Zoroastrianism in Armenia

Zoroastrianism in Armenia dates back as far as to the fifth-century BC, notably during the Achaemenid and Parthian periods in the Armenian Highlands. Prior to Armenia's Christianisation, it was a predominantly Zoroastrian-adhering land. The ''yazatas'' Mithra ( Mihr) and Verethragna (Vahagn) particularly enjoyed a high degree of reverence in the country.

Name

The name of Zoroaster (Zarathustra) is attested in Classical Armenian sources as ''Zradašt'' (often with the variant ''Zradešt''). The most important of these testimonies were provided by the Armenian authors Eznik of Kolb, Elishe, and Movses Khorenatsi. Elishe also provided the adjective ''Zradaštakan'', i.e. "Zoroastrian".

The spelling Zradašt was formed through an older form which started with ''*zur-'', a fact which the German Iranologist Friedrich Carl Andreas (1846–1930) used as evidence for a Middle Persian spoken form ''*Zur(a)dušt''. Based on this assumption, Andreas even went so far to form conclusions from this also for the Avestan form of the name. However, the modern Iranologist Rüdiger Schmitt rejects Andreas's assumption, and states that the older form which started with ''*zur-'' was just influenced by Armenian ''zur'' ("wrong, unjust, idle"), which therefore means that "the name must have been reinterpreted in an anti-Zoroastrian sense by the Armenian Christians". Furthermore, Schmitt adds: "it cannot be excluded, that the ( Parthian or) Middle Persian form, which the Armenians took over (''Zaradušt'' or the like), was merely metathesized to pre-Arm. ''*Zuradašt''".

The word Mazdaism, a synonym for Zoroastrianism, is also attested in the earliest extant Armenian texts. The 5th-century ''Epic Histories'' (''Buzandaran Patmut‘iwnk‘''), written in Classical Armenian, associates magi (''mogk‛'', մոգք) with Mazdaism, which its anonymous author calls ''Mazdezn'' (Մազդեզն), i.e., the "Mazdean" faith. This word is borrowed from Parthian ''*Mazdayazn'' and Middle Persian ''Māzdēsn''. In the 6th century, Elishe preferred to use the word ''mogut‛iwn'' in his texts, which undoubtedly parallels the Georgian ''mogobay''/''moguebay'' ("Magism", i.e. "Mazdaism, Zoroastrianism") as attested in the early Georgian hagiographies. This feature is also seen in other West Asian languages; in Syriac Christian texts, for example, Mazdaism is usually referred to as ''mgošūtā''.

History

Zoroastrianism was introduced into Armenia during the Achaemenid era, and it was bolstered during Parthian Arsacid rule. The terminology, belief and symbolism of Zoroastrianism permeated the Armenian religious mindset and lexicon.

Extant sources of the Classical period in addition to native Armenian sources are used as information for the research of the Zoroastrian Armenian pantheon and the centres of worship. The Armenologist Sergio La Porta notes in '' The Oxford Dictionary of Late Antiquity'' that six of the eight divinities whose cultic centres were mentioned by the 5th-century Armenian historian Agathangelos "clearly represent Zoroastrian ''yazatas'' or divinities worshipped in Armenia". Aramazd (Iranian Ahura Mazda, also known as Ohrmazd) was the head of the Armenian pantheon, and the center of his cult was mainly located at Ani-Kamakh (modern Kemah) and Bagavan. The worship of Anahit (Iranian Anahita, also known as Anahid), was dominant in the area of Ekeleats (Acilisene), whereas that of Vahagn (Iranian Vǝrǝthraghna, also known as Wahram), was located at Ashtishat. The cult of the divinity of Mihr (Iranian Mithra), was chiefly located at Bagayarich, also featured greatly in the Armenian religious tradition. The cult of the god Tir (Iranian Tir) had its temple located at Artashat. The Semitic goddess Nane may have also been introduced into Armenia with Parthian connections.

The ancient Greek geographer and historian Strabo (64 or 63 BC – ), in his ''Geographica'', referred to the similarity between Iranian and Armenian religious customs.

A number of Zoroastrian fire-altars had been discovered in Christian sanctuaries in Armenia. In various parts of Armenia, Zoroastrianism lingered on for several centuries even after the official adoption of Christianity. The Arsacid dynasty of Armenia, under which Armenia eventually would become a Christian nation, were pious Zoroastrians who invoked Mithra as the lord of covenants, as is proper. An episode which illustrates the Armenian Arsacids and their observance of the cult is the famous journey of Tiridates I to Rome in A.D. 65–66. The same aforementioned Tiridates I, brother of Vologases I of Parthia and founder of the Arsacid dynasty of Armenia, was a Zoroastrian magus or priest.

In A.D. 53 the Parthian Arsacid dynasty came into Armenia, the king, Trdat I, is thought to have done a great amount to spread Zoroastrianism in Armenia. The Arsacid kings legitimized their rule through the authority of the Zoroastrian deity (''yazata'') Verethragna, the god of victory. According to J. Russell, Zurvanism was the form of Zoroastrianism under Yazdagrird II (438-57), which he promoted in Persian Armenia.

The Armenian calendar show influences of the Zoroastrian calendar.

An Armenian Christian source, according to which an Zurvanite proselytizer, Mihr Narseh, spoke of the words openly:

The Armenologist James R. Russell notes that the Armenian Cross incorporates influences from Armenia's Zoroastrian past. As Zoroastrian traditions were very much integrated into Armenian spirital and material culture, they survived the zealotry of the Sasanian priest Kartir () and his successors, and were ultimately incorporated into Armenian Christianity. Russell adds: "The Armenian Cross itself is supported on tongues of flame and has at its center not the body of Christ, but a sunburst".

The Armenologist Nina Garsoian states that although the Christianization of Armenia separated it from the Zoroastrian world it had once been part of, the Zoroastrian mythology "had sunk so deep in the Armenian popular tradition that early Armenian Christian writers were apparently forced to alter Biblical stories in order to make their evangelizing mission comprehensible to their hearers". By the second half of the 4th century, the catholicos of the Armenian Church still officially used the title of Zoroastrian priests ('' mowbeds'') namely "Defender of the dispossessed" (Middle Persian: ''driγōšān jātakgōw'', Armenian: ''Jagatow amenayn zrkelocʿ''). However, Armenia post-Christianization gradually withdrew from the Iranian spiritual tradition, and its resistance to Sasanian Zoroastrianism soon also turned in opposition against the Christian national church of the Sasanians, the Church of the East.

Arewordikʿ

Reports indicate that there were Zoroastrian Armenians in Armenia until the 1920s.Anne Sofie Roald,Anh Nga Longva
''Religious Minorities in the Middle East: Domination, Self-Empowerment, Accommodation''
BRILL, 11 nov. 2011 p 313;"''Later, Armenian Christianity retained some Zoroastrian vocabulary and ritual. Reports indicate that there were Zoroastrian Armenians in Armenia until the 1920s.''" This small group of Armenian Zoroastrians that had survived through the centuries, were known as the Arewordikʿ ("Children of the Sun"). They had never converted to Christianity, and had survived the late 19th/early 20th century massacres of Armenians in Western Armenia, from the Hamidian Massacres down to the Armenian genocide. Medieval Armenian sources narrate that the Arewordikʿ were never converted by Gregory the Illuminator, the patron saint and first official head of the Armenian Apostolic Church, and that they had been "infected" by Zradasht (Zoroaster). The Arewordikʿ were specifically distinguished from Christian sects whose adherents were deemed heretics (such as the Paulicians and Tondrakians). The Arewordikʿ had seemingly taught the Paulicians and Tondrakians "to expose the dead on rooftops instead of burying them", which indicates that burial and exposure of the dead was practiced in Armenia as in Iran.

The Arewordikʿ spoke the Armenian language and, as James R. Russell notes, revered the poplar and all heliotropic plants. Russell adds: "A tree which is either a poplar or a cypress, probably the latter, which is particularly revered by the Zoroastrians, appears on an Artaxiad coin". The Arewordikʿ Armenians offered sacrifices for the souls of the dead, and the leader of the Arewordikʿ was called the Hazarpet (cf. Iranian Hazarbed). The Arewordikʿ were known to populate four villages in the area of Mardin (present-day southeastern Turkey) in the late 14th century, whereas others inhabited Samosata

HOME


Content is Copyleft
Website design, code, and AI is Copyrighted (c) 2014-2017 by Stephen Payne


Consider donating to Wikimedia



As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases