and the origins of a legendary national symbol.