Early Christian temple-sepulchral complex in Akhts (Armenia). An architectural-iconographic analysis

Daniel Próchniak

Katolicki Uniwersytet Lubelski , Poland



Abstract

The small village of Akhts at the Southern slopes of Mount Aragats in Armenia preserves the ruins of an extremely interesting temple-sepulchral complex. Its oldest part is the mausoleum of Armenian rulers, mentioned in several historical texts, e.g. in Buzandaran Patmutiwnk (IV 24), or by Moses Khorenats’i (III 27). The complex was erected no later than by the sixth decade of the 4th century; after the year 364, a three-aisled basilica was added to the mausoleum. Both the architecture and the relief decoration have been analysed on numerous occasions (e.g. A. Khatchatrian, or F. Gandolfo, among others).The aspect which still requires a closer analysis, however, is the interpretation of one of the scenes carved on the stone slab closing the Southern arcosolium of the mausoleum (Fig. 10 and 12). The figure of a man fighting a wild boar has been traditionally interpreted as a representation of a hunter or, in the astral-mythic context, as one of the legendary ancestors of the Armenians, Ara the Beautiful (L.A. Dumovo) or Haik-Orion (B.N. Arakeljan). The scene, however, can be also interpreted as a symbolic allusion to the Chris- tianising of Armenia at the beginning of the 4th century. Both the representation of the wild boar, and the figure of the hunter/Ara/Haik can be seen as the same person, king Tiridates III, in two stages of his life: before and after Christianisation. The king’s story has been vividly recounted by Agathangelos. Initially, the ruler was a zealous persecutor of Christians. As a punishment, he was afflicted with lycantrophy: he believed he had been tumed into a wild boar. The only way to recover was to adopt Christianity, which the king did, turning this time into an eąually zealous persecutor of pagans. Therefore, the stone slab in Akhts may represent Tiridates- the Christian fighting his earlier, pagan avatar.

Keywords:

Akhts, Armenia

Agatangelos, Męczeństwo świętej Rypsymy, tłum, i przypisy T. Tiszczenko-Świętorzecka, wstęp S. Longosz, VoxP 21 (2001) t. 40-41, 459-477
Agathangelos, Historia Armeniae, trąd. V. Langlois: Agathange, Histoire du regne de Tiridate et de la predication de Saint Gregoire 1’Illuminateur, w: CHAMA, t. 1
Alpago-Novello A. - Beridze V. - Lafontaine-Dosogne J., Art and architecture in medieval Georgia, Louvain-la-Neuve 1980
Arakeljan B.N., Armeńskie reliefy narracyjne IV-VII wieku, Erewan 1949
Brentjes B., Drei Jahrtausende Armenien, Leipzig 1984
Buzandaran Patmutiwnk, tłum. D. Próchniak z: Faustus de Byzance, Bibliotheque historique, trąd. J.B. Emine, w: Collection des historiens anciens et modernes de l Armenie, ed. V. Langlois, I, Paris 1867
Cuneo P., Architettura armena dal ąuarto al diciannovesimo secolo, Roma 1988
Cuneo P., Le basiliche paleocristiane armene, „Corsi di cultura sull’arte ravennate e bizantina” 20 (1973) 217-239
Gandolfo F., Le basiliche armene IV-VII secolo, Studi di Architettura Medioevale Armena 5, Roma 1982
Grousset R., L ’Histoire de l ’Armenie des origins jusqu’a 1071, Paris 1947
Hasratian M.M., L’ensemble architectural d’Amarass, REArm NS 12:1977
Hasratian M.M., Les eglises a nef unique avec portiąue de Tachir et les monuments similaires du Haut Moyen ge d l'Armenie, REArm NS 12 (1977)
Historia Armeniae, tłum. D. Próchniak z: Moise de Khorene, Histoire de 1’Armenie, trad. V. Langlois, w: CHAMA II, Paris 1869
Khatchatrian A., Inscriptions et histoire des eglises armeniennes, Ricerca sull’architettura armena 8, Milano 1974
Khatchatrian A., Les monuments funeraires armeniens des IVe-VIIe siecles et leurs analogies syriens, ByF 1 (1966)
Lazarus Parpecinus, Historia Armeniae, trad. S. Ghesarian: Lazare de Pharbe, Historie de l’Arminie, w: CHAMA II
Moses Khorenats’i, History of Armenians, transl. and comm. R.W. Thomson, Harvard Armenian Texts and Studies 4, Cambridge Mass. - London 1980
Paboudjian P. - Alpago-Novello A., La basilica di Ereruk, Documenti di architettura armena 9, Milano 1977
Próchniak D., Inwestycyjna działalność biskupów i katolikosów armeńskich, w: Sympozja Kazimierskie, t. 3: Biskup i jego rola w kształtowaniu miasta późnoantycznego, red. B. Iwaszkiewicz-Wronikowska - D. Próchniak, Lublin 2002
Próchniak D., Kilka uwag o układzie przestrzennym, wyposażeniu i dekoracji kościołów armeńskich, „Series Byzantina” 5 (2007) 18-26
Próchniak D., Kolumny i stele kommemoratywne w Armenii wczesnochrześcijańskiej, w: Sympozja Kazimierskie, t. 7: Pamięć i upamiętnienie w epoce późnego antyku
Próchniak D., Martyria w Armenii wczesnochrześcijańskiej, w: Sympozja Kazimierskie, t. 4: Męczennicy w świecie późnego antyku, red. B. Iwaszkiewicz-Wronikowska - D. Próchniak, Lublin 2004
Próchniak D., Od ortodoksji do Kościoła narodowego. Armenia w epoce wczesnochrześcijańskiej (301-726), VoxP 21 (2001) t. 40-41
Próchniak D., Początki Kościoła armeńskiego, ZNUJ 1237 = „Studia Religiologica” 32 (1999)
Próchniak D., Techniki budowlane w architekturze Armenii w okresie późnego antyku i wczesnego średniowiecza, w: Toruńskie studia o sztuce Orientu, t. 2, red. J. Malinowski - M. Wojtczak, Toruń 2005
Próchniak D., Wczesnochrześcijański kościół „Surb Połos-Petros” w Zovuni w Armenii. Problem genezy kościoła w typie sali kopułowej, RH 51 (2003) z. 4
Sahinian A., Noveaux materiaux concernant l’architecture armćnienne du haut Moyen Age, REArm NS 4 (1967)
Stepanian N. - Tchakmaktchian A., L’art decorative de l’Armenie medievale, Leningrad 1971
Thierry J.M. - Donabedian P., Les arts armeniens, Paris 1987
Toramanjan T., Nyut’er Hayakakan cartarapetut’yan patmut’yan (= Materiały do historii architektury Armenii), Erevan t.1, 1942

Published
2008-03-08


Próchniak, D. (2008). Wczesnochrześcijański zespół kościelno-grobowy w Achc w Armenii. Analiza architektoniczno-ikonograficzna. Vox Patrum, 52(2), 871–891. Retrieved from https://czasopisma.kul.pl/index.php/vp/article/view/6305

Daniel Próchniak 
Katolicki Uniwersytet Lubelski



License

Papers published in Vox Patrum are covered by the Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-ND 4.0) licence. Authors and users can use published works licensed under the CC-BY-ND since 2018. For earlier publications, copyrights are available under fair use rights in accordance with the Act of February 4, 1994 on copyrights and related rights.