MYSTICAL PERCEPTION OF THE BOOK OF LAMENTATIONS BY GRIGOR NAREKATSI IN THE 13TH – 18TH CENTURIES

By  Dr. Vahram Lalayan

The Society for Armenian Studies (SAS) has posthumously sponsored the publication of Dr. Vahram Lalayan’s book Mystical Perception of the Book of Lamentations by Grigor Narekatsi in the 13th – 18th Centuries. Dr. Lalayan was a scholar of Armenian medieval theology and the head of the Department of History at Grigor Narekatsi University in Artsakh. He was killed by Azeri forces in Meds Tagher village in Hadrut during the 2020 war.
Mystical Perception of the Book of Lamentations was published in Armenian by Antares Press in Yerevan and deals with Narekatsi’s Book of Lamentations. Mystical Perception, edited by Lalayan’s colleague Dr. Amalya Grigoryan of Narekatsi University, consists of an introduction, two chapters, a conclusion, and a list of primary literary sources. The first chapter deals with the “Medieval Commentaries of the Book of Lamentations” and discusses the research of Poghos Khachatryan’s work on the first and fourth editions of the Book of Lamentations. The second chapter deals with the commentaries of the Book of Lamentations and analyzes the mystical interpretations.