History of Armenia (Moses of Chorene)
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The History of Armenia attributed to Moses of Chorene is an early account of Armenia, covering the mythological origins of the Armenian people as well as Sassanid, Byzantine and Arsacid Armenia down to the 5th century.
It contains unique material on ancient Armenian legends, and such information on pagan (pre-Christian) Armenian as has survived. It also contains plentiful data on the history and culture of contiguous countries. The book had an enormous impact on Armenian historiography. In the text, the author self-identifies as a disciple of Saint Mesrop, and states that he composed his work at the request of Isaac (Sahak), the Bagratuni prince who fell in battle in 482.
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[edit] Authorship
Gibbon in his History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire (ch. 32) still accepted the 5th century date of Moses, on grounds that "deficient as he is in every qualification of a good historian, his local information, his passions and his prejudices, are strongly expressive of a native and contemporary", but Gutschmid (1876) showed the secondary nature of much of Moses' material, and current scholarship is doubtful of Moses' authorship of the work. According to Robert Thomson, "there are indications that the book itself was written after the 5th century. Not only does Movses use sources not available in Armenia at that time, he refers to persons and places attested only in the sixth or seventh centuries."[1]
[edit] Contents
The book is divided into three parts:
- "Genealogy of Armenia Major", embracing the history of Armenia from the beginning down to Alexander the Great;
- "History of the middle period of our ancestors", extending from Alexander to the death of St. Gregory the Illuminator and the reign of King Terdat (AD 330);
- the third part brings the history down to the overthrow of the Arshakuni Dynasty (AD 428).
According to Thomas Artsruni, writing in the 10th century, there was also a fourth part which brings the history down to the time of the Emperor Zeno (474-491).
[edit] Genealogy
In 32 chapters, from Adam to Alexander the Great. List of the Armenian patriarchs according to Moses:
- Haik (grandson of Tiras), Armenag, Aramais, Amassia, Gegham, Harma, Aram
- Ara Keghetzig, Ara Kardos, Anoushavan, Paret, Arbag, Zaven, Varnas, Sour, Havanag
- Vashtak, Haikak, Ampak, Arnak, Shavarsh, Norir, Vestam, Kar, Gorak, Hrant, Endzak, Geghak
- Horo, Zarmair, Perch, Arboun, Hoy, Houssak, Kipak, Skaiordi
These cover the 24th to 9th centuries BC in Moses' chronology, indebted to the Chronicon of Eusebius. There follows a list of legendary kings, covering the 8th to 4th centuries BC:
- Parouyr, Hratchia, Pharnouas, Pachouych, Kornak, Phavos, Haikak II, Erouand I, Tigran I, Vahagn, Aravan, Nerseh, Zareh, Armog, Bagam, Van, Vahé.
These gradually enter historicity with Tigran I (6th century BC), who is also mentioned in the Cyropaedia of Xenophon (Tigranes Orontid , traditionally 560-535 BC; Vahagn 530-515 BC), but Aravan to Vahé are again otherwise unknown.
- chapter 1: letter to Sahak
- chapter 5: from Noah to Abraham and Belus
- chapters 10-12: about Haik
- chapter 13: war against the Medes
- chapter 14: war against Assyria
- chapters 15-16: Ara and Semiramis
- chapters 17-19: Semiramis flees from Zoroaster to Armenia and is killed by her son.
- chapter 20: Ara Kardos and Anoushavan
- chapter 21: Parouyr, first king of Armenia at the time of Ashurbanipal
- chapter 22: kings from Pharnouas to Tigran
- chapter 23: Sennacherib and his sons
- chapters 24-30: about Tigran I
- chapter 31: descendants of Tigran down to Vahé, who is killed in resistance against Alexander
- chapter 32: Hellenic wars
[edit] Middle Period (332 BC - AD 330)
- Further information: List of Armenian Kings
92 chapters, from Alexander the Great to Tiridates III of Armenia.
[edit] Arsacid period AD 330-428
- Further information: Arsacid Dynasty of Armenia
68 chapters, from the death of Tiridates III to Gregory the Illuminator.
[edit] Editions and translations
- editio princeps, Amsterdam, 1695;
- London, with a Latin translation, 1736
- Venice, 1752
- Italian and French translations, Venice, 1841
- Tiflis, 1913 (1981 facsimile ISBN 978-0882060323).
- R. W. Thomson, English translation, 1978 (Harvard, ISBN 978-0674395718).
- G. Kh. Sargsyn, Russian translation, 1991, (ISBN 978-5808401853).
[edit] See also
- History of Armenia
- Zenob Glak
- John Mamikonean
- Gregory the Illuminator
- Roman relations with the Armenians
[edit] References
- ^ Robert K. Thomson, "Armenian Literary Culture through the Eleventh Century", in R.G. Hovahanissian (ed.), Armenian People from Ancient to Modern Times(Volume 1, 2004)
- Robert H. Hewson, "The Primary History of Armenia": An Examination of the Validity of an Immemorially Transmitted Historical Tradition, History in Africa (1975).
