Church of the Holy Cross in Aghtamar

The image of the so-called “senmurv”, a fantastic winged creature with a dog’s protome and a peacock tail, was widely used in the late Sasanian art of the 6th–7th centuries on silver vessels, textiles, decorative stucco, etc. The identification of the “senmurv” with the mythic bird Saena (Saena-Muravo) of the Avesta and the “senmurv” of the late Zoroastrian sources was made for the first time by K. Trever in the 1930s. This idea was strongly fixed in scholar tradition until the end of the century. According to that identification, the image of the “senmurv” in Iranian art embodied the deity of fertility which, according to Zoroastrian mythology, was the protector of three elements. It lived on the “Tree of all Seeds”, guarantying the fecundation of the nature. The image of “senmurv” was soon borrowed by the early Islamic culture and appeared in Armenia and eastern Christian countries. Its symbolism on the Islamic and Christian monuments was considered in the frame of Trever’s theory.
But the linguistic studies and archeological discoveries of the two last decades showed the groundlessness of the traditional interpretation of that image and revealed its tie with Khwarenah (Farn), the deity of fortune, divine protection and providence. The latter interpretation was also confirmed by the inscriptions on Sogdian countermarks of the 7th–8th centuries which accompany the depiction of “senmurv”. Today the majority of specialists agrees, that the Sasanian dog-birds are the embodiments of Farn, alongside with the aries, the falcon and the fire nimbus. However, the new hypothesis is not without some disputable aspects, especially because of the existence of various iconographic versions of such creatures in Sogdian art.
In this context, the examination of the image on Armenian, Georgian and Byzantine monuments is especially relevant in the light of the newest interpretations. It is important to take into consideration that the earliest depiction of “senmurv” in Cristian art was recently testified on column’s capital of the drum of the Echmiadzin Cathedral. It dates back to 620 AD, and so it is contemporary with the Sasanian images. The next relief sculpture depicting “senmurv” (one with a fish tail) can be seen on the Church of the Holy Cross on the Aghtamar Island (915–921), shown as a see monster in the scene of the Prophet Jonah. This example has a great significance for tracing back the origin of the Iranian creature to Antique sea monsters. The “senmurvs” dating from the 10th century are represented on the façade of the church of Ateni Sion and on the cathedrals of Martvili. There are “senmurvs” in medallions depicted on the frescoes of the Church of Tigran Honents in Ani (1215), etc. The detailed study of these images in the context of Armenian medieval culture and their comparison with Byzantine examples have shown that the “senmurv” was borrowed by Christian art as the commonly understandable symbol of the divine presence, protection and glory.

The History of the House of Arcrunik‘ describes the impressive architectural project built on the island of Ałt‘amar (Lake of Van, in nowadays Turkey) by Gagik I Arcruni, following his rise to the throne of Vaspurakan. Among the various parts of this complex, which included a citadel, with a port, fortifications, warehouses, princely residences, gardens, parks and, of course, a royal palace, only the Church of the Holy Cross survived up to the present day. The building is an unicum among the few early medieval Armenian artistic survivals for the extension and the degree of conservation of its painted and sculptural decoration. The ornamentation of the church shows the coexistence of figurative elements of different artistic traditions: early Christian iconography, widespread in the Mediterranean koinè; depictions of historical figures linked to the Arcrunis; hunting scenes and fights between beasts and men; hybrids, characteristic of Iranian mythology, depicted according to compositional and iconographic systems close to the Iranian and Central Asian artistic traditions.
The presence in Ałt‘amar of Christian-Mediterranean (Syriac and/or Byzantine), Abbasid and Iranian (Sasanian) influences, was often emphasized in the studies devoted to the sculptural decoration of the church. This coexistence of different traditions should be read in the light of the economic, political and religious contacts between the Arcrunis and the supra-regional powers of Byzantine and Abbasid courts, as well as the local power of the Sājid dynasty. Despite the scarcity of archaeological evidences, this latter could be considered one of the sources of cultural and iconographical influence for the artists of Ałt‘amar. The purpose of this paper is to investigate in a comparative perspective the possible contacts between the art of Ałt‘amar and of Central Asia, trying to understand the way of realization of this hypothetical artistic mediation and, consequently, the role played also by the Sājids in the formation of a cultural milieu which led to the creation of the church and its decoration.