Tweet
BISHOP DREAMS TO BUILD MUSEUM, OR A CULTURE CENTER ABOUT JEWS IN ARMENIA
http://www.armradio.am/en/2013/02/12/bishop-dreams-to-build-museum-or-a-culture-center-about-jews-in-armenia/
18:38 12.02.2013
Armenia, Jews
Rebecca Miller, a Peace Corps volunteer in Armenia, was skeptical when
Bishop Abraham Lazarian approached her about starting a Jewish culture
center alongside a medieval Jewish cemetery in the village of Yeghegis.
"I had... noted that there was not much in the way of diversity in
the area and couldn't imagine what the point of a Jewish cultural
center was," she said, Anna Borshchevskaya writes in article posted
on the website of the Jerusalem Post.
But after visiting the cemetery, she changed her mind and agreed to
work with the bishop to help preserve it. "I talked to anybody who
would listen about what it was," she said.
Prior to the cemetery's 1996 discovery, there was virtually no
evidence that Jews had lived in Armenia in pre-modern times. In a
country that does not boast much of an ethnic or religious minority
presence, Yeghegis is a fascinating nexus of culture and history.
I visited Yeghegis in December 2012. The village, along the banks of
a river by the same name, lies about 96 km. south of Yerevan, against
the backdrop of Ararat Valley, and just 112 km. or so north of Iran.
When the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict broke out as the Soviet Union was
falling apart Yeghegis had a large Azeri population.
The story of the Jewish community in Armenia dates to the early 13th
century, when Mongol invaders devastated the region.
Bishop Lazarian discovered the cemetery when he and his brother Mayis
Lazarian opened the Siranush children's camp in Yeghegis to provide
shelter, food, recreation and education for children orphaned by the
war with Azerbaijan.
The bishop heard there was a mineral-water spring in the area.
He wanted to find it for the children and, as he searched, he came
across three tombstones, where he saw writing he didn't understand.
He first thought it was Iranian. Then one guest staying with him told
him the writing was Hebrew, and the bishop approached representatives
of the small Jewish community in Yerevan for help.
He also sent photos of the tombstones to Professor Michael Stone of
Hebrew University in Jerusalem, who confirmed the bishop's suspicion
that what he had found was indeed a medieval Jewish cemetery. A group
of Armenian and Israeli archaeologists and historians excavated the
site in 2001 and 2002 and found 64 more tombstones. Many bear Hebrew
of Aramaic inscriptions, and some are decorated with motifs of the
Orbelian kingdom.
The archaeological team also found three mills, which the bishop says
show that the community had a business because one mill could feed
several families.
There were also numerous underground tombs without any writing. In
one ruin, they found a millstone that had been reincorporated into
the house structure, which shows that people lived there for quite a
long time. They also found many stones that could have been part of a
synagogue, but as in the tels which dot Israel (and Iraqi Kurdistan),
much more remains undiscovered in Armenia.
The Middle Age Jewish settlement in Armenia is very important.
"The Jewish presence in Armenia provides a link between the old,
well-established Jewish community in Iran, and other Caucasian and
Pontic Jewish communities, and those even further north," wrote
Michael Stone.
"This will, after the necessary research is completed, require us
to reassess the relationships between these areas, and it also has
implications for economic and commercial history."
In the 13th century, said bishop Lazarian, "At a time when you can't
imagine that a country... in Europe either helped create or didn't
destroy a Jewish settlement... It is fantastic how they could gather
cultural, architectural symbolism of Jewish Armenians... and they
were connected, and built one of the strongest kingdoms during time
of Mongols."
The bishop's dream is to build museum, or a culture center about Jews
in Armenia, that would focus on education.
"Because these two peoples had very ancient connections... and until
now it is one of the few peoples with whom we had no problems,"
he said.
The bishop wants people to know what connections existed between
Armenians and Jews, stories of how they helped each other during the
Armenian genocide and the Holocaust, for instance.
"These peoples in this region, I think have to support each other...
They ended up having a similar destiny."
http://www.armradio.am/en/2013/02/12/bishop-dreams-to-build-museum-or-a-culture-center-about-jews-in-armenia/
18:38 12.02.2013
Armenia, Jews
Rebecca Miller, a Peace Corps volunteer in Armenia, was skeptical when
Bishop Abraham Lazarian approached her about starting a Jewish culture
center alongside a medieval Jewish cemetery in the village of Yeghegis.
"I had... noted that there was not much in the way of diversity in
the area and couldn't imagine what the point of a Jewish cultural
center was," she said, Anna Borshchevskaya writes in article posted
on the website of the Jerusalem Post.
But after visiting the cemetery, she changed her mind and agreed to
work with the bishop to help preserve it. "I talked to anybody who
would listen about what it was," she said.
Prior to the cemetery's 1996 discovery, there was virtually no
evidence that Jews had lived in Armenia in pre-modern times. In a
country that does not boast much of an ethnic or religious minority
presence, Yeghegis is a fascinating nexus of culture and history.
I visited Yeghegis in December 2012. The village, along the banks of
a river by the same name, lies about 96 km. south of Yerevan, against
the backdrop of Ararat Valley, and just 112 km. or so north of Iran.
When the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict broke out as the Soviet Union was
falling apart Yeghegis had a large Azeri population.
The story of the Jewish community in Armenia dates to the early 13th
century, when Mongol invaders devastated the region.
Bishop Lazarian discovered the cemetery when he and his brother Mayis
Lazarian opened the Siranush children's camp in Yeghegis to provide
shelter, food, recreation and education for children orphaned by the
war with Azerbaijan.
The bishop heard there was a mineral-water spring in the area.
He wanted to find it for the children and, as he searched, he came
across three tombstones, where he saw writing he didn't understand.
He first thought it was Iranian. Then one guest staying with him told
him the writing was Hebrew, and the bishop approached representatives
of the small Jewish community in Yerevan for help.
He also sent photos of the tombstones to Professor Michael Stone of
Hebrew University in Jerusalem, who confirmed the bishop's suspicion
that what he had found was indeed a medieval Jewish cemetery. A group
of Armenian and Israeli archaeologists and historians excavated the
site in 2001 and 2002 and found 64 more tombstones. Many bear Hebrew
of Aramaic inscriptions, and some are decorated with motifs of the
Orbelian kingdom.
The archaeological team also found three mills, which the bishop says
show that the community had a business because one mill could feed
several families.
There were also numerous underground tombs without any writing. In
one ruin, they found a millstone that had been reincorporated into
the house structure, which shows that people lived there for quite a
long time. They also found many stones that could have been part of a
synagogue, but as in the tels which dot Israel (and Iraqi Kurdistan),
much more remains undiscovered in Armenia.
The Middle Age Jewish settlement in Armenia is very important.
"The Jewish presence in Armenia provides a link between the old,
well-established Jewish community in Iran, and other Caucasian and
Pontic Jewish communities, and those even further north," wrote
Michael Stone.
"This will, after the necessary research is completed, require us
to reassess the relationships between these areas, and it also has
implications for economic and commercial history."
In the 13th century, said bishop Lazarian, "At a time when you can't
imagine that a country... in Europe either helped create or didn't
destroy a Jewish settlement... It is fantastic how they could gather
cultural, architectural symbolism of Jewish Armenians... and they
were connected, and built one of the strongest kingdoms during time
of Mongols."
The bishop's dream is to build museum, or a culture center about Jews
in Armenia, that would focus on education.
"Because these two peoples had very ancient connections... and until
now it is one of the few peoples with whom we had no problems,"
he said.
The bishop wants people to know what connections existed between
Armenians and Jews, stories of how they helped each other during the
Armenian genocide and the Holocaust, for instance.
"These peoples in this region, I think have to support each other...
They ended up having a similar destiny."