ERUANDAŠAT

 

ERUANDAŠAT (Eruand-a-šat, “Joy of Ervand”), a city in Armenia located on a rocky hill at the juncture of the Akhurean and Araxes (q.v.; Aras) rivers. Founded by King Eruand (Orontes) of the Eruanduni (Orontid) Dynasty ca. 200 B.C.E. (Moses of Khorene, 2.39; tr. Thomson, pp. 181-82), Eruandašat remained the capital of Armenia until the royal residence was moved to the new center of Artašat (Artaxata, q.v.) by its founder King Artašēs (Artaxias, ca. 189-61 B.C.E., q.v.) and Eruandašat was briefly renamed Marmēt or Artamet (Moses of Khorene, 2.46; tr. Thomson, p. 187). Besides being strongly fortified with ramparts and a citadel, Eruandašat had a certain commercial importance (Manandyan, 1965, pp. 37-38, 96, 155) but, although we know that it had a considerable Jewish population, there is no firm evidence that it was a Hellenistic center and it is unknown to classical authors. In the 4th century C.E., Eruandašat was given by King Trdat the Great (Tiridates, 298-ca. 330) to the house of Kamsarakan, a branch of the Arsacid royal house of Armenia and, as such, was the center of the district of Aršarunikʿ (Moses of Khorene 3.31; tr. Thomson, pp. 287-88). The city was destroyed by Šāpūr II during the Persian invasion around 364 C.E. and its population (supposedly 20,000 Armenian families and 30,000 Jewish) deported to Persia (ps.-Faustus, 4.55). Eruandašat still existed in the seventh century, but never recovered its former importance. Its ruins lie unexcavated between the modern villages of Bakhchalar and Kherbeklu (Eremyan, p. 51).

 

Bibliography:

S. T. Eremyan, Hayastanē ēst “Ašzarhacʿoycʿ"-i, Erevan, 1963.

ps.-Faustus of Byzantium, Buzanadran Patmutʿiwnk, tr. N. G. Garsoïan as Epic histories, Cambridge, MA, 1989.

H. Hübschmann, Die altarmenischen Ortsnamen, Strassbourg, 1904; repr. Amsterdam, 1969.

H. Mandandyan, O Torgovle i gorodakh Armenii v sviazi s mirovoĭ torgovlei drevnikh vremen, 2nd ed., Erevan, 1954; tr. N.G. Garsoïan as Trade and Cities of Armenia in Relation to Ancient World Trade, Lisbon, 1965.

(Robert H. Hewsen)

Originally Published: December 15, 1998

Last Updated: January 19, 2012

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Vol. VIII, Fasc. 6, p. 562