Tamar Mogatsi
02 February 2009
A Saintly Woman
“God forbid that I should ever deny Christ my God, to whom I am a follower, and in whom I believe. He is the Word, and the Son of God; born of Saint Mary the virgin; creator of all things visible and invisible; lord and judge of the quick and the dead.”
The region of Mogk to the south of Lake Van was part of the Arshaguni Armenian kingdom (A.D. 65 -428) and later passed from the Pakradounis to the Ardzrounis (in A.D. 986).
In 1020, King Senekerim, pressed by the advancing Seljuks, exchanged his lands of Vasbouragan (which included twelve castles, eight cities, 4,000 villages, and 115 monasteries) for the Byzantine city of Sebastia and its surroundings. Most of the princes followed suite, with one-third of the population departing with the king. Some minor princes and lords remained in the territory, but they proved no match against the invading Turkish hoards and the tide of Muslim-Kurdish settlers.
As a result, by the late 14th century, no Armenian nobles remained in Armenia; the urban Christian populations and the peasants of the countryside were left to the mercies and whims of the marauding Muslims. A dark time descended, when all good deeds and virtues were abandoned.
In the district of Mogk there lived a Christian woman, an Armenian, with a beautiful face and resplendent color. She was called Tamar, which was changed to Kohar (“Jewel”). Her husband, Touma, was also a Christian.
A Kurdish man from the same region, under an evil spell of desire for the beauty and charm of Tamar, thought to kill the husband and take Tamar for himself. But Tamar, a woman of great faith, anticipated the danger, and made her husband aware of the situation.
Gathering their children, the couple took refuge on the island stronghold of Aghtamar, in Lake Van. A catholicate had been established there in 1113, which by this time was under the control of the Sefedian dynasty, claimants to a maternal link with the Ardzruni princes. This put Aghtamar under Armenian control, and beyond the reach of the Muslims.
Four or five years elapsed. Then, one day, by happenstance the couple went over the sea to the coastal town of Vosdan, where some local Muslims recognized them, and raised their voices to claim that the woman had been an adherent to their faith in the past.
Tamar was taken to the ruler Amirazdnin and his wife Pashakhatoun. The ruler was indifferent to the matter. His wife, however, being a Turcoman, was evil by nature—a second Shamiram. (According to the Armenian traditions of Van, Shamiram was the evil and lustful ruler of Babylon, who had built canals and left her inscriptions and marks in the surrounding regions of Van; she became associated with many legends linked to the local topography.) Pashakhatoun promised Tamar good things if she were to denounce Christ; if Tamar refused, she was threatened with severe torture—unto death.
But the gentle Tamar, having been kindled with a divine flame of love for Christ, did not consent to the promises. Neither did she fear the threats, but instead bravely and boldly defended her faith. She told the ruler: “I am ready to die for Christ my God. The great gifts you promised me, Pasha, you think I will accept. But I never will—not even were you to give me your principality, and make me queen of your realm as your wife. I cannot exchange these things for my love of Christ.”
She was imprisoned, tortured, and deprived of food—all in the hope that she would change her mind. But when Tamar was brought before the judge, she remained adamant in her stand. “O Molla!” she cried. “Even if you cut my flesh like a raisin, I will not deny Christ.”
After ten days some eminent Christians of the city raised a thousand dirham to secure Tamar’s release. But the ruler’s wife would not consent, and to the contrary ordered that Tamar be taken out and stoned to death.
Even in her death, Tamar defiantly confessed Christ as her God. She was rapt in prayer when a large stone struck her face; she collapsed, her head turned towards the east. In her prone position Tamar was defenseless against the members of the mob, who hurled stone upon stone until the precious “jewel” was covered under a pile of rubble.
But when they saw what they had done, even such faithless people felt the shame of their act. They permitted the Christians to remove Tamar’s body, and give it proper burial. It was as they were removing the body that they noticed something peculiar: this wise and modest woman had sewn up her frock from her neck down to her toes, in such a manner that no part of her body, not even her feet, might be seen if she was dragged or stoned. The onlookers noticed, too, that Tamar’s face shined like that of Steven the Protomartyr—like unto the countenance of an angel. They marveled at what they saw, and praised God. For these things, Kohar called Tamar was accounted a precious jewel, not only for her name, but because she became a true gem of God.
