KHACHQAR

[Arpa]

ԽԱՉՔԱՐ

Is it Cross Stone or Stone Cross?

History and Tradition Of Khachqar.

This is an historical theme as it is cultural. The reason, in the English we write “an historical” is because in the Latin it is “istoria”(without the opening H, i.e “story”.

 

And, here they are, Khachatur and Little Khachatur/Khachik Karian;

 

http://www.armeniapedia.org/images/e/e0/Khachkar_carver_ijevan--dcp9338.jpg

 

 

http://www.armeniapedia.org/images/0/01/Khachkar_carving-dcp1712.jpg

 

 

Not having given it much thought, many of us just as I would have assumed that the history and tradition of the Khachkar would have gone at least to the year 301 AD. Not so. It seems.

Look below. Where we read that the earliest memory of it is from the 9th C (879 AD).*** Immediately after the Arab conquest.

Was the tradition a manifestation of “reaction” rather than “action”?

The History and Culture of the Khachkar.

 

Historic;

 

http://loosavor.org/pics/armenia/cemetery1/Noraduz,%20Khachkars_small.jpg

 

Modern;

 

http://www.armeniancatholic.org.au/common/khatchkar.jpg

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/d/dd/Prelacy_Khachkar_-_Baghdasar_Arzoumanian.JPG

 

 

Even though I have my opinion about Wiki-..., as we cannot see the author’s credentials and CV, yet this seems to be one of the better;

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khachkar

*** My take of it would be. In those days Armenia was very much influenced by Arab/Muslim culture. When they had their own rites of burial and entombment, and to differentiate ours we came up with the idea.

Note that Muslim tombs feature the “turbin” or some other ethno-religious symbol, at times the fez or the hijab/veil.

 

 

History

The first true khachkars appeared in the 9th century, during the time of Armenian revival after liberation from Arab rule. The oldest khachkar with a known date was carved in 879 (though earlier, cruder, examples exist). Erected in Garni, it is dedicated to queen Katranide, the wife of king Ashot I Bagratuni. The peak of the khachkar carving art was between the 12th and the 14th centuries. The art declined during the Mongol invasion at the end of the 14th century. It revived in the 16th and 17th centuries, but the artistic heights of the 14th century were never achieved again. Today, the tradition still remains, and one can still see khachkar carvers in some parts of Yerevan.[4]

About 40,000 khachkars survive today. Most of them are free standing, though those recording donations are usually built into monastery walls. The following three khachkars are believed to be the finest examples of the art form:

One in Geghard, carved in 1213, probably by Timot and Mkhitar

The Holy Redeemer khachkar in Haghpat (see gallery), carved in 1273 by Vahram A khachkar in Goshavank, carved in 1291 by Poghos 9see right).

A number of good examples have been transferred to the Historical Museum in Yerevan and beside the cathedral in Echmiadzin. The location in Armenia with the largest surviving collection of khachkars is the field of khachkars at Noraduz cemetery, on the western shore of the Lake Sevan, where an old graveyard with around 900 khachkars from various periods and of various styles can be seen. The largest collection in the world was formerly located in Julfa in the Nakhichevan Autonomous Republic of Azerbaijan until it was destroyed their government.

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PS. W will try and follow to see what Armenian sourcse say about itx.

Edited December 13, 2010 by Arpa

[Zartonk]

http://www.khachkar.am/images/news/Qolatak01.jpg

 

 

In July of 2006, while cataloging the monuments of the Artsakh region, dozens of new khachkars and tombstones were discovered near the village of Qolatak. Considerable among the artifacts is a three-dimensional cross composed of equal perpendicular lines enclosed in a ring. This motif is most often observed in the "High crosses" of the Celtic world (especially in Ireland), revealing a possible Armeno-Celtic cultural relationship in the Common Era. The 5th century cross is the first of its kind discovered in Armenia and may be traced to the nearby Metsaranits St. Hakop monastery.

 

The pieces of many early-Christian monuments were also discovered in the vicinity of the Tigranakert archeological site, including a pilaster with the ringed-cross design.

 

Khachkar.am

Edited December 14, 2010 by Zartonk

[Arpa]

As always an excellent find. Thank you Zartonk, we can always rely on you for bringing these well searched and researched very interesting informations.

In spite of my “religion”, my trepidation about the Wiki site, the above, my quote from the Wiki-Mickey- mouse site seems to be a verbatim translation from the Hanragitaran. The reason why I have my reservations about the Wiki site, which I have expressed on numerous occasions, is when we don’t know who the authors are, their credentials etc. For all I know they may be 12 year old high school dropouts. We saw a perfect example of this right here when one of our corespondents, obviously a very young person came back and announced triumphantly saying that they had just added an item at the Armenian Cuisine on Wiki, - “furkish coffee”? HUH!!! . Mercifully, in response to my vehement protestations someone must have re-edited it . We don’t see that entry anymore.

 

As to my reservations in re the Hanragitaran, better known as Հայկական Սովետական Հանրագիտարան/ Armenian Soviet Encyclopaedia. Yes, I can read that “compilation of trash”. It was initiated in 1974 and completed in 1986, several years before de-sovietization. That monograph about Khachkars is in volume 5, dated 1979. The reason why we don't see any reference to the Earthquake of 1988. Need we say more? Hence it is understandable (?) why it is treated in such a sloppy fashion., since in those days treating subjects like “khach/khachkar” may have earned one a one way ticket to Siberia, or “ee verin yerousaghem” . In addition, most of the entries in that piece of garbage aka “hanragitaran” seem to be translations from the Russkii Entsiklopetiya, with more than 50% of it devoted to the likes of “mehmet alioghlu “, member of the “party” since 1922.…blah, blah, blah. Perhaps if they remove the biographies of those sons of dogs then we may have more space for subjects like “khach” and “khachkar”.

End of my “sermon” of the day.

Once again, dear Zartonk, thank you for that wonderful site about Khachkar.am. It deserves a thorough study.

Khachkar.am

PS. One of the contributors/editors of the "hanragitaran" promised me in person that it was in the process of revision. OH YEAH!!! Why does that dog heydar aliev still have a full page biography? Is it in anticipation when aliev and serzhiev sargsovich once again become "kardash/brothers"?

Edited December 14, 2010 by Arpa