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Ethnography1
ARCHAEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE CLASSICAL SETTLEMENT AVANARINJ IN THE NORTH-EASTERN PART OF EREVAN (2ND CENTURY BC-1ST CENTURY AD)
By: Demirkhanyan A. H. PhD in History
In studying the history of Armenia, the discovery of the classical Armenian settlement Avan designated a chronological link between the monuments of the Bronze Age (Shengavit) (4th–3rd millennia BC) located in the territory of Erevan, those of the periods of the Van (Erebuni-Erevan: Arin-Berd, Teishebaini - Karmir-Blur) (8th-7th centuries BC) and the Haykazun-Ervanduni kingdoms (6th-3rd centuries BC) on the one hand, and on the other hand, the late antique period (Arin-Berd, Karmir-Blur, Hushablur, Tsitsernakaberd, etc.) (2nd century BC – 3rd century AD) and further. It is an important link for the study of the cultural and historical continuity of archaeological sites on the territory of Erevan.
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History9
HAYK’S SPIRIT IS IMMORTAL
By: Danielyan E. L. Doctor of Sciences (History)
More than 4500-year-old roots of the Armenian Army are hallowed by the freedom struggle of the Armenian nation for the defence of the Fatherland against foreign invaders. The Armenian liberation torch sanctified by Hayk Patriarch passed over from Hayots Dzor to Avarayr, Zeytun, Sasun, Sardarapat and has reached Artsakh. The heroes sacrificing their lives for the liberation of the Fatherland are immortalized. The works of the Armenian Golden Age literature «History of Armenia» by Movses Khorenatsi, «The History of Vardan and the Armenian War» and «Commentary on Genesis» by Eghishe (the 5th century) are unique phenomena in the world historical literature where ethnic genealogy and patriotism are brought together in a spiritual unity.
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THE IMPORTANCE OF THE HITTITE SOURCES OF THE PERIOD OF MURSILI II FOR ANCIENT HISTORY OF ARMENIA
By: Ghazaryan Robert PhD in History
The period of the reign of Mursili II (1321-1295 BC), one of the most prominent kings of Ancient Orient, is full of events that shed light on the history not only of the Hittite state, but also other countries of Western Asia. The sources created during his reign allow forming almost a complete picture of the years of his reign. His period is of special interest also for those studying ancient history of Armenia, particularly, of the western part of the Armenian Highland. We should especially point out two versions of the Annals of Mursili II -The “Ten Year” Annals and the “Extended” Annals. The “Ten Year” Annals represent the events of the first ten years of the king’s reign and the “Extended” Annals include almost the whole period of his reign. In numerous sources of the time of Mursili II there is a lot of information on the toponyms of the Armenian Highland (the information has wide geographical coverage - from the western districts of the Armenian Highland to Lake Van and the territory of Aghdznik), which is important for the elucidation of the history of Armenia of the 14th-13th centuries BC. A considerable part of the toponyms were mentioned only in the above-mentioned sources. In this respect, they are of great value.
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FRENCH RESEARCHERS OF THE 19th CENTURY ON THE ELUCIDATION OF SOME QUESTIONS OF THE HISTORY OF ARMENIA OF THE VAN (ARARAT- URARTU) KINGDOM’S PERIOD
By: Alisa Dumikyan Institute of History NAS RA
In French Oriental studies of the 19th century a considerable attention was paid to research of ancient and medieval history of Armenia; it was important for development of Armenology. M. Brosset made great contribution to this field juxtaposing Egyptian, Assyrian and Babylonian cuneiform inscriptions’ data with some information contained in the medieval Armenian sources (in his translation) relating to ancient history. Along with the Armenian sources’ translation M. Brosset researched the works of Jean-François Champollion (1790- 1832), J. Oppert (1825-1905), Fr. Lenormant (1837-1883) and others devoted to the studies of the problems of history of the countries of Western Asia and Egypt based on the decipherment of hieroglyphic and cuneiform inscriptions. French orientalists touched also some topics of the history of ancient Armenia.
The significance of Movses Khorenatsi’s work in discovery of the Van cuneiform inscriptions is determined by their important place in the historical cultural heritage of Armenia. The comments on the country name Armenia and the ethnic name Armenian, on the basis of the decipherment of the Assyrian and Van cuneiforms are an important contribution by the European and particularly French Armenologists of the 19th century to the studies of the history of the Van (Ararat-Urartu) Kingdom as an integral part of ancient Armenian history.
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THE OFFICIAL LIST OF THE CATHOLICOI OF “AGHUANK‘” OR OF THE SEE OF GANDZASAR
By: Artak Maghalyan PhD in History
Manuscript No. 2561 of the Mashtots‘ Matenadaran in Erevan, dated 1664, is a copy of the “History of the Land of Aghuank‘” by Movsēs Kaghankatuats‘i. At a later date, an official list of the Catholicoi of “Aghuank‘” or of the See of Gandzasar was added to the manuscript (folia 262a–263a). The official list begins after the chapter “Names of the Patriarchs of Aghuank‘, Their Years and Accomplishments” i.e. with the 44th Catholicos, Markos, who succeeded Lord Movsēs in 993, and ends with those who held the office down to the middle of the 18th century.
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LIEUTENANT-GENERAL TOVMAS NAZARBEKYAN’S ROLE IN MILITARY OPERATIONS OF THE RUSSIAN ARMY AGAINST THE TURKISH GENOCIDAL FORCES (1914-1916)
By: Ruben Sahakyan Doctor in History, Senior Researcher at the Institute of History, National Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Armenia, rubensahakyan58@gmail.com
Lieutenant-general Tovmas Hovhannes Nazarbekyan (1855-1931) is one of those rare military men who participated in several wars: 1877-1878 Russian-Turkish, 1904-1905 Russian-Japanese, during WWI Russian-Turkish, 1918 February-June Armenian-Turkish, then in 1918 December Armenian-Georgian, 1919-1920 Armenian-Tatar, 1920 autumn Armenian-Turkish military operations. During 1914-1918 T. Nazarbekyan was one of the witnesses of the tragedy of Western Armenians during the Armenian Genocide. On his order photographs of the consequences of the Turkish genocidal brutalities were taken. In his Memoirs T. Nazarbekyan presented the reports of his officers who depicted the mass killings of the Armenians organized and committed by the Ottoman authorities in full detail.
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THE SELF-DEFENSIVE BATTLES FOR SURVIVAL OF THE WESTERN ARMENIANS DURING THE YEARS OF THE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE (1915-1923) ACCORDING TO THE TESTIMONIES OF THE EYEWITNESS SURVIVORS
By: Verjiné Svazlian Doctor in Philology, Leading Researcher, Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography, NAS RA, vsvaz333@yahoo.com
From the very beginning of World War I (1914), the Young Turk government had collected the arms of the Armenians, even the kitchen knives. The Armenians were disarmed and during the battles for survival, they were fighting against the Turkish armed forces with self-made arms. The Turkish government had drafted into the Turkish army the Armenian youths and able-bodied males aged 17-45, who were taken to secluded places and brutally killed out of sight. Therefore the self-defenders were reduced in number. The government had collected the talented intellectuals and had crushed their skulls with stones in the deserts, so that the Armenians would be deprived not only of self-defenders, but of the leading minds as well. The Armenian people never have started the fighting; however, when injustice and violence were done to them, they requited the enemy according to what they had done. The Armenian self-defenders acted separated from one another. The Armenians have been unyielding towards the enemy, but humane with regard to the unarmed population, women, children and old people, in contrast to the Turks, who tortured to death the women, old people and even infants. The Armenian people have suffered great losses (human, material, cultural, territorial, etc.). Their aim has always been to live peacefully and with a creative life in their millennia-old cradle.
Although the Turkish government cruelly suppressed the two dozen heroic self-defensive battles of the Western Armenians started in the various localities during the years of the Armenian Genocide (1915-1923), nevertheless, the devoted Armenian heroes, who fought for their elementary human rights for life and for the physical survival of their nation, recorded brilliant pages in the history of the national liberation struggle of the Armenian people, about which the eyewitness survivors have also testified.
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ON THE DEPORTATION AND MASSACRES OF THE ARMENIAN POPULATION OF CONSTANTINOPLE AND SMYRNA DURING THE YEARS OF THE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE
By: Kharatyan Albert Corresponding Member of NAS RA
It is known that deportation and massacres, as main components of the Armenian Genocide, included the Armenian population of Constantinople and Smyrna as well. On April 24, 1915 started the deportation and massacres of the Armenians in Constantinople which first of all spread over the intelligentsia. The Young Turks started the actions of annihilation of the Armenians in Constantinople, as everywhere, according to a premeditated plan: the arrests, deportation of the intelligentsia, conscription of able-bodied Armenian men in the 20-45 age categories in the Ottoman army with the aim of disarming and annihilating them on the way to exile, then measures directed at the displacement of the Armenian population from the lower strata to all the others On that day and during the following weeks the Armenian community of Constantinople was deprived of its intelligentsia – thousands of people were arrested, sent to exile and killed. Before the start of and during the mass deportations and massacres in Western Armenia the Armenian Patriarchate of Constantinople was isolated from Western Armenia. During 1915-1916 the Armenian community of Smyrna faced the horrors of the deportation as well. In September 1922 the Kemalist troops committed carnage in Smyrna, which became one of the last episodes of the Armenian Genocide.
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THE CILICIAN ARMENIANS IN THE USA AND THEIR CONTRIBUTION TO THE NATIVE ARMENIAN CRADLE
By: Knarik Avakian Institute of History of NAS RA
The Cilician Armenians have emigrated to the USA for individual, educational, economic, political, cultural, religious and other reasons. The emigration (mainly of bachelors: students, tradesmen, artisans, farmers and workers), which, at the beginning bore a temporary character and was prompted by educational and economic reasons, was subsequently transformed into a mass deportation following the periodic massacres (1894-1896, 1909) and the Armenian Genocide (1915-1923) perpetrated in the Ottoman Empire. It involved Armenians from their Homeland, including Cilicia, deprived of the prospects of a safe economic, political, cultural and religious life.
During the First World War and the following years, which were disastrous for the Armenian people, the Cilician Armenians, together with the rest of the Armenian community of the US uniting all their intra-communal (intellectual, financial, public and party) resources, supported the cherished enterprises aiming at the defense, liberation and rehabilitation of the native cradle and its people by diplomatic, political, military and human means.
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THE ARMENOLOGICAL HERITAGE OF EMMA KOSTANDYAN
By: Harutyunyan М. G. PhD in History
Armenian historian, philologist Emma Kostandyan (1934 - 2014) is one of the prominent Armenologists of the second half of the 20th century and beginning of the 21th century. She has written about two hundred articles, historical and literary studies, monographs and reviews.
Kostandyan’s research fields of study were multifarious including the most important problems of Armenian history: socio-political thought, national liberation movement, cultural life. She also researched remarkable pages of the life and activity of prominent figures of the Armenian Apostolic Church of the 19th century.
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Philology3
ON THE HISTORIAN OF VARDANANTS EGHISHE'S PERSONALITY ACCORDING TO NEW INTERPRETATIONS OF EARLY MEDIEVAL LITERARY DATA
By: Musheghyan A. V. Doctor of Sciences (Philology)
During the study or examination of the works of each prominent author of ancient Armenian literature the personality and identity of the author gain an exclusive importance along with the problem of discovering his exact epoch.
The information given by Eghishe (V c.) about Vardanants, numerical data about armies and victims and various other details, his awareness of occurrences in adjacent and distant places actually make the history a valid work created by a well-informed and witnessed author and his poetically powerful, eloquent speech and hot-spirited imagination raise the work to the level of a national epic of the 5th century.
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PREPARATION WORKS AND PRINTING OF THE FIRST ARMENIAN PUBLICATION OF THE BIBLE
By: Devrikyan V.G. Doctor of Sciences (Philology)
The first publication of the Armenian Bible evokes admiration and amazement by its size, quality and art of printing, as well as the tremendous textual work undertaken. Every attempt to transmit a manuscript text or a collection into a printed book is connected not only with printing or technical difficulties, but also creates certain difficulties regarding the text itself, since the inner division of the text has also semantic significance that requires relevant approach in the process of transmitting it from the manuscript version into a printed book. the main textological difficulties surmounted by Voskan Yerevantsi were the following: the selection of the Armenian relevant manuscript or manuscripts of the Bible and their comparison with the Vulgate; the decision on the sequence of the books of the Bible by combining the Armenian canon and the Vulgate; determining the canonical, secondary and non-canonical books of the Bible. Consequently deciding which books should be included in the main text and which placed at the end of the book as appendices; making the chapter division of each book, dividing the chapters into verses and numbering them, taking into consideration the differences conditioned by the presence or absence of this or that passage in the Armenian or Latin texts, which confused the whole system of verse numbering of a given chapter; composing the concordances and placing them in the margins indicating in which book of the Bible the given line, paragraph or chapter has a thematic, semantic or symbolical parallel.
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ELEMENTS OF THE GRAMMATICAL THEORY OF TRANSLATION (continued)
By: Hachatoor
The absolute structures are perceived within the frameworks of a simple extended sentence and are interpreted as a modifier or an adjective, rather than as a separate sentence. The tendency to perceive an absolute phrase as a member of the sentence is so powerful that some past participles have become prepositions through frequent use. In this article an attempt has been made to outline some issues of the verb transitioning to substantive in translation. It is to be noted that L. Tesniere regarded this subject one of the main problems of the theory of translation. Regarding the layout of the material, the article favors the deductive principle, rather than inductive.
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Political Sciences and Informational Security3
THE DESTRUCTION OF ARMENIAN CULTURAL MONUMENTS: ITS SIGNIFICANCE FOR WORLD HERITAGE PRESERVATION
By: Kouymjian Dickran Foreign Member of NAS RA
(California State University, Fresno, Emeritus, residing in Paris)
” In Noah's Country: a Roadtrip through Post-Genocide Armenia, Judith Crispin, ed., Sydney: T&G Publishing, 2015.
Once the Young Turk ideologists decided to rid the Armenian homeland of its native population, the logical consequence of this decision was to complete the Genocide by removing forever any association of the Armenian people with the territories on which there remained physical traces of their past. Thus, the name Armenia was completely dropped from all Turkish maps and documents. When Armenia inadvertently surfaced in textbooks or popular literature, like airline maps, the publications were confiscated and destroyed. The Turkish government has gone to great lengths to efface all traces of Armenian civilization on its historical lands.
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THE ARTSAKH INDEPENDENCE PROCESS IN THE CONTEXT OF THE USSR COLLAPSE
By: Alexander Manasyan Corresponding Member of NAS RA, Head of the Chair of Theoretical Philosophy and Logics, Yerevan State University, manasyan-a22@mail.ru
The whole process of the origin of the Karabakh (Artsakh) movement (as a result of the Artsakh Armenians' 70-year confrontation against artificially-formed Azerbaijan), as well as of the collapse of the USSR proves that these two phenomena are in need of deep analysis of their motives also conditioned by external factors. The political hypothesis that has been put forward and grounded here is the following: already in 1988 the West was pursuing the realization of the program (we shall call it the "Basic program") of dissolving the Soviet Union into Union Republics. The steps taken by the Centre obviously aimed at delaying and not solving the problem. It turns out that since the well-known April plenary session of 1985 up to December of 1991 all the events had been taken as skillfully designed steps to remove the USSR from the arena.
Artsakh owing to the patriotic devoutness of the best sons and daughters of the Armenian people gave a crushing response to all the injustices and violences perpetrated by aggressive Azerbaijan and defeated the latter in the Artsakh Liberation War of 1991-1994.
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DEMOGRAPHIC SITUATION AND TOPONYMY IN YEREVAN, NAKHIJEVAN AND ARTSAKH REGIONS OF EASTERN ARMENIA IN THE FIRST DECADES OF THE 19TH CENTURY AND THEIR MISREPRESENTATION BY THE PRESENT-DAY AZERBAIJANI FALSIFIERS
By: Chobanyan P. A. Doctor of Sciences (History)
Although from the mid-17th century Armenia was divided by the Ottoman and Persian Empires, the main population in Western Armenia and Eastern Armenia remained indigenous Armenian people until the Armenian Genocide (1915). Alien administrations used Armenian toponyms either translating or distorting them. The reason of the survival for the millennia-old Armenian toponyms was viability of the princely system and spiritual authority, as well as Armenian cultural and historical heritage. A wide use of the Turkic-language distorted forms of toponyms in the official documents of the Russian Empire, in the 19th century was conditioned by the military-political situation and compilation of descriptions on the basis of the data provided by the representatives of the newly invaded nomadic tribes while often disregarding the original Armenian toponyms. That is why ascribing of the invented and distorted Turkic-language “toponyms” to preceding historical periods by the present-day Azerbaijani falsifiers is unscientific and unacceptable.
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Philosophy and Law2
DAVID THE INVINCIBLE’S STUDY ON LOGIC
By: Brutian G. A. Academician of NAS RA
The works of David the Invincible (Anhakht) contain analyses not only of the traditional problems of philosophy - problems of ontology, gnoseology, logic, ethics, esthetics, but also questions concerning cosmogony, mathematics, medicine, biology, grammar, psychology, musicology and so on. However, among all the problems, the questions of logic occupy, by their significance, a peculiar place in the works of David the Invincible. Some of David the Invincible’s works bear such an important significance both for the history of logic and for that of philosophy that, being a scrupulous textual analysis of a number of the sections of Aristotle’s works, they give us the possibility to restore the real picture of the Stagirite’s studies and their place in the development of the ideas of logic and philosophy.
On the whole, David the Invincible’s study on the subject of logic, on the forms of thought, is one of the important pages of the ancient period of the history of logic, and the world history of logical studies would have suffered without due regard for all that has come down to us from the Armenian thinker’s theoretical heritage.
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REMARKS ON THE METHOD OF RECONSTRUCTION
By: Gevorkian H. A. Academician of NAS RA
Reconstructive activity is a necessary component of the work of the historian, archaeologist, anthropologist, social philosopher, when he re-builds another reality, another society, another culture as a whole and tries to place in this wholeness - 'rationally', cogently, coherently - the given particular facts. Historical memorials embody in objective, substantial forms certain ideas and concepts, practical aims, ideals of morality, art and knowledge; as a result of human activity and as a creation of human hands, reason and emotions they are bearers of definite ideal contents.
The conception of historical hermeneutic with its rational core is in consonance with Gadamer's hermeneutic and the tradition it created and, in general, with phenomenological and hermeneutical trends connected with the names of Heidegger, Ricoeur, Derrida, et al.
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Demography and Governance2
THE IMAGE OF MAN AND LEADER IN NERSES SHNORHALI’S “ENCYCLICAL EPISTLE” (DEDICATED TO THE 850TH ANNIVERSARY OF “ENCYCLICAL EPISTLE”)
By: Yuri Suvaryan Division of Armenology and Social Sciences, National Academy of Sciences, Armenia suvaryan@sci.am
Suvaryan A. S. PhD in Philology
The theological, literary, religious and musical rich heritage of the great Armenian thinker, poet, musician-composer, historian, political and ecclesiastical figure Nerses Shnorhali (1100-1173) was highly appreciated by literary critics, musicologists and prominent representatives of other spheres of intellectual culture. Incidentally, his poetical works, Armenian liturgical chants (շարական-sharakan), riddles were more often studied and evaluated than his prose works, including “Encyclical Epistle”. Meanwhile, it is one of Nerses Shnorhali’s exclusively valuable prose works which has theological, historical, publicistic, social and political directivity. The renowned diplomat and writer of the Renaissance Niccolo Machiavelli (1469-1527) wrote the genius book titled “The Prince” covering the state management basics. In that famous work the types of states and governments are discussed and recommendations are given on the government of state, conquest of new countries and cities, establishing relations with the subjects, leading military affairs, etc.
More than three centuries before the great Italian, Nerses Shnorhali with his admonitions and exhortations, suggested provisions of management for different levels that are most complete, humanistic and universal. In different theories of leadership developed in the 20th century the same criteria are highlighted in the behaviour of the leaders that have been preached for generations as divine commandements by Nerses Shnorhali.
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CATASTROPHIC CONSEQUENCES OF DEMOGRAPHIC POLICY OF OTTOMAN AUTHORITIES IN WESTERN ARMENIA (THE 16TH CENTURY-BEGINNING OF THE 20TH CENTURY)
By: Melkonyan A. A. Academician of NAS RA
Prior to the Armenian Genocide of 1915, permanently, and (since the 16th century) during several hundred years sometimes slowly and sometimes rapidly, the process of ethnic cleansing in Western Armenia had already taken place; the Ottoman Empire’s anti-Armenian demographic policy had been put into service for its realization in Western Armenia. The cases of massacres of the Armenian nation in Western Armenia during that period are also the facts of genocide in the Ottoman Empire. And what is more, the United Nations Resolution of 1948 describes genocide not only as acts committed with intention to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group, as such, but also the acts aimed at forced assimilation, forced conversion of the religion, deliberately inflicting on the group's conditions of life aimed to displace people forcedly and deportation from their motherland and other such acts. That is to say all the occurrences which took place in the Ottoman Empire during the period from the 16th century till the years of the Armenian Genocide (1915-1923).
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Documents: Armenian Genocide22
THE ARMENIAN MASSACRES. HORRIBLE DETAILS (THE SYDNEY MAIL)
MORE ARMENIAN MASSACRES (THE SYDNEY MAIL)
MORE ARMENIANS KILLED (NEW YORK DAILY TRIBUNE)
AWFUL ARMENIAN MASSACRES (THE NEW YORK TIMES)
SULTAN AGAIN ORDERS ARMENIAN MASSACRE (THE SPOKANE PRESS)
COSSACK AND TURK CLASH ON FRONTIER (THE WASHINGTON TIMES)
TURKS WIPE OUT ARMENIANS (THE DAY)
CALLS OF AMERICA TO AID ARMENIANS (THE ST. LOUIS REPUBLIC)
MANY ARMENIANS KILLED BY TURKS (THE PADUCAH SUN)
FRANCE WARNS TURKEY (THE NEW YORK TIMES)
3000 ARMENIANS MURDERED BY THE TURKS (THE MONTREAL GAZETTE)
ARMENIAN MASSACRES (THE MONTREAL GAZETTE)
GENERAL ARMENIAN MASSACRE (THE NEW YORK TIMES)
ROOSEVELT MAY AID ARMENIANS (THE MINNEAPOLIS JOURNAL)
KILL CHRISTIANS IN ASIATIC TURKEY (THE WAYNE COUNTY DEMOCRAT)
30,000 KILLED IN MASSACRES (THE NEW YORK TIMES)
ARMENIANS MASSACRED VILLAGES ARE BURNED (THE MARION DAILY MIRROR)
ARMENIAN MASSACRES RENEWED (THE SYDNEY MORNING HERALD)
30,000 KILLED IN ARMENIAN MASSACRES (THE PENSACOLA JOURNAL)
30,000 IS ESTIMATE OF KILLED IN MASSACRES (BISMARCK DAILY TRIBUNE)
ARMENIAN MASSACRES (THE SYDNEY MORNING HERALD)
THE SLAUGHTER OF CHRISTIANS IN ASIA MINOR (THE NEW YORK TIMES)
Reviews15
ON GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS OF THE WRITING CULTURE OF PRE-MASHTOTSIAN ARMENIA
By: Artak Movsisyan Doctor of Sciences (History)
The development of written culture is a process lasting centuries and millennia. The Armenian Golden Age literature (the 5th c. which commenced with the Mashtotsian scripts’ invention) is a product of writing thinking which reached its high level. Written culture had long history in pre-Mashtotsian Armenia. Until the present hieroglyphs continue to be used in Armenia as forms of magic script, as marks of arti¬san masters in the form of a single ideogram. They appear on the walls of Christian temples, on coins of Cilician Armenia and as separate signaries attested in Armenian medieval manuscripts, being used also in applied art, etc.
The first results of the decipherment of the hieroglyphic system of the kingdom of Van are in favour of the latter’s Armenian origin. Moreover, along with voluminous Armenian lexicon in the language of the cunei¬forms of the kingdom of Van, recently it became possible to read separate sentences. Therefore, within the circle of our knowledge, we can ascertain that Armenian was a written lan¬guage, at least fourteen centuries before the great invention of St. Mesrop Mashtots.
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ARARAT, THE SACRAL ТERRITORY: IN THE NOTES BY EUROPEAN TRAVELLERS
Ararat, the Sacral Тerritory: in the notes by European travellers . – Yerevan, “Gitutyun” Publishing House of the National Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Armenia, 2015 – 262 p. (in Russian).
ANNOTATION
The monograph is a historical-literary study of the formation and development of the myths about Mount Ararat and adjoining territories, based on the Book of Genesis, the material of travel notes by European travellers of the Middle Ages and later periods, involving texts from travel literature by Oriental and Russian authors. The book consists of five chapters:
1. Formation of the tradition. The myth of the Flood and Ararat.
2. The road to the East. The image of the sacred mountain.
3. Ararat as an Impregnable Mountain.
4. Ararat - World Mountain - Centre of the Universe – Mother of the World.
5. Ararat, the Sacral Area (The first city in the world Noah built at the foot of Ararat; Etchmiadzin – Three churches – The Descent of the Only Begotten Son; Martyrs of Mount Ararat); the concluding chapter.
THE ANCIENT DRAMA IN ARMENIA
By: Hovhannisyan H. V. Member-Correspondent of NAS RA
THE ANCIENT DRAMA IN ARMENIA
On the Origin of Drama
The book covers the issue of ancient Armenian mystery play. The research is based on medieval sources, linguistic data and pieces of folklore. There appear to be two types of evidence to suggest the occurrence of drama and theatre in Armenian History. The ancient Armenian mystery play displays thematic associations with “the myth of perpetual recurrence” symbolizing the universal cycle, and an interrelation with the Prometheus theme. The thematic mode is common for all cultures, but the ritual itself, representing the act of mystery (“the joint of time”) relates to early medieval literary sources of Armenian origin and appears to be closely tied to ancient Armenian beliefs. The captured power appears to be a restrained energy, a sort of anticipated release, a Messiah in the final chapter of “Sasna Crer”, the Armenian heroic epic.
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KING OF KINGS TIGRAN THE GREAT AND THE ARMENIAN EMPIRE AS EVALUATED BY MODERN ARAB HISTORIOGRAPHY
by Nikolay Hovahannisyan.Yerevan, 2012, 83 pages.
A book review by Eduard L. Danielyan
The book provides detailed analysis of the evaluation of the history of the Armenian Empire of the period of King of Kings Tigran II by modern Arab historiography. The period of the Tigran’s Empire is specified by the civilizing role of the Armenian statehood which included the lands and peoples beyond the borders of the Kingdom of Great Armenia. According to the author of the book, the period of Tigran the Great’s reign was the climax of the Armenian statehood, armed forces, town building, architecture and culture, when appeared “the first in history Armenian Empire on the world political map. The historical role of Tigran the Great is not confined within the Armenian borders, but goes over and beyond, embracing an entire geopolitical region” (p. 5).
Until the present this period of the Armenian history was mainly researched in Armenian and European historiographies. N.Hovahannisyan’s book is the first research work presenting modern studies of the Arab historiography on the state and political activities of the Armenian King of Kings Tigran II the Great. The author explains such an interest to the Armenian Empire by worldwide historical significance of Tigran the Great’s phenomenon.
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AYBBENAGIR. ARMENIAN APLPHABETIC POETRY (7TH-19TH CC.)
By: Grigoryan S. T.
Erevan, 2016, 943 pages (in Armenian)
Armenian written culture comes from the depth of thousands of years and has undergone evolutionary cycles of written culture: petroglyphs, hieroglyphics, a syllabic script and alphabet. The Alphabet is the last cycle of the Armenian writing. The present collection consists of the works of Armenian literature from the 7th to the 20th century, having certain structural peculiarities. These works, in their structure, make the Armenian alphabet of Mashtots. On that basis, we called them ''aybbenain'': “ayb” + “ben” (the names of the first and the second letters of the Armenian alphabet), that is alphabetical For such works, that make up the Latin alphabet and have similar structure, the term abecedarium is used.
This collection, due to its thematic characterization and within the set purpose, is the first experience of collection, description, classification and analysis of Armenian literature alphabetic products. Of particular importance is the target investigation of works, belonging to this special literary kind, with regard of the structural features of the Armenian Mashtots alphabet.
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GANDZASAR MONASTERY
By: Danielyan E. L. Doctor of Sciences (History)
Er.: Gandzasar, 2009. — 228 pp. (in Armenian, Russian and English)
The book is devoted to the past and the present of the Gandzasar monastery and its significance in the history of the Armenian Apostolic Church. The significance of Gandzasar as the spiritual, educational and scientific centre of the Artsakh diocese, as well as the inspirer and organizer of the liberation struggle of the Armenian people is revealed in the book. There are also memoirs of the participants of the Artsakh liberation struggle about liberators and the clergy of the Artsakh
diocese. The book is recommended for the specialists in the history of Armenia and the Armenian Apostolic Church and for wide readership.
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THE PERIODICAL “ARMENIA” AT THE SOURCES OF LIBERATION IDEOLOGY
By: Sargsyan S. T. Doctor of Sciences (History)
The Armenian national liberation struggle experienced an unprecedented rise at the end of the 19th century due to the national, economic, political, international, cultural, ideological impulses that generated a demand for changes. A great number of facts resulted in the rise of the national liberation struggle and undoubtedly prove that it was a direct consequence of the Turkish government’s inhumane policy.
The firstborn of the Armenian political press, the newspaper “Armenia”, spread the ideology of the Armenakan Party - the first and the only party established in Western Armenia which became its speaker. “Armenia” provided a great service. The newspaper openly reflected the way of thinking of the social and political circles of the mentioned time, their desire to see the freedom of the Motherland, their efforts in searching for the strategic means and finding answers to them.
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KOMITAS. SONGS PIANO ARRANGEMENT
By: Sargsyan V. V.
Komitas. Songs. Piano arrangement by Villy Sargsyan, “Komitas” Publishing House, Yerevan, 2015, 76 pages.
Natural, sincere and emotional performance, this is what corresponds to Komitas’ songs. The author believs that the way of the chosen transcriptions will reveal to the listeners the world of thoughts and feelings of Armenian people so powerfully expressed in Komitas’ songs. The present collection comprises various music pieces different in character and complexity of performance. They can be performed both selectively and in cyclical order. The pieces of the present collection are supposed to be used in academic repertoire as well as in concert practice.
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A PICTORAL RECORD OF ROUTS AND CENTERS OF ANNIHILATION OF ARMENIAN DEPORTEES IN 1915 WITHIN THE BOUNDARIES OF SYRIA (editor Robert Jebejian)
An impressive amount of literature has been compiled on the mass extermination of the Armenian people in the Ottoman Empire during the First World War. Many of these works have been written in foreign languages, with photo documentation of the victims of the Armenian Genocide. Most recently, audio and video recordings of the accounts of survivors and foreign witnesses have added to the variety of documentation on the subject. Besides providing first hand evidence to the present historian, these records convey testimo¬nials to the ongoing and relentless efforts of Republican Turkey to destroy remaining Armenian historical monuments and to eliminate any evidence of historic Armenia. The markers and monuments testifying to the existence of the Armenian people in their Homeland have thus become the final victims of the genocide begun in 1915.
To produce a complete photo¬graphic survey was out of reach for us, given the serious obstacles involved in any effort to record evidence in Asia Minor (Anatolia) and Western Armenia. However, the evidence within Syria was much more accessible and presented no problem. Refugees from Western Armenia who were deported towards Iraq, during the First World War were all Armenians from Vaspurakan, the heart of Armenia.
We trust that any persons having in their possession any relevant documents would offer them so that we may bring nearer to completion the present collection as a more comprehensive historical document.
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THE ARMENIAN CENOCIDE IN CONTEMPORARY AMERICAN ENCYCLOPEDIAS
By: Kirakossian A. J. Doctor of Sciences (in History)
The Armenian Genocide is an approved fact of history, and a public knowledge recognized not only by specialists but also by the international community. For more than thirty years, the successive authorities of the Ottoman Empire have succeeded in cleaning out the native-born Armenian population not only throughout the Armenian Highland but also within the entire territory of the Empire by carrying out a genocidal policy of massacres and deportations, the culmination of which was the Genocide of the Armenians during the First World War.
The field of genocide studies emerged with the analytical and comparative books published in the 1970's and 1980's and was formalized with the establishment of the International Association of Genocide Studies in 1994. The strong efforts of the researchers and acade¬micians in the field of genocide studies, as well as the position of civil societies in many countries and the united policy of Armenia and Armenian Diaspora in this regard were able to radically change the situation in the world public opinion and historiography. The Armenian Genocide strengthened its position as both a public knowledge and a recognized fact of history. The author studied and analyzed nearly forty specialized and thematic encyclope¬dias, dictionaries, resource guides and handbooks published in the United States during the last fifteen years. The respective material is divided in this book into chapters which are representing conceptual and factual aspects of the Armenian Genocide. The book consists of 16 Chapters, list of encyclopedias, list of entries, a bibliography of a literature related to the Armenian Genocide found in encyclopedias, and an index.
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GLOBAL FORUM, YEREVAN, 22-23 APRIL 2015 AGAINST THE CRIME OF GENOCIDE
This book ( 253 p.) presents summary of proceedings from the Global Forum "Against the Crime of Genocide", held in Yerevan on April 22-23, 2015.
This publication is aimed at providing wider resonance to the statements delivered and the viewpoints presented at the Forum, which will have an importance in raising the international awareness on the matter. It provides to those interested in the Yerevan Global Forum with all the necessary information on delivered statements and remarks.
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BORIS LAZAREVSKY ABOUT ARMENIA AND ARMENIAN WOMEN
By: Zakaryan A. H. Doctor of Sciences (Philology)
Summary
Among Russian literary workers of the 10s of the 20th century that reflected Armenian reality in their works famous novelist of his time Boris Lazarevsky (1871-1936) has a deser¬ving place. Newly-found materials show that a lot con¬nected Boris Lazarevsky with Armenia and its culture, which found reflection in his literary-social activities.
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THE TERRITORIAL LOSSES OF SOVIET ARMENIA AND THE NKAR IN THE 1920-1930s
By: Khachatryan K. H. Doctor of Sciences (History)
Badalyan G. M. PhD in History
Sukiasyan H. K. PhD in History
In the book, on the basis of the many-sided research of archival documents and materials, scientific and historical literature are presented the territorial losses of both Soviet Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Region. As a result of the territorial losses in the 1920-1930s NKAR, Soviet Armenia and later its legal successor the Third Republic of Armenia appeared from the strategic perspective in unfavorable conditions. Due to the heroic victory of the Armenians in the Artsakh Liberation War has been liberated a considerable part of the Armenian territories annexed to Azerbaijan during the Soviet period. They constitute inseparable part of the NKR - the Artsakh Republic.
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SCIENTIFIC AND PUBLICISTIC STUDIES
By: Teroyan V. M.
Varazdat M.Teroyan (Deroyan, born in the city of Van, Western Armenia 1887- died in 1938 in GULAG) - an intellectual, scholar and public figure of great merit came into the field of science and public work since the beginning of the 20th century and devoted himself to a number of various problems during his short creative life.
V. Teroyan left numerous valuable studies on the difficult problems of philosophy and literature thus contributing to the development of various aspects of Armenology. He translated major works of classical philosophers from the original. He was also occupied with scientific-organizational work.
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THE CHRONICLES OF KARABAKH. 1989-2009
By: Baratov B. S.
(Linguist Publishers, Moscow. 2010. 512 pages, printed in Italy)
A Book Review by Danielyan E. L.
“The Chronicles of Karabakh” (ARTSAKH) is an illustrated book of huge cognitive, cultural and political significance. The deep love of the author (a writer, screenwriter and film director Boris Baratov) for his Homeland permeates the book, which is full of historical and contemporary facts, presented in chronological order and illustrated with documentary evidence. “The Chronicles of Karabakh” covers a twenty-year period, but it is illuminated by the millennia of the heroic history of the Armenian people, which forms the very roots of Artsakh.
In its ideological integrity this book draws the reader towards its key concept: the Motherland Armenia. The book consists of five chapters: “The Road of Life”, “The Angel”, “Death in Karabakh”, “Paradise Laid Waste” and “Twenty Years After” and contains more than 1,000 original photographs of historical monuments, natural surroundings and human fates.
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Arts4
THE ETCHMIADZIN GOSPEL
By: Kotanjyan N. G. Artist, theorist, art historian
The Etchmiadzin Gospel – one of the most outstanding samples of the early medieval art is represented in the following monographic research. This piece of Armenian early medieval art comprises in itself a small range of striking monuments – the Gospel decorated with painting created in 989 AD, the carved ivory binding of the 6th century and the simultaneous four final miniatures. History of the study of this amazing handwritten manuscript is presented thoroughly; aspects and ways of formation of the iconographic cycle represented by the miniatures and the ivory binding carvings are discerned. Stylistic analysis of both the 6th and 10th centuries miniatures, pecularities of their design, free and convincing estimation of exceptional artistic quality of painting are given. The key role of both the Gospel and its binding in preservation and development of the illustration system of the early medieval codex on the whole is considered together with revealing and estimation of high artistic perfection reached by the Armenian art, in particular, book art in the Middle Ages.
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ARMENIAN ROOTS OF POLISH COMPOSER KRZYSTOF PENDERECKI
By: Vardumyan A.D. Musicologist, Researcher of Matenadaran,
Scientific Research Institute of Ancient Manuscripts
named after Mesrop Mashtots
With his first works on, renowned Polish composer Krzysztof Penderecki became one of the most famous figures of the world avant-garde music. Penderecki is one of the greatest and brightest representatives of Polish musical world and is both a composer and a conductor. Penderecki’s musical imagination is infinite. His works express fundamental human and universal ideas. In his own way Penderecki responded to the great tragedies that shocked mankind: he called one of his first orchestral works of 1960 “Threnody for the Victims of Hiroshima” ( for 52 instruments), and later he composed also the oratorio “Dies Irae”, devoted to the victims of Auschwitz. Of his remarkable orchestral works are: “Polimorphie” (for 48 instruments, 1961), “Capriccio for the violin and orchestra” (1967), “Partita for the harpsichord, electric guitar, double bass and chamber orchestra” (1971), “Actions” – for a jazz ensemble (1971). He created also a number of works for the piano with the combination of different instruments.
The composer told the Armenian journalists about his Armenian roots. According to him, his Armenian grandmother, Mrs. Eugenia had moved to Poland from Iran, and they used to attend the Armenian church in Krakow together. At the beginning of 2015 Krzysztof Penderecki composed the “Psalm” dedicated to the Centennial of the Armenian Genocide (“Psalmus No.3 for Armenia”) for the choir and solois. It was performed by the choir “Hover” in Carnegie Hall. Krzysztof Penderecki has thrice received “Grammy” and twice “Emmy” awards, and he has also received many prestigious state awards of different countries.
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Source: vk.com
“HOVER” CHAMBER CHOIR
By: Sona Hovhannisyan Artistic director and conductor
“HOVER” (ՀՈՎԵՐ) chamber choir was founded in 1992. The choir was established on personal initiative without any sponsorship support. Right from its first appearances the choir presented an original type of Armenian choral music, open to any style and genre, closely connected with the art of European choral music. The choir gives principle importance to experiment and innovation and to the synthesis of various arts even while performing most traditional academic pieces.
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THE CULTURE OF ANTHROPOGENIC CAVES WITH STONE DOORS IN ANCIENT ARMENIA
By: Shahinyan S. M. Doctor of Sciences (Architecture)
There are lot of underground constructions in the Armenian Highland which are without natural tunnel gates, having only stone made doors. Those anthropogenic caves are called the caves with stone doors. Almost 100 of them could be found at the foot of Mt. Aragats. Overall, more than 160 rock-cut structures and improved and used-by-man caves were discovered in the area from Talin to Ashtarak and then from Mt. Ara to Mt. Aragats area. The caves with stone doors are rare rock-cut structures.
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Historical Geography and Cartography2
THE ARMENIAN FLAG IN THE INDIAN OCEAN IN THE 17TH-18TH CENTURIES
By: Balayan K. L. President of “AYAS” marine research club Captain of “CILICIA” sailing boat
Penetration of Armenians into India and the Far East had started since the pre-Christian times. We find information on the regular visits of Armenians to India and the military aid Armenians showed to India in Cyropaedia by Xenophon (430-355 BC). Already in the 12th century the Armenian seafarer-merchants had a trading colony in Canton. The next wave of the resettlement of some Armenian groups took place in the 17th century. They created one of the largest trading networks of the world, and not only the local authorities but also the European countries had to reckon with it at least for two centuries. Armenians had considerable privileges in almost all the ports. Europeans tried to use that fact for their own purposes. Practically all the European East-Indian companies had been created with the Armenians’ direct participation or help. The Armenians had created a wide branched trading network which included the sea routs of the Indian Ocean and the western part of the Pacific Ocean, branching to the main centers of European trade. Together with it the upper strata of authorities of all the eastern countries that accepted the Armenian flag de facto were involved in the Armenian trade. For several centuries Armenians used their flag outside of their Motherland (where during several centuries the kingdom had ceased to exist) and that flag was recognized both by the local authorities and by Europeans. The Europeans themselves widely used the possibilities and advantages of the Armenian flag.
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CIVILIZATIONAL FACTORS OF ARMENIAN SEA TRADE DEVELOPMENT AND THE INTERNATIONAL COMPETITION IN THE 17TH CENTURY
By: Danielyan E. L. Doctor of Sciences (History)
Prior to the great geographical discoveries international trade relations had been developing within the boundaries of the known world or oecumene in the Eastern hemisphere, via land, river and sea routes. Participation of various countries in the international trade depended on availability of raw material sources and product lines.
Armenia had been involved in international trade since ancient times, given its important strategic location between the East and West and its civilizational developments.
In the 16th-17th centuries the sea trade from Baku and Astrakhan was controlled mainly by Armenians, and was further boosted owing to Armenian merchants of New Jugha as a result of conclusion of the 1667 and 1673 Russian-Armenian trade agreements The English, French and Danish East India Companies initially availed themselves of the opportunities provided by Armenian commercial methods and trade relations, especially in India. They made huge profits as Armenians initially tended to rent European vessels. Along the Silk Road passing through Armenia such cities as Jugha, Nakhijevan, Karin, Manazkert, Dvin flourished in early Medieval Ages, as well as Ani, capital of the Armenian Bagratids in the 10th-11th centuries, which were large centers of science, education and culture, crafts and commerce. Navigation among Armenians developed intensively in the 12th-14th centuries, when the Armenian Principality and later the Kingdom of Cilicia became a maritime state with navy and commercial fleet that was involved in the sea trade system of the Mediterranean. Cilician Armenia was a sea gateway to the European ports for the Silk Road coming from China and India. It also introduced progressive changes to the international maritime law.
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