Arevvordiner in Ancient Armenia

Arevvordiner (Children of the Sun) are mentioned by a medieval scholar Grigor Magistros (990-1058) in a letter written to the Syrian Jacobite patriarch.

In the Arab sources, Arevvordiner are referred to as Shamsiya, which literally means “the people of the Sun”.

Arevvordiner are described in detail by Catholicos Nerses IV the Gracious (1102-1173) in his “The Conversion of Arevvordiner”.

According to Catholicos Nerses, the cult of Arevvordiner is quite ancient and was also present at the time of Gregory the Illuminator, whose efforts resulted in Armenia adopting Christianity in 301. He became the first Catholicos (Supreme Patriarch) of the Armenian Church.

The beliefs of Arevvordiner were probably associated with the pre-Christian (pagan) religion of Armenia. The last time the Arevvordiner were mentioned in medieval sources was in the 14th century.

Mkhitar Aparantsi noted that Armenian worshipers of the Sun still lived around the Armenian city of Manazkert. They verbally transmitted the history of their ancestors through traditional epics.

Some communities of Arevvordiner continued to exist in Armenian Mesopotamia (Northern Mesopotamia), especially around the city of Hamid, until the end of the 19th century.

Source: Encyclopedia “Christian Armenia”.