Vol. 1 No. 19 (2020): 2020-1

Since the XVIII century researchers have proposed about two dozen candidates, who
ruled in the Kingdom of Sophene, which are considered in this article. As a result of the study,
it was clarified that during its 95-year history the Kingdom of Sophene had five kings:
Zariadres (Zareh) – 189 - c. 170 BC, Xerxes – c. 170 - 165 BC, Mitrobuzanes (Mehruzhan) – 165 BC - ?,
Arkatios / Artak / Doron – ?, Artanes (Arsakes) – ? - 94 BC.

This illustrated Bible is a clear testament to the artistic mastery of Marcos Patkerahan. The
cycle of illustrations is unique as the portraits of evangelists with scenes associated with the
authors of the books are placed at the beginning of each gospel. Illustrating the beginning of
Gospels with the portraits of evangelists started from the Byzantine period (VI century). The
earliest known example in Armenian miniature art dates from the IX century (Gospel of Queen
Mlke, Venice, Mekhitarist Library, MS 1144/86). Story scenes began to be depicted from the
VI-VII centuries (Gospel of Etchmiadzin, Matenadaran, MS 2374). But the earliest manuscript
in which the scenes and portraits of the evangelists are combined seems to be the Greek gospel
of the late XI century (Parma, Palatine Library, n o 5). The miniatures of the Bible no 2561 are a
series of scenes chronologically illustrating the life of Christ. Christmas, Crucifixion,
Resurrection, and the Holy Trinity are illustrated in the four Gospels, respectively. This Bible,
where each book is illustrated with the portrait of an evangelist and one scene, stands out as a
unique manuscript in Armenian art.

Shah Abbas came to power in Safavid Persia at the beginning of the 17th century by the
time the war between Persia and Turkey had started. The military actions which lasted for more
than a century had unprecedented serious consequences for the Armenian people, because
Armenia was the main stage of military actions. The main tragedy was the deportation of 1604
organized by shah Abbas. As a result, many provinces of Armenia were partially or completely
abandoned. Even though Northeast Armenia did not escape the disasters that plagued Armenia
during the reign of shah Abbas, deportations in those regions were not massive and systematic
unlike in other regions. Historical and demographic processes in Northeast Armenia were also
caused by the Georgian-Iranian military clashes. As a result, Armenian settlements became a
target for both Georgian and Kizilbash troops

In recent years, many issues in the history of the First Republic of Armenia have been
covered. However, the history of the periodical press published in that period still needs to be
thoroughly studied. Along with the Ramkavar newspapers “Zhoghovurd” (People) and
“Zhoghovrdi Dzain” (People’s Voice), the official newspaper of the Armenian Constitutional
Ramkavar Party “Van Tosp” played an important role in the life of the First Republic of
Armenia. It began to be published in 1911 in Van (first stage), then from 1915 in Tiflis (second
stage), and from 1919 to the end of 1920 in Yerevan under the name “The Voice of Armenia”.
“Van-Tosp”, which in the first stage had a distinct literary-philological, historical-ethnical
orientation, became the most active provincial periodical addressing the issue of reopening the
Armenian Question in Western Armenian reality in 1912. The newspaper had a number of
consistent columns – “Editorial”, “Internal Theory”, “External Theory”, “Weekly News”,
“Press”, “Literary Works”, “Announcements”, “Others” and columns which appeared from
time to time.

For many years, the negotiations and the Treaty of Lausanne were in the center of both
scientific and analytical discussions and socio-political developments in Turkey. Nowadays
these discussions, changing their focus, still have certain place in the political agenda of
Turkey in connection with different external and internal problems. Being extremely important
for Kemalists, the issue of the Christians, survived from the Armenian and Greek Genocides,
was one of the most problematic questions during the Lausanne negotiations. The issue of the
formation of an “Armenian national home” was also suggested during the negotiations in
Lausanne; however, it failed and was removed from the agenda. Actually, the Lausanne
conference became one of the unsuccessful attempts of raising the Armenian Question in the
international arena.

To this day a number of historical-architectural monuments have been remained in
different parts of Historical Armenia, which relate to various episodes of Vardanants uprising.
This article examines the Vardanants sanctuaries remained in Vayots Dzor territory, the
research of which is of great importance for the study of Vardanank. It should be noted that the
presented monuments are not archaeologically studied. However, based on the remained
structures and bibliographic data, it can be argued that excavations at the above sites can be
very promising.

According to the morphology, the X-XIII century gravestones are divided into two
chronological groups: the X-XI and the XII-XIII centuries. The tombstones of the X-XI
centuries are an intermediate stage between the examples of the VIII-IX and the XII-XIII
centuries. They are not so sprawled as the examples of the previous centuries, and are placed
not as high on a pedestal as we see in the next centuries. From the end of the XI century, three
types of gravestones were widely spread in Armenia - flat, two slopes and like a cradle. All
types of gravestones are presented in the best examples and have exact dates

The present article offers an analysis of some material from a medieval ceramics collection
of the Regional Museum in the city of Yeghegnadzor, which is the center of the historical
region of Vayots Dzor. In this region, within the framework of the joint project “Studying the
Silk Road in Vayots Dzor”, the Armenian-Italian archaeological expedition of Yerevan State
University (YSU) and the University of Florence have been conducting studies for several
years to establish a system of medieval Silk Road trade routes crossing Armenia. Studying the
medieval ceramics of Vayots Dzor, it was interesting to turn to the materials of the local
Regional Museum in Yeghegnadzor. Many items of this collection were found by chance,
during agricultural works in Vayots Dzor, as well as during the cleaning and restoration of such
monasteries as Noravank, Gndevank, Shatinvank and others. As part of the cooperation
between the Regional Museum in Yeghegnadzor and Yerevan State University (YSU), in
support to the museum some of the medieval ceramic items of the museum were studied and
restored in the archaeological laboratory of Yerevan State Institute for Armenian Studies.

The article for the first time puts into scientific circulation seven epigraphs (of which 5
concerning construction, 1 memorial recording and 1 concerning donation) discovered by the
author in Etchmiadzin Cathedral in 2018-2019. With these 7, the number of Cathedral
epigraphs known to science totals 62. Among the epigraphs concerning construction the most
exceptional is the one on the north-west pylon of the eastern belfry built by catholicos
Yeghiazar I Ayntabtsi (Yeghiazar of Ayntab, 1681-1691), which mentions the name of the
architect: ‘‘Poghos varpet Kaytsak’’ (Poghos master Kaytsak). Likewise noteworthy is the
recording on the big cross set up during the reign of Yeghiazar Ayntabtsi, as well as the
epigraph about the construction work in 1769-1771 carried out by catholicos Simeon
Yerevantsi (Simeon of Yerevan, 1763-1780), carved by archimandrite Grigor Yeghvardetsi in
the secret cell on the second floor of southern vestry. Besides these 7 epigraphs, we present 3
incomplete inscriptions carved on the south wall of the secret way from the north vestry to the
roof, in the north window cavity of St Archangels' altar in the great belfry and the south-east
pylon of east belfry. We have also rectified two inscriptions which are carved in places hard to
reach and were previously published. One is the main record of the construction of the big
belfry, carved on the third-floor rotunda dome of the belfry (the belfry foundation year has
been revised), and the second is the record on the east belfry rotunda drum (the name of deacon
Avanes mentioned in the record has been revised).

The great part of Khachatur Abovyan’s children’s literature is inserted in the textbook
“The Startpoint of Education...” in which the short stories that have precenting and entertaining
roles, besides being seperate works, are also carrying peculiar messages addressed to children:
periodically repeated bad endings, children’s death because of not adhering to parents, cruel
description of the death’s scene and the mourning and sorrow of the parents are becoming the
signs of precenting in the semiotic system of the textbook that by regularly repeated sequence
teach the baby readers not to imitate those actions and to adhere to parents. The last work of
the book - “Games of Children...” is a dramatic one and is notable for its interesting narrative
structure: the hero presents asynchronous story of the events of his life synthesizing the actions
referring to various times into one moment of narration. The perceptive prisma of the narrator
is also noteworthy: he percieves and reproduces the events through his senses by “feeling” the
surrounding world and himself due to hearing, sight, touch, taste and smell.

The article examines Ghazaros Aghayan’s fairy tale “Aregnazan or Magical World”, in
which Aghayan’s approach to folkloric motives provides a chance for a comprehensive study.
This literary genre became a means of reproducing the reality for the writer, who is highly
valued in educational terms. For Aregnazan the temptation to find “the water of immortality”
in this fairy tale becomes a way of ultimate transformation leading to the distraction of evil
forces

Within the Tumanyan and Shakespeare love affinities there are similar manifestations of
the state of mind that characterize the path to eternal love, the embodiment of affection, the
nurturing affection that can be viewed as symbols from a structural-logical analysis. These
particular milestones emphasized in the structure of love are eternal in human memory,
sometimes conscious, sometimes not. They, as a general stratum of the bio-philosophy of love,
transcend national thinking becoming symbols of universal cultural memory. They can be
viewed as symbolic situations on the road to eternal love.

French-Armenian writer Zareh Vorbuni (Eoksuzian) was a descendant of the orphans of the Armenian Genocide. His characters are of the same generation and have much in common with the writer, and often are identified with the author. Vorbuni had a truly symbolic literary pseudonym for his generation (Vorbouni – orphan). According to him, the pseudonym had the Oedipus complex – refusing his own surname, he allegedly “killed” his father, becoming an orphan. The choice of the pseudonym was not accidental, as almost all his fictional characters display Oedipus complex in their relationships. The article studies various manifestations of the Oedipus complex in Z. Vorbuni’s works. His characters are divided into two groups: 1) those who go through all stages of the Oedipus complex during puberty and successfully overcome it; 2) those who untimely overcome the Oedipus complex, or cannot cope with it throughout their lives acquiring pathological psychology. Manifestations of the Oedipus complex are observed in mother – son, father – daughter, mother – daughter and father – son relationships. We have also singled out mother – son – daughter-in-law, mother – son – father, father – daughter – mother, father – daughter – son-in-law, mother – daughter, sister – brother – sister-in-law, elder son – mother – younger son Oedipus triangles, which prove that Vorbuni’s prose was heavily influenced by the Oedipus complex.

The Ancient Armenian translation of the collection of interpretative letters “The Book of
Fasting” by Basil of Caesarea, who is also known in the world as Saint Basil the Great, is one
of the most famous works of medieval Armenian philosophical and theological literature. The
translation of the collection dates back to the 5th - 7 th centuries, some letters were translated
immediately after the creation of the Armenian alphabet, after translating the Bible into
Ancient Armenian. The collection in this form was completed at the beginning of the 7th
century. The language of the translation of “Books of Fasting” is considered to be the
postclassical grabar of the beginning of the Hellenizing school. There are not many lexical
grecizms here yet; newly formed words and terms are composed according to the canons of the
Armenian Language, vocabulary and semantic tracing papers are mostly clear and transparent
for the Armenian reader. In our study, we revealed neologisms and newly formed words in the
translation of Vasily Kessary’s letters. The translators created 82 new lexical units that were
not included in the dictionaries of the Ancient Armenian language, and 152 words in the New
Haykazyan dictionary are cited only with the mark “Book of Fasting”, that is, their authors are
translators of this collection of Vasily the Great. After diachronic and synchronous analysis, it
became clear that more than 40% of these words were preserved in the vocabulary of the
Moderrn East Armenian language, they are productive and are used in different lexical styles
of the Literary Armenian language.

It is argued in the paper that the analogical extension of the aorist ending - ուց of causative
verbs to certain irregular verbs in some Armenian dialects (cf. the aorist forms դըրուց,
տըվուց, բէրուց, թողուց) can be accounted for by the principle of family resemblance.
Specifically, the aorist stem of the verb դընել due to its phonotactic structure being highly
similar to that of the final (suffixal) part of causative verbs (cf. դըր-ի, դըր-իր... and հաս-ցըր-ի,
հաս-ցըր-իր...), has played a pivotal role in the formation of this class of irregular
verbs, thereby serving as the prototype within the group. In the subdialect of Lori both the
monosyllabicity and phonotactic structure CVC of the aorist stem have been conceived of as
two equally important criterial features by speakers in determining the class membership. That
is why the verbs անիլ/ անել and ասիլ/ ասել, as having phonotactic structure VC, have failed
to join the class and acquire the ending ուց. However, the class has been expanded further in
the subdialects of Shamshadin-Dilijan and Ashtarak due to the fact that the phonotactic
structure VC also became permittable (cf. the aorist forms ար-ի, ար-իր, ար-ուց...).

The original testament of the wealthy Saghatrel-bek Yuzbashyants from Artsakh was
published along with an editorial note of the newspaper in the “Meghu Hayastani” (“Armenian
Bee”) newspaper, no 11 of 1863. The outstanding point of the publication was that in 1849
Yuzbashyants bequeathed 400 roubles, which he deposited in one of the Moscow banks with
4% annual interest rate and 166 UK pounds, which he deposited in one of the London banks on
the same terms. However, according to the testament, these amounts and interests could be
utilized only 260 years later, i.e. after 2109. That made those funds useless from the standpoint
of the projected noble aims Saghatrel-bek Yuzbashyants noted in his testament. The rouble
deposit was nationalized by the Bolsheviks in 1917, while the fate of the London deposit is
unclear and would hardly be seriously considered for requesting in 2109. The testament most
probably would get a scrap, yet the amounts noted in the document could potentially be used
for concrete needs of Artsakh’ people.