Simurgh

ENTRY FOR MYTHS AND LEGENDS CONTEST:
(watercolors, 29 by 21 inches)

"Si-", the first element in the name, has been connected in folk etymology to Modern Persian si "thirty".

I belive its a symbolic work by Farid ud-Din Attar the bird is an amalgamation of 30 birds/their qualities, a means of understanding God. their pilgrimage to a highr land/point where they all become one-as Simurgh aka Phoenix

There are several other variations concepts related to simurgh.

In Persian legend Simurgh is a gigantic, bird of thirty colors; a kind of peacock with the head of a dog and the claws of a lion. Its natural habitat is a place with plenty of water. According to legend, the creature is so old that it has seen the world destroyed three times over. In all that time, Simurgh has learned so much that it is thought to possess the knowledge of all ages.

In classical and modern Persian literature the Simorḡ is frequently mentioned, particularly as a metaphor for God in Sufi mysticism. In the 12th century Conference of the Birds, Iranian Sufi poet Farid ud-Din Attar wrote of a band of pilgrim birds in search of the Simurgh.