Sanatruk ( hy, Սանատրուկ, Latinized as ''Sanatruces'') was a member of the Arsacid dynasty of Armenia who succeeded Tiridates I of Armenia as

King of Armenia This is a list of the monarchs of Armenia, for more information on ancient Armenia and Armenians, please see History of Armenia. For information on the medieval Armenian Kingdom in Cilicia, please see the separate page Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia. ...

at the end of the 1st century. He was also King of

Osroene Osroene or Osrhoene (; grc-gre, Ὀσροηνή) was an ancient region and state in Upper Mesopotamia. The ''Kingdom of Osroene'', also known as the "Kingdom of Edessa" ( syc, ܡܠܟܘܬܐ ܕܒܝܬ ܐܘܪܗܝ / "Kingdom of Urhay"), according to ...

(reigned 91–109), a historic kingdom located in

Mesopotamia Mesopotamia ''Mesopotamíā''; ar, بِلَاد ٱلرَّافِدَيْن or ; syc, ܐܪܡ ܢܗܪ̈ܝܢ, or , ) is a historical region of Western Asia situated within the Tigris–Euphrates river system, in the northern part of the ...

. Little or no information is available from either literary or numismatic sources regarding the successor of Tiridates. Through the collation of various Classical and Armenian sources, Sanatruk is assumed to have reigned around the start of the 2nd century. Certain scholars proposed that Sanatruk succeeded Tiridates between 75 and 110 but this hypothesis for which there is no explicit evidence has been rejected by others. His merits are praised by Arrian in his ''Parthica'' where he is equated with the most illustrious Greeks and Romans.

Hagiographic A hagiography (; ) is a biography of a saint or an ecclesiastical leader, as well as, by extension, an adulatory and idealized biography of a founder, saint, monk, nun or icon in any of the world's religions. Early Christian hagiographies might ...

tradition blames him for the

martyrdom 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 externa ...

of the

Apostle An apostle (), in its literal sense, is an emissary, from Ancient Greek ἀπόστολος (''apóstolos''), literally "one who is sent off", from the verb ἀποστέλλειν (''apostéllein''), "to send off". The purpose of such sending ...

St. Thaddeus in Armenia, as well as his own daughter, St. Sandukht the Virgin. In 110 the throne of Armenia was held by Axidares, the son of the Parthian monarch of

Atropatene Atropatene ( peo, Ātṛpātakāna; grc, Ἀτροπατηνή), also known as Media Atropatene, was an ancient Iranian kingdom established in by the Persian satrap Atropates. The kingdom, centered in present-day northern Iran, was ruled by A ...

Pacorus II of Parthia Pacorus II (also spelled Pakoros II; ) was the King of Kings of the Parthian Empire from 78 to 110. He was the son and successor of Vologases I (). During the latter part of his father's reign, Pacorus ruled the Parthian Empire along with him. ...

who was deposed in 113 by

Trajan Trajan ( ; la, Caesar Nerva Traianus; 18 September 539/11 August 117) was Roman emperor from 98 to 117. Officially declared ''optimus princeps'' ("best ruler") by the senate, Trajan is remembered as a successful soldier-emperor who presi ...

. A number of sources have named Sanatruk as one of the leaders of the revolt against

's occupation by 117.

Moses of Chorene Movses Khorenatsi (ca. 410–490s AD; hy, Մովսէս Խորենացի, , also written as ''Movses Xorenac‘i'' and Moses of Khoren, Moses of Chorene, and Moses Chorenensis in Latin sources) was a prominent Armenian historian from the late a ...

writes that Sanatruk, while being a child was taken by a sister of King Abgar of Edessa - Avde from Edessa to

Armenia Armenia (), , group=pron officially the Republic of Armenia,, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of Western Asia.The UNbr>classification of world regions places Armenia in Western Asia; the CIA World Factbook , , and ' ...

through the Kordvats Mountains, where they were caught in a sudden snow storm. They spent three days battling the storm and the child survived thanks to a white coated animal that kept him warm. It is thought that the animal must have been a white dog based on the etymology of the name Sanatruk that was soon after bestowed on the child (San -

accusative The accusative case (abbreviated ) of a noun is the grammatical case used to mark the direct object of a transitive verb. In the English language, the only words that occur in the accusative case are pronouns: 'me,' 'him,' 'her,' 'us,' and ‘th ...

form of

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 ...

Շուն (shun: dog) and truk (truk: tribute/gift ultimately from Armenian tur: give). A literal English translation of Sanatruk would be "dog's gift".

Bibliography

Notes

{{Armenian kings 1st-century kings of Armenia 2nd-century kings of Armenia 1st-century births 2nd-century deaths Rulers of Osroene Arsacid kings of Armenia

See also

Bibliography

Notes