Surid Ibn Salhouk was a mythical king credited in the medieval era as the builder of the Pyramids of Giza.

Sūrīd ibn Salhouk (Arabic: سوريد بن سلهوق, also known as Saurit, Saurid, and more commonly known as Surid) is a legendary king from medieval Coptic and Islamic lore who is said to have lived 300 years before the biblical flood.[1] In legends, Surid was often conflated with or identified as the biblical prophet Enoch, the Muslim prophet Idris, and Hermes Trismegistus.[2]

Surid, among other achievements, was often credited with building the Pyramids of Giza (structures that, in the middle ages, were believed by many to predate the biblical flood narrative). One legend in particular relates how, prior to the deluge, Surid had a terrifying dream of the world's end: In this dream, the "fixed stars had come down," and they "had grabbed the people and had hurled them between two mountains. These [then] closed over [the people] and the shining stars had become dark and gloomy."[1] After consulting with his trusted advisor Philemon, Surid is said to have ordered the construction of the pyramids so that they could serve as his tomb and also house all the knowledge of Egypt, ensuring its survival during the flood.[1][3][4]

According to Martyn Smith, "The story of Surid and his antediluvian construction of the pyramids assigns to them a place in sacred history and establishes a neutral narrative ground upon which Muslims and Christians could agree".[5]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c Fodor, SáNdor (1970). "The Origins of the Arabic Sūrīd Legend". Zeitschrift für Ägyptische Sprache und Altertumskunde. 96 (1): 103–109. doi:10.1524/zaes.1970.96.jg.103. ISSN 2196-713X.
  2. ^ Alford, Alan F. (2010). Pyramid of Secrets: The Architecture of the Great Pyramid Reconsidered in the Light of Creational Mythology. Eridu Books. p. 232. ISBN 978-0-9527994-2-9.
  3. ^ Colavito, Jason (2015). Foundations of Atlantis, Ancient Astronauts and Other Alternative Pasts: 148 Documents Cited by Writers of Fringe History, Translated with Annotations. McFarland. pp. 51–55. ISBN 978-0-7864-9645-7.
  4. ^ Dykstra, Darrell (1994). "Pyramids, Prophets, and Progress: Ancient Egypt in the Writings of ʿAlī Mubārak" (PDF). Journal of the American Oriental Society. 114 (1): 54–65. Retrieved December 17, 2023 – via JSTOR.
  5. ^ Smith, Martyn (2007). "Pyramids in the Medieval Islamic Landscape: Perceptions and Narratives". Journal of the American Research Center in Egypt. 43: 1–14.

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