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HISTORY AND MYTHOLOGY IN THE EPICAL IMAGE OF KING SINAM – 2016-1

Summary

Sargis G. Petrosyan

Keywords – the Armenian Highland, Sophene, Mesopotamia, Sumer, Armenian-Indo-European roots, Akkadian, Hittite inscriptions, legend, popular belief, the road along the Euphrates, mythological, theonym, heliolater, with eagle’s wings, with a lion’s head, Peacock, The Firebird.

In the Sophenic folk novel “Mokos” it is told how the 12 sons of the Mesopotamian King Bagh (Bal) came to Armenia and became independent kings in Sophene and adjoining territories. From this point of view it is noteworthy that in the present-day region of Keban there used to exist a settlement of migrants of the Sumeric Uruk IV civilization (3500-3100 BC). According to the “Mokos” some of thoe twelve “sons” were Armenians, and one of them, Sinam, was the founder of the city of Sinamut, later – Kharberd. The name Sinam is also found in the Shenaminda (<*Sinam-inda) and Sinamuna (<*Sinam-una) cuneiform toponyms which are all of Indoeuropean-Armenian origin.

In the epical image called Sinam the historical and mythological features of his prototypes are merged. His historical prototype (or prototypes) was a king (or kings) who reigned in ancient Sophene and whose kingdom included both the present-day Keban with its adjacent area and Kharberd with its surroundings. The imagination of the border-lines of Sinam’s kingdom is mentioned in the following record made by the king of Akkad. Akkadian king Naram-Sin (2236-2200 BC) “(that) year when Naram-Sin reached the springheads of the Euphrates and the Tigris he defeated the country of Shenaminda”. Here the Euphrates is the Western Euphrates, the Tigris is the Western Tigris and the area between their springheads is Sophene.

The mythological prototype of the epic King Sinam is, to our mind, the God of the Sun, called Sinam because of his bird symbol-eagle. The words of the same root with Sinam are the Armenian tsin “black kite”, Greek ỉκτĩνος, Old Indian (Sanscrit) śyēná “eagle, falcon”, Avestian saēna “a big bird of prey”. The two companions of the Sun, the two manifestations of Venus sometimes at dawn and sometimes at sanset, also had their bird symbols. In the Armenian mythology they were considered the birds of king Sinam and were called Sinamahavk (Sinam’s bird) or for short Sinam-havk.

THE IDEA OF METAHISTORY BY HAYDEN WHITE – 2016-1

In the context of linguistic turn

Summary

Davit R. Mosinyan

Key Words – history, historiography, world history, linguistic turn, narrative, analytical philosophy of history, White, metahistory, trop

The twentieth century philosophy is considerable, among other things, with the linguistic turn, which was intended to resolve the current confusion in philosophy. Linguistic turn declares that the only subject matter of philosophy is a language. That is the essence of the linguistic turn. Subsequently, it also took place in the theory and philosophy of history, because the history is presented as a linguistic text, which has its own logic. Therefore, the written history is not the description of the past, as it were, but is a text on a past built within language and its logic. Hayden White’s “Metahistory: historical imagination of the 19th century in Europe” is a work which marked a new stage in the theory and philosophy history, as it presents the history of historiography for the first time.

HISTORICAL AND DEMOGRAPHIC IMAGE OF WESTERN ARMENIA ON THE EVE OF THE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE – 2015-4

Part three: central and western provinces of Erzurum vilayet and the cities of Erzurum (Karin) and Erznka

Summary

Gegham M. Badalyan

Keywords – Vilayet of Erzurum, Erzurum (city), Erznka (city), Erzurum province, Derdzhan province, Bayburt (Baberd) province, Kamakh province, İspir province, Kiskim (Berdagrak) province, Khotorjur (Sırakonak).

The article presents the list of the Armenian-populated areas by individual districts (Kaza in Turkish) in Western Armenia on the eve of the Armenian Genocide and villages (in the tour. Nahiye) in the vilayet of Erzurum. Lists are made up of the same principles that have been applied in the case of Van province: the list includes villages, churches, monasteries, schools and different information about the collections of manuscripts and books. In addition, it presents statistical data on the Armenian population in the most densely populated areas (city, district, town, village, large village).

COLLECTED WORKS OF TAGUHI SHISHMANYAN – 2015-4

Taguhi Shishmanyan (Oriord Menik), works (examined by Al. A. Makaryan), Yerevan, “Nairi” Pub., 2015, 204 p.

Summary

Hayk A. Hambardzumyan

Key words – Taguhi Shishmanyan, Miss Menic, Western Armenian literature, novel, Albert Makaryan, “Falling star of the spring”, Tserents, literary movement of the 1880s.

The review presents the book of Collected Works of Taguhi Shishmanyan Melik-Azaryants (pen name Oriord Menik – 1859-1885). Taguhi Shishmanyan is the daughter of the famous novelist Tserents and also talented author of little prose. Shishamanyan’s short story “A Meteor of Spring” is the first in this genre in Western Armenian literature. After the publication in 1883, this work has got some large attention by the Western Armenian literary workers.

The book contains not only previously published author’s works but also unprinted literary heritage and letters. Texts are accompanied by numerous comments and thoroughly analyse of the authoress life and work by editor of the book A. Makaryan.

CONTRIVANCES OF GERMANY’S MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS – 2015-4

In the issue of the recognition of Armenian Genocide

Summery

Doctor Zhirayr A. Kocharyan (Berlin)

Keywords – Germany, the Armenian Genocide, the Bundestag, the First World War, Johannes Lepsius, honest umpire, recognition, Madame Merkel, refugees.

The response of German media (TV, radio) and the cultural, academic and human rights events at the occasion of centenary were extremely numerous and went above and beyond everything that Armenians in Germany were used to so far. In a parliamentary debate on April 24, 2015 representatives of all fractions made impressive speeches, in particular the President of the Bundestag Prof. Lammert, who clearly qualified and condemned the “events of 1915” as genocide.

Four factors seem to be instrumental for this qualitatively and quantitatively intensive statements: 1) the exemplary and significant speech by Pope Francis during a memorial service on April 12, 2015 2) the antipathy of parliamentary German opposition against the ruling conservatives, 3) an enhanced sense of history in the German majority society, and 4) the distancing from Erdoğan’s Neo-Ottoman policy.

The Bundestag is facing 15 years in a bid to recognize the genocide of the Armenians, i.e. to make a legally qualified vote in the spirit of the UN Genocide Convention. Whilst in 2005 the Bundestag unanimously adopted a resolution that admitted German co-responsibility, the German lawmakers avoided, at the same time, an own position whether the “expulsion” and “massacres” of 1915 qualify as a genocide.

The influence of the executive on the legislature, incompatible with the democratic principle of separation of powers, has an unfortunate tradition in Germany’s policy towards Turkey and Armenia: In 1915, Prime Minister Bethmann Hollweg prevented a critical distancing of his country from the Ottoman extermination policy, citing the priority of German-Ottoman military alliance. Although German political decision makers were better informed than other governments about destruction of Christian co-religionists in the allied Ottoman Empire, the German public was not allowed to know anything about these crimes. Until the end of World War I strict military censorship prevented any objective press reporting over Armenia and Turkey.

As a result of a century of silence, until this day there exists no comprehensive scientific review of precise German debt proportion in Germany. No German historian, no university has ever conducted research on this topic. The subject was entirely left to journalists and non-historians. In the increasingly pluralistic society of Germany, in which the descendants of the Muslim perpetrators and the oriental Christian victims live together now, scientific and political inaction bear negative results.

“HUKKANA’S TREATY” AS THE DIPLOMATIC DOCUMENT OF THE HISTORY OF ARMENIA – 2015-4

Summary

Robert P. Ghazaryan

Key words – Hukkana, Suppiluliuma, Hayasa, Hatti, agreement, Mary, Tudhaliya, Mitanni, Hatti King, diplomacy, border security, an ally, Hattusa.

During the reign of the king of Hatti Suppiluliuma I, Hatti signed a number of interstate treaties with the rulers of the neighboring and subject countries. Those treaties mainly aimed at ensuring Hatti’s dominant position in the region. Chronologically the treaty Hatti signed with Hukkana is probably the second treaty with Hayasa (Azzi). According to the treaty Hukkana was not to recognize the legitimacy of anyone else’s rule in Hatti except that of Suppiluliuma I, his heir son or other sons and brothers. In return, Suppiluliuma promised to treat Hukkana and his heir the same way. Their sons were to have the same mutual obligation to each other. Both parties undertook to show military support to each other against enemies. They also had to warn about any conspiracy against each other. It can be assumed from the treaty that Suppiluliuma had invited Hukkana to the Hittite count, had his sister married to him, signed a treaty with him after which he sent Hukkana to Hayasa, probably with Hittite troops. This can mean that Hukkana had established himself or was going to establish himself in Hayasa with the Hittite support. Thus, Hukkana had to ensure the safety of the northeastern borders of Hatti for Suppiluliuma to be able to move his army to the south – against Mitanni. Thus, Suppiluliuma I wanted to diplomatically disconnect the countries of the Armenian Highland from Mitanni, the main antagonist of Hatti, and to receive military support from those countries. It can be mentioned that Hukkana’s treaty, being one of the most important treaties of the Ancient Orient, is at the same time the first comparably completely preserved treaty, the oldest diplomatic document of the Armenian history.

NAPOLEON BONAPARTE AND THE RIGHT OF NATIONS TO SELF-DETERMINATION – 2015-4

Against european solidarity of the great powers

Summary

Tigran R. Yepremyan

Key words – Napoleon Bonaparte, European System, nation, self-determination, sovereignty, liberty, equality, Armenians, the Congress of Vienna, legitimacy, equilibrium.

The article comparatively examines the new paradigm in international relations based on the French revolutionary ideas and sifted by Napoleon Bonapart. The armies of the Revolutionary France were transforming Europe in accordance with the republican values and the universal principles of Liberté, Égalité and Fraternité. In this context the goal of Napoleon’s policy of exporting the French Revolution was the creation of commonwealth of European sovereign nations, which was to supersede ancien régime and sovereign monarchs, based on the European equilibrium. His policy marked an important step towards the formation of the right of self-determination of nations. The Napoleonic structural and institutional reforms promoted the rise of the national ideologies and the modernization of European societies and states into modern nation-states. Thus, the Napoleonic period marked the transition from the ancien régime to the modern era.

The French Revolution was the first great pan-European social upheaval, which had a secular logic, thus affecting also the neighbouring Islamic world.

Moreover, its ideas caused a great schism between Christianity and states affecting the very basis of group cohesion and creating new patterns of loyalty and new paradigms of identity formation. Thus, the ideas of French Revolution found their reflections also among the Christian subjects of the Ottoman Empire. Particularly, the Greek and the Armenian elite of Constantinople, who were familiar with the Western culture, were linguistically and intellectually prepared to accept the revolutionary ideas. The idea of liberty in the Ottoman context acquired a new political content becoming the war-cry of the national liberation struggles of the oppressed people against the Ottoman despotism. The idea of equality due to the corporative structure of the Ottoman society found itself in a different context having little effect when appealing to the individuals, but getting profound response while appealing to the ethnic or religious groups. Thus, the idea of equality was raised from individualistic level to the interethnic level and found its expression as equality between nations, which was later raised to the right of self-determination of nations.

The Napoleonic “Grand Empire,” which was stretching from Holland to Poland and from Spain to Balkans, represented a conglomeration of three groups of territories: annexed lands, conquered countries, and allied countries. Conditionally we call this as the Napoleonic System of International Relations, where the ideas of national sovereignty, liberty and fraternal equality were recognized at least in the ideological sense. Remarkably, Napoleon’s European policy had a profound influence on both ideological and structural unification of Europe. The creation of administrative and legal uniformity, economic unity, and the territorial reorganization in various parts of Europe helped to stimulate national aspirations.

In contrast to the Napoleonic system the victorious conservative powers gathered in Vienna for the refoundation of Europe made their decisions based on the principles of équilibre, légitimité and compensation trying to stop the general transformation. Thus, Napoleon’s concept of the integration of European nations was replaced with the great powers’ Concert of Europe. However, Napoleon’s victories and the French hegemony over Europe proved the supremacy of the French nation-state and sent a clear signal to the European rulers that modernization of state apparatus based on the French model was indispensable if they wanted to survive and to continue playing a decisive role in the international arena.

ABOUT THE ART OF CONTEMPORARY ARMENIAN ICONOGRAPHER FROM ROMANIA DEACON HAIK AZARYAN – 2015-4

Summery

Lusine V. Sargsyan

Key words – icon, wall-painting, “Deesis”, Jesus Christ, Mother of God, John Baptist, Saint Anne, iconography, style, Eastern Christian church painting.

This article is devoted to the iconographer Hayk Azaryan’s monumental wall-painting (“Deesis” which decorates the hall of the Diocese of Armenian Apostolic Church in Bucharest) and tempera paintings (three icons of the newbuilt Saint Anne Church in Yerevan: “Mother of God and the Child”, “St. Anne with Mother of God and the Child” and “St. Anne Embracing Mother of God”). These works reveal the author as a talented artist who has the consciousness of the iconographic canons of icons and is faithful to their true traditions. As compared with miniature painting, the art of Icon has its problems, which require new ways of solution from the artist. Painter Azaryan professionally turned miniature sample into monumental or tempera painting. The environment, in which the painter was educated and created his masterpieces up to now, has had a significant impact on his unique style of art, thanks to which his works can be seen in the overall frame of the development of the Eastern Christian religious traditions of iconography. He imports into Armenian contemporary iconography such scenes (such as the images of St. Anne), the traces of which can be observed in the Eastern and Western Christian church paintings, yet it lacks in the Armenian art. H. Azaryan’s art works highlight the parallelism of his works and worldwide Christian art directions and developments. This was the path of Armenian art since the 4th century, which continues until now.

HOVHAN VORTNETSY’S METAPHYSICAL AND ONTOLOGICAL VIEWS – 2015-4

Dedicated to the 700th anniversary

Summary

Seyran A. Zakaryan

Key words – Ontology, Proofs of the Existence of God, Monotheism, Creation, Providence, Faith, Reason.

The article analyses the prominent Armenian Medieval theologian and philosopher Hovhan Vortnetsy’s (1315-1388) metaphysical and ontological views, in particular, the issues on the existence of God, monotheism, divine names, God and the world, creation and providence, discussed by him. As a philosophizing theologian Vorotnetsi, discussing religious-theological issues, firstly, introduces their philosophical solutions, criticizes and denies the approaches that contradict the Revelation truths and the church doctrine and, secondly, he tries to justify the religious truths and the principle of the Christian faith through philosophical material and methods, logical and rational arguments. In particular, in order to justify the existence and nature of God, providence, monotheism and creation, he suggests rational proofs based on facts and evidence as well as on metaphysical paradigms (universal movement, determinism, necessity, accident and advisability). Although his metaphysics and ontology, which are mostly based on Aristotle’s teaching, are only an introduction to theology: on the one hand, they illustrate the high reputation and status of Philosophy and Logic and, on the other hand, they reveal the growth of interest in experience-based evidence.