Bagavan (also spelled Bagawan; ) was an ancient locality in the central part of

Armenia Armenia, officially the Republic of Armenia, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of West Asia. It is a part of the Caucasus region and is bordered by Turkey to the west, Georgia (country), Georgia to the north and Azerbaijan to ...

in the principality of Bagrevand. The site is located in the village of Taşteker to the west of modern

Diyadin Diyadin (; ) is a town in Ağrı Province of Turkey, at the foot of Mount Tendürek, a high peak in the Aladağlar range that stands between Ağrı and the north shore of Lake Van. It is the seat of Diyadin District.Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

. Situated on a tributary of the

Euphrates The Euphrates ( ; see #Etymology, below) is the longest and one of the most historically important rivers of West Asia. Tigris–Euphrates river system, Together with the Tigris, it is one of the two defining rivers of Mesopotamia (). Originati ...

at the foothills of Mount Npat, to the north of

Lake Van Lake Van (; ; ) is the largest lake in Turkey. It lies in the Eastern Anatolia Region of Turkey in the provinces of Van Province, Van and Bitlis Province, Bitlis, in the Armenian highlands. It is a Salt lake, saline Soda lake, soda lake, receiv ...

, Bagavan held one of the major temples of pre-Christian Armenia. After the Christianization of Armenia, Bagavan became the site of a large church and monastery. Pillaged in 1877 by the

Kurds Kurds (), or the Kurdish people, are an Iranian peoples, Iranic ethnic group from West Asia. They are indigenous to Kurdistan, which is a geographic region spanning southeastern Turkey, northwestern Iran, northern Iraq, and northeastern Syri ...

, it was completely destroyed after 1915 during the

Armenian genocide The Armenian genocide was the systematic destruction of the Armenians, Armenian people and identity in the Ottoman Empire during World War I. Spearheaded by the ruling Committee of Union and Progress (CUP), it was implemented primarily t ...

Name

The name ''Bagavan'' literally translates as "town of the gods". The etymology was given by

Agathangelos Agathangelos (in , in Greek "bearer of good news", 5th century AD) is the pseudonym of the author of a life of the first apostle of Armenia, Gregory the Illuminator, who died about 332. The history attributed to Agathangelos is the main sou ...

, who explained the word as being

Parthian Parthian may refer to: Historical * Parthian people * A demonym "of Parthia", a region of north-eastern of Greater Iran * Parthian Empire (247 BC – 224 AD) * Parthian language, a now-extinct Middle Iranian language * Parthian shot, an archery sk ...

, the equivalent of

Armenian Armenian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Armenia, a country in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia * Armenians, the national people of Armenia, or people of Armenian descent ** Armenian diaspora, Armenian communities around the ...

''dicʿ-awan''.

Movses Khorenatsi Movses Khorenatsi ( 410–490s AD; , ) was a prominent Armenians, Armenian historian from late antiquity and the author of the ''History of Armenia (book), History of the Armenians''. Movses's ''History of the Armenians'' was the first attempt at ...

held it as ''bagnacʿn awan'' ("town of altars"). The name, written as ''*Bagauana'', is recorded in Greek by

Ptolemy Claudius Ptolemy (; , ; ; – 160s/170s AD) was a Greco-Roman mathematician, astronomer, astrologer, geographer, and music theorist who wrote about a dozen scientific treatises, three of which were important to later Byzantine science, Byzant ...

as ''Sakauana''. ''Bagavan'' was most likely connected with one of the

Old Persian Old Persian is one of two directly attested Old Iranian languages (the other being Avestan) and is the ancestor of Middle Persian (the language of the Sasanian Empire). Like other Old Iranian languages, it was known to its native speakers as (I ...

words for sanctuary, such as ''*bagina-'' or ''*bagastāna-''.

History

Bagavan was the site of one of the most important shrines of pre-Christian Armenia, and an

eternal flame An eternal flame is a flame, lamp or torch that burns for an indefinite time. Most eternal flames are ignited and tended intentionally, but some are natural phenomena caused by natural gas leaks, peat fires and coal seam fires, all of which ca ...

was kept burning there. The royal family of Armenia celebrated the New Year's festival at Bagavan, on the first day of the first month (''Nawasard'') of the

Armenian calendar The Armenian calendar is the calendar traditionally used in Armenia, primarily during the medieval ages. Since 1918, the civil calendar in Armenia is the Gregorian calendar. The Armenian calendar was based on an invariant year length of 365 days. ...

. Bagavan was also a centre for the worship of

Aramazd Aramazd was the chief and creator god in the Armenian version of Zoroastrianism.; ; ; ; ; The deity and his name were derived from the deity Ahura Mazda after the Median conquest of Armenia in the 6th century BC. Aramazd was regarded as a gene ...

, the Armenian version of

Ahura Mazda Ahura Mazda (; ; or , ),The former is the New Persian rendering of the Avestan form, while the latter derives from Middle Persian. also known as Horomazes (),, is the only creator deity and Sky deity, god of the sky in the ancient Iranian ...

. Movses Khorenatsi attributed the foundation of the altar at Bagavan to "the last Tigran" and the establishment of the New Year festival to King Valarsaces; however, the modern scholar Robert H. Hewsen notes that these theories were probably Movses's own inventions. According to Agathangelos,

Tiridates III of Armenia Tiridates III ( – ), also known as Tiridates the Great or Tiridates IV, was the Armenian Arsacid king from to . In the early 4th century (the traditional date is 301), Tiridates proclaimed Christianity as the state religion of Armenia, maki ...

(287–330) and his court were baptized by

Gregory the Illuminator Gregory the Illuminator ( – ) was the founder and first official Catholicos of All Armenians, head of the Armenian Apostolic Church. He Christianization of Armenia, converted Armenia from Zoroastrianism in Armenia, Zoroastrianism to Chris ...

at Bagavan in the

. Gregory reportedly founded the monastery of St. John the Baptist at Bagavan. The Turkish name of the town, ''Üç Kilise'' ("the three churches"), derives from this monastery. The

Sasanian The Sasanian Empire (), officially Eranshahr ( , "Empire of the Iranians"), was an Iranian empire that was founded and ruled by the House of Sasan from 224 to 651. Enduring for over four centuries, the length of the Sasanian dynasty's reign ...

king (

shah Shāh (; ) is a royal title meaning "king" in the Persian language.Yarshater, Ehsa, ''Iranian Studies'', vol. XXII, no. 1 (1989) Though chiefly associated with the monarchs of Iran, it was also used to refer to the leaders of numerous Per ...

)

Yazdegerd II Yazdegerd II (also spelled Yazdgerd and Yazdgird; ), was the Sasanian King of Kings () of Iran from 438 to 457. He was the successor and son of Bahram V (). His reign was marked by wars against the Eastern Roman Empire in the west and the Kidari ...

(438–457) camped at Bagavan in 439 during his punitive campaign in

Sasanian Armenia Sasanian Armenia, also known as Persian Armenia and Persarmenia ( – ''Parskahayastan''), may either refer to the periods in which Armenia ( – ''Armin'') was under the suzerainty of the Sasanian Empire or specifically to the parts of Armeni ...

. In 591 during the reign of

emperor Maurice Maurice (; ; 539 – 27 November 602) was Eastern Roman emperor from 582 to 602 and the last member of the Justinian dynasty. A successful general, Maurice was chosen as heir and son-in-law by his predecessor Tiberius II. Maurice's reign wa ...

, Bagavan and much of Armenia came under Roman administration after the Romans aided

Khosrow II Khosrow II (spelled Chosroes II in classical sources; and ''Khosrau''), commonly known as Khosrow Parviz (New Persian: , "Khosrow the Victorious"), is considered to be the last great Sasanian King of Kings (Shahanshah) of Iran, ruling from 590 ...

in defeating the rebel

Bahram Chobin Bahrām Chōbīn () or Wahrām Chōbēn (Middle Persian: ; died 591), also known by his epithet Mehrbandak ("servant of Mithra"), was a nobleman, general, and political leader of the late Sasanian Empire and briefly its ruler as Bahram VI (). So ...

at the battle of the Blarathon. Bagavan's St. John the Baptist church was completed in 631–639 on the left bank of the Euphrates river. Hewsen notes that it was originally surrounded by a "high wall flanked with towers which protected the monasting buildings within". In 1877, it was ransacked by

before being completely demolished after 1915 during the

Notes

References

Sources

* * * * * {{cite book , last1=Russell , first1=James R. , author-link1=James R. Russell , title=Zoroastrianism in Armenia , date=1987 , publisher=Harvard University Press , isbn=978-0674968509 Destroyed Armenian churches in Turkey Christian monasteries established in the 4th century Buildings and structures in Ağrı Province 1915 disestablishments in the Ottoman Empire Buildings and structures demolished in 1915 Zoroastrianism History of Ağrı Province Ancient Armenia