The Phoenix (as seen in our Dept. patch)
In ancient Egypt and in classical antiquity, a fabulous
bird associated with the worship of the sun. The Egyptian phoenix was said
to be a large as an eagle, with brilliant scarlet and gold plumage and a
melodious cry. Only one phoenix existed at any time, and it was very
long-lived-- no ancient authority gave it a life span of less than 500 tears.
As its end approached, the phoenix fashioned a nest of aromatic boughs and
spices, set it on fire, and was consumed in t he flames. From the pyre
miraculously sprang a new phoenix, which, after embalming its father's ashes in
an egg of myrrh, flew with the ashes to Heliopolis ("City of Sun") in Egypt,
where it deposited them on the altar in the temple of the Egyptian god of the
sun, Re. A variant of the story made the dying phoenix fly to Heliopolis
and immolate itself in the altar fire, from which the young phoenix then rose.
The Egyptians associated the phoenix with immortality, and that symbolism had
a widespread appeal in late antiquity. The phoenix was compared to undying
Rome, and it appears on the coinage of the late Roman Empire as a symbol of the
Eternal City. It was also widely interpreted as an allegory of
resurrection and life after death--ideas that also appealed to emergent
Christianity.
In Islamic mythology the phoenix was identified with the "anqa" (Persian:
simorgh), a huge, mysterious bird (probably a heron) that was originally created
by God with all perfections but had thereafter become a plague and was killed. | 
