Hayocʿ (“History of the Armenians”), which is
yellow, green, white, black, a mane of pearl, hair
ostensibly written in the fifth century but prob-
of topaz, eyes like the planets Venus and Jupiter,
and an aroma like musk blended with ambergris 63
ably dated to the mid-eighth century in its pres-
ent form,55 the Armenian historian Moses of
Owing to the instigation of the bird of Paradise,
Chorene (Movsēs Khorenatsi) calls the neigh-
the peacock (ṭāʾūs), which he saw at the gate of
bouring Medes, mar, which is a homonymic
Paradise, Iblīs made use of the serpent and man-
of the Persian word mār (“snake”) The History
aged to trick her by speaking to her in a soft voice
refers to their offspring as “progeny of the dragon”
until she had confidence in him:
(vishap-azun), or human snakes,56 while the arche-
she opened her mouth, Iblīs jumped in and sat
type of evil misrule, Azhi Dahāka/Azhdahāk, the
down between her fangs (thus the fangs of snakes
dragon in man-shape (or the human in dragon-
became poisonous until the end of the ages)64
shape)57 of the Sasanian epics, is identified with
the historical Median king Astyages (Med
and so he eluded the angels guarding Paradise
Rishtivaiga) against whom the Armenian king
who would not have admitted him A narrative
Tigran rebel ed 58 Khorenatsi also refers to the first
ascribed to Wahb ibn Munabbih (b 34/654–5),
century ad invading Alans, an Iranian people of
a yemenite descendant from a family of Persian
the Caucasus, and their offspring, as descendants
origin, describes the Fall which led to the expul-
of Azhdahāk 59 The name of the latter continued to
sion from Paradise:
be used as a symbol for historical enemies; in par-
When Iblīs wanted to cause [Adam and Eve] to
ticular, the new world power of the Saljuq Turks,
slip, he entered into the stomach (jawf) of the
whose conquests provoked a sense of the apoca-
serpent; the serpent [then] had four legs and was
lyptic in medieval Christian Transcaucasia 60 The
like a Bactrian [camel] (bukhtīya), one of the
eleventh-century Armenian scholar and theolo-
most beautiful creatures God had created When
gian, John (yovhannes) of Tarawn, declared that
the serpent entered the garden, Iblīs came out
the Antichrist – the dragon bound, at the time of
of its stomach (jawf); he took [a fruit] from the
the Crucifixion, for a thousand years – was now
tree [the Tree of Immortality (Qurʾān, sūra 20,
free once again and had returned with the help
116–21)] that God had forbidden to Adam and
Eve and brought it to Eve 65
of the Saljuq Turks 61
In the discussion of the story of Paradise in
As a consequence of the service rendered to Iblīs,
post-Qurʾānic canonical traditions, the serpent-
the serpent is not only banished from Paradise,
dragon’s inherent ambivalence is also expressed
but loses her legs, which reenter her body; she
In the primordial Paradise the serpent is said to
will dwell in dark places and only earth will be
have been the most beautiful and strong of ani-
her food;66 she is condemned to crawl on her bel y
mals,62 who was:
becoming “malformed and deprived of the power
shaped like a camel and like the camel, could
of speech, mute and forked-tongued ”67
stand erect She had a multi-coloured tail, red,
55 See, for instance, the “Introduction” of Khorenatsi: His-
in Paradise the serpent and the peacock are singled out to
tory of the Armenians, tr and ed Thomson, 1978, repr 1980
become the pawns of Iblīs; both were severely punished
56 Ishkol-Kerovpian, “Višap,” WdM IV, 1, pp 155–7;
( idem, pp 46–7) but only the peacock was rehabilitated
Russell, 2004, p 627
( idem, p 53)
57
65
Cf Schwartz, 1980, pp 123–4
Al-Ṭabarī, Mukhtaṣ ar taʾrīkh al-rusul wa ’l-mulūk wa
58 Purporting to transmit a report of the earlier historian
’l-khulafāʾ, vol 1, p 108; see also idem, Jāmiʿ al-Bayān, I,
Mar Apas Catina, Khorenatsi notes this in a passage of his
p 235, cited after Katz, 2002, p 179 Jewish Midrashic litera-
Patmutʿiwn Hayocʿ (tr Langlois, 1872, p 39) Russell, 2004,
ture similarly records that the serpent of the Garden of Eden
p 1170
originally had feet; Gray, 1906, p 186 It is worth mentioning
59 Alemany, 2000, p 285
that in the Qurʾān it is not Eve who entices Adam to disobey
60 Cf White, 1991, p 193
God; Iblīs speaks to both and in one instance only to Adam
61 Their invasion is described by Matthew of Edessa
( sūras 7, 20–2; 20, 120–2)
66
(Mattʿēos Uṛhayetsi), who uses visionary apocalyptic imag-
Al-Kisāʾī, Qiṣaṣ al-anbiyāʾ, tr Thackston, 1978,
ery: the Turks are “winged serpents” (ojkʿ tʿewaworkʿ ) or
p 53; al-Ṭabarī, Mukhtaṣ ar taʾrīkh al-rusul wa ’l-mulūk wa
“death-breathing dragons” (vishapn mahashuntch) Russell,
’l-khulafāʾ, vol 1, pp 525–6
67
2004, p 883
Al-Kisāʾī, Qiṣaṣ al-anbiyāʾ, tr Thackston, 1978, p 46
62 Cf Wheeler, 2002, p 25
See also the second-century bc Hebrew work, Book of Jubi-
63 Al-Kisāʾī, Qiṣaṣ al-anbiyāʾ, tr Thackston, 1978, p 38
lees 3 28, as well as Philo of Alexandria, De Opificio Mundi
64 Idem, pp 39, 53 It is of note that of all the animals
55 156
10