Elishe

Elishe (Old Armenian: Եղիշէ, romanized: Ełišē, Modern Armenian pronunciation [jɛʁiˈʃɛ], 410 – 475) was an Armenian historian from the time of late antiquity, best known as the author of History of Vardan and the Armenian War, a history of the fifth-century Armenian revolt led by Vardan Mamikonian against the suppression of Christianity under Sassanid Iranian rule.

Life

According to ancient and medieval sources that have trickled down to historians, Elishe was one of the younger pupils of Sahak Partev and Mesrop Mashtots, the inventor of the Armenian alphabet. In 434, he, along with several other students, were sent to Alexandria to study Greek, Syriac and the liberal arts. He returned to Armenia in 441 and entered into military service, serving as a soldier or secretary to Sparapet Vardan Mamikonian. He took part in the war of religious independence (449–451) against the Persian king Yazdegerd II.

Following their defeat at the battle of Avarayr, he renounced military life, became a hermit and retired to the mountains south of Lake Van (in the province of Rshtunik). In 464–465, he was asked to write the history of the events leading up to and after the battle of Avarayr by a priest named David Mamikonian. Following his death, his remains were removed and taken to the Surb Astvatsatsin Monastery, located along Lake Van's shoreline. All ancient authorities speak of Elishe as a vardapet (church doctor).

Beginning with Babgen Guleserian in 1909 and Father Nerses Akinian, a member of the Mkhitarian Congregation, in the 1930s, the dating of Elishe's work was cast into doubt and moved a century or two forward. One point from their argument was predicated on the assumption that the Armenian translation of Philo's works, which Elishe uses, was not made until around 600 AD. However, the translation of Philo's works had taken place during the early "Hellenizing" period of the Golden Age of Armenian literature (the fifth century AD).