Tahmuras

thumb|Tahmuras Defeating the Div (mythology)|Divs. Miniature by [[Reza Abbasi from the Shahnameh of Shah Abbas. Qazvin, c. 1590-1600. Chester Beatty Library]] thumb|upright|Lee Lawrie, Tahmurath (1939). Library of Congress [[John Adams Building, Washington, D.C.]] Tahmuras or Tahmures (, ; from Avestan "Strong Fox" via ) was the third Shah of the mythical Pishdadian dynasty of Iran according to Ferdowsi's epic poem, the Shahnameh. He is considered the builder of Merv.

==Tahmuras in the Shahnameh== Tahmures was the son of Hushang. In his time the world was much troubled by the divs (demons) of Ahriman. On the advice of his vizier Shahrasp, Tahmures used magic to subdue Ahriman and made him his slave, even riding upon his back as on a horse. The demons rebelled against Tahmuras, and he made war against them with both magic and force. By magic he bound two-thirds of the demons; the remaining third he crushed with his mace. The divs now became Tahmuras's slaves and they taught him the art of writing in thirty different scripts.