It is suggested that one or all of the churches of Mart Shmune, Sultana Mahdokht, and Mar Awda may have been constructed over a thousand years ago. Local tradition attests that the church of Sultana Mahdokht was constructed by a pilgrim who was instructed to build a church there in a dream from the saint after he had discovered a relic of the saint's arm. The population of Araden were likely adherents of the Church of the East long before the 14th century. The village was a notable centre of manuscript production, and the earliest surviving manuscript copied at Araden is dated to 1571.