Nane (goddess)

Nane (Armenian: Նանե, Nanė) was an Armenian pagan mother goddess. She was the goddess of war and wisdom.

Nane looked like a young beautiful woman in the clothing of a warrior, with spear and shield in hand, like the Greek Athena, with whom she identified in the Hellenic period.

She has also been referred to as Hanea, Hanea, Babylonian Nana, Sumerian Nanai or Sumerian Nanai.

Though originally worshipping nature, Armenia slowly moved to a Zoroastrian like religion, following the path of truth while believing that one must do the right thing, simply because it is the right thing to do. Soon after this new religion, they formed gods of their own around images of everyday hardworking, ambitious and kind people similar to themselves. The created gods quickly grew to be idolized and worship was cult like involving rituals and sacrifices.

Her cult was closely associated with the cult of the goddess Anahit.

The temple of the goddess Nane was in the town of Thil across from the Lycus River. Her temple was destroyed during the Christianization of Armenia:

"Then they crossed the Lycus River and demolished the temple of Nane, Aramazd's daughter, in the town of Thil."

"Gregory then asked the king for permission to overthrow and destroy the pagan shrines and temples. Trdat readily issued an edict entrusting Gregory with this task, and himself set out from the city to destroy shrines along the highways."

According to some authors, Nane was adopted from the Akkadian goddess Nanaya, from the Phrygian goddess Cybele, or was from Elamite origin.

(Though Christianity was first brought to Armenia by the apostles Bartholomew and Thaddeus of Edessa, it was not accepted nor practiced by most of the people and those who did had to hide their beliefs among Zoroastrian practices.)

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