Egishe , Elisha ( Armenian Եղիշէ, Ełišē ) - Armenian historian and theologian [2] , author of the book , describing the rebellion of the Armenians against the Sassanids in 449–451. He lived in the V [3] [4] or VI century [5] [6] [7] .
| Yeghishe | |
|---|---|
| Եղիշե | |
 | |
| Date of Birth | |
| Date of death | |
| Scientific field | historian |
| Known as | author of the work “On Vardan and the Armenian War” |
Content
- 1 Biography
- 2 Proceedings
- 2.1 About Vardan and the Armenian War
- 2.1.1 Translations into Russian
- 2.2 Other works
- 2.1 About Vardan and the Armenian War
- 3 The philosophy of Eghishe
- 4 notes
- 5 See also
- 6 Proceedings
- 7 Literature
- 8 References
Biography
About Egish we have very little information [5] . According to his own statement in the book “On Vardan and the Armenian War”, Yeghishe was a warrior and secretary of the leader of the Armenian struggle against the Persians - commander Vardan Mamikonyan . He participated in the famous Avaraira battle of 451. After the bloody war in which Vardan Mamikonyan died, E. went to the monastery, and then became a hermit in the Mokk region, where he wrote several historical works. Presumably in the years 452-458. Then, for some time, E. returned to worldly life, but later again went to the mountains, already in another Armenian province.
Yeghishe was in military service in the country of Apar during the war of Sassanid Iran with the Ephtalites, residents of Khorasan , whom he calls Kushans.
Yeghishe was one of the most famous students of Saak Partev and Mesrop Mashtots . Later, together with Movses Khorenatsi and David the Invincible , he studied in Egypt, in the famous theological school with Cyril of Alexandria, made a pilgrimage to the holy places of Palestine. Returning to the Armenian mountains, E. led the life of a hermit, but in the end, his fame spread widely among local peasants. In search of solitude, Jegishe went to the region of Rshtunik, in the province of Vaspurakan, where he died in 480. The cave in which Egishe spent the last years of his life has since been called the "Cave of St. Jegishe." There he wrote a number of his works, including interpretations on some books of the Old Testament, treatises “On the human soul”, “The edifying word about hermits”, “The Appearance of the Lord on Mount Tabor”, “The Doctrine of Suffering, Crucifixion, Burial and Resurrection of Christ "," About the human soul "and others. [2] .
Some modern historians believe that the question of the life of Egishe is controversial [5] . and believe that Yeghishe lived in the VI century [6] [7] .
Proceedings
About Vardan and the Armenian War
2. “On Vardan and the Armenian War” (from a manuscript of the 15th century)
The main work of Yeghishe is the essay “On Vardan and the Armenian War”, covering the 35-year history of Armenia from the time of the fall of the Armenian Arshakids dynasty to 464-465. This work is considered one of the masterpieces of world historical literature [2] , the most important source on the history of Armenia and other states of Transcaucasia and Iran [9] . “On Vardan and the Armenian War” is one of the most complex works of early Armenian literature, permeated with ardent patriotism and is distinguished by its vivid artistic presentation [10] . The work describes in detail the relations of Armenia with the Sasanian Perseus [11] . Valuable are information about the role of Armenian military units in the Persian army, the available lists of Armenian noble families, the ranks of officials at the Sassanid court, as well as a description of campaigns against Kushans and Huns [11] . The book contains data on the Persian religion, in particular, describes the cult of fire and the cult of the sun, issues of ritual purity, as well as the myth of Zervan [11] .
According to the statements in the text itself, it was created a few years after the end of the war between the Armenians and the Persians, in the second half of the 5th century at the request of the commander David Mamikonyan. This war is known in historical literature as the "Vardanants war." It is named after the sparapet Vardan Mamikonyan .
Robert Thomson and Elizabeth Redgate believe that this work was created no earlier than the VI century, most likely in the second half [6] [7] . According to Robert Thomson, the work of Eghishe seems to be an extended alteration of the part of Lazar Parpetsi 's work “History of Armenia” [6] written around 500 [11] and is an interpretation of events in which speeches, letters and decrees play a literary role and should not be taken as verbatim facts [12] . According to Thomson, Yeghishe set himself the task of explaining the reasons for the uprising not by personal enmity, as Parpeci did, but by the more general difficulties that the Armenians constantly faced - difficulties of a religious nature. The main problem of the Armenians was the preservation of their traditions, including religious practices, but not limited to them. Yeghishe saw many parallels with the history of the confrontation between the Jews and the Seleucids , and therefore, “On the Vardan and the Armenian War” Yeghishe considers a separate episode of the Armenian history - the uprising of 449–451 and its consequences - describing it like the Maccabean uprising to emphasize the general problems of the Armenians of that time [ 13] .
Yeghishe's work is divided into seven chapters, in which he consistently sets out the causes of the “Armenian war”, military operations and the end of the war. Yeghishe sees the reason for the war between Armenians and Persians in the forcible imposition of the state religion of Sasanian Iran in Christian Armenia - Zoroastrianism , which gained increased distribution under King Shapur II , and especially under Yazdigerd II . Under him, great persecution of the Armenian Christians followed, about which the historian narrates in the second chapter.
The earliest fragmentary manuscripts date back to the 7th – 8th centuries [8] . The earliest preserved complete list is dated 1174, the next is rewritten in 1207 [14] . The work of Egishe was translated into English (1830), Italian (1840), French (1844) and Russian (1853).
Translations into Russian
- The first translation into Russian was made by P. Shanshiev in 1853: The History of Yeghishe Vardapet. The Struggle of Christianity with the Teaching of Zoroaster in the Fifth Century, in Armenia. ” Per. with arm Petra Shanshieva, Tiflis, 1853 available text
- In 1884 a translation by E. Dillen appeared [15]
- In 1971, a translation by the Soviet orientalist Academician I.A. Orbeli : Yeghishe was published. About Vardan and the Armenian War. Translation from ancient Armenian acad. I.A. Orbeli, preparation for publication, foreword and notes by K.N. Yuzbashyan. Yerevan, publishing house AN Arm. SSR, 1971 available text
Other works
Egishe is credited with a large number of theological works, but their authorship is extremely vague [16] . He is credited with the works “On the human soul”, “The edifying word about hermits”, “The Apparition of the Lord on Mount Tabor”, “The Doctrine of Suffering, Crucifixion, Burial and Resurrection of Christ” [17] .
Yeghishe Philosophy
In the philosophical views of Yeghishe, the central issues were the problems of freedom and duty. Accepting God as the creator of nature, Egishe believes that nature consists of four elements - fire, water, earth and air. He also divides the world into intelligent and unreasonable beings. According to Yeghishe, man as a rational creature, has free will and has the right to independently create his own destiny, choose between good and evil, at the same time evil is not a world principle. Divine predestination applies only to unreasonable beings. A similar position was directed against the fatalistic interpretation of the issue of good and ale found in Zoroastrianism and Mazdeism .
Yeghishe called for the unity of the Armenian people in their struggle against foreign invaders. At the heart of human action, he put "selfless love for public good." It must be expressed primarily in devotion to the homeland. In the understanding of Egishe, a hero is a person who goes to death in the name of his homeland. He considers such death immortality. The best qualities of man considered freedom of love and hatred of tyrants [18] .
The historical and theological works of Yeghishe had a great influence on medieval Armenian thought [2] .
Notes
- ↑ German National Library , Berlin State Library , Bavarian State Library , etc. Record # 122539125 // General Normative Control (GND) - 2012—2016.
- ↑ 1 2 3 4 Byzantine Dictionary: in 2 volumes / [comp. Total Ed. K.A. Filatova]. SPb .: Amphora. TID Amphora: RHGA: Publisher Oleg Abyshko, 2011, v. 1, p. 327.
- ↑ Michael E. Stone. Adam and Eve in the Armenian Traditions, Fifth through Seventeenth Centuries . - Society of Biblical Lit, 2013 .-- P. 686. - (Early Judaism and its literature, 38). :
Elise was born early in the fifth century, but other details of his life remain unclear
- ↑ Armenian literature - article from the British Encyclopedia :
Much of the literary activity of the 5th century — the golden age of Armenian literature — was devoted to such translations. Original works, however, were not wanting, such as the histories of Eghishe and Ghazar of Pharp.
- ↑ 1 2 3 Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium , p. 688:
Elishe , author of an Armenian History describing the unsuccessful revolt led by Vardan Mamikonean against Sasanian overlordship in 450/1. Of Elishe little is known, and it is debatable whether he wrote as an eyewitness (as he claims) or whether this History was written after that of Lazar of Parpi, who describes the same events somewhat differently.
- ↑ 1 2 3 4 Saint Eghishē (Vardapet), Robert W. Thomson , “History of Vardan and the Armenian War”, 1982, pp. 27-29:
But not only is the History of Elishe more easily understood as an expansive adaptation of Lazar than the latter's work as an abbreviation of Elishe; the influence of translations from the "Hellenizing" period on Elishe is explained by that order without doing violence to our knowledge of such translations and their probable sixth-century date. Although the present writer is unconvinced by Akinean's theories that the original version of this History described the revolt of 572 and that it was rewritten in the seventh century, he does agree with Akinean and Kiwleserean that Elise wrote after Lazar. there is no compelling reason to accept the "eyewitness" claim, and the literary aspects of the work are far more easily explicable if it is dated to the sixth century. ... One final argument that would place Elishe's History in the last decade of the sixth century or later needs to be reviewed ... It seems, therefore, most unlikely that Elishe's History can predate the sixth century.
- ↑ 1 2 3 AE Redgate , Myth and Reality: Armenian Identity in the Early Middle Ages (unavailable link) , National Identities, Vol. 9, No. December 4, 2007, p. 284:
The great classic of Armenian historiography, Eghishe's history of the Armenian rebellion against Persia in 450, which was written, probably, in the late sixth century, unequivocally equates Christianity with 'Armenianness' and ancestral culture.
- ↑ 1 2 A. Banuchyan. New decoding of the oldest parchment fragment “On Vardan and the Armenian War” // Bulletin of Matenadaran. - Er. , 2008. - No. 18 . - S. 245, 254 .
- ↑ Yeghishe - an article from the Great Soviet Encyclopedia
- ↑ Chapter VIII. The emergence and development of feudalism in Central Asia and in the countries of Transcaucasia (V - the first half of the IX century) // World History. - M., 1957. - T. 3.
In the V — VII centuries. the development of feudal culture in the countries of Transcaucasia has achieved great success. A number of historians have appeared in Armenia. The largest of them were living in the V century. Agafangel, Koryun, Pavstos (Favstos) Buzand, Elishe (Yeghishe), Lazarus Parbsky (Parbetsi). The last two authors left a description of the struggle of the Armenian people against the Iranian yoke. Especially famous was the “father of Armenian history”, the author of the monumental work on the history of Armenia, Moses Khorensky (Movses Khorenatsi, 5th century). The works of Armenian historians, especially Moses Khorensky and Elishe, are imbued with ardent patriotism and are distinguished by vivid artistic presentation.
In the V — VII centuries. in Armenia, many books have been translated from Syriac and Greek, including the philosophical works of Plato, Aristotle, Zeno and others. David the Invincible (VI c.), neoplatonist, was the largest Armenian philosopher. Among the representatives of the exact sciences, Anania Shiraksky (Shirakatsi, 7th century), an advanced scientist of his time, a mathematician, astronomer and geographer, stood out. - ↑ 1 2 3 4 Ełišē - article from Encyclopædia Iranica . Robert W. Thomson
- ↑ Saint Eghishē (Vardapet), Robert W. Thomson , “History of Vardan and the Armenian War”, 1982, pp. 24-25:
For Elishe´s history is not simply a record of events as remembered by an eyewitness. This claim to literal veracity obscures the underlying purpose of the book, which is to offer an interpretation of the events described. ... Thus because Elishe´s history gives us an interpretation - in which the speeches, letters, and edicts play an effective literary role and are not to be taken as verbatim reports ...
- ↑ Saint Eghishē (Vardapet), Robert W. Thomson , “History of Vardan and the Armenian War”, 1982, p. 25:
This war is not to be explained as caused by personal rancor, as Lazar explained it, but on more general grounds. It illustrates difficulties faced by Armenians not merely on 450/1 but perennially, and these difficulties are basically of a religious nature. The main problem is the preservation of Armenian traqditions (awrenk), which include religious practices but are more comprehensive than the term "religion" in a modern sense. ... Elishe saw many parallels with the position of the Jews vis-a-vis the Seleucid kings of Antioch as described in the books of Maccabees, though, of course, the political circumstances were quite different. Elishe does not entirely hide his knowledge of the Maccabees, but he does conceal the extent to which he was indebted to the Armenian version. For his purpose was not just to borrow a few expressive phrases in order to embellish his own story - as, for example, many Armenian historians did in their descriptions of battles. Rather, he wanted to recreate the kind of situation in which the play of basic issues between the antagonists would become clear in general terms. So Elishe´s History takes a specific occasion - the revolt of 450/1 and its aftermath - and describes it in terms reminiscent of the Maccabees so that the general problems will emerge more clearly.
- ↑ Yeghishe. History of Vardan and the Armenian War. - Hayastan, 1971. - S. 7. (in Armenian)
- ↑ translation existence information
- ↑ Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium , p. 688:
Numerous theological works are also attributed to Elishe, but their authorship is most uncertain.
- ↑ Agop Jack Hacikyan, Gabriel Basmajian, Edward S. Franchuk, Nourhan Ouzounian. The Heritage of Armenian Literature: From the Oral Tradition to the Golden Age . - Wayne State University Press, 2000. - Vol. I. - P. 243.
Apart from the History, Yeghishe's best known minor work is Counsels to Hermits, written during his mature years. Despite differences in style, the following works have also attributed to him: Commentary of the Books of Joshua and Judges, The Lord's Prayer, The Baptism of Christ, The Passion of Christ, and Concerning Man's Soul.
- ↑ Yeghishe - article from the Philosophical Encyclopedia in 5 volumes
See also
- Ancient Armenian historiography
- Battle of Avaraira
Proceedings
- Still. A word about the Armenian war . Oriental literature (site) (July 29, 2010). - Translation from the ancient Armenian academician I.A. Orbeli , preparation for publication, foreword and notes by K.N. Yuzbashyan . Yerevan, publishing house AN Arm. SSR, 1971. Date of treatment September 12, 2011.
- Եղիշե. Պատմութիւն Վարդանանց , 1787 (in Old Armenian)
Literature
- Berezin I. Criticism on the translation of the History of Yeghishe P. Shanshiev. SPb., 1857
- Abeghyan M. History of Ancient Armenian Literature. Er., 1975
- Prominent figures of Armenian culture (V — XVIII centuries) / Ed. G. H. Sargsyan. Er., 1982
- Nalbandyan V.S. Yeghishe. Er., 1962