Prophet al-Khiḍr/al-Khaḍir and the biblical
ing motif appears also in the Dānishmend-nāma,
Prophet Ilyās (Elias/Elijah)248 also known in the
in which Malik Dānishmend battles with a fire-
Qurʾān ( sūra 37, 123–32) are thus associated as
spewing dragon responsible for swallowing hun-
a pair and sometimes identified with one
dreds of ghāzī s at a monastery called Deryānōs
another 249 This gives rise to a multi-layered com-
After several futile attempts Malik Dānishmend
posite character adopted also in popular Turkish
final y overcomes the mythical creature which was
tradition as Hızır-Ilyās (often contracted to
created by the magical skills of the monks in the
“Hızırellez/Hıdrellez”) 250
monastery He accomplishes this feat through
At the monastery of Mār Behnām the icono-
guidance received in a dream from the legendary
graphic programme of the dragon-slayer is rep-
early Arab warrior ʿAbd al-Wahhāb, who instructs
resented as two confronted dragon-slaying
him to countermand the beast’s magical powers
horsemen who spear, respectively, a prostrate
by reciting Khiḍr’s prayer and then blowing in
dragon with a heart-shaped knot at its mid-sec-
the direction of the dragon 253
tion, and an anthropomorphic figure, represent-
yet another convergence of role can be seen
ing Satan, beneath their horses; the rider slaying
between Khiḍr and John the Baptist (the Arme-
Satan is identified as Saint Behnām (fig 198) 251
nian Surb Karapet, the Holy Precursor)254 who
The relief, which flanks a very weathered centrally
assumed the qualities of the long-haired (gisavor)
projecting lion head, is shown on the lintel above
Zoroastrian dragon-fighting hero Vahagn 255 The
the so-called “royal door” that leads to the burial
apostle thus became the christianised version of
chamber of Saint Behnām In this position it not
the important Zoroastrian figure, some of whose
only helped to demarcate the sacred threshold,
qualities were passed on to the “Forerunner of
but as an auspicious and apotropaic motif served
Christ ”256 In this way Surb Karapet, like Khiḍr,
to protect the tomb The funerary association of
also became associated with dragon-fighting
the imagery perhaps once again echoes popular
The attribution of such miracles as dragon-
eschatological notions similar to those expressed
slaying to figures of legendary or saintly status,
in the Cappadocian wall paintings above the ves-
sometimes through the agency of the pivotal
tibule door of the previously mentioned yılanlı
Khiḍr Ilyās, may be seen as part of a process of
kilise in the Ihlara valley (fig 106) To the left of
cultural adaptation in which the idea of a relative
the royal door is a depiction of Saint Behnām
contextual and conceptual continuity becomes a
alias Saint George on horseback, here in the role
cross-cultural point of contact 257 The iconography
of dragon-slayer, represented on a large plaster
of the dragon-fighter thus proved ideally suited
relief 252 The depictions reflect a multifaceted
to transcend a variety of religious and secular
notion which was deeply rooted in popular spir-
contexts while epitomising, in the words of
ituality
Pancaroğlu, “the fundamental themes of rescue,
The connection of Khiḍr with the dragon-slay-
relief, triumph, and resurrection ”258
the inscription is notable because it represents the most
251 Preusser, 1911, pl 10, top; Fiey, 1965, pl F (drawing
western testimony of ancient Uighur during the Ilkhanid
of Mār Behnām slaying the devil represented as a horned
period I am grateful to Professor Dr Zieme for the reading
prostrate figure with long tail)
of the Uighur inscription which adds the word m(a)r to the
252 The dating of this relief is disputed and ranges from
reading of Harrak, A and Niu Ruji, op. cit.
the thirteenth to the fifteenth century (Fiey, 1965, pp 605–7)
248 Franke, 2000, pp 159–61 It is interesting to note that
The cult of Mār Behnām in his quality of Khiḍr was until
Elijah’s gentilic is hat-Tišbî (I Kings 17 1) which is thought to
recently the object of a divination cult whereby mainly
be located somewhere in Gilead Since miraculous powers
female pilgrims would throw a handkerchief or other light
of provoking drought and granting rain were ascribed to the
cloth at the large plaster relief; if it stuck to the croup of the
Prophet, he must have been assimilated to some extent with
horse, it was taken as a sign that their prayers were answered
the storm god Teshub of the Hurranians who lived together
It is not too long ago that the “magic nails” were removed
with the Semites in northern Syria Elijah was moreover
Cuinet, vol 2, 1890–5, repr 2001, p 832
known as the greatest healer in Hebrew legend, his miracles
253 Mélikoff, 1960, vol 1, pp 162, 260–2, vol 2, pp 75–7;
including even the resurrection of the dead (I Kings 17:17–
Franke, 2000, pp 133–4
24) See Astour, 1965, pp 215, 297
254 Van Lint, 2005, pp 349–57
249 This fusion also pertains to the whole complex of
255 Russell, 1987, pp 202–4, 217; van Lint, 2005,
myths and legends associated with both Khiḍr and Ilyās
pp 364–5 For instances of the identification of Khiḍr
Massignon, 1956, pp 269–90 Cf van Lint, 2005, pp 365–8
with the Armenian Saint Sergios (Sarkis) in eastern Ana-
250 Cf Hasluck, 1929, vol 2, p 498; Roux, “Hızır,” WdM
tolia, see Hasluck, 1929, vol 2, pp 570–1; Fowden, 1999,
VII, 1, pp 327–8; Franke, 2000, pp 167–73; Pancaroğlu,
p 190
2004, pp 151, 157–8 At the Turkish Hızırellez festival the
256 Cf Redgate, 2000, pp 123, 125
meeting of Khiḍr and Ilyās coincides with the return of spring
257 Pancaroğlu, 2004, p 158
and the regeneration of nature See Franke, 2000, p 148
258 Eadem, pp 158, 161
236