The ''Martyrdom of the Holy Queen Shushanik'' (also translated as ''The Passion of Saint Shushanik''; ka, წამებაჲ წმიდისა შუშანიკისი დედოფლისაჲ, tr) is the earliest surviving piece of
Georgian literature. Purported to have been written between 476 and 483, the earliest surviving manuscript dates back to the 10th century and was written at
Parkhali Monastery. There exists an Armenian translation of the same text, dated also to the 10th century. The author is
Iakob Tsurtaveli (Jacob of Tsurtavi), a contemporary and participant in the events described in this hagiographic novel.
The manuscript describes the martyrdom of Saint
Shushanik
Shushanik (Shushanika, Vardandukht) hy">Շուշանիկ, ka, შუშანიკი; c. 440 – 475was a Christian Armenian woman who was tortured to death by her husband Varsken in the town of Tsurtavi, Georgia. Since she died defending he ...
, an Armenian noblewoman, at the hand of her spouse, ''bidaxshe'' (high prince)
Varsken
Varsken (Middle Persian: ''Vazgēn'') was an Iranian prince from the Mihranid family of Gugark, who served as the (margrave) of the region from 470 to 482. He was the son and successor of Arshusha II.
Upon the death of his father, Varsken wen ...
, who had renounced
Christianity
Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth
Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label=Hebrew/Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesu ...
and embraced
Zoroastrianism
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 ont ...
. Shushanik, whose father was
Vardan Mamikonyan, the ''
sparapet
' ( hy, սպարապետ) was a military title and office in ancient and medieval Armenia. Under the Arsacid dynasty of Armenia, the ' was the supreme commander of the kingdom's armed forces. During the Arsacid period and for some time afterwards ...
'' (military leader) of the Christians in Armenia, refused to follow him, and died as a
martyr
A martyr (, ''mártys'', "witness", or , ''marturia'', stem , ''martyr-'') is someone who suffers persecution and death for advocating, renouncing, or refusing to renounce or advocate, a religious belief or other cause as demanded by an external ...
after years of imprisonment and torture.
The first printed version was published in 1882. It has been translated into
Russian,
French,
English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national id ...
,
German
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany (of or related to)
**Germania (historical use)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law
**Ger ...
,
Spanish
Spanish might refer to:
* Items from or related to Spain:
** Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain
**Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries
**Spanish cuisine
Other places
* Spanish, Ontario, Ca ...
,
Hungarian and
Icelandic. In 1979,
UNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. I ...
marked the 1,500th anniversary of the Martyrdom of the Holy Queen Shushanik.
References
Sources
*Bart D Ehrman, Andrew Jacobs, editors, ''Christianity in Late Antiquity, 300-450 C.E: A Reader'', Oxford University Press US, pages 499-504
*
Donald Rayfield
Patrick Donald Rayfield OBE (born 12 February 1942, Oxford) is an English academic and Emeritus Professor of Russian and Georgian at Queen Mary University of London. He is an author of books about Russian and Georgian literature, and about Jos ...
, ''
The Literature of Georgia: A History'', Routledge (UK) {{ISBN, 0-7007-1163-5 page 42
External links
English translation of the Martyrdomby Rev. K.V. Maksoudian
Christian hagiography
Old Georgian literature
Works about violence against women
Martyrdom in fiction