THE CONVERSION OF ARMENIA TO THE CHRISTIAN FAITH HORACE HART, PRINTER TO THE UNIVERSITY THE CONVERSION OF ARMENIA TO THE CHRISTIAN FAITH BY W. ST. CLAIR-TISDALL, M.A., C.M.S. AUTHOR OF 'THE RELIGION OF THE CRESCENT,' ETC. ' Te Martyrum candidatus laudat exercitns: Te per orbem terrarnm sancta confitetur Ecclesia. Tu Rex Gloriae, Christe I '-Te Deum. THE RELIGIOUS TRACT SOCIETY 56 PATERNOSTER ROW AND 65 ST. PAUL'S CHURCHYARD [A /l n'ghts reserved J PREFACE DURING the last few years the world ha~ witnessed a terribl.e spectacle. We nave seen a Christian nation in Asia, of the same Aryan blood as ourselves, suffering the most cruel wrongs at the hands of the Turks and their confederates, the Kurds. We have seen members of this Christian nation, men and women and little children, massacred in tens qf thousands, and our illustrated papers have presented us with photographic views of some of these terrible scenes. We have read of large numbers dying a martyr's death rather than embrace Islam, and have heard of those who had less courage and faith being driven at the point of the sword to repeat the ,creed of the. Arabian Antichrist. We have beheld some­ thing more strange still - the Christian nations of Europe hampered in their endeavours to put a stop to this state of things by their mutual ·distrust and jealousy of one another. And thus, as we draw near the end of the nineteenth century, our news­ papers are quietly discussing the question whether or not Turkey will succeed in exterminating the 6 PREFACE whole Christian population of her Armenian provinces, or in forcing upon them, at the sword's point, an apostasy worse than death. It may not be amiss, therefore, at the present junc­ ture to inquire into the early history of the Armenian nation, and more particularly to study the conversion of Armenia to the Christian faith. The writer of the following pages began this investigation for his own information, and is impelled to offer to the public the result of his studies in this field of research, partly by the interest attaching to the subject itself, and partly by the hope of thereby doing something to enable European Christians more readily to sympathize with their Armenian brethren in their present affliction. My residence in J ulfa, the Armenian suburb (if I may so style it) of I~fahan, and the fact that I had for a time the superintendence of an Armenian congre­ gation here in connexion with the Church Missionary Society, have not only given me an opportunity of studying the Armenian language, but have even rendered such a course of study incumbent upon me. I have thus been enabled to draw my information at first hand from Armenian historians, some of whom were contemporary with many of the most prominent actors in the great work of converting Armenia to faith in Christ. This has more than compensated for my not being able to refer to any European works PREFACE 7 whatever on the subject, except in so far as a limited classical library and a few patristic works could render me assistance. This little work is therefore based entirely upon original Armenian authorities, <;is far as its' main argument is, concerned. The chief Armenian authors whom I have consulted are those mentioned in the fQllowiilg list :- ARMENIAN AUTHORITIES. Century Edition Author and name ef work quoied. wizen composed. used. 1. Agathangelos, Patmouthizm • IV Tiflis, 1882. 2. Faustus Byzanfim1s, Patmouthiun Jfayots IV St. Petersburg, 1883. 3. Moses of Khorene, Pat111011t!ii1m.lfayots v Amsterdam, or Azgaba1wuthiun Tofz111in Habethean 1692. 4. Koriun, Sb. Mesrovpah Keankhn . v Venice, 185+ 5. Elisha (Eghishe), Vasn Vardanats ev {Venice, 1864. Jfayots Paterazmin v Tillis, 1879. 6. Eznik Koghbatsi, Eghds Aghandots v Constantino- ple, 187.J. 7. Thomas Ardsroun1, Patmout!tizm Tann x St. l'etersburg, Ardsrouneats 18S7. 8. Chhamchheants, Fatmoutltiim Jfayots, XVIII Venice, 178~- 3 vols. 86; 9. K/zrakh~an, 1/a111arot Patmoztthizm XIX J?ayots 10. Sylvester Hovl].annesean, lfamarot XIX Julfa, I877. Patmoutht'un J?ayols l I. I,Iaikakan ,(fin Dprout!iian Patmouthi"zm XlX Ve1;ice, l 886. I 2. ,(faikakan Tlzarg111anouthfzmk!t ll'akh· · XIX Venice, 1889. neats . _13. Stephen Palasanean, Patmoutliizen XIX Tillis, 1890. ifayots, skzbits minchhev mer 6reri! 8 PREFACE Besides these I have made use of extracts from Lazarus Pharpetsi (fifth century), Zenobius (fourth century), and other early writers, quoted at some length in Chhamchheants and /faikakan /fin Dprou­ thiun ; and I have found most valuable the selections from a variety of modern writers (mostly Armenian, but some Russian) contained in Entir Ifatouadsner (Tiflis, 1889 ). The system of transliteration I have. used for Ar­ menian names (except the best known, e. g. Tigranes) is an exact one, but it would weary the ordinary reader and be unnecessary to the Armenian scholar to explain it at length. Suffice it to say that the a is always long, and is pronounced like the German a in aber, while the dotted r and the d are cerebral letters, and a parasitic y is heard before e and a v before o. Kh printed in italics is pronounced like the German eh, and kh not so printed is sounded as ·in inkhom. Besides the Armenian writers mentioned above, I also owe something to Eusebius, and less to other early Greek and Roman patristic writers. I have of course consulted Herodotus, Xenophon, and Polybius, Livy, Tacitus, Suetonius, Velleius Paterculus, &c., for that portion of the work in which aid could be expected from them. Any other writers to whom I am at all indebted I have mentioned in the foot- PREFACE 9 notes zn loco. For dates I have generally depended upon Stephen Palasanean's able and valuable work mentioned above. It may be asked why I have continued the narrative up to the fall of the Arsacide dynasty in Armenia, instead of pausing at the death of Gregory the Illumi­ nator. The answer is that the Armenians themselves, in the days of which I have written, rightly considered that Gregory's great work remained incomplete until the translation of the Bible into Armenian was finished in A. D. 436, as we learn from Lazarus Pharpetsi, a contemporary historian. I trust the interest of the subject-matter of the narrative will serve to plead my excuse for taking the same view. In conclusion I have only to express my hope that the manifold defects and shortcomings of this little volume-written during the few hours at night which I could spare from my missionary duties-will be pardoned, and will not be suffered to hinder its use­ fulness. I may be permitted to add that I agree generally with the views expressed, and still more with the hopes implied, in reference to his nation's future destiny in the following passage from an Armenian writer of the present century : 'From all indications it appears that this very nation has been by Divine Providence chosen as the means of spreading Christianity and civilization in IO PREFACE the East. There is no doubt that the circumstance that this Christian population is diffused over a great extent of country-from Morocco to China-and at the same time that all its members are bound to one another by religious ties, has a great historical and universal significance.' W. ST. CLAIR-TISDALL. JULFA, l~FAHAN, PERSIA, CONTENTS CHAPTER I. PAGE THE COUNTRY AND ITS PEOPLE 15 CHAPTER II. EARLY HISTORY TO THE TIME OF CHRIST CHAPTER III. MYTHOLOGY OF THE ANCIENT ARMENIANS 43 CHAPTER IV. FIRST lNTRODUCT!Ol\ OF THE GOSPEL CHAPTER V. THE INTERVAL BETWEEN THE FIRST AND SECOND PREACH­ ING OF THE GOSPEL 74 CHAPTER VI. ARMENIAN MANNERS AND CUSTOMS UNDER THE ARSACIDES 91- CHAPTER VII. TIRIDATJts, GREGORY, AND THE MARTYRDOM OF RHIPSIM~ 107 CHAPTER VIII. TRIUMPH OF CHRISTIANITY IN ARMENIA 12 CONTENTS CHAPTER IX. PAGr: CONCLUSION OF THE LIFE-WORK OF GREGORY AND TIRI- DATtS 168 CHAPTER X. CHARACTERISTICS OF THE CHRISTIANITY INTRODUCED INTO ARMENIA BY GREGORY AND HIS COMPANIONS CHAPTER XI. SUCCESSORS OF GREGORY AND OF TIRIDATES CHAPTER XII. THE LAST YEARS OF THE ARSACIDE DYNASTY CHAPTER XIII. MESJ!.OP, SAl;IAK, AND THE ARMENIAN BIBLE 228 CHAPTER XIV. CONCLUSION 244 APPENDIX. THE STORY OF ABGAR AND THE FIRST INTRODUCTION OF CHRISTIANITY INTO 0SROENE AND ARMENIA INDEX 253 s ARMENIA AND NEIGHBOURING COUNTRIES Rommt JJfites f 50 IOO :JjO 2p0 Greek Stadia 400 8oo 1200 Per~ian . Para s any /J 2o 40 6o 8o .CHAPTER I THE COUNTRY AND ITS PEOPLE ••• •Nee Armeniis in oris, Amiee Valgi, stat glacies iners Menses per omnes.' HORACE, Carminum II. ix. 4-6. ARMENIA is a land of extremes. Owing to its geographical situation, and the great variety to be found in the configuration of the country, at different seasons and in different parts of the land, the most tropical heat and a cold that is almost Arctic may be met with. It, however, has also regions where the climate may well be compared with that of the Azores and the islands that lie off Spain and Italy. This great variety of climate is in large measure due to a corresponding variety in the elevation of the land. Many of the highest mountain-peaks of Europe are lower than the great plateaus from which flow the silver streams which ultimately develop into such rivers as the Euphrates, the Tigris, the Kour, the Araxes and the Aradzan. The Simplon and St. Gothard Passes are lower than the blue surface of beautiful Lake Sevan, round which-till lately-there were clustered thousands of populous villages.