Arewordik

Arewordik (Armenian: Արևորդիներ ) was an Armenian Zoroastrian sect that did not convert to Christianity and whose followers worshipped the sun.

History

Reports indicate that Zoroastrian Armenians continued in Armenia until the 1920s.^[1] This small group had survived through the centuries and were known as the Arewordikʿ ("Children of the Sun").^[2] They never converted to Christianity and appear to have survived as late as the Hamidian massacres and the Armenian genocide at the turn of the 20th century.^[2] Medieval Armenian sources narrate that the Arewordikʿ were not converted by Gregory the Illuminator, the patron saint and first official head of the Armenian Apostolic Church, and that they had been "infected" by Zradasht (Zoroaster).^[2] The Arewordikʿ were specifically distinguished from Christian sects whose adherents were deemed heretics (such as the Paulicians and Tondrakians).^[2] The Arewordikʿ had seemingly taught the Paulicians and Tondrakians "to expose the dead on rooftops instead of burying them", which indicates that burial and exposure of the dead was practiced in Armenia as in Iran.^[2]

The Arewordikʿ spoke the Armenian language and, as Russell notes, revered the poplar and all heliotropic plants.^[2] Russell adds: "A tree which is either a poplar or a cypress, probably the latter, which is particularly revered by the Zoroastrians, appears on an Artaxiad coin."^[2] The Arewordikʿ Armenians offered sacrifices for the souls of the dead, and the leader of the Arewordikʿ was called the Hazarpet (cf. Iranian Hazarbed).^[2] The Arewordikʿ inhabited five villages in the area of Mardin (present-day southeastern Turkey). In the late 14th century, Mazaka (later renamed Kayseri) and others inhabited Samosata (modern Samsat, Turkey) and Amida (modern Diyarbakır, Turkey).^[2] In the town of Marsovan (modern Merzifon, Turkey), in the early 20th century, the Armenian quarter was known as "Arewordi".^[2] Furthermore, a cemetery outside the town was known as "Arewordii gerezman", and an Armenian owner of a nearby vineyard was named "Arewordean", Armenian for "Arewordi-son".^[2]

See also

Aramazd

References

^ Sanasarian, Eliz (11 November 2011). "Nationalism and Religion in Contemporary Iran". In Roald, Anne Sofie; Longva, Anh Nga (eds.). Religious Minorities in the Middle East: Domination, Self-Empowerment, Accommodation. Brill. p. 313. ISBN 978-9004216846. Later, Armenian Christianity retained some Zoroastrian vocabulary and ritual. Reports indicate that there were Zoroastrian Armenians in Armenia until the 1920s
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k Russell, J. R. (1986). "Armenia and Iran iii. Armenian Religion". In Yarshater, Ehsan (ed.). Encyclopædia Iranica. Encyclopaedia Iranica. Vol. II/4: Architecture IV–Armenia and Iran IV. London and New York: Routledge & Kegan Paul. pp. 438–444. ISBN 978-0-71009-104-8.

Religion in Armenia
Christianity	Armenian Apostolic Church Armenian Brotherhood Church Armenian Evangelical Church Catholic Church Armenian Catholic Church Georgian Orthodox Church Molokans
Other religions	Baháʼí Faith Buddhism Hetanism Islam Judaism Yazidism Zoroastrianism
History	Armenian mythology Christianization of Armenia Armenian Christian tradition in the 20th century Paulicianism Archontics Chazinzarians Tondrakians
Related topics	Freedom of religion The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the Caucasus

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