Ashdishad, a former pagan sanctuary, was no doubt home to the first Church founded in Armenia, by Saint Gregory the Illuminator at the start of the 4th century. It was there that the relics of the Holy Precursor John the Baptist and of Saint Athenogenes came, which were shared by the Illuminator between the monasteries of the Holy Precursor (n° 53) and Saint John (n° 56). The principal residence of the catholicoi of Saint Gregory’s family, itself allied with that of the Mamigonian dynasts of Darôn (the Taronid), Ashdishad was the initial foothold of the Gregorian tradition in the region, where an earlier Christianity of Syrian origin had existed. The meeting of the two was symbolized by the appointment to Ashdishad of Chorbishop Daniel the Syrian (Taniel Asori, † 347), whose burial place is claimed by both the nearby monastery of Saint Daniel of Gop‘ (n° 58) and the Tomb of the Nine Saints of T‘ortan (n° 47). Ashdishad in turn holds the tomb of Saint Sahag the Great – the last catholicos (387-438) from the Illuminator’s line.His name is also associated with that of Saint Mesrob Mashdots in the creation, circa 404, of the Armenian alphabet. Saint Sahag also distinguished himself in his self-appointed role as visionary defender of the Arsacid (Arshaguni) Armenian royal dynasty, the last member of which, Ardashes IV, was deposed in 428 by the Persian sovereign at the behest of the Armenian dynasts themselves. Retained in Persia at this date, Sahag the Great would eventually be restored to his patriarchal functions in 435 before dying three years later. The famous Lamentation on the Loss of the Armenian Throne for the Arsacid Dynasty and of the Archbishopric for the Family of Saint Gregory, the final Book of the History of Armenia, by the father of Armenian historiography, Moses of Khorene (Movses Khorenatsi, end of the 5th or end of the 8th century?), ends with the year 439 – date of the death of Saint Mesrob. It is this work that long established Saint Sahag as the embodiment of a singular Armenian identity founded on faith, a collective consciousness, a language and a written alphabet.
Also known as Hashdits Vank‘, or the Convent of the Sacrifices, Ashdishad was destroyed during the Arab invasion, then rebuilt by the Mamigonians, before again being reduced to ruins, probably at the time of Tamerlane. The ruins stood north of Moush [Muş] on the other side of the eastern Euphrates, or Aradzani [Murat Çay] River, near the locality of Derik‘ [Yücetepe], at 38° 58' N and 41° 27' E. The main church measured some 14 × 12 m. To the south of this church and surrounded by cross-stones was the martyrium of Saint Sahag, which, in addition to his own tomb, contained that of his daughter Shushan, mother of Vartan Mamigonian, leader of the 451 Armenian uprising against the Persians (see n° 53). The remains of the other two churches could be seen to the west and the northwest of the first. In 1810, the superior of the Holy Precursor of Moush, Mgrditch of Van (Mgrditch Vanetsi), had the martyrium renovated or rebuilt by the architect, Simon of Paghesh [Bitlis] (Simon Paghishetsi). It was accessed through the wooden chapel in front of the martyrium by the stairway on the north side of the altar, which descended as though into a tomb. Administration of the site was entrusted to the Madravank‘, or Madnavank‘ monastery, a priory of the Holy Precursor monastery. Saint Sahag’s tomb was constantly visited by the faithful, and more particularly on the Thursdays of Holy Week and Ascension Day.
The ruins of Ashdishad have disappeared, but the martyrium can still be seen.And little remains of the martyrium of Saint Sahag except formless piles of the stone used to fill in the walls and vault; the roof and facing stones have been torn away. Nor can any cross-stones now be seen in the immediate vicinity.
Épriguian, 1903-1905, I, 231-234. Loussararian, 1912, 99. Oskian, 1953, 260-261. Mahé, 1993, 320-324. Der Garabédian, 1995, 355-356.