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50-471: The name Artsruni contains the ending -uni , which is widespread in old Armenian family names. The early Armenian historian Movses Khorenatsi derives the name from artsui ' eagle ' ( արծուի , alt. artsiv ). He implies that the Artsrunis carried standards with eagles on them and makes reference to a legend from Hadamakert (the center of the Artsrunis' home district of Aghbak) in which

100-453: A bird protects a sleeping boy from the rain and sun; this is presumed to be a legend about the Artsrunis' ancestor (Sanasar, according to Manuk Abeghian ) involving an eagle. James Russell notes that the eagle was a totemic animal for the Artsrunis and connects the dynasty's name with Urartian Arṣibini⁠ , which is attested as the name of an Urartian king's horse and may derive from Armenian artsui . On this basis, Russell suggests that

150-519: A history of Armenia, especially the biographies of Armenian kings and the origins of the Armenian nakharar families. Armenian historian Artashes Matevosyan placed Movses' completion of History to the year 474  CE based on his research on the Chronicle by the sixth-century Armenian historian Atanas Taronatsi. One of his primary reasons for taking up Sahak Bagratuni's request is given in

200-636: A marvelous speech at the dinner table. One of the Catholicos' students was able to identify Movses as a person Gyut had been searching for; it was soon understood that Gyut was one of Movses' former classmates and friends. Gyut embraced Movses brought his friend back from seclusion and appointed him to be a bishop in Bagrevan . Serving as a bishop, Movses was approached by Prince Sahak Bagratuni (died in 482 during Charmana battle against Persian army), who, having heard of Movses' reputation, asked him to write

250-476: A part of a general trend in those years to reexamine critically classical sources, Khorenatsi's History was cast into doubt. The conclusions reached by Alfred von Gutschmid ushered in the " hypercritical phase" of the study of Khorenatsi's work. Many European and Armenian scholars writing at the turn of the twentieth century downplayed its importance as a historical source and dated the History to sometime in

300-480: A very ancient period until the death of the historian. His History served as a textbook to study the history of Armenia until the eighteenth century. Movses's history also gives a rich description of the oral traditions that were popular among the Armenians of the time, such as the romance story of Artashes and Satenik and the birth of the god Vahagn . Movses lived for several more years, and he died sometime in

350-738: A wedding ... and instead, I found myself grieving at the foot of our teachers' graves ... I did not even arrive in time to see their eyes close nor hear them speak their final words. To further complicate their problems, the atmosphere in Armenia that Movses and the other students had returned to was one that was extremely hostile and they were viewed with contempt by the native population. While later Armenian historians blamed this on an ignorant populace, Sassanid Persian policy and ideology were also at fault, since its rulers "could not tolerate highly educated young scholars fresh from Greek centers of learning". Given this atmosphere and persecution by

400-449: Is the Book of Letters (sixth century), which contains a short theological treatise by "Movses Khorenatsi". The third possible early reference is in a tenth-eleventh centuries manuscript containing a list of dates attributed to Athanasius (Atanas) of Taron (sixth century): under the year 474, the list has "Moses of Chorene, philosopher and writer". Beginning in the nineteenth century, as

450-690: The Armenian alphabet . Moreover, he claimed to have written his history at the behest of Prince Sahak of the Bagratuni dynasty . He is recognized by the Armenian Apostolic Church as one of the Holy Translators . The exact time period during which Movses lived and wrote has been the subject of some debate among scholars since the nineteenth century, with some scholars dating him to the seventh to ninth centuries rather than

500-604: The Assyrian king Sennacherib ( r.  705–681 BC ). It mirrors the Bagratuni claim of Davidic descent and the Mamikonian claim of descent from the royal Han dynasty and is usually interpreted as a piece of genealogical mythology. The Armenian historian Movses Khorenatsi is the first to mention this claim. This tradition likely developed among those houses after the Christianization of Armenia in

550-521: The Bible according to the Koine Greek original, or translating it into Armenian a second time, they decided to send Movses and several of their other students to Alexandria , Egypt —one of the great centers of learning in the world at the time—to master Hellenic learning and the literary arts. The students left Armenia sometime between 432 and 435. First they went to Edessa where they studied at

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600-555: The 8th century, it fell under Arab control. Many rebellions took place in Vaspurakan. In 885, within the territory of Kingdom of Armenia , it became free. During most of its history, it was ruled by the Ardzruni dynasty, which first managed to create a principality in the area. At its greatest extent Vaspurakan comprised the lands between Lake Van and Lake Urmia (also known as Kaputan ) in 908. In 908 Gagik I of Vaspurakan

650-505: The Armenian province of Taron or Turuberan . Some sources call Movses Taronatsi ('of Taron'). However, Malkhasyants contends that if Movses had been born in Khorni, he would have been known as Movses Khornetsi or Khoronatsi. Malkhasyants instead proposed as Khorenatsi's birthplace the village of Khoreay ( Խորեայ ) in the Haband district of the province of Syunik , which is mentioned by

700-503: The Artsrunis may have had Urartian ancestors. Hrach Martirosyan writes that this connection of Artsruni with artsui ' eagle ' is "is quite attractive as far as the mythical context [surrounding the Artsrunis] is concerned" but is unlikely to be a true etymology. He instead proposes that Artsruni is a patronymic deriving from an unattested name * Arcr-ēš , meaning "having swift horses". The Artsrunis claimed descent from

750-603: The Artsrunis may have had Urartian ancestors. Vrezh Vardanyan writes that the dynasty was of purely local, Armenian origin and that they are mentioned in Urartian inscriptions as Arṣuniuni and lived southeast of Lake Van at that time. According to the genealogist and historian Cyril Toumanoff , as well as historian M. Chahin, the Artsruni family were an offshoot of the earlier Orontids , Toumanoff, following Nicholas Adontz and Josef Markwart , suggests that Mithrobarzanes,

800-609: The Artsrunis obscured their Orontid origins with a genealogical myth drawn from the Bible. During the reign of the Arsacid dynasty over Armenia , the Artsrunis ruled the princely estates of Greater and Lesser Aghbak in Vaspurakan (around modern Başkale , Turkey), southeast of Lake Van , gradually annexing the surrounding territory. In the middle of the 4th century the family was deposed. Chavash survived, and recovered power. In 369

850-625: The Bagratuni family" then these events should have been central theme of his history; the skilful handling of which brought the Bagratid pre-eminence. ... The ecclesiastical interests do not point to the eighth century. There is no echo of the Chalcedonian controversy which engaged the Armenians from 451 to 641 when the ecclesiastical unity formulated by the council of Theodosiopolis was renounced. Gagik Sargsyan , an Armenian scholar of

900-606: The Byzantine emperor Basil II in return for his entire kingdom. He and 14,000 of his retainers settled in the Theme of Sebasteia , while the Kingdom of Vaspurakan became the Byzantine theme of Vasprakania, which lasted for fifty years until 1071. The Artsrunis were patrons of the arts, which, as Toumanoff states, is evidenced in the "splendid tenth-century monuments of architecture and of fresco and miniature painting especially in

950-459: The Classics and a leading biographer of Khorenatsi, also criticized Thomson for his "anachronistic hypercriticism" and for stubbornly rehashing and "even exaggerating the statements once put forward" by the late nineteenth and early twentieth-century scholars, particularly Grigor Khalatiants (1858–1912). Sargsyan noted that Thomson, in condemning Khorenatsi's failure to mention his sources, ignored

1000-459: The Persians, Movses went into hiding in a village near Vagharshapat and lived in relative seclusion for several decades. Gyut, Catholicos of All Armenians (461–471), one day met Movses while traveling through the area and, unaware of his true identity, invited him to supper with several of his students. Movses was initially silent, but after Gyut's students encouraged him to speak, Movses made

1050-481: The conclusions of the scholars of the hypercritical school and placed Khorenatsi back in the fifth century. Additionally, several of Khorenatsi's claims and references have been proven by contemporary ethnographic and archaeological research. During the second half of the twentieth century, the arguments made by the hypercritical school were revived by a number of scholars in Western academia. Robert W. Thomson ,

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1100-581: The dispute over Khorenatsi's dating continued and that "no final agreement on this subject has yet been reached" at the time. Almost immediately, Thomson's arguments were criticized and challenged by a host of scholars both in and outside Armenia. Vrej Nersessian , the curator of the Christian Middle East Section at the British Library , took issue with many of Thomson's characterizations, including his later dating of

1150-501: The early 4th century, drawing from the biblical account according to which Sennacherib's sons Adramelech and Sharezer fled to Armenia after murdering their father (Isaiah 37:38). Khorenatsi writes that the Armenian leader Skayordi settled one of the princes, Sanasar (biblical Sharezer), on the mountain of Sim (in the region of Sasun ) and from him descended the Artsrunis and Gnunis. On this basis of his connection of Artsruni with Urartian Arṣibini⁠ (see above ), Russell suggests that

1200-471: The fact that "an antique or medieval author may have had his own rules of mentioning the sources distinct from the rules of modern scientific ethics". Thomson's allegation of Khorenatsi's plagiarism and supposed distortion of sources was also countered by scholars who contended that Thomson was "treating a medieval author with the standards" of twentieth-century historiography and pointed out that numerous classical historians, Greek and Roman alike, engaged in

1250-453: The fifth. Movses gives autobiographical details about himself in his History of the Armenians . Later Armenian authors provide additional details about Khorenatsi's life, although according to scholar Stepan Malkhasyants , these are not reliable. Movses's epithet, Khorenatsi, suggests that he was born in a place called Khoren or Khorean. According to one older view, Movses was born in the village of Khorni (also called Khoron or Khoronk) in

1300-420: The first part of Patmutyun Hayots , or History of the Armenians : "For even though we are small and very limited in numbers and have been conquered many times by foreign kingdoms, yet too, many acts of bravery have been performed in our land, worthy of being written and remembered, but of which no one has bothered to write down." His work is a first historical record that covered the whole history of Armenia from

1350-557: The former holder of the chair in Armenian Studies at Harvard University and the translator of several classical Armenian works, became the most vocal critic of Khorenatsi with the 1978 publication of his English translation of History of the Armenians . Thomson labeled Khorenatsi an "audacious, and mendacious, faker" and "a mystifier of the first order". He wrote that Khorenatsi's account contained various anachronisms and inventions. In 2000, historian Nina Garsoïan wrote that

1400-464: The late 490s  CE . Three possible early references to Movses in other sources are usually identified. The first one is in Ghazar Parpetsi 's History of the Armenians (about 495 or 500 A.D.), where the author details the persecution of several notable Armenian individuals, including the "blessed Movses the philosopher", identified by some scholars as Movses Khorenatsi. The second one

1450-543: The local libraries. Then they moved towards Jerusalem and Alexandria. After studying in Alexandria for seven years, Movses and his classmates returned to Armenia, only to find that Mesrop and Sahak had died. Movses expressed his grief in a lament at the end of History of the Armenians : While they [Mesrop and Sahak] awaited our return to celebrate their student's accomplishments [i.e., Movses'], we hastened from Byzantium , expecting that we would be dancing and singing at

1500-524: The modern criticism of Khorenatsi to the misinterpretation of interpolations into the work from later times. Today, Movses Khorenatsi's work is recognized as an important source for the research of Urartian and early Armenian history. It was Movses Khorenatsi's account of the ancient city of Van with its cuneiform inscriptions which lead the Société Asiatique of Paris to finance the expedition of Friedrich Eduard Schulz , who there discovered

1550-420: The name include "having a special position" or "royal domain". Armenologist Heinrich Hübschmann considered it likely that the name originated as a shortening of the koghmn Vaspurakan Gndin ("land of the army/troop of nobles") mentioned by the 7th-century historian Sebeos . Some scholars believe that Vaspurakan is mentioned by Strabo as Basoropeda ( Ancient Greek : Βασοροπέδα ). Hübschmann argues that if

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1600-622: The palace and the church of Aghtamar ". These two constructions were built on the order of Khachik Gagik II. In the ninth and tenth centuries, a member of the house, Tovma Artsruni , wrote The History of the House of Artsruni . Umberto Eco introduced the character of Artsruni, a nobleman and alchemist in Cilicia, in his fantastic novel Baudolino . Movses Khorenatsi Movses Khorenatsi ( c. 410–490s AD; Armenian : Մովսէս Խորենացի , pronounced [mɔvˈsɛs χɔɾɛnɑˈtsʰi] )

1650-494: The previously unknown Urartian language . The following works are also attributed to Movses: Vaspurakan Vaspurakan ( Armenian : Վասպուրական , Western Armenian pronunciation: Vasbouragan ) was the eighth province of the ancient kingdom of Armenia , which later became an independent kingdom during the Middle Ages , centered on Lake Van . Located in what is now southeastern Turkey and northwestern Iran ,

1700-477: The province more frequently, especially after the emergence of the Artsruni -ruled principality in Vaspurakan. From the 9th century BC, Vaspurakan was part of Urartu . In the 6th century BC, it became part of Satrapy of Armenia . From 189 BC, it became one of Greater Armenia 's provinces. Then it became part of Arsacid dynasty of Armenia . After the division of 387 , it was included into Persian Armenia . In

1750-458: The province was already commonly called Vaspurakan by Strabo's time (1st century BC-1st century AD), then it should also be found in the works of the early Armenian historians, but it is not mentioned by most of them. Movses Khorenatsi (traditionally dated to the 5th century) is the first to refer to the province by that name, and only on one occasion. Later Armenian historians (e.g. Łewond , Hovhannes Draskhanakerttsi , Tovma Artsruni ) refer to

1800-662: The region is considered to be the cradle of Armenian civilization. The name Vaspurakan is of Iranian origin. It is related of the Middle Persian word vāspuhr , meaning "senior, heir, prince". In Middle Persian, vāspuhrakān referred to the top nobility of the Sasanian Empire . In Armenian, vaspurakan was also rarely used as an adjective meaning "noble"; for example, vaspurakan gund ("army/troop of nobles"). Thus, Vaspurakan can be translated as "noble land" or "land of princes". Alternative interpretations of

1850-524: The same 8th century, the Bagratid dynasty , re-established the monarch of Armenia, and the Artsrunis were "among its most powerful vassals and rivals". When the territory of historical Armenia was, about a century later, succeeded by several subkingdoms (each of whom were rule by "lesser princes"), the area of Vaspurakan came to be ruled in by the Artsrunis, who, in 908, received their investiture from their Abbasid suzerains. Thus, Khatcḥik-Gagik II Artsruni

1900-534: The same practice. Aram Topchyan, then a research fellow at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem of Armenian Studies, agreed and noted that it was odd that Thomson would fault Khorenatsi for failing to mention his sources because this was an accepted practice among all classical historians. Historian Albert Stepanyan notes that "some skepticism remains regarding the person and work of Khorenatsi", but he affirms Khorenatsi's fifth-century dating and attributes

1950-451: The seventh to ninth centuries. Stepan Malkhasyants, an Armenian philologist and expert of Classical Armenian literature, likened this early critical period from the late nineteenth to early twentieth centuries to a "competition", whereby one scholar attempted to outperform the other in their criticism of Khorenatsi. In the early decades of the twentieth century, scholars such as F. C. Conybeare , Manuk Abeghian , and Malkhasyants rejected

2000-513: The state was led by Meruzhan Artsruni who guided Persian troops to Armenia, exchanged Christianity for Mazdaism , and defeated the General ( sparapet ) Mamikonian . The latter recovered power soon after, however, and Meruzhan was killed. Around 772 the Artsruni presided over the families of Amatuni , Rshtuni , Teruni of Daroynk (before a possession of the Bagratuni ) and ruled the regions of Maku, Artaz, Great Zab Valley and Van river. In

2050-402: The thirteenth-century historian Stepanos Orbelian . According to this view, the name Khoreay developed from the earlier unattested form Khorean . Accepting Khorenatsi's claimed fifth-century dating, Malkhasyants proposes 410 as the approximate year of his birth, arguing that he probably would have been a young man of about 22 or 23 upon journeying to Alexandria , where Movses writes that he

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2100-595: The viceroy of Tigranes the Great in Sophene in 69 BC, may have been the earliest attested member of the family. Mithrobarzanes , or more precisely Mithrobuzanes , corresponds to Armenian Me(h)ruzhan , which was a common name among members of the Artsruni dynasty. Mithrobuzanes was also the name of the successor of Zariadres , a king of Sophene in the 2nd century BC who is thought to have been an Orontid. Markwart, Adontz and Toumanoff hypothesized that Mithrobuzanes,

2150-459: The viceroy of Tigranes, was a member of the Orontid branch which ruled Sophene as independent kings until Tigranes annexed Sophene to Greater Armenia. The Artsrunis are supposed to have ruled continued to rule Sophene, giving up their royal title but receiving the title of bdeashkh ( vitaxa , 'viceroy' or 'margrave'), Then, according to Toumanoff, after the adoption of Christianity in Armenia,

2200-461: The writing and his contention that Khorenatsi was merely an apologist work for the princely Bagratuni dynasty: If so, how does one explain then Moses's complete preoccupation with the events preceding A.D. 440 and his silence regarding the events leading up the Arab incursions and occupation of Armenia between 640–642? Moreover, if the definite purpose of the History was for "boosting the reputation of

2250-502: Was a prominent Armenian historian from late antiquity and the author of the History of the Armenians . Movses's History of the Armenians was the first attempt at a universal history of Armenia and remains the only known general account of early Armenian history. It traces Armenian history from its origins to the fifth century, during which Movses claimed to have lived. His history had an enormous impact on Armenian historiography and

2300-603: Was conquered by Seljuq Turks . Later it was ruled by Ahlatshahs , Ayyubids and Sultanate of Rum successively. In the beginning of the 13th century, part of Vaspurakan was liberated by the Zakarians , but was then conquered by the Mongols , Seljuks , Kara Koyunlu , Iranian Safavids , and then by the Ottoman Turks (though Nader Shah regained it during his short lived Afsharid dynasty ). Vaspurakan's territory

2350-778: Was recognized King of Armenia by the Abbasid Caliph in competition to the Bagratids , but soon he was reconciled with Ashot II , who recognized him as the King of Vaspurakan . In 1021, Seneqerim Ardzruni gave Vaspurakan to the Byzantine Empire , receiving estates in Sebasteia and surroundings in exchange. After Vaspurakan was ceded to the Byzantine Empire ( Vasprakia Βασπρακία, in Byzantine Greek ), it

2400-656: Was sent after the Council of Ephesus of 431. Malkhasyants postulates that Khorenatsi received his initial education at the school in Syunik founded by Mesrop Mashtots , the creator of the Armenian alphabet , before being sent to Vagharshapat to study directly under Mashtots and Catholicos Sahak Partev . After the Council of Ephesus, when Mashtots and Sahak were correcting the Classical Armenian translation of

2450-496: Was the first of the Artsrunis to rule Vaspurakan under Abbasid suzerainty. Gagik I of Vaspurakan claimed the title of " King of Armenia " from the Bagratuni dynasty until his death in 936 or 943. In the beginning of the 11th century, the Artsruni settled westwards in Cappadocia, retreating from eastern invaders. In 1021, Senekerim-Hovhannes of Vaspurakan was given Sebaste , Evdokia , and possibly Amasia as fiefdom from

2500-419: Was used and quoted extensively by later medieval Armenian authors. He is called the "father of Armenian history" ( patmahayr ) in Armenian, and is sometimes referred to as the "Armenian Herodotus ". Movses's history is also valued for its unique material on the old oral traditions in Armenia before its conversion to Christianity. Movses identified himself as a young disciple of Mesrop Mashtots , inventor of

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