This article examines an early Armenian parabiblical text concerning Noah preserved in manuscript M2679 (981 CE), the oldest surviving paper manuscript in Armenian. The text provides a distinctive interpretation of the biblical name-midrash on Noah found in Genesis 5:29, demonstrating how Armenian exegetical traditions both preserved and transformed biblical source material. In addition to presenting a comparative analysis of the Armenian text and its reading of its biblical source, this study reveals significant hermeneutical aspects of early medieval Armenian biblical interpretation.

Abstract The article presents eight instances in which early inscriptions preserve spellings that are not in accordance with “classical” Armenian norms. It is intended to be of service to those interested in ancient Armenian orthography and phonetics.

This article presents the author’s main areas of interest within Armenian Studies, and his chief contributions to the discipline during his lifetime. These are: a. the investigation of the non-canonical, extra-biblical traditions relating to the Old Testament among the Armenians; b. the establishment of the Association Internationale des études arméniennes; c. Armenian epigraphy and palaeography; d. the Album of Armenian Palaeography ; e. computer implementation of Armenian; f. the text of the Armenian Old Testament; g. the Armenians in Jerusalem; h. the Jewish cemetery at the village of Eghegis in Siwnik‘ (Syunik) province: and, finally, h. translation of mediaeval Armenian poetry.

Excavations in the Musrara neighborhood of Jerusalem uncovered four Armenian inscriptions within a monastic complex founded in the fifth–sixth centuries CE. The inscriptions were found on a mosaic floor, on tombstones and on a large pottery bowl, and together with the Birds Mosaic, they probably formed part of one monastic complex, in which Armenians played a significant role. As there is no hint in the historical sources of the existence of this complex, the archaeological discovery contributes new historical information concerning the Christian, and particularly Armenian settlement in Jerusalem in the seventh century CE.

This article presents diplomatic editions and analysis of three additional manuscript witnesses to the Armenian work Questions of St. Gregory, supplementing previously published editions of Recensions I and II. The study examines manuscripts M (Matenadaran 2546, 14th century), JM (Jeselsohn Collection 34, 1353), and W (Vienna Mekhitarist 170, 1500-1524), which represent some of the earliest preserved copies of this question-and-answer text dealing with eschatological themes and biblical interpretation. Manuscript M provides an additional witness to Recension I and preserves a complete leaf of material lost from the previously published Jerusalem manuscript, while JM34, dating to 1353, represents the earliest known copy and belongs to Recension II. The Vienna manuscript W170 contains yet another variant form of Recension II. Through diplomatic transcription, translation, and comparative analysis, the article demonstrates the complex transmission history of this popular Armenian theological work, which found widespread resonance among Armenians from the sixteenth to eighteenth centuries. The study contributes to understanding Armenian scriptorial practices, textual variations, and the adaptation of biblical and parabiblical traditions for local ecclesiastical contexts, while laying groundwork for future comprehensive editions of this significant text.

The aim of this paper is to commence seeking an answer to the following question: What function did the developed parabiblical (pseudepigraphical) literature play in medieval Armenian culture? The question is approached by the examination of markers in the texts that might show the use to which they were put and reveal the contexts in which the various types of literature were composed, or preserved, or developed. The issues of folk tales and oral transmission are raised. The use of iconographic sources and their relationship to literary documents, oral or written, are investigated.

The article presents the annotated English translations of two Armenian medieval poems: Frik's "On Adam" and "The Rose and the Nightingale" by Aṙak‘el of Bałēš. Both translations are prefaced by a short bio-bibliographical note on their authors and a brief discussion of the poetic devices used in the poems, as well as of their content, themes, and literary references to other Armenian works.

The article presents the annotated English translations of two Armenian medieval poems: On Adam by Frik and The Rose and the Nightingale by Aṙak‘el of Bałēš. Both translations are prefaced by a short bio-bibliographical note on their authors and a brief discussion of the poetic devices used in the poems, as well as of their content, themes, and literary references to other Armenian works.

This article examines the relationship between Enoch's ontological state and the types of information that are revealed to him. Concentrating on two Enochic works, the Book of the Watchers and the Book of Dream Visions, this question is pursued both internally, that is within the works, and in a comparative fashion. Differences were discerned in the presentation of the seer in these two works.

Pilgrimage to the Holy Land was another channel of Armenian-Jewish relations. This chapter discusses its antiquity and character, the relations between Armenia and the Holy Land, the pilgrimages in the fourth through seventh centuries, the pilgrim graffiti as evidence for antiquity, and the oldest Armenian writing in Nazareth and the Sinai. In this view, noteworthy information is found in the Armenian History by Sebēos (seventh century) who reports on correspondence between high ecclesiastical authorities in Jerusalem and Armenia. The chapter also examines the references to Armenians and Armenia in Ancient Jewish literature (the Talmud, mediaeval and later sources, the Judeo-Arabic Geniza sources) and Khazar letters.

The trade routes of Medieval Armenia show how international traffic between the Pontus and Central Asia passed through Armenia, which relates to Jewish presence. A number of historical sources for Jews in Armenia are presented. There were Jewish settlements in Dvin (seventh through ninth centuries), Vaspurakan (ninth century), Kapan (twelfth century), Vayoc‘ Jor (thirteenth and fourteenth centuries), and elsewhere. Furthermore, the recently discovered Jewish Cemetery in Ełegis (1266–1346) is discussed in the chapter—the find, its inscriptions, the decoration, its Persian origin, its character, and its implied relationship with the cultural milieu—as well as why the Jews supposedly disappear from the sources in the fourteenth century.

The references in the Bible to Ararat and the interpretations and location of the Mountains of Ararat are carefully considered in light of evidence from the Greco-Roman world, the Bible versions, Josephus, Byzantine Chronicles, and the Armenian sources, particularly P‘awstos. Jubilees and Qumran evidence on Mount Lubar is discussed. Other biblical passages that have been taken to refer to Armenia and the Caucasus are analyzed, including Isaiah 37:38 and Jeremiah 51:27 as they are interpreted in the Greek and Aramaic translations. The tradition of the city built after the exit from the Ark in Jewish and Armenian sources is presented, the reference to “Land of Ararat” in 4 Ezra, and the competing tradition of the Ark in Apamea.

It has long been the general opinion that there was no significant Jewish community in Armenia throughout the centuries. This book examines the evidence from written sources to archaeological discoveries and asserts that there were Jews in Armenia in the ancient and mediaeval periods. Tigran the Great transferred Jewish exiles to Armenia in the first century BCE. They settled in the chief cities of the land and were still there in the fourth century CE. There were Jews in the capital city, Dvin, in the late ninth century, and Jewish tombstone inscriptions from southern Armenia witness a community there during the Seljuk and Mongol conquests. Thus, the conventional picture must be changed.

The trade routes of Medieval Armenia show how international traffic between the Pontus and Central Asia passed through Armenia, which relates to Jewish presence. A number of historical sources for Jews in Armenia are presented. There were Jewish settlements in Dvin (seventh through ninth centuries), Vaspurakan (ninth century), Kapan (twelfth century), Vayoc‘ Jor (thirteenth and fourteenth centuries), and elsewhere. Furthermore, the recently discovered Jewish Cemetery in Ełegis (1266–1346) is discussed in the chapter—the find, its inscriptions, the decoration, its Persian origin, its character, and its implied relationship with the cultural milieu—as well as why the Jews supposedly disappear from the sources in the fourteenth century.

In this paper, I seek to isolate and seek out criteria for understanding the social functioning of esotericism in the period of the Second Temple. In addition to clarifying what is meant by “esoteric,” several other terms are considered: mystery and secret being the chief among them. The understanding of the terminology in studies of Western esotericism is investigated from a comparative perspective. The outcome of this research is then confronted with some esoteric groups of the Second Temple Period such as Therapeutai and Essenes. For the Essenes, the advantage of having both insider and outsider reports of their activity is stressed.

The first Armenian literary source to mention Jews in Armenia is the history ascribed to P‘awstos Buzand (fifth century CE). The long passage that refers to multitudes of Jewish families concerns the invasion of the country by Persian troops in 368/9, when almost all significant Armenian cities were ruined and their inhabitants, exclusively “Armenians and Jews,” were taken to Persia. Though P‘awstos’s information should not be accepted at face value, it is clear that if the Jewish settlement in Armenia were not substantial, he would not have mentioned it at all. One should also suppose that the Armenian word hreay means both “Jew” and “Judaizer.” P‘awstos says those Jews had been brought to Armenia from Palestine by the Armenian king Tigran II. Greco-Roman sources, too, seem to corroborate this fact (though in relevant passages they do not specifically refer to “Jews”). Furthermore, it seems that, even after 368/9, a considerable number of Jews continued living in Armenia. There is evidence in later sources, both Armenian and foreign, about Jewish inhabitants in Armenia in the Middle Ages. The most striking corroboration of the presence of Jews in medieval Armenia is the recently discovered Jewish cemetery of the thirteenth–fourteenth centuries in the village Ełegis of the Vayoc‘ Jor district of the Republic of Armenia.