by Danielle Emery
A phoenix is a mythical bird with beautiful gold and red feathers. At the end of its life-cycle, the phoenix builds itself a nest of cinnamon twigs that it then ignites; both nest and bird burn fiercely and are reduced to ashes, from which a new, young phoenix arises. The new phoenix is destined to live, usually, as long as the old one. The bird was also said to regenerate when hurt or wounded by a foe, thus being almost immortal and invincible — a symbol of fire and divinity.
The phoenix is also in the bible as a symbol of ressurection, immortality and life atfter death.
The Greeks identified the phoenix with their own word phoenix φοίνιξ, meaning the color purple-red or crimson. They and the Romans pictured the bird more like a peacock or an eagle. According to the Greeks, the phoenix lived in Arabia next to a well. At dawn, it bathed in the water of the well, and the Greek sun-god Apollo stopped his chariot (the sun) in order to listen to its song.
One inspiration that has been suggested for the Egyptian phoenix is the flamingo of East Africa. This bird nests on salt flats that are too hot for its eggs or chicks to survive; it builds a mound several inches tall and large enough to support its egg, which it lays in that marginally cooler location. The heat currents around these mounds are similar to those of a fire.
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