Eghiazar

Eghiazar

Eghiazar

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Eghiazar (Old Armenian: Եղիազար, romanized: Ełiazar) was the Catholicos and head of Caucasian Albanian Church in the late 7th century.

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Election

Attested in The History of the Country of Albania, he was mentioned as a bishop of Shaki during tenure of his predecessor Ukhtanes. Although Mkhitar Gosh[1] and Kirakos Gandzaketsi[2] give his tenure for 6 years and death date as 688, thus suggesting his election in 682, Dowsett argued against this, suggesting early 680 instead.[3]

Tenure

His tenure started during reign of Javanshir as a vassal of Umayyad Caliphate, a period of relative political stability but also arrival of Muslims in Albania. Certain Albanian noble families were beginning to forge intermarriage bonds with Muslim nobles.[3] He was described by Movses Kalankatuatsi as an equal to apostles 'in word and deed'[4] and was active in evangelizing North Caucasian Huns, sending Israel to work among them. After Javanshir's death and succession of Varaz-Tiridates I, he was instrumental in forging peace between Alp Iluetuer and Varaz. He died in 688 and succeeded by Nerses Bakur.

Establishing St.Elisaeus cult

Eghiazar is considered by some Armenian researchers as the initiator of St.Elisæus of Albania legend.[5][6] According to this theory, Eghiazar boosted the cult of Elisaeus in order to put forward the claim that Albanian Church was independent of Armenian Church. As such, Eghiazar promoted Giš (near his bishopric in Shaki) and connected it with Elisaeus as well. This claim put establishment of Albanian Christianity way before activities of Gregory the Enlightener.[7][8]

References

  1. [1]
    Gosh, Mkhitar. The Aghuanian Chronicle (PDF). Translated by Bedrosian, Robert. p. 3.
  2. [2]
    Gandzaketsi, Kirakos (1986). History of the Armenians (PDF). Translated by Bedrosian, Robert. p. 34.
  3. [3]
    Dasxuranci 1961, p. 137.
  4. [4]
    Dasxuranci 1961, p. 142.
  5. [5]
    Hakobyan, А.А. (1987). Албания-Алуанк в греко-латинских и древнеармянских источниках [Albania-Aluank in the Greek-Latin and Ancient Greek Sources] (in Russian). Yerevan: Publishing House of the Academy of Sciences of Armenia SSR. pp. 196–199.
  6. [6]
    Kharatyan, Hranush S. (2021-10-29). "Identification and Self-Identification Terms of Udi-Christians Based on Materials of Armenian and Udi Written Sources". Vostok. Afro-Aziatskie Obshchestva: Istoriia i Sovremennost (5): 116–128. doi:10.31857/S086919080016492-8. ISSN 0869-1908. S2CID 240265788.
  7. [7]
    Kharatyan, Hranush. "Touching upon issues of Yeghishe the Apostle, Grigoris and the christianization of the Caucasian Aghvank (Albania) (In connection with the publication of the deciphering of the Caucasian Albanian old double-script palimpsest)". mechitar.org. Retrieved 2021-12-15.
  8. [8]
    Vacca, Alison (2017). Non-Muslim provinces under early Islam : Islamic rule and Iranian legitimacy in Armenia and Caucasian Albania. Cambridge, United Kingdom: Cambridge University Press. p. 55. ISBN 978-1-107-18851-8. OCLC 970396766.

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