Movsēs Xorenac'i's History of Armenia (2.8) recounts the story, set in the early 4th c., of the conversion of Iberia (Georgia) through the work of *Nunē/Nino (enlightener of Georgia, S00072), here presented as a companion of the Armenian martyr *Hripsimē (Armenian virgin and martyr of Roman origin,S00071), aided by *Gregory the Illuminator (converter of Armenia, S00251). Written in Armenian and traditionally considered a 5th c. text, but probably of the early 8th c.
E00613
Literary - Other narrative texts (including Histories)
Movsēs Xorenaci (History of Armenia)
Movsēs Xorenac'i, History of Armenia, Book II, Chapter 8
Summary:
Movsēs retells the history of Iberia's conversion by adapting the narrative of Socrates Scholasticus:
A certain woman called Nunē, a companion of Hripsime, had fled the persecution in Armenia to Georgia's capital Mtskheta and led there an ascetic life, healing people and performing other miracles. The news of her arrival reached the Georgian king Mihran who had also heard of various miracles that had taken place in Armenia. Mihran wished to hear more about Nunē's faith. One day Mihran went out to hunt, when suddenly he was enveloped by darkness. He remembered that a similar incident had happened to the Armenian king Trdat; therefore, overcome with great fear he prayed to the God of Nunē and promised to worship Him. The air cleared immediately.
Then Nunē sent delegates to Gregory the Illuminator in Armenia, and upon his orders she destroyed the idols of Mtskheta and particularly that of Aramazd, the god of thunder. Nunē and the Georgian noblemen wished to erect the sign of the holy cross on top of a hill near Mtskheta. And all the people worshipped the Cross. But when they walked up the hill they saw that it was just an unremarkable piece of wood, something that they could see all the time in the forests. But God, "looking down at their stumblings" sent from heaven a pillar of cloud and there shone out a light in the form of a cross, the same shape and size as the wooden cross, and it stood over it with twelve stars. At this everyone believed and they worshipped it.
After this Nunē continued to preach and convert the remote parts of Iberia, beginning from Klarjk' all the way to the gates of the Alans and Caspians as far as the borders of the Massagetae.
Text: Thomson 1981, 231-234.
Translation: Thomson 2006, 217.
Healing diseases and disabilities
Power over objects
Miraculous sound, smell, light
Protagonists in Cult and NarrativesMonarchs and their family
Crowds
Source
The authorIn the introductory paragraph the author identifies himself as Moses of Khoren (Xoren), although no such town is otherwise attested. He claims to be an active member of the circle of Maštoc' and Sahak of the early 5th century and to have witnessed some of the events he described. But the authorship and date has been challenged convincingly, as the author reveals knowledge of sources much later than the 5th century, and, as Robert Thomson points out, it was only after the year 900 that Movsēs' claim to have been a student of Sahak and Maštoc' was shared by other Armenian authors (Thomson 2006, 2-3). The first reference to the History of Movsēs Xorenac‘i appears in the 10th century, when he is used as a source. It is in the early 11th century that lists first appear in which Movsēs is listed as a 5th century author. Thereafter Movsēs was canonically considered as the 5th century “father of Armenian history”. Currently the most convincing suggested date for the compilation and composition of Movsēs’ history is the first half of the 8th century. Movsēs frequently cites unnamed earlier sources in support of what he writes, but there is no way of telling whether these really existed, or whether they are a rhetorical device.
Xorenac'i’s agenda
Movsēs overtly writes for his Bagratid patrons, who ascended to power in Armenia in the early 8th century. He seeks to connect the Bagratid family to the period before the official conversion of Armenia, and to assert their perpetual Christianity. According to Movsēs, the Bagratids were even associated with the preaching of Thaddaeus in Edessa, before the latter came to Armenia. Tobias, in whose house Thaddaeus had lodged in Edessa, was, according to Movsēs, a Jewish Bagratid prince. This claim is crucial for Movsēs, as previous historians, who mostly wrote for the rival Mamikonean clan, had closely associated this latter family with Gregory the Illuminator. The Mamikoneans had, according to this tradition, married into the family of Gregory. Therefore Movsēs’ primary agenda was to elevate his patrons’ prestige vis-à-vis the Mamikoneans by pointing out their even older Christian connections (Thomson 2006, 29-30). As part of this agenda, Movsēs promoted the cult of the early apostles Thaddaeus and Barthlomew in Armenia, and adapted the story of the Syrian King Abgar into the Armenian tradition, having made Abgar Armenian.
Discussion
This account of Georgia's conversion is loosely based on that of the 5th century Greek historian Socrates Scholasticus (Ecclesiastical History 1.20), in which a Christian female captive (not named by Socrates) plays a central role in the conversion of the Georgian royal family, prompting Georgia's king, Mihran, to ask for clerics to be sent to his kingdom. Movsēs tendentiously adapts the story in order to highlight the pre-eminent role of Armenia in the Christianization of Georgia: Mihran, the Georgian king, is made a subject of Trdat of Armenia; Nunē, Georgia's first apostle, is portrayed as a follower of Hripsimē of Armenia; and Gregory the Illuminator plays a major role in the conversion of Georgia from his base in Armenia. None of this is in Socrates' account, in which no specific origin is given for the captive women, and in which Georgians seek missionary priests directly from Constantinople, with no reference to Armenia. Furthermore, Movsēs seeks to give his story antiquity and conviction by claiming that all this was narrated by the earlier historian Agathangelos, whereas no surviving version of Agathangelos mentions anything of this sort.Bibliography
Edition:Thomson, R.W., Moses Khorenats'i, Patmut'iwn Hayots' (History of the Armenians), a facsimile reproduction of the 1913 Tiflis edition (New York: Caravan Books, 1981).
Translation:
Thomson, R.W., Moses Khorenats'i, History of the Armenians (Ann Arbor: Caravan Books, 2006).
Nikoloz Aleksidze
23/06/2015
| ID | Name | Name in Source | Identity | S00071 | Hripsimē, virgin and martyr of Armenia | Րհիփսիմէ | Certain | S00072 | Nino, Enlightener of Georgia | Նունէ | Certain | S00251 | Gregory the Illuminator, converter of Armenia | Գրիգոր | Certain |
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