Saint Shushanik Mamikonian. The Martyrdom of the Holy Queen Shushanik is the first extant piece of

Saint Shushanik Mamikonian.

The Martyrdom of the Holy Queen Shushanik is the first extant piece of Georgian literature. Purported to have been written between 476 and 483, the earliest surviving manuscript dates from the 10th century.

The author is Iakob Tsurtaveli (Jacob of Tsurtavi), a contemporary and participant of the events described in this hagiographic novel. The novel describes the martyrdom of Saint Shushanik, an Armenian noblewoman, at the hand of her spouse, bidaxae (high prince) Varsken, who had renounced Christianity and embraced Zoroastrianism.

Shushanik, whose father was the sparapet (military leader) of the Christians in Armenia Saint Vartan Mamikonian, refused to follow him, so she died as a martyr after years of imprisonment and tortures.

Source: წამებაჲ წმიდისა შუშანიკისი დედოფლისაჲ.The National Parliamentary Library of Georgia by Tsurtaveli, Jacob, 1990.

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