{{Short description|Armenian goddess of death}} '''Spandaramet''' ({{langx|hy|Սպանդարամետ}}) or '''Sandaramet''' (Սանդարամետ) was the Armenian name of the Zoroastrian ''yazata'' (angelic divinity) Spenta Armaiti,{{sfn|Russell|1987|p=66}}{{sfn|Frenschkowski|2015|p=469}} one of the six Amesha Spentas, and the guardian of the earth.{{sfn|Boyce|1986|pp=413–415}}
The name is attested in two forms in Armenian. Spandaramet, most likely derived from Northwestern Middle Iranian, and Sandaramet ("Hades, the underworld"), which is derived from a Southwestern Iranian variant, possibly the Old form.{{sfn|Russell|1987|pp=66, 428}}
It is uncertain when the name Sandaramet entered Armenian; it may have taken place under the Achaemenid Empire (550–330 BC).{{sfn|Russell|1987|p=393}} The spelling is used in the Armenian translation of the Bible, where a derivative adjective, ''sandarametakan'', is also used. The 5th-century Armenian author Agathangelos uses the word ''sandarametakan nnĵecealkc'' ("those asleep in the underworld") to refer to the dead.{{sfn|Russell|1987|p=428}}
The usage of word to refer to the underworld indicates that its introduction to Armenian took place during a period when earth was seen as the home of the dead.{{sfn|Russell|1987|p=429}} Sandaramet was probably seen as the divinity of the underworld as the result of an amalgamation of Zoroastrian and ancient beliefs.{{sfn|Russell|1987|pp=429–430}}
According to the medieval Armenian historian Tovma Artsruni, the Artaxiad Armenian king Artaxias II ({{reign|75|69|era=BC}}) had "temples of Herakles and Dionysos" constructed in Vaspurakan. Herakles corresponds to Vahagn, and Dionysos most likely to Spandaramet.{{sfn|Russell|1987|p=430}}
In the account of Agathangelos, the Arsacid Armenian king Tiridates III ({{reign|298|330|era=AD}}) mentions the "''šahapet'' of the tombs", which most likely refers to Spandaramet. The Armenian word ''šahapet'' (derived from Old Persian ''xšaθrapati'') was used to refer to supernatural beings.{{sfn|Russell|1986|pp=438–444}}
== References == {{reflist|2}}
== Sources ==
* {{Encyclopaedia Iranica | volume=2 | fascicle=4 | title = Armenia and Iran iii. Armenian Religion | last = Russell | first = James R. | author-link = James R. Russell | url = https://iranicaonline.org/articles/armenia-iii | pages = 438–444 }} * {{cite book |last1=Frenschkowski |first1=Marco|editor1-last=Stausberg |editor1-first=Michael |editor-link1=Michael Stausberg|editor2-last=Vevaina |editor2-first=Yuhan Sohrab-Dinshaw |editor3-last=Tessmann |editor3-first=Anna |title=The Wiley Blackwell Companion to Zoroastrianism |date=2015 |publisher=John Wiley And Sons Ltd. |pages=457–477|chapter=Christianity}} * {{cite book |last1=Russell |first1=James R. |title=Zoroastrianism in Armenia |date=1987 |publisher=Harvard University Press |isbn=978-0674968509}}
Category:Armenian goddesses Category:Death goddesses Category:Earth goddesses Category:Underworld goddesses Category:Yazatas
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