Simurgh Assisting the Birth of Rustam

One of the stories of the great Persian epic, the Shahnama or Book of Kings, tells the story of how Zal (shown here crowned) fears that his wife Rudaba will not survive the birth of their son and so he throws one of the Simurgh's feathers into the flames of a small brazier in order to summon her. Immediately the Simurgh appears and, by following her instructions, Rudaba painlessly gives birth, by the first ever caesarean section, to Rustam, a mammoth baby boy, who is a wonder to all who see him.