Astłik
Astłik[1](Armenian:Աստղիկ) was theArmeniangoddess of fertility and love, and consort ofVahagn.In the later pre-Christian period she became the goddess of love, maidenly beauty, and of water sources and springs.[2]
TheVardavarfestival devoted to Astłik that was celebrated in mid July became the Christian holiday of theTransfiguration of Jesus,and is still celebrated by Armenians. As in pre-Christian times, people release doves and throw water on each other.
One tradition says she wasNoah's daughter, born after hisflood.[3]
Mythology
[edit]Astłik was originally the goddess creator of heaven and earth, and was later demoted to the position of "maiden". This change in the pantheon occurred asAramazdbecame creator andAnahitbecame known as Great Lady and Mother Deity (the moon being worshipped as her personification). They form a trinity in the pantheon of Armenian deities. In the period ofHellenisticinfluence, Astłik became similar to theGreekAphroditeand theMesopotamianIshtar.
Etymology
[edit]Her name is the diminutive of the Armenianաստղastł,[4]meaning"star".The word is fromProto-Indo-European*h₂stḗrand iscognatewith Sanskritstṛ́,Avestanstar,Pahlavistar,Persiansetār,Ancient Greek:astḗr.
Cultic locales
[edit]Her principal seat was inAshtishat(Taron), located to the North fromMuş,where her chamber was dedicated to the name ofVahagnand known as "Vahagn's bedroom". Vahagn was the personification of a sun-god, her lover or husband according to popular tales.
Other temples and places of worship of Astłik had been located in various towns and villages, such as the mountain ofPalaty(to the South-West fromLake Van), inArtamet(12 km from Van),[5]etc.
The unique monuments of prehistoric Armenia,vishap( "dragon stones" )[a]spread in many provinces of historical Armenia (i.e., Gegharkunik, Aragatsotn, Javakhk, Tayk, etc.), and are additional manifestations of her worship.
See also
[edit]
Footnotes
[edit]References
[edit]- ^Petrosyan 2015,p. 100.
- ^Lurker, Manfred.The Routledge Dictionary Of Gods Goddesses Devils And Demons.Routledge. 2004. pp. 22-23.ISBN978-04-15340-18-2
- ^"Astghik | armeniaculture.am".
- ^Ačaṙean 1971,p. 278.
- ^p. 107, "The Pantheon of Armenian Pagan Deities", Gagik Artsruni, Yerevan, 2003
Bibliography
[edit]- Ačaṙean, Hračʿya(1971).Հայերեն Արմատական Բառարան [Dictionary of Armenian Root Words](2 ed.). Yerevan University Press.
- Petrosyan, Armen (2002).The Indo‑european and Ancient Near Eastern Sources of the Armenian Epic.Washington, D.C.: Institute for the Study of Man.ISBN9780941694810.
- Petrosyan, Armen (2007). "State Pantheon of Greater Armenia: Earliest Sources".Aramazd: Armenian Journal of Near Eastern Studies.2:174–201.ISSN1829-1376.
- Petrosyan, Armen (2015).Problems of Armenian Prehistory. Myth, Language, History.Yerevan: Gitutyun.ISBN9785808012011.
