Women’s voices
are mostly absent from the countless manuscripts that preserve the spiritual
works of medieval Armenia. A notable exception is Sahakdoukht of Siwnik‘, an
eighth century poet and composer. The words of three of her hymns survive in a
couple of manuscripts. Sahakdoukht was the sister of the theologian and bishop
Step‘anos of Siwnik‘, many of whose theological, liturgical, and exegetical
works remain extant. According to the account of the thirteenth-century
chronicler of Siwnik‘ (a region in the southern part of present-day Armenia),
Step‘anos Orbelean, Sahakdoukht was a talented and skilled musician who had
devoted herself to an ascetic life. She lived and worked in one of the grottoes
in the canyon of Garni, located approximately 20 miles to the east of Yerevan.
There she composed hymns and also taught students from behind a curtain. One of
her surviving works is a hymn dedicated (կցուրդ, ‘accompaniment’) to the Assumption (Փոխումն) of the
Theotokos. The text of the work was edited by Archbishop Norayr Bogharean of
the Armenian Patriarchate of Jerusalem. Bogharean’s edition is based on the
versions of this hymn in two 15th century manuscripts housed at the
library of the Patriarchate (Jerusalem 2431 and 1741). Further details and commentary
are given by Yakob K‘ēosēyan in volume six of the Matenagirk‘ (Antelias: 2007). My translation here is based on the text
that follows K‘ēosēyan’s commentary. I plan to translate and present the other
two extant hymns of Sahakdoukht soon.
Hymn for the Assumption[1]
of the Theotokos
by Sahadoukht of Siwnik‘, c. 700-750
[Translated
from Armenian by Michael Papazian]
Today the multitude of apostles and nuns
are assembled,
summoned by the Holy Spirit at the
Assumption of the Virgin Mary, the Theotokos,
in expectation of the coming of the Son
of God.
The Creator came with the celestial
chariots and incorporeal ranks
to the Virgin and Mother and
Dwelling-place of the Holy Spirit.
Today we see the Holy Virgin lifted up
by the chariots of clouds to heaven,
entering the bridal chamber[2]
in the company of the wise and holy nuns.
The multitude of the spiritual hosts cry
out and say,
‘Blessed are you who are most blessed
among women,
for you are the intercessor on behalf of
the world to your Only-Begotten Son.’
For this reason too we the multitude of
the faithful confide in you,
blessed Lady and Mother of the Incarnate
Word,
you who stand beside your Son and God.
[1] The Armenian Փոխումն is
better translated as ‘Assumption,’ not ‘Dormition,’ the standard term used in
Orthodoxy.
[2] The Armenian առագաստ
corresponds to the Greek παστάς or νυμφῶν (‘bridal chamber’), both
of which occur in the account of the Dormition given by Sahakdoukht’s
contemporary John of Damascus:
ὴ
παστὰς τῆς θείας τοῦ λόγου σαρκώσεως ὡς ἐν θαλάμῳ τῷ πανευκλεεῖ ἀναπέπαυται τάφῳ,
ὁθεν πρὸς τὸν οὐράνιον ἄνεισι νυμφῶνα. (Third
Oration on the Dormition 2.17)
[the bridal chamber of the divine Incarnation
of the Word has rested in a glorious tomb as in a mansion, from where she
ascends to her heavenly bridal chamber.]
