Martyrdom of the Holy Queen Shushanik
The Martyrdom of the Holy Queen Shushanik is the earliest surviving piece of Georgian literature. Purported to have been written between 476 and 483, the earliest surviving manuscript dates back to the 10th century and was written at Parkhali Monastery. There exists an Armenian translation of the same text, dated also to 10th century. The author is Iakob Tsurtaveli, a contemporary and participant of the events described in this hagiographic novel.
The manuscript describes the martyrdom of Saint Shushanik, an Armenian noblewoman, at the hand of her spouse, bidaxae Varsken, who had renounced Christianity and embraced Zoroastrianism. Shushanik, whose father was Vardan Mamikonyan, the sparapet of the Christians in Armenia, refused to follow him, and died as a martyr after years of imprisonment and torture.
The first printed version was published in 1882. It has been translated into Russian, French, English, German, Spanish, Hungarian and Icelandic. In 1979, UNESCO marked the 1500-anniversary of the Martyrdom of the Holy Queen Shushanik.
