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ARMENIAN SCHOLARSHIP GETS SHORT SHRIFT
28.02.2014
Dear Editor,
I read with surprise the repeated assertion of Dr. Rouben Galchian's
that "Armenia and Iran [Persia] could claim an existence of over
2,000 years... while Georgia became to be known as they are now, only
after 2,000 years". The author shows lack of awareness of primary
sources. What European cartographers present is not the whole 'truth'.
For his knowledge of the period in question, he should rely on the
Classical Armenian sources such as Movses Khorenatsi, Goryoun, Pavstos
Puzant, Movses Dskhurantsi, the Ashkharhatsoyts, and the countless
colophons and chronicles of Armenian manuscripts. In Classical Armenian
sources the name for Georgia is Õ~NÕ"O~@O~D [ Virk'], the name of the
country from which derives the modern Armenian name Õ~NO~@Õ¡Õ½Õ¿Õ¡Õ¶
[Vrastan]. The English name Georgia is used in modern cartography to
refer to the geographical territory K'art'li and for united country,
Sak'art'velo, the Armenian of which is Virk'. None of the maps the
author is referring to have the name Hayastan or for that matter
Iran. Do we then conclude that Hayastan and Iran did not exist? Of
course they existed. They were called Armenia and Persia respectively.
Khorenatsi says, "For whilst he assembled his legions of Atrpatakan,
he summoned the powerful mountain peoples of the Caucasus and the
armies of Albania and Georgia [Ô±Õ²Õ¸O~BÕ¡Õ¶Õ"O~A Õ¥O~B Õ~NO~@Õ¡O~A]
and descended into Mesopotamia", or 'The Albania and part of Georgia
[Ô±Õ¬Õ¡Õ¶O~D...Õ´Õ¡Õ½Õ¶ Õ"Õ¶Õ¹ Õ" Õ~NO~@Õ¡O~A] joined forces with all
the mountain peoples and invaded the land of Armenia in great force".
Movses Dskhurantsi in his History of the Caucasian
Albanians (English translation by Prof.C.J.F.Dowsett,1961)
chapter 14 is headed by 'A short account of St. Gregory, the
Illuminator of Armenia...as catholicos of Albania and Georgia [Õ"
Õ¯Õ¡Õ©Õ¸Õ²Õ"Õ¯Õ¸Õ½Õ¸O~BÕ©Õ"O~BÕ¶Ô±Õ²Õ¸O~BÕ¡Õ¶Õ"O~A Õ¥O~B Õ~NO~@Õ¡O~A],
his arrival in Albania'(p.19). In chapter 47, the historian gives an
account of the separation of the Georgian Church from the Armenian
Church in 608/609 AD
"Õ" ÕªÕ¡Õ´Õ¡Õ¶Õ¡Õ¯Õ½ Ô±Õ¢O~@Õ¡Õ°Õ¡Õ´Õ¸O~BÕ~] Õ°Õ¡ÕµÕ¸O~A
Õ¯Õ¡Õ©Õ¸Õ²Õ"Õ¯Õ¸Õ½Õ", Õ¢Õ¡ÕªÕ¡Õ¶Õ¥O~AÕ¡Õ¶ Õ~NÕ"O~@O~D Õ" Õ~@Õ¡ÕµÕ¸O~A
Õ´Õ"Õ¡Õ¢Õ¡Õ¶Õ¸O~BÕ©Õ¥Õ¶Õ§" [in the days of Abraham, Catholicos of
Armenia, the Georgians separated from the Armenians].
Goryoun, the biographer of Mesrob Mashtots, makes St. Gregory the
Illuminator's grandson St. Grigoris bishop of 'Virk' [Vrastan] and
Aluank' [Albania]. When referring to the missionary work of St. Mesrob
in chapter 21 Goryoun informs "And thus all over Armenia, Georgia, and
Albania, throughout his lifetime, in summer and winter" he witnessed
"the name of Jesus the Saviour" [ÔµO~B Õ¡ÕµÕ¶ÕºÕ§Õ½ ÕµÕ¡Õ´Õ¥Õ¶Õ¡ÕµÕ¶
Õ¯Õ¸Õ²Õ´Õ¡Õ¶Õ½ Õ~@Õ¡ÕµÕ¸O~A,Õ~NO~@Õ¡O~A Õ¥O~B Ô±Õ²Õ¸O~BÕ¡Õ¶Õ"O~A
Õ¦Õ¡Õ´Õ¥Õ¶Õ¡ÕµÕ¶ ÕªÕ¡Õ´Õ¡Õ¶Õ¡Õ¯Õ½...].
S.T. Eremyan in his magnificent introduction to the 'Armenia According
to the [Ashkharhatsoyts] while commenting on Ptolemy'sAsiae tabula
tertia, writes "in his map of Sassanian Iran he represents the
political divisions, which existed in his time, which included also
the Transcaucasian countries, i.e. marzpanide Armenia (Arm[which
stands for Hayk'], Virk'[ Varjan which is Virk' andAluank' (p.26).
Eremyan provides an exhausting commentary on the name Virk'. I
will only present here the first few lines: "The territory
of Õ~NÕ"O~@O~D-also known as Õ~NO~@Õ¯Õ¡Õ¶; in Persian Gurgan; in
Syriac Gurzan; in Arabic Jurzan; in Greek Ibiria; in Latin Hiberia;
in Georgian K'art'li" (pp.83-84).There is no difference here to the
name used for our country. We, Armenians, call ourselves Hay, the
country Hayastan, and the entire Western world knows us as Armenians,
the country Armenia and the language as Armenian.
It is not desirable to ignore or deliberately falsify Classical
Armenian sources, which are significant primary sources for the study
of the peoples and countries neighboring Armenia. It is also not
desirable to be disrespectful regarding the achievement of Armenian
Armenologists [Adontz, Manadyan, Eremyan, Hovsepiants, Khatchikyan] in
order to score cheap points. The author can make a rapid survey of the
colophons of thousands of Armenian manuscripts to realize how damaging
his type of declarations are to the reputation of Armenian scholarship.
Yours,
Rev. Dr. Vrej Nerses Nersessian
http://www.keghart.com/Rev-Nersessian-Sources
28.02.2014
Dear Editor,
I read with surprise the repeated assertion of Dr. Rouben Galchian's
that "Armenia and Iran [Persia] could claim an existence of over
2,000 years... while Georgia became to be known as they are now, only
after 2,000 years". The author shows lack of awareness of primary
sources. What European cartographers present is not the whole 'truth'.
For his knowledge of the period in question, he should rely on the
Classical Armenian sources such as Movses Khorenatsi, Goryoun, Pavstos
Puzant, Movses Dskhurantsi, the Ashkharhatsoyts, and the countless
colophons and chronicles of Armenian manuscripts. In Classical Armenian
sources the name for Georgia is Õ~NÕ"O~@O~D [ Virk'], the name of the
country from which derives the modern Armenian name Õ~NO~@Õ¡Õ½Õ¿Õ¡Õ¶
[Vrastan]. The English name Georgia is used in modern cartography to
refer to the geographical territory K'art'li and for united country,
Sak'art'velo, the Armenian of which is Virk'. None of the maps the
author is referring to have the name Hayastan or for that matter
Iran. Do we then conclude that Hayastan and Iran did not exist? Of
course they existed. They were called Armenia and Persia respectively.
Khorenatsi says, "For whilst he assembled his legions of Atrpatakan,
he summoned the powerful mountain peoples of the Caucasus and the
armies of Albania and Georgia [Ô±Õ²Õ¸O~BÕ¡Õ¶Õ"O~A Õ¥O~B Õ~NO~@Õ¡O~A]
and descended into Mesopotamia", or 'The Albania and part of Georgia
[Ô±Õ¬Õ¡Õ¶O~D...Õ´Õ¡Õ½Õ¶ Õ"Õ¶Õ¹ Õ" Õ~NO~@Õ¡O~A] joined forces with all
the mountain peoples and invaded the land of Armenia in great force".
Movses Dskhurantsi in his History of the Caucasian
Albanians (English translation by Prof.C.J.F.Dowsett,1961)
chapter 14 is headed by 'A short account of St. Gregory, the
Illuminator of Armenia...as catholicos of Albania and Georgia [Õ"
Õ¯Õ¡Õ©Õ¸Õ²Õ"Õ¯Õ¸Õ½Õ¸O~BÕ©Õ"O~BÕ¶Ô±Õ²Õ¸O~BÕ¡Õ¶Õ"O~A Õ¥O~B Õ~NO~@Õ¡O~A],
his arrival in Albania'(p.19). In chapter 47, the historian gives an
account of the separation of the Georgian Church from the Armenian
Church in 608/609 AD
"Õ" ÕªÕ¡Õ´Õ¡Õ¶Õ¡Õ¯Õ½ Ô±Õ¢O~@Õ¡Õ°Õ¡Õ´Õ¸O~BÕ~] Õ°Õ¡ÕµÕ¸O~A
Õ¯Õ¡Õ©Õ¸Õ²Õ"Õ¯Õ¸Õ½Õ", Õ¢Õ¡ÕªÕ¡Õ¶Õ¥O~AÕ¡Õ¶ Õ~NÕ"O~@O~D Õ" Õ~@Õ¡ÕµÕ¸O~A
Õ´Õ"Õ¡Õ¢Õ¡Õ¶Õ¸O~BÕ©Õ¥Õ¶Õ§" [in the days of Abraham, Catholicos of
Armenia, the Georgians separated from the Armenians].
Goryoun, the biographer of Mesrob Mashtots, makes St. Gregory the
Illuminator's grandson St. Grigoris bishop of 'Virk' [Vrastan] and
Aluank' [Albania]. When referring to the missionary work of St. Mesrob
in chapter 21 Goryoun informs "And thus all over Armenia, Georgia, and
Albania, throughout his lifetime, in summer and winter" he witnessed
"the name of Jesus the Saviour" [ÔµO~B Õ¡ÕµÕ¶ÕºÕ§Õ½ ÕµÕ¡Õ´Õ¥Õ¶Õ¡ÕµÕ¶
Õ¯Õ¸Õ²Õ´Õ¡Õ¶Õ½ Õ~@Õ¡ÕµÕ¸O~A,Õ~NO~@Õ¡O~A Õ¥O~B Ô±Õ²Õ¸O~BÕ¡Õ¶Õ"O~A
Õ¦Õ¡Õ´Õ¥Õ¶Õ¡ÕµÕ¶ ÕªÕ¡Õ´Õ¡Õ¶Õ¡Õ¯Õ½...].
S.T. Eremyan in his magnificent introduction to the 'Armenia According
to the [Ashkharhatsoyts] while commenting on Ptolemy'sAsiae tabula
tertia, writes "in his map of Sassanian Iran he represents the
political divisions, which existed in his time, which included also
the Transcaucasian countries, i.e. marzpanide Armenia (Arm[which
stands for Hayk'], Virk'[ Varjan which is Virk' andAluank' (p.26).
Eremyan provides an exhausting commentary on the name Virk'. I
will only present here the first few lines: "The territory
of Õ~NÕ"O~@O~D-also known as Õ~NO~@Õ¯Õ¡Õ¶; in Persian Gurgan; in
Syriac Gurzan; in Arabic Jurzan; in Greek Ibiria; in Latin Hiberia;
in Georgian K'art'li" (pp.83-84).There is no difference here to the
name used for our country. We, Armenians, call ourselves Hay, the
country Hayastan, and the entire Western world knows us as Armenians,
the country Armenia and the language as Armenian.
It is not desirable to ignore or deliberately falsify Classical
Armenian sources, which are significant primary sources for the study
of the peoples and countries neighboring Armenia. It is also not
desirable to be disrespectful regarding the achievement of Armenian
Armenologists [Adontz, Manadyan, Eremyan, Hovsepiants, Khatchikyan] in
order to score cheap points. The author can make a rapid survey of the
colophons of thousands of Armenian manuscripts to realize how damaging
his type of declarations are to the reputation of Armenian scholarship.
Yours,
Rev. Dr. Vrej Nerses Nersessian
http://www.keghart.com/Rev-Nersessian-Sources