[54] Strabo, who observed them in the Cappadocian Kingdom in the first century BC, records (XV.3.15) that these "fire kindlers" possessed many "holy places of the Persian Gods", as well as fire temples. The Tajiks are a people native to Tajikistan, Afghanistan, and Uzbekistan who speak Persian in a variety of dialects. [79], The Sarmatians of the east, based in the PonticCaspian steppe, became the Alans, who also ventured far and wide, with a branch ending up in Western Europe and then North Africa, as they accompanied the Germanic Vandals and Suebi during their migrations. Brill and London: Luzac, 191338. [102] Fire was regarded as an important and highly sacred element, and also a deity. Iranian ethnic group who make up over half the population of Iran, , 10th-century Arab Muslim writer Ibn Hawqal, in his, harv error: no target: CITEREFShapur_Shahbazi2005 (, sfn error: no target: CITEREFSchmitt2000 (, harv error: no target: CITEREFSchmitt2008 (. What is the human characteristics of Iran? [121] Gardens assumed an important place for the Achaemenid monarchs,[120] and utilized the advanced Achaemenid knowledge of water technologies,[122] including aqueducts, earliest recorded gravity-fed water rills, and basins arranged in a geometric system. Xenophon describes the carpet production in the city of Sardis, stating that the locals take pride in their carpet production. Due to the central location of Iran, Persian art has served as a fusion point between eastern and western traditions. Nestled on the margins of Turkey, Iran, Iraq, and Syria, Kurdistan is one of the planet's most volatile regions, and its people are the world's largest stateless group. Corrections? The capital is Tehrn, a sprawling jumbled metropolis at the southern foot of the Elburz Mountains. However, it did not yet have a political import. Proceedings of the Third European Conference of Iranian Studies (Cambridge, September 1995). Related Article: 10 Basque People Physical Characteristics & Character Traits. For example, around 2% of Irans population (which is majority Persian) are Arab. Herodotus recounts this story,[26] devising a foreign son, Perses, from whom the Persians took the name. [86] The oldest attested text written in Old Persian is from the Behistun Inscription,[87] a multilingual inscription from the time of Achaemenid ruler Darius the Great carved on a cliff in western Iran. Southern European Skin Complexion. 2., inscription of the Seleucid and Parthian periods of Eastern Iran and Central Asia. conquered by Iranian culture. However, due to their different environmental adaptations through migration, the Iranian peoples embrace some degrees of diversity in dialect, social system, and other aspects of culture.[1]. Ancient Persians were known for being of a relatively large stature. This article was most recently revised and updated by. The Greco-Persian Wars resulted in the Persians being forced to withdraw from their European territories, setting the direct further course of history of Greece and the rest of Europe. [39][40][41][42][43], The ancient Persians played a major role in the downfall of the Neo-Assyrian Empire. However, this is not the case at all. [4] They are native speakers of the modern dialects of Persian,[82] which serves as the country's official language.[83]. [12][13] Modern Iranian peoples include the Baloch, the Gilaks, the Kurds, the Lurs, the Mazanderanis, the Ossetians, the Pamiris, the Pashtuns, the Persians, the Tats, the Tajiks, the Talysh, the Wakhis, the Yaghnobis, and the Zazas. Sasanian marble bust. Some have large deep black eyes, whereas others will have eyes of a deep blue, grey, or green color. Their current distribution spreads across the Iranian Plateau, stretching from the Caucasus in the north to the Persian Gulf in the south and from eastern Anatolia in the west to western Xinjiang in the easta region that is sometimes called the Iranian Cultural Continent,[14] representing the extent of the Iranian-speakers and the significant influence of the Iranian peoples through the geopolitical and cultural reach of Greater Iran. Persias conquest by the Muslim Arabs in the 7th century ce was to leave the most lasting influence, however, as Iranian culture was all but completely subsumed under that of its conquerors. Finely decorated pre-Islamic structures still stand in several ancient cities, as do spectacular mosques and shrines from the Muslim era. [20], Strabo, in his Geographica (1st century AD), mentions of the Medes, Persians, Bactrians and Sogdians of the Iranian Plateau and Transoxiana of antiquity:[31]. Following the Arab conquest of the Sasanian Empire in the medieval times, the Arab caliphates established their rule over the region for the next several centuries, during which the long process of the Islamization of Iran took place. [65] The Medes were subsequently able to establish their Median kingdom (with Ecbatana as their royal centre) beyond their original homeland and had eventually a territory stretching roughly from northeastern Iran to the Halys River in Anatolia. However, its not uncommon to come across a very light skinned and fair-haired Persian, especially in some of the minority groups across the country. The Persians spread their influence to the rest of what is considered to be the Iranian Plateau, and assimilated with the non-Iranian indigenous groups of the region, including the Elamites and the Mannaeans. They found that about 31.4% belong to J, 29.1% belong to R, 11.8% belong to G, and 9.2% belong to E. They found that Iranian ethnic groups display high haplogroup diversity, compared to other Middle Easterners. The ancestors of the Persian people still mainly live in modern-day Iran and share a significant amount of characteristics with their ancient ancestors. Throughout the 1st millennium AD, the large presence of the Sarmatians who once dominated Ukraine, Southern Russia, and swaths of the Carpathians, gradually started to diminish mainly due to assimilation and absorption by the Germanic Goths, especially from the areas near the Roman frontier, but only completely by the Proto-Slavic peoples. For example, both Early Iranian and Slavic supreme gods were considered givers of wealth, unlike the supreme thunder gods in many other European religions. [91] Currently, most of these Iranian peoples live in Iran, Afghanistan, the Caucasus (mainly Ossetia, other parts of Georgia, Dagestan, and Azerbaijan), Iraqi Kurdistan and Kurdish majority populated areas of Turkey, Iran and Syria, Tajikistan, Pakistan and Uzbekistan. With numerous artistic, scientific, architectural, and philosophical achievements and numerous kingdoms and empires that bridged much of the civilized world in antiquity, the Iranian peoples were often in close contact with people from various western and eastern parts of the world. We cite peer reviewed academic articles wherever possible and reference our sources at the end of our articles. About The Helpful Professor There are an estimated 150 to 200 million native speakers of Iranian languages, the six major groups of Persians, Lurs, Kurds, Tajiks, Baloch, and Pashtuns accounting for about 90% of this number. Your email address will not be published. The Kurds and Turkmen are predominantly Sunni Muslims, and Irans Arabs are Sunni and Shii. Omissions? [19][20] Today, the Old Iranian arya- remains in ethno-linguistic names such as Iran, Alan, Ir, and Iron. [74] Their territory, which was known as Sarmatia to Greco-Roman ethnographers, corresponded to the western part of greater Scythia (mostly modern Ukraine and Southern Russia, also to a smaller extent north eastern Balkans around Moldova). The Iranian Language of Azerbaijan", "Iranian Identity ii. Although green is a rare eye color in Iran, most people with light eyes have green or light brown eyes, a fantastic combination. While the Iranian tribes of the south are better known through their texts and modern counterparts, the tribes which remained largely in the vast Eurasian expanse are known through the references made to them by the ancient Greeks, Persians, Chinese, and Indo-Aryans as well as by archaeological finds. According to authors Arrowsmith, Fellowes and Graves Hansard in their book A Grammar of Ancient Geography published in 1832, Sarmatia had two parts, Sarmatia Europea[75] and Sarmatia Asiatica[76] covering a combined area of 503,000 sq mi or 1,302,764km2. The division into an "Eastern" and a "Western" group by the early 1st millennium is visible in Avestan vs. Old Persian, the two oldest known Iranian languages. Another Iranian tribe related to the Saka-Scythians were the Parni in Central Asia, and who later become indistinguishable from the Parthians, speakers of a northwest-Iranian language. The Iranian Language of Azerbaijan", "IRAN ii. Big eyes in Iran are both a beauty standard; most people have big eyes and long eyelashes, which, when combined with tan skin and black arched eyebrows, creates a stunning appearance for their eyes. Among the most renowned Persian literary figures are 10th-century court poet, musician, and singer Rdak, who composed versified renditions of local lore; mathematician, astronomer, and skeptic Omar Khayyam, to whom is attributed a collection of quatrains advocating a hedonistic approach to an otherwise meaningless life; and Rm, a 13th-century mystic of the Sufi branch of Islam, whose compilation of couplets in Masnav-yi Manav (Spiritual Couplets) has influenced religious thought and literature throughout the Muslim world. Architectural elements from the time of Iran's ancient Persian empires have been adopted and incorporated in later period. Iranian culture is today considered to be centered in what is called the Iranian Plateau, and has its origins tracing back to the Andronovo culture of the late Bronze Age, which is associated with other cultures of the Eurasian Steppe. [102] Zoroastrianism, a form of the ancient Iranian religion that is still practiced by some communities,[103] was later developed and spread to nearly all of the Iranian peoples living in the Iranian Plateau. Iranian." The authors concluded that the Iranian gene pool has been an important source for the Middle Eastern and Eurasian Y chromosome diversity, and the results suggest that there was already rather high Y chromosome diversity during the Neolithic period, placing Iranian populations in between Europeans, Middle Easterners and South Asians. Please select which sections you would like to print: Also known as: Islamic Republic of Iran, Jomhr-ye Eslm-ye rn, Professor of Feminist Studies, University of California at Santa Barbara. [60] Samples of Old Persian have been discovered in present-day Iran, Armenia, Egypt, Iraq, Romania (Gherla),[84][85] and Turkey. The Proto-Iranians are believed to have emerged as a separate branch of the Indo-Iranians in Central Asia around the mid-2nd millennium BC. IRANIAN LANGUAGES AND SCRIPTS (2) Documentation", "ARABIC LANGUAGE v. Arabic Elements in Persian", "ARCHITECTURE vi. https://helpfulprofessor.com/persian-people-physical-characteristics/. The Persians are known for their intricately inlaid metalwork as well as for their legacy of extraordinary architecture. Also, both Slavs and Iranians had demons - given names from similar linguistic roots, Dava (Iranian) and Div (Slavic) - and a concept of dualism, of good and evil. [24][a] The earliest epigraphically attested reference to the word arya- occurs in the Bistun Inscription of the 6th century BC. Learn more about our academic and editorial standards. After Slavic and Baltic languages diverged the Early Slavs interacted with Iranian peoples and merged elements of Iranian spirituality into their beliefs. Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City. The following are according to 1957 and later linguists: Unlike the Sanskrit rya- (Aryan), the Old Iranian term has solely an ethnic meaning. Following the Macedonian conquests, the Persian colonists in Cappadocia and the rest of Asia Minor were cut off from their co-religionists in Iran proper, but they continued to practice the Iranian faith of their forefathers. Ultimately, the various Iranian peoples, including the Persians, Pashtuns, Kurds and Balochis, converted to Islam, while the Alans converted to Christianity, thus laying the foundation for the fact that the modern-day Ossetians are Christian. Although no writing in Persian occurred for a period of nearly five centuries after Alexander the Great captured the region, the tradition resumed during approximately the 3rd century ce and continued into the 21st century. Social/Attention Needs: Moderate Tendency to Shed: High Coat: Length: Long The second wave is interpreted as the Iranian wave,[44] and took place in the third stage of the Indo-European migrations[37] from 800 BC onwards. The heart of the storied Persian empire of antiquity, Iran has long played an important role in the region as an imperial power and laterbecause of its strategic position and abundant natural resources, especially petroleumas a factor in colonial and superpower rivalries. In urban areas Persian society is stratified by profession; real-estate investors and commercial entrepreneurs occupy the highest position, followed by upper-level administrators, merchants, and clergy. Iranian influence spread to the neighbouring Ottoman Empire, where Persian was often spoken at court (though a heavy Turko-Persian basis there was set already by the predecessors of the Ottomans in Anatolia, namely the Seljuks and the Sultanate of Rum amongst others) as well to the court of the Mughal Empire. [114][18][113][115] This is due mainly to its geopolitical conditions, and its intricate relationship with the ever-changing political arena once as dominant as the Achaemenid Empire. Quiz, Central Intelligence Agency - The World Factbook - Iran, Encyclopaedia Iranica - Neolithic age in Iran, Iran - Children's Encyclopedia (Ages 8-11), Iran - Student Encyclopedia (Ages 11 and up), Be tough in seizing Iran oil, bipartisan senators urge Biden, Iran urges Lebanese sides to reach agreement over president, German FM condemns death sentence for citizen in Iran, US cyberwarriors thwarted 2020 Iran election hacking attempt, push to pacify economic unrest through repression. The Persian population is engaged in a broad array of occupations, in both urban and rural settings. [98][99][62], The Hazaras, making up the third largest ethnic group in Afghanistan,[100][101][102] speak a variety of Persian by the name of Hazaragi,[103] which is more precisely a part of the Dari dialect continuum. After the fall of the Assyrian Empire, between 616 BC and 605 BC, a unified Median state was formed, which, together with Babylonia, Lydia, and Egypt, became one of the four major powers of the ancient Near East. The Proto-Iranians are believed to have emerged as a separate branch of the Indo-Iranians in Central Asia around the mid-2nd millennium BC. The ancient Iranian peoples who emerged after the 1st millennium BC include the Alans, the Bactrians, the Dahae, the Khwarazmians, the Massagetae, the Medes, the Parthians, the Persians, the Sagartians, the Sakas, the Sarmatians, the Scythians, the Sogdians, and likely the Cimmerians, among other Iranian-speaking peoples of Western Asia, Central Asia, Eastern Europe, and the Eastern Steppe. A dozen senators are making a bipartisan appeal to President Joe Biden to reinvigorate the power of U.S. authorities to seize Iranian oil assets, Irans foreign minister says Tehran wants Lebanon's rivals to reach an agreement to elect a new president in the crisis-hit country that has been without a head of state October, Germanys foreign minister has called on Iran to reverse a death sentence handed down to Jamshid Sharmahd, an Iranian-German dual citizen and opposition figure accused of masterminding deadly attacks, Iranian hackers broke into to a system used by a U.S. municipal government to publish election results in 2020 but were discovered by cyber soldiers operating abroad and kicked out before an attack could be launched, according to U.S. military and cybersecurity officials, In a story published April 24, 2023, about fuel shortages in Cuba, The Associated Press erroneously reported that researcher Jorge Pin said that references by Cuban authorities to difficulties with inputs could suggest a shortage of a crude oil additive that Cuba obtains from Iran. [29][10], Some medieval and early modern Islamic sources also used cognates of the term Persian to refer to various Iranian peoples and languages, including the speakers of Khwarazmian,[30] Mazanderani,[31] and Old Azeri. [105] The language-shift from Middle Iranian to Turkic and New Persian was predominantly the result of an "elite dominance" process. Dairy products, especially yogurt, also are characteristic of Persian cuisine. [88], Starting with the reign of Omar in 634 AD, Muslim Arabs began a conquest of the Iranian Plateau. Products of the weaving industry are both used locally and exported. [89] The origin of the Tat people is traced to an Iranian-speaking population that was resettled in the Caucasus by the time of the Sasanian Empire. These Iranian-speaking Scythians and Sarmatians dominated large parts of Eastern Europe for a millennium, and were eventually absorbed and assimilated (e.g. [4] They share a common cultural system and are native speakers of the Persian language[6][7][8] as well as of the languages that are closely related to Persian. According to Ms Fthi the "short and wide" skulls are typical of people living in the East, perhaps as far away as Siberia. [56], The Parthians and the Sasanians would also extensively interact with the Romans culturally. [97] They speak various dialects of the Luri language, which is considered to be a descendant of Middle Persian. The process of subdivision and conquest culminated in the establishment of the . Calm. Among the most important Persian holidays are the Muslim ds (canonical festivals); the birthday of the 12th imam, whose return is expected at the Last Judgment; and the Persian New Year, called Nrz. [20] Many influential Persian figures hailed from outside of Iran's present-day bordersto the northeast in Afghanistan and Central Asia, and to a lesser extent within the Caucasus proper to the northwest. If this is true, who knows, maybe at some point in your familys history, they migrated from this cradle of civilization. Old Persian is attested in the Behistun Inscription (c. 519 BC), recording a proclamation by Darius the Great. Their rise was reversed in the 21st century, however, owing to intervention from the conservative leadership and the greater penetration of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) throughout government and society. For the left-leaning italics, see. Female: medium: 8-12 lbs. From Persis and throughout the Median, Achaemenid, Parthian, and Sasanian empires of ancient Iran to the neighboring Greek city states and the kingdom of Macedon,[112][14] and later throughout the medieval Islamic world,[113][17] all the way to modern Iran and others parts of Eurasia, Persian culture has been extended, celebrated, and incorporated. The Persian people are one of the oldest civilizations that still inhabit their homeland. The body is short, but thick with thick legs and a short, thick neck. Persians live in a very diverse geographical region. They are descended from a division of Sarmatians, the Alans who were pushed out of the Terek River lowlands and in the Caucasus foothills by invading Huns in the 4th century CE. [30] Eudemus of Rhodes (Dubitationes et Solutiones de Primis Principiis, in Platonis Parmenidem) refers to "the Magi and all those of Iranian (reion) lineage". [78] Contemporary embracement of the legacy of Iran's ancient empires, with an emphasis on the Achaemenid Persian Empire, developed particularly under the reign of the Pahlavi dynasty, providing the motive of a modern nationalistic pride. The Sarmatians differed from the Scythians in their veneration of the god of fire rather than god of nature, and women's prominent role in warfare, which possibly served as the inspiration for the Amazons. This article will discuss five physical characteristics and five stereotypical traits of the Persian people. The Scythian and Sarmatian tribes were spread across Great Hungarian Plain, South-Eastern Ukraine, Russias Siberian, Southern, Volga,[59] Uralic regions and the Balkans,[60][61][62] while other Scythian tribes, such as the Saka, spread as far east as Xinjiang, China. Iran, a mountainous, arid, and ethnically diverse country of southwestern Asia. This article will discuss five physical characteristics and five stereotypical traits of the Persian people. Most researchers associate the Andronovo horizon with early Indo-Iranian languages, though it may have overlapped the early Uralic-speaking area at its northern fringe. However, little information is available from the music of that era. Persian cats are medium-sized, usually weigh between seven and 12 pounds, and measure from 10-15 inches tall. They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors. Kieffer, Charles M. "HAZRA" [iv. As with Tehrn, cities such as Efahn and Shrz combine modern buildings with important landmarks from the past and serve as major centres of education, culture, and commerce. [51] Sintashta settlements are also remarkable for the intensity of copper mining and bronze metallurgy carried out there, which is unusual for a steppe culture. Related Article: 10 Persian People Physical Characteristics And Stereotypes. When Aryan (Indo-Iranian) tribes migrated to the region of modern-day Iran, it came to be known as Ariana or Iran . Learn more about our academic and editorial standards. Carpet weaving is an essential part of the Persian culture,[124] and Persian rugs are said to be one of the most detailed hand-made works of art. As the Persian Empire expanded to. H. W. Bailey, "Arya" in Encyclopedia Iranica. A significant stereotype that was invented in the last few centuries is that Persians are Arabs. Alexander the Great noun (356-323 BCE) Greek ruler, explorer, and conqueror. In ancient Iran, fire was kept with great care in fire temples. The Persian language belongs to the western group of the Iranian branch of the Indo-European language family. 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James Minahan, "One Europe, Many Nations", Published by Greenwood Publishing Group, 2000. pg 518: "The Ossetians, calling themselves Iristi and their homeland Iryston are the most northerly Iranian people. As Persian people generally resist doing anything that would bring shame to their name or family, they are known for adhering to social expectations in their homeland. The Persian cat is immediately recognizable by its very flat face with full cheeks, large round eyes, a short muzzle and a short snub-nose, round cheeks, a firm chin, medium-sized ears, and large, round eyes. The Iranian peoples[1] or Iranic peoples[2] are a diverse grouping of Indo-European peoples[1][3] who are identified by their usage of the Iranian languages and other cultural similarities. At least four sub-cultures of the Andronovo horizon have been distinguished, during which the culture expands towards the south and the east: The geographical extent of the culture is vast and difficult to delineate exactly. The Persian garden, the earliest examples of which were found throughout the Achaemenid Empire, has an integral position in Persian architecture. The Parthian monarchy was succeeded by the Persian dynasty of the Sasanians in 224 AD. Reformist elements rose within the government during the last decade of the 20th century, opposed both to the ongoing rule of conservative clergy and to Irans continued political and economic isolation from the international community. International Conference (2327 November 1992), Roma, 1994, pp. This First Persian Empire was equally notable for its successful model of a centralised, bureaucratic administration (through satraps under a king) and a government working to the profit of its subjects, for building infrastructure such as a postal system and road systems and the use of an official language across its territories and a large professional army and civil services (inspiring similar systems in later empires),[66] and for emancipation of slaves including the Jewish exiles in Babylon, and is noted in Western history as the antagonist of the Greek city states during the Greco-Persian Wars. With the fall of the Safavids in 1736, rule passed into the hands of several short-lived dynasties leading to the rise of the Qjr line in 1796. [80] Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login). The Bactrian (a Middle Iranian language) inscription of Kanishka (the founder of the Kushan Empire) at Rabatak, which was discovered in 1993 in an unexcavated site in the Afghan province of Baghlan, clearly refers to this Eastern Iranian language as Arya. All articles are edited by a PhD level academic. In the early 18th and 19th centuries, scholars suggested that all Aryan peoples were white and fair-haired. Persian villages often pride themselves on the unique designs and high quality of their carpets, most of which display the typical geometric figures and floral designs prevalent in Muslim visual art. In traditional Sasanian music, the octave was divided into seventeen tones. The modern Sarikoli in southern Xinjiang and the Ossetians of the Caucasus (mainly South Ossetia and North Ossetia) are remnants of the various Scythian-derived tribes from the vast far and wide territory they once dwelled in. Omissions? Persian holidays are occasions for enjoying local foods. Our editors will review what youve submitted and determine whether to revise the article. [36][37], Persia is first attested in Assyrian sources from the third millennium BC in the Old Assyrian form Parahe, designating a region belonging to the Sumerians. The term Persian, meaning "from Persia", derives from Latin Persia, itself deriving from Greek Perss (),[24] a Hellenized form of Old Persian Prsa (), which evolves into Frs () in modern Persian. Iran is bounded to the north by Azerbaijan, Armenia, Turkmenistan, and the Caspian Sea, to the east by Pakistan and Afghanistan, to the south by the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman, and to the west by Turkey and Iraq. Several Sintashta towns were built over older Poltavka settlements or close to Poltavka cemeteries, and Poltavka motifs are common on Sintashta pottery. Encyclopdia Iranica. Later, during the 2nd millennium AD, the Iranian peoples would play a prominent role during the age of Islamic expansion and empire. [46], At its greatest extent, the Achaemenid Empire stretched from parts of Eastern Europe in the west to the Indus Valley in the east, making it the largest empire the world had yet seen. There have been many attempts to qualify the verbal root of ar- in Old Iranian arya-. [81] The Pahlavi rulers modernized Iran, and ruled it until the 1979 Revolution. The Persian literary tradition extends back at least to the time of Zoroaster. [25] In the Bible, particularly in the books of Daniel, Esther, Ezra, and Nehemya, it is given as Prs ( ). [15], The term Iran derives directly from Middle Persian rn / AEran () and Parthian Aryn. [52][53] At the peak of its power, under the infamous Mithridates VI the Great, the Kingdom of Pontus also controlled Colchis, Cappadocia, Bithynia, the Greek colonies of the Tauric Chersonesos, and for a brief time the Roman province of Asia. [70], The early inhabitants of the Achaemenid Empire appear to have adopted the religion of Zoroastrianism. [81], Some of the Saka-Scythian tribes in Central Asia would later move further southeast and invade the Iranian Plateau, large sections of present-day Afghanistan and finally deep into present day Pakistan (see Indo-Scythians). "[40] One group were the Indo-Aryans who founded the Mitanni kingdom in northern Syria;[41] (c.1500 c.1300 BC) the other group were the Vedic people. All the advice on this site is general in nature. Every individual has their own freewill and unique personality. [56] Middle Persian, which is the immediate ancestor of Modern Persian and a variety of other Iranian dialects,[57][60][61][62] became the official language of the empire[63] and was greatly diffused among Iranians. As is also the case for all other Old Iranian language usage, the arya of the inscription does not signify anything but Iranian. Many ancient Sanskrit texts from a later period make references to such tribes they were witness of pointing them towards the southeasternmost edges of Central Asia, around the Hindukush range in northern Pakistan. Their hair was typically long and tangled, and a large portion of the males had beards to match this. A special mention of Persian carpets is also made by Athenaeus of Naucratis in his Deipnosophistae, as he describes a "delightfully embroidered" Persian carpet with "preposterous shapes of griffins".