Nane (goddess)
Nane (Armenian: Նանե, Nanė; Georgian: ნანა, Nana; Bulgarian: Нане, Nanė; Russian: Нанэ, Nanė) was an Armenian pagan mother goddess. She was the goddess of war, wisdom, and motherhood, and the daughter of the supreme god Aramazd.
Nane looked like a young beautiful woman in the clothing of a warrior, with spear and shield in hand,[1] like the Greek Athena, with whom she identified in the Hellenic period.[2]
In Armenia and other countries, the name Nane continues to be used as a personal name.
Cult
Nane's followers were some of the ex-Paulician Armenians who were mostly Islamicised and later known as Pomaks in Europe.[citation needed] Her cult was closely associated with the cult of the goddess Anahit.
The temple of the goddess Nane was in the town of Thil. Her temple was destroyed during the Christianization of Armenia:
"Then they crossed the Lycus River and demolished the temple of Nane, Aramazd's daughter, in the town of Thil."[3]
"Gregory then asked the king for permission to overthrow and destroy the pagan shrines and temples. Drtad readily issued an edict entrusting Gregory with this task, and himself set out from the city to destroy shrines along the highways."[4]
According to some authors, Nane was adopted from the Akkadian goddess Nanaya.[5][6]
Notes
- ↑ С. Б. Арутюнян. Армянская мифология
- ↑ http://uk.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%A4%D0%B0%D0%B9%D0%BB:Athena_column-Academy_of_Athens.jpg Athena column at Academy of Athens.
- ↑ A. Carrière. The Eight Sanctuaries of Pagan Armenia according to Agat'angeghos and Movses Xorenats'I [Les huit sanctuaires de l'Arménie payenne]. Paris, 1899, English Translation by Robert Bedrosian, 2009. http://rbedrosian.com/Car1.htm
- ↑ AGATHANGELOS. History of St. Gregory and the Conversion of Armenia. http://www.vehi.net/istoriya/armenia/agathangelos/en/AGATHANGELOS.html
- ↑ С. Б. Арутюнян. Армянская мифология S. B. Arutiunyan. The Armenian Mythology (in Russian).
- ↑ John M. Douglas. The Armenians. New York, 1992, p. 91.
