# Spandaramet

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{{Short description|Armenian goddess of death}}
'''Spandaramet''' ({{langx|hy|Սպանդարամետ}}) or '''Sandaramet''' (Սանդարամետ) was the [Armenian](/source/Armenian_language) name of the [Zoroastrian](/source/Zoroastrianism) ''[yazata](/source/yazata)'' (angelic divinity) [Spenta Armaiti](/source/Spenta_Armaiti),{{sfn|Russell|1987|p=66}}{{sfn|Frenschkowski|2015|p=469}} one of the six [Amesha Spenta](/source/Amesha_Spenta)s, 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](/source/Western_Iranian_languages), and Sandaramet ("[Hades](/source/Hades), the [underworld](/source/underworld)"), which is derived from a [Southwestern Iranian](/source/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](/source/Achaemenid_Empire) (550–330 BC).{{sfn|Russell|1987|p=393}} The spelling is used in the Armenian translation of the [Bible](/source/Bible), where a derivative adjective, ''sandarametakan'', is also used. The 5th-century Armenian author [Agathangelos](/source/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](/source/Tovma_Artsruni), the [Artaxiad](/source/Artaxiad_dynasty) Armenian king [Artaxias II](/source/Artaxias_II) ({{reign|75|69|era=BC}}) had "temples of [Herakles](/source/Herakles) and [Dionysos](/source/Dionysos)" constructed in [Vaspurakan](/source/Vaspurakan). Herakles corresponds to [Vahagn](/source/Vahagn), and Dionysos most likely to Spandaramet.{{sfn|Russell|1987|p=430}}

In the account of Agathangelos, the [Arsacid](/source/Arsacid_dynasty_of_Armenia) Armenian king [Tiridates III](/source/Tiridates_III_of_Armenia) ({{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](/source/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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{{Deity-stub}}

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Spandaramet](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spandaramet) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spandaramet?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.