Anqa (Arabic: عَنْقَاء, romanized: ʿanqāʾ), also spelled ‘Anqa’, or Anka, or Anqa Mughrib or Anqa al-Mughrib (Arabic: العَنْقَاء المُغْرِب),[a] is a golden mysterious or fabulous female bird in pre-Islamic Arab mythology. She is said to fly far away and only appear once in ages. However, it is also said that she can be found at the place of the setting of the sun.
Etymology and notes
The word ʿanqāʾ is the feminine form of ʾaʿnaq (أعنق) meaning “long-necked” and also “long and thick in the neck”. This probably implies that the bird resembles a heron or crane (or other long-necked birds) or simply has a large strong neck like an eagle or falcon (or other raptors) with which she was identified by some. The word muḡrib has a number of meanings signifying “strange, foreign”, “distant, remote”, “west, sunset”, “desolated, unknown” and “white, dawn” and expresses the enigma as well as unreality associated with the creature.
ʿAnqāʾ, however, is also related to ʿanāq (عناق “misfortune, hard affair”) and was, along with ʿanqāʾ muḡrib used to mean a calamity. It was so because the bird was said to be originally created with all perfections but became a plague or scourge and was killed.
One of the earliest accounts of the Anqa was narrated in a 9th-century book called Dala’il al-Nubwah. In this book is narrated a tale where King Solomon talked about fate and destiny with the birds, with the Anqa objecting to this conviction.
Characteristics
The Anqa was described as very beautiful and colorful with a long neck, human face, four pairs of wings, and some resemblance with every living being[c] and a whiteness in its neck. Zakariya al-Qazwini in this cosmological book Aja’ib al-Makhluqat “The Wonders of Creation” comments about the Anqa as the kin of birds that lived alone on Mount Qaf and a wise bird with experience gained throughout many ages and gives admonitions and moral advice. Qazwini also says that the bird lives for 1700 years, mating at 500 years of age and that the chick, after the egg breaks, stays inside and only comes out after 125 years.
It is said that Anqa eats nothing except elephants and large fish.
Identification
The Anqa is frequently identified (to the point of becoming synonymous) with the simurgh of Persian mythology along with the Armenian and Byzantine eagles and the Turkic Konrul, also called Semrük, due to the sphere of influence of Islamic art following the fall of the Sasanian Empire. It is also almost always glossed as a phoenix. In Turkish, the other name for the Konrul as well as a phoenix is Zümrüdü Anka “the emerald Anqa”. In the Modern Standard Arabic, Anqa is identified as a phoenix or griffin.
References
Lane, Edward William (1863). Arabic-English Lexicon. London: Cosimo Classics. p. 2177. ISBN 9781616408985. Retrieved 3 October 2019.
Al-Rawi, Ahmed (2023). Supernatural Creatures in Arabic Literary Tradition. Taylor & Francis.
Conway, D.J. (2001). Magickal Mystical Creatures: Invite Their Powers Into Your Life. Llewellyn Publications. pp. Chapter 8.
Bould, Andrew J. (2024). The A-to-Z Demons and Demonology Dictionary: A Comprehensive Guide to Mythical Entities, Dark Rituals, Ancient Lore, and Esoteric Traditions. Square & Compass Publishing.
“Phoenix (mythological bird)”. Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved 3 October 2019.
Abi Fadel, Marwan. “Honouring the gods in the classical Mediterranean realm and on its fringes – The phoenix in Arab-Muslim sources”. hemed.univ-lemans.fr.
Lane, Edward William (1863). Arabic-English Lexicon. London: Cosimo Classics. p. 2244. ISBN 9781616408985. Retrieved 3 October 2019.
Qazwīnī, Zakarīyā Ibn-Muḥammad al- (1849). Kosmographie: ¬Die Wunder der Schöpfung (in Arabic). Dieterich. Retrieved 3 October 2019.
Cirlot, J. E. (2013). A Dictionary of Symbols. Courier Corporation. ISBN 9780486132662.
“SIMORḠ – Encyclopaedia Iranica”. www.iranicaonline.org. Retrieved 3 October 2019.
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