Quadrilateral Obelisk :: ARMENIAN HISTORICAL MONUMENTS

Quadrilateral Obelisk 4 c․

NKR / Karvajar / Dadivank

Description

The pillar in the northwestern side of the Dadi Vank cathedral, which is still standing (height over 2 m, length 95, width 65 cm), though mostly buried in the ground, might have been taken for the remainder of a pagan altar, if not for the certain knowledge that this is the funeral pillar of Dadi, erected, in conformity with the customs of that period to commemorate the tortured disciple. We cannot say for sure whether it was built right in the I cent., or after the conversion to Christianity. As witnessed by M. Kaghankatvatsi, in the case of Saint Yeghishe the funeral pillar was built many centuries after his death, but it is clear that the place should have been somehow commemorated, otherwise it would be forgotten and lost. In the case of Dadi Vank we are inclined to assume, that the funeral pillar was erected on the grave between the IV-VII cent.