By: Anush Khachatryan Master, ISEC of NAS RA, Department of Oriental Studies

The attention towards Islam and studies on the cross-cultural problems related to it has recently arose especially considering the role of Islam, the pivotal events happening in the Islamic world and growing the interest in them.
The main goal of this research is to reveal the similarities in Turko-Mongolian environment between the stories attributed to the Mongol foremother and the cornerstone, “bridging” figure in both Islam and Christianity, Virgin Mary. We intend to discuss the transformations of the character of Alan-Koa after the expansion of Islam based on written sources.
Within the boundaries of the subject we set a goal to raise and solve the following problems:

• To try to analyze and understand the transformations of the character of Alan-Koa after the expansion of Islam
• To understand how these transformations took place and whether it was a result of manifestation of coexistence or not.
• Make a comparison between Mary and Alan-Koa uncovering the similarities between the stories attributed to them

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By: Verjiné Svazlian Doctor in Philology, Leading Researcher, Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography, NAS RA, vsvaz333@yahoo.com

In the forties of the 20th century, until the mass repatriation, the Armenian community of Egypt (around 45 thousand people) was rallied mainly around the Armenian Apostolic Church (spiritual leader: His Eminence Archbishop Mambré Sirounian).
A number of Armenian schools, cultural organizations and athletic associations were all active mainly in the Armenian populated cities of Egypt, Cairo and Alexandria.
It should be noted that the total number of repatriates from Egypt to Soviet Armenia in 1947, 1948 and the 1960-1970s constituted around 4.500 people. Most of them were already ideologically prepared and aware of the objective of their repatriation, namely dedicating their lives to the development of the Fatherland.
The study highlights the contribution of these repatriated families and individuals (more than 140 people) to the development and growth of Soviet Armenia in cultural, industrial, artistic, photographic, educational, academic, medical, political, administrative, athletic and other (over 40) spheres of life.

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By: Hovhannes Khorikyan Doctor in History, M. Nalbandyan State University of Shirak Foundation, Gyumri 
hovhkhor78@mail.ru

The article shows that the Sasanian monarchs in one way or another used to take into account the importance of Syriac role in the state economy. The Christian craftsmen and merchants paid colossal taxes to the state treasury. Indeed, Nestorianism antagonized the official Byzantine church; spreading out from Mesopotamia, it was the creed of the merchants, the class who sought independency, which confronted Zoroastrianism in Iran. The Armenian Church, being national in nature, had such an intolerant position against the Byzantine church and Barsauma. At the time when the Christian church was divided into Monophysites and Dyophysites, and the Byzantines persecuted the Nestorians, the latter settled in Iran and from that time on the Persians changed their attitude towards the Christians and started to patronize the Nestorians, who were the enemies of Byzantine Chalcedonianism.
In ancient and medieval ages, the ethnic affiliation was directly related to the practicing of religion, the Syrians were Christians, and the Persians were Zoroastrians. This factor forced the Syrians to have their own establishment and under its patronage they could exist. They were unified around the church and the union of the craftsmen ensured the financial support.

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By: Aram Kosyan Doctor in History, Institute of Oriental Studies, NAS RA, aramkosyan@yahoo.com

In the article is discussed the “Torgomian” hypothesis of the Armenian ethnogenesis in regard to which until now scholars could not arrive at consensus. The study of various sources (written - cuneiform Hittite, Assyrian, Urartian, Hieroglyphic Luwian, classical Greek, linguistic, archaeological, mythological, etc.) points on the historical context in the history of the Armenian Highland which could fit our information drawn by Khorenatsi for the period of the First Hayides. Definitely, that period should be characterized by 1) the absence of considerably big political organization in the Highland, 2) the absence of more or less durative Assyrian control over several political entities in the south, 3) mobility of population. 

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By: Vahan Melikyan Doctor of History, Professor Leading researcher of the Institute of History of NAS RA, Doctor in History,  v_melikyan@mail.ru

The need to put a number of newly discovered materials into scientific circulation is aimed at refuting the still circulating faulty point of view that during the heroic battles of May, 1918 General Andranik was inactive, particularly in the region of Lori.
Those materials prove that the famous general, fighting victorious battles and strengthening himself in the Vorontsovka-Dsegh area, fought three victorious battles against the Turkish troops on May 22, because of which, in particular, he did not participated in the heroic battle of Gharakilisa.

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By: Yuri Suvaryan Member of Academy, NAS RA
Academician-Secretary of the Department
of Armenology and Social Sciences
suvaryan@sci.am

The problem of Nagorno-Karabakh is topical not only from the scientific point of view, but most of all because of the need for practical recommendations on the fate of Artsakh and the indigenous Armenian population inhabiting it for thousands of years. The claim of Azerbaijan that Artsakh is an internationally recognized territory of Azerbaijan has no legal, historical-geographical and ethno-cultural basis, since it seceded from the Azerbaijani SSR according to the law of the USSR “On the procedure for resolving issues related to the secession of a union republic from the USSR” dated 04/03/1990.

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By: Vanik Virabyan Doctor in History, Professor Kh. Abovyan Armenian State Pedagogical University, vanik.virabyan@mail.ru

In 1918-1920s, the Republic of Armenia made huge efforts to prevent hostile forces and conspiracies, especially in Surmalu, Kars, Aralitch, Zangibasar, Vedibasar, Böyük-Vedi, Nakhijevan, Zangezur, Zod, Basargechar and other regions. Available archives and other documents show the difficulties the Armenian government faces in preventing the special operations of Azerbaijani-Turkish activities.
During the days of the First Republic of Armenia, the successful activity of the Armenian government had significant results in revealing the apparent anti-Armenian intrigues and espionage activities of Azerbaijan in Yerevan aimed at undermining the foundations of Armenian statehood. The anti-Armenian uprisings in Zangibasar, Böyük-Vedi, as well as in Zod and other Armenian territories, directly sought to separate these territories from Armenia, and this took place in the immediate presence of the British military representative, Colonel C. Temperley.

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By: Boris Osipian PhD, Director of the Institute of Lawmetry and the Universal Theory of Law. Boston. Massachusetts (USA).
artos5@mail.ru 

In his article “The Snare of Glory or” «The Trap of Ambition" by Shahamir S. Shahamiryan, as a draft of the Constitution of Armenia of 1773», the author, through a general overview and necessary analysis of one of the most outstanding monuments of Armenian legal thought, reveals the deep meaning and purposeful content of this historical and legal document, which shows the true and reliable ways to achieve genuine state-legal independence, freedom and responsibility of the Armenian people, as well as successful ways of its politically independent lawful and expedient state building.

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By: Lilit Sarvazyan PhD, Associate Professor at the Yerevan State Pedagogical University, Senior Researcher at the Institute of Philosophy, Sociology and Law of NAS RA, lilit.sarvazyan@gmail.com

The historical mission of the Armenian Church was manifested by spiritual-and-cultural, political-and-deliberative, diplomatic, legislative and judicial functions and specific principles of governance. After the fall of the statehood, the Armenian people concentrated the national power in the Armenian Church, which with its pro-national policy became the supreme authority in the national existence. The role of the rule of law, representative democracy and the principles of parliamentarianism in the management system of the Armenian Church has been particularly important in Armenian social and political circles. In this context, the results of the cooperation of the spiritual-and-ecclesiastical and secular-and-political authorities, as well as the unique self-governance ability of the Armenian nation were revealed. 

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By: Mushegh Ghahriyan PhD, Institute of Oriental Studies, RA

States around the world employ various tactics to ensure their security, attract investments and spread their influence. Soft power is one of the tools widely applied by governments worldwide. The Arab states of the Persian Gulf region are not an exception as they widely use that tool to reach their goals. This article discusses certain features and evolution of carrying out soft power policies by those states. It also represents how soft power is used in the context of relations between the United Arab Emirates and Armenia.

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By: Horatio Southgate

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By: Clive Bigham, viscount London, Macmillan and Co., Limited, 1897

In his memories C.Bigham presents his travel notes across Western Armenia in the Summer of 1895. Here the reader could find remarkable notes regarding the attitude of Turks, Kurds and others toward Armenian atrocities which took place during the reign of Sultan Abdul Hamid II.
The Editorial board presents extracted passages of the book which describe Mr Bigham’s journey from Erzurum to the east, until Russian-held territories of Armenia (Chapters VII and VIII, pp.56-75).

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By: Hasmik Stepanyan

Institute of Oriental Studies, Yerevan, 2022, 132 p.

Pars Tuglaci is a prominent English language and Turkish language encyclopedist, linguist, author of encyclopaedia, historian, culturologist and translator. His culturological, encyclopaedic and typographic heritage greatly contributed to the study of the history of Western Armenians. This book is dedicated to his publications in the fields of oriental studies and Armenian studies.

By: Claude Mutafian

Les Belles Lettres, Paris, 2022 518 p. + 940 images

In the fourfold division of the Old City of Jerusalem, the Christian and the Armenian Quarters are contiguous but independent. This situation corresponds to the ancientness and the importance of the Armenian presence. The relations of the Armenians with the Holy City have never ceased, and they culminated at the time of the Crusades. Jerusalem became the seat of an Armenian Patriarchate and the cultural activity was intense: inscriptions, sculptures, mosaics, and manuscripts decorated with miniatures which are among the masterpieces of Armenian art. Today, Jerusalem is the most important repository of Armenian culture outside Armenia. Claude Mutafian’s most recent book, Jérusalem et les Arméniens: Jusqu’à la conquête ottomane (1516), presents the relations between Armenia and Jerusalem in their historical and artistic context with an abundance of maps, genealogical charts, and images.

ed. by Gohar Iskandaryan, Institute of Oriental Studies, Yerevan, 2022, 396 p.

Proceedings of the International Conference, dedicated to the 30th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the Republic of Armenia and the Islamic Republic of Iran.

By: Khachatur Stepanyan

Lusakn, Yerevan, 2022, 432 p.

The collection summarizes the materials of the international conference “Armenia and the region։ lessons, evaluations, perspectives” dedicated to the 100th anniversary of the Moscow and Kars agreements organized in Yerevan on October 19-21, 2021.

By: Karapetyan S. G. Head of Research on Armenian Architecture

RAA, Yerevan, 2022, 472 p.

The Microtoponyms of Artsakh contains mapped microtoponyms from about 200 villages of the land of Artsakh. Intended for specialists in the history of the Armenian nation.

By: Aleksan Hakobian Docteur en sciences historiques Institut d’études orientales, NAN RA

(second revised edition) by Aleksan Hakobyan, Gitutyun, Yerevan, 2022, 305 p.

In the second, revised edition of this monograph on Caucasian Albania (the first was published in 1987), one of the components of the Caucasian historical and cultural region, a deeper semantic analysis of the terms "Albania" and "Albanians" in ancient and medieval sources in the period from IV century to X century AD is carried out. The author reasonably shows that the term "Albanians", which never reflected the self-name of the formed ethnic unit, meant only a meta-ethnic community - the population of political and administrative entities with the name "Albania". Concretizing the content of the studied terms for each historical epoch, the author reveals the most important moments of Albanian history, historical geography, chronology and ethnonymy, analyzes in detail the unique monument of Armenian historical literature of the 10th century - “History of Albania” by Movses Dashurantsi.

By: Khachik A. Harutyunyan

Matenadaran, Yerevan, 2022, 400 p.

The study is dedicated to examining the vocabulary of the colophons of Armenian manuscripts. In particular, the words used in these written monuments were studied and classified according to the respective layers, as well as the manifestations of the influence of the language in the written speech of the colophons at different stages of the development of the Armenian language were highlighted. Special attention was also paid to the usage of words known from other literary works in the colophons.

By: Helen C. Evans

Yale University Press, 2022, 136 p. + 100 color illus.

Featuring texts by leading scholars of the history and culture of medieval Armenia, this book offers an in-depth look at its art, trade, and religious traditions. The papers in this volume, first presented at an international symposium celebrating The Met’s blockbuster 2018 exhibition, Armenia!, explore the art and culture of a civilization that served as a pivotal crossroads on the border between East and West. Contributors address Armenia’s roles in facilitating exchange with the Mongol, Ottoman, and Persian empires to the East and with Byzantium and European Crusader states to the West. Essays also explore the ways in which elements of these cultures commingled in Armenian art and religion—Armenian artists and craftspeople produced an astonishing range of religious objects that drew upon influences from both Europe and Asia but ultimately created a uniquely Armenian visual identity. The authors explore the effects of this dualistic tension in the history of Armenian art and how it persists into the present, as this land situated at a crossroads of civilization continues to grapple with the legacy of genocide and counters new threats to its sovereignty, integrity, and cultural language.

By: Gohar Muradyan

Leiden:Brill, 2022, 441 p.

Though references to Greek myths will hardly surprise the reader of western European literature, the reception history of Greek mythology is far richer and includes such lesser known traditions as the Armenian one. Greek myths were known to medieval Armenians through translations of late classical and early Christian writings and through the original works of Armenian authors. However, accessing them in their Armenian incarnations is no easy task. References to them are difficult to find as they are scattered over the vast medieval Armenian written corpus. Furthermore, during the process of translation, transmission, retelling, and copying of Greek mythical stories, Greek names, words, and plot details frequently became corrupted. In this first-of-its-kind study, Gohar Muradyan brings together all the known references to ancient Greek myths (154 episodes) in medieval Armenian literature. Alongside the original Armenian passages and, when extant, their Greek originals, she provides annotated English translations. She opens the book with an informative introduction and concludes with useful appendices listing the occurrences of Greek gods, their Armenian equivalents, images, altars, temples, and rites, as well as Aesop’s fables and the Trojan War.

By: Arthur Hagopian

Independently published, 2022, 349 p.

Jerusalem, city of gold, city of light. A fascinating enclave that is said to be the center of the world, and that this is where history began. And it is also said that of the ten measures of beauty God bestowed upon the world, Jerusalem received nine. And of the ten measures of sorrow the world is afflicted with, Jerusalem’s portion was nine. Every tile in the cobblestoned alleys of Jerusalem has a tale to tell, intertwining the annals of its fascinating people: the Christians (Armenians, Copts, Ethiopians, Greeks, Syriacs who still speak Aramaic), the Moslems and the Jews. The book delves into the labyrinthine fabric and tells the reader stories of wonder and mystery, of glory and disaster, of triumph and despair of all three protagonists, as seen from the perspective of an Armenian.

By: Michael Stone
Aram Topchyan

Oxford University Press, 2022, 200 p.

It was once common consensus that there was no significant Jewish community in ancient and medieval Armenia. The discovery and excavation (1997-2002) of a Jewish cemetery of the thirteenth-fourteenth centuries in southern Armenia substantially changed this picture. In this volume, Stone and Topchyan assemble evidence about the Jews of Armenia from earliest times to the fourteenth century. Based on research of the Greco-Roman period, the authors are able to draw new conclusions about the transfer of Jews--including the High Priest Hyrcanus--from the north of Palestine and other countries to Armenia by King Tigran the Great in the first century BCE. The fact that descendants of King Herod ruled in Armenia in Roman times and that some noble Armenian families may have had Jewish origin is discussed. The much-debated identification of the “Mountains of Ararat“ of Noah‘s Ark fame as well as ancient biblical and other references to Ararat and the Caucasus are re-assessed, and new evidence is adduced that challenges the scientific consensus. The role of Jews during the Seljuk, Mongol, and later times is also presented, from surviving sources in Armenian, Arabic, Hebrew, and others. The volume also includes studies of medieval Jewish sources on Armenia and the Armenians and of communication between Armenia and the Holy Land. Documents from the Cairo Geniza, newly uncovered inscriptions, medieval itineraria, and diplomatica also throw light on Armenia in the context of the Turkic Khazar kingdom, which converted to Judaism in the latter part of the first century CE. It responds both to new archeological discoveries in Armenia and to the growing interest in the history of the region that extends north from the Euphrates and into the Caucasus.

By: Abel Manoukian Pastor, Dr. theology

Beyrouth, Antoine, 2022, 605 p.

This book aims to pay tribute to the unprecedented solidarity of the Swiss people with the Armenians in the most difficult times. After giving a comprehensive overview of Armenian history and the events that led to the massacres and genocide perpetrated against the Armenians, the author explains how the Swiss people took a stand alongside their Armenian brothers and sisters in the Christian faith.
There is a stark contrast between the ruthless policy of annihilation implemented by the Ottoman Empire and the shining examples of selflessness provided by the aid workers in Switzerland who - as doctors, nurses and educators - provided the Armenian people with a tremendous help in the most adverse circumstances.
Two examples, among many others, must be mentioned: Sister Béatrice Rohner (1876-1947), of Baie, who suffered a nervous breakdown after all the horror she experienced as a teacher and from an orphanage, and Jakob Kunzler (1871-1949), from Walzen-hausen. Having known Kunzler, while he was Swiss vice-consul in Jaffa, Cari Lutz found him very inspired by his own heroic efforts to save the Jews in Budapest in 1944.
The author of this book gives his Swiss "witnesses to humanity" a living voice, without any loss of scholarship, as evidenced by the numerous footnotes and references. His extremely extensive research integrates for the first time unpublished documents from the Swiss archives and forms the basis of this comprehensive work which constitutes a significant enrichment of the subject.

By: Hakobyan Ararat

Institute of History, Yerevan, 2022, 510 p.

The monograph is dedicated to the history of 1920, the fateful year for Armenia and the Armenian people, in particular, to the issues of the military and political complex situation. The course of the Turkish-Armenian war, the reasons for the failures of the Armenian army, the circumstances of the fall of Kars, etc., which ultimately determined the fall of the First Republic of Armenia, are examined in depth in the book.

By: Olga S. Vardazaryan

Matenadaran, Yerevan, 2022, 175 p. + 16 images

The “Catalogue of the Church-Slavonic and Russian Manuscripts of the Matenadaran” contains a description of 33 Cyrillic manuscripts from the Fund of non-Armenian manuscripts of the Mashtots Matenadaran.

By: Verjiné Svazlian Doctor in Philology, Leading Researcher, Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography, NAS RA, vsvaz333@yahoo.com

Yerevan: Publishing House of Institute ofArchaeology and Ethnography, NAS RA, 2020, 288 p.

The book includes relics of the oral tradition of the Armenians of Russia, combining the primary source popular oral creations, communicated by the Armenian narrators who emigrated from Crimea and Artsakh to Russia – Nor-Nakhijevan and Pyatigorsk, which have been written down by the author. The historical-folkloric studies of the work is presented also in Russian and English languages. The collection is supplied with Documentary Tables of the narrators and their communicated materials.

By: Verjiné Svazlian Doctor in Philology, Leading Researcher, Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography, NAS RA, vsvaz333@yahoo.com

Yerevan: GitutyunPublishing House of NAS RA,2021, 904 pages, DVD + map)

The book comprises a “Historical-folkloric study” (in Armenian and English) and “Primary Sources,” which have been written down and saved from a total loss from the representatives of the senior generation of the Western-Armenians miraculously rescued from the Armenian Genocide and taken refuge in the USA (and their subsequent generations) during the author’s five trips (1979-2008) to that country. These historical, folkloric and ethnographic materials (1,165 units) represent the general picture of the past and present life of the Armenians of the USA from the very beginning up to the present days, the difficulties the Armenian-Americans have overcome and the achievements they have recorded. The volume includes a Documentary Table of 206 narrators and their communicated materials, a Glossary, Commentaries, Indexes for the Narrators, personal names and toponyms, musical notations of the songs, photographs of the narrators, a map of the “Resettlement of the Armenians in the United States of America” and a DVD – “Performances of the Popular Songs Widespread Among the Armenian-Americans.”

By: David Low

IB Tauris, 2022, 272 p. + 45 illus.

The Armenian contribution to Ottoman photography is supposedly well known, with histories documenting the famous Ottoman Armenian-run studios of the imperial capital that produced Orientalist visions for tourists and images of modernity for a domestic elite. Neglected, however, have been the practitioners of the eastern provinces where the majority of Ottoman Armenians were to be found, with the result that their role in the medium has been obscured and wider Armenian history and experience distorted. Photography in the Ottoman East was grounded in very different concerns, with the work of studios rooted in the seismic social, political and cultural shifts that reshaped the region and Armenian lives during the empire‘s last decades. The first study of its kind, this book examines photographic activity in three sites on the Armenian plateau: Erzurum, Harput and Van. Arguing that local photographic practices were marked by the dominant activities and movements of these places, it describes a medium bound up in educational endeavours, mass migration and revolutionary politics. The camera both responded to and became the instrument of these phenomena. Light is shone on previously unknown practitioners and, more vitally, a perspective gained on the communities that they served. The book suggests that by contemplating the ways in which photographs were made, used, circulated and seen, we might form a picture of the Ottoman Armenian world.