Temple of Garni
Saturday, April 4, 2015
Saturday, March 14, 2015
Vanessa Kachadurian study backs history of Armenia dating back farther than previous studies
Study backs 5th-century historian’s date for founding of Armenia
By NICHOLAS WADE, The New York Times
Movses Khorenatsi, a historian in the fifth century, wrote that his native Armenia had been established in 2492 B.C., a date usuallyregarded as legendary though he claimed to have traveled to Babylon and consulted ancient records. But either he made a lucky guess or he really did gain access to useful data, because a new genomic analysis suggests that his date is entirely plausible.
Geneticists have scanned the genomes of 173 Armenians from Armenia and Lebanon and compared them with those of 78 other populations from around the world. They found that the Armenians are a mix of ancient populations whose descendants now live in Sardinia, Central Asia and several other regions. This formative mixture occurred from 3000 to 2000 B.C., the geneticists calculated, coincident with Movses Khorenatsi’s date for the founding of Armenia.
Toward the end of the Bronze Age, when the mixture was in process, there was considerable movement of peoples brought about by increased trade, warfare and population growth. After 1200 B.C., the Bronze Age civilizations of the eastern Mediterranean suddenly collapsed, an event that seems to have brought about the isolation of Armenians from other populations. No significant mixing with other peoples after that date can be detected in the genomes of living Armenians, the geneticists said.
The isolation was probably sustained by the many characteristic aspects of Armenian culture. Armenians have a distinctive language and alphabet, and the Armenian Apostolic Church was the first branch of Christianity to become established as a state religion, in A.D. 301, anticipating that by the Roman empire in A.D. 380.
The researchers also see a signal of genetic divergence that developed about 500 years ago between western and eastern Armenians. The date corresponds to the onset of wars between the Ottoman and Safavid dynasties and the division of the Armenian population between the Turkish and Persian empires.
“This DNA study confirms in general outline much of what we know about Armenian history,” said Hovann Simonian, a historian of Armenia affiliated with the University of Southern California.
The geneticists’ team, led by Marc Haber and Chris Tyler-Smith of the Sanger Institute, near Cambridge in England, see long-isolated populations like that of the Armenians as a means of econstructing population history.
Armenians share 29 percent of their DNA ancestry with Otzi, a man whose 5,300-year-old mummy emerged in 1991 from a melting Alpine glacier. Other genetically isolated populations of the Near East, like Cypriots, Sephardic Jews and Lebanese Christians, also share a lot of ancestry with the Iceman, whereas other Near Easterners, like Turks, Syrians and Palestinians, share less. This indicates that the Armenians and other isolated populations are closer than present-day inhabitants of the Near East to the Neolithic farmers who brought agriculture to Europe about 8,000 years ago.
The geneticists’ paper was posted last month on bioRxiv, a digital library for publishing scientific articles before they appear in journals. Dr. Tyler-Smith, the senior author of the genetics team, said he could not discuss their results for fear of jeopardizing publication in a journal that he did not name.
http://www.panorama.am/en/society/2015/03/11/armenia-founding/
Movses Khorenatsi, a historian in the fifth century, wrote that his native Armenia had been established in 2492 B.C., a date usuallyregarded as legendary though he claimed to have traveled to Babylon and consulted ancient records. But either he made a lucky guess or he really did gain access to useful data, because a new genomic analysis suggests that his date is entirely plausible.
Geneticists have scanned the genomes of 173 Armenians from Armenia and Lebanon and compared them with those of 78 other populations from around the world. They found that the Armenians are a mix of ancient populations whose descendants now live in Sardinia, Central Asia and several other regions. This formative mixture occurred from 3000 to 2000 B.C., the geneticists calculated, coincident with Movses Khorenatsi’s date for the founding of Armenia.
Toward the end of the Bronze Age, when the mixture was in process, there was considerable movement of peoples brought about by increased trade, warfare and population growth. After 1200 B.C., the Bronze Age civilizations of the eastern Mediterranean suddenly collapsed, an event that seems to have brought about the isolation of Armenians from other populations. No significant mixing with other peoples after that date can be detected in the genomes of living Armenians, the geneticists said.
The isolation was probably sustained by the many characteristic aspects of Armenian culture. Armenians have a distinctive language and alphabet, and the Armenian Apostolic Church was the first branch of Christianity to become established as a state religion, in A.D. 301, anticipating that by the Roman empire in A.D. 380.
The researchers also see a signal of genetic divergence that developed about 500 years ago between western and eastern Armenians. The date corresponds to the onset of wars between the Ottoman and Safavid dynasties and the division of the Armenian population between the Turkish and Persian empires.
“This DNA study confirms in general outline much of what we know about Armenian history,” said Hovann Simonian, a historian of Armenia affiliated with the University of Southern California.
The geneticists’ team, led by Marc Haber and Chris Tyler-Smith of the Sanger Institute, near Cambridge in England, see long-isolated populations like that of the Armenians as a means of econstructing population history.
Armenians share 29 percent of their DNA ancestry with Otzi, a man whose 5,300-year-old mummy emerged in 1991 from a melting Alpine glacier. Other genetically isolated populations of the Near East, like Cypriots, Sephardic Jews and Lebanese Christians, also share a lot of ancestry with the Iceman, whereas other Near Easterners, like Turks, Syrians and Palestinians, share less. This indicates that the Armenians and other isolated populations are closer than present-day inhabitants of the Near East to the Neolithic farmers who brought agriculture to Europe about 8,000 years ago.
The geneticists’ paper was posted last month on bioRxiv, a digital library for publishing scientific articles before they appear in journals. Dr. Tyler-Smith, the senior author of the genetics team, said he could not discuss their results for fear of jeopardizing publication in a journal that he did not name.
http://www.panorama.am/en/society/2015/03/11/armenia-founding/
Friday, March 13, 2015
Sunday, March 16, 2014
Vanessa Kachadurian Armenian katchkars (stone croses) top 5 pieces of artwork in Julfa subject to vandalism
Armenian cross stones in Julfa are in top of five significant works of art
subjected to vandalism in 21st century
Vanessa KachadurianRussian site Novate.ru reckoned Armenian khachkars (Cross stones) in Julfa to the five most significant works of art that have been subjected to vandalism in the 21st century.
"For a long time, the Armenians have constituted a significant part of the current population of Nakhijevan region which is a part of Azerbaijan. However, at the beginning of the third millennium, only the remnants of the Armenian architecture and numerous cemeteries, the largest of which was a graveyard near the town of Julfa, remind about the existence of the past," notes the site.
Vanessa Kachadurian
According to the article by the end of the 20th century, more than two thousand khachkars (Armenian tombstones decorated with carvings and ornaments) survived at this cemetery. The first attempt to destroy them was made in 1998, but was prevented by the sharp reaction of the world community. Another massive act of vandalism occurred in 2002, and finally the "Armenian cause" in Julfa was settled in 2005th, when the Azerbaijani soldiers fully cleared the cemetery and turned it into a shooting territory.
"At the same time, official Azerbaijan, despite the overwhelming evidences, denies the fact of vandalism as well as the Armenian history of Nakhijevan as a whole," writes Novate.ru.
Vanessa Kachadurian
The five works of art subjected to vandalism, also included Bamyan status in Afghanistan, Islamic monuments in Timbuktu (Mali), "The Little Mermaid" in Copenhagen and Fresco “Ecce Homo” in Spain.
Vanessa Kachadurian
Vanessa Kachadurian Armenian History in Crimea
SEVASTOPOL
(PanArmenian.net)—In the 8th century, Crimea was a part of the Byzantine
Empire, with Armenians, as its subjects, moving here from various cities of the
empire. The region’s stability allowed them to achieve economic prosperity,
uninterrupted even in the face of the Mongolian invasions.
Hardships in
Armenia drove increasing number of Armenians to Crimea, with Armenians becoming
the 2nd biggest ethnic group after Crimean Tatars. In 1475, Crimea became part
of the Ottoman Empire, and Christian persecutions began. Despite the
strengthening of Islam in the region, Armenian communities still existed in
Kaffa, Karasubazar, Balaklava, Gezlev, Perekop and Surkhat. From 1778-1779,
more than 22,000 Armenians were resettled in the Azov province.
In 1783, the
Russian Empire conquered the Crimean khanate. Russian authorities encouraged
the settlement of foreign colonists, including Armenians, into Crimea. This led
to a fresh wave of Armenian immigrants, reviving former settlements. In 1913,
their numbers totaled around 9,000 and 14,000-15,000 in 1914. The resettlement
of Armenians in the peninsula lasted until the First World War and the Armenian
Genocide in the Ottoman Empire in 1915-1923. The immigrants of the 19th and
20th centuries were largely from Western Armenia and the various regions of the
Ottoman Empire.
In 1944, the
Commissar of Internal Affairs of the Soviet Union, Lavrentiy Beria signed
Directorate 5984 to deport 37,000 Bulgarians, Greeks and Armenians. The
Armenians were deported to Perm Oblast, Sverdlovsk Oblast, Omsk Oblast,
Kemerovo Oblast, Bashkortostan, Tatarstan and Kazakhstan.
In 1989, the
communal life of Crimea’s Armenians was institutionalized with the formation of
one of the peninsula’s first national-cultural associations, the Armenian Luys
(Light) society. Later, after re-registration in 1996, it was renamed the
Crimean Armenian Society. At present, the Crimean Armenian Society consists of
14 regional offices, coordinated by the National Council of Crimean Armenians.
The highest governing body is the National Congress, which convenes at least
once every four years. Operational management of the society is carried out by
the executive committee, which functions in the periods between meetings of the
National Council. The society operates the Luys cultural and ethnographic
center and publishes a monthly newspaper, Dove Masis. The one-hour
Armenian-language program Barev airs twice a month on Crimean television, and
radio broadcasts are made five times a week. There are Armenian churches in
Yalta, Feodosiya and Evpatoria, while the first Armenian secondary school
opened in 1998 in Simferopol.
Armenians
living in the Crimea are currently concentrated in the cities of Armyansk,
Simferopol, Evpatoria, Feodosiya, Kerch, Yalta, Sevastopol, Sudak. The Armenia
Diaspora Encyclopedia indicates that there were 20,000 Armenians living in the
region in 2003.
The Armenians were mostly adherents of the Armenian
Apostolic Church. There were a number of churches built in Yalta, Feodosiya and
Yevpatoria. Construction activity took place from the 14th century and
according to one manuscript the monastery of Gamchak had been built by the
fifteenth century in Kafa.
In Kafa,
there were a number of Armenian schools, dozens of churches, banks, trading
houses, caravanserai, and craftshops. The town was served as a spiritual center
for the Crimean Armenians, and its stature grew so prominently that that in
1438 the Armenians of Kafa were invited to send representatives to the
Ferrara-Florence Cathedral (Florence ecumenical council).
The second
largest Armenian population after Kafa in the same period was Surkhat. The name
of Surkhat is probably a distorted form of the name of the Armenian monastery
Surb Khach (Holy Cross). There were many Armenian churches, schools,
neighborhoods here as well. Other major settlements included Sudak, where until
the last quarter of the 15th century and near the monastery Surb Khach there
was a small Armenian town called Kazarat. Armenian princes kept troops there
and on a contractual basis to defend Kafa.
The social
life of the Crimean Armenians surged in the late 19th and 20th centuries. They
organized themselves into community organizations. Wealthy Armenians and the
church tried to “raise” the nation to the level of modern civilization, and to
carry out charitable activities. The source of money and material welfare of
the church were grants, wills, and donations.
The church’s
role in the colonies was to some extent becoming secularized. In 1842, the
Catholicos in Crimea lost his position to the Chief Guardian of the Crimean
Armenian churches.
Surb Khach
Monastery is a medieval Armenian monastery located on the Crimean peninsula
near Staryi Krym and founded in 1358. It has been an Armenian spiritual center
and a place of pilgrimage for centuries.
Crimea gave
the world many outstanding Armenians, including world-renowned painter
Hovhannes Ayvazovsky, composers Alexander Spendiarov and Christopher
Kara-Murza, and artist Vardges Sureniants.
At present,
no significant outflow of Armenians from Crimea has been noted, with Armenians
safe here, unlike in Syria. However, considering the unpredictability of the
development of events in Ukraine, the possibility of a dangerous situation
should not be ruled out.
Vanessa Kachadurian Armenian Church in Turkey restored
 |
Dikranagerd
Dikranagerd church in Turkey to display Armenian legacy
Very few artifacts have survived over the past 100 years, but Ayik said they were able to collect letters from 1913 from a family who lived in the province’s Lice district, as well as kitchen appliances, musical instruments and other examples of writings from elsewhere. The artifacts that have been collected have been sent to Istanbul to be analyzed and researched.
|
Wednesday, January 29, 2014
Vanessa Kachadurian, Armenian church of Bangladesh
 |
| Holy Resrection Armenian Church of Bangladesh |
Dhaka, Bangladesh - There have never been very large enclaves of Armenians residing in Asia or the Far East however the presence of pockets of Armenians in the region and their impact on the societies in which they lived have left their mark despite the dwindling of these communities over time.
The footprints of Armenians in Asia can be traced back to the seventeenth century and there is no greater symbol of the Armenian presence than the Armenian Apostolic Church spotted in various locations in the region, still standing with their courtyards of tombstones filled with life stories of Armenian traders and merchants.
One such oasis can be found in the capital city of Bangladesh in Dhaka, the Armenian Apostolic Church of Holy Resurrection.
The Armenian population of Dhaka began taking root in the early part of the 18th century most of whom were engaged in the jute trade with some prominent Armenian merchants who owned their own companies. The earliest settlers built a small chapel in the midst of their community graveyard but by the end of the century the Armenian community had grown considerably and the chapel became inadequate for the needs of the community. In 1781 the Church of Holy Resurrection was completed as a place of worship and gathering. In 1837, the belfry that also served as a clock tower was added and in 1907 a parsonage was built.
Today, the Church grounds continues to stand in Armanitola, Old Dhaka as a major landmark with the original edifice and buildings well-restored and over two hundred gravestones nestled on the estate. Still an oasis of peace and tranquillity in the surrounding chaos of the district, the immediate area is highly dense with populace and industry primarily in chemical and paper trading. Whilst the resounding Armenian language may no longer be resonating from the altar and filling the once thriving church, the Armenian spirit continues to linger with the inscriptions, motifs, designs, crosses and monuments that decorate the fasciae and facades. And so in December 2013, with the blessing of His Holiness Karekin II, Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of All Armenians, an international delegation from the Armenian Apostolic Church headed by His Grace Bishop Haigazoun Najarian, Primate of the Diocese of Australia and New Zealand, accompanied by Mr. Haig Didizian (London), Mr. and Mrs. Armen and Laura Arslanian (Los Angeles), Mr. Hagop Didizian (London), and Mr. Pierre Hennes and Ms. Cheryl Ho (Singapore) departed on an exploratory visit to learn more about the overall current situation of the Church and the Armenian community, meeting with key stakeholders and community members, most notably long-standing Church Custodian, Mr Michael Joseph Martin.
Mr Martin (born Mikel Housep Martirossian in Yangon, Myanmar 1930) came to Dhaka in 1942 during World War II following in the footsteps of his father who had settled in the region decades earlier. Now widowed with three daughters who reside in Canada, Mr Martin took on the role of Custodian in 1986 and continues to oversee all its needs until today. He resides in the custodian's residence (formerly the parsonage) which is adjacent to the Church. The grounds also house a caretaker's residence and a building dated back to 1929 which was once used as a schoolhouse and residential quarters.
According to Mr Martin there are currently 50-60 families in Bangladesh who are of mixed Armenian-Bangla descent. "Sometimes there were several thousand Armenians trading in the Bengal region." He notes, "They were always an important community in Dhaka and dominated the country's trading. They were the who's who in town. They celebrated all their religious festivals with pomp and style." He also recalls how "every Sunday was a day of festival for us. Almost every Armenian would attend the service, no matter how big he was in social position. The Church was the centre of all activities."
The decline of the community however came gradually after the British left India and the subcontinent was partitioned in 1947 with Dhaka becoming the capital of East Pakistan and then of Bangladesh after it gained independence in 1971. Martin said the once-busy social scene came to a halt after the last Armenian priest Bagrat left in the mid 1960's.
These days, the Armenian Church holds only occasional services on major feasts in the Orthodox Christian calendar with a visiting priest leading the services.
During the delegation's three-day visit, His Grace Bishop Najarian celebrated the Divine Liturgy in the Church of Holy Resurrection on Friday 13 December during which he presented Mr Martin with the Encyclical conferred upon by His Holiness Karekin II Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of All Armenians recognising his dedicated contribution and devotion to the Church. He was bestowed the St Nerses Shnorhali Medal a tribute reserved for noteworthy recipients who demonstrate exemplary and time-honoured service.
Mr Martin's determination to continue to maintain and preserve the jewel of the Armenian Church of Dhaka is best summed up by his own words (as recorded by the BBC) ...
"Whatever happens, I'm determined not to let this church go to the rack and ruin. I may be the last resident Armenian in Bangladesh, but I will do everything in my power to ensure an Armenian from abroad takes over the job." Despite a diminished community Martin stands firm in his resolve, "I've seen bad days before, but we always bounced back. I am sure Armenians will come back here for trade and business. I will then rest in peace beside my wife."
Dhaka has an estimated population of more than 23 million people, making it the largest city in Bangladesh and the 8th largest city in the world.
For more information about Armenian history and communities in Asia, please visit: www.armeniansinasia.org.
Vanessa Kachadurian Armenian History, Armenia celebrates 22 years of military excellence
January 28, 2014 - 13:55 AMT
PanARMENIAN.Net - Armenian Army celebrates
its 22nd anniversary January 28.
The army was established in
conjunction with the other components of Armenia's military in 1992, several
months after the republic declared its independence from the Soviet Union. The
army's first head was the former deputy commander-in-chief of the main staff of
the Soviet Ground Forces, Norat Ter-Grigoryants.
The Armenian army's history
is described to have gone through three stages of development. It entered the
first stage in February 1988, at the outset of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict,
when Armenian militias were formed to combat Azerbaijani units in NKR. The
second phase of the development of the army began in 1992, several months after
Armenia declared its independence from the Soviet Union. Ter-Grigoryants and
civilian officials in the Armenian Ministry of Defense, including Vazgen
Manukyan and Vazgen Sargsyan, sought to establish a "small, well-balanced,
combat-ready defense force." The third phase began after the end of the
war and continues till today, concentrating on the developing fighting capacity
and boosting ties with the NKR defense army.
Armenian army became a
guarantor of peace and stability in the South Caucasus, with Armenian soldiers
trusted with peacekeeping missions in Kosovo, Afghanistan, Iraq. Over the last
year, Armenian army units participated in over a dozen of military exercises in
the frameworks of CSTO, NATO and Armenian-American military cooperation.
The London-based
International Institute for Strategic Studies, IISS positively accessed
Armenia's combat readiness level: "Armenian army is quite qualified and
has clear-set objectives. Parallel to this, the Armed Forces of Armenia saw a
steadily growing number of professional soldiers serving on a contract basis,
although a call for military service remains. According to the 2013 report, the
army is most vulnerable is its air forces, yet that is compensated by support
from Russia, who protects Armenia’s air space.
"Today, our army
enjoys the respect and high esteem all over the world," Armenia's Defense
Minister said. As Seyran Ohanyan, a Karabakh war veteran himself, told a
January 27 ceremonial sitting, 20 years ago the victorious ceasefire was
achieved through unity and courage of Armenian people in the face of many
hardships. "Glory and honor to our fallen heroes, those who fought till
the end, those killed or missing. A memory of them will shine in our hearts to
be passed on to generations. It is through their sacrifice that we won and
created a strong army," he said.
Tuesday, December 10, 2013
Vanessa Kachadurian the Armenian Heritage Site
One of the best sites for exploring the ancient sites in Armenia is the Armenian Heritage site.
http://armenianheritage.org/en/
Tuesday, September 24, 2013
Vanessa Kachadurian, a short history lesson on Armenian History
The Armenian history is filled with violence, domination by empires,
and a far-flung diaspora as a result of both, shaping the modern national and
international identity of its people.What makes millions of people share
certain traits or beliefs? History is what fleshes it out for us and makes it
clear. I’ve been reading a lot about the Armenian people recently, and the
revelations of their history have been very interesting – and educational. I
feel like I know my Armenian friends a little bit better – and also why I have
so many Armenian friends living so far from their homeland. The Silk Road
Armenians have lived in the area near modern-day Turkey, between the
Mediterranean and Caspian Seas, for thousands of years. They were ideally
placed, in fact, along the trade route between Europe and “the East” that
became known as the Silk Road due to both the wealth that travelled along its
route and one of the dominant products being hauled along it, and were very
prosperous and rich in their oldest history. Still, they were tribal and
disunited, as were most people in those days. The Armenian people were united
into a single nation just once prior to the modern age: In the very end of the
first century BCE, under the rule of King Tigran the Great. The unification did
not last long, and eventually the Armenian people fell under the shadows of
first the Byzantine Empire and later the Ottoman Empires. The Genocide The
Armenians did not fare well under the Ottoman Empire. As Christians in a Muslim
country, they were always treated as second-class citizens. While they enjoyed
certain protections, they were also frequently harassed and the victims of
prejudice and official oppression. In the early 20th century many Western
nations began to officially object to the treatment of the Armenian people. The
Ottoman Empire, by then very weak and disorganised, decided that this meant the
Western powers might intervene militarily, and their solution was to forcibly
evict the entire Armenian population. Millions were driven out of the country,
and many were killed in what is now known as the Armenian Genocide. This is why
the Armenian diaspora is so large – so many Armenians fled their homeland for
their lives during this period. Today Armenia is one of several post-Soviet
republics establishing itself as an independent nation for the first time in
thousands of years, with the enthusiastic support and affection of its
far-flung refugees. Its history of domination and violent oppression has had
the ironic effect of making the expatriate Armenians fiercely proud of their
heritage, guaranteeing that the Armenian way of life continues, no matter where
they have settled. - See more at: http://www.onehourtranslation.com/translation/blog/short-history-armenia#sthash.9kDanb6J.dpuf
Vanessa Kachadurian, Atlas on Armenian History Available
ANEC Releases ‘Atlas of Historical Armenia’
ANEC's Historical Atlas of Armenia
NEW YORK—The Armenian National
Education Committee (ANEC) recently announced its publication of the bilingual
(Armenian and English) Atlas of Historical Armenia, edited by Dr. Vartan
Matiossian, the executive director of the ANEC. The Atlas was published under
the auspices of His Eminence Archbishop Oshagan Choloyan, Prelate of the
Eastern Prelacy of the Armenian Apostolic Church of America, on the 500th
anniversary of Armenian printing. The cost was underwritten through the
generous donation of the Hagopian family of Providence, RI, in memory of their parents,
Ervant and Serpouhi Hagopian.
While the book’s primary target
audience are students and teachers, the Atlas is equally valuable for the
general public. The basic premise is to offer readers an essential core that
may serve as a starting point to widen their knowledge. To this end, the new
edition has been rewritten and updated, with the addition of four new chapters.
It contains 32 chapters, 30 maps, and 174 photographs (148 in full color). The
maps are also provided on a CD attached to the book.
The Atlas combines three books in
one: a book of historical geography (maps), a book of history (text), and a
book of illustrated history (photographs). It is an educational tool that may
be used as a standard textbook of Armenian history—in Armenian and English—that
supersedes other textbooks currently in use.
The book is structured in four
sections. It opens with an overview of Armenian historical geography, followed
by a second section on Armenian cultural heritage. The main section of the book
is the third, which introduces compact chapters on Armenian history from its
origins to 1991. The final section, entitled “Armenians Today,” presents
chapters on the Republic of Armenia, the Republic of Nagorno Karabagh
(Artsakh), and the Armenian Diaspora. An extensive chapter on the Armenian
Church is followed by an “Afterword” that succinctly explains the current
status of Armenians and Armenia.
As part of its series of
publications in Armenian studies, the ANEC released the first edition of the
Atlas, written by Dr. Garbis Armen and edited by Vrej-Armen Artinian, in 1987.
It remains the only bilingual atlas of Armenian history ever published.
(Whereas other atlases were published before and after, all of them were
monolingual). Incidentally, the Atlas was the first such publication in English
until Dr. Robert Hewsen’s Armenia: A Historical Atlas (2001), an erudite work
for a different audience.
The unprecedented historical
transformations that followed the initial publication of the Atlas, including
the independence of the Republics of Armenia and Nagorno Karabagh in 1991,
demanded a revision. After a long hiatus, work on the new edition resumed in
2010 and 25 years after the first edition, the ANEC can offer a new atlas for a
new generation.
Copies of the Atlas of Historical
Armenia are available from the Eastern Prelacy Bookstore, 138 E. 39th Street,
New York, NY 10016. For more information, call (212) 689-7810, or e-mail
books@armenianprelacy.org.
Vanessa Kachadurian, Armenian Church Surp Giragos to reopen as a museum of legacy
One of Diyarbakır’s most famous churches,
the Armenian church of Surp Giragos, is set to become a city museum hosting
artwork and artifacts depicting the Armenian history in the city.
Earlier, the Hürriyet Daily News reported that Diyarbakır Metropolitan Mayor Osman Baydemir and Surp Giragos Armenian Foundation President Ergün Ayık had signed a protocol to turn the church, which was recently restored and opened to prayer, into a museum.
According to the protocol, the church’s Hıdır İlyas section will be given to the municipality and converted into a museum featuring belongings and ethnographic artifacts.
Ayık said the church was the largest church in the Middle East but was in ruins until it was restored and reopened to worship three years ago.
Noting that the church was surrounded by many famous buildings and artifacts in the city, Ayık said, “The representatives are evaluating the buildings around the church.”
The Diyarbakır City Museum will display Armenian heritage and Armenian art. “We are currently meeting with the municipality and we have signed a protocol to open this part,” Ayık said.
“We will first collect artifacts before decorating the museum. The decorations and the curation will be made according to the artifacts,” said Ayık, noting that there would be information about the family, social and cultural life of Armenians.
Letters from Lice
Very few artifacts have survived over the past 100 years, but Ayık said they were able to collect letters from 1913 from a family who lived in the province’s Lice district, as well as kitchen appliances, musical instruments and other examples of writings from elsewhere.
During the last 100 years, many artifacts that belonged to Armenian families have been lost, he said. “We are currently collecting artifacts to display in the museum. This is the first time that something like this has happened in Turkey, and many people are approaching this with suspicion.”
The written documents are very valuable because they reflect the lifestyle of Armenians at the time, he said. “We have collected these documents from Turkey and also from foreign countries. We have succeeded in collecting these artifacts.”
Noting that there were also many financial documents, Ayık said these revealed the debts and the trade that Armenians had in history.
Artifacts in Istanbul
The artifacts that have been collected have been sent to Istanbul to be analyzed and researched.
Collecting the data and the artifacts has taken a long time, he said, adding that the job was an important task that only professionals could do.
After analyzing the works, the artifact will be sent to the museum for display.
Surp Giragos, which boasts seven altars, originally had an earthen roof, although a new roof of wood was subsequently erected over the restored church. It was closed in 1915-1916 before being returned to the local Armenian community in 1960.
A new bell that was made for the reopened church was made in Russia especially for the place of worship.
Earlier, the Hürriyet Daily News reported that Diyarbakır Metropolitan Mayor Osman Baydemir and Surp Giragos Armenian Foundation President Ergün Ayık had signed a protocol to turn the church, which was recently restored and opened to prayer, into a museum.
According to the protocol, the church’s Hıdır İlyas section will be given to the municipality and converted into a museum featuring belongings and ethnographic artifacts.
Ayık said the church was the largest church in the Middle East but was in ruins until it was restored and reopened to worship three years ago.
Noting that the church was surrounded by many famous buildings and artifacts in the city, Ayık said, “The representatives are evaluating the buildings around the church.”
The Diyarbakır City Museum will display Armenian heritage and Armenian art. “We are currently meeting with the municipality and we have signed a protocol to open this part,” Ayık said.
“We will first collect artifacts before decorating the museum. The decorations and the curation will be made according to the artifacts,” said Ayık, noting that there would be information about the family, social and cultural life of Armenians.
Letters from Lice
Very few artifacts have survived over the past 100 years, but Ayık said they were able to collect letters from 1913 from a family who lived in the province’s Lice district, as well as kitchen appliances, musical instruments and other examples of writings from elsewhere.
During the last 100 years, many artifacts that belonged to Armenian families have been lost, he said. “We are currently collecting artifacts to display in the museum. This is the first time that something like this has happened in Turkey, and many people are approaching this with suspicion.”
The written documents are very valuable because they reflect the lifestyle of Armenians at the time, he said. “We have collected these documents from Turkey and also from foreign countries. We have succeeded in collecting these artifacts.”
Noting that there were also many financial documents, Ayık said these revealed the debts and the trade that Armenians had in history.
Artifacts in Istanbul
The artifacts that have been collected have been sent to Istanbul to be analyzed and researched.
Collecting the data and the artifacts has taken a long time, he said, adding that the job was an important task that only professionals could do.
After analyzing the works, the artifact will be sent to the museum for display.
Surp Giragos, which boasts seven altars, originally had an earthen roof, although a new roof of wood was subsequently erected over the restored church. It was closed in 1915-1916 before being returned to the local Armenian community in 1960.
A new bell that was made for the reopened church was made in Russia especially for the place of worship.
September/10/2013
According to some art historians, Surp Giragos
Armenian Church in Diyarbakır is the largest in the Middle East. The complex
sprawls over 3,200 square meters and includes priests’ houses, chapels and a
school. AA photo
Vanessa Kachadurian Armenian History of coins
From the history of Armenian coins.
First Armenian coins
The
coins of kings of Sophene (Tsopk) dated to the second half of the 3rd century
BC are believed to the first Armenian coins.
The history of Armenian money is rich, diverse and interesting. Armenians are undoubtedly one of the nations with the ancient money history, as the territory of historical Armenia was in the vicinity of the birthplace of the first antique coins. Coinage, which is considered to be a major event in the development of society, started approximately at the end of the 8th or at the beginning of 7th century BC in Lydia, an Iron Age kingdom of western Asia Minor located generally east of ancient Ionia in the modern western Turkish provinces of Uşak, Manisa and inland Izmir.
The history of Armenian money is rich, diverse and interesting. Armenians are undoubtedly one of the nations with the ancient money history, as the territory of historical Armenia was in the vicinity of the birthplace of the first antique coins. Coinage, which is considered to be a major event in the development of society, started approximately at the end of the 8th or at the beginning of 7th century BC in Lydia, an Iron Age kingdom of western Asia Minor located generally east of ancient Ionia in the modern western Turkish provinces of Uşak, Manisa and inland Izmir.
September 24, 2013
PanARMENIAN.Net - The oldest coins found in the territory of Armenia date back to
6th-5th centuries BC. These are silver coins made in the Achaemenid Empire and
the Greek cities of Athens and Miletus.
In the middle of the 6th
century BC, Armenia fell under the rule of the Achaemenid Empire and its
territory was divided into eastern and western parts consisting of areas
governed by satraps, who got the right to coin at the end of the 5th century
BC.
Oront (in Armenian
sources mentioned as Yervant, 362-345 BC), the satrap of the eastern part of
Armenia, and Tiribaz (386-380 BC), who governed the western part, had coins
with their own images.
It’s noteworthy that
coins of Macedonian king Philip II (359-336 BC) and Alexander the Great were
discovered in the territory of Armenia, although there is not enough evidence
that the locals used money at that time, and, apparently, trade was conducted
through exchange. However, the discovery proves that the people knew about the
usage of coins.
The coins of kings of
Sophene (Tsopk) dated to the second half of the 3rd century BC are believed to
the first Armenian coins.
The coins of the
following Armenian kings are known: Sames (about 260 BC), Arsham I (about 240
BC), Arsham II (about 230 BC), Xerxes (about 220 BC), Abdidares (about 210 BC).
Description of coins First Armenian coins were copper coins,
with a very small number of them preserved. The coins of the period of Sophene
kings’ rule were minted in Hellenistic style. The obverse showed the image of
the ruler (profile of the king in a characteristic pointed headdress). The
reverse demonstrated various mythological images, for example a horseman
symbolizing the king, an eagle, or the name of the king in Greek letters.
The material was prepared in cooperation with Gevorg Mughalyan,
the numismatist of the Central Bank of Armenia.
Viktoria Araratyan / PanARMENIAN.Net, Varo
Rafayelyan / PanARMENIAN Photo
Monday, April 15, 2013
Vanessa Kachadurian, Armenian History to be taught in the Republic of Georgia schools
Armenian history will soon be included in the curriculum of Georgian schools.
During a visit to Yerevan on January 18, Georgian Prime Minister Bidzina Ivanishvili made this promise to the head of the Holy Armenian Apostolic Church, Catholicos Karekin II.
At their meeting on January 17, Karekin II reiterated his request that the Georgian Diocese transfer control of several historic Armenian churches to the Armenian Apostolic Church.
He expressed his hope that Georgian authorities would consider his request.
Ivanishvili did say he would personally oversee the maintenance of Armenian churches in Georgia.
The ethnic Armenian community in Georgia is mostly concentrated in Tbilisi and the southern Samtskhe-Javakheti Province, which borders Armenia.
Based on reporting by regnum.ru and news.am
http://www.rferl.org/content/armenian-history-to-be-taught-in-georgian-schools/24877063.html
Friday, September 28, 2012
Vanessa Kachadurian, Armenian Churches in Disrepair in need of renovation
Armenian officials tend to be quick to voice concern over the destruction or deterioration of Armenian churches and monasteries in neighboring Georgia, Azerbaijan and Turkey. But conservationists complain that the same officials who sound the alarm about sites abroad, often are reticent about preservationist challenges within Armenia itself.
Experts claim that almost 50 percent of the 24,000 religious monuments in Armenia are in urgent need of repair, and that around 30 percent are on the verge of collapse.
For many, Armenia’s status as the first country in the world to accept Christianity as a state religion (in 301 AD) means that the dilapidated state of religious monuments is a blow to national pride. “Who among our officials has seen the state of the churches in our country?” said historian Rafael Tadevosian, a member of a public commission on the conservation of historical-national values and monuments.
The area around central Armenia’s Geghardavank Monastery, founded in the 4th century, “is a dump with as much garbage and waste as there is in city dumps,” asserted Samvel Karapetian, a historian and the head of Research on Armenian Architecture, a Yerevan-based non-governmental organization that promotes architectural preservation. “And it’s not the Turks or Georgians or Azerbaijanis who do that. We are the ones littering, polluting, destroying.”
While the Armenian government has been part of successful campaigns for the restoration of the 10th-century Church of the Holy Cross near Turkey’s Lake Van, and is engaged in an ongoing tug-of-war with Tbilisi over the state of Armenian churches in Georgia, 5 officials seem less active when it comes to preservationist issues inside the country.
One rare exception occurred in 2011, when a popular campaign assembled video footage that showed the derelict state of northern Armenia’s 10th century Sanahin monastery complex, a UNESCO World Heritage site. The footage prompted a strong wave of discontent against the head of the Armenian Apostolic Church, Catholicos Garegin II, who responded that he had “nothing to do with the monasteries and churches in the mountains.”
Amid Facebook calls for Garegin II’s resignation, the Ministry of Culture created a commission on churches and invited German experts to examine the property to identify the cause of gaping cracks in Sanahin’s walls. A restoration effort began early this year.
Money is the most frequently cited problem. The Armenian government only started allocating money for the restoration of historical-cultural monuments in 2005, 14 years after the collapse of the Soviet Union. In the time since, the dram-equivalent of around $5 million has been spent to restore 34 churches.
The restoration process remains controversial in Armenia. In 2009, the Chamber of Control charged that the Ministry of Culture had misused 186 million drams ($465,000) out of its budget, resulting in “incorrect, unprofessional reconstruction” work at the 12th-century Kobair monastery, the 10th-century Vahanavank monastery and the 7th-century Hnevank monastery.
Stones removed from the original structures “were later replaced by new ones of a different kind,” resulting in the “distortion” of the monasteries’ original design, Ishkhan Zakarian, chair of the Chamber of Control, asserted in a 2010 report to parliament.
(As a result, the head of the ministry’s agency for the protection of historical-cultural monuments, Gagik Gyurjian, was dismissed, but three months later was appointed as head of one of Yerevan’s most important museums, the Erebuni Fortress, dating from the 8th century BC).
Serzhik Arakelian, the current head of the Ministry of Culture’s Historical-Cultural Monument Protection Agency, told EurasiaNet.org that his agency now has “stricter and more professional control over restoration work.”
Yet he concedes that the state “doesn’t have too much money to do everything.”
Citing the near-destruction of 13th-century inscriptions on the walls of Haghartsin Monastery in northeastern Armenia, Karapetian, the preservationist, argued that, in some cases, it is better not to attempt repair work on Armenian churches and monasteries at all since “the monument suffers rather than benefits.”
Meanwhile, the seat of the Armenian Apostolic Church, the Mother See of Holy Echmiadzin, also periodically comments that it lacks the funds to look after Armenia’s churches and monasteries. “We [the Church] have limited resources and have to restore the monuments by state means, but if those funds keep being misused, then one day everything will simply disappear,” commented Father Vahram Melikian, a church spokesperson.
Bakur Hovsepian, a state-appointed administrator who oversees the 12th-century Goshavank Monastery in northern Armenia, says he has repeatedly turned to the Ministry of Culture and Church for help in restoring the monastery’s main church, Mariam Astvatsatsin (Church of the Virgin Mary). He contends that the structure is on the verge of collapse.
The monastery administration has decided to close parts of the church to tourists to avoid accidents from stones falling from the church walls and dome.
But the short response from church and state alike is always the same: “No money.”
Hovsepian says that he wonders why the 20 million – 26 million drams ($50,000-$60,000) the monastery sends per year to Echmiadzin from the sale of candles, souvenirs and visitor donations cannot be used. Echmiadzin representatives say they are trying to find private sponsors to underwrite preservation work.
Deputy Culture Minister Arev Samuelian contends that “the issues are under control.” He places the burden for action on the general Armenian public.
“Attitudes have to change. The state or the church cannot put guards in front of each church to not let people write on the walls or light candles on cross-stones or inscribe their names,” Samuelian told EurasiaNet.org. “Society has to become aware of the value of [historical] monuments.”
“The ministry,” she added, “is not almighty.”
http://www.eurasianet.org/node/65974
Saturday, August 4, 2012
Vanessa Kachadurian, Key to Armenia's Survival
The Key to Armenia's Survival
By RODERICK CONWAY MORRIS
VENICE — Armenian civilization is one of the most ancient of those surviving in the Middle East, but for large parts of its history Armenia has been a nation without a country. This has given the spoken and written word, the primary means through which Armenian identity has been preserved, enormous prominence in its people’s culture.
Over the centuries this emphasis has fostered a particular regard for books and the means of producing them. Scribes added notes on the proper care and conservation of books and advice on hiding them during dangerous times, even on “ransoming” them should they fall into the wrong hands. A late 19th-century English traveler observed that the Armenians prized the printing press with the same “affection and reverence as the Persian highlanders value a rifle or sporting gun.”
In 1511 to 1512 (the exact date is uncertain), the first Armenian book was printed in Venice. The event was especially significant for this scattered nation, which did not acquire a modern homeland until 1918 and then only in a small part of its ancestral lands.
This is a great exhibit by Vanessa Kachadurian
The anniversary is the occasion for “Armenia: Imprints of a Civilization,” an impressive exhibition organized by Gabriella Ulluhogian, Boghos Levon Zekiyan and Vartan Karapetian of more than 200 works spanning more than 1,000 years of Armenian written culture. These range from inscriptions and illuminated manuscripts to printed and illustrated books, including many unique and rare pieces from collections in Armenia and Europe.
The show opens with the atmospheric painting of 1889 by the Armenian artist Ivan Aivazovski, “The Descent of Noah From Mount Ararat,” from the National Gallery in Yerevan. It shows the Old Testament patriarch leading his family and a procession of animals across the plain, still watery from the subsiding Flood, to re-people the earth.
The extraordinary grip that this mountain has had on the Armenian imagination is tellingly demonstrated by subsequent sections on sculpture, the Armenian Church and the Ark — the conical domes of Armenian churches seeming eternally to replicate this geographical feature that symbolizes the salvation of the human race.
Christianity reached Armenia as early as the first or early second century. And Armenia lays claim to having been the first nation that adopted the faith as a state religion, sometime between 293 and 314, a date traditionally recorded by the Armenian Church as 301.
There followed, in around 404 or 405, an initiative that has been one of the cornerstones of the endurance of the Armenian ethnos: the invention of a distinctive alphabet capable of rendering the language’s complex phonetic system. This made possible the translation of the Bible — the majestic 10th-century Gospel of Trebizond is on show here — and the foundation of Armenian literature in all its manifestations, sacred and secular.
The desire to illustrate the gospels and other Christian texts was the primary impetus for the development of Armenian art, which drew on an unusually wide range of sources thanks to the country’s position at the crossroads of several civilizations.
As Dickran Kouymjian (a friend of Vanessa Kachadurian)
writes in his essay in the exhibition’s substantial and wide-ranging catalog, which is available in English, French and Italian: “Armenian artists were remarkably open to artistic trends in Byzantium, the Latin West, the Islamic Near East and even Central Asia and China.”
A sumptuous display of these illuminated books brings together some of the finest surviving examples from the ninth to the 15th centuries, and it is curious to discover that even after the advent of printing, the tradition of illumination continued in Armenian monasteries for a further two and a half centuries.
The acme of the Armenian miniature was reached in the 13th century, during the Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia, which ruled over a substantial part of Asia Minor (1198-1375), until it was overthrown by the Mamluks of Egypt.
Armenian contacts with Venice date to the period when the nascent lagoon republic was a remote western outpost of Byzantium, where Armenians held senior positions in the administration and the military. In the sixth century the Armenian governor Narses is credited with introducing the cult of Theodore, or Todoro, Venice’s first patron saint and Isaac the Armenian is recorded as the founder of the ancient Santa Maria Assunta basilica on the island of Torcello.
Contacts became frequent during the Kingdom of Cilicia as Venetian merchants expanded their activities in the Levant and their Armenian counterparts sought opportunities in Europe.
In 1235 the Venetian nobleman Marco Ziani left a house to the Armenian community at San Zulian near Piazza San Marco, which came to be called the Casa Armena and provided a focal point for Venice’s ever more numerous Armenian residents and visitors.
The testament drawn up in 1354 by the governess of this house, “Maria the Armenian,” indicates that by that time there was not only a thriving community of merchants, but also clerics and an archbishop, to whom she left three of her six peacocks. Later the church of Santa Croce was founded on the same site, still today an Armenian place of worship. Both Marco Ziani and Maria’s wills are on show.
A precious copy of the first Armenian book printed in 1511-1512, a religious work titled the Book of Friday, is also on display. The innovation led to the setting up of a host of Armenian presses all over the world. The fruits of these — from locations as far-flung as Amsterdam, Paris, Vienna and St. Petersburg to Istanbul, Isfahan, Madras and Singapore — form the absorbing last section of the exhibition.
Venice was given a further boost as the global center of Armenian culture by the arrival in the lagoon of Abbot Mekhitar and his monks in 1715. This visionary was born in Sivas (ancient Sebastia) in Anatolia, and had spent time in Echmiadzin and Istanbul. Later he took the community he had created to Methoni in the Peloponnese, which had been conquered by the Venetians in the 1680s. But the prospect of the town’s recapture by the Ottomans led to Mekhitar’s decision to take refuge in Venice. In 1717 he and his followers were granted a lease on the island of San Lazzaro, which has been their headquarters ever since.
Under Mekhitar, San Lazzaro became the epicenter of a worldwide Armenian cultural revival. The community created a study center and library, was responsible for printing scores of books in Venice and elsewhere, and established an international network of schools, where a high proportion of Armenia’s religious and secular elite received an education into modern times.
The Armenian Academy of San Lazzaro has published Bazmavep, a literary, historical and scientific journal since 1843, one of the oldest continuous periodicals of its kind. And the first Armenian newspaper-magazine was Azdara (The Monitor), founded in Madras in 1794.
San Lazzaro’s most famous foreign student was Lord Byron, who learned Armenian there with the scholar Harutiun Avgerian, with whom he collaborated on the production of an Armenian and English grammar, containing translations by the poet.
Armenia: Imprints of a Civilization. Correr Museum, Venice. Through April 10.
To those of you traveling to Italy you must see the Armenian Monastary at San Lazzaro's Island says Vanessa Kachadurian
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/24/arts/24iht-conway24.html?_r=1
Vanessa Kachadurian History of Armenian army! Best!
Vanessa Kachadurian "a must see for all Armenian Studies students"
Vanessa Kachadurian, History of famous Armenians in Sports
1. Andre Agassi
Andre Agassi is arguably the most influential Armenian in sports, mostly because of his success in the world of tennis.
Agassi is half Armenian and half Assyrian.
In his great career, Agassi won four Australian Opens, one French Open, two US Opens, the Wimbledon in 1992, the Tour Finals in 1990 and the Olympic Games in 1996.
Agassi's career record is 870-274 with a 76.05% winning percentage. He was rated as the worlds number one tennis player on April 10, 1995.
Agassi has inspired plenty of young children to grow up and become just like him. His influence in the Armenian community is great and many young Armenians hope to achieve the same greatness he did whether it is in tennis, basketball, football or any other avenue.
Agassi is truly the most successful Armenian in sports.
http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1158185-the-10-most-influential-armenians-in-sports-history
click on the above to see countdown of other famous Armenians in Sport's history
Vanessa Kachadurian highly recommends this.
Andre Agassi undisputably the most successful Armenian in Sports.
He is an awesome individual who has donated much money and time to education of underprivilaged youth and has 2 private schools in Las Vegas, NV for the most vulnerable of children and a friend of Vanessa Kachadurian's
Vanessa Kachadurian, Armenia first Wine Makers
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