Ancient Caspian Cross of Azerbaijan

Caspian Cross (Azerbaijan)

Introduction. The name Azerbaijan has three versions of interpretation: the first version is based on the Ancient Assyrian words Aderbaythen (House of (god) Ader), where Ader - the Kassites and Assyrian name of god of fire, Baythe is the house; the second version is based on the Median words Athurpatakan (Athur - "fire", patakan - "keeper"; the third version (according to "Oghuzname") is based on Old Turkic words Khazarbaijan (Khazar - "land", baijan - "welthy", or "noble"). The word Khazar means "land" also in Mongolian, but it is spelled as Gazar ("Ystoria Mongalorum" by Giovanni da Pian del Carpine, written in the 1240).

It should be noted that the various versions of the same name are attempts to own the name by various dynasties, which happened to rule in Azerbaijan. Just like the name Iran, which was politicized by various historians with Pan-Persianist agenda describing it as some mythical "Aryan" tribal ancestors of the Persians, actually means "Land of Lion(s) in Assyrian, Arya (ܐܪܝܐ) - lion, and -an is suffix to define a place/country. The word ērān is first attested in the inscriptions that accompany the investiture relief of Ardashir I, founder of the Sassanid Empire, (r. 224–242) at Naqsh-e Rustam In this bilingual inscription, Ardashir I calls himself, king of kings of the Iranians" (Middle Persian: ardašīr šāhān šāh ī ērān; Parthian: ardašīr šāhān šāh ī aryān). The name Iran bears a similarity with the name Shirvan (شروان‎), a ancient kingdom in the Republic of Azerbaijan, which is also translated as the Land of Lion(s) from Azeri, Shir - lion, v - suffix, an - country. 

The Caspians were excellent sea explorers and from Gobustan petroglyphs we can see the shape of their boats. Aramaic papyri from Egypt, and Herodotus (3.93.2) mentioned the Caspians as far as Egypt in the west, and Pamir Mountains in the east. They also excelled in military, trade and ironsmith.

It should be noted that according to Herodotus, Caspians did not share a border with Armenia, which was part of XIII tax district. The XVIII tax district, which included Matienians, Saspires and Alordians (it is a territory from the west coast of Lake Urmia through Lake Van and all the way to Ispir in Turkey, also known as Eastern Anatolia), separated Caspiane from Armenia, hence, placing Armenians somewhere around south of Taurus Mountain range between Syria and Assyria, rather in east as it is claimed by the Armenian historians. 

Therefore, Armenians have never been considered as an aboriginal inhabitant of Caucasus. The same historical data is confirmed by the Queen Mary Atlas (England), executed by the Portuguese cartographer Diogo Homem (b. 1521, d. 1576) between 1555 and 1559.

The ancient Caspian Cross ("Kaspi xaçı" in Azerbaijani) was officially introduced in 313AD as a symbol of the kingdom and the church. King Arran was a founder of the Kingdom of Caucasian Albania according to Latin sources. The cross itself represent the greek, sometimes latin, cross with the oriental flour-de-lis at its ends, which represents a fire or a flame, it is a common symbol for Azerbaijan and the present city symbol of Baku.  The cross above is the Caspian Cross as it is seen in the Round Temple, Shaki (Azerbaijan). There are also in Kish, Nij and other places across Azerbaijan, Tatev Monastery in Syunik, Armenia. All these churches are the part of the Church of Caucasian Albania (Azerbaijan) which used to head quartered in Gandzasar Monastery (presently territory occupied by Armenia), or Gəncəsər Kafedralı (Cathedral) as it is known in Azerbaijani.

Caspian Cross can also be observed on the walls of Kara Kilise, or Qara Kilsə in Azerbaijani, of West Azerbaijan province of Iran. Kara Kilise is also known as The Monastery of Saint Thaddeus.

In some places across South Caucasus, the Ancient Caspian Cross as well as churches and monasteries were vandalized by the Armenian inscriptions as a result of the forceful amalgamation of the Church of Caucasian Albania into the Armenian Church.

Here is another example of Caspian Cross being vandalized by by the Armenian inscriptions, but this time in the side wall of Saint Stepanos Monastery, East Azerbaijan province of Iran.

On the picture below, you can see Caspian Cross of the top of Saint Stepanos Monastery, East Azerbaijan province of Iran, with the  outside walls being vandalized by the Armenian inscriptions.

The oriental flour-de-lis from the Caspian Cross can also be seen on the Azerbaijani muslim grave stones in Yeddi Gumbez Mausoleum, Shemakhi (Azerbaijan). This proves the cultural continuity among Azerbaijanis regardless their present religious believes.

Church. Church of Caucasian Albania is is an Autocephalous Orthodox Church and was first established by the Holy Apostle Bartholomew in Baku; and then by St. Elisha in the village of Kish, north of Azerbaijan. Upon the end of Russian-Iran War (1826-1828),  Tsar Nicolas I of Russia signed "The Decree on managing the affairs of the Armenian-Gregorian Church in Russia" ("Положение о управлении делами Армяно-Григорианской церкви в России") in 1836, which set the start for the amalgamation of the Church of Caucasian Albania and its properties into the newly formed Armenian Church (the institution as we know now) and subsequently turning the Armenian-Grigorian Church itself into the Orthodox Church with the head quarter in Etchmiadzin, also known as Üçkilsə or Üçmüəzzin in Azerbaijani. Armenians first appeared in North Mesopotamia after the expansion of the Achaemenid Empire. They were originally one of the Persian tribes which were placed to weaken the Assyrian power and influence in the region. During the Roman and Parthian empires, two agreed to create a buffer state, Kingdom of Armenia, on the mutual border in Northern Mesopotamia to prevent further confrontations between each other. The Parthian noble family of Artaxiad were instated as the puppet ruler of the new kingdom, meanwhile the kingdom itself became a vassal state of Rome. The territorial expansion of Kingdom of Armenia, claimed by the Armenian historians, actually were made by the Roman legionaries on behalf of Rome and for the Roman glory. The Roman stone inscription "Legio XII Fulminata", carved between 84 and 96 A.D in Gobustan (Azerbaijan) is clear evidence to that.

The Church of Caucasian Albania was re-established in Azerbaijan in 2003 as the Church of Caucasian Albania-Udi. In 2013 during 1700th anniversary of establishing Christianity in Azerbaijan, the grand opening of the Church of Arran took place in the village of Nij. Below, I propose the flag of the Church of Caucasian Albania-Udi, all Azerbaijani christians, and the flag of Nagorno-Karabakh region of Azerbaijan, as a Christian enclave within Republic of Azerbaijan as oppose to the current flag of Nagorno-Karabakh, which represent an Armenian aggression and appropriation of our churches by foreign hordes.

There is also a more simplified version with the same symbolic meaning

As oppose to the current flag of the Nagorno-Karabakh enclave, which is a duplicate of the Armenian flag, this flag represents the past and present of the Azerbaijan Christian heritage. White represents the silver caps of the Caucasian mountains, which is used to be known as the Caspian mountains, and Blue resents the Caspian sea. Four parts are the regions of Azerbaijan: three parts represents regions formed as a result Kura and Aras rivers flowing through the Greater Azerbaijan; the fourth part is Mughan and the chain of islands in the Caspian sea.

The picture above shows the Church of Holy Resurrection (1621) and two graves in the town of Hadrut, the Mountainous region of Qarabag. First two graves belong to the Azerbaijani Christian, with the Caspian Cross on the side of graves, and the last grave belongs to the Armenian Christian with the Armenian Cross of the side of grave stone. The gravestones are the same shape and design as the Muslim graves in the historical Shemakhi graveyard (see above).

Alphabet. The Caucasian Albanian script has an interesting origin. It was not created by  Mesrop Mashtots as it is claimed by the Armenian historians. It was influenced by the cursive Phoenician alphabet, and Eastern Syriac (Madnḥāyā) script.

The script consists of 52 characters, all of which can also represent numerals from 1 to 700,000 when a combining mark is added above, below, or both above and below them, described as similar to Coptic. 49 of the characters are found in the Sinai palimpsests.[18] Several punctuation marks are also present, including a middle dot, a separating colon, an apostrophe, paragraph marks, and citation marks.

Letter	𐔰	𐔱	𐔲	𐔳	𐔴	𐔵	𐔶	𐔷	𐔸	𐔹	𐔺	𐔻	𐔼	𐔽	𐔾	𐔿
Name	alt	bet	gim	dat	eb	zarl	eyn	zhil	tas	cha	yowd	zha	irb	sha	lan	inya
Letter	𐕀	𐕁	𐕂	𐕃	𐕄	𐕅	𐕆	𐕇	𐕈	𐕉	𐕊	𐕋	𐕌	𐕍	𐕎	𐕏
Name	xeyn	dyan	car	jhox	kar	lyit	keyt	qay	aor	choy	chi	cyay	maq	qar	nowc	dzyay
Letter	𐕐	𐕑	𐕒	𐕓	𐕔	𐕕	𐕖	𐕗	𐕘	𐕙	𐕚	𐕛	𐕜	𐕝	𐕞	𐕟
Name	shak	jayn	on	tyay	fam	dzay	chat	pen	gheys	rat	seyk	veyz	tiwr	shoy	iwn	cyaw
Letter	𐕠	𐕡	𐕢	𐕣
Name	cayn	yayd	piwr	kiw

Art. More derivative variations of the Caspian Cross as an art abstract used in the textile, furniture and decoration in general. The Caspian Cross was adopted by the Order of Calatrava (a Spanish military order from Castile) in 1164, and Patek Philippe and Co. (Swiss luxury watch manufacturer) was using it as a company logo since 1851.

Some organizations or individuals try to present Caspian Cross as Armenian Cross, although two are completely different. Shutterstock.com wrongly have a) Caspian Cross (left) being distributed as b) Armenian Cross (right).

Eparchies of The Church

1. Caspiana (North East, East, South-East, South, Center)

• Chola
• Lpiniya
• Kabala
• Ejeri

2. Utik (North, North West)

• Hereti
• Kambisena
• Gardman
• Sakasena

3. Arsak (South-West)

• Sisakan

4. Syunik (West)

• Gohtan

The heads of The Church

• St. Bartholomew
• St. Elisha
• Matthew
• Isaac
• Karen
• Pandas
• Lazarus
• St. Grigoris
• Zachary
• David
• John
• Jeremiah (circa 434)

List of Catholicoses

• Abas (551-595)
• Viro (595-629)
• Zachary I (629-644)
• John I (644-671)
• Uhtanes (671-683)
• Eleazar (683-689)
• Nerses I (689-706)
• Simeon I (706-707)
• Michael (707-744)
• Anastasius I (744-748)
• Joseph I (Hovsep) (748-765)
• David I (765-769)
• David II (769-778)
• Matthew I (778-779)
• Moses I (779-781)
• Aaron (781-784)
• Solomon I (784)
• Theodore (784-788)
• Solomon II (788-789)
• John II (Hovhannes) (799-824)
• Moses II (824)
• David III (824-852)
• Joseph II (852-877)
• Samuel (877-894)
• Hovnan (894-902)
• Simeon II (902-923)
• David IV (923-929)
• Isaac (Sahag) (929-947)
• Gagik (947-958)
• David V (958-965)
• David VI (965-971)
• Peter I (971-987)
• Moses III (987-993)
• Mark, Joseph III, Mark, Stephen I (from 993 to 1079)
• John III (1079-1121)
• Stephen II (1129-1131)
• Gregory I (circa 1139)
• Bezhgen (circa 1140)
• Nerses II (1149-1155)
• Stephan III (1155-1195)
• John IV (1195-1235)
• Nerses III (1235-1262)
• Stephen IV (1262-1323)
• Sukyan and Peter II (circa 1323-1331)
• Zachariah II (ok.1331)
• David VII
• Karapet (1402-1420)
• John V (circa 1426-1428)
• Matthew II (circa 1434)
• Athanasius II, Gregory II and John VI (1441-1470)
• Azaria
• Thomas (circa 1471)
• Aristakes I
• Stephen V (circa 1476)
• Nerses IV (circa 1478)
• Shmavon I (circa 1481)
• Arakel (1481-1497)
• Matthew III (ok.1488)
• Aristakes II (1515-circa 1516)
• Sergius (Sarkis) I (circa 1554)
• Gregory III (circa 1559-1574)
• Peter III (1571)
• David VIII (circa 1573)
• Philip
• John VII (1574-1584)
• David IX (circa 1584)
• Anastasius II (circa 1585)
• Shmavon II (1586-1611)
• Aristakes III Kolataktsi (circa 1588)
• Melkiset Arashetsi (circa 1593)
• Simeon III (circa 1616)
• Peter IV Hondzaksky (1653-1675)
• Simeon IV Hotorashensky (1675-1701)
• Jeremiah Hasan Jalal (1676-1700)
• Isaiah Hasan Jalal (1702-1728)
• Nerses V (1706-1736)
• Israel (1728-1763)
• Nerses VI (1763)
• John VIII Gandzasar (1763-1786)
• Simeon V Hotorashenksky (1794-1810)
• Sergius II Gandzasar (1810-1828, with title of metropolitan after 1815)