Armenian legends and festivals
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Title: Armenian legends and festivals
Author: Louis A. Boettiger
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Research Publications of the University of Minnesota
Studies in the Social Sciences
Number 14
ARMENIAN LEGENDS AND FESTIVALS
By
LOUIS A. BOETTIGER, M.A.
Published by the University of Minnesota
Minneapolis, January, 1920
Copyright 1920
by the
University of Minnesota
PREFACE
The author of the study which follows responded to the lure of
his task for both theoretical and practical reasons. He seemed,
because of his intimate personal relationship to Armenian life, to
be peculiarly qualified to study and interpret a cross-section of
that country's life. It is particularly urgent that we as Americans
have authentic studies of Armenia and Armenian social life. Heretofore
there has been a striking lack of such materials readily accessible in
English. Because of the not inconsiderable immigration which reaches
us from Armenia, and because also there has been a call for the United
States to act as mandatory for this country under the peace treaty,
we should penetrate more deeply into the Armenian heart than we have
been able to do so far, if we are to carry through successfully
our job either as assimilator or as friendly guardian. Moreover
there is incumbent upon the United States in particular the duty of
understanding a country like Armenia, since we have been foremost in
proclaiming the doctrine of the rights of small nationalities. Those
are the practical purposes from the standpoint of social politics
which have given rise to and confer full warrant upon this study.
Of no less importance, however, is the contribution which
Mr. Boettiger's study makes to theoretical sociology. He has sketched
out for us the picture of a refractory culture which refuses to
amalgamate with or yield to or be permeated by rival cultures. The
social history of this sturdy people offers us a very clear-cut
example of what really makes a society or a nation. Not mountains,
not dynasties, not blood, but common interests, common traditions,
common beliefs; in short, mental community.
The theoretical joins with the practical service of this study if
it can strengthen our understanding that only as our own blood and
that of our Armenian friends reach the place where they boil at the
same temperature, or are cooled by the same application of reason,
can we minister to each other or carry out the new partnership which
may lie immediately ahead of us in the reestablishment of peace and
the reorganization of world comity.
Arthur J. Todd
CONTENTS
Pages
Introduction 1-2
Part I. Legends
Chapter I. The geography of Armenia 5-8
Chapter II. Ancient historical legends 9-23
Section 1. The legend, of Haic 9
2. The legend of Ara and Semiramis 10
3. Historical background of the legend of Ara and
Semiramis 11
4. The legend of Vahakn 14
5. The historic background of the legend of Vahakn 15
6. The period of national integration 17
7. Legends of Artasches and Artavasd 20
8. Conclusions 22
Chapter III. Legends of the conversion to Christianity 24-38
Section 1. Pre-Christian mythology and religion 24
2. Legends of Abgar, Thaddeus, and St. Bartholomew 27
3. Legends of Rhipsime and Gregory 29
4. The Armenian church as a social force 34
Chapter IV. Locality legends 39-44
Section 1. Ararat 39
2. Khor-Virap and Erzerum 43
Chapter V. Interpretation and conclusions 45-48
Part II. Festivals
Chapter I. The Gregorian church 51-55
Chapter II. Pagan folk festivals 56-66
Section 1. Vartavar and the Festival of Mihr 56
2. The Day of the Dead and Vartan's Day 58
3. Fortune-Telling Day 62
Chapter III. Christian folk festivals 67-78
Section 1. Christmas, Easter, and New Year 67
2. Special church ceremonies 71
Chapter IV. Private festival occasions 79-90
Section 1. Baptism 79
2. Betrothal 80
3. Marriage 83
4. Funeral 87
Chapter V. Summary 91-96
Conclusions 92
Bibliography 99-100
INTRODUCTION
The study which follows has a very definite objective apart from
the mere gathering of materials, namely, to interpret as far as
the subject-matter would permit, the social life of the Armenian
people. The legends and festivals described have thus been selected
from a larger mass of material with this principle in mind. I have,
therefore, omitted such as seemed to me to be of little or no social
value. Also, in full accordance with this plan, I have chosen to
include certain church ceremonies which give rise to such festivals,
and are of such social importance that I considered them an organic
part of my subject. Otherwise I think I have kept within the strict
confines as indicated by the title of this study.
It must, therefore, be evident that neither Part One on legends,
nor Part Two on festivals, is exhaustive, and this is necessarily
so, not only because of my selective plan, but also because much of
the work on this and kindred subjects has been done by the French,
and is available only on the continent. All of the sources used are,
however, original in two possible constructions of the term; that
is, they are the works of Armenians who have lived for many years in
their native land, or of foreigners, generally French or English, who
have traveled through the country and gathered their material first
hand. A large portion of this matter I have been able to check up
and add to through my wife, an Armenian, who lived in Constantinople
most of her life, and who is naturally versed in the folk-lore of her
native land. While this has been the chief source of my interest,
it is not the only one, for during my three years' work in Beirut,
Syria, I became acquainted with many Armenians.
To describe a legend, or a festival, and to tag it Armenian, is about
as purposeful and enlightening as to explain Plato's idea of social
unity to a person who has no picture of Greek civilization. I have,
therefore, found it necessary to fit these legends and festivals into
the particular settings that seemed to me most natural. The legends
that date from pagan times are meaningless apart from their historical
background; the church legends and festivals are without value apart
from their religious-historical setting, while such legends as those
of Ararat require a description of the natural environment to which
they belong. The conclusions and interpretation which this study gives
rise to, as well as the manner in which I have organized and attempted
to weave the material together into a unified fabric, are my own.
Most of the books used have been supplied by the Case Memorial
Library of Hartford Theological Seminary, and I owe the Reverend
M. H. Ananikian of that institution my thanks for his gracious
cooperation in suggesting materials and providing me with them. I am
also deeply indebted to Professor J. W. Beach for his painstaking
criticism and valuable suggestions, and for the corrections
and suggestions offered by Professor W. S. Davis and Professor
A. E. Jenks. To Professor A. J. Todd I am especially grateful,
for it was under his direction and supervision that this study was
carried out.
Louis A. Boettiger
PART ONE
LEGENDS
CHAPTER I
THE GEOGRAPHY OF ARMENIA
Armenia is a huge plateau, a westward extension of the great Iranian
highland, bounded by the Caucasus Mountains on the north, the Taurus
Mountains and Kurdistan on the south, the Persian lowlands on the
southeast, and the Black and Caspian seas. The average height of
the plateau is 6,000 feet. As it ends abruptly at the Black Sea on
one side, so on the other it breaks down in rugged terraces to the
Mesopotamian lowlands; on the east it sinks gradually to the lower
levels of Persia, and on the west to the plains of Asia Minor. The
chief mountain ranges run from northeast to southwest, rising above
the general level of the plateau to an altitude ranging from 8,000
to 12,000 feet and culminating in Ararat, the lofty summit of which
stands 17,000 feet above sea level. Broad, elevated, and fertile
valleys range themselves between the mountains, the main lines of which
are determined by the four chief rivers of the country, the Tigris,
the Euphrates, the Aras, and the Kur. All four rise in the plateau,
the two former emptying into the Persian Gulf, and the latter two
into the Caspian Sea. The Euphrates divides the country into what is
known as great and little Armenia, or Armenia major and Armenia minor,
Armenia major on the east and Armenia minor on the west. Although the
valleys are generally broad expanses of arable land, grass covered
and treeless, the gorges of the Euphrates and Tigris can not be
surpassed in grandeur and wildness. The winters are long and severe,
and the summers short, dry, and hot. In the city of Erzerum the range
of temperature is from -22 deg. to 84 deg., and snow is usually present in
June. [1]
In consequence of the long and severe winters the villages are
built on gentle slopes of the hillsides in which the houses are
excavated. Robert Curzon, who traveled through the country about 1850,
has written the best description of them. [2] A rectangular plot of
ground about the size of an English acre is laid out and excavated to
a depth of seven or eight feet at the back side, decreasing gradually
with the slope of the hill to a depth of about two feet. After a
careful leveling of the ground, trunks of straight trees are cut
and arranged in rows for the support of the ceiling, which consists
of cross-beams interspersed by a wooden frame-work upon which the
removed soil is laid to a considerable thickness. The walls are made of
stone. In entering the habitation at the lower slope of the hillside,
one is obliged to descend three or four steps to the outer door,
which opens to a passage six to ten feet in length, at the end of
which is a second door, constructed of wood like the first. This door
swings to through the operation of a curious wooden weight passed over
a kind of pulley, in order to keep the outside cold from entering the
inner chamber. The inside of the door is usually covered with a rough,
red-dyed goatskin. Directly before the inner door is a wooden platform
raised some two feet above the ground and known in Turkish as the
"Salamlik," the hall of reception of the head of the family. Chairs
and tables it possesses none, only divans richly draped with Kurdish
stuffs placed against the stone walls that bound the two sides of
the platform. The floor is carpeted with tekeke, a kind of grey felt,
and the walls are decorated with swords, knives, pistols, and other
weapons. On the other two sides, the Salamlik is bounded by wooden
rails to keep away the sheep and cattle which occupy the greatest
proportion of floor space, and whose breathing helps materially to
keep the chamber warm. The other members of the household are confined
behind the stone wall where the space is sometimes split up into
two or more chambers for the various families of the patriarchal
household. One of these rooms is the common eating-room, and is
provided with an open hearth, fireplace, and chimney which leans
forward over the fireplace and draws up the smoke through a hole in
the turf-covered roof. A great stone is placed over the chimney to
keep children at play and grazing animals from falling through. In
traveling through the country on horseback, particular care must be
taken lest the horse step through an old chimney hole and break his
leg. The windows are funnel shaped holes through the ceiling spanned
with oiled paper.
Such is the Armenian household in which the people live day and night
during eight winter months of the year in the coldest section of the
country, as Erzerum and Mush. That many of the evenings were passed in
listening to the tales and gossip of a wandering minstrel, or to the
legends and folk-beliefs of the grey-haired members of the family,
there can be no doubt. That the national tradition was passed on in
this manner from the aged to the younger, to be again passed on in
their turn, is a matter of as much certainty as that part at least
of this same tradition has been preserved through the continually
recurring storms of the passing centuries. The recounting of national
legends and folk-lore is a chief means of amusement even in the warmer
sections of the country, where the climate makes a free community life
possible. How much more place, then, must it have had in these colder
sections where only the head of the family ever left the household
in winter-time, and then only in case of absolute necessity.
As has been suggested, this style of dwelling-place is not common to
all parts of Armenia. In some places the houses are built entirely
above ground, usually of stone, and sometimes, especially in the
case of the poorer inhabitants, of mud. Though the winters are not so
long or severe as in the district of Erzerum, they are nevertheless
sufficiently cold to require a fire six or seven months of the
year. The characteristic feature of every living- and dining-room is
the large "toneer" or circular fireplace dug out to a depth of three
to four feet in the center of the room. Here the fire is built in the
morning, usually with "tezek," the most common variety of fuel which
is a sun-baked mixture of straw and sheep or cow dung. The bread is
baked and the meals are cooked in the "toneer" and when it is time
to eat, the members sit about the open space, letting their feet
hang over the fire to keep warm. In the hut described by Montpereux,
there was but a single opening in the roof which served for window
and chimney at the same time, and which was often carefully sealed
up with straw to keep out the cold. [3] This author has given a clear
picture of the common family fireplace and sleeping chamber in which
each person fell asleep as best he might upon rugs and skins, keeping
as near the "toneer" as possible. And if the traditions, legends, and
folk-lore that will make up the body of this thesis are the common
possession of the people, as I have reason to believe them to be,
in spite of drastic measures taken to suppress them, how better could
they have been told and retold than while lounging about the "toneer"
during long winter evenings before sleeping time? [4]
In what other respects the natural environment of the people moulded
the common life, one can only conjecture. That the cold winters
and deep river valleys have tended to the formation of isolated
communities, clannishness, and provincialism, as is contended by
some writers, has not generally been true. Tidal waves of conquering
civilizations have passed over the country too frequently to make
such an influence possible. [5] Furthermore the people are bound
together by a national religion, whose chief officials are chosen
by the lay members and priesthood of the many communities. [6] These
representatives to the national religious assemblies return to their
own people brimming with news and reports of political as well as
religious and social matters. Such facts together with a common
ancestry, a common tradition, and a common language have moulded
a nation, and not a thousand differentiated groups among a people
who were once a nation. They have tended to solidify and unify the
national character, and it is just this process of solidification
that gives significance to the whole fabric of beliefs, legends,
and festivals of the people.
As a nation, the Armenian people are exclusive, but this is an entirely
different matter. For three years I have had occasion to observe groups
of students belonging to different nations, chiefly Egyptians, Syrians,
Greeks, Jews, Persians, Turks, and Armenians, and the latter always
showed a most persistent determination to confine their friendships
and social intercourse to themselves. Perhaps this is due to the fact
that nearly all of the nations above mentioned have at one time or
another dominated the Armenians; perhaps it is due to the persecution
they have recently suffered, which, though it has been a sufficiently
important fact to result in serious social and psychological changes,
has by no means been characteristic of the history of the people,
as it has been, for example, of the Jews; or perhaps it is due to the
solidarity and oneness of the people as a whole. I am inclined rather
to the latter explanation, and may perhaps be able to prove it so.
Nevertheless, the singularity of the physical environment has placed
its irremovable stamp upon the people. The words that best describe
the country are not trees, hills, forests, gently flowing streams,
such words as commonly express American landscape, but rather,
gorges, mountain ranges, broad river valleys, treeless expanses of
country. There is space to make one think of other worlds and other
shores, and there are mountains suggestive of strength, that rise
majestic above the plateau, to fill one with awe and wonder. Religious
the people are naturally, but more than that, they are thoughtful,
reflecting, considering. No writer that I have read but has spoken
of the Armenian as intellectually alert and capable. That this
thoughtfulness, this robust element in their idealism is in part the
stamp of physical nature, there can be little doubt.
CHAPTER II
ANCIENT HISTORICAL LEGENDS
SECTION 1. THE LEGEND OF HAIC
Armenians do not call themselves Armenians nor their country
Armenia. They are descendants of Haic, as the legend goes, who was
the son of Togarmah, the son of Japhet, who was the son of Noah, and
they call their country Haiasdan after the patriarchal progenitor of
their people. [7] Haic dwelt in the plain of Shinar and was a prefect
or director in the building of the tower of Babel. He was beautiful
as a god and strong as a giant, mighty in battle and especially adept
in spear throwing. In the days of his youth, Bel or Nimrod, who was
the patron god of Babylon, established himself over all and wished
to be worshipped. But Haic refused to obey, and taking his sons, who
numbered about three hundred, his daughters, his sheep and cattle,
he journeyed north until he came to the land of Ararat. Bel tried in
vain to persuade his rival to come back.
"Thou hast departed and hast settled in a chill and frosty region,"
urged the Assyrian god. "Soften thy hard pride, change thy coldness
to geniality; be my subject and come and live a life of ease in my
domain." [8]
But Haic refused the cordial invitation, which so much angered Bel
that the latter brought his army to force the Armenian hero into
submission. Haic, however, was victorious, for he slew Bel with an
arrow from his own bow. The place where Bel was buried is called
"Kerezman," meaning grave, and is pointed out to this day. Armenians
sing songs and tell stories of the great beauty and valor of Haic. He
died at the age of four hundred in about 2028 B.C. [9]
This oldest of Armenian legends, quaint and simple as it is in
accounting for the beginnings of a people, savours of the Old
Testament and is suggestive of the Assyrian invasion which took
place about the ninth century before Christ. It is significant that
the Armenians refused the protection of Bel, and that in the very
beginning of their legendary history, they insisted on standing
firm and maintaining their independence, for no single quality is
more characteristic of this people than a proud, haughty, even at
times disdainful independence. It is also suggestive that their
patriarchal hero was no saint, but a mighty giant, beautiful as he
was strong, whose greatest pride was in the throwing of a spear,
for his descendants have not been a peaceful people. To be sure,
they were the first nation to be converted to Christianity, which
would say little for their firmness and independence, were it not
that the priest with the cross was followed by a powerful king with a
sword at the head of an army that had learned to fight as the Romans
fought. [10] The songs that were sung in memory and honor of Haic
are seldom sung to-day unless it be in some remote village where the
civilization of the Turk has not yet pressed, and there are few such
villages if any. For many of them breathe of a national spirit not
beseeming a subject nation, and have been suppressed for many years.
SECTION 2. THE LEGEND OF ARA AND SEMIRAMIS
Dating back to the Assyrian invasion which took place during the
seventh and eighth centuries before Christ, one of the oldest of
Armenian legends, that of Semiramis, queen of Assyria, and Ara, king
of Armenia, is told. [11] Ara was very beautiful, and Semiramis having
heard speech of his beauty for many years, wished to possess him. But
she dared do nothing for fear of Ninus, protector over Armenia. After
the death of Ninus, however, the queen sent messengers to Ara, with
gifts and offerings, with prayers and promises of riches, begging
him to come to her at Nineveh and either wed her and reign over all
that Ninus had possessed, or fulfill her desire and return in peace to
Armenia with many gifts. But when the messengers had been turned away
repeatedly, Semiramis became angry, and taking her army she hastened
to Armenia. The battle was fought on the plain of Ara, called after
him Ararat; and although the queen had given careful orders to her
generals to devise some means of saving the life of Ara, the Armenian
king was slain. She found the dead body among the others that had
fallen, and ordered her servants to place it in an upper chamber in
her castle. And when the Armenian army again arose to drive away the
foe and avenge the death of Ara, the queen said, "I have commanded
the gods to lick his wounds and he shall live again." She tried to
bring Ara back to life by witchcraft and charms, but the body began to
decay and she commanded her servants to cast the corpse into a deep
pit and to cover it. And having dressed up one of her men in secret,
she caused the following proclamation to be spread among the people:
"The gods have licked Ara and have brought him back to life again,
thus fulfilling our prayers and our pleasures. Therefore from this
time forth shall they be the more glorified and worshipped by us,
for they are the givers of joy and the fulfillers of desire." And
she erected a statue to the gods, making it seem as though they had
brought Ara back to life again. This news was spread over all the
country of Armenia, and having satisfied the people, she put an end
to the fighting. The twelve-year-old son of the king was taken by the
Assyrian queen and appointed ruler over Armenia. She called him Ara,
in memory of her love for Ara the Beautiful.
To Semiramis is attributed the building of the ancient city of
Van on the shores of the beautiful lake of Van, where she made
her summer residence until the time of her departure. [12] She
might well have lingered there, for the Armenians have a proverb,
"Van in this world, paradise in the next." Nevertheless, Semiramis
and Ara are mythical characters, although the latter is spoken of in
the history of St. Martin as having lived along about 1769 B.C. [13]
As regards the popular belief in the legend, however, there is not
the slightest doubt. This is proved by the fact that even to-day the
city is called "Sham-iram-agerd" by the Armenians, meaning the city
of Semiramis. Lynch says that Ara and Semiramis are Tannuz and Istar,
the Adonis and the Aphrodite of the Hellenic myth, and that the quest
of the Assyrian queen may be connected with the introduction into
Armenia of the worship of Istar whose name is mentioned in one of the
cuneiform inscriptions at Van. [14] However, the results of modern
scholarship are by no means conclusive on this point, as we shall see.
SECTION 3. HISTORICAL BACKGROUND OF THE LEGEND OF ARA AND SEMIRAMIS
Moses' history was read by St. Martin who became exceedingly interested
in Van, and in the cuneiform inscriptions spoken of. It was due to
him that the French government dispatched a mission to Armenia in
1827, under the direction of a young German Professor, Friedrich
Edward Schulz. Schulz was murdered by the Kurds, a thing which
rarely happens in Armenia, and his work was left incomplete. He had
succeeded, however, in making copies of forty-two inscriptions, which
were published in 1840, and proved to be remarkably accurate. Shortly
afterward, orientalists made great discoveries in the Mesopotamian
valley, but the inscriptions at Van did not tally with any syllabaries
discovered up to that time, nor could they be translated in any known
language. A number of them were found to be Assyrian, but the great
majority were peculiar to Van, and entirely baffled the students. Not
until 1880 were they finally unravelled. M. S. Guyard discovered at
that time that the concluding phrase of many Vannic texts represented
an imprecatory formula found in exactly the same place in Assyrian
counterparts. This discovery enabled Professor Sayce, of Oxford,
to decipher the inscriptions at a rapid rate.
Among the important facts discovered were that the nation was a
rival nation of Assyria, and that its people were called Khaldeans,
or children of Khaldis, much in the same way as the Assyrians reflected
the name of their god, Assur. The country was a theocracy and Khaldis
was supreme. In the tablets, his wrath was invoked against whomever
should destroy them. The capital city was Dhuspus, modern Van, which
is the Disp, or Tsp of Armenian writers, and the Turuspa of Assyrian
annals. The Assyrians styled the kingdom Urardhu, or Urarthu, which
is the name appearing in the Bible in the familiar form Ararat.
The earliest inscriptions date back to the ninth century before
Christ, and as the language is neither Semitic nor Indo-European,
the people could neither have been Assyrians whose language was
Semitic, nor Armenians, whose language is Indo-European. The first
mention made of Urardhu was in the reign of Ashur-Nazir-Pal (885-860
B.C.) whose successor, Shalmanasar II (860-825 B.C.) was the first
Assyrian king to invade Armenia. [15] Raffi, however, (the son of the
famous Armenian poet) speaks of an account given by Assur-Nazir-Haban
(1882-1857 B.C.) of one of his victories. "They" (i.e., the people
of Ararat or Urarthu), he said, "fled to the impregnable mountains
so that I might not be able to get at them, for the mighty summits
were like drawn swords pointing to the skies. Only the birds of
heaven soaring on their wings could reach them. In three days I was
there spreading terror in places where they had taken refuge. Their
corpses like autumn leaves filled the clefts. The rest escaped to
distant inaccessible heights." [16] This, clearly, is a much older
record than any that Lynch found trace of, and although Raffi cites no
authority for the quotation, I presume that it has been taken from a
recent discovery. If this be true the Khaldeans were a very ancient
people. One of the tablets shows that King Memas was the principal
author of the magnificent canal which conducts the water of the river
Khoshab to the suburbs of Van, and which is to-day called "Shamiram-Su"
or river of Semiramis. [17] The line of Vannic kings is traceable as
far down as 644 B.C.
Most of these inscriptions are to be found on a huge isolated rock,
situated in the curve of the bay, and known as the "rock of Van." [18]
Among them are inscriptions left by Xerxes (485 B.C.), the Persian
conqueror whose father's empire (Darius, 521-486 B.C.) succeeded the
loose Scythian rule.
But the ancient Khaldean kingdom had already vanished when Xerxes'
victorious army overran the country, for shortly after the great influx
of Scythians and the break-up of Assyria, came another horde from the
west, perhaps to fill up the void left by the Scythian ravages. It is
at this time that the Armenian people are first heard from, and it is
this horde, therefore, that is regarded as the foundation stock of
the Armenian people. They seem to have been an Indo-European people
residing in the territory north of the Black Sea, for, coming from
the west they must have entered Asia from Europe by crossing the
straits. The ancient Khaldeans were assimilated to some extent,
but for the most part, they were driven to the north and south,
where they have left traces that have been recognized and recorded
by Xenophon and Herodotus. [19]
That the civilization and culture of the ancient Khaldeans were
utilized is beyond doubt. Their most ancient cities, Van, Armavir,
were foundations of Vannic kings, while recently it has been disclosed
that the city of Hajk, southeast of Van, shows some of the familiar
features of a Khaldean settlement. But their supreme god during the
pre-Christian era was not Khaldis, but the Persian Ormuzd, which
indicates that the Persians exercised an even greater influence.
How then could Semiramis ever have come to Van in quest of an Armenian
king, since it seems that the Scythians had already conquered Assyria
before the great influx of Armenian hordes? Nor does it seem that the
city of Van was built by the Assyrian queen, for the inscriptions
make no mention of her name. King Memas who, in the view of Lynch,
constructed the famous canal, was in all probability the author of
the garden city. The belief, according to Lynch, as already stated,
is that this legend is the Armenian version of the old Hellenic myth of
Aphrodite and Adonis, taken over during the domination of the Seleucid
dynasty which followed the conquest of Alexander about 325 B.C. [20]
But this is unreasonable. That a myth should be taken over by a subject
people and the characters rechristened is not difficult to understand,
but that the name of one of them should be applied to the ancient
city is very improbable to say the least. Furthermore, the legend is
flavored rather strongly with Persian voluptuousness, and is not at
all suggestive of Greek delicacy and refinement. Nor is the fact that
the horde overran the country after the destruction of Assyria in any
way conclusive, for if there were any assimilation at all, as there
must unquestionably have been, the Khaldean culture and history was to
that extent the actual possession of the Armenians. Even intermarriage
would perhaps be unnecessary, for what Irishman who has been in the
United States two months does not speak of Benjamin Franklin and George
Washington as his forefathers? It is to be noted also that to this day
the canal spoken of is called "Shamiram-Su" or river of Semiramis, by
all Armenians. [21] On the whole it seems to me conclusive, therefore,
that the legend of Semiramis and Ara has its roots in Armenian history,
and is not at all a version of the Hellenic myth.
SECTION 4. THE LEGEND OF VAHAKN
The legend of Vahakn, king and god of Armenians, is very clearly
attributable to the Greek period, which followed the Persian conquest
under Xerxes. Vahakn was deified because of his great valor and made
the fire-god of the Armenian people. [22] He was called "Vishapakagh,"
uprooter of dragons, since he cleared Armenia of monsters and saved
it from evil influences. His exploits were known in the abode of the
gods as well as in Armenia. The most famous of them was the theft of
corn from the barns of King Barsham of Assyria, from whom he ran away
and tried to hide in heaven. Because of the ears he dropped in his
rapid flight, there arose the Milky Way which is called in Armenian
the "track of the corn stealer." [23]
Moses of Khorene writes as follows:
Concerning the birth of this king the legends say,
"Heaven and earth were in travail,
And the crimson waters were in travail,
And in the water, the crimson reed
Was also in travail.
From the mouth of the reed issued smoke,
From the mouth of the reed issued flame,
And out of the flame sprang the young child,
His hair was of fire, a beard had he of flame,
And his eyes were suns." [24]
With our own ears did we hear these words sung to the accompaniment
of the harp. They sing moreover that he did fight with the dragons,
and overcame them; and some say that his valiant deeds were like
unto Hercules. Others declare that he was a god, and that a great
image of him stood in the land of Georgia, where it was worshipped,
with sacrifices. [25]
The wife of Vahakn was Astghik, the goddess of beauty, a
personification of the moon, corresponding to the Phoenician and
Sidonian Astarte. This is suggestive of Greek influence, for Venus, the
Greek goddess of beauty, was also the wife of a fire-god, Vulcan. [26]
The flight of Vahakn before the Assyrian king is certainly more
suggestive of the fear in which the Assyrians must have been regarded
than of the valor of their god. The originators of the legend were
good psychologists, however, in regarding the instincts of fear and
of pugnacity as compatible. For even the slayer of demons must some
day face his superiors in strength, and when he does, will he not be
afraid? In fact he would be more afraid than another, for he could
not well impute more mercy to his superior than he himself had shown
to his inferiors.
The vein of humor is too rich to be left unnoted. If the Greeks could
laugh at their gods, and even mock them, the Armenians could also
make sport of them. For what could be more delightfully humorous than
the picture of a bearded god, a slayer of dragons, whose hair was
of flame and whose eyes like suns, stealing corn from the Assyrian
king and dropping the ears from his shoulders in his hasty flight
across heaven? The character thus brought out, together with the
richness of imaginative quality, especially in the song of his birth,
the wholesome and unveiled anthropomorphism (wholesome because it is
unveiled), and the correspondence between the Greek fire-god Vulcan
whose wife was Venus, the goddess of beauty, with the fire-god Vahakn
whose wife Astghik was also goddess of beauty, stamp the legend with
its unmistakable origin in Greek mythology.
SECTION 5. THE HISTORIC BACKGROUND OF THE LEGEND OF VAHAKN
The Greek period from which this legend dates began with the defeat
of the Armenian king Vahy, who was overcome by Alexander the Great
somewhere about 328 B.C. [27] The Greeks chose their own representative
to rule over the province, who at the time of Alexander's death was
Seleucus. Historians have taken the name of this governor to indicate
the dynasty of Greek supremacy which followed; i.e., the Seleucid
dynasty. This method of the Greeks of selecting their own man to
govern a subject people, which was of course in pursuance of their
policy of superimposing their own culture upon all subject nations,
was contrary to the policy of the Parthians, Romans, and Persians,
who allowed the Armenians to maintain their national independence
provided they permitted the use of their armies and duly paid their
taxes. And it is this policy of the Greeks that accounts for the fact
that large portions of Greek mythology and religion were taken over
by the Armenians.
Although the period of political supremacy was short-lived, the
influence of Greek culture continued to permeate the social life
of the people through the reign of the Arsacid kings. [28] In 246
B.C. Arsaces, a Parthian, made himself master of the Parthians,
Persians, Medes, Babylonians, and lastly Armenians. [29] His grandson,
Arsaces the Great, conquered as far as India, and after seating himself
securely upon the throne of Persia, placed his brother Valarsace upon
the Armenian throne, so founding the Persian and Armenian Arsacid
dynasties (150 B.C.). [30] The Persian Arsacidae became extinct in
A.D. 226 when they were overthrown by the Persian Sasanidae, whereas
the Armenian Arsacidae line continued up until A.D. 428, when the
Armenian kingdom was divided between Persia and Rome by Shapuh,
the Persian monarch, and Theodosius II. [31] This makes a period
of 578 years (150 B.C.-A.D. 428) during which Armenia was governed
by her own line of kings, and enjoyed the liberties of national
independence. To be sure after the conquest of Lucullus and Pompey
(66 B.C.) Armenia became tributary to Rome, but the right of succession
remained with the Armenian royal family, even during Roman supremacy,
so that the national life was in no manner interfered with. [32] The
greatest Armenian king of the Arsacidae line was Tigranes the Great,
who extended his domains by conquest and established himself in his
capital, Tigranacerta, with a court of matchless splendor. [33] He
is spoken of by historians as a king of kings, and as having ruled
with a pomp, splendor, and pride never before known. Defeated by
Pompey within the walls of his own capital city, his kingdom became
tributary to Rome.
SECTION 6. THE PERIOD OF NATIONAL INTEGRATION
The continuity of the period of the Armenian Arsacidae makes it the
time when the process of national solidification and unification was
carried out to the point that made Armenia a nation, and beyond this
point. Raffi asserts that the introduction of Greek culture during
the Arsacid dynasty not only changed the religion of Armenians,
but also so affected their language and customs that they became
different from the Persians, which is proof that a process of social
readjustment was going on. [34] It was during this period that the
wandering minstrels spoken of by Langlois journeyed from one end of
the nation to the other, singing their songs, repeating the national
legends, relating the news of the world and the court gossip which
probably made up the largest portion of it.
Les chants de l'antique Armenie rappellent principalement des
evenements la plupart heroiques et legendaires, accomplis a des
epoques tres differentes, ce qui donne a penser qu'ils ont du etre
composes a diverses reprises, par des rhapsodes dont les noms
ne nous sont point parvenus. Les sujets traites dans ces chants
demontrent clairement qu'ils n'ont ete inspires ni a des pretres
paiens, ni a des poetes qui auraient vecu sous leur influence,
en vue d'etre recites dans des fetes religieuses ou en face des
autels. Au contraire, on reconnait de prime abord que ces chants
sont l'oeuvre de bardes nationaux, ayant un libre acces dans les
palais des souverains et a la cour des satrapes. C'est ce qui
fait supposer que ces poemes sont peutetre dus a des menestrels,
a la solde des rois et des nobles et ayant pour emploi de celebrer
leurs vertus et leurs prouesses. [35]
This is putting the case conservatively, for Moses speaks often of
"les chantres" and "les chants." They traveled as far as Persia and
returned, for it is related by the Italian Countess Evelyn Martinengo
how a wandering minstrel, who had just returned from that country,
was entertained by an Armenian patriarchal family living in the
kind of underground habitation described in the beginning of this
thesis. [36] No one was ever more welcome than the minstrel. He was
assigned to the guest chamber usually prepared especially for him,
and always the best chamber in the household. His head and feet were
washed for him by the wife of the patriarch, and at meal time all the
delicacies of the household were spread before him. All guests were
welcome, but no guest more welcome than the minstrel. They must have
listened to his tales in a kind of petrified awe, and heard him sing
his songs in speechless enjoyment.
It was a practice among the minstrels of the time to compete with
each other in public, and it is related how two minstrels entertained
by a Persian prince were led out upon an open grass plot and seated,
one facing the other. Five thousand people made a circle around the
competitors while the rivals contended in song and verse, riddle
and repartee. Each began where the other left off, until finally one
failed to perceive the drift of his adversary, and answering at random,
the spectators proclaimed him beaten. The triumphant bard was led to
the vanquished, whose lyre was taken from him and broken. Robed in
a prince's mantle, the victor was taken to the highest seat in the
banquet hall.
That the people were the judges of the contest, indicates how well
they must have been acquainted with the current folk-songs, legends,
and tradition. How generally and frequently the custom of minstrel
competition was practiced throughout Armenia is not known, but it
certainly is proof, besides Moses' own statements to the same effect,
that the national legends and folk-songs were the possession of the
common people. And what is more important, this same body of legends,
folk-songs, and tradition did more than any other one thing to weld
the sentiments of the people into a single national sentiment, which
crystallized into a real patriotism, a real loyalty and devotion
to any cause that was a national cause, because it was the natural,
spontaneous expression of the life and thought of the people, and no
mean, artificial thing superimposed from outside. [37]
There are other reasons for giving this period the social importance
that I have ascribed to it. The conversion of the people to
Christianity about the third century after Christ was achieved in
no sentimental fashion, but, as I believe, in a manner in which it
alone could have been done, namely, at the point of the sword of their
own king, Tiridates, who was converted from paganism to Christianity
by Gregory the Illuminator. The traditions in connection with this
important event will be told later. Suffice it to say at this point
that the whole process of conversion was carried out so thoroughly
and completely, that it may be described as a national volte-face,
and therefore did not result in the disintegration, civil strife,
and social chaos that would unquestionably have been the result
had the process been carried out by means of peaceful penetration
and propaganda.
The third and last argument in support of the social and national
importance of the period of the Arsacid kings is in respect to the
alphabet which was compiled by St. Mesrob Maschtotz. St. Mesrob was
a former secretary of the king, and desired to extirpate the last
remnants of paganism in the province of Akoulis, but in the absence of
an alphabet he was unable to carry out any scheme of propaganda. He
therefore besought the king, Vramschapouh, to put an end to this
state of things and the latter, in response to the request, placed
all available material at the disposal of the saint. The task was
accomplished in 404, somewhat at the expense of the future devotees
of the language, for the alphabet contains thirty-eight letters. [38]
Nevertheless, most of the sounds of foreign languages were represented,
making it particularly useful as a foundation language for other
languages. St. Mesrob, with a body of translators trained by himself
and St. Sahak, then proceeded to the translation of the Bible,
which was not completed until 433. Liturgies and song-books quickly
followed. To be sure the effect of the invention of the alphabet and
the distribution of the various religious publications that followed
were not felt during the period of the Arsacidae, for the Bible was
not published until after the break-up of the kingdom in 428, when it
was divided between Persia and Rome. But the important point is that
the time had come when the need for an alphabet was making itself very
strongly felt, and this could not have been true of a diversified,
heterogeneous population.
For the three reasons above mentioned, i.e., first, the work of
minstrels, second, the Christianizing of the nation, and third,
the invention of the alphabet, all occurring during the successive
reigns of the Arsacid kings, I should ascribe to this period (150
B.C.-A.D. 428) the integration of the Armenian people into a national
unit. [39] Christianity must have come as a disrupting force, as a
terrible shock, necessitating a complete social readjustment, but the
fact that the readjustment was made shows that the people were ready
for it. For better or for worse the yoke of Christianity was fastened
to the neck of the people, and with it they had to replow the social
soil. The job was a good one, for the Armenian church has been the
chief power during the last ten or fifteen centuries in keeping alive
the streams of national life, and in holding the people together in
the face of invasion and repeated attempts at proselytization by the
Persians and by the Greek and Roman Catholic churches.
SECTION 7. LEGENDS OF ARTASCHES AND ARTAVASD
The legends of Artasches and Satenik, and of Artavasd, the son of
Artasches, belong to the Arsacid period, for Artavasd and Artasches
are Armenian kings of the Arsacid dynasty, according to Moses. [40]
The Alans who, according to the legend, were a neighboring people
residing in the mountain region in the vicinity of Georgia, spread
themselves over Armenia while Artasches, the Armenian king, collected
a great army and forced the Alans to retreat across the river Kur
where they pitched camp. The son of the Alan king was taken captive
and brought to Artasches, which forced the former to seek peace on
whatever terms the Armenian king might wish, provided only his son
was returned in safety. But Artasches refused, whereupon the sister
of the captured boy came to the river bank, and standing upon a great
rock spoke to the camp of Artasches by means of interpreters saying:
"Oh brave Artasches, who hast vanquished the great nation of Alans,
unto thee I speak. Come, hearken unto the bright-eyed daughter of
the Alan king and give back the youth. For it is not the way of
heroes to destroy life at the root, nor for the sake of humbling
and enslaving a hostage to establish everlasting enmity between two
great nations." [41] Artasches, having heard of these sayings went
to the river bank and having seen that the girl was beautiful,
and listened to her words of wisdom, wished to marry her. His
chamberlain considered it a wise stroke of policy, and therefore
went to the Alan king, soliciting the hand of the princess for his
master, whose oaths and assurances of peace he vouched for, together
with the promise to return the boy. The king of the Alans answered,
"From whence shall brave Artasches give thousands upon thousands,
and ten thousands upon tens of thousands in return for the maiden?"
Writes Moses:
Concerning this, the poets of that land sing in their songs:
"Brave King Artasches
Mounted his fine black charger,
And took the red leathern cord
With the golden ring.
Like a swift winged eagle
He passed over the river
And cast the golden ring
Round the waist of the Alan Princess;
Causing much pain to the tender maiden
As he bore her swiftly back to his camp."
Which being interpreted meaneth that he was commanded to give
much gold, leather, and crimson dye in exchange for the maiden. So
also they sing of the wedding:
"It rained showers of gold when Artasches became a bridegroom,
It rained pearls when Satenik became a bride."
For it was the custom of our kings to scatter coins amongst the
people when they arrived at the doors of the temple for their
wedding, as also for the queens to scatter pearls in their
bride-chamber. [42]
The couplet quoted is still sung by the Armenians, and it is still
customary for the bridegroom to scatter money on his way to the
church, and though it may be for queens to scatter pearls, the
Armenian bride is not to be outdone. She is given a partly opened
pomegranate which she throws at the door of the bridegroom upon the
arrival at the bridegroom's home after the ceremony at the church,
the bits of pomegranate scattering themselves about as pearls.
After fifty-one years of a very prosperous reign, Artasches, who was
very much beloved by his people, died. The funeral procession was a
most magnificent one, and many of the people killed themselves, out
of love for their dead king, according to the custom of the time. And
when the body was laid in the grave they threw precious jewels, gold,
and silver after it. Nor did the lamenting and suicide stop after
his burial, for upon the grave of their dead king the nobles and
the people continued to kill themselves. So great was the slaughter
that Artavasd, son of Artasches, and king after his father's death,
addressed the spirit of his dead father, saying, "Behold, thou art
taking all with thee; dost thou leave me to rule over ruins and the
dead?" The words given by Moses of Khorene are: "Now that thou art
gone, and hast taken with thee the whole land, how shall I reign over
the ruins?" [43] Whereupon the spirit of Artasches cursed him and said,
"When thou ridest forth to hunt
Over the free heights of Ararat,
The strong ones shall have thee,
And shall take thee up
On to the free heights of Ararat.
There shalt thou abide,
And never more see the light." [44]
These words together with those of Artavasd spoken to his father's
spirit were sung by the singers of the time. [45]
One day while out hunting Artavasd was seized by some visionary terror
and lost his reason. Urging his horse down a steep bank he fell into
a chasm where he sank and disappeared. Old women told how he was
confined in a cavern and bound with iron chains which his two dogs
gnawed at daily in order to set him free. But somehow at the sound
of the hammers striking on the anvils, the chains were continually
strengthened, and it was customary among the blacksmiths of the time
to strike the anvil three or four times to strengthen, as they said,
the chains of Artavasd. And so the tradition was kept up by singers and
blacksmiths; the blacksmiths and old women having consigned the jealous
king to the world's nethermost regions, while the singers left him
to the solitude of Ararat in accordance with the curse of Artasches.
SECTION 8. CONCLUSIONS
Such are the ancient legends of Armenia, in their respective historical
settings: the legends of Haic, of Semiramis and Ara, of Vahakn,
of Artasches and Satenik, and of Artavasd. All of them antedate the
Christian era, and some of them by many centuries. Each one of them
is told by Moses of Khorene. But as to origin and probable historic
roots Moses was silent, for he was writing a history. He constantly
laments the absolute dearth of material and sources and begins his
accounts of these legends with the words "This is as it is told,"
or "the singers say," indicating that his only sources for them
were the songs and reports current among the people during his own
time. The legends of Haic and of Semiramis and Ara are told by Moses
as though he believed them historic fact, but of course Moses had no
materials to serve as a basis of criticism. He is careful to quote
Mar Apas Catina as his only source for this material. The other three
legends are regarded as such. Artavasd is spoken of as an historical
king who lost his reason while riding horseback and fell into a deep
chasm. The practice of suicide at the death of Artasches, his father,
was a pagan custom. The curse of the spirit of the dead father, the
chains, the dogs, and the anvils were of course recognized as the work
of ingenious fancy. In view therefore, of the questionable character
of Moses' sources these legends have very little historic value. They
do, however, have a high social value inasmuch as the common knowledge
of them among the people was the only ultimate source at the disposal
of the historian.
The second conclusion is that these legends formed a very important
part of the larger mass of tradition and songs that served to cement
the people into a nation. Just how important, it would be difficult
to say, but the fact that they were current at the time Moses wrote
indicates that they were current and passed on from generation to
generation during the whole period of the Arsacidae kings. And as
the people had no alphabet during this whole period, they must have
been passed on by song and word of mouth. This was a time of special
activity on the part of the minstrels and singers, and therefore
the development of the national consciousness characteristic of the
period must have been brought about in a large measure through the
medium of these legendary beliefs.
Furthermore these legends are known by the Armenian people to-day
and are taught in the schools that are not too severely under the
rules of Turkish and Russian censorship. Naturally enough, they are
a source of great pride since they breathe national independence and
loyalty. But of course, the Turks and Russians have suppressed all
public singing of songs, and public teaching of history and legend
that may possibly be construed as partaking of the national spirit.
It may be argued that these legends slumbered between the covers
of Moses' history during the centuries known as the dark ages, and
that they had no social value until the contagion of the European
spirit of the Renaissance awoke the legends and the people at
the same time. But the mere dearth of record is no proof of this
Rip Van Winkle theory. There is at least one reliable authority
sufficient to disprove it, viz., Grigor Magistros, a scholar of the
eleventh century who wrote that he heard the Artasches epic sung
by minstrels. [46] Besides the unreasonableness of the supposition,
there is the added fact of an independent Armenian kingdom known as
the Bagradouni dynasty, whose capital seat was at the famous city
of Ani. This kingdom included greater Armenia and continued from
A.D. 887 to 1079. [47] But 1079 does not mark the end of Armenian
independence though it marks the destruction of Ani, for Reuben,
a member of the royal family, made his way into Cilicia in the year
1080, and rallying a handful of Armenians about him, overpowered the
Greeks and founded what is known as the Rupenian Kingdom of Cilicia,
which continued during a period of 300 years. So that here again is a
period of very nearly five hundred years (889-1380), during which time
the Armenian people enjoyed national political independence. [48] And
this during the very period of the dark ages, about which we know so
little! We could not, therefore, for a moment suppose the traditions
and legends to have had no social importance during these centuries,
for such an assumption would be in flat contradiction to the witness
of Grigor Magistros, and to the facts of Armenian history.
CHAPTER III
LEGENDS OF THE CONVERSION TO CHRISTIANITY
SECTION 1. PRE-CHRISTIAN MYTHOLOGY AND RELIGION
The second body of legends which I wish to consider is
chiefly concerned with the introduction of Christianity into the
country. These, together with the traditional beliefs centered about
the chief geographical feature of the land, Mt. Ararat, constitute
a group bearing a very distinct religious stamp. For this reason,
and also because they have a later origin, they are to be marked
off very distinctly from those already taken up. In view of their
religious bearing I shall introduce them with a brief account of the
various forms of pagan worship that preceded the Christianization of
the people.
The chief religious influences have been the Assyrian, the Persian,
and the Greek. It seems, however, that a kind of monotheism prevailed
before the gods of any of these were taken over. The very ancient
Armenian kings planted groves of poplars around their cities and the
worship was carried on in these groves. [49] An altar was placed among
the trees, where the first male descendant of the royal family (and
perhaps other families) offered sacrifices to the one God, while the
priests derived oracles from the rustling of the leaves. Even now the
poplar groves are held in uncommon regard. This is a survival of the
old belief that they were the dwelling place of God, and of the later
practice of consecrating children in them. The belief that God dwelt
among the leaves must have been suggested by the slightest trembling
of the leaves, even at the gentlest breeze, and one can well imagine
the people looking up at them in the impressive silence of the forest
with an awe and wonder no other environment could possibly induce. The
Armenian for poplar, "Sossi" is used to-day as a name for girls, and
the poplar tree, although not held sacred by Armenian people to-day,
is certainly regarded with great reverence. [50]
The influence of Persian worship is more clear. Aramazd, the architect
of the universe, lord and creator of all things, was the chief
Armenian god, and is unquestionably the Persian Ormuzd named in the
inscription of Xerxes on the rock of Van. Armenians have given him
the title of "father of the gods," and the qualifications "great,
and strong, creator of heaven and earth, and god of fertility and
of abundance." The Greeks identified him with Zeus. [51] There were
numerous sanctuaries erected in his honor, and at the annual festival
celebrated in his name, white animals, especially goats, horses,
and mules, were sacrificed and their blood used to fill silver and
golden goblets. [52] Tir, or "Grogh" meaning in Armenian "to write"
was his attendant spirit, whose chief business it was to watch over
mankind, recording their good and evil deeds. [53] Upon the death of a
person "Grogh" conducted the soul of the departed before his master,
who opened the great book, and balancing the good and evil deeds,
assigned a reward or punishment. Grogh is also the personification
of hope and fear, and the expression "may Grogh take you" is still
very commonly used among the people, especially by servant girls
and those whose language has not undergone the purification of a
season of "Sturm und Drang." It is interesting to note that this
and some other expressions owe their survival to usage among women
rather than among men, which is not difficult of explanation when one
considers the social restrictions that women are generally subject
to. "Viele Seiten des alten heidnischen Glaubens sind in dem heutigen
Volksglauben, besonders bei den tiefer stehenden Volksschichten, bei
alten Bauerinnen, als ueberbleibsel der Vergangenheit erhalten." [54]
The god Mihr represented fire, and was the son of Aramazd. [55]
He guided heroes in battle, and was commemorated by a festival held
in the beginning of spring. Fires were kindled in the open market
place in his honor, and a lantern lit from one of these fires was
kept burning in his temple throughout the year. [56] It is still a
festival among the people, although it has a different significance,
and will be described more in detail later on. This is practiced not
only by the Armenians, but also by the Syrian Maronites who reside
in the Lebanon. I have seen the mountainsides literally aglow with
a thousand fires in celebration of a Christian festival that has
its roots in the pagan ceremony in honor of Mihr. The practice of a
continually burning lantern was also carried over by some branches
of the Christian church.
Both Persians and Armenians were worshippers of Mihr (fire-worship),
although there was a very distinct difference between the two. The
Armenian sacred fire was invisible, whereas the Persian was material
and kept up throughout the whole year. It is for this reason that
the Armenians called the Persians fire-worshippers. The only visible
fire-god worshipped by the Armenians was the sun, to which temples
were dedicated, and after which the Armenian calendar month "Areg" was
named. [57] The "Children of the Sun" as they were called, offered the
most persistent opposition to the introduction of Christianity, and a
community of them continued their worship in the face of persecution
after Christianity became the religion of the state. The phrase "let
me die for your sun," and the oath "let the sun of my son be witness,"
are language survivals of this particular worship.
The Greek worship, introduced first during the Seleucid dynasty, and
emphasized and encouraged by the line of Arsacidae kings up to the
introduction of Christianity, exercised an even stronger influence
than the Persian. Many of the Greek divinities were rechristened
and adopted by the people. Chief of these was Anahit, "Mother of
Chastity," known also as the "Pure and Spotless Goddess," who was the
daughter of Aramazd, and corresponded to the Greek Artemid and the
Roman Diana. [58] She was also regarded as the benefactress of the
people. Writes Agathangelus: "Through her (Anahit) the Armenian land
exists; from her it draws its life, she is the glory of our nation and
its protectress." [59] Images and shrines were dedicated to her name
under the titles, "The Golden Mother," "The Being of Golden Birth." A
summer festival was celebrated in her honor at which a dove and a
rose were offered to her golden image. The day was called "Vartavar,"
meaning "the flaming of the rose." The temples of Anahit and the golden
image were destroyed with the conversion of the people to Christianity,
but the festival has continued as a regular church festival under
the same name "Vartavar" though of course with a different meaning.
The second and third daughters of Aramazd were Astghik, the goddess
of beauty, and Nane, or Noone, the goddess of contrivance. [60] The
former was the wife of Vahakn, the mythical king-god, the legend in
respect to whom has been told, and corresponded to the Phoenician
and Sidonian Astarte. It is stated by Raffi that the goddess of
contrivance was a necessary power to womankind, for then as now woman
had to make big things out of small. Sandaramet, the wife of Aramazd,
was an invisible goddess and personification of the earth. Her master
sent rain upon her, and brought forth vegetation. Later she became
the synonym for Hades. Perhaps the best summary of Armenian worship
as existing before the Christian time is that given by St. Martin.
La religion Armenienne etait probablement un melange des opinions
de Zoroastre, fort alteres par le cult des divinites grecques. On
voyait dans les temples de l'Armenie un grand nombre de statues
de divinites, auxquelles on faisait des sacrifices d'animaux,
ce qui ne se pratiquait point dans la religion de Zoroastre, qui,
a proprement parler, n'admettait pas l'existence d'autre divinite
que le temps sans bornes, appele Zerwan. [61] Les plus puissants
des dieux etaient Aramazd (Ormuzd), Anahid (Venus), Mihir (Mihr),
ou Mithra. On y adorait encore d'autres divinites inferieures.
Anahit, however, was goddess of chastity, and did not therefore
correspond to Venus. [62]
SECTION 2. LEGENDS OF ABGAR, THADDEUS, AND ST. BARTHOLOMEW
The first connection that Armenians had with Christianity occurred
in the reign of King Abgar, whose capital was at Edessa (now Ourfa)
during the time of Christ's teaching in Palestine. [63] The story
is legendary and very popular. Abgar was called a great man because
of his exceeding meekness and wisdom. As the result of several
severe military campaigns, the health of the king began to give
way. This led to complications which developed into a very painful
disease. It was at this time that Abgar sent two of his messengers
to the Roman governor, Marinus, to show the Roman a treaty of peace
that had been made between Ardasches and his brother of Persia, who
had quarreled and had been reconciled by their kinsman Abgar; for the
Romans suspected that Abgar had gone to Persia in order to collect
and direct a Persian-Armenian army against the Romans. [64] To clear
himself of all suspicion, therefore, those two messengers were sent
to show the treaty of peace to the Roman governor. On their return
the messengers went up to Jerusalem in order to see Christ, having
heard of his wonderful deeds. And when they returned to their king,
Abgar, they told of the works of Christ, at which the king marveled,
and believed him to be the very Son of God. The king, because of his
sickness, sent Christ a letter asking him to come and heal him of
his disease. The letter is quoted as follows:
The letter of Abgarus to our Saviour Jesus Christ. "Abgarus,
a prince of the world, unto Jesus the Saviour and Benefactor,
who hast appeared in the City of Jerusalem, Greetings.
"I have heard of thee, and of the healings wrought by thy hands,
without drugs and without roots; for it is said that thou givest
sight to the blind, thou makest the lame to walk, and thou cleanest
the lepers; thou curest those who have been long tormented by
diseases, and raisest even the dead. And when I heard all this
concerning thee, I thought that either thou art God come down from
heaven that workest these things, or the Son of God. I have written
unto thee, that thou shouldst trouble thyself to come unto me,
and heal me of my disease. I have heard also that the Jews murmur
against thee, and think to torture thee. My city is a small one,
but it is beautiful, and it is sufficient for us twain." [65]
The messengers delivered the message to Jesus in Jerusalem, to which
the gospel bears witness in the words, "There were some amongst the
heathen that came up to him." But Jesus could do no more than to send
a letter in reply.
The answer to the letter of Abgarus, written at the command of our
Saviour by the Apostle Thomas: "Blessed is he who believeth on me,
though he hath not seen me. For it is written concerning me thus:
'they that have seen me believed not on me, but they that have not
seen me shall believe and live.' And concerning that which thou
hast written unto me to come down unto thee, it is needful that I
fulfill all that for which I was sent; and when I have fulfilled
it I will ascend unto Him that sent me. And after my ascension I
will send one of my disciples, who shall heal thee of thy disease,
and give life unto thee and unto all that are with thee." [66]
This letter was duly delivered to Abgar, with the image of the Saviour,
which was still kept in Edessa at the time of Moses' writing. The
legend concerning the image is somewhat as follows. One of the three
messengers sent to Jesus with the letter of Abgar was an artist who
was told to paint a portrait of Jesus in case the latter found it
impossible to take the journey. The artist tried in vain to paint a
good picture, and having noticed him, Jesus took a handkerchief and
passing it over his face a most exact likeness was stamped upon it,
which he gave to the artist to be given to the king.
The quaint ending of Abgar's letter is worth the whole legend. What
could be simpler or more seductive than the invitation, "My city is
a small one, but it is beautiful, and it is sufficient for us twain."
The tradition of the Armenian church, or the Gregorian church, as it
is more commonly called, acknowledges St. Thaddeus and St. Bartholomew
as the original founders, who are therefore designated as the first
illuminators of Armenia. [67] Concerning the recognition of the
tradition of St. Bartholomew, which includes his apostolic journeys,
his preaching, and his martyrdom in Armenia, all Christian churches
are unanimous. The name Albanus given as the place of his martyrdom, is
the same as the name Albacus, hallowed by the Armenian tradition. His
mission covered a period of sixteen years (A.D. 44-60). There is
difference of opinion, however, in regard to the dates.
The traditions about St. Thaddeus vary. Some suppose him to have
been the brother of St. Thomas, and according to these, he traveled
to Ardaze by way of Edessa. There is an anachronism, however,
in this tradition which would transfer the mission of Thaddeus to
the second century. According to a second tradition he is not the
brother of Thomas, but one St. Judas Thaddeus, surnamed Lebbeus, who
also is said to have established a sanctuary of worship at Ardaze,
a circumstance admitted by the Greek and Latin churches. The Armenian
church places the time of this mission as a period of eight years
from 35-43. That this has been done to lay a strong foundation for
the claim of apostolic origin may be suspected, especially in view
of the belief that apostolic origin is essential to every Christian
church, in order, as stated by Ormanian, "to place her in union
with her Divine Founder." The church, however, has us at its mercy,
for conclusive evidence one way or another is lacking. Nevertheless,
the fact of Thaddeus' mission to Armenia wherever and whenever it
might have occurred, is undisputed. [68]
The matter is not especially important except to theologians with
their doctrines of "apostolic origins." What is perfectly clear is
that both these men did their work in comparative silence, and that
they did not make very much headway, for if they had there would
have been less doubt concerning the traditions. The great work
was done by King Tiridates, and Gregory, who converted him about
A.D. 301. The traditions concerning these men are among the most
cherished possessions of the Armenian church.
SECTION 3. LEGENDS OF RHIPSIME AND GREGORY
These traditions have their historical setting in the reign of
Tiridates, and of Chosroes the father of Tiridates. [69] Just as
there was an Arsacid dynasty in Armenia, dating and originating in
the Parthian conquests and supremacy, so also was there an Arsacid
dynasty of Persia. The Persian king at the time of Chosroes was a
kinsman of the latter, called Ardavan, who was overthrown (A.D. 227)
by a Persian prince of the province of Fars, named Ardashir. [70]
His dynasty, a very powerful one, known as the Sassanid dynasty,
supplanted the Arsacid dynasty of Persia. Chosroes of Armenia,
fearing future difficulty with the new Persian monarch, ardently
supported his dethroned kinsman. The next year (228), therefore,
he led a huge army beyond the frontiers of Persia, and laid waste
her provinces to the gates of Ctesiphon. [71] The war was continued
for ten years, during which time the Armenian capital, Vagharshapat,
was filled with the booty of successful raids. The reigning Caesar,
Severus, also alarmed by the success of the new Persian king,
headed a Roman army against Ardashir. Realizing the jeopardy of his
position, the Persian resolved to put Chosroes out of the way by
whatever means possible. A Parthian of the royal blood, Anak by name,
consented to execute his king's desire, and went with his family to
Vagharshapat as a refugee. A friendship sprang up between himself and
his future victim, enabling him to execute his purpose, which he did
in company with his brother while preparation was being made for a
spring campaign. But the murderers were cut off in their escape by
Armenian horsemen and precipitated into the Araxes, while the dying
king gave orders to massacre the family of Anak. Only two of the
children were rescued, one of whom was Gregory, the Illuminator,
founder of the Armenian national church, called also the Gregorian
church. The child Gregory was taken to Cesarea where he was educated
in the tenets of Christianity. [72]
Ardashir died shortly after the murder of his foe, and thus failed
to follow up his advantage except for a few raids into Armenian
territory. Tiridates, a child at this time, was the oldest son of
Chosroes, and as heir to the Armenian throne was the chief obstacle in
the way of the ambitions of his uncles, whose treatment of the young
king compelled him to take refuge in Rome where he was educated. [73]
Having distinguished himself by personal bravery in a Gothic campaign,
his nation's dominions were restored to him by the support of a
Roman army, for during his absence Armenia was invaded by Shapur,
the successor of Ardashir. The Persian king had taken advantage of the
disputes of Tiridates' uncles. The remainder of the story is legendary.
Gregory had been informed in the meantime of his father's deed,
and seeking to make such amends for it as he could, he journeyed
to Rome, where he attached himself as a servant to the exiled king,
Tiridates. The latter, after his victory over the Persians and his
re-accession to the Armenian throne, entered the temple of Anahit
in company with his faithful servant Gregory, to offer sacrifices of
thanksgiving. A feast followed the ceremony, at which many guests were
present, and Tiridates, who must have known of Gregory's attachment to
Christianity, commanded the latter to make an offering of garlands to
the great goddess. Gregory refused. The king was angry. "How dare you,"
exclaimed the king, "adore a god whom I do not adore?" Persuasion
and finally torture were used to coerce the pious and firm-minded
youth, but to no avail. In the meantime, Tiridates had been informed
as to Gregory's identity, i.e., that he was the son of his father's
murderer, whereupon the king commanded that Gregory be cast into a
deep pit where he was left to perish. [74]
For thirteen years Gregory languished in his well, and was only
saved from death by the ministrations of a widow who resided in the
castle of Artaxata just by the pit. This was done in great secret,
for Tiridates had issued an edict which admonished his subjects to
beware of the resentment of the gods, of Aramazd, Anahit, and Vahakn,
and following the practice of the Romans, to lay hands on all offenders
against the gods, chief of whom, evidently, were the Christians. They
were to be bound hand and foot, brought before the gate of the palace,
and if found guilty their lands and chattels were assigned to their
accusers. [75]
While Christians were being robbed, and Gregory was slowly perishing
of misery in his prison well, there arrived at Vagharshapat a Roman
virgin of exquisite beauty, named Rhipsime, in company with her nurse
Gaiane, and thirty-three followers who were also virgins. They had fled
from the Emperor Diocletian, who had selected Rhipsime for his spouse,
after a most careful search of his kingdom for the most beautiful of
women. [76] Rhipsime, unfortunately had taken a vow of chastity, and
there was nothing to do but to flee. Meanwhile an ambassador from Rome
arrived at the court of the Armenian king bearing a letter in which
Tiridates was informed of the flight of the virgin to his land, and
bidden to discover the refugees, to send Rhipsime to Rome, and to kill
her companions. The emperor added, however, in truly generous fashion,
that he might himself marry her if he was overcome by her charms.
The band was found, Rhipsime was recognized, and the king sent an
escort of litters to bring them to his court. As Diocletian suspected,
the Armenian king also fell in love, for the maiden, having refused
the pomp of a royal equipage, was forced to appear before him
in court. The Armenian's suit was likewise a failure. Rhipsime
would marry, provided he became Christian, which the king took as
mockery. Again the girl succeeded in escaping, but she was tracked,
overtaken with her companions, bound with cords, and put to death with
great cruelty. Both Rhipsime and her nurse Gaiane are commemorated on
the calendar of saints, and at Etchmiadzin, the religious center of
the nation, there are three edifices; the largest and most important
bears the name of St. Gregory, while the other two respectively bear
the names of the two saints, Rhipsime and Gaiane.
Agathangelus relates the legend in his Histoire du Regne de Tiridate
but unfortunately the book has been tampered with and now contains much
questionable material. [77] There are mentioned ominous thunderclaps,
openings of heaven, divine voices exhorting Rhipsime to stand firm
in her faith, and the transformation of Tiridates into a grass-eating
boar which was the punishment for his great crime. The sister of the
king, Khosrovitukht, had a vision, in which she was told that the only
remedy was to send for a prisoner named Gregory, who had been cast
into a well some thirteen years before. A rope was let down into the
cavern, and to the astonishment of all, there emerged a human form,
blackened to the color of coal. It was none other than Gregory. He also
saw visions and heard divine voices speak through curious openings in
heaven. Strange columns of fire and flaming crosses of light appeared
to him in the places where Rhipsime and Gaiane suffered martyrdom;
and there appeared a great deal more to him which is recorded, even as
there must have appeared yet more which is not recorded. The result of
all of this was that Gregory ordered the construction of two chapels,
one to be erected in honor of Rhipsime, the other in memory of Gaiane,
both of which are still standing in Etchmiadzin. Etchmiadzin means,
"the place where the Only-Begotten descended" for it was at this
place that Gregory beheld his miraculous vision. Having prayed for
the healing of the king, the horns fell from the royal head, and
Tiridates, now a Christian, shared in the work of constructing the
chapels. [78] He ascended Ararat and returned with huge blocks of
stone which he laid at the portals of the chapels in expiation of his
sin. It was customary among Armenians to place huge blocks of stone
at the entrance of a church by way of offering. Dubois de Montpereux
saw a number of such stones, six or seven feet high, in front of the
cathedral at Etchmiadzin, but Lynch found no trace of them. [79]
Such are the legends of Gregory and of Tiridates' conversion to
Christianity. In all justice, the highly imaginative material
which was probably the work of an enthusiast, and in all certainty
a surreptitious insertion in the work of the historian, should
be distinguished from the less fanciful material concerning the
imprisonment of Gregory and the martyrdom of the virgins, which though
legendary, may probably be connected with the events of history.
Although Dubois de Montpereux recognizes that all traditions point to
the conversion of Armenia as having taken place before the conversion
of Constantine (in 312), he does not consider this as probable, for
Tiridates, as a tributary king, and imitator of the Romans in all
things, could not have had the courage to take so important a step
except in following out the policy of the emperor. [80] Gregory,
according to the view of Dubois, remained in his prison well until
Constantine accepted Christianity, when the Armenian king called for
him and was converted as a matter of diplomacy after listening to
his exhortations.
But this is not accepted by modern writers, any more than it was by
the ancient historians. Bryce places the conversion at 302, and states
that the so-called conversion of Constantine happened either twelve
or thirty-seven years later, according as one reckons to the battle
of the Milvian Bridge, or his baptism. [81] Armenia, therefore,
was the first country that adopted Christianity as a religion of
state, a matter of no small pride to the Gregorians, and it has been
maintained as the national religion ever since in a form so intact as
to surpass the dreams of the most ultra-conservative. And this, too,
in the face of attacks by Persian fire-worshippers who attempted
to force their religion upon the people, Greek and Latin popes,
Mohammedan khalifs, and Turkish sultans. Ormanian, former Armenian
patriarch at Constantinople, who gives the date as 301, considers the
existence of the churches of St. Rhipsime and St. Gaiane with their
inscriptions as positive proof, and mentions also the testimony in
the writings of Eusebius, who cites the war of the year 311 which
the Emperor Maximianus, the Dacian, declared against Armenians on
account of their, at that time, recent conversion. [82] The critical
studies made since the journey of Dubois (1837) are conclusive at
least in this, that the conversion of Tiridates and of the nation
could not have taken place later than the year 302, and there is no
doubt therefore of the claim that the Gregorian church is the oldest
national Christian church of the world.
SECTION 4. THE ARMENIAN CHURCH AS A SOCIAL FORCE
The conversion of the people followed close upon the conversion of the
king, for Gregory was a temple-building priest not without ambition,
and the king was an acknowledged hero. The business of converting
the nation was not a matter of priests and preaching as suggested
by Dubois; [83] as indicated before, it was rather a matter of fire
and sword. Ormanian supposes that it was due to the work of the
Christian communities already established, whose work was stimulated
and encouraged by the king's conversion. [84] "Indeed," he says, "the
almost instant conversion of the whole of Armenia at the beginning
of the fourth century, can not be explained but by the preexistence
of a Christian element which had taken root in the country." And
again, "The first nucleus of the faithful, by its steadfast energy,
at length succeeded in gaining the mastery over both obstacles and
persecutions." This does not seem to me to be correct, for in the
first place the Christianity of the first, second, and third centuries
was not the Christianity of Gregory; it was one of the many forms of
worship killed by Gregory; and in the second place there are sufficient
records to prove the wholesale destruction of pagan temples, images,
idols, and inscriptions as carried out by the king and saint, and of
the use of the sword in forcing the people to change their faith. [85]
First, then, what was the Christianity of the first centuries? It
is clear that the ideal was one of communal simplicity of life. That
it was opposed to all hierarchies and established priesthoods there
can be no question. The irksome round of daily toil was idealized
in the fellowship of a common faith, the central point of which
was the indwelling of the Spirit of God. Hence baptism was the
all-important event, for through baptism the Holy Spirit descended
into the human heart even as into Christ when he was baptized by
John in the Jordan. Jesus was no God come to earth in human form by
a miraculous conception; he was the son of Joseph and Mary. Feeling
his kinship with God he was baptized, which ceremony was merely
symbolic of the Indwelling Spirit. These early Christians have been
called adoptionists, for the ceremony of baptism is said to represent
the adoption of the individual by God, or by the Holy Spirit, both
expressions having been used synonymously. Simple and pure, it seems
that the adoptionists came as near carrying out the spirit of the
teachings of Jesus as any Christian sect that ever existed. [86]
But how utterly opposed, how perfectly contradictory to the brick
and mortar religion of Gregory! That the adoptionists were objects
of persecution by the orthodox church is a certainty, and it was
very probably this sect that was referred to in "that stubborn
heresy of their native land" mentioned so frequently by Armenian
writers. The following picture was clearly set forth in a disputation
between two Armenian church-men occurring at the close of the third
century. "Tell me," says Archelaus, "over whom it was that the Holy
Spirit descended like a dove? Who is this one whom John baptized? If
he was already perfect, if he was already the Son, if he was already
Virtue, the Holy Spirit could not have entered into him. A kingdom
can not enter into a kingdom." [87] What is also to the point is the
celebrated formula of Nice (325) at which the nature of Christ was
defined as essentially and continuously divine. "Christ a very God,
begotten of God, but not a creature of God; Son of God, of one nature
with God; who came down from heaven and took flesh, and became man,
and suffered and ascended unto heaven; who was before he was begotten,
and who has always been." The decision was in absolute contradiction to
the adoptionist faith, and it was legislated by this august council,
that the members of such faith, who were called Paulicians, after
their leader Paul of Samosata, should be rebaptized before admission
to the church. [88] The recalcitrants were driven to the mountains,
where they increased in number as in strength until the persecution
of the ninth century. Both Agathangelus and Faustus of Byzantium were
silent concerning these people, and, one suspects, advisedly so.
Such was pre-Gregorian Christianity. How ridiculous to suppose that the
conversion of the nation was due to the firm roots already established
by the Christians when the Christians themselves had to be converted!
On the contrary, it was the right of might that established the new
religion. The troops of the capital city were led by the king and
priest in such an image- and temple-smashing campaign as was never
before seen. Proceeding down the Araxes valley, the temple of the
god Dir was levelled to the ground; the temple of Anahit was stoutly
defended but to no avail; the temple was burned. One after another
of the most famous sanctuaries were destroyed; temples of Aramazd,
of Mithra, of Nane, and of Anahit, many of which were defended by the
vanquished until overpowered. [89] Shrines of Vahakn and of Astghik
were laid to waste to be replaced by Christian churches which grew
up over the ruins as if overnight; and if a temple was destroyed, it
was only to build a Christian church in its stead. So construction
followed in the wake of destruction, the old was supplanted by the
new, and when all armed resistance was beaten down, the king and
priest continued the work by preaching.
When the work was fairly under way the ambitious priest journeyed to
Cesarea in Cappadocia where he got himself ordained. This Gregory was
no meek-spirited adoptionist. He was the son of Anak, of royal blood,
ambitious, zealous, suffering and doing all things to gain his ends.
In view, therefore, of the actual character of preexisting
Christianity, and of the methods employed in converting the people, how
can one reasonably suppose that the "instant conversion of the whole
of Armenia to Christianity can not be explained but by the preexistence
of a Christian element which had taken root in the country"?
The state-authorized religion, however, did take root in the country,
and became inextricably interwoven with the self-consciousness of
the nation. It became the organ of national expression, and for many
centuries has been the very backbone of the people. If the molten
metals of national life had hardened during the reign of the Arsacidae
kings they were at the time of the conversion in a molten state, ready
to be remolded. This did not require much time. Old festivals were
carried over intact, except that they were given a new meaning. The
old national traditions, legends, and folk-lore were in the common
possession of the people, and there was no reason for discouraging
them. In fact the Armenian church even more than the state encouraged
them, for it recognized in them a source of solidarity and national
unity, as essential to the life of the church as its hierarchies,
liturgy, and calendar of saints. So much then was old; part of the past
carried over into the present to be carried over into the future. What
then was new? First the legends and traditions, already mentioned,
imbedded in the immediately past events of the new order. Legends of
Abgar, of Gregory, of Thaddeus, of Rhipsime, of Tiridates, passed like
magic fire from person to person, creating a common sentiment which
made the foundations of the new church absolutely secure. How firmly
this foundation was established is indicated by the reaction of the
church to the decisions at the Council of Chalcedon, where the dogma
of the dual nature of Christ was affirmed, in perfect contradiction
to the Nicaean dogma, and by the reaction against the Persian proposals
to accept fire-worship as the state religion.
I shall consider the second point first. As already stated, the year
428 marked the end of the Armenian Arsacid dynasty. The nation was
divided between Persia and Rome at this time, largely as a result of
internal dissensions. In the year 450 the Persian king sent a letter
to the Armenian princes, setting forth the excellence of fire-worship
and the foolishness of Christianity, and summoned the Armenians to
accept the Persian religion. [90] A council of bishops and laymen was
held and a reply of unanimous refusal was drawn up. "From this faith
no one can move us, neither angels nor men, neither sword nor fire,
nor water, nor any deadly punishment." [91] A rather impertinent
reply from a subject nation to one which dominated it; but thoroughly
characteristic of the Armenians. The Persians did use fire and sword,
and defeated the Armenians in the plain of Avarair under Mount Ararat
(451). But they did not gain their end. An old historian wrote of the
battle, "swords of slayers grew dull, but their necks were not weary,"
and the Persian high priest having seen the utter hopelessness of
his project wrote, "these people have put on Christianity, not like
a garment, but like flesh and blood." [92]
Already, only one hundred fifty years after the conversion, the
foundation of the church was secure. This of course was made possible
by the completeness of the work of its founders; but this in itself
would not have been sufficient. A common favorable sentiment had
been created, which grew up under the natural conditions of life,
and inasmuch as the legends described are part of the common beliefs
of the people, it may be inferred that they played an important role
in the formation of this sentiment. The church, on the other hand,
has incorporated these legendary beliefs in its ritual and ceremony,
and in that way has given them the necessary sanction by which they
are passed on from generation to generation. They thus form part of
the permanent social tradition of the Armenian people.
The security of the church at this early time (450) was indicated
not only by the reaction of the nation to the Persian proposals of
fire-worship, but also by the reaction to the decision of the Council
of Chalcedon, at which, as stated, the dual nature of Christ was
dogmatically affirmed, in contradiction to the dogma established at
the Council of Nicaea (325), accepted by the Armenian church. But at
the time of the Chalcedonian council, the Persian difficulties were
taking place, the battle of Avarair having occurred during the same
year, and it was not until 491 that the Armenians held a synod of
their own which assembled at Vagharshapat, in order to take decisive
action. [93] The decisions of the Council of Chalcedon were rejected
and the action was repeated at subsequent synods. Of the three sees
or patriarchates, the Roman at Rome, the Greek at Alexandria, and
the Byzantine at Constantinople, the latter was gaining in power,
and it was at the Council of Chalcedon that the precedence of the see
of Constantinople was recognized. Naturally, neither the Roman nor
Greek sees acknowledged the decision of the council, but later both
Greek and Latin churches revoked their opposition, and recognized it
as the fourth OEcumenic Council. But the Armenian church would have
nothing to do with Chalcedon, in spite of Greek and Latin approval,
and since that time she has stood alone, absolutely independent
of Greek and Latin churches. Ormanian states: "She set herself to
resist every new dogmatic utterance said to emanate from revelation,
as well as any innovation which could in any way pervert the primitive
faith." [94] The "primitive faith" may be a slight stretch of point,
but the fact that the Armenian church adopted an absolutely independent
policy, which separated her from all other Christian churches, and
to which she has steadfastly adhered in spite of persistent Greek and
Latin influence and efforts at domination, is in clear support of my
assertion that the social foundations of the church were firmly and
securely established as early as 450, only one hundred fifty years
after the work of Gregory and Tiridates.
CHAPTER IV
LOCALITY LEGENDS
SECTION 1. ARARAT
There is a third and last body of Armenian legends more closely related
to the second group discussed than to the first, and yet marked off in
some respects from the second as well. They have a distinct religious
stamp like those we have just finished describing, and they are all
related in some way to the stories of the Old Testament. The legend of
Haic is related to the Old Testament, for Haic was the great-grandson
of Noah, but it clearly belongs to the first group taken up, for the
reason that it has to do with the origin of the Armenian nation. The
first body, including Haic, and the legends of Semiramis and Ara,
Vahakn, Artasches and Satenik, and Artavazd, are all concerned
with ancient Armenian kings, real or mythical, and all go back to
a time before the introduction of Christianity. Vahakn was deified,
but that does not exclude him since he was first a king. The second
group, including the legends of Abgar, Rhipsime and Gaiane, Gregory,
Thaddeus, and Tiridates, are all concerned with historical figures,
real or supposed, and there is no doubt about their historic reality,
with the exception of Rhipsime and Gaiane. But what marks them off from
the other groups is that they are all concerned with the introduction
of Christianity into the country. Those of the third group have no
historic value whatever. They are legends based upon legends that date
back to a period even more remote than the legend of Haic, and their
social value does not approach that of the first two groups. They
are all connected in some way, either with the Old Testament legend
of Noah, or with the legend of the origin of man. No traveler ever
passed through Armenia without hearing of one or more of them.
"In the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month, the ark
rested upon the mountains of Ararat." [95] Every Armenian, and others,
too, believe that this is the Ararat of Armenia, or Masis as it is
called, and it is true that there is absolutely nothing to disprove
such a belief. James Bryce has given a careful consideration to
the question, and states in conclusion that full liberty is left to
the traveler to consider the "snowy sovereign of the Araxes plain"
to be the true Ararat. [96] There are several points that may be
noted. First, there is nothing in the statement of Genesis to show
that the Ararat mentioned was a mountain called by that name; it seems
rather that Ararat was a section of country, for the passage states
that the ark rested "upon the mountains of Ararat." In the second
place, the mountain is not called Ararat by Armenians, but Masis. And
thirdly, there is no independent Armenian tradition of the flood so
far as is known, for it can not be shown that the modern tradition
is older than the Christian era.
These facts would be conclusive evidence that Armenian Ararat is
not the traditional Ararat of the Old Testament, were it not, first,
for the fact that there was in the region of the mountain a province
of Airarat which in all probability corresponds to the biblical
Ararat. Secondly, the biblical Ararat unquestionably corresponds
to the Assyrian Urarthu which is the section of country about Lake
Van and Mount Ararat. So that, although not absolutely conclusive,
the Armenian tradition enjoys a very high degree of probability.
In this connection the legend of the village of Nakhitchevan is worth
noting. It is situated just to the north of the mountain on the left
bank of the Araxes. Armenians believe it to be the place where Noah
first landed, and as proof, the name of the village, which means,
"the first place of landing," is cited. One might suppose the name to
have been given by the Christians after the conversion to Christianity,
were it not that Ptolemy places in the same spot a city named Naxuana
which is the exact Greek for the Armenian name. Also Josephus, fifty
years before Ptolemy speaks of the place, as quoted by St. Martin:
"Les Armeniens appellent ce lieu l'endroit de la descente parce
que c'est la que l'arche trouva un endroit de salut, et qu'encore
actuellement les indigenes montrent ses debris." [97] Tavernier who
traveled through the country along about 1700 speaks of Nakhitchevan as
the "oldest city of the world" and gives the tradition. [98] But many
Jews, who undoubtedly gave the village its name, lived in Armenia,
long before the Christian era.
Situated on a broad plain four or five thousand feet above sea
level, Ararat rises majestic and solitary to a height of 17,000
feet. There are no lesser peaks or ranges to destroy the grandeur
of the effect. Except for its companion, Little Ararat, which rises
beside it on a common base to a height of 12,840 feet, it stands
alone as monarch of the broad plain it surveys. Little Ararat is in
the form of a perfect cone, whereas Ararat is broad-shouldered and
dome-shaped, supported by huge buttresses and capped with snow a
considerable distance down the slope through the entire year. It is
truly symbolic of strength and majesty.
Such is the mountain about which a thousand legends cluster. Marco
Polo says of the mountain: "There is an exceeding great mountain
on which it is said the ark of Noah rested, and for this cause
it is called the mountain of the Ark of Noah." In 1254, a little
before Marco Polo's time, a Franciscan friar, William of Rubruck
passed by the mountain upon which the ark is said to have rested,
which mountain, he said, could not be ascended, though the earnest
prayers of a pious monk prevailed so far that a piece of the wood
of the ark was brought to him by an angel, which piece, he said,
is still preserved in a church near by as a holy relic. He gives
Masis as the name of the mountain and adds that it is the Mother of
the World. According to a Persian tradition it is called "Cradle of
the Human Race." Still more interesting is the account by Sir John
Maundeville, part of which runs as follows: "Fro Artyroun go men to an
Hille, that is clept Sabisocolle. And there besyde is another Hille,
that men clepen Ararathe: but the Jews clepen it Taneez, where Noas
Schipp rested: and zit is upon that Montayne and men may see it a
ferr in clear wedre: and that Montayne is well a myle high. And sum
men seyn that they have seen and touched the Schipp; and put here
Fyngres in the parties where the Feend went out when that Noe seyd
'Benedicta.' But they that seyn such Wordes seyn here Willie, for a
man may not gon up the Montayne for gret plenties of Snow that is alle
weys on that Montayne nouther Somer ne Winter: so that no man may gon
up there: ne never man did, sithe the time of Noe: Saf a Monk that be
the grace of God brought one of the Plankes down, that zit is in the
Mynstre at the foot of the Montayne. And beside is the Cytes of Dayne
that Noe founded. And faste by it is the Cytee of Any, in which were
1000 churches. But upon that Montayne to gon up this monk had gret
desir; and so upon a day he went up and when he was the third part
of the Montayne he was so wery that he mighte not furthere, and so
he rested him and felle to slep, and when he awoke he fonde himself
liggyie at the foot of the Montayne. And then he preyde devoutly to
God that he wold vouch saf to suffre him gon up. And an angelle cam
to him and seyde that he scholde gon up; and so he did. And sithe that
Time never non. Wherefore men scholde not beleeve such Woordes." [99]
The legend of the monk is usually given in a form which confirms still
more the sacredness of the mountain. St. Jacob, as the monk was named,
tried three successive times to climb the mountain. Each time he fell
asleep intending to resume his journey the next morning, only to wake
up finding himself at the same point he had started from the preceding
day. An angel came to him after the third time, and told him that God
had forbidden mortal foot ever to tread on the sacred summit, but that
he should be given a fragment of the ark in which mankind had been
preserved as a reward for his devout perseverance. [100] This treasure
is still preserved at Etchmiadzin and the saint is commemorated by
the little monastery of St. Jacob, which till 1840, when a tremendous
shaking of the mountain showered the little monastery with rocks of
destruction, stood above the valley of Arghuri on the slopes of Ararat.
The little village of Arghuri, the single village on the mountainside,
was the city of Noah's vineyard, and contained a little church which
is said to hallow the spot where Noah first set up an altar. [101]
But this village, too, was completely destroyed by the avalanche of
1840. Not the slightest trace of it remains, though only three years
before its destruction, Dubois de Montpereux visited the little city
and described it together with the church of Noah, Noah's vineyard,
and the monastery of St. Jacob. [102] In the garden of the city were
planted pear trees, apple, plum, cherry, apricot, peach, and nut
trees. This very garden was the site of the first vine on which the
old patriarch became drunk, and the inhabitants showed Dubois some
bits of creepers to prove it. "Dieu," they said, "pour punir les
ceps qui avaient ainsi entraine le pauvre patriarche dans le peche,
les condamna a ne plus porter de raisins." Naive, yes, but very
sweetly so. And the church, the people said, marked the place where
Noah offered his first sacrifice after the deluge. Except for the
garden of Arghuri, wrote Dubois, this great mountain was absolutely
destitute of verdure; an old stunted willow, wound about with snow and
ice was the only other exception to this. According to the legend,
it marked the spot where a board of Noah's ark had taken root and
sprung up into a living tree which the people venerated. One was not
permitted to take away even the smallest of its feeble branches.
All of this was blotted out so completely by the shower of falling
rocks and boulders that it is hard to imagine the places as ever
having existed. The primeval willow, the vineyard, the sacred church,
and the little monastery of St. Jacob have left not the slightest
trace. The bell of the old church is no more heard; the Christian
service is not chanted any longer on the sacred mountain of the Ark.
Of the numerous other legends associated with the mountain I shall
mention only two. One of them regards the summit of the mountain as the
site of Chaldean star-worship, and asserts that a pillar with a figure
of a star stood upon it. [103] According to the same legend, twelve
wise men stood beside the pillar to watch for the star of the East,
which three of them followed to Bethlehem. The other is in respect
to the spring situated above the spot where stood the monastery. A
bird, called by the Armenians tetagush, feeds on the locusts which
are such a plague to the country, and curiously enough, the bird
is attracted by the waters of the spring. When the locusts appear,
the people carry their bottles to the spring and filling them with
the peculiarly charmed water, take them back to their fields where
they are placed on the ground to attract the tetagush. The people of
Syria and Palestine were much in need of tetagush and Ararat spring
water during the spring and summer of 1915, for the swarms of locusts
not only devoured the crops but also the leaves and barks of the trees.
SECTION 2. KHOR-VIRAP AND ERZERUM
On the bank of the Araxes, in the plain of Armenia, and in full view
of Ararat are located the monastery of Khor-Virap and the chapel of
St. Gregory close beside it. An Armenian inscription is cut in the
walls of the portico of the monastery which marks the spot where a
monk, Johannes by name, appeared twice after his death saying that he
had seen Gregory the Illuminator. The chapel of St. Gregory covers
the traditional well into which he was thrown and imprisoned for
thirteen years by King Tiridates. Dubois descended into a sort of
tunnel, fifteen or sixteen feet below the pavement of the chapel,
which is part of an old fortress, and was shown the worn stones of
a niche where the saint prayed, as evidence of the thirteen years,
quite as though other pilgrims who knelt in the same place could
not have assisted somewhat the pious work of the saint. [104] The
spot is only a few steps from the famous temple dedicated to the
principal god of the Armenians, Aramazd, and it seems clear that
the pagan king intended to make a sacrifice to his gods in casting
the young fanatic into the well. The temple was called Achelichad,
meaning "many sacrifices" because of the many offerings here given up
to Aramazd. With the era of Christianity, the name Achelichad gave way
to the name Khor Virap, meaning dry well. Gregorius Magistros, already
mentioned, brought the body of the saint from Constantinople and placed
it in the bottom of the well, where it served to cure sick pilgrims.
There is a tradition that the Armenian city of Erzerum, not far
from the source of the Euphrates, marks the vicinity of the Garden
of Eden. The Persian king Khosref Purveez is said to have encamped
in the neighborhood and to have received a message from the prophet
Mohammed during his sojourn, in which he was offered the protection
of Islam if he would embrace the faith. But the king spurned the
proposal and tossed the letter into the Euphrates. Nature, horrified
at the sacrilege, dried up the flowers and fruits of the ancient
garden and even parched up the sources of the river itself. And so
the last relic of Eden became waste. [105]
In the same connection, there is a plaintive Armenian elegy, composed
in the person of Adam, who, sitting at the gate of paradise and
beholding cherubim and seraphim enter the garden, makes the following
defence: he did not eat the forbidden fruit until after he had
witnessed its fatal effects upon Eve, when, seeing her despoiled of
all her glory, he was touched with pity and tasted the immortal fruit
in the hope that the Creator, contemplating both in the same plight
might with paternal love take compassion on them. But in vain. "The
Lord cursed the serpent and Eve," pathetically cries Adam, "and I
was enslaved between them." The elegy closes most touchingly,--"When
ye enter Eden, shut not the gate of paradise, but place me standing
at the gate. I will look in a moment and then bring me back. Ah! I
remember ye, O flowers and sweet smelling fountains. Ah! I remember
ye, O birds, sweet singing, And ye, O beasts." [106]
CHAPTER V
INTERPRETATION AND CONCLUSIONS
Because these legends are for the most part based upon older legends,
and also because some of them are known only locally, they can not be
said to have played so important a role in Armenian social life as the
first two groups of legends. It would be a mistake, however, to suppose
that all of the Ararat legends have merely a local value. Ararat
is the center of the nation, the grand geographical feature of
the country, and many of the beliefs clustered about it are held in
common. In fact there is a very old belief which considers the sacred
mountain to be the center of the world, and to-day it is the common
point of meeting of the boundaries of Russian, Turkish, and Persian
Armenia. And this is no accident; it is because of the veneration
in which the mountain is held, and consequently, the realization
of the importance the mountain gives to any territory in which it
may be located. The belief that Ararat is the mountain of the Ark,
the legend of Noah's vineyard, and the legend of St. Jacob are very
commonly accepted. The primeval willow, the church of Arghuri, the
legend, or perhaps one should say, the superstition of the tetagush,
and the legend of the wise men in search of the star of the East,
enjoy a more restricted circulation. Furthermore, it is natural to
suppose that the legends centered in the destroyed city of Arghuri have
not been told as frequently as of old, and are therefore dying out
gradually, although they seem still to be very much alive. A legend
or tradition that is objectified in an old willow, in a monastery,
or in a garden, is likely to die out gradually with the destruction of
its object. But some of them will never die out, object or no object,
as for example the legend of the devout monk who tried to gain the
summit of Ararat in order to see the holy Ark. There is something in
his waking up each successive morning only to find himself at the same
point he had started from the preceding day, which will keep its hold,
whether there be a monastery erected in his name or not. And if the
vineyard has been destroyed the people may very soon find another. In
fact I should be surprised if in traveling through the mountain region
of Ararat, I was not shown the legendary vineyard. This, however,
would more likely be true of a legend that had a commercial value
to the community because of the frequency of travelers, which could
certainly not be said of Ararat legends. The same general valuation
may be placed upon the Erzerum legends. A legend of this sort is
not believed to be true, unless the legend upon which it is based
is commonly believed in, and it is certainly safe to suppose that a
majority of the Armenian people accept the Old Testament legends. This
is important, for when a legend is not a matter of implicit belief
by a people it has little social value. The elegy of Adam can not be
properly said to be a legend at all.
The preceding pages point out certain points of resemblance, and
certain points of difference between the two words, legend and
tradition, which require to be brought out at this point, first,
because of vague and loose current usage, and second, in order to
establish my own use of these terms. In the first place they are
beliefs, and here lies the secret of their social value. Let them
be disbelieved in and they may furnish material for entertaining
after-dinner conversation, but they no more have the power of welding
a people together into a nation, a caste, or a sect; they no longer
have the power of creating a common sentiment among a large number
of people or of creating a national consciousness.
And in the second place, both the tradition and the legend are passed
on from person to person, and from generation to generation. When a
tradition is defined as a belief that is handed down orally from father
to son, it is not at all differentiated from the legend which is also
a belief, and which may also be passed on orally from generation to
generation. Neither does a legend or a tradition change its character
when the meaning is represented by symbols cut in rock, inscribed on
papyrus, or written on paper. The event of inscription is very often
a part of their history.
But when it comes to a question of historic value we mark the
parting of the ways. A tradition, used in the sense with which we
are concerned here, is always rooted in an indisputable historic
fact. Consider the traditions of Islam that are centered about
the prophet Mohammed. They may have a thousand variations, may have
embodied falsehood after falsehood in the course of their transmission
from place to place, and from generation to generation, as most of
them unquestionably have, but they are traditions, nevertheless,
because they are associated with a character who is an undisputed
historic figure. The refusal of St. Gregory to offer garlands to the
goddess Anahit, and his imprisonment in the well during a period of
thirteen years is a tradition because the belief is associated with
a historic character. Compare this with the beliefs concerning Haic,
Vahakn, Semiramis and Ara, and the distinction is clear, for these
characters are all mythical. Artasches and Artavasd are generally
recognized as historical kings, and are so spoken of by Moses. As such
the beliefs concerning them should be classed as traditions. However,
Moses as a historian has been relegated to a secondary position by
Carriere, who gave the work a critical examination. This would make
the beliefs concerning Artasches and Satenik and Artavasd purely
legendary, unless further research establishes more reliable sources
of which we do not know. The first group therefore are legends.
In regard to the second group of beliefs all having to do with
the introduction of Christianity, Bartholomew, Thaddeus, Gregory,
and Tiridates are unquestionably historic; Rhipsime and Gaiane are
mythical; the historic authenticity of Abgar is also questionable. We
should therefore speak of the legends of Rhipsime, Gaiane and Abgar,
and of the traditions of Bartholomew, Thaddeus, Gregory, and Tiridates.
The Ararat and Erzerum group are of course legends with one or two
exceptions. The belief concerning the scorning of the proposal of
Mohammed by the Persian king who was encamped on the Euphrates as
explaining the barrenness of the Garden of Eden certainly has to
do with an historic figure, and perhaps two. But it is a legend,
nevertheless, because both the prophet of Arabia and the Persian king
are accidental rather than fundamental to the belief. The fundamental
basis of belief is the legend of the Garden of Eden. The elegy of Adam
in explanation of his sinful conduct is neither legend nor tradition,
and the belief concerning the tetagush and the spring of Ararat is
a superstition. It results in a distinct type of conduct marking it
off from both tradition and legend.
I have stated my conclusions at various places, and it would be
pointless repetition to summarize them all. I shall therefore sum up
only the important ones. The first is that the legends and traditions
of Part One are an important part of a larger body of Armenian legends,
traditions, folk-songs, and folk-lore, and that their social value lies
in the power they have of creating a national sentiment. This national
sentiment is the direct result of a social process accomplished through
the medium of the traditions, legends, and folk-songs spoken of. An
analysis of the national sentiment of ancient Armenia would lead us
to the conclusion that it was made up of at least three elements:
first, a sentiment of loyalty to the state; secondly, a sentiment
of reverence amounting almost to worship for the past glory of the
nation; and thirdly, a sentiment of love for the country.
The last sentiment is an especially real experience to all
Armenians. Objectified as it was at first in the vast plains, the
broad river valleys, the mountain ranges, or simply in the soil that
brought forth its vegetation, it came to be objectified in a spirit
of independence and in the ideals of freedom and strength. These two
objects of the national sentiment of love, the one material, the other
immaterial, are not, however, to be dissociated in the social mind,
as I have dissociated them on paper. They are inseparable, the material
and the spiritual, and simply do not exist apart from each other. Only
the emphasis varies, symbolized in one case by the peasant's kissing
his native soil, and in the other by the far-away look toward the
summit of some distant mountain. And when this sentiment of love is
the most important of those sentiments that go to make up a national
sentiment, that is, when it dominates all the others, holding them
in subjection, there has come to be a national self. A continuous
stream of consciousness envelopes the national self, and inasmuch
as it implies a highly-organized and well-developed national self,
national-self-consciousness is the larger term. It may be objectified
and examined especially at a time of injustice from without, and even
at the time of an obvious act of injustice by the state which usually
results in civil strife. The latter case is illustrative of how one of
the sentiments that make up the national sentiment may be under the
domination of another, the sentiment of loyalty to the state being
subordinate to the sentiment of love for the country in this case.
That the national self is organic, i.e., that it is functional, a
vital, living thing which grows and dies is clearly brought out by
the second group of legends considered. This is the second general
conclusion. The legends and traditions mentioned in this group are
of course again part of a larger body, all of which have to do with
the introduction of Christianity into the country. The important
point is that from this larger body of beliefs there resulted a new
national sentiment, new because something had come to be incorporated
within it which was not there before. This something was a sentiment
of loyalty to the church, evidenced in the readiness to uphold and
protect the church with all its recognized encumbrances of hierarchies
and paraphernalia against all foreign intrusion, whether peaceful
or military in character. With the destruction of the state, this
sentiment of loyalty to the church largely absorbed the sentiment
of loyalty to the state. Reverence for the past glory of the nation
went on unchanged except in so far as the church intensified it as
a means of intensifying the whole national sentiment.
A loosely organized, heterogeneous group of people can not boast of
a national sentiment, nor of the united action necessary in times
of national crisis, as when a people go to war. This united action
is only possible where the diverse sentiments of a more or less
heterogeneous people have been woven into a national sentiment of the
kind spoken of. This weaving process, as I have shown, is essentially
a social process, and the materials by means of which it is carried
on are largely such as I have been describing, namely, the legends,
traditions, and folk-lore that have somehow grown up among a people.
PART TWO
FESTIVALS
CHAPTER I
THE GREGORIAN CHURCH
As the materials of Part One are part of a larger mass of legends,
traditions, and folk-lore, the social value of which lies in their
power of creating a national or group sentiment, so the festivals
and ceremonies to be taken up in Part Two are part of a larger mass
of festivals, ceremonies, and rites whose social value lies in the
fact that they constitute a necessary vehicle of expression for this
same national sentiment. The festivals are a necessary counterpart
of the legends, as the latter are a necessary counterpart of the
former. Activity is one of the most fundamental of nature's laws. The
sentiment of love for an individual dies eventually in the absence
of some formal mode of active expression. But be the action ever so
little a thing, such as the laying of flowers upon the grave of the
dead, the visiting of a shrine, or the sight of some hallowed spot
of sacred memory, the sentiment is kept alive. To be sure a sentiment
may smoulder for a lifetime, even as a national sentiment may slumber
for centuries without a mode of expression, and then all of a sudden
burst forth into a flame, or awaken into life at a mere suggestion from
outside. Bereft of statehood, the sentiment of loyalty for the state
has slumbered for centuries within the breast of the Armenian people,
but how often, how too sadly often, has it not suddenly awakened into
hot, new life only to be pacified into slumber again. But the last
glow, the little flicker at the end is all that separates the living
embers from the dead ash.
How the Armenian church recognized the truth of this by putting
into operation a thousand various modes of action in which the new
national sentiment that it created has kept itself alive and fresh,
may well serve as an object lesson to many another church. She did
not make the mistake of imposing an entirely new body of festivals and
ceremonies upon the people; she utilized the past and carried over a
number of pagan festivals absolutely intact, which she clothed with
a new meaning slowly recognized by the people. These form the first
group to be considered. In the course of time she created certain new
festivals which constitute the second group. And then she identified
herself with all of the ceremonies of common life, such as betrothal,
marriage, and funeral ceremonies.
In this way the Armenian church has become absolutely and inseparably
identified with the life of the people, and the people in turn
have been held together into a nation which has continued to give
its artists and artisans to the world. [107] What is Armenia? The
national Gregorian church; much as Louis XIV, when asked "What is
the state?" replied, "I am the state." This is unquestionably an
exaggerated view, but not as much so as might be supposed, since
the social life of the people is so completely bound up with the
church. The only betrothal and marriage recognized is that sanctioned
by the church. Whenever there is a common danger, as has been the
case repeatedly during the past twenty years, the people flock to
the church for protection. Such secret revolutionary propaganda as
has been carried on has been done largely through the church. The
young Armenian who returns from his academic life in Paris, a
sceptic if not an unbeliever, and certainly opposed to the dogma and
ultra-conservatism of his church, does not alienate himself, for he
realizes his utter impotence in any kind of work for his people should
he do so. In spite of the division of Armenia into three slices,
Turkish, Persian, and Russian, the church has retained its hold,
and if the position of the people as subject to Turkey, Persia,
and Russia has placed her (the church) at a decided disadvantage in
coping with the ever constant influence and propaganda, schools, and
missionaries of the Greek, Latin, and Protestant churches, she has not
at all given in, for the number of Catholic Armenians amounts to only
3 per cent of the number of orthodox Armenians, while the number of
Protestant Armenians is only 1 per cent. [108] Considering, as I say,
the utter helplessness of the church in combating outside influences,
these figures indicate how closely the life of the people is identified
with her. Perhaps her very helplessness has been a source of strength.
These facts together with such little practices as I have mentioned
(and I might also note the custom of the Armenian peasant of crossing
himself daily at the altar of his community church before beginning his
day of toil) [109] are sufficient to show that the church has been the
chief means of keeping alive the currents of national life, that it is
a national church, and that it has identified itself with the common
life of the people. The festivals and ceremonies which constitute
the second part of my paper thus form the vehicle of expression of
the national sentiment, and are all connected with the church.
The participation of the laity in church matters, especially in
the election of its officials, is a chief reason for the essential
oneness of church and people. Priests, bishops, and patriarchs,
who constitute the three chief grades in the religious hierarchy,
are chosen by the people. [110] The approval of higher authorities
is necessary in most cases, but this only slightly detracts from
the importance of the role of the people. A married priest is the
religious head of every parish, and he is elected either by a direct
process of voting or by a deed of presentation. The religious council
of the diocese proceeds to examine the ability and qualifications of
the candidate, who is ordained if his examination proves successful;
if unsuccessful, a new candidate must be presented, for a bishop can
not of his own initiative ordain a priest. The laity have no voice
in the election of the celibate priesthood, which is only natural
since the celibate priests are not in any way connected with the
life of the community. Furthermore, they do not constitute a very
important element, for when Ormanian wrote in 1911, there were only
400 celibate priests as against 4,000 married priests. [111]
The married priest is very closely identified with his community. He
not only makes a regular practice of visiting the various households
of the parish, but he is sole confessor of the people. [112] As he
officiates at masses and church ceremonies and promotes a general
participation in the festivals, so also no betrothal, marriage,
baptism, or funeral can be sanctioned without his presence. He is as
well a kind of marriage agency, employment agency, and relief agency,
acting always of course in cooperation with the council of elders of
his parish. A priest called at the home of an Armenian lady I know,
and remarked casually that he was aware she had a daughter, whom he
was very anxious to see, for there were two young men of the community
who were very desirous to marry. So the people inform the priest of
their need and the priest does all in his power to help them. He does
not receive a regular compensation, being absolutely dependent upon
the voluntary offerings of his flock and the voluntary fees received
for official services rendered. [113] This works out sometimes to
his advantage, but more often not, depending generally on whether
his parish is poverty stricken or well-to-do.
There are several very curious usages practiced by the married
priest. He is recruited from all classes of society, but more often
there is a succession from father to son. [114] The conditions
demanded, besides parochial election, are acquaintance with
ecclesiastical and liturgical matters, an exemplary life, and the
consent of his wife. After his ordination he must fast for forty
days. He then prepares himself for his first mass by a life of retreat
in the church, restricting himself to a vegetable diet for twenty-four
hours. [115] The wife, who enjoys a certain precedence in society,
observes a customary abstinence in the absence of her husband. One week
or at least three days before the celebration of the mass, he keeps
away from home, passing the nights within the church. He may engage in
domestic or even professional work so long as this does not interfere
with the duties of his calling. Should his wife die, he may not marry
again unless he lays aside his priestly robe, nor may a priest ever
marry a widow. These practices are not dead letters, except that the
custom of sojourning within the church for three nights before mass
has, in Constantinople at least, been reduced to a single night.
The bishops are chosen as chiefs of dioceses by the council of the
diocese, six sevenths of whose members are laymen, the remainder
being ecclesiastics. [116] The patriarchs, including the Katholikos,
the supreme authority of the church whose seat is at Etchmiadzin, the
religious center of the nation, are chosen by an electoral assembly
of the religious heads (bishops or archbishops) and lay deputies who
are nominated by the dioceses as a whole. [117] The eight members
of the synod, which is an advisory body to the Katholikos, and the
seven oldest members of the congregation at Etchmiadzin have equal
share in voting. The electoral assembly, so constituted, chooses two
candidates, one of whom is selected by the Czar. The Czar, after his
selection is made, sends a deputy to meet the successful candidate,
who is decorated and escorted with due ceremony to Etchmiadzin where he
is officially ordained. There are only two patriarchates besides the
see of Etchmiadzin, i.e., those of Constantinople and Jerusalem. The
corresponding patriarchs are likewise chosen by a national assembly,
six sevenths of whose members belong to the laity. The patriarchs
of both Jerusalem and of Constantinople acknowledge the supremacy
of the Katholikos of Etchmiadzin, who is thus head of the church,
though not infallible.
The site of Etchmiadzin is the old capital city, Vagharshapat, the
ruins of which are all but washed away; and it marks the spot where
St. Gregory in his vision saw the descent of Jesus Christ. Etchmiadzin
means, "Descent of the Only Begotten." The particular spot is
commemorated by the central altar of the Cathedral, which is the chief
church of the nation. This Cathedral is situated in the center of a
huge court bounded in the form of a large rectangle by the cells of
the monks, the long refectory building, the library, the theological
seminary, and the residence of the Katholikos. Outside this rectangle
are ranged buildings and open spaces, including the garden of the
Katholikos, the court for pilgrims, the printing establishment, and
dwellings for various uses, all of which is bounded by a huge wall
in the form of a still larger rectangle about 1,000 feet in length
and 700 feet in width. [118] The chapels of the martyrs are some
distance from the monastery, the church of St. Gaiane, commemorating
the spot of her martyrdom, being about one fourth of a mile distant,
while the church of St. Rhipsime, which likewise honors the spot of
Rhipsime's martyrdom, is about three fourths of a mile distant. The
buildings now standing can hardly be those built by the saint. [119]
Etchmiadzin has been for many years a place of pilgrimage for the
faithful. There is not only the sacred Cathedral where Jesus Christ is
believed to have appeared; there is also the chamber of holy relics
in the rear of the Cathedral which is perhaps the chief attraction
and glory of the place. The most important of the relics here kept
is a hand of St. Gregory, or rather right arm, "atch," as it is
called, now preserved in a silver case, and which was considered at
one time to be a necessary appanage of the patriarchal dignity. The
poor hand of the saint has been the cause of many peregrinations in
consequence. [120] One patriarch seized it and carried it off with him
in order to justify his claims. Another restole it and brought it back
to Etchmiadzin, while others have pretended possession of the holy
"atch," in order to make good their claims. It was with this relic
as well as with the holy chrism that consecrations were performed,
which made possession of it a necessary condition of the patriarchal
authority. Another much revered relic is the fragment of the ark,
which the angel who appeared to St. Jacob gave to him as a reward for
his perseverance in attempting so impossible a task as the climbing
of Ararat. Still another is the head of the "holy spear" which was
thrust into the side of Christ by the Roman soldier at Golgotha. [121]
There are others of lesser importance, some of which are believed to
possess the power of effecting cures.
Such in brief are the broader and more important facts relating to the
church, which has thus come to sanction the festivals and ceremonies
that make up the second part of this thesis. These, as I have said,
naturally divide themselves into three groups, first those that
have been taken over bodily from the past; second, new festivals and
ceremonies created by the church; and third the ceremonies of common
life with which the church has identified itself. In the first group
are included the midsummer festival of Vartavar, the spring festival,
the festival in commemoration of the dead, Fortune-Telling Day, and
the festival of Vartan's Day. All except the last have their origin
in pagan festivals; each one has been taken over by the church and
made its own.
CHAPTER II
PAGAN FOLK FESTIVALS
SECTION 1. VARTAVAR AND THE FESTIVAL OF MIHR
Vartavar, meaning "flaming of the rose," was celebrated in pagan
times in honor of Anahit, goddess of chastity, at midsummer. The
central act of the festival was the offering of a dove and a rose to
her golden image. With the introduction of Christianity the temple
and the image were destroyed, and it may be noted that upon the site
of the Temple of Anahit in Vagharshapat was built the Cathedral of
Etchmiadzin. This would lead to the strange conclusion that in the
vision of St. Gregory, Jesus Christ descended upon a pagan temple. The
fact seems to be that this marvelous vision was seen by a pious monk
who published a life of St. Gregory some two or three centuries after
the Illuminator's death. [122] But the festival became the "Festival
of the Transfiguration of Christ," although the name Vartavar still
remains, and doves are still set flying. [123]
The festival is celebrated differently in various places. Upon the
mountains of Armenia every family brings a sheep for sacrifice, adorned
with colored papers and pigments, and as the sheep approach the shrine,
lighted candles are fixed upon their horns. [124] Sheaves of grain,
fruit, flowers, and doves are also brought as sacrifices, while dust
from beside the altar is carried home to children as a talisman to
help them to learn their A B C's. In the absence of a church on the
mountainside, which is usually the case, a large white tent with
crosses is put up beside some sacred spring, with which the country
abounds. The spring is necessary, for on this day the people amuse
themselves by throwing water upon each other. For this reason the day
is often called Armenian Water Day. After the doves are set flying,
the priest sprinkles the people, and they in turn sprinkle water over
each other. This practice probably dates to the legend of the deluge,
the Universal Baptism with which God cleansed His sinful earth. The
dove and the baptism are also suggestive of the baptism of Jesus by
John in the waters of Jordan. This part of the festival is probably
an addition to the pagan rite, for the sprinkling of the water is
symbolic of love and forgiveness; it is carried on with much laughing
and merry-making. The festival includes also a kind of fair, for the
people have to show what progress they have made during the year in
art and the various handicrafts. Races, competitions, and games are
held, and the victors are crowned with wreaths of roses, so that even
the rose continues to have an important place in the festivities as
it had in pagan days. The sprinkling of water, the games, the races,
show how happy a time the people must have on this day; the exhibition
of the year's accomplishment in handicraft and art points out the more
serious side; while the essential religious symbolism is very clearly
emphasized. What may also be noted is that there is entertainment for
all, old and young, serious and frivolous. The pious-minded may sit
on the mountainside contemplating the religious aspect of it all;
the gay and light-hearted may sprinkle water over each other; the
young and strong may run races and play games; men and women of a
practical turn of mind may visit the fair and note the progress made
during the year; and children may roll about on the mountainsides or
gather roses, for these are in full bloom at this time.
The pagan spring festival in honor of Mihr, the god of fire, was taken
over by the church to commemorate the bringing of the Babe Jesus to
the temple, where Mary sacrificed two doves according to the custom
of purification. [125] The ancient rite consisted of kindling fires
in the open market places in honor of the god Mihr, and of lighting
a lantern from one of the newly kindled fires, which was kept burning
in the temple throughout the year. As now celebrated, on February 26,
every young man who has been married within the year brings a load
of aromatic shrubs, making a huge pile of them in the yard of the
church. A religious service is held in the open air at evening-time,
after which the priest sets fire to the pile. All the villagers, men,
women, and children, dance about the fire, while boys and young men
show their agility and courage by leaping over it. When the flames
die down, each person carries home a glowing brand and places it on
the hearthstone for good luck.
The description of the festival by Abeghian shows how a general
celebration of this kind varies in particulars from place to
place. [126] On the afternoon of the 13th of February, [127] which
is the day before the church festival of the purification, a pile of
wood consisting usually of thorn-wood, cane, and straw is gathered
together in the churchyard. The entire community comes together in
the church on the night of the same day, each person provided with
a candle. After the vespers all stand about the pile of shrub and
wood, the newly married during the year making the first row. The
candles are lighted from the church light, and after the priest has
blessed the pile, it is set ablaze from all sides, after which the
candles are put out. As soon as the fire has died down, the candles
are relighted from the glowing embers which are regarded as sacred,
and carried home where they are used to light a pile of shrub and wood
that has been gathered on the roof of the house. The young people jump
over the fire while the young women and married women march around
it saying, "May it not itch me, and may I not receive any scabs,"
taking care just to singe the border of their dresses. The ashes,
as well as the half-burned wood-stuffs are preserved, or scattered
in the four corners of the barn, over the fields or in the garden,
for the ashes and flames of the firebrands are believed to protect
people and cattle from sickness and the fruit trees from worms and
caterpillars. In the homes of the newly married the festival is
celebrated with music and dance, the young couples especially making
it a point to dance about the sacred flames, while in some places
special food is prepared in honor of the occasion.
Various prophesies are made during the festival, for example, if the
flame and smoke blows to the east, it is a sign of a good harvest
for the coming year, if toward the west, a bad growth is expected.
In recent years the religious authorities at Etchmiadzin printed the
following prohibition in the church calendar: "It is forbidden to run
about the fire." But the festival is celebrated nevertheless. [128]
That it originates in the pagan festival held in honor of Mihr there
is little doubt, for the month of February corresponds to the ancient
Armenian month Mehakan, which, translated into modern Armenian,
Mihragan, means belonging to Mihr, or more loosely, the Festival
of Mihr.
SECTION 2. THE DAY OF THE DEAD AND VARTAN'S DAY
The festival in commemoration of the dead is celebrated on the first
day after Easter, and may be regarded as a reaction against the
lenten fasts. Families of Armenians, loaded with picnic baskets,
packages of food, and bottles of wine, flock to their cemeteries
in great numbers. Priests are paid small fees for standing over
the graves of the dead to chant prayers for the salvation of the
departed souls. Over the graves of the recently dead stand the
bereaved relatives of the deceased, lamenting loudly and bewailing
a fate which they know must some day be their own. A more maudlin
spectacle could not be imagined. Here and there are seated groups
of families eating and drinking and laughing all the more heartily
for the enforced abstinence of the preceding weeks; while standing
beside this grave or that is a priest in black robe and high hat,
chanting a prayer for the dead, and incidentally earning his daily
bread. Eating seems to be the chief amusement; even the mourners eat
after they have faithfully mourned, and the priests too come in for
their shares after all possible fees have been earned. Altogether it
is a post-lenten festival in the full meaning of the term, and much
in contrast to the wholesome enjoyment and the light-hearted gaiety so
characteristic of Vartavar. It has been witnessed in Constantinople by
Armenians I know, who have given accounts to me. Whether or not it is
carried out in this manner in the villages and rural districts I am not
aware, but I should be very much surprised to learn that it was, for I
should certainly regard the festival in this form as a product of the
artificiality of city life. In the absence of wholesome amusements and
of the community solidarity characteristic of the Armenian village,
contact with city-bred folk would inevitably result in a shift of
standards of judgment and valuation, together with a break-up in
old habits of thought and life; and as the people have no common
play-ground, so to speak, except the poor denuded cemetery allotted
them by the Turkish government, one can well excuse the ugliness of
the spectacle. The Armenian has Vartavar, a real festival, and need
not look with shame upon this festival in commemoration of the dead.
This same offering of sacrifice for the dead is carried on in a
variety of ways. In Armenian villages the family of the deceased
prepares a lamb or a kid with rice, and on the day of the funeral
pieces of it are given to the attendants; given, as they say, and
taken, in sacrifice for the dead. The practice in Constantinople is
somewhat different, although the idea is exactly the same. Forty days
after the death of an individual, or perhaps on the anniversary of
the death, the bereaved family prepares a lamb or a kid with rice,
which is distributed to the people in small pots, and given, as they
say, in sacrifice for the dead. The Greek custom in this respect is
most absurd. At the head of the casket, which is left open, two men
march in the funeral procession carrying a wide tray filled with boiled
wheat and sugar, and trailing a piece of black crape. After the burial
this is distributed to the mourners in handfuls, again in sacrifice
for the dead. Libations set aside and poured out in Roman days are
illustrative of the same thing. That these practices are not Christian
but distinct survivals of pagan festivals and customs is very clear.
The above conclusions, namely, first that the festival as I
described it is an aberration of city life, and second, that although
identified with the church it is distinctly pagan in character, are
borne out by Abeghian, whose material, as an Armenian who for many
years lived in the little Armenian village of Astapat, is distinctly
first-hand. [129] Worship of the deceased, he says, begins immediately
after death. Each departed soul, and especially those of elderly
people, requires particular honor on the first day after death, and
during the ensuing year. It is for this reason a great misfortune for
an Armenian peasant not to have a child. A still greater misfortune,
however, it is to die in a strange land where there are none to care
for the departed soul. That a curious evolution has taken place in
these requirements is very clear. In the beginning, satisfactions
of a material kind were required, something to eat and to drink, and
accordingly the custom arose of placing bread upon the heart of the
dead, or sanctified bread in the cavity of the mouth and incense in
the nostrils. Then there arose the idea of facilitating the journey
of the departed into the beyond, and of making the future life
of the soul a happier one. For example, Armenians generally bathe
the bodies of their dead in blessed water, and wash the clothes of
the deceased on the day following burial for the purification of
the soul so that it may arrive spotless at its destination. Since
the soul has been cleansed of all sin through the symbolic washing
of the body and clothes, no more covering is required for the body
than a large white cloth. No other color is permissible. Should the
deceased be more than ten years of age, candles or oil lamps are
burned during eight days over the spot where the body was bathed
in order to lighten the way of the soul into the beyond. According
to old beliefs, the destination of the departed soul is a place of
darkness, and hence two candles are placed in the hands of the dead
immediately after the bath in order that he may recognize his friends
and relatives in the world beyond. At frequent intervals during the
first year, food and drink are brought to the cemetery, and placed
upon the grave. There is weeping, eating, and drinking at these times,
and what food is left over is always placed over the grave.
The souls of the righteous are thought of as luminous, the wicked as
black. Accordingly the blessed are called "spirits of light." [130]
In order to possess a bright soul one must have performed good works,
of which giving alms to the poor is considered the most important. Such
spirits are also called "generous," "charitable." It is a current
belief that the blackened souls become brighter through the good works
of descendants, as well as through their prayers. Offspring are thus
especially desirable, and the old Armenian liturgy, the Maschtotz
prepared by St. Mesrob, the inventor of the Armenian alphabet in
the fifth century, contains innumerable prayers for the dead. [131]
The prayers are short and their power is relative to the frequency
of repetition rather than to the length. Some sort of short prayer
is repeated with every thought of the dead, as for example, "May God
have mercy upon his soul"; "May his soul become lightened"; or only
"The illuminated soul."
Several days of the year are set apart for particular remembrance
of the dead. [132] At these times the departed spirits are supposed
to come down from heaven and to roam about the vicinity of their
graves or in the homes of their relatives. On the eve of these
days it is necessary to do honor to their memory with incense and
candles, which are regarded as offerings. The odor of the incense
is especially pleasant to spirits, for the incense-tree also blooms
in paradise. [133] Saturday night is very commonly devoted to such
intercession and worship. Incense is burned upon the hearth while
prayers are repeated, or a flame is ignited upon a plate which is
carried into all the corners of the house, or barn, or wherever it
is believed the departed spirit may be wandering. In some places it
is customary to maintain the "light of the dead" throughout the night
in order that the spirits may enter the house. If they find the house
dark in looking through the roof window, they make away, cursing. Water
is not drunk in the dark during these nights, for it is believed that
to do so would be to take it away from the thirsty spirits of the dead.
On the Day of the Dead the spirits are especially honored, for they
love most to wander in the neighborhood of their graves. People
actually feel themselves to be among the souls of the dead on this
celebration day. The latter are very happy to be thought of, and
are especially glad to have their graves blessed by the priests. But
to please them most one must bring wood and incense and leave it to
be burned over their graves. Three days the spirits remain upon the
earth, after which they return to heaven, their visit having been duly
honored. If they come to find themselves forgotten, they curse their
relatives and fly away in despair. Occasionally they come down to be of
service; especially is this true of the dead father and his living son,
for the former is especially remembered, and his grave is regarded
as holy. Armenians swear by the graves, or by the spirits of their
fathers, and call upon them for help in time of especial need. [134]
Tavernier described the same festival in his Voyages and noticed that
it was considered the greatest infamy to eat with a "Mordischou,"
the person who washed the dead. [135] No single festival and group of
relevant beliefs is more instructive in showing how much of Armenian
folk-belief and custom is the survival of paganism.
There is yet another festival of this group, which, however, is not to
be traced to paganism, and it would be a mistake to suppose that the
church is connected with it in the same way and to the same extent
as it is with the first three festivals considered. The festival is
called Vartan's Day, and although the church sanctions the festival
and sets apart a day for the celebration, it comes about as near being
apart from the church as any single festival. Vartan was the general
of the Armenian army defeated at the battle of Avarair, spoken of in
Part One, by the Persian fire-worshippers who endeavored to impose
their religion upon the Armenians at a time when part of Armenia
was under the domination of Persia, and the remainder tributary to
Rome. But though defeated in battle, the moral victory, as people
now use the term, was Armenian, for the battle proved the utter
failure of the Persians to convert the Armenian people to their
religion. [136] Vartan saved the nation for Gregorian Christianity,
and it is significant that the people look upon Vartan as saviour of
the nation rather than as saviour of their religion, showing how the
religion was and still is identified with the nation.
It is in his honor that the people hold a festival on the anniversary
day of the battle of Avarair. School children sing songs and
wreath Vartan's picture with red flowers. The belief is that this
peculiar kind of red flower sprang up from the blood of the Christian
army. Recitations and national patriotic plays are given, and as the
children participate in singing songs, reciting pieces, and rendering
plays, the older people participate in attending them. [137]
Besides the belief of the red flower there are numerous other beliefs
hallowed by the day. Nightingales that fly over the battlefield are
supposed to sing "Vartan, Vartan," and there is a species of antelope
with a pouch of fragrant musk under its throat which is said to have
acquired its fragrance by browsing on herbage wet with the blood of
Armenian heroes. [138]
Altogether it is the kind of festival to give expression to the
sentiment I have spoken of as love for the country, for its mountains,
rivers, and valleys, and for its ideals of freedom, independence,
and strength. In the presence of the state the festival probably
would be utilized to foster and give expression to the sentiment of
loyalty to the state. There would be specially chosen speakers to talk
of patriotism, waving of banners, and carefully designed methods of
instilling hatred for a real or supposed enemy, much as French school
children have been taught to hate Englishmen. But in the absence of
the state, the sentiment expressed must be a purer sentiment, loftier
and freer, and one can not but regret that Vartan's Day and similar
festivals have been suppressed by the Turkish government. And yet,
one could not reasonably expect otherwise.
SECTION 3. FORTUNE-TELLING DAY
Most charming and most picturesque of festivals is that participated
in by the romantic Armenian maidens on the early dawn of Ascension
Day. [139] On the eve of the same day the young girls who wish their
fortunes told, decorate a large bowl with specially selected flowers,
after which each girl casts a token, a ring, a brooch, a thimble,
into the bowl. Flowers of several kinds are then put in, and the
bowl is filled with water drawn from seven springs. Then they cover
it with an embroidered cloth and take it by night to the priest who
says a prayer over it. The most carefully and daintily prepared bowl
is then placed out in the moonlight, open to the stars where it is
left until dawn. At early daybreak of the next morning, the maidens,
furnished with provisions for the entire day, go out of the village
carrying their bowl to the side of a spring, the foot of a mountain,
or into an open field, gathering on the way various kinds of flowers
with which they deck themselves. Having arrived at their place of
festival, they play games, dance, and sing, after which they take
a beautiful little girl, too young to tell where the sun rises,
who has been previously chosen and gaily dressed for the occasion,
to draw the various articles out of the bowl. The face of the child
is covered with a richly wrought veil that she may not see what is
in the bowl, and she then proceeds to withdraw the articles which
she holds in her hand one at a time. While this is done some one of
the party recites a charm song, and the owner of each token takes
the song which accompanies it as her fortune. There are thousands
of these charm songs, most of which have been written especially for
the festival, of which I shall give but a few.
1.
Snowless hang the clouds to-night,
Through the darkness comes a light;
On this lonely pillow now,
Never more shall sleep alight.
2.
Like a star whose brightness grows
On the earth my beauty shows;
Thou shalt long for yet, and seek
My dark eyes and arching brows.
3.
Long and lone this night to me
Passing slow and wearily;
Passing full of sighs and tears--
Love, what doth it bring to thee?
4.
Eden's smile my vineyard wore,
Flowers bloomed, a goodly store;
Handsome youth and ugly maid--
This was never seen before! [140]
Thus each one carries its bit of prophesy, daintily and prettily
expressed, which when sung at the foot of some mountain, in the bright
eastern sunlight of the morning, while a little child is holding
tokens beside a bowl surrounded by the group of beflowered maidens,
makes as complete and charming a picture as one could well imagine.
Many curious beliefs, superstitions, customs, and legends are
directly related to Ascension Day. It is believed, for example,
that on the eve of this day the water of the springs, brooks,
and rivers lies peacefully motionless for a single moment during
the night. At the same moment heaven and earth, mountain and stone,
trees and flowers beckon and congratulate one another. First heaven
congratulates and kisses the earth, then one star beckons to another,
one flower to another, and so forth until all of nature's objects
have expressed their mutual good feeling. Even plants and "soulless"
objects receive the gift of speech and share their secrets one with
the other at this time. He who hides himself in a stone crevice of the
mountainside may listen to the conversation of stones and flowers,
and understand what they tell each other. They tell on this night
what sort of sicknesses they and the springs will heal, and many
people endeavor to attend at this moment, but only a few succeed. [141]
At midnight the waters are believed to have the power of healing, and
people bathe themselves in the streams. As the children are not to be
troubled during the night, water is warmed for them the next morning,
bits of grass are thrown in and the children are bathed. During the
magic moment the door of the cavern of "Maher," the revered hero god
who dwells upon earth, is opened: and one may enter to see him, his
steed, and the "wheel of the starred heavens" or the wheel of fate. In
one of the national epics (David of Sassun) Maher is represented
as the strongest of the heroes, and is supposed to dwell in a rocky
cave in the vicinity of Van [142] (probably the rock of Van). In this
cave all of the world's riches are heaped up, and the "wheel of the
world," the wheel of fate which constantly turns assigning to people
their destinies, stands there. Maher looks continually at the wheel
and if it should stand still, he comes out of his cavern to ravage
the world. The door of the cave is made of stone and covered with
cuneiform inscriptions. It is locked during the entire year except
for the night of the ascension of Christ, when it is opened during
the single magic moment. Whosoever perceives this moment may step
into the cave and take as much gold as he pleases. The idea of the
"wheel of fortune" is considerably extant, although it is not always
understood as separated from heaven and connected with Maher. [143]
That the idea of fate or of fortune is generally associated with the
day, not only by romantic maidens, but by the people, is very evident.
The flowing waters are believed to change into gold during the silent
minute, and if one places an object in the water and wishes at the
same time that it become gold, the object turns to gold. Accordingly
the young men and women go to the springs and rivers in order to
draw water, trusting their fates that they may select the happy
moment. Superstitions and magic are not lacking, for while one member
of a party seats himself upon a pair of fire-tongs in the fashion
of a rider, another performs likewise upon a long-handled spit. The
iron tools are also regarded as a necessary protection against the
calls that one hears behind after the water has been drawn, for if one
should look back perchance, he would surely fall under the influence
of the evil spirits. The oldest of the party carries a gourd flask
full of wheat and barley, which is poured into the stream towards
midnight with the words "I give you wheat and barley; you give me
everything that is good." Thereupon he fills the gourd flask with
water, and the party hurries homeward to discover the gold. [144]
The fortune-telling festival is given by Abeghian as he observed it in
his home village, and I shall give a free translation of his account
at this point because of a few interesting variations. In Astapet,
the festival is called the "Festival of the Mother of Flowers." On the
day before Ascension Day the girls and young women of the village
divide themselves into two groups, one to gather special sorts
of flowers from the mountainside, while the other goes to "steal"
water from seven springs, or seven rivers. The "thieves" must not
see each other, nor must the people of the village know aught of what
is happening. Having filled their vessels with water, each throws a
stone into the spring and then they turn back, taking care neither
to look about, to set down their vessels, nor to talk. They imagine
that the mountains, the valleys, trees, and meadows call out behind
them and if they should turn about they would be turned to stone. [145]
At night of the same day the "water thieves" and flower gatherers meet
together in a garden to prepare the "Havgir" or magic bowl in which
is poured the water from the seven springs, and in which seven stones
from the seven sources, together with leaves of the gathered flowers
are dropped. Each one who wishes her fortune told now throws in a charm
token, such as mentioned before. Those who are not present send their
tokens in order to have them thrown into the "Havgir" by others. The
bowl is then adorned with flowers, after which the "Vicak" meaning
destiny or fate, is prepared. This consists of two pieces of wood tied
together in the form of a cross, which is dressed and adorned with
jewels and pearls to make it appear as a newly-married doll-bride. The
"Vicak" is fastened to the "Havgir," and both are placed under the
stars, in order that these who are the real destinies, may work the
proper magic upon the charm tokens. [146] A few girls guard it during
the whole night against the young men who try to steal it.
Early the next morning the maidens gather together in the garden
laden with food baskets and prepared to make a day of it. The "Havgir"
and strangely fashioned "Vicak" are carried to a nearby spring, the
young girls decking themselves with flowers as they go. The spring
is decorated about with flowers, green leaves, and branches, and the
"Havgir" is placed in the middle, and then after they have prepared
everything and eaten, the oldest among them takes the "Vicak," kisses
it, gives it to another, who does likewise, and so it passes from
hand to hand. Finally a seven-year-old girl receives it. She sets
herself in the middle of the group and holds the "Vicak" while the
"Havgir" stands before her. The little girl is called "bride," is the
interpreter of the "Vicak" and is specially selected and dressed for
the occasion. When she has received the "Vicak" a red veil is passed
over both, and all is ready for the central event of the festival. A
charm song is sung by the group, and after each stanza the "bride"
draws a token from the vessel. The preceding verse reveals the fate
of the one to whom the token belongs. [147]
The fortune-telling festival of Ascension morning stands quite
alone. Bodeful of the future and suggestive of the past, it can
not but have a serious tenor, for there are maidens whose lovers
have not been born, as there are also sadder ones. Perhaps they do
not take their verses very seriously. Whether they do or not there
is always the charm of sunrise colors, and the out-of-doors that
makes it as beautiful as it is romantic. The best of the future,
their brightest hope, the best of the present, warmth of sunshine
and color, and the best of the past, their golden dreams of youth,
are brought together on this day and given a common expression in a
way that must charm them as it charms the observer. Festivals to be
perfect festivals must be out-of-doors and the day must be bright.
CHAPTER III
CHRISTIAN FOLK FESTIVALS
The second group of festivals comprises those newly created by the
church, such as the Blessing of the Grapes, New Year, Easter, and
Christmas. I wish also to include in this group a few of the peculiarly
characteristic church ceremonies which also have a distinct festival
value for the people, i.e., the ceremony of the "Washing of Feet"
on Maundy Thursday, "Khatchanguist" or the "Blessing of Water," the
consecration of the Katholikos, and the manufacture of the "holy oil."
SECTION 1. CHRISTMAS, EASTER, AND NEW YEAR
The service of the church on any one of the festival days is
exclusively connected with the divine mystery, so called. These include
the Assumption, or Immaculate Conception, celebrated by the people
in the festival "the Blessing of the Grapes"; the miraculous birth,
which corresponds to the Christmas festival; the Transfiguration,
or the folk-festival Vartavar; the Redemption, to which the Easter
festival corresponds; and the Resurrection, including Ascension or
Fortune-Telling Day. There are other festivals celebrated by the
church, such as the festival of the Holy Cross, and of the Holy
Church, which I omit because there is not a corresponding social
expression. Grand mass is said at the church, and the particular
passages of scripture that have a direct bearing on the occasion
are read. The Armenian calendar is curious in that many of the
festivals occupy a succession of days; there are, for example,
39 days for the Resurrection, 3 days for the Transfiguration, 10
days for the Ascension, etc., which make up a grand total of 136
days in the year to which festivals are assigned. As there are 160
days devoted to abstinence, 117 of which are liturgical abstinence,
that is, days of penitence mentioned in the liturgy, there are left
only 112 days for the commemoration of saints, which have necessarily
to be grouped together, since there are more than 112 saints. [148]
Because, therefore, of the continuity of festival days, one could not
expect any one of the festivals to have any social value from the
standpoint of the church service. But there is never any conflict
between the services of the church and the festivities without,
which are thus sanctioned by the church and in many cases directed
and carried out by church officials. It has been noticed that the
blessing of the priest was secured for the magic bowl, before it was
placed underneath the stars on the eve of Ascension Day.
The festival of the Virgin Mary, or the "Blessing of the Grapes,"
is more actively participated in by the church. It may be designed
to keep the people from eating green grapes, but more probably was
intended to give a social expression to an otherwise dull and very
monotonous church ceremony. The people are all expected to maintain
a strict abstinence from eating grapes until the middle of August,
the day set apart for the festival. The grapes are then gathered
in great quantities, some of which are carried to the church and
placed on a large tray, which is set at the foot of the altar. After
the ceremony of the church, the priest turns to the tray of grapes
before him, which he blesses with his cross. The tray is then taken
to the door of the church, where each member of the congregation is
given a bunch as he passes out. The fast is thus broken with the
taste of "blessed grapes," and there is no end of grape eating on
that day. During the remainder of the day every woman named Mary,
or named with a possible attribute of the Virgin Mary, as "Kudsa,"
meaning "saintly," or "Dirouhi," meaning "Mother of the Lord,"
keeps open house for the friends who drop in to eat grapes and to
congratulate her. In rural places or villages where vineyards are
abundant, social groups may be seen eating grapes from the vines
while talking or playing as they are inclined. Grapes ripen earlier
in some parts of Armenia than in others, and where this is true the
festival is merged with the festival of Vartavar. [149]
For the festival of New Year's Eve no religious cooperation whatever
is necessary; it comes as near to being distinct from the church as
any of the Armenian festivals. The preparation consists largely in
making or purchasing gifts for the various members of the family,
in cracking bowls of nuts and getting all kinds of dried fruits
ready. Armenian and Greek New Year's Eve fall on the same night,
and in Constantinople there is much agitation and animation in the
streets. Singing and music fill the air, and as soon as dusk falls,
groups of boys, some carrying small lanterns, others provided with
tom-toms or hand-organs, begin the circuit of the streets. Thus they
go from house to house singing the New Year's song and playing their
hand-organs, receiving pennies as they go. After the boys have passed
along, the porters, watchmen, and firemen make a noisy procession down
the streets, they too playing hand-organs and stopping at one house
after another where they receive a drink, some sweets and nuts, and
most important of all, a tip. As midnight approaches, the excitement
increases; the pounding of the tom-toms becomes unbearable, all the
organs of the neighborhood are making music, and there is such a
noise of singing, shouting, and laughing as can be compared only to
a night of political election. Inside the homes of the better-to-do,
the children are put to bed for a time while the enormous New Year's
table is set. Besides several specially prepared New Year's dishes,
every home must be provided with a dish of every kind of fruit, dried
or fresh. Small candles are stuck around the plates, and the presents
are heaped up on a side table. At midnight the candles are all lit,
and the family ranges itself around the table while the eldest, usually
the grandmother, blesses all and prays. After the prayer she wishes
to all the best things for the coming year, for the young ladies good
husbands, for the young men prosperity and good wives, happiness for
the little children, and comfort and health for the older ones. These
wishes having been given, all kiss the hands of the older members of
the family, after which the children kiss each others' hands. The
presents are exchanged; fruits, candies, and nuts are partaken of,
and the fun goes on until dawn. [150] In the interior of Armenia,
two elders of the church go from door to door of the more fortunate
ones on the day before New Year, carrying bags which they fill with
the offerings received at every house. These are carefully parceled
out and at dusk are left at the doors of poor families who would
otherwise have no New Year's cheer.
The church makes up amply in the Easter festival for any lack of
participation at New Year. Forty-eight days of rigid lenten abstinence,
during which time no meat is eaten, precede the festivities of Easter
Day. The first two or three days of the Holy Week are given over to
housecleaning, which however must be finished by Thursday in order
that the people may attend the ceremonies at church which continue
until Easter Day. On Thursday afternoon "the Washing of the Feet,"
to be described later, commences, and the service continues until past
midnight. On Saturday all go to the bath, which is made an essential
part of the week's celebrations, and on the afternoon of the same day
the real Easter service, called the Lighting of the Lights, begins. The
church is first illuminated on Easter Eve, for on the three preceding
days of mourning and sorrow the altar shrine is kept closed and no
candles are lit. Even the congregation holds lighted wax candles while
the triumphal songs are chanted by the robed choir of little boys.
At the evening meal of the day before Easter the lenten fast is partly
broken by eating fish and boiled eggs, but no meat. [151] The denial
of the flesh recommences, however, at bedtime, for not a morsel is
eaten until Easter midday. Early dawn sees the people putting on their
new clothes, especially new shoes which are considered a necessity
on this day, and all, newly attired, go to church where communion is
celebrated. The church is usually filled with flowers and its most
brilliant ornaments are displayed, the service ending at midday in time
for the usual feast of stuffed roast lamb, the customary red eggs, and
the egg bread made only at Easter time. In the afternoon the men visit
from house to house and something dainty is always served, a cocktail
or a cup of coffee with sweets like Turkish delight or bonbons. The
formula repeated by the guest upon entering a house is always the same;
"Christ is risen from the dead," he exclaims, and is answered by the
host with the usual formula, "Blessed is the resurrection of Christ."
Perhaps the boys enjoy Easter most of all. Provided with red Easter
eggs, they collect in groups, whereupon there follows a most vivacious
competition to win each other's eggs by clashing them together. The
champion egg is used until it is broken, when a new champion is quickly
brought forth. This process continues as long as there are two or
more unbroken eggs, the game being won when all of the broken eggs are
in the possession of the boy who holds the champion egg. Picnic day,
or the "Day of the Dead," follows Easter Day, as I have described it,
and it is singularly strange that a "day of resurrection" should be
followed by a "day of the dead," when prayers are said and offerings
given in sacrifice for the departed. But people are not mindful of
such little incongruities; they are simple and carry out the festival
celebrated by their fathers, much as their fathers celebrated it.
The week before Christmas is likewise devoted to a thorough
housecleaning by the Armenian housewife, and on the day before,
special dishes are prepared for the next day's feast. Again there
is the customary bath which is observed by all the members of the
household. On Christmas Eve the abstinence of the preceding days
is partly broken, usually with fried fish, lettuce, and boiled
spinach. Boiled spinach is the rule because it is believed that this
dish made up the supper of the Virgin Mary on the eve of Christ's
birth. At church special vespers are sung and there is much emphasis
laid upon special selections from the prophets which are also sung. An
hour before dawn the sexton alone, or with a group of choir boys,
goes from door to door singing what is called "the good tidings." It
is the signal for the faithful to awake, don their best clothes and go
to church again without eating breakfast. The holy bread and wine are
not to be profaned by the people having eaten a breakfast of ordinary
food, with the consequence that not a few faint during the service,
even as at Easter time. But the ceremony is finished by half past ten,
after which the women go home to prepare the midday feast while the
men visit the homes of their friends. The never-failing formula of
the guest upon entering the house of a friend is, "Christ is born and
manifested to-day," which is responded to by the host with "Blessed is
the manifestation of Christ." Each visit lasts about fifteen minutes
and sweets and coffee are served. At midday the Christmas feast is
partaken of, all make merry around the table, and in the afternoon
more calls are paid and received. The festivities are observed for
three days, the third being ladies' day, which is devoted by the
ladies to giving and receiving visits. They offer their salutations
and good wishes to each other, eating dainties even as the men. Shops
and business places of Armenians are usually kept closed for three
days. [152]
There is thus considerable similarity between Easter and the Christmas
festivities, which is probably due to more or less sameness in the
church ceremonies. These ceremonies, always well attended, are made
attractive to the people by beautiful displays of flowers, vested choir
boys, the charm of whose singing can only be understood by those who
have heard them; also by special singing, not by the congregation,
but by those who can sing, and with such enticing little additions
as the Lighting of Lights. The services are thus as much and as
real a part of the day's rejoicings as the feasts and social visits,
and if they are designed consciously or unconsciously to give active
expression to the sentiment of loyalty to the church one must admit
that the expression is a perfectly free and natural one. Abstinences
do not make the festivities attractive, to be sure, and there are
more unfortunate communities who can not afford so lavish a display
as others; but flowers need only to be picked from the fields, and
boys there are always, even in the poorest churches. The holiday
rejoicing has somewhat more of the serious blend which is to be
contrasted with the more perfect gaiety of New Year's Day, and is
probably due to the weightiness of its religious significance of which
one is constantly reminded, not only by the services at the church
but also by the salutations of visitors and the necessary replies,
always the same. But even the gaiety of New Year is not to be compared
with the perfect lightness and freedom of merriment that characterize
some aspects of Vartavar, nor do any of the Christian folk festivals
have the completeness of Vartavar.
SECTION 2. SPECIAL CHURCH CEREMONIES
Together with this second group of festivals including as they do
Christmas, Easter, New Year, and the Blessing of the Grapes, I wish
to include a short series of church ceremonies all of which have a
very distinct festival value, beside their value in being singularly
characteristic of the Armenian church. They are distinctly different
from the festivals of the preceding section, in that the festivities
are incidental to a ceremony peculiar to the Armenian church. The
"Washing of Feet," the "Blessing of the Water," the consecration
of the Katholikos, and the manufacture of the holy oil, are those I
desire to describe.
The "Washing of Feet" occurs on Maundy Thursday, three days before
Easter. [153] This day is the first of three successive days of
mourning spoken of, during which the altar is closed, and no lights
are lit. After the mass the bishop puts away his brocaded robes,
and kneeling in imitation of Christ washing the feet of His disciples
on the night of the betrayal, he washes the feet of the priests and
choristers, of whom there are usually eleven. Christ washed the feet
of twelve, but one of them was unworthy. The service then continues
until midnight, and while the ceremony is in progress, the lights are
put out one by one, to remain out until the "Lighting of the Lights"
on Easter eve. If the church is a parish church in which a priest
officiates, a number of little boys are ranged in order for the
"Washing of Feet," which in this case is performed by the priest,
who anoints the soles of their feet with oil after he has washed
them. Each boy is given a walnut shell and before he moves from his
place he carefully scrapes some of the oil into his shell, and carries
it home to place in the butter. If he does this it is believed that
the supply of butter will not fail throughout the year.
This same service was observed by a writer in the Survey, in a church
on East 27th Street, New York, rented by a company of Armenian folk
residing in that city. [154] The same symbolic "Washing of Feet" was
carried out on the evening of Maundy Thursday in much the same fashion
as it is carried out in the home-land. The symbolism, the pageantry,
the color of oriental Armenian worship, the silver-mounted Bible on
the altar in the center, the rising steps, the crosses, the lighted
candles, and the incense were all there. A white-robed choir with green
velvet copes filed in, singing long chants. The choir was followed
by two priests, and the priests by the bishop with his mitre, robe
of crimson and gold, and his ivory cross held in the right hand with
a kerchief of crimson silk. A shining crozier held in his left hand
marked his office as shepherd of the flock; a large jewel locket and
cross hung from his breast and was probably the gift of the Czar. The
choir chant that continues all the while was described as an intricate,
rhythmless tune, now passionate, now wailing and altogether "oriental,"
accompanied by a few older folk here and there who were humming in
unison with the choir and the leader, who was beating time. Beside
the humming the congregation took no part in the service except that
it stood up for the psalm and prayer. Suddenly a sound to the right
brought the observer's attention to an old woman lying prostrate
in the aisle. No one helped her, no one even seemed to notice her,
but presently she rose to a kneeling posture and lifted her eyes in
prayer to the altar. Again she prostrated herself, and again rose to
lift her eyes to the altar, which performance was repeated a third
time before the old woman took her seat. "Der Voghormia" meaning
"Lord have mercy upon us," was repeated ten times by the interceding
bishop in a voice loud and intense, and a second ten times, and a
third ten times. The chant quickened, and as the aged priest took the
Bible from its place and held it toward the audience the bishop gave
his benediction of peace to the "four corners of the earth." There
was another chant after which the washing of the feet commenced. With
deep seriousness the bishop placed his staff by the altar, laid aside
his mitre and brocaded robes, and beginning with the aged priest,
he knelt beside a bowl of water to wash his feet. Ten more of those
who came forward shared in the ceremony. "I can not so serve you
all," he said at the close of his address, "I am sorry. Take as
symbolic what is done." There was a short intermission, but before
ten o'clock the penitential service recommenced and continued until
midnight. The story of Christ's betrayal in the garden was read, and
the chants continued, wilder, sadder, and more wailing, accompanied
by murmurs and occasionally by low cries from the people. As midnight
approached the lights were dimmed one by one, and the emotion became
more intense. As the hour struck, the congregation rose, and with
clasped hands joined in a closing song and prayer. There were only
a few score people present.
The prostration of the old woman reminds one of the spiritually
wounded who lay prostrate over the floor during the times of the
Kentucky revivals, but the fact is there is nothing hysterical in
this particular phase of Armenian worship. The attitude is commonly
practiced by Armenians, especially among the peasant classes. They lie
flat touching their heads to the ground. [155] But the posture is more
peculiarly oriental than it is peculiarly Armenian. No sight is more
common in the countries of Islam than the faithful Moslem who spreads
his bit of carpet upon which he kneels with gaze fixed toward Mecca,
prostrating himself repeatedly as he murmurs his prayers.
Although the picture given by Dubois of a simple church service he
attended in Koulpe, Armenia, is not the ceremony of Maundy Thursday,
it has one or two strokes of native color that make it impossible to
omit. [156] The church was poor and simple, the walls were built of
stone cemented by clay or bad lime. Two rows of large beams neither
squared nor trimmed supported the earthen roof in the manner of
columns. At the farther end was a kind of niche, partitioned off by
means of soiled curtains, thus forming a sanctuary where stood the
priest, clothed in torn robe, to read the prayers. All of the little
boys of the village encircled him, kneeling and chanting or reciting
prayers, turn by turn. The eldest placed themselves outside of the
choir and knelt on straw mats or on sheep's skins which marked their
customary places, and kissed the earth, or murmured very low the words
of the priest, or responded to the chanting at high pitch. The women
held themselves apart, their faces half veiled, filling the back of
the church behind the men, and, with lowered heads, were the first
to leave.
The kneeling posture and the prostration is again clearly in
evidence, which together with what has been said is sufficient to
show that this attitude, especially among the common people, is a
very ordinary one and is therefore to be regarded merely as a very
generally recognized posture of worship, and not at all significant
necessarily of "conviction of sin" or a "feeling of penitence," which
is nevertheless suggested. The church at Koulpe must have been a very
poor one not to have benches, but it had its little chorus of boys,
and the people participated in much the same way as in the little
church in New York, although nearly a hundred years have passed since
Dubois attended the simple service.
"Khatchahankist," meaning literally, "repose of the cross," is the
second of the four church ceremonies I shall describe. The ceremony
might better be named "the Blessing of the Water," for that is what it
really consists of. In the towns of Turkey the churches devote one day
each week to the performance of this rite, but in other churches it
occurs at the end of a special mass, as for example on Ascension Day,
or on the commemoration day of St. Gregory. [157] There is always a
very great gathering on this occasion largely because of the various
superstitions connected with it. A large silver bowl of water is
brought and placed on a stand at the foot of the altar, after which
the officiating priest comes forward with relics of the Holy Cross, of
the saints, or a simple silver cross in his hand. The more frequently
used relics are those of St. Gregory the Illuminator, St. John the
Baptist, St. James of Nisibis, or St. George the Martyr. The priest
reads prayers over the water, which are answered by the chants from
the choir, after which he dips the relic or the cross into the water
three times, finally making the sign of the cross over the bowl. The
Lord's prayer is repeated, after which a ladle is placed on one side
of the vessel, while the priest kneels on the other, cross or relic
in hand. Now the people crowd about, cross their faces and kiss the
cross, and then take up the ladle to drink of the water thus blessed
especially for drinking purposes. It is used also for ablutions,
for popular belief endows the sacred liquid with curative power.
Some of the prayers that are repeated and the texts that are read
during this ceremony are well worth noting, for they illustrate the
candid interest of all participating. After the reading of the texts,
the deacon repeats the following proclamation: "Let us pray unto God
who loveth mankind and hath given for hope and refuge his victorious
holy cross, which is armor invincible against the inworkings of Satan,
to the end that whatsoever it touches, this water and all creatures. He
shall through the same vouchsafe both healing and mercy." The priest
then prays: "Bless, O Lord, this water, and hallow it with thy holy
cross, in order that the flocks and sheep which may approach and drink
of the same, may derive therefrom freedom from disease and sterility;
for from them we select sacrifices of fragrant sweetness and offer them
as victims to thyself." And again the priest prays: "Bless, O Lord,
this water with the life-giving powers of the cross that everyone who
shall drink thereof may derive therefrom a medicine of soul and body,
and a health from the diseases which afflict him." Again: "Bless,
O Lord, this water with thy holy cross, that it may impart to the
fields where it is sprinkled profitable harvests, and that all plants
and herbs may be more than ever increased in fruitfulness." [158]
The cross is then passed three times over the water with the words,
"Let this water be blessed and hallowed in the name of the Father,
and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, Amen." This is followed by a
short proclamation by the deacon and a closing prayer by the priest,
after which the assembled people receive of the magic water as above
described.
This frank personal interest is characteristic of many of the church
ceremonies. For example in the sacrament of holy communion, incense
is offered with the prayer, "Do thou in its stead send upon us the
graces and gifts of thine Holy Spirit." [159]
Of central importance to the nation as to the religion is the ceremony
of the consecration of the Katholikos, the supreme authority of the
church, which is held in front of the Cathedral at Etchmiadzin. [160]
People from near and far gather together to witness this event,
and lest they should fail to see the central act of the ceremony,
the roofs near-by are all used for the greater advantage they give
to the observer. The banner of the Katholikos is set flying from
the belfry tower; in front of the entrance to the Cathedral is set
a wooden dais covered with carpets and costly embroideries whereon
the ceremony is performed; the procession is formed and all is then
in readiness. A service is held in the Cathedral, after which the
procession issues from the church, and the various state and church
officials including representatives from the Russian government,
the choir and deacons, all take their places about the platform. The
twelve bishops who reside at Etchmiadzin, and whose business it is
to wait upon the Katholikos, now appear gorgeously attired, escorting
the central figure of the day, over whose head two attendants carry a
richly embroidered canopy. The patriarch falls on his knees, his feet
beneath his body in full accordance with the ordinary posture. One
bishop now reads, after which another advances bearing in his hands the
image of a dove wrought in gold. It is the receptacle of the holy oil,
which is a mixture of the sacred oil blessed by St. Gregory, sparingly
used and carefully preserved in the treasury of the Cathedral, and
of the specially prepared oil consecrated in Sis in Cilicia. While
one bishop is pouring the holy oil from the neck of the golden dove
over the head of the patriarch, the other bishops gather around to
spread the oil about with their thumbs, making at the same time the
sign of the cross. A piece of cloth is now placed over his head, his
face being covered at the same time by a veil which is attached to
the cloth. After a brief interval the newly consecrated Katholikos,
followed by the bishops, officials, and procession, reenters the
church in order to complete the ceremony. When the procession again
files out escorting the pontiff to his residence, the choir sings,
and the Russian band plays. Festivities continue throughout the day
and into the night, including mainly the banquet with its toasts
and songs by the choir, and the concert furnished by the band in the
evening. The band is a foreign innovation, although the particular
band observed by Lynch consisted mostly of Armenians.
The holy oil used in the consecration consists for the most part of
the preparation manufactured in Sis, as stated, and with which there
is a special ceremony connected, which is of general importance,
for the oil is also used for the various necessary consecrations
of all the churches. In the church at Sis is treasured a gorgeous
silver bowl, decorated with turrets and pinnacles, in which "Muron"
as it is called, or holy oil is made every four years. Pilgrims
come from far to witness the event. The bowl, which holds about a
gallon of oil is placed outside the church, and in it are placed
a hundred and one kinds of flowers amid prayers and chants. [161]
These flowers are stirred with the arm of St. Gregory, after which
the lid is put on and the mixture made to boil. [162] The privilege
of lifting off the lid is auctioned, and it is said that L100 was
once paid for the distinction. The oil is then sold to the pilgrims,
all of whom take a phial of it along to their homes where it is used
in baptism, marriage, and burial ceremonies. It is also believed to
have wonderful medicinal properties.
The chief social value of these ceremonies lies in the fact that they
bring large groups of people together under unusual circumstances,
all of which adds importance to the various rites and festivities
of the occasion. Especially is this true of the consecration of the
Katholikos, which may occur twice or at the most three times in a
generation. For this reason and also because of the authority and
position of the Katholikos, not only as head of the church, but also
in a very real sense, as head of the nation, this ceremony is attended
by many pilgrims from the various sections of the country. Having
assembled, the occasion is thus made a great deal more of than if it
were an ordinary event. The day is a festival day in the full meaning
of the term. Besides the services there is the banquet, the special
choir, and the band. The relics kept in the treasury, which it is
probable that most people who come have not seen before; also the
holy churches of St. Gaiane and St. Rhipsime, which are visited by
small groups throughout the day; and most of all the sacred altar of
the Cathedral, where Christ descended in the vision of St. Gregory,
are special attractions. And then there is the library where many
ancient and precious manuscripts are exhibited, the institution of
the monastery, the garden of the Katholikos, the printing press, and
the seminary, all of which are of interest to the spectator. In fact
there is sufficient to induce the pilgrims to remain for a number of
days, which many of them do. The grounds are provided with a pilgrim's
court surrounded by guest chambers utilized at this time. Naturally
enough the various monuments suggest the traditions and legends with
which they are connected, such as the traditions of St. Gregory,
Tiridates, the legends of St. Rhipsime and St. Gaiane, and the other
legends associated with the introduction of Christianity. Although
centered about a religious ceremony which probably lasts no longer
than fifteen minutes, the occasion is thus made a festival, and is
about as important in fostering a real sentiment of patriotism and
of church loyalty as any other single festival.
The ceremony of the manufacture of the holy oil is not of such central
importance. It also, however, has the advantage of not occurring very
frequently, coming as it does only once in every four years. This
together with the general utility of the oil in all of the various
church ceremonies, plus the superstitions connected with it, is
sufficient to induce pilgrims to make the journey to Sis in Cilicia,
where the ceremony is held. It is again this assembly of pilgrims
that gives the ceremony a social importance. In a nation like the
United States where all parts are connected by railroads, telegraphs,
and telephones, such a pilgrimage would have comparatively little
social value. Except for government centers, there are no telegraphs
in Armenia, the telephone is known only in a few cities, and railroads
there are none. This lack of communication gives such ceremonies to
which pilgrimages are made a very special social value which they
otherwise would not at all have. The electoral assemblies spoken of
have the same value, and for the same reason. The Armenian is not a
person to be silent, and talks even when prudence is the better part
of valour. He criticizes, condemns, and praises openly, fearlessly,
and carelessly, and such a gathering of pilgrims, or electors, if
it means anything, would mean a wholesale exchange of facts relating
to current events, opinions, and rumors with reference to politics,
religion, and every phase of social and industrial life.
The Blessing of the Water can not be said to have so great a social
value, occurring as it does in some parts of the country once every
week. And yet this service is unusually well attended, largely because
of the superstitions connected with the blessed water. Religion here
appears to offer its biggest attraction to the less fortunate, such
as the rheumatic, the tubercular, the dyspeptic, the epileptic, and
the feeble-minded. But enough facts have been mentioned to show that
the Armenian church is something more than an institution of cure and
relief. It has identified itself too completely with the common life
by keeping alive the streams and cross currents of social activity
to admit of such a supposition.
The ceremony of Maundy Thursday, or Washing of the Feet, is, of
the four I have mentioned, of the least social importance. But it
is generally attended, especially by the women who are compelled
by the ban of custom to complete their house-cleaning before this
service begins. And then too, it is the commencement of the Easter
celebration, and as such has a distinct festival value. I have
reviewed them therefore in the order of their social importance. The
consecration of the Katholikos first; second the making of holy oil;
third, the Blessing of the Water, and finally, the Washing of the Feet,
which complete the second group of festivals.
CHAPTER IV
PRIVATE FESTIVAL OCCASIONS
SECTION 1. BAPTISM
The third group of festivals comprises those connected with the common
life of the people, including the ceremonies of baptism, betrothal,
marriage, and funeral. The church is vitally related to each of them,
and they are of importance here because of their social value, which
I shall again endeavor to point out.
First after birth, the most important event in the life of every
Armenian child is that of baptism, for the belief is that the
unbaptized child has no soul. The infant is therefore generally
baptized on the day after birth, and when this is impossible always
within eight days of birth. If the child is sick there is all the more
reason to hurry; in this case the essential parts of the ceremony are
performed in the home, the remainder being celebrated at the church at
some later time. The very first thing to be done therefore after the
birth of a child is to make the necessary preparations for baptism,
which are very elaborate in the case of the first-born, especially if
the child is a boy. [163] A girl is always better than no child at all,
but not much better. A godfather and godmother are selected, presents
are exchanged between them and the parents of the child, invitations
are sent to friends and relations, and at a fixed time the assembled
people form a procession to the church, led by the midwife holding the
child. The godfather pays all expenses, and therefore such splendor as
the ceremony may have in the way of special ornaments for the altar,
numbers of priests, and a large choir, is determined by him. After the
group has properly assembled at the church, the priest takes the child
from the midwife and gives it to the godfather. The profession of faith
follows immediately and then the priest turns to the west to abjure the
devil and to the east to invoke the Trinity. [164] Having placed the
hem of his chasuble upon the babe, the priest proceeds to the sacristy
reciting a psalm, and followed by the people. The central event now
takes place. The baptism consists of three immersions in the name of
the Holy Trinity. First water is poured over the head of the child,
after which the whole body is plunged into the water. Confirmation is
administered right after the ceremony of immersion, and takes place
upon the altar of the church proper, before the image of the Blessed
Virgin. The forehead, eyes, ears, nose, mouth, hands, back, breast
and upper part of the feet of the infant are anointed with holy oil,
and two wax tapers are placed in the hands of the godfather while
carrying the child. The priest then takes the tapers and the babe,
consecrates and confirms him by three profound inclinations before
the altar, gives candles and child back to the godfather and blesses
both. Now the child may be called by its Christian name, which is
usually that of a saint. [165] Led by the priest and the singing
choir, the procession now starts back to the home of the little one,
still carried by the godfather who continues to hold the candles. When
he reaches the door of the mother, she kneels and prostrates herself
before him. He in turn delivers the child to the mother's arms who may
now kiss it for the first time, the child not having been kissed by
any one from the moment of birth to the delivering over to the mother
by the godfather after baptism. Others may now also kiss the babe,
and each endeavors to be the first, for there is a superstitious value
attached to the first kiss following the mother's after baptism. The
priests and the family of the godfather spend the evening in the
child's home. They are served constantly by the father who does not
himself sit down. For forty days the mother must keep her room, and
walk only in such parts of the house as are exposed to the sun. [166]
Having completed the fortieth day she and her babe are taken to
church by the grandmother. [167] On this occasion the young mother
must bring an offering, which in times past was a rich Persian rug,
but is now merely a package of tapers. She waits at the door of the
sacristy until the priest comes and leads her in before the high altar
where both mother and child receive a blessing. After this ceremony
she must visit th
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