Tigran The Great’s Citadel Found In Artsakh

[Aratta-Kingdom]

 

 

ARCHAEOLOGISTS DISCOVERED ANCIENT ARMENIAN FORTRESS IN TIGRANAKERT

 

KarabakhOpen

24-08-2007 18:06:40

 

Dr. Hamlet Petrosyan, the head of the expedition of the Institute of

Archeology and Ethnography, held a news conference on August 24 near

the ruins of the ancient Armenian town of Tigranakert discovered near

the village of Surenavan in the region of Martakert.

 

It became known that during the excavations the archeologists

discovered an ancient Armenian fortress. The digging of the wall of

the fortress and the church continue, the southern gate was cleared

of the layer of sand. A great number of exponents of ancient and

medieval culture were discovered.

 

"In exploring the site we discovered a new fortress. We think it was

also built under King Tigran but the study continues. We continue

digging the citadel, the fundament of the fortress, the terrace and

the church. We hope to get a full idea of the main compound by the

end of the excavations.

 

I also hope to find writings near the church. We found some

fragments but I cannot state yet they are Armenian lithographs,"

Hamlet Petrosyan said.

 

The archeologist said the excavations are impeded by financial

problems. He said unfortunately this year the Yerkir Union which

supports the excavations provided less funding. "Unfortunately, we

got no help from innumerable Armenian organizations and agencies,

not even the government of Armenia and the Academy of Sciences. Only

the government of Karabakh provided 3.5 million drams in July after

we turned to the prime minister. Meanwhile, the excavations finish but

we haven't got the money yet. Yesterday they promised to transfer the

money today, I hope they will. This is the first time the government

of Karabakh has helped us, I commend them," Hamlet Petrosyan said.

 

"In Azerbaijan they say this is political excavations. I want to state

officially this is not political excavations because the political

bodies pay no attention to us. This is an academic initiative. I

haven't noticed any politics on behalf of the government so far,"

the scientist said.

 

By the way, the excavations of Tigranakert started in 2005. In the

first year the location of the town was identified, afterwards in 2006

part of the wall of the citadel, the wall of one of the neighborhoods

and part of an early Christian basilica were discovered.

 

Hamlet Petrosyan is hopeful that the excavations will continue next

year and new buildings and objects will be discovered.

 

 

[Zartonk]

Tigranakert: An Armenian Odyssey

 

A film by Zareh Tjeknavorian regarding the discovery of Tigranakert of Artsakh

 

 

[MosJan]

Zartonq jan Sh@norhakal em

 

hetaqrqir er / siram

[Zartonk]

Zartonq jan Sh@norhakal em

 

hetaqrqir er / siram

 

 

Khntrem Movses jan. Yes el shat dyur@s ekav

[MosJan]

 

Research in Ruins: Tigranakert project threatened by lack of finances

http://www.armenianow.com/images/uploadedimages/ai296601.jpg

18th century fortress in Tigranakert By Arpi Harutyunyan

ArmeniaNow reporter

Published: 11 April, 2008

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The expedition group excavating the city of Tigranakert built by Armenian King Tigran the Great (1st century) in Karabakh faces financial problems that threaten continuing the project started in 2005. The Government of Armenia has refused its request for state support.

 

“We even addressed Prime Minister Sargsyan to get financing, but the letter was sent to the Ministry of Finance, which replied there are no means [for that purpose]. We have even appealed to the Union of Businesspeople, Hayrusgazard (Armenian-Russian Gas Industry) and VivaCell but have not received a response. Today our authorities and even the Academy [of Sciences] have adopted an indifferent posture,” says the head of the Artsakh archaeological expedition group of the Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography of the National Academy of Sciences Hamlet Petrosyan, who believes Tigranakert is not only a monument and a history with culture, but also a serious bone of political contention.

 

Petrosyan says the excavations of Tigranakaert, 4 kilometers north of Aghdam are an echo on the road to the solution of problems between Armenia and Azerbaijan. “The struggle for the self-determination of Artsakh evolved and will evolve around the discussion of various historic and cultural values and arguments. Let’s remember, the Artsakh liberation war began first of all because of the question of ownership of Gandzasar Monastery and Dadivank.”

 

The idea for the search of Artsakh Tigranakert belongs to the chairman of the Yerkir Union Sevak Artsruni, who, led by travelers’ stories about an old city in the neighborhood of Martakert, appealed to the Institute of Archaeology to start a research.

 

“When they offered me the work, I had concerns the evidences would be very mythical,” recalls Petrosyan, adding despite his concerns he formed an expedition group of 5 or 6.

 

Studying the Armenian sources, they found data that say there have been 6 cities named after Tigran the Great, one of them in Artsakh. It was Tigran the Great’s empire that included also the neighborhood of Khachenaget River in Artsakh (Artsakh is the ancient name for Karabakh).

 

http://www.armenianow.com/images/uploadedimages/ai296602.jpgParts of excavated oratory/sanctum.“As the first step we made a map of the locale. We discovered an early medieval castle on the bank of Khachenaget. We found also a temple on the top of Vankasar that was built in the 7th century. But we found after gathering the materials the settlement existed in the 5th-9th centuries, therefore Tigran the Great could not have built it,” tells Petrosyan claiming that Azerbaijanis had re-built temple, removing traces of its Christian origins. However, the expedition found Armenian inscriptions – facts refuting the Azerbaijani arguments.

 

The expedition has also made research in Shushi, where it found more than a dozen of khachkars of 12th-13th centuries and a castle. Excavations were done also in the Monastery of Havlaberd in Karvachar with Armenian inscriptions on its tiling.

 

Moving to the other bank of Khachenaget, the archaeologists discovered the true Tigranakert that occupied a territory in 50 hectares and is comprised of a fortified area, trade center and numerous agricultural suburbs. Petrosyan says the city was built on terraces like Semiramis’s hanging gardens.

 

The scientists discovered a citadel on the highest point of the territory and a large fortified district with powerful walls on the slope. The group has so far excavated about 40 meters of the walls that reach 4 meters in height in some places.

 

Lyuba Kirakosyan, the architect in the group says stones of the buildings have been connected to each other with v-shaped joints, which speaks of high craftsmanship in construction.

 

“The construction methods proved what we found was really a city of Tigran’s times and the buildings are erected in the best tradition of Hellenist time technique. It’s an important matter for dating,” says Kirakosyan mentioning the found ceramic artifacts and the rest of the things strengthened the arguments in favor of the supposition the city is Tigranakert.

 

Making sure the city is Tigranakert and having sufficient amount of proof, Petrosyan passed to the main part of the work.

 

“After all our major aim was to spread this information, especially as the government of Azerbaijan tries to distort the information and has even forced the local academy of sciences to come up with special decisions regarding Tigranakert,” says Petrosyan, who has initiated publication of a calendar and a brochure telling about Tigranakert, a city that has survived 14 centuries.

 

The expedition group has organized an exhibition in Geneva and a film show in Los Angeles.

 

“The problem, though is not over. In total we have been directly engaged in excavations for only 42 days and have excavated only 0.02 percent of it getting salaries of 15-20,000 drams ($50-65) a month,” says Petrosyan. “But even that is not important. The important thing is that we get financing to continue the work and make it public. We don’t even have $50 a month to operate a website telling about the city.”

 

Bako Sahakyan, the president of NKR has promised 30 million drams ($97,400) will be allotted to continue the excavations. However, the exact dates are unknown yet.

 

“If, of course, this sum is given, it will suffice for several months of work. But for the moment we have moved the materials of excavations to Yerevan, but there is neither place to locate them nor opportunity to process them,” says Petrosyan.

[MosJan]

EXCAVATIONS TO BE LAUNCHED IN TIGRANAKERT

• The excavations of the ancient Tigranakert city found near Agdam-Martakert highway in Nagorno Karabakh will be launched on 15 June and last till the end of August, Hamlet Petrosyan of the Academy of National Sciences of Armenia to Panorama.am. The Government of NKR disposed 35 million AMD for the excavations. It is also planned to recover ancient materials and to publish a book about Tigranakert.

[Aratta-Kingdom]

ARTSAKH'S TIGRANAKERT

 

Though the head of the Artsakh archaeological expedition of NIS

Institute Hamlet Petrosyan returned from Artsakh for only one day, he

nevertheless found time to present the results of the excavations in

Tigranakert.

 

According to him, the excavations in Tigranakert are being held in

three main directions - opening of the northern defensive wall.

Noteworthy, there are walls which are 4 meters tall. Secondly, the

excavations of the Citadel. The third direction is the excavations of

a basilica church.

 

During the whole period, they always find ancient objects, including

copper jewelry, currencies, and various zodiac vessels. Approximately

10 days ago, they found an ancient vessel with snake images on it.

According to Petrosyan this is the biggest vessel of Artsakh which can

contain 600 liters of liquid. The oldest object found dates back to 1

century BC. They did not find any record in which the name Tigranakert

could be found.

 

By the way, it is noteworthy that the financer of the excavations in

Tigranakert is the NKR government.

 

09/07/2010

 

http://www.lragir.am/engsrc/country-lrahos18516.html

[Aratta-Kingdom]

Panorama, Armenia

July 10 2010

 

 

Most ancient and biggest jar excavated in City of Tigranakert, Artsakh

 

 

During the archeological excavations in the city of Tigranakert,

Artsakh about 10 days ago an ancient jar with a picture of snake was

revealed, Doctor of historical sciences Hamlet Petrosyan, who is the

head of Artsakh archeological group told reporter Friday.

He said the jar is the most ancient ever found in Artsakh ` 600

liters. The jar will be put in the Museum of Tigranakert City.

H. Petrosyan said different objects, including silver jewelry, coins

have been found.

`In the aftermath of the excavations a great city has been found, its

Northern fence is 120 meters long and 5 meters high. The fence is

linked with sacred, swallow tails images. Similar images are found in

Transcaucasia during Hellenic Era,' he said.

[Aratta-Kingdom]

Panorama, Armenia

July 10 2010

 

 

Azerbaijan distorts facts about Tigranakert of Artsakh

 

 

Doctor of Historical Sciences and head of Artsakh archeological group

of Institute of Ethnography Hamlet Petrosyan told reporters Friday the

achievements of excavations held in the City of Tigranakert, Artsakh.

Doctor also spoke about Azerbaijan's disposition and comments.

`Azerbaijan's Academy adopted two decisions over Tigranakert which is

available on the webs site of their national security; that states it

isn't Tigranakert at all. They write Azerbaijani researchers have once

claimed that no other antiquity can be found there except

Afghan-Azerbaijani antiquities,' Hamlet Petrosyan said adding: `If

once the Azeri claimed us liars now they say it isn't Tigranakert.'

Doctor said he read a few months ago in an Azerbaijani story about

`Afghan Tigranakert.'

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

 

 

The azeri made idiots talk about things which they have never seen. They never been to Tigranakert, yet claim the antiquities belong to some kind of an ["afghan-azeri"] unknown culture.

 

 

[Aratta-Kingdom]

AZERBAIJAN IS WORRIED WITH TIGRANAKERT EXCAVATIONS

 

Azerbaijan is concerned about the excavations in Tigranakert, Artsakh.

It adopted two resolutions, which are available at the National

Security Service web site, which note that, in fact, excavations are

not in Tigranakert; in that territory there cannot be other values

besides Azeri. Although, if first they accused Armenian scientists of

lying, now, in fact, they recognized the existence of Tigranakert,

though, calling it Afghan, said today the head of the expedition team

of the Institute of Ethnography and Archaeology of NAS Hamlet

Petrosyan.

 

According to Petrosyan, the last three years in Artsakh a new cultural

policy, the new model has been conducted. He noted that cultural

heritage should have a certain role but should be no museum piece, but

a tool for building the present. It is necessary to abandon the slogan

`Armenia - open-air museum', since the less the cultural heritage has

museum purposes, the greater its potential to serve progress is.

 

09/07/2010

 

http://www.lragir.am/engsrc/country-lrahos18518.html

[Aratta-Kingdom]

 

20 years required to complete excavations in Tigranakert, Artsakh

 

 

http://www.panarmenian.net/eng/society/news/51110/20_years_required_to_complete_excavations_in_Tigranakert_Artsakh

 

July 9, 2010

 

PanARMENIAN.Net - Head of Artsakh expedition, PhD of History Hamlet Petrosyan presented the results of excavations in Tigranakert, Artsakh.This year the excavations started on June 15 and will continue till August 25, Petrosyan told a press conference.

 

"During excavations, we try to preserve the landscape of Tigranaket, so that the site is observed from afar. This year we continue excavation works in the same three basic areas. It is the so-called fortified area, which was created during the tenure of Tigran the Great. Here, works are under way on "revelation" of the northern fortified wall. While in some places the walls are above 4m high. Here we have advanced for 20m. The second area is the citadel, where complexes, cut in a rock, are revealed. And the third is the excavation of a basilica. Several days ago we dug out a big jar with pattern of snakes. Possibly, the jar is the biggest one in Artsakh. Its capacity is over 600l," said Petrosyan.

 

Besides, ancient burial places have been revealed. Currently, there are two places, where ancient burials in jars were found. It is a very important revelation, as necropolis may contain valuable information.

 

According to Petrosyan, 20 years are required to complete the excavations in Tigranakert.

 

"Tigranakert should become a unique symbol to unite the Armenian people," he concluded.

 

 

[Aratta-Kingdom]

 

Archaeological excavations of the city of Tigranakert in Artsakh get under way

 

http://www.panorama.am/en/society/2010/06/21/tigranakert/

 

The archaeological excavations of the city of Tigranakert in Artsakh have got under way and will be due by August 25, the head of the Artsakh archaeological group of the Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography at National Academy of Sciences of Armenia Hamlet Petrosyan told Panorama.am. He said, Nagorno-Karabakh government has financed the 70-day excavations.

 

According to him, this year the group will be working in the acropolis, to open the northern wall, as well as they will carry out works in the Central district, the cemetery of early-Christian era.

 

In 2005 their group discovered the city of Tigranakert founded by the Armenian King Tigran the Great and in 2006-2009 they carried out archaeological excavations in this territory. This is the only residence named after Tigran to have been precisely discovered and undergoing archaeological observations.

 

HamletPetrosyan said the excavations revealed 100m of the walls of the city acropolis, the rock-carved bases of “Amratsvats” district, and the basilica of the Central district has been fully studied.

 

The castle dating back to early medieval times on the left bank of Khachenaget river has also been observed, he said.

 

 

 

[Zartonk]

Thank you for the posts. Real quick however:

 

The translations create a misunderstanding. It is not Afghan, but Avghan, which in turn is a corruption of Aghvan/Aghvanq/Աղվանք/(Caucasian) Albania

 

"Afghan"=Afghanistan

 

"Avghan"=(Caucasian Albania)

 

Regardless, the archeological site has nothing to do with Caucasian Albania.

Edited September 11, 2010 by Zartonk

[Arpa]

Thank you Armenian Patriot and welcome.

Tigranakert, Artsakh;

http://www.youtube.com/user/araratcenter#p/u/152/RDXJF90DwhM

[Arpa]

Where exactly is Tigranakert in Artsakh?

WE NEED A NEW MAP!!!

http://www.armsite.com/maps/ashkharhatsuits.phtml

Detail;

http://www.armsite.com/maps/mshow.phtml?when=ashkharhatsuits&slide=3

Above we see two Tigranekert-s. I assume the one in question is the lower one.

We understand that the one in question is located between aghdam and Askeran.

What the h*ll is aghdam? What was it called before?

That so called book of soviet crap, aka Hanragitaran says garbage about aghdam, with no historical background, like what was it known before, that it is a town in booboojan , has a cinema**, a school and theater. :duh: And no mention of Tigranakert in Artsakh.

Note in the below map that beside the Tigranakert in Greater Armenia there was also a Tigranavan at the south of Nakhjavan.

http://www.armsite.com/maps/greater.phtml

** This is funny NOT!!! How every monograph in that book mentions that a certain city/village has/had a cinema/kino/կինո. A standard of civilization???

[Aratta-Kingdom]

I'm gonna be in Aratsakh this weeken. Kpotsem Tigranakertits nor nkarner berem:

 

 

EXCAVATIONS IN ARTSAKH SHED LIGHT ON ANCIENT CITY OF DIKRANAGERD Armenian Weekly Wed, Aug 10 2011 STEPANAKERT, NKR (A.W.)-Recent archaeological activities are yielding new and exciting finds in the ancient city of Dikranagerd, located in Artsakh. An excavation site in Dikranagerd (photo by Khatchig Mouradian) Dikranagerd, the city built by Dikran the Great, was discovered in 2005. Since then, archaeologists have carried out excavations in various parts of the city and revealed such structures as the Mijnaberd Fortress and the Basilica Church, the director of the Atsakh Archaeological Expedition, Hamlet Petrosyan, told Armenpress. Archaeologists now believe that Dikranagerd, founded in the first century B.C., was a large city with an advanced building plan and construction modes, many gardens, and a large population of several thousands. In recent months, archaeologists have discovered a district with a territory of six to seven hectares. They also located a cemetery and upon, further excavations, discovered that the dead were buried with property, including coins, Petrosyan said. The archaeological discoveries have been presented to communities in Yerevan, Stepanakert, the U.S., and Egypt. "If we continue the excavations of Dikranagerd with this tempo, it will take 15-20 years to understand the blueprint of the city," said Petrosyan, who is also the head of Yerevan State University's department of cultural studies. A museum and storage facility for the artifacts is under construction in Stepanakert. In the meantime, items that require special storage conditions are being kept at Yerevan State University's archaeology lab. The rest, totaling over 3,000 items, are currently on exhibit at the Dikranagerd Museum. According to Petrosyan, between 300 and 800 artifacts are unearthed each year. The government of the Nagorno Karabagh Republic (NKR) funds the excavation efforts. This year they earmarked 25 million AMD (less than $70,000) to the project-less than the sum allocated in previous years. "The government funds concrete excavations, and a small sum of money is provided for the needs of the expedition group," said Petrosyan, adding that engineering-related costs, including equipment expenses, are funded through private sources.

[MosJan]

I'm gonna be in Aratsakh this weeken. Kpotsem Tigranakertits nor nkarner berem:

 

 

EXCAVATIONS IN ARTSAKH SHED LIGHT ON ANCIENT CITY OF DIKRANAGERD Armenian Weekly Wed, Aug 10 2011 STEPANAKERT, NKR (A.W.)-Recent archaeological activities are yielding new and exciting finds in the ancient city of Dikranagerd, located in Artsakh. An excavation site in Dikranagerd (photo by Khatchig Mouradian) Dikranagerd, the city built by Dikran the Great, was discovered in 2005. Since then, archaeologists have carried out excavations in various parts of the city and revealed such structures as the Mijnaberd Fortress and the Basilica Church, the director of the Atsakh Archaeological Expedition, Hamlet Petrosyan, told Armenpress. Archaeologists now believe that Dikranagerd, founded in the first century B.C., was a large city with an advanced building plan and construction modes, many gardens, and a large population of several thousands. In recent months, archaeologists have discovered a district with a territory of six to seven hectares. They also located a cemetery and upon, further excavations, discovered that the dead were buried with property, including coins, Petrosyan said. The archaeological discoveries have been presented to communities in Yerevan, Stepanakert, the U.S., and Egypt. "If we continue the excavations of Dikranagerd with this tempo, it will take 15-20 years to understand the blueprint of the city," said Petrosyan, who is also the head of Yerevan State University's department of cultural studies. A museum and storage facility for the artifacts is under construction in Stepanakert. In the meantime, items that require special storage conditions are being kept at Yerevan State University's archaeology lab. The rest, totaling over 3,000 items, are currently on exhibit at the Dikranagerd Museum. According to Petrosyan, between 300 and 800 artifacts are unearthed each year. The government of the Nagorno Karabagh Republic (NKR) funds the excavation efforts. This year they earmarked 25 million AMD (less than $70,000) to the project-less than the sum allocated in previous years. "The government funds concrete excavations, and a small sum of money is provided for the needs of the expedition group," said Petrosyan, adding that engineering-related costs, including equipment expenses, are funded through private sources.

 

Bari janaparh, inchu miyayn Tigranakerty amen teghi n@kar el ber gites Achqers karot en mnatsel

[Zartonk]

Երանի քեզ...

[Aratta-Kingdom]

FOLLOW THE LINK TO SEE PICTURES FROM TIGRANAKERT:

 

http://hyeforum.com/index.php?showtopic=35708&pid=283485&st=0entry283485

[Aratta-Kingdom]

kanem MosJan-kanem. Dzmran@ L.A.-um em linelu u azat jamanak shat kunenam. Kporcem eli shat nkarner situm dnem. Der shat shat anaknkalner kan...

 

Zarton jan, ger hajuyq e Artsakhum jamportel@ u haghtanaki berkranq@ vayelel@. Hamecek Artsakh...iroq drakhtayin tegh e.

[Yervant1]

TIGRANAKERT WAS PRESENTED IN FLORENCE, ITALY

 

http://times.am/?l=en&p=14387

 

Tigranakert was presented in All Italian 1st conference on Public

archaeology (Archeologia Pubblica. Il primo congresso di archeologia

pubblica in Italia. Firenze, 29 - 30 ottobre 2012) organized by

University of Florence in Pallazzo Vecchio.The head of Tigranakert

Archaeological Mission, professor of Yerevan State University Hamlet

L. Petrosyan on Monday 29th of October hold a presentation in Pablic

Archaeology all Italian conference in Florence. Bellow there are some

quotations from his presentation.

 

"The Hellenistic city of Tigranakert is located in the internationally

unrecognized republic of Nagorno Karabagh, which has proclaimed its

independence at the beginning of the 90s of the last century after

the Armenian-Azerbaijani war. The discovery of Tigranakert is one of

the most successful undertakings of the Armenian cultural heritage

in terms of inclusion of this heritage into the current cultural

processes. Before the archaeological research only legends are known

about this city. The initiative to discover the city was a civic

initiative to reveal to the Armenian and international scientific and

political circles, that "historical excursus" of Azerbaijan about

the idea the Armenians came to Nagorno Karabagh only in the 19th

century, was a political hoax, via ignoring the presence of Armenians

during last two thousand years in Nagorno Karabagh and surroundings,

witnessed by many Greek and Roman (Strabo, Pliny the Elder, Plutarch,

Ptolemy, Dio Cassius), Armenian, Arabic, Persian, Georgian historians,

several thousands of Armenian inscriptions of the 7th-18th centuries,

and so on.

 

During the first stage of the research I have collected all the

bibliographical data about the location. The comparison of this

data with the folk legends as well as with travelers' portrayals

made possible to assert that Tigranakert was located on the border

of merging of Karabagh mountain range with steppe, on the road from

Armenia to ancient Georgian kingdom of Iberia, in the current river

of Khachenaget. Based on this research in 2005 an expedition was set

for an archaeological research of the area. The mission examined the

territory with radius of 10km where Khachenaget gets out into the

steppe. As a result of this in the south-eastern slope of Vanqasar

mountain, an ancient settlement were verified. The traces were in the

form of foundations of a fortification walls 200m in length, dug into

the rock, as well as large depositories of Hellenistic pottery. This

data was sufficient enough for systematically excavations, as a result

of which during 2006-2012 uncovered some parts of almost 60 hectares

of a city: the Hellenistic Fortified area with foundations dug into

the rock and walls with "swallow-like" ties, the single-domed basilica

church of the Central area, Early Christian necropolis, Hellenistic

necropolis and Hellenistic Quarter, Early Christian Cave sanctuary

complex, and the Canal dug into a rock. We are trying to preserve the

landscape look of the monument, which means exclusion of installation

of any modern object on the whole territory of the monument, if it

could disrupt the landscape perception of the monument.

 

The next component of this cultural initiative is the publicity efforts

that include organization of almost a dozen exhibitions in Karabagh,

Armenia and one exhibiton in Switzerland, publications, including in

Russian, French, Inglish and Spanish, hope soon in Italian, creation of

a website, creation of Facebook page, several dozens of TV and radio

interviews, 7 documental movies, organization of cultural events, and

finally the establishment of archaeological museum of Tigranakert on

the territory of the monument. As a result, today Tigranakert is the

most known to the public and most visited monument in Karabagh. In the

course of two years the museum had 45 thousand visitors, for comparison

Armenia's largest and the most visited museum - the State Museum of

History of Armenia, has approximately 40 thousand visits a year.

 

Despite on the fact that Nagorno Karabagh is not internationally

recognized country and a lot of governments advice their citizens

against visiting the region, almost eight thousand five hundred

visitors of the museum were diasporas Armenians, while four thousand

five hundred were non-Armenians, mostly citizens of Switzerland, USA,

Canada and France. Unfortunately Italy has a very modest position in

this list with only 150 non-Armenian citizens.

 

Tigranakert not only facilitates the publicity of the cultural

heritage of Nagorno Karabagh, but also reinforces the pride of the

local population, connecting them further to the environment, becoming

the holly center for the people who live in the region. The examination

of the Azerbaijani responses is noteworthy in this context. It can be

characterized from silliness to sobriety, from neglect of facts to the

process of acceptance and interpretation. The first is efficiency,

in 2006 right after the excavations the Azerbaijani media and

websites reported about the excavations. This is true today as well,

from financial support to duration of excavations, to conclusions

of the expedition, although with obvious avoidance to use images

that show the monument in full, for example today you will not find

a Azerbaijani website that has a photo of the full fortress walls

that are widely popular on the Internet. At the beginning there were

only jokes, disparagement. Then they were trying to get serious and

find political answers in our undertakings. The Azerbaijani academy

joins with a special decision about Tigranakert, which has been also

placed on the website of the National Security of Azerbaijan. Today

the results of the recent excavations of Tigranakert are presented on

different websites with dozens of comments among hundreds of images and

structural photos. And it is difficult for an Azerbaijani researcher

to state that there is no city there, it is impossible to assert that

this is not an ancient city, furthermore they write articles today that

the city of Tigranakert existed but it was not an Armenian settlement

and was located in a different location, etc. Meaning they accept

that Armenian archaeologists have discovered a city built during

the era of Tigranes the Great which is not Tigranakert. Azerbaijani

opponents often mention that foreign researchers and scientists

do not cooperate with us because they do not trust our scientific

integrity. Azerbaijani colleagues of course realize that the lack

of cooperation is pure political, the international organizations

that deal with cultural heritage and appropriate state institutions

of certain countries avoid this cooperation because Nagorno Karabagh

is not internationally recognized state.

 

UNESCO's Moscow office has rejected to submit two of my proposals to

create a neutral, pure vocational Internet portal with the database of

all the monuments located in the liberated territories, specifically in

the surrounding areas of Tigranakert, which will contain all monuments,

including those of Muslim origins with only one reasoning, the heritage

of these territories cannot be accepted for discussion.

 

One can resume, that the political situation deprives the people

of Karabagh from the right to live a cultural life, a right that is

stated in the Universal human rights convention a component of which

is transformation of the cultural heritage into a part of everyday

life. The cultural policy in the recent decades is shifting its meaning

and direction in the world. The cultural right of a human being and

the perception of cultural democracy as a policy are getting wide

attention. In this context the largest result of the discovery and

research of Tigranakert is the wide publicity that this monument

has, it is the stream of thousands of people that come to see the

monument disregarding if it is a part of the state policy or how

serious arguments pro and con of the scientist. A lot of them care

about the return of their cultural heritage. Today Tigranakert is a

location where diplomas and medals are granted, competitions are held,

concerts and festivals are organized.

 

The population of the surrounding villages brings their guests to

Tigranakert, sends books, images and brochures about Tigranakert to

their relatives who live abroad, etc. And isn't the increase of the

role of cultural heritage in shaping of the identity the main goal

of a cultural policy? At the beginning the discovery of Tigranakert

for me and my friends was an initiative to prove wrong the president

Ilham Aliyev of Azerbaijan who stated that Armenians have moved to

the territory of Karabgh in the 19th century. Today, after witnessing

the regard toward the monument of the thousands of people, the pride,

I think it is one of the components of the current cultural development

and identity making and attesting in Nagorno Karabagh".

 

31.10.12, 23:26

[onjig]

Very good thread, lots of information.

[Yervant1]

Tigranakert the largest Hellenic monument in the Caucasus

http://www.armradio.am/en/2013/10/05/tigranakert-the-largest-hellenic-monument-in-the-caucasus/
15:54 05.10.2013

Sona Hakobyan
Public Radio of Armenia


Today there is no Hellenic monument in the Caucasus larger than
Tigranakert. Head of the Tigranakert expedition Hamlet Petrosyan, who
started the excavations in Artsakh back in 2006 at his own initiative,
considers that the researches works at the site have long exceeded the
limits of an academic study with regard to the development of tourism
and diffativerent cultural inities.

Although Hamlet Petrosyan has never been interested in politics, he
notes that our political field fails to use the historical-cultural
monuments, while the cultural heritage could become a powerful tool in
the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict.

According to him, no politician or political scientist has ever spoken
about the importance of the discovery of the city built by King Tigran
on the territory of Artsakh next to Aghdam.

The research works in Tigranakert are of great significance from the
viewpoint of cultural policy, as well. However, this is not propagated
at a proper level, either, the archaeologist said.

[Yervant1]

Azerbaijanis not happy with existence of Tigranakert

16:15, 5 October, 2013

YEREVAN, OCTOBER 5, ARMENPRESS: Tigranakert, which has been discovered
during excavations, has quite a significant role, as it was
found in Aghdam territory. As reported by Armenpress, the head of the
Tigranakert expedition Hamlet Petrosyan stated: `Azerbaijan
had a fundamentally negative attitude to the discovery of Tigranakert.
Later they kept silent, understanding that in fact a big
city was found'.

During the excavations the expedition found the wall of the city, two
churches, one of the three antique districts of the city, working
instruments and other structures and items.

The territory, found in the result of the excavations of Tigranakert,
is considered a state reserve. About 2,000 tourists visit the site
annually.

http://armenpress.am/eng/news/735562/azerbaijanis-not-happy-with-existence-of-tigranakert.html

[Yervant1]

Politicians do not pay attention to Tigranakert (video)

13:30 | September 8,2014 | Politics


Political circles in Armenia do not pay attention to Tigranakert and I
would call their indifference in one word - apathy, Doctor of
Historical Sciences Hamlet Petrosyan said on Monday.

"No one in Armenia has taken any measure for Tigranakert, not a single
party has held a protest for Tigranakert, whereas Azerbaijan is
continually protesting and complaining and banning visitors from
visiting Azerbaijan. They are sending letters of complaint to the
organizations that participate in our excavations," the head of a
group that is holding archeological excavations in Tigranakert told
reporters.

Of the 70 hectare of the land, the group has excavated 2 hectares, the
most important parts of the area.

Thanks to the excavations, the monument has become a spectacular sight
that attracts more tourists. About 30000-40000 people visit
Tigranakert annually. Most of them arrive from foreign countries.

One of the main goals of the excavation is to make Tigranakert known
to the world.

http://en.a1plus.am/1195635.html
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SKfM6kJmTNY