From Egypt to Mount Qāf: The Symbolism of the Hoopoe in Muslim Literature and Folklore

Abstract

Abstract:The bird known as the hoopoe (Lat. upupa epops, Ar. hudhud) has been a common motif in the literature and folklore of eastern Mediterranean and Middle Eastern cultures, from ancient to modern times. As a solar symbol, it was often associated with kingship, filial piety, and wisdom, and its body was believed to possess potent magical and medicinal properties. In the medieval Islamic world, the hoopoe also played a prominent cultural role, most notably via its inclusion in the Qur'ānic narrative surrounding the prophet Solomon, and its prominence as the central character in Farīd al-Dīn 'Aṭṭār's (d. ca. 1220 ce) book-length poem The Conference of the Birds (Manṭiq al-Ṭayr). Through a review of Biblical, Egyptian, and Greco-Roman sources alongside medieval Islamic literature and modern folklore, this article argues that the medieval Islamic world did not develop an independent tradition of literature and folklore related to hoopoes, but rather drew upon and continued pre-existing ancient and late antique traditions.