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E00146: The Epic Histories, traditionally attributed to P'awstos, written in Armenian in the second half of the 5th c., recount the martyrdom of the chorepiskopos *Daniēl (Syrian bishop and chorepiskopos in Armenia, S00066), and his subsequent appearance to a disciple, ordering that his body be buried secretly to avoid its veneration.

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posted on 2014-11-03, 00:00 authored by naleksidze

The Epic Histories, Book III, Chapter 14:

Epic Histories narrate the story of chorepiskopos Daniel, a Syrian by ethnicity, who was a pupil of Gregory the Illuminator and was the overseer of all the churches of Armenia. Specifically, he was in charge of the church of Taron which was a martyrium of Armenia's greatest martyrs (see $E00148). He was a hermit and a holy man during his lifetime and performed numerous healing and other miracles. The lords and princes of Armenia wished to consecrate him as the patriarch of Armenia and brought him in the presence of king Tiran. Daniel rebuked Tiran with a lengthy speech for abandoning Christianity and adopting idol-worship. The king listened stupefied and amazed, and when Daniel finished his rebuke, Tiran ordered his men to strangle the holy man to death. The nobility initially tried to resist, but the king was immovable and so Daniel was killed.

Եւ բարձին զմարմին նորա բազմութիւն մարդկան, որք տեղեակ էին նմա, եւ գիտէին զնա. եւ կամեցան մեծարել զնա ընդ ոսկերս սուրբ վկայիցն Քրիստոսի: Ապա ինքն յայտնեալ երեւեցաւ առն սրբոյ աշակերտին իւրում, որոյ անուն կոչէր Եպիփան, զի մի' ի պատիւ առցեն զոսկերս նորա իբրեւ զայլոցն. այլ տարցին ի տեղին` ուր ինքն հրամայեաց, եւ ծածկեսցեն ընդ հողով: Զի այսպէս յայտնեալ բարբառեցաւ նոցա. զի եթէ տէրունական մարմինն, ասէ, ի գերեզմանի ծածկեցաւ աւուրս երկուս մինչեւ ցօրն երրորդ` յորում յարեաւ առ հայր իւր, ո՞րչափ եւս առաւել պարտ է մերում հողեղէն մարմինս ընդ հողով ծածկել: Ապա բարձին զմարմին նորա սուրբ սիրելիք իւր աշակերտք, որոյ գլխաւորին անուն էր Շաղիտա, որ ի նմանէ իսկ աշխարհին Կորդուաց վարդապետ տուեալ էր. եւ երկրորդին անուն Եպիփան, որ գաւառին Աղձնեաց եւ մեծաց Ծոփաց ի նմանէ իսկ վարդապետեալ էր, եւ ընդ նոսա պաշտօնեայք բանակին: Եւ գնացին տարան եդին զմարմինն ի տեղւոջն` ուր յառաջագոյն էր կայեանք խցկանն իւրոյ յերկրին Տարօնոյ, որ էր մայր եկեղեցեացն Հայոց, մօտ յակն աղբերն` ուր առնէր Գրիգոր զմկրտութիւնսն աշխարհազօր բազմութեանն, ի տեղւոջն` որ անուանեալ կոչի Հացեաց դրախտ: Յայնմ տեղւոջ ծածկեցին զմարմին սրբոյն Դանիէլի ընդ հողով, ըստ յառաջագոյն տեսլեանն ըստ հրամանի նորա տուեալ:

'And many men who were familiar with him and knew him took up his body and wished to venerate it with the bones of the holy martyrs of Christ. But he appeared in person to a holy man named Epip'an who was his disciple so that they should not honour his bones like those of the others, but take them to the place he himself had ordered and bury them in the ground. For he appeared thus and spoke to them: "If", he said, "the body of the Lord was hidden two days in the tomb until the third day when He rose to His Father, how much more fitting to bury our earthly bodies in the ground". Then his body was taken up by his beloved holy disciples, among whom the chief was named Šałita, who had been appointed by him spiritual-teacher in the realm of Korduk', and the second Epip'an, who had also been appointed by him as spiritual-teacher for the district of Ałjnik and of Great Cop'k'; together with the ministers of the camp. And they went and took his body to the place where his cell had formerly been in the land of Tarōn, which is the mother church of Armenia, near the spring where Grigor (= Gregory the Illuminator) had baptized a multitude of the forces of the realm, at the place called Hac'eac' Draxt. And at that place they concealed the body of St Daniēl in the ground in accordance with the command he had given in the earlier vision.'

Text: Garsoïan 1984, 31-37; Translation: Garsoïan 1989, 86-91.

History

Evidence ID

E00146

Saint Name

Daniēl, Syrian bishop and chorepiskopos, supervisor of the shrine at Aštišat and missionary to Persia : S00066

Saint Name in Source

Դանիէլ

Related Saint Records

https://oxford.figshare.com/articles/Dani_l_Syrian_bishop_and_chorepiskopos_supervisor_of_the_shrine_at_A_ti_at_and_missionary_to_Persia/13729288

Type of Evidence

Literary - Other narrative texts (including Histories)

Language

Armenian

Evidence not before

460

Evidence not after

470

Activity not before

320

Activity not after

350

Place of Evidence - Region

Armenia

Place of evidence - City name in other Language(s)

Hadamakert Հադամակերտ Hadamakert Başkale

Major author/Major anonymous work

Epic Histories (P‘awstos Biwzandac‘i)

Cult activities - Places

Burial site of a saint - tomb/grave

Cult Activities - Miracles

Apparition, vision, dream, revelation

Cult Activities - Protagonists in Cult and Narratives

Ecclesiastics - monks/nuns/hermits

Cult Activities - Relics

Bodily relic - bones and teeth Bodily relic - entire body Transfer, translation and deposition of relics Attempts to prevent the veneration of one's relics

Source

The History, traditionally attributed to a certain P‘awstos Buzandac'i (usually translated as 'Faustos of Byzantium') covers Armenian history from the later Arsacid dynasty (c. AD 330) to the partition of the Armenian kingdom between Byzantium and Iran (AD 387). The History is the earliest source covering this specific period of history, which was later treated by Movsēs Xorenac'i. As N. Garsoïan points out, despite the evident importance of the material contained in the History for the study of 4th century Armenia, it was never included into the received Armenian tradition, and medieval historians preferred to refer to Movsēs Xorenac‘i, the most authoritative source for later authors, as the sole authority for 4th century events. Łazar P'arpeci, for example, considered the information provided by P‘awstos as false and absurd, and so apparently did the rest of medieval scholarship. Date and language The authorship of the text has long been debated. The author claims to have been an eyewitness of the events he describes, but if this was indeed the case he could not have written in Armenian, as the Armenian script was only created in the 5th century. Thus, he was often considered a Greek historian, a supposition 'supported' by a misunderstanding of the word Buzand (in his name) as 'Byzantium' (see below). Other external evidence has also been cited to favour the idea that the work was originally written in Greek, and only later translated into Armenian. There has also been a theory in favour of a Syriac original, mostly advanced by Peeters and based on multiple Syriacisms in the text. The most convincing theory, however, favours an Armenian original, and is mostly based on internal linguist evidence, such as the use of scriptural quotations that derive from the Armenian version of the Bible, various colloquialisms, and the spelling of proper names. As to the date of the composition, the author’s own claim cannot be accepted as trustworthy as he is far too ignorant of 4th century events to be considered a contemporary; he presents 4th century historical events as filtered through folk memory, often projecting events of the 5th century into the previous century. Based on the Epic Histories' quotations from Koriwn (who wrote in the first half of the 5th century), and a reference to the Histories by Łazar P‘arpeci (writing at the very end of the 5th century), who places 'P‘awstos' immediately after Agathangelos, Garsoïan suggests convincingly that the date of composition was around 470, arguing that 'it is difficult to imagine a time more suitable for a work glorifying the role of the Mamikonean family in Armenian history than the generation immediately following the sparapet Vardan Mamikonean's heroic defense of Armenian Christianity in 451' (Garsoïan, Epic Histories, 11). The author The claim by some late antique and medieval sources that P‘awstos was Greek rests on a misunderstanding of the word Buzand, which was considered to mean 'Byzantium'. Medieval reception 'corrected' the form Buzand to Buzandac‘i ('from Byzantium') to support the Greek origin of the author. The actual title appended to the text is Buzandaran Patmut‘iwnk‘. A. Perikhanian has found a definitive solution to the problem, showing that the word buzand derived not from the toponym ('Byzantium') but from the Parthian bozand , 'a reciter of epic poems, a bard' , with the suffix –aran as an adjectival qualifier. The title can thus be translated as Bardic or Epic Histories. So, as N. Garsoïan has shown, the work generally titled History of Armenia and attributed to Faustos of Byzantium is in fact a compilation of tales assembled by an anonymous historian in the 5th century. In our database the text will be consistently referred to as the Epic Histories. The author’s agenda From the perspective of the author’s representation of cultic practices, Garsoïan’s conclusion (as follows) is noteworthy: 'The author may have been a native of the southwestern district of Taron because of his unreserved devotion to the Mamikonean lords of the district and to its holy site Aštišat, which he invariable presents as the original centre of Armenian Christianity, as against the focus of the contemporary 'Agathangelos Cycle' on the northern city of Vałaršapat'/Dwin, and the nearby holy site of T'ordan' (Garsoïan, Epic Histories, 16). The author is a rigourous defender of Nicene orthodoxy and is thus strongly antagonistic toward the Armenian crown, which 'sought to conform with the Arianizing policy of the successors of Constantine through much of the fourth century' (Garsoïan, Epic Histories, 15).

Discussion

It is noteworthy that, as with Šałitay (E00147), Daniēl sought to prevent the veneration of his own relics by appearing and ordering his disciple Epip'an to hide his body. This echoes the well-known story of *Antony of Egypt requesting that his body be secretly buried. It also echoes Article 17 of the Canons of the Council of Šahapivan of 384, as redacted in the 7th century (E0XXXX), that sought to regulate the translation and veneration of relics, and to prohibit any sort of cult practice without an explicit directive from the local bishop. Later, Movsēs Xorenac'i was to justify the hiding, and subsequent revelation, of *Gregory the Illuminator's relics by the same extreme zeal of the ordinary people to venerate the body, a practice that, according to Movsēs, bordered on paganism (EXXXXX).

Bibliography

Edition: Buzandaran Patmut'iwn (The Epic Histories) also known as Patmut'iwn Hayoc' (History of Armenia) Attributed to P'awstos Buzandac'i, a facsimile reproduction of the 1883 St. Petersburg edition with an introduction by Nina G. Garsoïan (New York: Caravan Books, 1984). Translation: Garsoïan, N.G., The Epic Histories Attributed to P'awstos Buzand (Buzandaran Patmut'iwnk') (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1989).

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Keywords

S00066 History

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