THE LAST YEARS OF REIGN

KING TRDAT III WITH HIS DAUGHTER 
YOUNG PRINCESS -- THE FUTURE QUEEN

Written by Gevork Nazaryan

The establishment of the first Christian State did not bode well with the Romans, Persians and other still fervently pagan peoples. The Romans changed their policy of "divide and rule" in the face of growing Sassanian strength, as well as the growing menace from the Germanic tribes north of the Roman Empire. More and more Armenians were being invited and given posts as Roman generals, centurions and legionnaires, a trend that began as early as the first century AD. This led to the establishment of numerous, strong Armenian feudal, aristocratic houses in the Western and as well as Eastern [later Byzantine] Roman Empires. Also, the Armenians carried over with them the Armenian solar cult of Mithraism [the Orion cult] to the different parts of the Empire and to Rome itself. The Sassanians launched an all out attack in the hope of retaking Armenian Mesopotamia and Atrpatakan. King Trdat III led his army into

ARMENIAN MASTER BUILDERS WOULD SPREAD THEIR INGENIOUS BUILDING
SKILLS THROUGHOUT THE WORLD.

THE RELIQUARY OF XOTAKERATS. 1300.

THE ENCIRCLED EQUILATERAL SPLIT [FISH] TAIL ARMENIAN SOLAR CROSS.
MADE OUT OF PURE GOLD AND EMBELLISHED WITH PRECIOUS STONES. OPEN
GATES LEAD TO THE POINTED ARCH THAT WITHIN CONTAINS THE COSMIC
CRUX/STAR GATE. EACH SEVEN STONES RUNNING VERTICALLY ACROSS THE SPINE
OF THE CROSS CORRESPONDS TO THE [CRYSTAL] CHAKRAS OF THE HUMAN BODY.
THE GREENISH-GOLDEN FERTILITY BRANCHES AND VEGETATIVE 8-ESQUE SPIRALS
SYMBOLICALLY STAND FOR LIFE AND ETERNITY CONTAINED IN THE 'MOMENT OF
TIME'. TWO SEMI-MYTHICAL CREATURES FACING EAST AND WEST AS THE PRIMORDIAL
DYAD THAT GIVES BIRTH TO LIFE.

CLOSE UP OF THE SUPERB CRAFTSMANSHIP OF THE SUBLIMINAL RELIQUARY.


XIIITH CENTURY GOLD-COVERED LEATHER-BOUND GOSPEL.

the four outpost bdešxut'iwns [military marks] throughout the four cardinal directions of Greater Armenia, strategically established by Artaxerxes I in second century BC. The Sassanian army was successfully checked and thrown back to the frontier. Meanwhile the numerous tribes of Caucasus began raiding the northern and northeastern Armenia. Trdat with the help of his brother-in-law, the King of Alans led a number of punitive campaigns against the raiders. The Sassanians, unable to subdue Armenia by the means of arms, sent assassins in order to kill the King. In 330 King Trdat III was poisoned during a royal feast during a countryside visit, in the province of Daranałeac‛. The King's body, according to the royal tradition was placed in a silver casket and was buried in the Royal Arshakuni cemetery of T'ordan. His shrine became a site of pilgrimage for the King's subjects.

T H E   C R O W N  O F  T R D A T  I I I
MADE OUT OF GOLD AND DECORATED  WITH PRECIOUS STONES
WITH THE EQUILATERAL CROSS ABOVE THE
POINT WITHIN A CIRCLE IN THE CENTER
THE PATTERN WAS ALSO ADOPTED BY THE LATER
 BYZANTINE [EASTERN ROMAN] EMPERORS MANY
OF WHOM WERE FROM THE ARMENIAN ARISTOCRACY

Edward Gibbon noted that "In Armenia, the renowned Tiridates had long enjoyed the peace and glory which he deserved by his valour and fidelity. By the Conversion of Tiridates the character of a saint was applied to that of a hero, the Christian faith was preached and established from the Euphrates to the shores of the Caspian" [History, Vol. II., p. 368]. King Trdat III was canonized by the Apostolic Church. Trdat III along with St. Gregory are important figures that led to the establishment of Christianity not only in Armenia but throughout the world.