page_title: World tree
section_title: Iranian mythology
hierarchical_section_title: World tree / In specific cultures / Iranian mythology
caption_attribution_description: English: From: Taheri, Sadreddin (2013), Plant of life, in Ancient Iran, Mesopotamia &amp; Egypt, Tehran: Honarhay-e Ziba Journal, Vol. 18, No. 2, p. 10. فارسی: گیاه زندگی بر روی جامی از مارلیک، از مقاله: طاهری، صدرالدین (1392)، گیاه زندگی در ایران، میان‌رودان و مصر باستان، نشریه هنرهای زیبا، دوره 18، شماره 2، ص 10.
context_page_description: The world tree is a motif present in several religions and mythologies, particularly Indo-European religions, Siberian religions, and Native American religions. The world tree is represented as a colossal tree which supports the heavens, thereby connecting the heavens, the terrestrial world, and, through its roots, the underworld. It may also be strongly connected to the motif of the tree of life, but it is the source of wisdom of the ages.
  Specific world trees include égig érő fa in Hungarian mythology, Ağaç Ana in Turkic mythology, Modun in Mongol mythology, Yggdrasil in Norse mythology, Irminsul in Germanic mythology, the oak in Slavic, Finnish and Baltic, Iroko in Yoruba religion, Jianmu in Chinese mythology, and in Hindu mythology the Ashvattha.
context_section_description: A world tree is a common motif in ancient art of Iran.
  In Persian mythology, Gaokerena or white Haoma is a tree whose vivacity ensures continued life in the universe. Bas tokhmak is another remedial tree; it retains all herbal seeds and destroys sorrow.
caption: Two winged bull are guarding a sacred tree, on a rhyton from Marlik, Iran, currently at the National Museum of Iran
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