Ziz and the book of Job
The ziz (Hebrew:) is a giant bird in Jewish mythology, said to be large enough to be able to block the sun with its wingspan; similar to the Kar, the Khara, the Hadhayosh, and another, Has-meal. Giant animals corresponding to the archetypal creatures behemoth, leviathan and ziz were traditionally a favorite decoration motif for rabbis in Germany.
Some say the ziz was created to protect all of the class Aves and if the ziz did not exist, then all smaller birds on Earth would be helpless and killed.
There is a legend that the Leviathan and the Behemoth shall hold a battle at the end of the world. The two will finally kill each other, and the surviving men will feast on their meat. According to midrash recording traditions, it is impossible for anyone to kill a behemoth except for the person who created it, in this case the God of the Hebrews. A later Jewish haggadic tradition furthermore holds that at the banquet at the end of the world, the behemoth will be served up along with the Leviathan and Ziz. Leviathan and the Behemoth have major goes in the book of Job.
The giant ziz lives in children's literature. He figures prominently in a story from Gertrude Landa's (also known as Aunt Naomi) 1919 collection Jewish Fairy Tales and Legends. Two books followed--The Ziz and The Ziz and the Hanukkah Miracle making the ziz a continuing character in Jewish children's literature.
ziz has been compared with the Simurgh, roc and the Garuda.
Simurgh
or Simorgh is the modern Persian name for a fabulous, benevolent, mythical flying
creature. The figure can be found in all periods of Greater Iranian art and literature,
and is evident also in the iconography of medieval Armenia, Byzantium and other
regions that were within the sphere of Iranian cultural influence.
The Garuda is a large mythical bird or bird like creature that appears in both Hindu and Buddhist mythology. Garuda is the Hindu name for the constellation Aquila.
In
ancient Egyptian mythology and in myths derived from it, the phoenix is a mythical
sacred firebird.
A roc or rukh is an enormous mythical bird of prey, often
white, reputed to have been able to carry off and eat elephants.
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