CHAPTER V

SUMMARY

Such are the festivals treated in the second and last part of this thesis. Is it true that they form a vehicle of expression for the national sentiment created by the large mass of social material of which the legends of Part One are a considerable and important portion? Again it will be necessary to remind ourselves of the chief sentiments included within Armenian national sentiment, i.e., the sentiment of loyalty to the church, the sentiment of reverence amounting almost to worship for the ancient glory of the nation, and the sentiment of love for the country. It would be ridiculous to suppose that every festival was designed to give expression to some one of these sentiments. But that these sentiments are given very clear, very real outward expression in the great majority of the celebrations described, should be so evident at this point as to make further exposition unnecessary. In the summer Festival of Vartavar, the spring Festival of Mihr, Vartan's Day, and in the consecration of the Katholikos there is the proud and reverent looking back to the times when Armenia was an independent nation; the festival ceremonies of the third group, baptism, betrothal, marriage, and funeral, though they are not positive expressions of the sentiments of loyalty to the church, are yet so completely interwoven with the church and dependent upon it that one is compelled to regard the feeling as something to be taken for granted, while in most of the festivals of the second group, Christmas, Easter, Maundy Thursday, and the Blessing of the Grapes especially, the sentiment is given a more positive expression. As for the sentiment of love for the country, that is identified especially with Vartavar and Vartan's Day. It is evident, therefore, that each of these festivals and festival-ceremonies forms a medium more or less evident as the case may be, for the expression of one or more or all of the sentiments that make up Armenian national sentiment. Some of them are not to be classified as readily as this, as for example, the festival of Ascension morning, or Fortune-Telling Day, in which the dominant sentiment is one of romantic love, or in the Blessing of the Water, where the desire for a gain in health or wealth is the main psychological fact.

Each one of these festivals, however, is a great deal more than the putting into activity of some of the above sentiments. In many of them the play-instinct is clearly evident, while in a few such as Vartavar, the whole self, with all its sentiments, instincts, tendencies, and emotions, is given the fullest and most unrestrained freedom. A festival, if it is anything, is a letting loose of the reins; there is nothing to hinder, nothing to keep back, nothing to hide, nothing to fear, and the self reaches out in a higher consciousness of fullness and completeness of living. As such it would be the greatest of fallacies to suppose any one of the festivals to be restricted to a particular sentiment. Nevertheless, it is clear, that the festivals do constitute vehicles of expression for the sentiments that make up Armenian national sentiment.

CONCLUSIONS

The general conclusions to which this study unmistakably gives rise are in respect to the national traits of the Armenian people. These traits have been brought out both explicitly and implicitly in connection with the various legends and festivals considered, and it is my purpose, therefore, to summarize and substantiate them at this point. They include, first, the superstitiousness, second, the conservatism, third, the self-sufficiency, and lastly the familism of the people.

First of these qualities, superstitiousness, may be ascribed in large measure to geographical isolation. The country to be sure, is so situated as to form a highway from Europe to the Mesopotamian valley, and from Asiatic Russia to the Mediterranean, and although it has been overrun by Assyrians, Greeks, Parthians, Romans, Persians, Turks, Egyptians, and still others, yet we must speak of it as isolated, for the science that has brought remote countries into contact has not affected Armenia to any considerable degree. Subject to a backward nation, lacking all modern means of communication, the country is shut off and the plows of civilization have not yet furrowed the social soil of superstition. How general these superstitions are is brought out especially by the festivals described, many of which have given rise to a superstition or a group of superstitions. From Vartavar, there came the belief that the dust from the sacred altar served as a talisman for children learning their A B C's; the spring fire festival gave rise to the practice of taking home a glowing brand for good luck; there is the belief that the blessed water will cure various diseases, and that the oil scraped from the anointed foot with a walnut given by the priest after washing the feet at the ceremony of Maundy Thursday, will keep a supply of butter throughout the year. And then there are the beliefs in the miraculous power of the holy oil, manufactured with due ceremony every four years at Sis; in the healing power of the various sacred relics kept at Etchmiadzin and other places, and ten thousand others. There are also beliefs not of a religious character as the above, such as the one in regard to the tetagush, the little locust-eating bird, which is supposed to be attracted by Ararat spring water. The same superstition obtains in other parts of the country with the difference that the inconvenience of obtaining Ararat spring water makes it necessary for the people to believe in the peculiar efficacy of other springs. These illustrations are sufficient, and although it could hardly be proved that Armenians are more innately superstitious than the Anglo-Saxon ancestors who believed only a few generations ago in the power of the malignant eye, and that an innocent person might pass through fire unharmed, yet their superstitious nature and beliefs are present-day facts explained most completely on the ground of comparative isolation from the rest of the world.

Second of the national characteristics of the people clearly brought out by this study is their conservatism. This may also be traced in large measure to their secluded condition, but in larger proportion is it due to the solidarity and national consciousness, which naturally consider innovations as foreign, and intrusions of foreign cultures, ideals, customs, and manners as hostile. That this is true is indicated conclusively by the fact that in Constantinople, where Armenian culture has naturally come in conflict with that of the Greek, the Turk, and the European, the Armenians have not at all given up their ways to imitate any of the three peoples mentioned. To be sure they have not adhered rigidly to the old beliefs and practices of the interior. Comparison has resulted in substitution, and conflict between the rational and irrational, the utile and the inutile, has meant displacement, but invariably by something distinctly different from the usages and practices current among Turk or European. That is, Armenians are themselves centers of imitation by fellow Armenians who, though they follow the lines suggested by their fellow countrymen, scorn to imitate even the European, whose superiority is generally recognized in Constantinople. The Armenian, recognizing no superior, has merely modified his own practices, usages, manners, and customs to suit his changed environment. And therefore I say that the characteristic Armenian conservatism is due rather to a strong feeling of nationality than to isolation.

The conservatism of the church has been an important element. Refusing to have anything to do with the decisions of the Council of Chalcedon, the church became independent and has maintained a policy of the most rigid ultra-conservatism ever since. Says Ormanian:

The Armenian church would have nothing to do with this transaction (Chalcedon) which was prompted by a design that had no bearing on theology. She remained firm in her original resolve, and ever maintained an attitude of ultra-conservatism. She set herself to resist every new dogmatic utterance said to emanate from revelation, as well as every innovation which could in any way pervert the primitive faith. [181]

That this same spirit is reflected in the social life of the people is something one would naturally expect, in view of the important influence of the church over the entire life of the people. As the father of the Alan princess replied when requested to give the hand of his daughter to Artasches, "From whence shall brave Artasches give thousands upon thousands and ten thousands upon tens of thousands unto the Alans in return for the maiden?" so to-day the first question that is asked when the hand of a young Armenian girl is requested in marriage is "What can he give for his bride?" The practice of wife purchase has only changed in that the required riches are given to the bride instead of to the father of the bride. Occasionally a young man is pressed to the point of mortgaging property in order to obtain the necessary funds, and it has been known that in many such cases the young bride found her treasure gone shortly after her marriage, her master having taken it to pay off his mortgage. So parents arrange for the marriage of their children, the young wife is delivered up to her husband as the obedient and submissive servant, children are baptized after they have scarcely opened their eyes, and church ceremonies are conducted much as they have been for generations.

The self-sufficiency of the Armenian people has been indicated in the repeated failures of missionary religions and foreign cultures to alter appreciably the native folkways and mores. In spite of political subordination to Islam, the Gregorian church has held tenaciously to its ideals and has successfully maintained its independence. The distinctive social tradition,--which includes the political and the religious traditions,--has remained intact in the face of recurrent invasion, vassalage, and persecution. The Armenian will not be assimilated. Death is preferable to the loss of those intangible realities that make the people a distinctive group. When Haic, the patriarchal progenitor of the race, was invited to "soften his hard pride," and to return to the kingdom of the god Bel, the alternative, war, was chosen. In the year 450, when the Persian fire-worshippers invited the Armenians to change their faith, the answer again was war. The reply to the decision of Chalcedon illustrates the same spirit. Likewise through the centuries of the immediate past the ever recurring answer to the Turk has been war. Powerless to assimilate the Armenian people, the Turk has had to annihilate or be annihilated. The self-sufficiency of the people thus reveals itself in the will to maintain the distinctive social tradition, regardless of cost or sacrifice.

The characteristic familism reveals itself not only in the customs of family life, but also in the very nature of the Armenian. In Russian Armenia there is a very active propaganda carried on by Russian girls to secure Armenian husbands because of the domesticity of the latter, which is in striking contrast to the adventurous unfaithfulness of the Russian husband, whose house becomes his prison, from which he therefore flees, leaving his wife and children to shift for themselves. The discontented Russian may be a more attractive lover for his "Wanderlust" and restlessness, but he is a less attractive husband for the same reason. An Armenian husband belongs in his home, where he lives in the hope that some day he may be the father of a huge household of married sons and grandsons. A young Armenian I know spoke to me of his wish that some day his father might collect the scattered sons and unite them and their families in a single household. This desire is so general among Armenians as to make it evident that the family is the all-important social unit. No reputation is so great as that carried by a good family name, nor is there any so damning as that which goes with a bad family name. And why is the young bride kept silent for years if not to ensure the all-essential family-unity, family-solidarity, and family-continuity,--that is, continuity of family tradition, manners, and customs? And why is the "patria-potestas" well-nigh unlimited if not for precisely the same reason? Nor is the taboo upon the young bride, according to which she may not speak to any young man not a relative during her entire life of marriage, of no significance in this connection. It too precludes family disruption, or blemish on the family name. Divorce and infidelity are very rare, all family differences having no tribunal outside the patriarch, who considers his greatest misfortune to be a lack of family integrity or oneness. Thus a son who has been swayed by Protestantism dares not clash with his father, and has no choice but to run away, while a daughter whose wishes are contrary can be disobedient only at the cost of breaking the family connection, to prevent which she is usually ready to make any sacrifice. All of this is no accident. Forced to dwell within the circle of the family group for seven, eight, or nine months during the year without so much as opening his door, because of the severity of winter, the life of the patriarch is inevitably centered in his household, and therefore also the self of each member is merged into the larger unit. This familism throws additional light on some of the conclusions I have insisted upon, for nothing so fosters conservatism as a substantial family solidarity; what could be more instrumental in passing on the national sentiment, and finally, what could be more favorable to the development of the self-sufficiency, the independence of Armenian character? In speaking of "familism and the well-knit family" Ross says; "Worshippers of the spirit of the hearth, they are more aloof from their fellows, slower therefore to merge with them or be swept from their moorings by them. It seems to be communion by the fire-side rather than communion in the public resort that gives individuality long bracing roots. The withdrawn social self, although it lacks breadth, gains in depth, etc." [182]

Any socially well-knit people possessing a distinctive social tradition, and characterized by a highly developed national consciousness, may make its contribution to the world's work, if it is given the necessary freedom. As the period of the Arsacidae kings brought forth the golden age of Armenian literature, so greater achievements may follow the political independence that is hoped for, and for which Armenians have valiantly struggled. Lord Bryce writes of the Armenian race, "It is the only one of the native races of Western Asia that is capable of restoring productive industry and assured prosperity to the now desolate region that was the earliest home of civilization." In the past, the energy of the people has been wasted in ceaseless conflict. Given a guarantee of territorial integrity, and participation in the affairs of government with the hope of future autonomy, the energies of strife will be diverted to the work of peace. Not until then can the high calling expressed in the words of Lord Bryce be realized.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Abeghian, A. Der armenische Volksglaube. Leipzig. 1899.

Agathange. Histoire du règne de Tiridate. In Langlois, Collection des historiens de l'Arménie.

Anonymous. Easter service. Survey 36:167.

---- Armenian folk-lore. Fraser's Magazine (n.s.) 13:283-97.

Arnot, Robert. World's great classic series. Section on Armenian literature and folk-lore. New York. 1901.

Bent, J. T. Travels amongst the Armenians. Contemporary Review 70:695.

Blackwell, Alice, S. Preface to Seklemian's tales. New York. 1898.

Boyadjian, Z. C. Armenian legends and poems. London. 1916.

Brightman, F. E. Liturgies eastern and western. Oxford. 1896.

Bryce, J. Transcaucasia and Ararat. London. 1896.

Cesaresco, E. M. Folk-songs. London. 1886.

Chikhachev, P. A. Reisen in Kleinasien und Armenien. Gotha. 1867.

Clark, W. Armenian history. New Englander 22:507, 672.

Conybeare, F. C. Armenian church. Encyclopaedia Britannica 11th ed.

---- Armenian language and literature. Ibid.

---- Key of truth. Oxford. 1898.

---- Rituale Armenorum. Oxford. 1905.

Curzon, Robert. Armenia. London. 1854.

Dubois de Montpèreux. Voyages. Vols. 2, 3. Paris. 1839-43.

Elisée Vartabed. Histoire de Vartan et de la guerre des Arméniens. In Langlois, Collection.

Emin, M. Movses--Khorenatzi yev Hayotz Hin Veber. Tiflis. 1886.

Faustus of Byzance. Bibliothèque historique. In Langlois, Collection.

Fortescue, E. F. K. The Armenian church. London. 1872.

Gelzer, H. Armenia. New Schaff Herzog Encyclopaedia.

Gibbon, Ed. Decline and fall of the Roman Empire. Vol. 3. New York. 1910.

Hodgetts, E. A. B. Round about Armenia. London. 1896.

Langlois, Victor. Collection des historiens de l'Arménie. Vols. 1, 2. Paris. 1867-1869. Contains translations of various historians dating from 2nd century before Christ to 5th century after Christ.

Lidgett, Elizabeth S. An ancient people. London. 1897.

Lynch, H. F. B. Armenia. Vols. 1, 2. London. 1901.

MacDougall, W. Social psychology. Boston. 1916.

Mar Apas Catina. Histoire ancienne de l'Arménie. In Langlois, Collection.

Mesrob, St. Maschtotz. Constantinople. No date given.

Moise de Khorene. Histoire de l'Arménie. In Langlois, Collection.

Ormanian, M. The Armenian church. London. 1912.

Radloff, W. Volksliteratur türkischen Stämme. St. Petersburg. 1866.

Raffi, A. Article on Armenia. In Boyadjian, Armenian legends and poems.

Rockwell, W. Publications of Hakluyt Society. Series 2, IV, and other references under "Armenia."

Ross, E. A. Social psychology. New York. 1917.

St. Martin, J. Mémoire sur l'Arménie. Paris. 1818-1819.

Seklemian, S. Golden maiden and other tales. New York. 1898.

Stubbs, W. Lectures on mediæval kingdoms. Oxford. 1887.

Tarde, G. Les lois sociales. Paris. 1898.

Tavernier, J. B. Voyages en Turquie en Perse et aux Indes. Vol. 3. Utrecht. 1712.

Terzian, P. Religious customs among Armenians. Catholic World 71:305, 509.

Trowbridge, T. C. Armenia and Armenians. New Englander 33:1.

Ubicini, J. H. A. Letters on Turkey. London. 1856.

Villari, Luigi. Fire and sword in the Caucasus. London. 1906.

Wilson, C. W. Armenia. Encyclopaedia Britannica 11th ed.

NOTES

[1] Detailed descriptions of geography and geology may be found in Lynch, Armenia; St. Martin, Mémoire sur l'Arménie, 2. Summary descriptions may be found in the New Schaff Herzog and Britannica encyclopedias.

[2] Robert Curzon, Armenia.

[3] Dubois de Montpèreux, Voyages 3:400.

[4] There is a belief that the toneer is sacred. "Nur der alte T'onir, der offen Backofen, der von den Iraniern entlehnt ist und am fünften Jahrhundert schon gebraucht wird, gilt überall in Armenien als heilig." Abeghian, Der armenische Volksglaube p. 3.

[5] Surrounded as Armenia was with almost all of the ancient civilizations, including the Parthians, Scythians, Medes, Assyrians, Babylonians, Persians, Greeks, and Romans, she was inevitably involved in continual warfare, while the central situation of the territory made it a common stamping ground for hostile armies. Langlois 1:ix.

[6] Ormanian, The Church of Armenia pp. 151-54.

[7] Mar Apas Catina. Langlois' Collection des Histoires de l'Arménie 1:16.

[8] St. Martin, Mémoire sur l'Arménie 1:281.

[9] Mar Apas Catina. Langlois 1:15-18.

Moses of Khorene. Langlois 3:63-64.

[10] St. Martin 1:306.

[11] Ibid. 1:282-3. Moses of Khorene 2:67-69.

Mar Apas Catina 1:26-27.

The first Arsacidae king of Armenia, Valarsace, whose reign began in 149 B.C. found the kingdom in general disorder and was the first to organize the country along national lines. As a Parthian he was unacquainted with the history and institutions of the people, and desiring to build upon the established foundation, such as it was, he sent a Syrian scholar, Mar Apas Catina by name, with a letter to his brother, Arsace, king of Persia, requesting the latter to allow the Syrian access to the royal archives with the view of finding a history of Armenia. Mar Apas Catina found an old MS containing a history of ancient Armenia which bore the name of no author, and which was translated from Chaldean to Greek by order of Alexander the Great. It was translated into Syriac by the Syrian scholar for the benefit of Valarsace, but the MS has been lost, and there is not the slightest trace of it anywhere. It must have been in existence however, during the fifth century after Christ for Moses of Khorene used it as his only source for Armenia's ancient history, in writing his general history of Armenia. The old MS being lost, the translation by Mar Apas Catina and the first part of the history of Moses are given as identical to each other in Langlois' collection of Armenian historians. The ancient history contains the legends of Haic, of Ara and Semiramis, and of Vahakn, some of the songs of heroes, still sung, and other matter which is strictly speaking not historical. As a history, therefore, it is unreliable and unauthentic, but from the standpoint of the social historian it is invaluable, for a belief is as important a fact to sociology as the dethronement of a king is to history.

[12] Boyadjian, Armenian Legends and Poetry p. 33.

[13] St. Martin 1:409.

[14] Lynch 2:65.

[15] Lynch, Armenia, chapter entitled "Van."

[16] Raffi, article in Boyadjian's Armenian Legends and Poetry, p. 125.

[17] Lynch, chapter on Van.

[18] Moses of Khorene 2:69.

[19] Ibid.

[20] Lynch 2:65.

[21] Moses of Khorene 2:68, 69.

[22] St. Martin 1:285.

[23] Raffi p. 129. Abeghian pp. 49, 50.

[24] Moses of Khorene 2:76. Translation from Moses, Boyadjian p. 10.

Mar Apas Catina 1:40.

[25] Mar Apas Catina 1:41. Moses of Khorene p. 76.

Moses of Khorene, called the Herodotus of Armenia, has written the best known history of the Armenian people. The work has been translated into Latin, Italian, French, German, and Russian. Moses lived in the fifth century, two centuries after the conversion of the nation to Christianity. He belonged to the second order of translators in the school of St. Sahag and St. Mesrob, and was sent to Syria, Egypt, Greece, and Rome in order to complete his studies. Upon returning to his country he found everything in disorder. St. Sahag and St. Mesrob were dead, the king had been overthrown, and he chose the life of solitude. Sometime later he was chosen bishop and requested by an Armenian prince, Sahag Bagratide, to write a history of his country, which task he took up with great enthusiasm. The translation of Mar Apas Catina was his only source for Armenian ancient history. He carefully differentiates hearsay from fact, never fails to stamp a fable or legend as such, and generally quotes his authorities where he has them. Considering the limitation of his materials, and the time in which he wrote, Moses wrote a really remarkable book, although the verdicts of a few critics have been unfavorable.

[26] Raffi p. 129.

[27] Lidgett, An Ancient People. St. Martin 1:409. Mar Apas Catina p. 41.

[28] The influence of Greek culture is chiefly indicated by the fact that the pagan divinities were Greek and that many temples were erected to these gods and goddesses all over the country. (Agathange, Histoire du Règne de Tiridate. Langlois 1:164-70.) Secondly, there were formed by St. Sahag and St. Mesrob in the fifth century after the conversion of the nation to Christianity, schools of translators, who studied in Greece, Egypt, and Rome and whose chief works were translations from the Greek. With the conversion (301) came the necessity for a written language, the characters of which were invented by St. Mesrob in 404. Thereupon were organized the schools of translators whose chief study of necessity was Greek, and whose translations and original works have given to the fifth century the title of "Golden Age of Armenian Literature." (Langlois 1:xxi-xxvi, 2:vii.)

[29] St. Martin 1:288, 289. Mar Apas Catina 1:41.

Moses of Khorene 2:81.

[30] Ibid.

[31] Gibbon, Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire 3:393.

Moses of Khorene 2:155.

[32] Ibid. pp. 88, 89.

[33] St. Martin 1:291. Moses of Khorene p. 88.

[34] Raffi p. 126.

[35] Langlois 1:ix, x. These songs of which Moses of Khorene very frequently speaks are classified by Langlois into songs of the first order, the second order, and the third order. The first are relative to the prowess of Armenian kings and gods; the second concern a long series of military exploits accomplished against the Assyrians, Medes, and Persians; the third refer especially to traditions in connection with the Assyrians. The birth-song of Vahakn is an illustration of the songs of the first order (p. x, xi). Flint in his History of the Philosophy of History, p. 42, speaks of this period of minstrelsy as necessarily preceding the use of letters everywhere. "The myth and legend interest primitive man more than real fact. His vision is more largely of the imagination than of the sense of judgment. It is an error to regard the rude minstrelsy which generally preceded the use of letters as essentially historical."

[36] Countess Evelyn Martinengo Cesaresco, Essays in the Study of Folk-Songs, chapter on Armenia.

[37] The battle of Avarair under the leadership of the celebrated Vartan, where Armenia defended her national ideals against the intrusion of Persia, is proof of this.

[38] Ormanian p. 22. Moses of Khorene p. 158.

[39] There are further proofs that may be cited. The history of English and French literature shows that the golden age of their literature followed a period of social integration along national lines. And it is true that the golden age of Armenian literature dawned with the closing decades of the Arsacidae dynasty, and continued several decades beyond. And finally, when Valarsace, the first Arsacidae, ascended the throne of Armenia, finding everything in a state of disorder, he organized the country along national lines. Dividing the kingdom into provinces he placed his governors at the heads of them; he organized a standing army, appointed guardians of the granaries, established courts of justice, a royal guard, and minutely regulated court life. What is most interesting is that he appointed two reporters, one to remind him in his anger, "le bien à faire," the other to remind him of the necessity for doing justice. Ibid. pp. 82-85.

[40] St. Martin 1:300. Moses of Khorene pp. 105-6.

[41] Ibid. p. 106.

[42] Boyadjian p. 49. Moses of Khorene p. 106. Moses as translated by Langlois, relates the story as legend, for after telling the tale, and quoting the songs he writes, "Voici maintenant le fait dans toute sa verité comme le cuir rouge est trés-estimé chez les Alains, Artaschés donne beaucoup de peaux de cette couleur, et beaucoup d'or en dot, et il obtient la jeune princesse Satenig. C'est là la lanière de cuir rouge garnie d'anneaux d'or. Ainsi dans les noces, ils chantent des légendes, en disant,

'Une pluie d'or tombait Au marriage d'Artaschés; Les perles pleuvait Aux noces de Satenig.'"

Moses likewise relegates the legend and songs of Artavasd to their proper places.

[43] Moses of Khorene p. 111.

[44] Translation from Moses by Boyadjian p. 65.

[45] Moses of Khorene p. 111.

[46] Raffi p. 42.

[47] St. Martin 1:appendix.

[48] Ibid.

[49] Clark, New Englander 22:507, 672. Raffi p. 127.

[50] That trees are worshipped even to-day, and that certain superstitions are bound up with them is clearly shown by Abeghian. "In den Gegenden Armeniens, wo das Land mit Wäldern bedeckt ist, werden viele sehr alte und grosse Bäume für heilig gehalten und ähnlicher Weise wie die Quellen verehrt. Man brennt vor ihnen Lichter. Weihrauch, opfert ihnen Hähne und Hammel, küsst sie, kriecht durch ihren gespaltenen Stamm durch, oder lässt magere Kinder durch ihre Löcher schlüpfen, um die Einwirkung der bosen Geister aufzuheben. Man glaubt dass vom Himmel Lichter auf die heiligen Bäume kommen, oder Heilige sich auf denselben aufhalten. Auch die Bäume geben Gesundheit, einige heilen alle Krankheiten.... Um von Bäumen Heilung zu bekommen soll man ein Stück von seiner Kleidung abreissen und damit den Baum umwickeln oder es auf den Baum nageln. Man glaubt dadurch seine Krankheit auf den Baum zu übertragen." Abeghian pp. 58, 59.

[51] Agathangelus p. 127. Emin, Recherches sur le Paganisme Arménien p. 9.

[52] Raffi, article in Boyadjian's Armenian Legends and Poetry.

[53] Tir is mentioned only once by Agathangelus (p. 164) and he is not mentioned by any other Armenian writers (Langlois 1:164). Emin compares him to the Greek Hermes or Mercury, probably because Agathangelus speaks of him as the recorder or reporter of Aramazd. (Emin p. 20, note 1.)

[54] Abeghian p. 4.

[55] He corresponds to the Persian Mithra and is hence of Persian origin and not Greek. The Greek translation of Agathangelus regards him as analogous to Vulcan, which Emin considers to be incorrect. (Agathangelus p. 168; Emin p. 20.)

[56] Raffi, article in Boyadjian's Armenian Legends and Poetry.

Seklemian's Tales. Preface by Blackwell.

[57] "Und auch heute pflegt man stellenweise niederzuknieen und zu beten: 'O du göttliche strahlende Sonne! Dein Fuss ruhe auf meinem Antlitz! Bewahre meine Kinder.'" u. s. w. Abeghian p. 43.

[58] Although the Greeks have identified Anahit with their goddess of chastity, Artemid, the Armenian goddess is not of Greek, but of Assyro-Babylonian origin according to Emin. Her name "Anahato" in ancient Persian means "Spotless." Agathangelus p. 126; Emin p. 10.

[59] Agathangelus. Langlois 1:127.

[60] Raffi p. 129.

Both Nane and Astghik are mentioned by Agathangelus who speaks of the latter as the Aphrodite of the Greeks. (Agathangelus p. 173.) Emin likens Nane to Venus. The fact is that very little is known of either. (Agathangelus p. 168; Emin, p. 16.)

[61] St. Martin 1:305, 306.

[62] In the reigns of Artasches I and Tigranes II, many Greek statues were imported from abroad, and the latter king not only constructed temples for the worship of Greek divinities, but also ordered all to offer sacrifices and to worship newly acquired gods and goddesses. (Moses of Khorene pp. 86-88.)

[63] St. Martin 1:295.

[64] Moses of Khorene p. 95.

[65] Moses of Khorene p. 96.

[66] Ibid.

[67] Ormanian p. 3.

[68] There is another legend of St. Thaddeus, according to which he converted Abgar and his whole court to Christianity, curing the king of his disease at the same time. (Moses p. 97.) Abgar, who died shortly afterword, divided his kingdom between his son and nephew. The former at once resumed the pagan worship while the latter was forced to apostatize. But the preaching and martyrdom of St. Thaddeus at the hand of Sanatruk, the nephew, is recorded by Faustus of Byzantium, one of the most reliable of early Armenian historians. (Faustus of Byzantium. Langlois 1:210. See also Lynch, Armenia 1:278, and Moses of Khorene pp. 98-99.)

[69] Lynch 1:286.

[70] St. Martin pp. 302, 303.

[71] Agathangelus. Langlois 1:115.

[72] St. Martin p. 303.

Agathangelus p. 122.

[73] St. Martin p. 304. Agathangelus p. 121.

[74] Agathangelus pp. 126-33.

[75] Ibid. p. 135.

[76] Lynch 1:256. Agathangelus p. 139.

[77] Critics have distinguished Agathangelus, the historian, from Pseudo Agathangelus, the meddler, who evidently had religious interests at stake. The former lived in the fourth century, and was secretary to Tiridates, who unquestionably commissioned him to keep the records of the events of his reign. He is spoken of by Moses and other ancient historians as sincere and reliable. It is thus assumed that the original work has been destroyed or lost, and that the Greek and Armenian texts now existing are the work of an interpolater who desired to weave the straggling skeins of religious sentiment into a single garment by establishing an historic and literary sanction to the religious events of the period of the conversion. There are many indications of this, chief of which is the highly imaginative style of narrative, undoubtedly designed with the particular intent of capturing the minds of the people. (Langlois' introduction to Agathangelus 1:99-108.)

[78] Langlois in his footnotes states that the chapel consecrated to St. Gaiane was constructed by the Katholikos Ezdras in the year 630. and repaired in 1652. The church of St. Rhipsime was built by the Katholikos Gomidas in 618, and repaired in 1653. The main cathedral was built by St. Gregory. They are situated in Etchmiadzin. (Dubois 3:213. Langlois 1:160, 162.)

[79] Lynch 1:291, note.

[80] Dubois 3:276.

[81] Bryce pp. 314, 315.

[82] Ormanian p. 13.

[83] Dubois 3:276.

[84] Ormanian p. 8.

[85] Agathangelus pp. 164-66.

[86] See Conybeare's translation and annotation of the Key of Truth, the book of the Paulicians (Adoptionists) of Thonrak. This book contains the baptismal and ordinal service of the Adoptionist church. (Especially pp. vi-xcxii.)

[87] Conybeare p. xcvii. The original is given by Conybeare as follows: "Dic mihi," says Archelaus, "super quem Spiritus Sanctus sicut columba descendit. Quis est etiam qui baptizatur a Ioanne si perfectus erat, si Filius erat, si vertus erat, non poterat Spiritus ingredi; sicut nee regnum potest ingredi intra regnum."

Lynch 1:279.

[88] Ibid. 1:282.

[89] Lynch 1:294.

Agathangelus pp. 164-66.

[90] St. Martin 1: appendix.

Elisée Vartabed, Histoire de Vartan. Langlois 2:190-91.

[91] Ibid. p. 195.

[92] Lidgett, An Ancient People.

The detailed events of this struggle against the Persians are told in the Histoire de Vartan et de la Guerre des Arméniens, by Elisée Vartabed who belonged to the second order of translators and served under General Vartan during the war, the history of which he narrates. After the sad ending of the series of dramatic incidents that made up this struggle for religious freedom, Elisée sought solitude and lived on herbs and roots in a mountainside cave which came to be known as the "cave of Elisée." Because of a growing social intimacy he was obliged to find a second cave in a more remote section of the country, where he completed his work and died. His history is written in the style of a religious mystic, is full of dramatic imagery, and has come down as an Armenian classic. (Langlois 2:179-82.)

[93] Lynch 1:313.

Ormanian p. 35.

[94] Ibid. p. 36.

[95] Genesis 8:4.

[96] James Bryce, Transcaucasia and Ararat p. 210.

St. Martin 1:264.

[97] St. Martin 1:267-68.

[98] Tavernier, Voyages 1:43.

[99] Bryce, Transcaucasia and Ararat, chapter on Ararat.

[100] Dubois 3:465.

[101] Arghuri means "Il sema la vigne." St. Martin pp. 266, 267.

[102] Dubois 3:465-68.

[103] Bryce, chapter on Ararat.

[104] Dubois 3:468.

[105] Countess Evelyn Martinengo Cesaresco, chapter on Armenian folk-songs. Fraser's Magazine (n.s.) 13:283-97.

[106] Fraser's Magazine (n.s.) 13:283-97.

[107] Ormanian p. 224.

Bertrand Bareilles, preface to the French edition of Ormanian p. xviii.

[108] Ormanian p. 243.

[109] Ibid. p. 177.

[110] Ubicini, Letters on Turkey.

Ormanian pp. 151, 152.

[111] Ibid. p. 173.

[112] Ibid. p. 141.

[113] Ubicini, Letters on Turkey.

[114] Ormanian p. 170.

[115] Ibid.

Ubicini, Letters on Turkey.

Tavernier 1:498, 499.

[116] Ormanian p. 152.

[117] Ibid.

[118] Lynch, chapter on Etchmiadzin.

Dubois 3:362, 363.

[119] See p. 30 of this thesis, note 32.

[120] Ormanian p. 74.

[121] Ibid.

For the relation of the church to the Turkish and Russian Governments see Lynch 1:269, also Ubicini, Letters on Turkey.

[122] That is, Pseudo Agathangelus.

[123] Raffi p. 128.

[124] Ibid.

[125] Seklemian's Tales. Preface by Blackwell.

[126] Abeghian pp. 72-74.

[127] The 13th of February according to the old style calendar corresponds to the 26th of February of the Latin calender.

[128] Abeghian p. 72.

[129] Ibid. p 20.

The remainder of the paragraph is a free translation of selected parts of pp. 20-22.

[130] Abeghian p. 22.

[131] Maschtotz, St. Mesrob. One third of the book is devoted to this purpose.

[132] Ormanian p. 189.

[133] Abeghian p. 23.

[134] Ibid. This and preceding paragraph are a free translation from selected sentences of pp. 23 and 24.

[135] Tavernier 1:507-9.

[136] Elisée.

[137] Lidgett, Ancient People.

[138] Ibid.

[139] Raffi p. 158.

[140] Translated by Miss Boyadjian, Armenian Legends and Poetry.

After the first and third lines of the charm song, the following line is sung, which I give in the German of Abeghian:

"Liebe Rose meine, liebe, liebe."

and after the second and fourth lines:

"Liebe Blume meine, liebe, liebe." (Abeghian p. 65.)

There are thousands of similarly constructed folk-songs treating a variety of subjects current among the people, many of which have been collected by an Armenian by the name of Tcheras, whose book, unfortunately, I have not been able to obtain. Miss Boyadjian has collected a few of them in her Armenian Legends and Poetry. However, I shall mention only such as are relevant to the festivals to be described.

[141] Abeghian pp. 61-62.

[142] World's Great Classic Series. Section on Armenian literature, with introduction by Robert Arnot. See David of Sassun pp. 57-79.

[143] Abeghian p. 51, 52.

Emin, Ancient Armenian Legends.

[144] Abeghian p. 62.

[145] These beliefs are analogous to those in connection with the bringing of healing water, or the water of perpetual life, the source of which is guarded by monsters, snakes, and scorpions. The hero steals cautiously to the source in order not to be observed by the watchmen, fills his vessel with water and hurries away, for the mountains and trees call out to warn the guardians of the source who awake and follow the hero. (Ibid. p. 63.)

[146] This part of the festivities is also accompanied with song. In Astapet the following song is sung by way of introduction:

"Holt einen grossen Meister, Lasset ihn den Hochzeitsrock meines geliebten zuschneiden Die Sonne sei der Stoff Der Mond diene als Futter. Stellt aus Wolken die Einfassung her, Wickelt aus dem Meer Seidengarn, Befestigt die Sterne in einer Reihe als Knopfe, Näht die ganze Liebe hinein." (Abeghian p. 64.)

[147] Abeghian pp. 63-66.

[148] Ormanian pp. 189-90.

[149] For the ritual side of this festival, the church ceremony known as the Blessing of the Crops, or the Blessing of Harvest, and the prayers in connection therewith, F. C. Conybeare's Ritual Armenorum, and St. Mesrob's Maschtotz may be consulted. The social side I have gotten from my wife who has taken part in the festival several times.

[150] A very common custom, especially in the interior villages of Armenia, is to give a lighted candle and an apple or orange in which small silver coins have been stuck, as gifts to the children. This is done by the eldest member of the family, usually the grandmother, at the time the younger ones come up to kiss her hand and receive her blessing.

[151] For a description of the Easter and Christmas fasts, see Tavernier, Voyages 1:497-98.

[152] The festivals of New Year's Day, Easter, and Christmas, I have described as related to me by my wife who has celebrated them in company with others in Constantinople. Such variations practiced in the interior of Armenia as I am aware of, I have indicated.

[153] F. C. Conybeare, Ritual Armenorum pp. 213, 294.

[154] Survey 36:167. Anonymous.

[155] Tavernier, Voyages 1:496.

[156] Dubois 3:441.

[157] Ormanian p. 177.

[158] F. C. Conybeare, Ritual Armenorum p. 224.

[159] Brightman, Eastern Liturgies, chapter on Armenian Liturgy. For an interesting variation of this ceremony see Tavernier 1:502.

Closely related to this ceremony is that of the blessing or purifying of a well. A well is not used until a priest has first blessed it, or if the water of a well becomes impure, it is necessary to purify it by the blessing of a priest. The latter takes a cross and a Bible and having requested the people to draw a pail of water which is thrown away, a second pail is drawn, over which the priest reads a psalm. The water is then blessed with the cross, incense is burned over the well, and the pail of water is emptied back. (Maschtotz.)

[160] Lynch 1:203, 204.

[161] Contemporary Review 70:695. J. T. Bent.

Tavernier, 1:500, 501.

[162] The people believe that the holy relic causes the mixture to boil.

[163] Catholic World 11:301. Paul Terzian.

[164] According to Maschtotz the devil is abjured and the Trinity invoked at the gate of the church. In the course of the ceremony the priest unclothes the babe and asks the godfather, "What seeks the child?" The godfather answers, "Faith, Hope, Love, and Baptism, to be cleansed from his sins and to be freed from the devils." The three immersions are symbolical of the three days of burial of Christ. (Maschtotz.)

[165] In the description of baptism as witnessed by Tavernier, red and white threads were laid about the neck of the child at this point in the ceremony. They represent the blood and body of Christ and are probably believed to keep away the evil eye. Beads and various other charm tokens are commonly used for this purpose. (Tavernier 1:500.)

[166] This is probably because evil spirits dwell in darkness, while the beneficent are light.

[167] The similarity to the old Hebrew custom may be noted.

[168] Paul Terzian, Catholic World 71:305.

[169] Tavernier says that frequently two pregnant women who are on very friendly terms, will engage their future offspring, trusting to fortune that one will be a boy and the other a girl. (Tavernier 1:505.)

[170] In fact when there is a variance of choice between parents and daughter it is common for the girl to regard the decision of her parents as being her fate. "Wenn eine junge Frau mit ihrer Heirat, die sie, nach dem Willen der Eltern geschlossen hat, unzufrieden ist, so singt sie:

'Was soll ich meinem Vater und meiner Mutter sagen? Das war auf meine Stirn geschrieben.'" (Abeghian p. 54.)

[171] Paul Terzian, Catholic World 71:305.

[172] It is very evident that the expense of these festivities is a considerable item in the budget of the bridegroom's father. But it is a matter of social pride and respectability to live up to a certain standard of established usage. Accordingly many families involve themselves in life-long incumbrances, not only in the betrothal and marriage festivities but also in the ceremony of baptism, simply to come up to a recognized norm of expenditure. (Tavernier 1:504, 505.)

[173] Cesaresco, chapter on Armenian folk-songs.

[174] Paul Terzian, Catholic World 71:508.

[175] Bent, Contemporary Review 70:701.

[176] Tavernier states that in Persian Armenia a man frequently lives with his wife ten years without ever hearing her voice or seeing her face. Of course she does not sleep with her veil over her face, but she is always careful to blow out the candle before she removes the veil, as she is to rise before daybreak in order to put it on again. (Tavernier 1:507.)

[177] Trowbridge, New Englander 33:1 ff.

[178] Paul Terzian, Catholic World 71:509.

[179] This statement is in contradiction to a previous statement that the body of the dead is merely wrapped in white cloth after it has been washed; (see page 60) the use of the white cloth is common among Gregorian Armenians.

[180] Paul Terzian, Catholic World 71:509 ff.

[181] Ormanian p. 36.

[182] Ross, Social Psychology pp. 88-89.