View source for Zaden

{{Short description|Fertility god in Georgian mythology}}
{{distinguish|Zadeh}}

'''Zaden''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|z|eɪ|d|ən}}; {{lang-ka|ზადენი|tr}}) was, according to the medieval [[Georgia (country)|Georgian]] chronicles, the [[god]] of fruitfulness in a [[paganism|pre-Christian]] [[pantheon (gods)|pantheon]] of the ancient [[Georgians]] of [[Kartli]] ([[Caucasian Iberia|Iberia]] of the [[Classical antiquity|Classical]] sources). King [[Parnajom of Iberia]] (109–90 BC) is reported to have built a fortress at Mount [[Zedazeni]] to house the colossus of Zadeni which, along with other pagan idols, are said to have been destroyed through the prayers of [[St. Nino]], a 4th-century female baptizer of Georgians.

Beyond the passages from the medieval annals and the surviving toponym of Zedazeni (from ''Zeda Zadeni'', i.e. "Upper Zaden"), we lack contemporary records and archaeological evidence about this cult, however. Zaden is surmised by several modern scholars to have been a Georgian version of the [[Luwian]] [[Šanta|Santas]] or the [[Hittite mythology|Hittite]] [[Sandon (god)|Sandon]], but the identification with [[Yazata]] of [[Zoroastrianism]] has also been suggested.<ref name="Rapp">Rapp, Stephen H. (2003), ''Studies In Medieval Georgian Historiography: Early Texts And Eurasian Contexts''. Peeters Bvba, {{ISBN|90-429-1318-5}}.</ref>

==Legacy==
The crater [[Zadeni (crater)|Zadeni]] in the southern hemisphere of the dwarf planet [[Ceres (dwarf planet)|Ceres]] was named after this deity.

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

{{Georgian mythology}}
[[Category:Georgian mythology]]
[[Category:Fertility gods]]