PHOENIX

#REDIRECT Transsylvania Phoenix

Phoenix

:''This article concerns mythical fire birds in Egyptian and derivative myths. For the Chinese phoenix, see fenghuang. For other uses of the name Phoenix, see Phoenix (disambiguation).'' [[Image:AberdeenBestiaryFol56rPhoenixDetail.jpg|thumb|275px|The phoenix from the Aberdeen Bestiary.]] In ancient Egyptian mythology and in myths derived from it, the phoenix is a mythical sacred fire bird (mythology). Said to live for 500 or for 1461 years, the phoenix is a male bird with beautiful gold and red plumage. At the end of its life-cycle the phoenix builds itself a nest of cinnamon twigs that it then ignites; both nest and bird burn fiercely and are reduced to ashes, from which a new, young phoenix arises. The new phoenix embalms the ashes of the old phoenix in an egg made of myrrh and deposits it in Heliopolis ("the city of the sun" in Greek language), located in Egypt. Although descriptions (and life-span) vary, the phoenix became popular in early Christianity art and literature as a symbol of the resurrection, of immortality, and of afterlife . The early Christians were convinced the phoenix was a real living creature. Originally, the phoenix was identified by the Egyptians as a stork or heron-like bird called a ''benu'', known from the ''Book of the Dead'' and other Egyptian texts as one of the sacred symbols of worship at Heliopolis, closely associated with the rising sun and the Egyptian mythology sun-god Ra. As ''Britannica 1911'' continues: :... whence it is represented as "self-generating" and called "the soul of Ra (the sun)," "the heart of the renewed Sun". All the mystic symbolism of the morning sun, especially in connexion with the doctrine of the future life, could thus be transferred to the ''benu'', and the language of the hymns in which the Egyptians praised the luminary of the dawn as he drew near from Arabia, delighting the gods with his fragrance and rising from the sinking flames of the morning glow, was enough to suggest most of the traits materialized in the classical pictures of the phoenix. The Greeks adapted the word ''benu'' (and also took over its further Egyptian meaning of date palm tree), and identified it with their own word ''phoinix'', meaning the colour purple-red or crimson (cf ''Phoenicia''). They and the Roman mythology subsequently pictured the bird more like a peacock or an eagle. According to the Greek mythology the phoenix lived in Arabia next to a well. At dawn, it bathed in the water of the well, and the Greek sun-god Apollo (god) stopped his chariot (the sun) in order to listen. This myth is famously referred to in William Shakespeare's play ''The Tempest'', :''that in Arabia'' :''There is one tree, the phoenix' throne; one phoenix'' :''At this hour reigning there.'' ::-(III.III.28) One inspiration that has been suggested for the Egyptian phoenix is a specific bird species of East Africa. This bird nests on salt flats that are too hot for its eggs or chicks to survive; it builds a mound several inches tall and large enough to support its egg, which it lays in that marginally cooler location. The hot air rising around these mounds resembles the turbulence of a flame. == External links == *[http://www.abdn.ac.uk/bestiary/translat/55r.hti Entry for the Phoenix in The Aberdeen Bestiary] Heraldic birds Mythical birds th:ฟีนิกซ์

Phoenix

My Free atmosphere site

Phoenix

==Lifespan== "500 or 1461" years? This seems odd, listing two possibilities with one being very specific. User:Porge 11:09, 14 Sep 2004 (UTC) :Herodotus, and most classical authors following him, say 500. One says 1461. Another says 7006. User:Jheald 06:00, 07 Jan 2005 (UTC) ==Etymology== Cut from the article: :The word "Phoenix" is etymologically similar to the word "firebird". Can anybody give a source for this - or even say which language is being discussed? (Not Greek, I think). User:Jheald 06:00, 07 Jan 2005 (UTC)

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P

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Words begining with Phoenix:

PHOENIX
Phoenix
Phoenix
Phoenix
Phoenix,_Arizona
Phoenix,_Arizona
Phoenix,_Arizona
Phoenix,_AZ
Phoenix,_az
Phoenix,_IL
Phoenix,_Illinois
Phoenix,_Maryland
Phoenix,_MD
Phoenix,_New_York
Phoenix,_OR
Phoenix,_Oregon
Phoenix-forgotten
Phoenix-forgotten
Phoenix-forgotten/
Phoenix-forgotten/Realurl
Phoenix-forgotten/Sandbox
Phoenix-forgotten/Test
Phoenix-Songstress
Phoenix2
Phoenix2
Phoenixdreaming
Phoenixhunters
Phoenixmofo
Phoenixnl
PhoenixPinion
PhoenixPinion
Phoenixsong.net
Phoenixville
Phoenixville,_PA
Phoenixville,_Pennsylvania
PhoenixX
PhoenixX
Phoenix_(album)
Phoenix_(album)
Phoenix_(arcade_game)
Phoenix_(browser)
Phoenix_(browser)
Phoenix_(comics)
Phoenix_(computer)
Phoenix_(constellation)
Phoenix_(constellation)
Phoenix_(Currency)
Phoenix_(currency)
Phoenix_(disambiguation)
Phoenix_(disambiguation)
Phoenix_(Iliad)
Phoenix_(magazine)
Phoenix_(manga)
Phoenix_(Marvel_Comics)
Phoenix_(mythology)
Phoenix_(plant)
Phoenix_(spacecraft)
Phoenix_(spacecraft)
Phoenix_(Star_Trek)
Phoenix_(tall_ship)
Phoenix_(television_series)
Phoenix_(TV_series)
Phoenix_Air
Phoenix_Army
Phoenix_Athletics
Phoenix_Aviation
Phoenix_Award
Phoenix_Award
Phoenix_Award_(science_fiction)
Phoenix_breakwaters
Phoenix_Capital_Co.
Phoenix_Cardinals
Phoenix_Cardinals_players
Phoenix_Cinema
Phoenix_Clan
Phoenix_College
Phoenix_Command
Phoenix_Command
Phoenix_Consortium
Phoenix_constellation
Phoenix_constellation
Phoenix_Coyotes
Phoenix_Coyotes
Phoenix_Coyotes_players
Phoenix_dactylifera
Phoenix_Eclipse
Phoenix_escapes
Phoenix_escapes
Phoenix_Film_Festival
Phoenix_FM
Phoenix_Force
Phoenix_Games
Phoenix_Hacker
Phoenix_Hacker
Phoenix_hardcore
Phoenix_Inferno
Phoenix_Inferno/Pride
Phoenix_International_Raceway
Phoenix_Islands
Phoenix_Lake-Cedar_Ridge
Phoenix_Lake-Cedar_Ridge,_CA
Phoenix_Lake-Cedar_Ridge,_California
Phoenix_Lord
Phoenix_Lord_(Warhammer_40,000)
Phoenix_Magazine
Phoenix_Memo
Phoenix_Mercury
Phoenix_metropolitan_area
Phoenix_metropolitan_area
Phoenix_missile
Phoenix_mission
Phoenix_Mountains
Phoenix_Municipal_Stadium
Phoenix_Nights
Phoenix_Object_Basic
Phoenix_Object_Basic
Phoenix_Object_Basic_programming_language
Phoenix_Open
Phoenix_Open_Invitational
Phoenix_operating_system_shell
Phoenix_orb
Phoenix_Park
Phoenix_Park
Phoenix_Park_Murders
Phoenix_Party
Phoenix_Party_(New_Zealand)
Phoenix_Prize_for_spiritual_art
Phoenix_Prize_for_spiritual_art
Phoenix_Program
Phoenix_Program
Phoenix_Project
Phoenix_Rising
Phoenix_Roadrunners
Phoenix_Row
Phoenix_Saga
Phoenix_Sky_Harbor_International_Airport
Phoenix_Son
Phoenix_Spacecraft
Phoenix_sports
Phoenix_Stakes
Phoenix_Suns
Phoenix_Suns
Phoenix_Suns_players
Phoenix_Television
Phoenix_Television
Phoenix_Triumphant
Phoenix_TV
Phoenix_tv_series
Phoenix_Venture_Holdings
Phoenix_web_browser
Phoenix_Wright:_Ace_Attorney