According to the medieval ''

Georgian Chronicles ''The Georgian Chronicles'' is a conventional English name for the principal compendium of medieval Georgian historical texts, natively known as ''Kartlis Tskhovreba'' ( ka, ქართლის ცხოვრება), literally "Life of Kar ...

'', Armazi ( ka, არმაზი) was the supreme deity in the

pantheon Pantheon may refer to: * Pantheon (religion), a set of gods belonging to a particular religion or tradition, and a temple or sacred building Arts and entertainment Comics *Pantheon (Marvel Comics), a fictional organization * ''Pantheon'' (Lone S ...

of pre-Christian

Caucasian Iberia In Greco-Roman geography, Iberia (Ancient Greek: ''Iberia''; la, Hiberia) was an exonym for the Georgian kingdom of Kartli ( ka, ქართლი), known after its core province, which during Classical Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages ...

Iberian Armazi and Hittite-Luwian Arma/Armaziti

Georgian literary tradition credits the first king of Kartli,

Pharnavaz I of Iberia Pharnavaz I (; ka, ფარნავაზ I ) was a king of Kartli, an ancient Georgian kingdom known as Iberia in classical antiquity. ''The Georgian Chronicles'' credits him with being the first monarch founding the kingship of Kartli and t ...

(assumed to have reigned c. 302-237 BC), with the raising of the idol Armazi – reputedly named after him – on a mountain at his capital, and the construction of an Armazi fortress. The ''Life of Nino'' (9th or 10th century) describes the statue of Armazi as "''a man of bronze standing; attached to his body was a golden suit of chain-armour, on his head a strong helmet; for eyes he had emeralds and beryls, in his hands he held a sabre glittering like lighting, and it turned in his hands''". The same account asserts that its subject, a 4th-century female baptizer of Georgians

Saint Nino Saint Nino ( ka, წმინდა ნინო, tr; hy, Սուրբ Նունե, Surb Nune; el, Αγία Νίνα, Agía Nína; sometimes ''St. Nune'' or ''St. Ninny'') ''Equal to the Apostles and the Enlightener of Georgia'' (c. 296 – c. 33 ...

, witnessed the celebration of a great feast of dedication for the idol, and as she began praying, the idol was burnt by lightning.Rapp, Stephen H. (2003), ''Studies In Medieval Georgian Historiography: Early Texts And Eurasian Contexts'', pp. 277-278. Peeters Bvba, .

Conversion of Kartli The ''Conversion of Kartli'' ( ka, მოქცევაჲ ქართლისაჲ ''moktsevay kartlisay'', Asomtavruli: ႫႭႵႺႤႥႠჂ ႵႠႰႧႪႨႱႠჂ, ) is the earliest surviving medieval Georgian historical compendiu ...

briefly mentions an age long strife between Armazi and "the God of Chaldeans - Itrushana" and that Armaz was responsible for using the sea as his weapon in their conflict. The character that mentions this fact, also credits the same Chaldean God for the destruction of the idol. Hittite/Luwian - Arma was the moon god and appears in a large number of theophoric personal names (e.g. Armaziti, "Man of Arma"), suggesting that he was a popular deity. In the Iron Age he completely merged with the

moon god A lunar deity or moon deity is a deity who represents the Moon, or an aspect of it. These deities can have a variety of functions and traditions depending upon the culture, but they are often related. Lunar deities and Moon worship can be found ...

eof

Harran Harran (), historically known as Carrhae ( el, Kάρραι, Kárrhai), is a rural town and district of the Şanlıurfa Province in southeastern Turkey, approximately 40 kilometres (25 miles) southeast of Urfa and 20 kilometers from the border cr ...

and is often referred to in inscriptions as "Harranian Arma". ''He is depicted as a winged and bearded god with a crescent moon on his helmet.'' His name was written in Luwian hieroglyphs with a lunette. ''In curse formulae he is asked to "spear" the victim "with his horn".''

Hypotheses about the origin of Armazi

According to Rayfield,

Mushki The Mushki (sometimes transliterated as Muški) were an Iron Age people of Anatolia who appear in sources from Assyria but not from the Hittites. Several authors have connected them with the Moschoi (Μόσχοι) of Greek sources and the Georg ...

and Meshki (Iberians) were related to each other in the worship of gods: the Hittite moon god Armaz ( Arma) and the Luwian god Santush(Santa/ Sandan) are the pagan Iberian gods Armaz and

Zaden Zaden (; ka, ზადენი, tr) was, according to the medieval Georgian chronicles, the god of fruitfulness in a pre-Christian pantheon of the ancient Georgians of Kartli (Iberia of the Classical sources). King Parnajom of Iberia (109–90 ...

whose idols were overthrown by Christian missionaries in the 4th century AD in

Kingdom of Iberia In Greco-Roman geography, Iberia (Ancient Greek: ''Iberia''; la, Hiberia) was an exonym for the Georgians, Georgian kingdom of Kartli ( ka, ქართლი), known after its Kartli, core province, which during Classical Antiquity and the E ...

. Beyond the medieval Georgian annals, composed five or more centuries after Christianization, there are no records of the pre-Christian Georgian pantheon. Modern scholars are divided as to the origin of the name ''Armazi''. It would appear to be connected to the

Zoroastrian Zoroastrianism is an Iranian religion and one of the world's oldest organized faiths, based on the teachings of the Iranian-speaking prophet Zoroaster. It has a dualistic cosmology of good and evil within the framework of a monotheistic on ...

supreme god Ahura Mazdā (

Middle Persian Middle Persian or Pahlavi, also known by its endonym Pārsīk or Pārsīg () in its later form, is a Western Middle Iranian language which became the literary language of the Sasanian Empire. For some time after the Sasanian collapse, Middle Per ...

''Ohrmazd'',

Armenian Armenian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Armenia, a country in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia * Armenians, the national people of Armenia, or people of Armenian descent ** Armenian Diaspora, Armenian communities across the ...

Aramazd Aramazd ( arm, Արամազդ) was the chief and creator god in the Armenian version of Zoroastrianism.; ; ; ; ; The deity and his name were derived from the deity Ahura Mazda after the Median conquest of Armenia in the 6th century BC. Aramazd was ...

'') and contemporary archaeological evidence does suggest the penetration of Zoroastrianism in ancient Georgia. On the other hand,

Giorgi Melikishvili Giorgi Melikishvili ( ka, გიორგი მელიქიშვილი; russian: Гео́ргий Алекса́ндрович Меликишви́ли; December 30, 1918 – March 27, 2002) was a Georgian historian known for his fundamental ...

proposed the identification of Armazi as a local variant of Arma, the god of the moon in

Hittite mythology Hittite mythology and Hittite religion were the religious beliefs and practices of the Hittites, who created an empire centered in what is now Turkey from . Most of the narratives embodying Hittite mythology are lost, and the elements that wo ...

. This is in keeping with

Ivane Javakhishvili Ivane Alexandres dze Javakhishvili ( ka, ივანე ჯავახიშვილი; 23 April 1876 – 18 November 1940) was a Georgian historian and linguist whose voluminous works heavily influenced the modern scholarship of the history ...

's argument of a pre-Christian Georgian moon cult, which fused with the Christian

St. George Saint George (Greek: Γεώργιος (Geórgios), Latin: Georgius, Arabic: القديس جرجس; died 23 April 303), also George of Lydda, was a Christian who is venerated as a saint in Christianity. According to tradition he was a soldier ...

(

Tetri Giorgi Tetri Giorgi ( ka, თეთრი გიორგი, "White George") is one of the local names of Christian Saint George in Georgia, specifically in the country's northeastern highland districts. Tetri Giorgi was used as a national symbol, a ...

), Georgia's

patron saint A patron saint, patroness saint, patron hallow or heavenly protector is a saint who in Catholicism, Anglicanism, or Eastern Orthodoxy is regarded as the heavenly advocate of a nation, place, craft, activity, class, clan, family, or perso ...

since the Middle Ages.

References

External links

*Gvelesiani, Mariam
''To Interrelations of Georgian Armaz, Armenian Aramazd and Iranian Ahuramazda''.
New Alliance Foundation. {{Georgian mythology Georgian mythology

Iberian Armazi and Hittite-Luwian Arma/Armaziti

Hypotheses about the origin of Armazi

See also

References

External links