Note 257 — Chapter I

Zohak, the son of a sister of Jemshíd, usurped the throne of his uncle and sovereign, according to Ferdusi, 2729 years B. C.; according to Helvicus, 2248; according to Jackson, 1964; but only 780 years B. C., according to Sir W. Jones who, in general, fixes the ancient Persian reigns much lower than other chronologers. Zohak is also called Pivar-asp, or Bivar-asp, from the circumstance of his always keeping ten thousand Arabian horses in his stables, for Bivar, says Ferdusi, from the Pehlevi, in counting means in the Dárí tongue, ten thousand (see Rauzat-us-safá, Translat., p. 123; and also Mojmel-al-Tavarikh). The empire which Zokah founded is identified by some historians with the Assyrian monarchy of Semiramis, or with a Semitic domination in general. It lasted, according to the Orientals, 1000 years; according to Ctesias, Diodorus Siculus, Justin and Syncellus 13 or 1400, according to Herodotus only 520 years.—A. T.