Armazi (god)

According to the medieval Georgian Chronicles, Armazi (Georgian: არმაზი) was the supreme deity in the pantheon of pre-Christian Caucasian Iberia.[1]

Georgian literary tradition credits the first king of Kartli, Pharnavaz I of Iberia (assumed to have reigned c. 302-237 BC), with the raising of the idol Armazi – reputedly named after him – on a mountain at his capital, and the construction of an Armazi fortress. The Life of Nino (9th or 10th century) describes the statue of Armazi as "a man of bronze standing; attached to his body was a golden suit of chain-armour, on his head a strong helmet; for eyes he had emeralds and beryls, in his hands he held a sabre glittering like lighting, and it turned in his hands." The same account asserts that its subject, a 4th-century female baptizer of Georgians Saint Nino, witnessed the celebration of a great feast of dedication for the idol, and as she began praying, the idol was burnt by lightning.[2]

Beyond the medieval Georgian annals, composed five or more centuries after Christianization, there are no records of the pre-Christian Georgian pantheon. Modern scholars are divided as to the origin of the name Armazi. It would appear to be connected to the Zoroastrian supreme god Ahura Mazdā (Middle Persian Ohrmazd, Armenian Aramazd) and contemporary archaeological evidence does suggest the penetration of Zoroastrianism in ancient Georgia. On the other hand, Giorgi Melikishvili proposed the identification of Armazi as a local variant of Arma, the god of the moon in Hittite mythology. This is in keeping with Ivane Javakhishvili's argument of a pre-Christian Georgian moon cult, which fused with the Christian St. George (Tetri Giorgi), Georgia's patron saint since the Middle Ages.[2]