Mazhak

[Arpa]

You may want ro review this before read the rest.

http://armenians.com/forum/index.php?showt...t=0entry55180

 

Mazhak/Kesaria

Some of the common names; Mazhaq, Kayseri, Ghayseri, Caesaria

A city in what was once known as Cappadocia, at the convergence of the River Alis(Kizil Irmak)and the Karasu stream.

It has been a Cappadocian city since antiquity. Acccording to Khorenatsi King Aram of the Armenians assigned his brother Mshak as governor to that city hence the traditional Armenian name Mazhak. According to Greek legend the city was founded by Ariarat IV during the 2nd millennium BC. During the 6th c BC the the Medes (marastantsis) invaded the city kingdom , and later the Seleucians did the same. During the 3rd c BC the city gained its independence once again ruled by the Ariarat dynasty. At different times the city was also known as Eusebia. In the year 17 AD Mazhak became a province of the Roman empire and it was renamed in honor of Caesar Caius Julius Octavian as simply Caesaria. In the 1022 the Byzantine emperor Basil II granted the city to Prine David Artsruni of Sebastia who in turn granted the city to his son in law Gagik II Bagratuni. In 1065 KIng Gagik Abasian to save the city (I think we are talking about Ani here)from Seljuk attacks granted the country to the Byzantian emperor Lucas (1059-1067) for which he received the City of Mazhak back. Due to this many Armenians moved to Kesaria, but in 1073 the Seljuks attacked and conquered it. During the 11th c. the Armenian population reached its highest level , so much so that an Armenian diocese of Mazhak was created. During this time Kesaria also reached its zenith of prosperity as it became a main hub of trade for all the merchants from Kilikia, Assyria, Constantinople, Trabzon etc. (Now do you see why the Kesaratsis are also know as Armenian Jews? Remember all those jokes about them?) Even if the city hd always been densely populated, during the 12th and 13th c their numbers had so grown, including the Armenians that the Catholikoi would be installed and enthroned in Mazhak. Of the some 60,000 inhabitants in 1915 20,000 were Armenian.

It would be extraneous to state that the Armenians of Kesaria were prosperous and very entrepreunorial. They still are even here in America. Of course the King of Apukht( some may know it as Basturma) is an Armenian of Pougkeepsie NY

 

Of course I would be amiss not to mention that Mazhak has some very important Armenian connections besides the above mentioned.

 

Grigor the Illuminator was spirited as an infant to Kesaria when his father Anak was assassinated, that is where he became a Christian and was consecrated as Bishop.

[bellthecat]

The king Gagik you mentioned was king of Kars, not Ani. Actually the Byzantine city of Caesarea/Eusebia was on a different site, closer to the mountain. But since Kayseri is now so big the suburbs of the city are not starting to cover the old city site, of which some city walls still remain.

[bellthecat]

...that should read "now starting to cover"

[Caucasian]

Now Kayseri can't get large through the south no more.

 

Anybody know about Pinarbasi or Develi???

[Arpa]

Let us revisit and revive some old threads that died prematurely. Lets see if we can add or amend it.

I was leafing Chamic’s History of Armenia , a very disjointed narrative, when I ran into …

Mazhak, Mshak, Mishak, Mosho

Also see#31 here where I had quoted and transcribed Mikayel Chamich(ian). **

http://hyeforum.com/index.php?showtopic=9498&&page=2

Here is the PDF of that site.****

http://books.google.com/books?id=YUQ-AAAAcAAJ&pg=PA19&lpg=PA19&dq=mishak+moshok&source=bl&ots=bwBng8VDyD&sig=-I6_IlTiMPR0zlLatMSz-di-Me8&hl=en&sa=X&ei=nR5lUsOmAujc4APkjYGoBg&ved=0CC4Q6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=mishak%20moshok&f=false

BTW That hebrew sounding Mishak /Mshak is known as Misak in Armenian

 

MISAK =From Hebrew name Mešak. The corresponding surname is Misakyan.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shadrach,_Meshach,_and_Abednego

If we read the above site, down to the Etymology , we will see that those names are in fact from Aramaic, and their meanings..

 

Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego are men recorded in the book of Daniel Chapters 1–3, known for their exclusive devotion to God. In particular, they are known for being saved by divine intervention from the Babylonian execution of being burned alive in a fiery furnace. They were three …

 

NB. I can’r find it now. Was it by BTC, Steve Sim? Sometime ago I read, I think it was here that the Greeks referred to Mazhak as mazaki, maziki or some such. It is because in the Greek there is neither J nor ZH, the reason why they pronounce the Armenian dish Jajuk/jajukh as tsatsiki/zaziki.

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

Also made with Swiss Chard/Banjar

http://armenianfoodrecipes.com/swiss-chard-jajukh

http://georgefamily.net/food/?p=69

**Was his original surname Shamishmshian, shams/shamsh*** meaning sun in Aramaic? Note where the CH is pronounced as SH in French.

*** in American Armenian lingo Chamich means negro. See the movie A raisin in the Sun.

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

**** As above URL , my hrd copy is a translation into 17^th c. English by a Johannes Avdall (Abdalian?). I found him. His name was Hovannes Avdalyants, born in Shiraz, Iran 1803-1870- died in Calcutta, Member of the Asiatic Society of Bengal printed in Calcutta (Kolkatta)., 1827. AD . I wish I could see the Armenian version that Mikayel wrote, and spelled those names. Of course, as expected Chamich was very much biblio-biased, going all the way of we being the progeny of that foolish buffoon Noah.

http://www.worldcat.org/identities/np-avdaliants,%20jean

[Arpa]

And while we're at it revisit this

 

http://hyeforum.com/index.php?showtopic=32814&page=1&&do=findComment&comment=279257

Where is Liz Chater?

Edited October 21, 2013 by Arpa