Asclepius, Caduceus, and Simurgh as medical symbols; part II. Simurgh.

In part one of this article I reviewed the history of Asclepius and the Caduceus of Hermes as medical symbols and made a tentative suggestion of using the mythical bird Simurgh as an Iranian symbol of medicine. In this, the second part, I shall describe the evolution of the myth of the Simurgh and discuss the medical relevance of this bird in Iranian history.