THE SENSE OF AN ENDING Eschatological Prophecy and the Armenian Historiographical Tradition (7th-10th Centuries)* From the earliest historical writings in Armenian, eschatological proph- ecy1 has played a prominent role in the interpretation of socio-political change. A recently published collection presented several facets of how apocalyptic texts and eschatological prophecies figure in that tradition2. None of the contributions to that volume, however, specifically addresses the role of eschatological prophecy in Armenian historiography of the seventh to tenth centuries. This article attempts to partially fill that lacuna by examining how eschatological prophecy was employed in the Arme- nian historiographical tradition in response to the Arab invasions of the Caucasus of the seventh century and to the continuation of Arab political dominance in the region into the early tenth3. While this question has not been the focus of a separate study, certain aspects of the role of eschatological prophecy in reaction to the Arab invasions of the seventh century have received scholarly treatment. Tim Greenwood, in particular, has emphasized the role of “apocalyptic” in the History attributed to Sebēos. Some of his arguments, however, deserve to be revisited, especially his assessment of the History as an apocalyptic text and his analysis of other witnesses to seventh-century Armenian eschatological expectations. In addition to re-evaluating this material, this article will propose that the eighth-century History of Łewond also pre- serves evidence for the heightening of eschatological tensions in Armenia in the seventh century as well as in the second half of the eighth following * I would like to extend my deep appreciation to Prof. Alison Vacca of the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, for her gracious feedback and encouragement. The first part of the title of this essay is a nod to Frank Kermode’s 1967 book of that name. 1 I use the phrase “eschatological prophecy” to refer to predictions of an end, whether that be the End of the World (to eschaton in the technical sense), or the end of a political order such as the Caliphate. The prediction can be an “actual” prophecy created or reported by an author that refers to a future moment, or it can reflect the interpretative fulfillment of a biblical prophecy. 2 BARDAKJIAN – LA PORTA, Armenian Apocalyptic. See also GARSOÏAN, Reality and Myth, p. 136-143. 3 This essay does not address the interpretation of foreign invasion and domination as a tool of divine punishment for sins shared by Armenian and other Eastern Christian historio- graphical traditions; on which see, for example, GARSOÏAN, Reality and Myth; THOMSON, Christian Perception, p. 40; HOYlAND, Seeing Islam, p. 524-526. Le Muséon 129 (3-4), 363-393. doi: 10.2143/MUS.129.3.3180784 - Tous droits réservés. © Le Muséon, 2016. 99279_Museon_2016_3-4_05_LaPorta.indd 363 29/11/16 06:05 364 s. la poRta the ‘Abbāsid revolution. I will argue, however, that Łewond himself not only does not share the eschatological expectations and interpreta- tive framework of his contemporaries, but also actively tries to suppress them. Finally, this article examines whether an end-time perspective regarding Muslim Arab rule can still be discerned in the tenth-century histories of T‘ovma Arcruni and Yovhannēs Drasxanakertc‘i. Through- out this essay, I try to bring the Armenian examples into conversation with other eschatological expectations in neighboring traditions in order to highlight how the Armenian evidence fits into a broader Eastern Med- iterranean framework. 1. Revisiting Sebēos The seventh-century History attributed to Sebēos represents one of the earliest Christian attempts to include the rise of the Arabs4 within its his- toriographical scope5. The compiler of this text begins by briefly recount- ing the rebellion of Vahan Mamikonian in the 480s against the Sasanian Shāh Pērōz, but quickly passes to the middle of the sixth century and completes his narrative with the victory of the Caliph Mu‘āwiya after the first Arab civil war (fitna) in ca. 661, the likely point of composition of the History. His account presents the rise of the Arabs as a continuation of Armeno-Byzantine-Sasanian conflict, and its author famously uses the four-beast / four-kingdom schema of Daniel 7 to explain the change in the socio-political topography of the region following Arab ascendancy6. In his explanation, the four beasts of Daniel’s vision indicate the four kingdoms of the earth, which are distinguished geographically rather than chronologically. Thus, the first beast represents the kingdom of the west, that is, of the Greeks; the second beast, that of the east or of the Sasanians, 4 I will refer to what is often called the rise of Islam as the rise of the Arabs when dis- cussing seventh-century narratives as it is clear that the political implications of the Arab military victories were foregrounded in the authors’ imagination. The religious “threat” posed by Islam seems to have only emerged later. See also the comments of THOMSON, Muhammad, p. 830-831; for the analogous situation among Syriac writers, see PENN, Envi- sioning Islam, p. 53-63. 5 Edition: Sebēos, Patmut‘iwn; English translation with commentary: THOMSON – HOWARD-JOHNSTON, Armenian History. As noted above, GREENWOOD, Sasanian Echoes, has provided a detailed treatment of the eschatological elements in the History. I will therefore not repeat all of his arguments nor all of the questions he addresses, but point out the sig- nificant eschatological themes in the work and those instances where my interpretation differs from his. 6 Sebēos, Patmut‘iwn, p. 141-142; THOMSON – HOWARD-JOHNSTON, Armenian History, p. 105. On the Book of Daniel in the Armenian tradition, see COWE, Reception. 99279_Museon_2016_3-4_05_LaPorta.indd 364 29/11/16 06:05 THE SENSE OF AN ENDING 365 including the Persians, Medians, and Parthians; the third, the kingdom of the north, which is Gog and Magog and their companions, a likely refer- ence to the invasions of the Western Turkic Khaganate, aligned with the Emperor Heraclius, in 626 and 628/97; and the fourth beast, the kingdom of the south or the kingdom of the sons of Ishmael, “‘which shall be greater than all [other] kingdoms; and it will consume the whole earth’8.” Greenwood has studied the composition of the History in detail and has convincingly showed that the last third of the work, in which the three references to Daniel are found, should be attributed to the pen of the compiler of the History himself and be seen to reflect his own concerns9. In the final chapter of his work, the author humbly claims that his narrative has been constructed “in accordance with the unintelligent thought of my own mind” (ěst anhančar xorhrdoy mtac‘s imoc‘), but he has found confirmation of his account in the prophetic writings10. There follows a litany of biblical citations that he interprets as predicting the Muslim defeat of the Roman Empire. For the compiler of the History, then, prophecy provided a logical explanation and ‘proof’ for his own interpretation of historical events. Greenwood further argues, correctly in my opinion, that the com- piler’s application of the Danielic schema represents more than just a way of endowing the past with significance, it reveals his own perspec- tive that the end was imminent11. Reacting to the first Arab fitna (656- 61) and the brief resurgence of Byzantium and of the pro-Byzantine party in Armenia, Sebēos educes a quotation forged from Is. 13:6 and Jer. 46:21 to support his analysis of the eventual destruction of the Caliphate as well, which “will be fulfilled in its own time” (kataresc‘i i žamanaki iwrum)12. 7 GREENWOOD, Sasanian Echoes, p. 376-377, thinks that the compiler had difficulties finding a suitable power in the recent past that could be identified with the northern king- dom. Based on the “Table of Contents” of the work, which mentions Heraclius’ meeting with the king of the T‘ētalac‘ik‘ (to be identified with the Western Turkic Khaganate) and the sending out of a large number of people, he tentatively suggests that the text may have originally contained passages that covered these invasions. On the identification, see now GREISIgER, Messias, Endkaiser, Antichrist, p. 229-230. 8 Dan. 7:23. 9 GREENWOOD, Sasanian Echoes, p. 375. 10 Sebēos, Patmut‘iwn, p. 176-177; THOMSON – HOWARD-JOHNSTON, Armenian His- tory, p. 152. GREENWOOD, Sasanian Echoes, p. 373, remarks that this is not just a sign of false humility, but reflects an actual admission on the part of the compiler of the chrono- logical incoherence of the text at points. 11 GREENWOOD, Sasanian Echoes, p. 377-388. 12 Sebēos, Patmut‘iwn, p. 177; THOMSON – HOWARD-JOHNSTON, Armenian History, p. 153. On the textual complexity of the conclusion of Sebēos’ account, see THOMSON – HOWARD-JOHNSTON, Armenian History, p. 151-152, n. 923. 99279_Museon_2016_3-4_05_LaPorta.indd 365 29/11/16 06:05 366 s. la poRta I would also suggest that the compiler’s view of the imminence of the eschaton may rest behind his reorientation of Daniel 7 from a temporal axis to a spatial one, an uncommon reading that explicitly contradicts the text. By flattening out or compressing history, so to speak, he is able to both heighten the intensity of the coming end as well as express it as a global phenomenon encompassing all four directions of the earth and not just as a local event13. On the other hand, Greenwood’s arguments that the lack of an Anti- christ episode in the History is indicative of a greater sense of urgency in the compiler; and that the presence of that episode in the Apocalypse of Ps.-Methodius represents a way of distancing the end from the present are unconvincing14.