The Arabian phoenix is a fabulous mythical bird, said to be as large as an eagle, with brilliant scarlet and gold plumage and a melodious cry. Making it's home near a cool well, the Phoenix is said appear at dawn every morning to sing a song so enchanting that even the great sun god Apollo would stop to listen.
It was said that only one phoenix existed at any one time, and it is very long-lived with a life span of 500 years, 540 years, 1000 years, 1461 years or even 12,994 years (according to various accounts).
As the end of its life-cycle approaches, the phoenix builds a large nest of perfumed wood, aromatic branches and spices such as myrrh; lies down in the nest, impregnating it with its seed and then sets the nest on fire and is consumed by flames at sundown.
After its death, a new Phoenix is reborn, arising from the ashes at dawn.
According to some sources, the phoenix arose from the midst of the flames.This cycle is repeated for eternity.
In another version of the legend, the newly born phoenix places the body of its mother in a hollow myrrh log, a perfumed wood, and carries it to Heliopolis in Egypt, where it burns on the Altar of the Sun. The young phoenix is followed by flocks of other birds during its flight to Egypt, and on its arrival, the priest of Heliopolis calls the people to witness the miracle about to take place. After the burning of its mother, the young phoenix returns to its home in Ethiopia, where it lives for 500 years on a diet of pearls and incense.
In some legends the young phoenix gathers the ashes of its predecessor into an egg of myrrh and takes it to Heliopolis, the city of the sun, to deposit it on the alter of the sun god.
The Phoenix is symbolic of the death and rebirth of the sun.
It is also described as being either eagle like or heron like. It lives on dew, killing nothing and crushing nothing that it touches. Generally considered the king of birds. It has alternatively been called the bird of the sun, of Assyria, of Arabia, of the Ganges, the long-lived bird and the Egyptian bird. The earliest reference to the Phoenix was made by Hesiod in the 8th century B.C., but the most detailed account is by Herodotus of Halicarnassus, the famous Greek historian in 5th century B.C.
