Armenian Culture

By following the sectional structure of this volume, these afterthoughts explore a multitude of venues for approaching aesthetics as a means to study the dynamics of religious narratives and their reception. They not only elaborate on the theoretical and methodological potential of the aesthetics of religion for the study of narrative cultures in diverse religious contexts, but also explore the main insights of this volume’s contributions by applying it to a case study. The afterthoughts follow the sectional structure of this volume and engage in methodological and theoretical reflections on issues central to the aesthetics of religion. To demonstrate how the theoretical and methodological approach as proposed in this volume could be put into practice and work within the context of a single case study, these afterthoughts illustrate how the aesthetics approach can be used to elucidate less obvious forms of narrative cultures and the different aesthetic means of their transmission within different religious and cultural contexts. By presenting a case study in which different narrative cultures are intertwined through lines of socially and culturally interconnected storyworlds, the most significant insights of these afterthoughts outline the potential framework for future analysis that emerges through the assemblage of the individual contributions. With the aim to highlight unrecognized connections and expand on the aesthetic junctures of sensation and imagination, a nuanced consideration of all dimensions and aspects promises to exemplify the theoretical and methodological relevance of the aesthetic frame and narrative focus as integral to the makeup of this volume and the study of religion as a whole.

This is the catalog for the exhibition, "To Know Wisdom and Instruction: The Armenian Literary Tradition at the Library of Congress," which ran from April 18-September 26, 2012, at the Library of Congress. The exhibition was  mounted to celebrated the 500th anniversary of the first Armenian printed book.

Google the name Chant Avedissian (1951-2018) and you will be led to over 20,000 links and images presenting the artist primarily through the lens of his world-recognized signature stencils. “Icons of the Nile” (1991-2010), for example, composed of 120 portraits, set a record for the highest price achieved at auction by a living contemporary Arab artist in 2013 when it sold for over USD 1.5 million at Sotheby’s in Doha. Fueled by Egypt’s twentieth-century political and cultural heyday or Golden Age, Avedissian’s stencils may have started as “childhood memories,” but eventually, transformed into a subtle critical discourse of the Egyptian and Arab society. Using newspaper images from the Egyptian press, the stencil technique allowed Avedissian to discover the truth or rather the “lie” propagated through the media. According to an interview with doctoral candidate Sadia Shirazi titled "Europe, Europe, Europe" and published in Threshold in 2008, Avedissian stressed “how an image [in newspapers] is not true” because “neither the people stand like that nor look like that; everything [is] fake.” Avedissian explained he was “shocked” by what he discovered in newspapers: “The images said things about liberty and happiness, but the photos were composed for propaganda,” arguing that he did stencils to “emphasize the lie.” For Avedissian, it was the ideal medium, a fake façade as he defined it, because “it looks like a painting and it talks about something quite horrible, something quite dramatic.” In a way, Avedissian’s stencils shaped a multi-layered collective Arab culture torn between past and present, truth and lie, reality and propaganda. From Gamal Abdel Nasser to Om Kolthoum, well-known buildings and landmarks, Anubis, and other ancient gods, Chant Avedissian is a voyeur, a messenger of a sort, a kind of social realist or cultural critic. In celebrating our personal histories, Avedissian reminded us to dig deeper, peel the onion, and “see” beyond the visible and the montage fabricated to make us believe. 

But what about the pre-stencil period? Who was Chant Avedissian then, and what was his message?

The colophons of the Armenian manuscripts take a special place with their original and rich information among the medieval Armenian written monuments.
In the work we have attempted to thoroughly examine the components of the Armenian colophons, the latters’ diverse ways of expression. We have done some classifications of the Armenian colophons, according to the time of writing, the authors of colophons and the content. We have individually represented the units we encounter in the Armenian colophons, if possible, comparing this all with the identical manifestations occurring in other manuscript traditions.

Bu çalışmanın ana amacı; Kilikya Bölgesi'nde Ermeni halkının ilk yerleşiminden itibaren, tarihsel süreç içinde özellikle Ortaçağ'ın sosyopolitik koşulları altında Kilikya'daki kalelere yerleşmelerine, 1080-1375 yılları arasında, önce bir prenslik veya baronluk, daha sonra bir krallığa dönüşerek 300 yıl sürecek bir devlet haline gelmelerine kısaca değinmektir. Kilikya Ermeni Devleti, coğrafi kopuşuna rağmen yıkılmış eski Ermeni Devletleri'nin son temsilcisi olarak, ana vatanı ile sosyo-kültürel bağlarını yaşatırken, Ermeni sanatını, bilim ve kültürünü de doruk noktasına taşımıştır. Kilikya Ermeni Krallığı, ilk kez dağlık bölgelerden deniz kıyısına inerek Batı ile sosyal, siyasal, kültürel ve dinsel bağlamda etkileşim içine girmiş, Uzak Doğu ile de uzun süreli iyi ilişkiler kurmuş ve güttüğü akılcı siyaset sayesinde, sıkışık bir jeopolitik konumda uzun soluklu bir varlık gösterebilmiştir. Bu makalede, ilk yerleşimlerinden itibaren Ermenilerin Kilikya'daki varlığına ve krallığa doğru giden gelişimine değinilerek, bu süreçte büyük bir rol oynamış olan Anavarza Kalesi incelenecektir. Ermenilerin ilk yönetim merkezi olan Vahka (Feke) Kalesi'nden sonra, ikinci başkent olarak yerleştikleri Anavarza Kalesi'nde bıraktıkları kültürel mirasın izleri, askeri ve –bu bölgede ilk kez inşa ettikleri– dini mimari bağlamında kısaca ele alınacaktır. Anavarza Kalesi'nde yaptığımız arazi çalışmasıyla elde edilen verilerin yanı sıra özellikle özgün kaynaklardan yararlanılmıştır.

El recrudecimiento del conflicto que enfrenta a Armenia con Azerbaiyán por el control de Nagorno Karabaj se expresa en un espacio simbólico de Ciudad de México. Esta tensión por el uso del espacio se ha manifestado en acciones polémicas, como la instalación de monumentos que afectaron las relaciones de México con dichos países del Cáucaso. Por su parte, Georgia adoptó un enfoque cultural más sobrio que ha rendido frutos.

Four Years in the Mountains of Kurdistan, 1915-1919
Book Review:
Aram Haigaz (Aram Chekenian), Four Years in the Mountains of Kurdistan, 1915-1919, translated and edited by Iris Haigaz-Chekenian (New York: Maiden Lane Press, 2014)
Reviewed by: Dr. Garabet K Moumdjian, Historian

"Those of us who were born to displaced Armenian parents in the diasporic communities of Lebanon, Syria, and other Middle Eastern locals in the late 1950s and early 1960s are familiar with Aram Haigaz’s short stories depicting American-Armenian immigrant life in the United States of America. We read these short stories—always written in Armenian—when we were in primary school. Haygaz’s simple language captivated us. Then, when we were about 15 years of age, we read his monumental work about the history, self defense, and eventual demise of his hometown, Shabin Karahisar, in 1915. We also read the lengthy—almost 600 page long—saga of his adventures in “Kurdistan.” We learned how he was able to escape death by converting to Islam in order to save his life…"

Riccardo Pasqualin, Metz Yeghérn. Breve storia del genocidio degli armeni di Claude Mutafian [recensione], in Sololibri.net, 25-02-2021: Metz Yeghérn. Breve storia del genocidio degli armeni - Claude Mutafian - Recensione libro
(sololibri.net)

تاريخ هنرعكاسى نزد ارمنيان به دلايل جغراسياسى و تاريخى،محدودهاى به گستردگى جهان
دارد. باوجود اينكه اين مقوله كمتر مورد تحقيق پژوهشگران قرارگرفته،ميراث هنرى به جاى
مانده ازعكاسان ارمنى نيمة دوم سدة نوزدهم تا نيمة نخست سدة بيستم ميلادى، جايگاه مهمى
را براىهنرمندانعكاس ارمنى در دنياى هنر كسب كرده است.
پراكندگى ارمنيان در دياسپوراى ارمنى شامل حال هنرمندان اين قوم نيزبوده. اينان،
خواسته يا ناخواسته،درمقاطعى مهر برجستة خود را  بر تا ركهن رو فرهنگ مكانى زده اند كه
در آن مىزيستهاند. برخى ازهنرمندان عكاس ارمنى، به حكم سرنوشت، مجبور به تغييرنام
خانوادگى ياهمانند ديگرارمنيان رانده شده ازمام وطن محكوم به كتمان هويت واقعى خود
بوده اند. ازاين بين مى توان به عكاسان ا رمنى ساكن استانبول اشاره كرد كه درقلمرو امپراتورى
عثمانى،ازكرانة  بسفرتاكشورهاى گوناگون ميانرودان،ازبانيان بىرقيب هنرعكاسى منطقه به
شمار مىرفتند.

CATALOGUE OF THE EXHIBITION "THE LIFE AFTER DEATH" IN THE FRAME OF THE CULTURAL CAPITAL OF EUROPE PAFOS2017 AND AARHUS2017. A CULTURAL APPROACH TO THE PRESERVATION OF THE DEAD'S MEMORY THROUGH ART AND BURIAL CUSTOMS IN CYPRUS AND DENMARK FROM ANTIQUITY TILL NOWADAYS/ ΚΑΤΑΛΟΓΟΣ ΤΗΣ ΕΚΘΕΣΗΣ "Η ΖΩΗ ΜΕΤΑ ΘΑΝΑΤΟΝ" ΣΤΑ ΠΛΑΙΣΙΑ ΤΩΝ ΠΟΛΙΤΙΣΤΙΚΩΝ ΠΡΩΤΕΥΟΥΣΩΝ ΤΗΣ ΕΥΡΩΠΗΣ ΠΑΦΟΣ2017 ΚΑΙ ΩΡΧΟΥΣ2017. ΜΙΑ ΠΟΛΙΤΙΣΜΙΚΗ ΠΡΟΣΕΓΓΙΣΗ ΣΤΗ ΔΙΑΤΗΡΗΣΗ ΤΗΣ ΑΝΑΜΝΗΣΗΣ ΤΩΝ ΤΕΘΝΕΩΤΩΝ ΜΕΣΑ ΑΠΟ ΤΗΝ ΤΕΧΝΗ ΚΑΙ ΤΙΣ ΤΑΦΙΚΕΣ ΠΑΡΑΔΟΣΕΙΣ ΣΤΗΝ ΚΥΠΡΟ ΚΑΙ ΤΗ ΔΑΝΙΑ ΑΠΟ ΤΗΝ ΑΡΧΑΙΟΤΗΤΑ ΕΩΣ ΤΙΣ ΗΜΕΡΕΣ ΜΑΣ

Bread and the traditions connected with bread are one of the most important parts of the Armenian culture. For many centuries, Armenians devoted a great deal of attention to the meaning of bread; they worshipped and respected it as a sacred thing and this can be seen in both traditions and the language.
Many Armenian villages which are or were full of bread and corn, have the root hats [հաց] - bread in their name, for example: Hatsashen (Talish region, Nagorno Karabakh); Hatsarat (near the Kamo city, Armenia); Hatsavan (Abovyan region, Armenia); Hatsin (Martuni region, Nagorno Karabakh); Hatsik, Hatsekac (village which is situated now in the territory of Turkey). (Sahakyan 2012, 79).
The present paper represents more detailed expressions of worship of bread in Armenia basing on cultural and linguistic examples.

This is a French version an overview of the history of Armenian Kütahya ceramics and its continuation after the genocide in Jerusalem.  Kütahya was perhaps the most important center of Armenian ceramic production in post-Medieval times.  Many of the thousands of surviving early eighteenth-century pieces, including a special order for some 10,000 tiles destined originally for the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem, now in the Armenian Monastery of St. James, are inscribed in Armenian.  In the early twentieth century, many of these objects, including two dated and signed examples of the early sixteen century in blue and white, the oldest dated ceramics executed within the Ottoman Empire, were thought to be the work of Turkish ceramists patronized by well to do Armenian patrons, despite the quite clear inscriptions by the Armenian craftsmen themselves.  The variety and popularity of this Kütahya ware has had renewed interest in both Turkey and abroad.  Les céramiques produites à Kütahya 1 , ville située à environ 200 kilomètres au sud-est de Constantinople/Istanbul, furent l'oeuvre presque exclusive de potiers arméniens, du XVI e au XX e siècle. La communauté arménienne y est présente dès le XIII e siècle et une église arménienne est attestée en 1391 2. Considérées longtemps comme une branche mineure des céramiques ottomanes, ce n'est qu'avec la publication de l'immense étude de John Carswell qu'elles furent définitivement incorporées à la longue histoire de l'art arménien 3 .

GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF THE 18th С. ALEPPO’S ARMENIAN COMMUNITY IN ALEXANDER RUSSELL’S “THE NATURAL HISTORY OF ALEPPO”
Keywords- Syria, Ottoman Empire, religion, Turks, Chrisians, Muslims, Jews, Europeans, tradition, plague
The book "Natural History of Aleppo", by Alexander Russell, is an important source about the history of Armenian community in Aleppo during the Ottoman period.
Al. Russell was a Scottish physician and naturalist delegated to Aleppo in 1740. Having been appointed as a physician to the English factory there, and, gaining the confidence of the local Pasha, he became the chief medical practitioner of the city. In 1754, he returned to England and, two years later, published his Natural History of Aleppo. In 1794, Patrick Russell, his half-brother, assumed the second edition, revising and expanding the text. Later, the book was translated into different languages.
The title of the book implies that the research refers to fauna and flora of Aleppo, and also the climatic conditions of the city and its surroundings. Moreover, Al. Russell’s book contains significant information about Non-Muslim communities of Aleppo (Greek, Assyrian, Maronite and Armenian), such as the number of the population of each community, the relationship between them and with Muslims, in particular, with Turks living in Aleppo.
The study of above-mentioned issues allows us to clarify and to present the actual status of Armenians living in Aleppo in the first half of the 18th century, which mostly depended on the policy pursued by the local authorities.

This new series provides a forum for exchange on a myriad of alternative histories of marginalized communities and individuals in the Near and Middle East and Mediterranean, and those of Middle Eastern or Mediterranean heritage. It will highlight thematic issues relating to various native peoples and their narratives and – with particular contemporary relevance – explore encounters with the notion of ‘other’ within various societies. Often moving beyond the conventional state-centred and dominant monolithic approach, or reinterpreting previously accepted stories, books in the series examine and explain themes from inter-communal relations, environment, health and society, and will explore ethnic, communal, racial, linguistic and religious developments that go beyond geopolitical compositions.

Building on the foundations of scholarship within an interdisciplinary framework, this series spans the continuum of Near Eastern and Mediterranean traditions extending from the fourth millennium B.C. to the present – bridging previous fields which originally had little connection with each other. The aim is to enhance perspectives by applying various methodological approaches to dilemmas that have in the past been treated as the exclusive concern of a single given discipline.

Key Features

Creates a forum for marginalized and/or indigenous communities to engage with the ‘accepted past and present’ and to challenge previously accepted truths
Opens a dialogue for alternative intellectual histories/narratives
The first series to focus on indigenous and minoritized related narratives from the understudied and often marginal perspective
Covers cultural, linguistic, ethnic, gendered, political, numerical and economic communities in the Near and Middle East, the Mediterranean and its extended environs
Engages with all periods of history from the ancient world to the present day, especially in terms of continuity of culture, cultural heritage and heritage preservation
Communities studied may include Alawites, Alevis, Armenians, Assyrians, Christians, Copts, Druze, Jews, Mandaens, Maronites, Palestinians, Pontian/ Anatolian Greeks, Samaritans, Shabbaks, Yezidis and Zoroastrians among others

Pour le paléographe, il est plus commode de travailler avec des classifications nettes et des périodisations distinctes qu’en suivant une tradition confuse. Les styles d’écriture arménienne ne sont pas clairement définis, et il est commun de mélanger un type avec un autre. Une véritable catégorisation universelle n’est véritablement apparue qu’avec l’imprimerie, où l’idiosyncrasie du scribe laisse la place à une implacable logique des formes de lettres.

Վաճառի սուրբ Ստեփանոս վանքը գտնվում է Արցախում, Խաչենագետի ձախ վտակ Վաճառ գետի մինջնահովտի ձախ բարձրադիր ափի լեռնաբազուկներից մեկի վրա, Վաճառ գյուղաքաղաքի ավերակներից մոտ 500 մետր դեպի հարավ, ներկայիս Մարտակերտի շրջանի Ծմակահող գյուղից հարավ-արևելք:
Ներկա հնագիտական հետազոտության նպատակն էր պարզել սուրբ Ստեփանոսի մատուռ-դամբարանի ծավալակառուցվածքային լուծումը, ճարտարապետական մանրամասներն ու գեղարվեստական հարդարումը, լուծել դրա կառուցման ժամանակների հետ կապված խնդիրները:

The article proves that Armenian national identity and main cultural patterns were formed through the permanent processes of cross-linguistic exchange, inter-ethnic interaction and inter-cultural communication. The Armenian branch of early Eastern Christianity is one of very few surviving and still functioning communities. A permanent interaction with different cultures and religions is the key characteristic of the historical experience of the Armenian people. The author stresses the importance of inter-civilizational mediation and adoption of various cultural values in the process of national identity formation.