History of Armenia, by Father Michael Chamich; from B. C. 2247 to ...

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HISTORY OF ABMENIA. 279
there. On his arrival at Neushapuh he took
the captive priests, and bringing them to a
distant place, he there martyred them, on the
25th of Hirotiz (July), A. D. 454.
An individual of the name of Khujik, who
was secretly a christian, buried their bodies.
Levond the priest, being the most distinguished
among these martyrs, they were henceforward
called Levondians. Denshapuh also tortured
two of their pupils,
Khoren and Abraham, and
caused them to be driven into Assyria.
In the meantime the Armenian chiefs, who had a. d. 45%
come into Persia under the most solemn assurances
of safety, languished in a deep and gloomy
dungeon, exposed to all
and cold,
the vicissitudes of heat
without bedding of any description
scantily fed, and at times enduring the extremities
of hunger and thirst. They bore all without
murmuring, confiding in the omniscience of the
Most High. The ruthless Hazkert still added
to their
miseries, by tormenting them, through
the medium of Mihrnerseh, on account of their
religion,
offering to restore them to their country
and families, with power and honour, if they
would turn to the faith of the Magi. But all
was ineffectual ; they remained stedfast in their
attachment to those doctrines which their
ancestors had perished in defending.
After a confinement of four years, they were a. d.456.