Phoenix from the ashes; an ancient symbol of rebirth and eternal life - LexiconThemythological figure of the phoenix, a bird that bursts into flames at the end of its life only to be reborn from its own ashes, can already be found in ancient Egypt. There it was called Benu (the reborn) and was regarded as the god of the dead. It is assumed that the idea of a bird that is regularly reborn goes back to a now extinct species of heron, a migratory bird that wintered in Egypt and was therefore not seen for a large part of the year, but returned regularly. The idea of new life rising from the ashes is also not completely far-fetched, as ashes make for very fertile and productive soil, and the Greek historian Herodotus also reports on this bird, although his description certainly contains a good deal of skepticism as to whether such a creature can actually exist.Whether the phoenix gave its name to the ancient Phoenicians, a Semitic people who populated an area in what is now Libya, Syria and Israel, cannot be clarified beyond doubt.The figure of the phoenix represents the idea of a cyclical repetition of life, death and rebirth, which can be found in almost every culture; the idea that death is not the end, but rather the prerequisite for something new.Christianity, which made very liberal use of symbols and concepts of the afterlife from ancient Egypt, was also very happy to adopt the image of the phoenix from the ancient Egyptian world of faith and reinterpreted it as a symbol of the rebirth of Jesus and the immortality of his followers and disciples. As early as the 2nd/3rd century AD, the Roman cherry writer Quintus Septimius Florens Tertullianus described the cycle of the life and death of the phoenix and linked it to the Christian pretence of resurrection and eternal life. "Like the phoenix from the ashes" is an expression often used today when talking about someone who rises again after a harsh defeat and finally succeeds despite adverse circumstances.
Text: Dirk-Boris RödelGraphics: Jonas Bachmann
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