Of the numerous other legends associated with the mountain I shall
mention only two. One of them regards the summit of the mountain as the
site of Chaldean star-worship, and asserts that a pillar with a figure
of a star stood upon it. [103] According to the same legend, twelve
wise men stood beside the pillar to watch for the star of the East,
which three of them followed to Bethlehem. The other is in respect
to the spring situated above the spot where stood the monastery. A
bird, called by the Armenians tetagush, feeds on the locusts which
are such a plague to the country, and curiously enough, the bird
is attracted by the waters of the spring. When the locusts appear,
the people carry their bottles to the spring and filling them with
the peculiarly charmed water, take them back to their fields where
they are placed on the ground to attract the tetagush. The people of
Syria and Palestine were much in need of tetagush and Ararat spring
water during the spring and summer of 1915, for the swarms of locusts
not only devoured the crops but also the leaves and barks of the trees.
SECTION 2. KHOR-VIRAP AND ERZERUM
On the bank of the Araxes, in the plain of Armenia, and in full view
of Ararat are located the monastery of Khor-Virap and the chapel of
St. Gregory close beside it. An Armenian inscription is cut in the
walls of the portico of the monastery which marks the spot where a
monk, Johannes by name, appeared twice after his death saying that he
had seen Gregory the Illuminator. The chapel of St. Gregory covers
the traditional well into which he was thrown and imprisoned for
thirteen years by King Tiridates. Dubois descended into a sort of
tunnel, fifteen or sixteen feet below the pavement of the chapel,
which is part of an old fortress, and was shown the worn stones of
a niche where the saint prayed, as evidence of the thirteen years,
quite as though other pilgrims who knelt in the same place could
not have assisted somewhat the pious work of the saint. [104] The
spot is only a few steps from the famous temple dedicated to the
principal god of the Armenians, Aramazd, and it seems clear that
the pagan king intended to make a sacrifice to his gods in casting
the young fanatic into the well. The temple was called Achelichad,
meaning "many sacrifices" because of the many offerings here given up
to Aramazd. With the era of Christianity, the name Achelichad gave way
to the name Khor Virap, meaning dry well. Gregorius Magistros, already
mentioned, brought the body of the saint from Constantinople and placed
it in the bottom of the well, where it served to cure sick pilgrims.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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