Elishe ( Old Armenian : Եղիշէ , romanized: Ełišē , Modern Armenian pronunciation [jɛʁiˈʃɛ] , 410 – 475) was an Armenian historian from the time of late antiquity , best known as the author of History of Vardan and the Armenian War , a history of the fifth-century Armenian revolt led by Vardan Mamikonian against the suppression of Christianity under Sassanid Iranian rule.
35-527: According to ancient and medieval sources that have trickled down to historians, Elishe was one of the younger pupils of Sahak Partev and Mesrop Mashtots , the inventor of the Armenian alphabet . In 434, he, along with several other students, were sent to Alexandria to study Greek, Syriac and the liberal arts. He returned to Armenia in 441 and entered into military service, serving as a soldier or secretary to Sparapet Vardan Mamikonian . He took part in
70-698: A Hishatakaran ('Memorial' or 'Recollection', rather than a standard history). In this he recounts the struggle of the Armenians, in union with the Iberians and the Caucasian Albanians , for their common faith, against the Persians (449-451). Both sides saw religion as a badge of national identity; the Armenians were determined to retain Christianity, while the Persians attempted to force
105-400: A period of chaos both would be restored to their respective thrones; his daughter Sahakanoysh would give birth to "powerful and pious men." The passage about Sahak's vision is thought by some scholars to be a later interpolation into Ghazar's sixth-century history, although Gohar Muradyan considers it possible that Ghazar himself wrote it, perhaps drawing from an existing source. Sahak's vision
140-400: A reintroduction of Zoroastrianism. In his own words, Elishe wrote the work "in order to reprove his sins, so that everyone hears and knows they may cast curses on him and not lust after his deeds." The work is considered one of the masterpieces of classical Armenian literature and is almost entirely free from Greek words and expressions. A number of other works also exist by Elishe. There
175-644: A solid education, for assistance while making the alphabet. Their translation from the Syriac Peshitta was revised by means of the Septuagint , and even, it seems, from the Hebrew text (between 410 and 430). The liturgy also, hitherto Syrian, was translated into Armenian, drawing at the same time on the liturgy of Saint Basil of Caesarea , so as to obtain for the new service a national color. Isaac had already established schools for higher education with
210-670: Is also the author of a commentary on Joshua and Judges, an explanation of the Lord's Prayer, a letter to the Armenian monks, etc., all found in the Venice editions of the History of Vartan . A landmark study and critical edition of the text was prepared by philologist Yervand Ter-Minassian in 1957. In addition to the seven chapters mentioned by Elishe himself in his introductory remarks, the following editions contain an eighth chapter referring to
245-487: Is an Exhortation to the monks ; On the transfiguration , a Homily on the Passion of the Lord . The "Questions and Answers on Genesis" is probably not genuine. The original text of Elishe's work, like all others written during this period, does not exist (all currently extant Armenian manuscripts date to the tenth century or later). The oldest surviving manuscript of his History of Vardan dates to 1174. An edition of it
280-462: Is an abridged English translation by C. F. Neumann (1830) and unabridged editions by Dickran H. Boyadjian (1952) and Robert W. Thomson (1982). [REDACTED] This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain : Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). " Elishé ". Catholic Encyclopedia . New York: Robert Appleton Company. Sahak Partev Isaac or Sahak of Armenia ( c. 350 – c. 438 )
315-464: Is co-authored with Mashtots and concerns confessional matters. It is a reply to a letter sent by Proclus ( Epistola II: Ad Armenios, de fide ) to the Armenian clergy, which has been preserved in Greek and Armenian translation. The letter to Acacius is also a reply; Acacius's letter to Isaac, and another addressed to the Armenians, have been preserved in Armenian. Some authors have doubted the authenticity of
350-695: Is venerated as a saint in the Armenian Apostolic and Roman Catholic churches. In the Armenian Apostolic Church, his memorial day is marked twice a year: first, on the Saturday preceding the penultimate Sunday before Lent, thus falling between January 24 and February 28; second, together with Saint Mesrop Mashtots, on the Thursday following the fourth Sunday after Pentecost , thus falling between June 1 and July 16. The end of
385-686: The Buzandaran Patmutʻiwnkʻ , neither names Nerses's wife nor mentions his time in Caesarea, while Movses Khorenatsi writes that Nerses married the daughter of "the great noble Aspion" (who is not known from other sources) in Constantinople. During his father's patriarchate, Isaac studied for many years in Caesarea, Alexandria, and Constantinople. He learned Greek, Syriac and Persian. The Armenian historian Ghazar Parpetsi writes of him that he studied "among many learned Byzantines" and
SECTION 10
#1732791659128420-521: The war of religious independence (449–451) against the Persian king Yazdegerd II . Following their defeat at the battle of Avarayr, he renounced military life, became a hermit and retired to the mountains south of Lake Van (in the province of Rshtunik ). In 464–465, he was asked to write the history of the events leading up to and after the battle of Avarayr by a priest named David Mamikonian. Following his death, his remains were removed and taken to
455-594: The Armenian alphabet sped up the process of the Christianization of the Armenian population. In 428, the last Arsacid king of Armenia Artashir was deposed by the Sasanian king with the help of most of the Armenian nobles. Isaac was against this and was himself removed from his position as Catholicos. An Armenian named Surmak was appointed in his place but was soon replaced by the Syrian bishop Brkisho. Isaac
490-572: The Greek Orthodox and Armenian Apostolic Churches following the 506 Council of Dvin , has also led scholars to reject the later dating. Մահ ոչ իմացեալ՝ մահ է, մահ իմացեալ՝ անմահութիւն է։ Mah oč῾ imac῾eal mah ē, mah imac῾eal anmahut῾iwn ē։ Death not understood is death, death understood is immortality. Elishe’s most famous work is the History of Vardan and the Armenian War [written] at the request of David Mamikonian , which he calls
525-581: The Gregorid line, his house's territories of Taron, Bagrevand and Acilisene passed to the Mamikonians through Isaac's daughter Sahakanoysh, who was married to the Mamikonian prince Hamazasp. According to Abraham Terian, the identifiable works attributed to Isaac consist of canons and his two letters to Archbishop Proclus of Constantinople and Bishop Acacius of Melitene . The letter to Proclus
560-783: The Illuminator , who converted the Kingdom of Armenia to Christianity in the early fourth century and became the first head of the Armenian Church . Since that time, the descendants of Gregory had held the office of catholicos of Armenia hereditarily, with some interruptions. According to the anonymous Vita of St. Nerses, Isaac's mother was a Mamikonian princess called Sandukht, whom Nerses married in Caesarea prior to his consecration as catholicos. The Vita claims that Sandukht died after giving birth to Isaac. Another source,
595-561: The Surb Astvatsatsin Monastery, located along Lake Van's shoreline. All ancient authorities speak of Elishe as a vardapet (church doctor). Beginning with Babgen Guleserian in 1909 and Father Nerses Akinian, a member of the Mkhitarian Congregation , in the 1930s, the dating of Elishe's work was cast into doubt and moved a century or two forward. One point from their argument was predicated on
630-401: The aid of disciples whom he had sent to study at Edessa , Melitene , Constantinople, and elsewhere. Through them he now had the principal masterpieces of Greek and Syrian Christian literature translated, e.g., the writings of Athanasius of Alexandria , Cyril of Jerusalem , Basil , Gregory of Nazianzus , Gregory of Nyssa , John Chrysostom , Ephrem the Syrian , and others. The invention of
665-609: The assumption that the Armenian translation of Philo 's works, which Elishe uses, was not made until around 600 AD. However, the translation of Philo's works had taken place during the early "Hellenizing" period of the Golden Age of Armenian literature (the fifth century AD). Scholars argue that neither the dating of the Hellenizing phase nor the presence of Hellenizing vocabulary are necessarily dependent on Elishe’s dating. Furthermore, there are no verbal literal parallels between
700-440: The canons attributed to Isaac, although, according to Terian, these doubts are unjustified. Movses Khorenatsi's history quotes letters from Sahak to Eastern Roman emperor Theodosius II , the consul Anatolius , and Archbishop Atticus of Constantinople . Isaac is said to have been the author of liturgical hymns. Four sermons in the Armenian book of hours ( zhamagirk ) and many hymns ( sharakans ) are attributed to him. Isaac
735-531: The early fourth century and became the first head of the Armenian Church. He supported Mesrop Mashtots in the creation of the Armenian alphabet and personally participated in the translation of the Bible into Armenian. Isaac was born c. 350 to the future Catholicos Nerses I ( r. c. 353 – c. 373 ). Through his father he was a descendant of Gregory
SECTION 20
#1732791659128770-517: The first section of Ghazar Parpetsi's history contains a description of a vision supposedly seen by Sahak and narrated by him after he refused the request of the Armenian nobility to return to the patriarchal throne. In the vision, Sahak saw various symbols connected with the Church and faith and saw that the Arsacids of Armenia and Gregorids would fall from power and apparently disappear; however, after
805-444: The history of Armenia from the late fourth century to his own times, the battle of Avarayr merely figuring as one episode among many in his work. Elishe's goal, on the other hand, was to immortalize the "heavenly valor" of the Armenians and "provide comfort to friends, hope to the hopeful, and encouragement to the brave." As opposed to Ghazar, Elishe is able to give the individual names of fortresses and demonstrates an expert knowledge in
840-533: The military tactics used by the Armenians and the Persians during the battle, indicating that he was "standing closer to the events." His understanding of the customs of Zoroastrianism and the Zurvanite doctrine is also far more detailed and superior than Ghazar's. Elishe's complete failure to mention the Council of Chalcedon , the theological conclusions of which led to the complete breakdown of relations between
875-414: The so-called Leontine martyrs and others. The authenticity of that chapter has been called into question. It has been also remarked that in all the manuscripts the fifth chapter is missing, while in the editions the original sixth chapter is cut in two so as to make up for the missing chapter. There is a French translation by Langlois (1869) and Italian translation by G. Cappelletti (Venice, 1840). There
910-406: The two authors, since Elishe directly translated Philo's work from its original Greek into Armenian. Another argument that was made to support the later dating was the assertion that, given the parallels, Elishe's History of Vardan is simply an adaptation of the late fifth-century Armenian historian Ghazar Parpetsi 's History of Armenia . Ghazar, however, dispassionately and analytically recounts
945-568: Was "fully versed in musical notation, exhortatory rhetoric, and especially philosophy. He was later consecrated as a bishop and preached with his sixty students at Etchmiadzin Cathedral . His father died in c. 373 , purportedly poisoned by the Arsacid king of Armenia Pap . At some point, Isaac had a daughter named Sahakanoysh, who later married Hamazasp Mamikonian. It is assumed that his wife died before he became catholicos. Isaac
980-412: Was absolutely prohibited, while Syriac was used. In this way the ancient culture of the Armenians was in danger of disappearing and national unity was seriously compromised. Isaac encouraged Mesrop Mashtots to invent the Armenian alphabet and himself translated and revised parts of the Bible. According to Ghazar Parpetsi, Mashtots and the first translators frequently turned to Isaac, who had received
1015-404: Was deposed as catholicos, but Khosrov's successor Vramshapuh managed to have him restored to his position. Through Isaac's efforts the churches and monasteries destroyed by the Persians were rebuilt, education was cared for in a generous way, Zoroastrianism which Shah Yazdegerd I tried to set up was cast out, and three councils held to re-establish ecclesiastical discipline. The catholicos
1050-425: Was elected catholicos c. 387 after the death of his predecessor, Aspuraces . He supported King Khosrov IV of Armenia in his efforts to reunite the Armenian realm, which had been partitioned into Roman and Sasanian parts in 387. Khosrov was imprisoned by the Sasanian king in about 389, possibly because of his nomination of Sahak as catholicos without Persian approval. After Khosrov's imprisonment, Isaac
1085-568: Was imprisoned in Ctesiphon until 432, when he was allowed to return to Armenia and occupy certain offices within the church. Isaac refused to retake the patriarchate after the death of Catholicos Samuel, Brkisho's Syrian successor, in 437. Isaac died around 438 in the village of Blur in Bagrevand . His body was taken to Taron and buried in Ashtishat . Since Isaac was the last male of
Elishe - Misplaced Pages Continue
1120-525: Was noted for his ascetic lifestyle. Prior to the invention of the Armenian alphabet, the languages of the Armenian Church were Greek and Syriac. Armenia had been divided into Roman and Sasanian client kingdoms in 387. In the Roman part, however, the Armenians were forbidden the use of the Syriac language and used Greek instead, and the country gradually Hellenized; in the Persian part, on the other hand, Greek
1155-532: Was published at Venice in 1826 by the Mechitarists of San Lazzaro . One of the manuscripts on which it is based purports to be a faithful copy of another manuscript dated to 616. The text of that edition was further improved in subsequent editions at the same place (1828, 1838, 1859, and 1864). Among other editions of value are those of Theodosia in Crimea ( Ukraine ), 1861, and of Jerusalem , 1865. Elishe
1190-514: Was repeated in many Armenian works and was translated into Greek and thence into Georgian. Some connected it with events in their own time, even as late as the end of the seventeenth century. [REDACTED] This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain : Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1910). " Isaac of Armenia ". Catholic Encyclopedia . Vol. 8. New York: Robert Appleton Company. Armenian literature Too Many Requests If you report this error to
1225-532: Was the catholicos (or patriarch) of the Armenian Church from c. 387 until c. 438 . He is sometimes known as Isaac the Great or Sahak the Parthian ( Armenian : Սահակ Պարթեւ , Sahak Part῾ew ) in reference to his father's Parthian origin. He was the last Armenian patriarch who was directly descended from Gregory the Illuminator , who converted the Kingdom of Armenia to Christianity in
#127872