Jewish evidence in 'Jewless' Armenia

[Azat]

I probably should not post this here as I know the comments that AR and Anoush will make. But it is an interesting article.

 

http://www.jpost.com/Editions/2002/04/09/F...ures.46570.html

 

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Jewish evidence in 'Jewless' Armenia

By Abraham Rabinovich

 

(April 9) - In the one country curiously devoid of any Jewish history, bishop discovers startling proof of one ancient community.

 

The photographs that Prof. Michael Stone received in the mail seemed innocuous enough - pictures of headstones with Hebrew writing - but they illuminated a black hole in Jewish history.

 

As a professor of Armenian studies at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Stone had often pondered the curious fact that Armenia has virtually no evidence of a Jewish past. There is a two-millennium-old Jewish heritage in Iran just across Armenia's southern border, an ancient Jewish presence in Georgia to the north, and long-standing Jewish traditions in Turkey and Azerbaijan to the west and east.

 

But despite the striking parallels between Jews and Armenians in history - ancient peoples with their own language and religious traditions, worldwide diasporas and reputations as skilled merchants - there were virtually no indications that Jews had actually settled in Armenia.

 

The only possible exceptions were vague traditions relating to a brief period in the first century BCE and again, likewise vague, of Armenian-speaking Jews in the 19th century.

 

The use of a number of Hebrew words in the Armenian language also suggests ancient contact between the two peoples. The Armenian word for diaspora, for instance, is the same as in Hebrew, galut. But even today there is no native Jewish community in Armenia, only several hundred Jews originating in other parts of the former Soviet Union.

 

The photographs Stone received four years ago from a priest in Armenia were of headstones dating from the Middle Ages uncovered in a cemetery in Eghegis, a village in southern Armenia. They provided for the first time irrefutable proof of an ancient Jewish community in Armenia.

 

"It was an enormous surprise," Stone says.

 

Last September, he and archaeologist David Amit of the Israel Antiquities Authority visited Eghegis, about 160 km. north of the Iranian border, to make a preliminary survey. The three-hour drive from Yerevan, Armenia's capital, took them to mountain valleys 2,000 meters high, rich with vineyards and orchards. Eghegis proved to be a beautiful village of moderate size on the ruins of a city of the same name that had been the medieval capital of the province. Mount Ararat, with its permanent snow mantle, dominated the landscape.

 

The Jewish cemetery was outside the village, near a fast-flowing river. The tombstones, made of local basalt, were rounded on one side and flat on the other. Most contained no inscriptions but those that did were inscribed in clear Hebrew script.

 

The findings were impressive enough to warrant a full-fledged archaeological excavation, which was carried out last May as a joint endeavor of the Hebrew University and the Armenian Academy of Sciences.

 

Participating in the Hebrew University delegation along with Stone and Amit was Prof. Malachi Beit-Arie of Hebrew University, a paleography expert. The Armenian team was headed by Husik Melkonian and Niwra Hakobian.

 

More than 40 gravestones from the 13th and 14th centuries have been uncovered, of which just under half contained inscriptions, all in Hebrew. Most of the headstones were found in the cemetery but some were found in secondary use in a nearby water mill. Others were identified in the supports of a footbridge over the river.

 

The tombstones shed considerable light on the character of the Eghegis community. Although they cover a brief period and are few in number, the community was clearly not a chance collection of marginal migrants.

 

"The use of standard Jewish funerary formulae and abbreviations, as well as the familiarity with rabbinic sources, show that the Eghegis community cultivated a tradition of Jewish learning," Stone and Amit wrote in a preliminary report. "They show a relatively high standard of Jewish culture."

 

The dates of the stones thus far found cover 71 years, between 1266 and 1337, or about three generations. There are indications that the origins of the community may lie in Persia.

 

The headstones, some of them elaborately carved, suggest that the community was not only cultured but wealthy. The researchers have come to the tentative conclusion that the stones were produced by the same workshop that produced the tombstones of the ruling family of the region, the Orbelians, whose family cemetery was also examined by the expedition.

 

In addition, the ornamentation of the tombstones suggests a measure of comfortable assimilation within Armenian society. The designs chosen, while rooted in Jewish art, also conform with those used in Armenian Christian tombstones. "It is as if the person ordering the tombstone was shown the repertoire of the local workshop and selected symbols that resonated deeply with Jewish iconography and decoration," Stone and Amit wrote.

 

The period in question is one in which the region enjoyed its great flourishing in antiquity. It had been spared the ravages of the Mongol invasion in 1236 by the judicious diplomacy of the Orbelian family and witnessed an influx of people fleeing the invaders. This influx apparently included Jews from other parts of the region. Hopes of finding the community's synagogue are slim since the ancient village is entirely covered by the modern.

 

The excavations have uncovered the remains of a self-confident Jewish community well-rooted in its own heritage and in Armenian society and it is reasonable to assume that it was not the only one in Armenia. The cemetery's discovery has led to a reexamination of Armenian historical sources which has turned up references to Jewish communities at several other locations in Armenia.

 

Stone is contemplating possible future surveys and excavations at these locations. "All of these pieces are starting to come together and make a picture," he says. "We're not there yet."

 

An American Armenian foundation, the Charles and Aganes Kazarian Eternal Fund, has joined in the sponsorship of the project together with the Ben-Zvi Institute, the Hebrew University, the Israel Antiquities Authority and the Foundation for Biblical Archaeology.

 

Although the Israeli participants returned home after the May dig, excavations have continued by the Armenian archaeologists who keep their Israeli colleagues apprised of finds. Study of Armenian historical texts for references to an ancient Jewish presence also continue.

 

The region's energetic bishop, Abraham Mkrtchtyan, first notified Stone of the site, after the Hebrew inscriptons were called to his attention. He is reportedly contemplating the establishment of a museum, which would draw Jewish visitors to the area.

 

In any case, the discovery of the Jewish character of the cemetery at Eghegis has added a new strand to the rich texture of Jewish history.

[khodja]

It gets better. Dr. Yepiskoposyan's advanced DNA studies reveal WHERE some of these Jews went, right into the Armenian genepool. I guess that AR and his ilk will run staright to the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in Bethesda to undergo gene therapy to rid themselves of their Jewish genes. It is not as easy as cutting off an arm or a leg. These genes can be found in every cell of your body. I am laughing so hard I am ready to fall out of my chair.

[anoush.]

What are you soooooooo amused about? It is obvious you are projecting your own inadequacies and failures onto Armenians. While a very, very, very small amount of Armenians acted badly mixing with jews, most did NOT and remain without the taint of genocidal genes.

[Guest Fadi]

LOL... I told that I will not answer Anoush anymore... so if I answer I would be a liar... so I ask you Azat since its your thread... do you premit that I lie on your thread ?

[anoush.]

Again, how many times do I have to tell you, say it to my face. Not on the Net KKKoward!

[khodja]

Anoush,

 

You do not know what you are talking about. The highest percentages of FMF disease are found in Armenians and Oriental (Middle-Eastern Jews), approximately 25%, while Arabs and Turks it is approximately 5%. Also Kohen gene is found in Armenians is 1/3 of that found in Jews. We do not know yet when or how, but there is some kind of significant tie here.