Zaden (; ka, ზადენი, tr) was, according to the medieval
Georgian
Georgian may refer to:
Common meanings
* Anything related to, or originating from Georgia (country)
** Georgians, an indigenous Caucasian ethnic group
** Georgian language, a Kartvelian language spoken by Georgians
**Georgian scripts, three scrip ...
chronicles, the
god of fruitfulness in a
pre-Christian
Pre-Christian may refer to:
*Before Christianization (the spread of Christianity):
**Historical polytheism (the worship of or belief in multiple deities)
**Historical paganism (denoting various non-Abrahamic religions)
*Before Christ (BC), the era ...
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 St ...
of the ancient
Georgians
The Georgians, or Kartvelians (; ka, ქართველები, tr, ), are a nation and indigenous Caucasian ethnic group native to Georgia and the South Caucasus. Georgian diaspora communities are also present throughout Russia, Turkey, G ...
of
Kartli (
Iberia
The Iberian Peninsula (),
**
* Aragonese and Occitan: ''Peninsula Iberica''
**
**
* french: Péninsule Ibérique
* mwl, Península Eibérica
* eu, Iberiar penintsula also known as Iberia, is a peninsula in southwestern Europe, defi ...
of the
Classical sources). King
Parnajom of Iberia (109–90 BC) is reported to have built a fortress at Mount
Zedazeni
Zedazeni Monastery ( ka, ზედაზნის მონასტერი) is a Georgian Orthodox monastery, located on the Zedazeni mountain the hills of Saguramo, northeast to Mtskheta and to the east side of the Aragvi River.
The monastery ...
to house the colossus of Zadeni which, along with other pagan idols, are said to have been destroyed through the prayers of
St. 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 ...
, a 4th-century female baptizer of Georgians.
Beyond the passages from the medieval annals and the surviving toponym of Zedazeni (from ''Zeda Zadeni'', i.e. "Upper Zaden"), we lack contemporary records and archaeological evidence about this cult, however. Zaden is surmised by several modern scholars to have been a Georgian version of the
Luwian Santas or the
Hittite Sandon, but the identification with
Yazata of
Zoroastrianism
Zoroastrianism is an Iranian religions, Iranian religion and one of the world's History of religion, oldest organized faiths, based on the teachings of the Iranian peoples, Iranian-speaking prophet Zoroaster. It has a Dualism in cosmology, du ...
has also been suggested.
[Rapp, Stephen H. (2003), ''Studies In Medieval Georgian Historiography: Early Texts And Eurasian Contexts''. Peeters Bvba, .]
Legacy
The crater
Zadeni in the southern hemisphere of the dwarf planet
Ceres
Ceres most commonly refers to:
* Ceres (dwarf planet), the largest asteroid
* Ceres (mythology), the Roman goddess of agriculture
Ceres may also refer to:
Places
Brazil
* Ceres, Goiás, Brazil
* Ceres Microregion, in north-central Goiás st ...
was named after this deity.
References
{{Georgian mythology
Georgian mythology
Fertility gods