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101-509: The Armenian Quarter ( Armenian : Հայոց թաղ , Hayots t'agh ; Arabic : حارة الأرمن , Harat al-Arman ; Hebrew : הרובע הארמני , Ha-Rova ha-Armeni ) is one of the four sectors of the walled Old City of Jerusalem . Located in the southwestern corner of the Old City, it can be accessed through the Zion Gate and Jaffa Gate . It occupies an area of 0.126 km² (126 dunam ), which

202-529: A 2017 meeting with Lebanese President Michel Aoun that Jerusalem should be an " open city for the three monotheistic religions: Jewish, Christian, and Muslim, and that the religious rights of these peoples should be protected within Jerusalem." Aram I also rejected the United States recognition of Jerusalem as capital of Israel . At the 2000 Camp David Summit , U.S. President Bill Clinton proposed

303-520: A consistent Proto-Indo-European pattern distinct from Iranian, and that the inflectional morphology was different from that of Iranian languages. The hypothesis that Greek is Armenian's closest living relative originates with Holger Pedersen (1924), who noted that the number of Greek-Armenian lexical cognates is greater than that of agreements between Armenian and any other Indo-European language. Antoine Meillet (1925, 1927) further investigated morphological and phonological agreement and postulated that

404-678: A diocese in the 7th century AD. The patriarchate is the de facto administrator of the quarter and acts as a "mini- welfare state " for the approximately 2,000 Armenian residents. Though institutionally separate from the Greek Orthodox and Catholic Christians, the Armenians consider their quarter to be part of the Christian Quarter . The three Christian patriarchates of Jerusalem and the government of Armenia have publicly expressed their opposition to any political division of

505-700: A division of the Old City, according to which the Armenian Quarter would be put under de jure Israeli sovereignty along with the Jewish Quarter, while the Palestinians would be granted a "certain degree of sovereignty" over the Christian and Muslim Quarters. Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak conditionally embraced the proposal, while Arafat rejected. Yasser Arafat rejected the US proposal at

606-468: A loan from Armenian (compare to Armenian եւ yev , ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₁epi ). Other loans from Armenian into Urartian includes personal names, toponyms, and names of deities. Loan words from Iranian languages , along with the other ancient accounts such as that of Xenophon above, initially led some linguists to erroneously classify Armenian as an Iranian language. Scholars such as Paul de Lagarde and F. Müller believed that

707-575: A longstanding political solution to the Israeli–Palestinian conflict for Jerusalem has been cited as the main cause of the decrease in the number of Armenians in the Old City, which fell by almost half from 1,598 in 1967 to 790 in 2006. Meanwhile, the Muslim population increased from 16,681 to 27,500 and the Jewish population from 0 (after their expulsion under Jordanian rule) to 3,089. The exodus of

808-583: A national religion and Armenian monks settled in Jerusalem. Hence, it is considered the oldest living diaspora community outside the Armenian homeland . Gradually, the quarter developed around the St. James Monastery —which dominates the quarter—and took its modern shape by the 19th century. The monastery houses the Armenian Apostolic Church 's Jerusalem Patriarchate , which was established as

909-425: A network of schools where modern Armenian was taught, dramatically increased the rate of literacy (in spite of the obstacles by the colonial administrators), even in remote rural areas. The emergence of literary works entirely written in the modern versions increasingly legitimized the language's existence. By the turn of the 20th century both varieties of the one modern Armenian language prevailed over Grabar and opened

1010-642: A part of the Armenian Diaspora, since they have been living in their historical homeland for more than four thousand years. They are not considered part of the diaspora either by the Ministry of Diaspora Hranush Hakobyan : "Diaspora represents all the Armenians who live beyond the Armenian Highland. In this context, we have singled out the Armenians of Istanbul and those living on the territory of Western Armenia. Those people have inhabited

1111-550: Is 14% of the Old City's total. In 2007, it had a population of 2,424 (6.55% of Old City's total). In both criteria, it is comparable to the Jewish Quarter . The Armenian Quarter is separated from the Christian Quarter by David Street (Suq el-Bazaar) and from the Jewish Quarter by Habad Street (Suq el-Husur). The Armenian presence in Jerusalem dates back to the 4th century AD, when Armenia adopted Christianity as

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1212-552: Is an independent branch of the Indo-European languages . It is of interest to linguists for its distinctive phonological changes within that family. Armenian exhibits more satemization than centumization , although it is not classified as belonging to either of these subgroups. Some linguists tentatively conclude that Armenian, Greek (and Phrygian ), Albanian and Indo-Iranian were dialectally close to each other; within this hypothetical dialect group, Proto-Armenian

1313-561: Is clearly the dialect to be most closely related to Armenian. Eric P. Hamp (1976, 91) supports the Graeco-Armenian thesis and even anticipates a time "when we should speak of Helleno-Armenian" (meaning the postulate of a Graeco-Armenian proto-language). Armenian shares the augment and a negator derived from the set phrase in the Proto-Indo-European language * ne h₂oyu kʷid ("never anything" or "always nothing"),

1414-474: Is derived from Proto-Indo-European *h₂r̥ǵipyós , with cognates in Sanskrit (ऋजिप्य, ṛjipyá ), Avestan ( ərəzifiia ), and Greek (αἰγίπιος, aigípios ). Hrach Martirosyan and Armen Petrosyan propose additional borrowed words of Armenian origin loaned into Urartian and vice versa, including grammatical words and parts of speech, such as Urartian eue ("and"), attested in the earliest Urartian texts and likely

1515-543: Is highly distinctive, because it was geographically relatively isolated from the rest of the Armenian-speaking world, and has been significantly influenced by Palestinian Arabic . Those Armenians whose ancestors came from Turkey following the 1915 genocide speak Turkish-influenced Western Armenian . The Armenian monastery compound in Jerusalem is considered to be the "largest and most valuable treasury" of Armenian art and cultural artifacts outside Armenia. Some of

1616-455: Is in charge of coordinating and developing Armenia's relations with the diaspora. In Armenian, the diaspora is referred to as spyurk ( pronounced [spʰʏrkʰ] ), spelled սփիւռք in classical orthography and սփյուռք in reformed orthography . In the past, the word gaghut ( գաղութ pronounced [ɡɑˈʁutʰ] ) was used mostly to refer to the Armenian communities outside

1717-415: Is not considered conclusive evidence of a period of common isolated development. There are words used in Armenian that are generally believed to have been borrowed from Anatolian languages, particularly from Luwian , although some researchers have identified possible Hittite loanwords as well. One notable loanword from Anatolian is Armenian xalam , "skull", cognate to Hittite ḫalanta , "head". In 1985,

1818-683: Is the working language. Armenian (without reference to a specific variety) is officially recognized as a minority language in Cyprus , Hungary , Iraq , Poland , Romania , and Ukraine . It is recognized as a minority language and protected in Turkey by the 1923 Treaty of Lausanne . Armenian diaspora The Armenian diaspora refers to the communities of Armenians outside Armenia and other locations where Armenians are considered an indigenous population. Since antiquity, Armenians have established communities in many regions throughout

1919-607: The Armenian Apostolic Church despite pressure from official authorities. A growing number of Armenians migrated to Cilicia during the course of the eleventh and twelfth centuries as a result of the Seljuk Turk invasions. After the fall of the kingdom to the Mamelukes and loss of Armenian statehood in 1375, up to 150,000 went to Cyprus , the Balkans , and Italy . Although an Armenian diaspora existed during Antiquity and

2020-466: The Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia (11–14th centuries) resulted in the addition of two more characters to the alphabet (" օ " and " ֆ "), bringing the total number to 38. The Book of Lamentations by Gregory of Narek (951–1003) is an example of the development of a literature and writing style of Old Armenian by the 10th century. In addition to elevating the literary style and vocabulary of

2121-498: The Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia . In 1311, during Mamluk rule, Archbishop Sarkis (1281–1313) assumed the title of patriarch according to a decree by Sultan al-Nasir Muhammad . In the 1340s, the Armenians were permitted to build a wall around their quarter. This signified that the Mamluk rulers felt that the quarter did not pose a threat. Destroying city walls and fortifications had been a staple of Mamluk governance in order to prevent

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2222-508: The Armenian genocide , mostly in the diaspora ). The differences between them are considerable but they are mutually intelligible after significant exposure. Some subdialects such as Homshetsi are not mutually intelligible with other varieties. Although Armenians were known to history much earlier (for example, they were mentioned in the 6th-century BC Behistun Inscription and in Xenophon 's 4th century BC history, The Anabasis ),

2323-497: The Armenian homeland . It is borrowed from the Aramaic (Classical Syriac) cognate of Hebrew galut (גלות). The Armenian diaspora has been present for over 1,700 years. The modern Armenian diaspora was largely formed after World War I as a result of the Armenian genocide . According to Randall Hansen , "Both in the past and today, the Armenian communities around the world have developed in significantly different ways within

2424-584: The Crusaders from returning and reestablishing their rule. The Mamluk government also engraved the following declaration in Arabic on the western entrance to the quarter: Jerusalemite historian Mujir al-Din provided a detailed description of pre-Ottoman Jerusalem in 1495 in which he mentioned Dir el-Arman (Monastery of the Armenians) or Kanisat Mar Ya'qub (St. James Cathedral). The Ottomans tolerated

2525-641: The Greek language , the Armenian language, and the Indo-Iranian languages . Graeco-Aryan unity would have become divided into Proto-Greek and Proto-Indo-Iranian by the mid-3rd millennium BC. Conceivably, Proto-Armenian would have been located between Proto-Greek and Proto-Indo-Iranian, consistent with the fact that Armenian shares certain features only with Indo-Iranian (the satem change) but others only with Greek ( s > h ). Graeco-Aryan has comparatively wide support among Indo-Europeanists who believe

2626-643: The Indo-European homeland to be located in the Armenian Highlands , the " Armenian hypothesis ". Early and strong evidence was given by Euler's 1979 examination on shared features in Greek and Sanskrit nominal flection. Used in tandem with the Graeco-Armenian hypothesis, the Armenian language would also be included under the label Aryano-Greco-Armenic , splitting into Proto-Greek/Phrygian and "Armeno-Aryan" (ancestor of Armenian and Indo-Iranian ). Classical Armenian (Arm: grabar ), attested from

2727-542: The Mekhitarists . The first Armenian periodical, Azdarar , was published in grabar in 1794. The classical form borrowed numerous words from Middle Iranian languages , primarily Parthian , and contains smaller inventories of loanwords from Greek, Syriac, Aramaic, Arabic, Mongol, Persian, and indigenous languages such as Urartian . An effort to modernize the language in Bagratid Armenia and

2828-664: The Middle Ages , it grew in size due to emigration from the Ottoman Empire , Iran , Russia , and the Caucasus . The Armenian diaspora is divided into two communities – those communities from Ottoman Armenia (or Western Armenia ) and those communities which are from the former Soviet Union , independent Armenia and Iran (or Eastern Armenia ). Armenians in Turkey , such as Hrant Dink , do not consider themselves

2929-476: The Palestine Papers , leaked by Al Jazeera in 2011, chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat proposed a geographical division of the Old City at an October 2009 meeting, according to which Israel would acquire sovereignty over the entire Jewish Quarter and "part of the Armenian Quarter." Israel maintains that all of Jerusalem ("complete and united"), including the Old City, is its capital according to

3030-544: The Rashidun Caliphate after a siege in 637 . Until this point, Jerusalem had a single Christian bishop. In 638 AD, Armenians established their own archbishop, Abraham I . He was officially recognized by Rashidun Caliph Umar . The foundation of the Armenian migration to Jerusalem thus solidified. In the 12th century, around one thousand Armenians moved to Jerusalem with the Crusaders, presumably mainly from

3131-738: The United States and Canada . In the United States, the rate of immigration increased after the Immigration Act was passed in 1965. The outbreak of the civil War in Lebanon in 1975 and the outbreak of the Islamic Revolution in Iran during 1978 were factors which pushed Armenians to immigrate. The 1980 U.S. Census reported that 90 percent of the immigration to the United States was undertaken by Iranian-Armenians during

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3232-507: The Zion Gate and Jaffa Gate . According to a 2007 study published by the International Peace and Cooperation Center, the quarter occupies an area of 0.126 km (126 dunam ), which is 14% of the Old City's total. The Armenian Quarter is formally separated from the Christian Quarter by David Street (Suq el-Bazaar) and by Habad Street (Suq el-Husur) from the Jewish Quarter. The Armenian district of Jerusalem originated around

3333-658: The dual nature of Christ , which was agreed upon in the Council of Chalcedon of 451. Thus, the Armenians found themselves in direct confrontation with the Byzantine Empire . Emperor Justinian I persecuted whom he considered to be Monophysite Armenians, forcing them to leave Jerusalem. A 7th-century Armenian chronicler mentioned the existence of seventy Armenian monasteries in the Holy land, some of which have been revealed in excavations. The Byzantines ceded Jerusalem to

3434-642: The 1980 Jerusalem Law . In a 1975 article, Rabbi Yakov Goldman called for Israeli sovereignty over all of Old Jerusalem. He wrote of the Armenian Quarter: In 2000 the Armenian, Greek Orthodox and Latin Patriarchs of Jerusalem sent a "strongly worded" letter to the negotiators at the Camp David Summit, stating: "We regard the Christian and Armenian Quarters of the Old City as inseparable and contiguous entities that are firmly united by

3535-422: The 19th century, most of the Armenian and Christian quarters had "European-style gable roofs" as opposed to the domes preferred in the Muslim and Jewish quarters. In 1833 the Armenians established the city's first printing press . A seminary was opened in 1857. In 1855 the first photographic workshop in Jerusalem was founded in the Armenian Quarter. Schools for boys (1840) and girls (1862) were united in 1869 under

3636-444: The 2000 Camp David Summit for the Old City's division and stated: "The Armenian quarter belongs to us. We and Armenians are one people." He told Clinton, "My name is not Yasir Arafat, it is Yasir Arafatian," making his name sound Armenian. "I will not betray my Armenian brothers," Arafat said about leaving the Armenian Quarter under Israeli rule. Commenting on his statements, historians Barry Rubin and Judith Colp Rubin wrote that "there

3737-496: The 4th century, after the uncovering of Christian holy places in the city. However, the first written records are from the 5th century. Jerusalem is thus considered the oldest living diaspora community outside the Armenian homeland . Philip Marsden wrote that the survival of Armenians in Jerusalem–"most intense of all cities"—proves their extraordinary resilience. Armenian churches were constructed during that period, including

3838-408: The 5th century to the 19th century as the literary standard (up to the 11th century also as a spoken language with different varieties), was partially superseded by Middle Armenian , attested from the 12th century to the 18th century. Specialized literature prefers "Old Armenian" for grabar as a whole, and designates as "Classical" the language used in the 5th century literature, "Post-Classical" from

3939-594: The Armenian Patriarchate to Danny Rubenstein, a Jewish businessman from Australia. Father Baret Yeretzian, director of the Patriarchate's real estate department, who confirmed the deal, told him that the land was leased for 98 years and Rubenstein plans to build a luxurious hotel on the property. The Armenian Patriarchate said the deal, approved by the Holy Synod, was signed with "a corporate from

4040-483: The Armenian Quarter in the color reserved for Palestinian communities. According to Armenian researcher Tamar Boyadjian, because Armenians are considered Palestinians for all legal purposes they have difficulty obtaining travel and marriage documents. Graham Usher, a Palestine-based foreign correspondent of several Western newspapers, wrote in 2000 in a publication of the Beirut -based Institute for Palestine Studies that

4141-495: The Armenian Quarter. The limited space in the overpopulated district makes housing expensive and according to Boyadjian, "Most Armenians, given their current income, simply cannot afford to maintain their primary residence there." The Armenian Patriarchate has voiced concerns about the Israeli police not treating spitting by Haredi Jews on Armenian clergy, students and teachers as hate crime . Furthermore, clergy who have lived at

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4242-481: The Armenian language by adding well above a thousand new words, through his other hymns and poems Gregory paved the way for his successors to include secular themes and vernacular language in their writings. The thematic shift from mainly religious texts to writings with secular outlooks further enhanced and enriched the vocabulary. "A Word of Wisdom", a poem by Hovhannes Sargavak devoted to a starling, legitimizes poetry devoted to nature, love, or female beauty. Gradually,

4343-406: The Armenian monastery compound for decades do not have residency status, and, thus, "pay as tourists for public services such as healthcare." As of mid-2019 a memorial to the Armenian genocide on church property remained closed to visitors "because the municipality [had] delayed approving construction of the entrance." In July 2021, a plot of land called Cows' Garden ( Goveroun Bardez ) was leased by

4444-504: The Armenian monastery in the south part of the modern Armenian Quarter. The convention of the boundaries of the Armenian Quarter may have originated in its current form in the 1841 British Royal Engineers map of Jerusalem , or at least Reverend George Williams ' subsequent labelling of it. The city had previously been divided into many more harat ( Arabic : حارَة , romanized :  Hārat : "quarters", "neighborhoods", "districts" or "areas", see wikt:حارة ). Jewish immigration from

4545-425: The Armenians "were burdened with the status of being Palestinian 'residents' but ethnically Armenian. And indeed their lives, properties and heritage have been bound by the same Israeli constraints as their Palestinian compatriots." The Economist also wrote in 2000 that Armenians have faced restrictions on their lives similar to those imposed on the Palestinians, such as prevention of construction of new buildings in

4646-476: The Armenians intensified following the breakout of the First Intifada in 1987. According to Tsolag Momjian, the honorary Armenian consul in Jerusalem, as of 2009 around 600 Armenians lived in the Armenian Quarter (out of the total 2,000 Armenians in all of Jerusalem). Two articles, published in 2010 and 2011, put the number of Armenians in the Armenian Quarter as low as 500. Despite the drastic decline in

4747-575: The Armenians of Jerusalem, according to The Economist , is that the Old City should be "neither Palestinian nor Israeli but rather an international 'space', governed by representatives of the three faiths ... and protected by the United Nations and other international bodies." According to Graham Usher, many Armenians cautiously identify with the Palestinian struggle, but few of them "would advocate exclusive Palestinian sovereignty over

4848-727: The Brotherhood." Ramzi Khoury, head of the Palestinian Higher Presidential Committee for Churches Affairs in Palestine, called the land transactions in the Armenian Quarter a violation of international law as Palestinians consider the area an "integral part of the Palestinian occupied territories." Armenia's Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan discussed the issue with his counterparts from Jordan ( Ayman Safadi ), Palestine ( Riyad al-Maliki ), and Israel ( Yair Lapid ). Surveyors started working at

4949-639: The East Coast. The Armenian diaspora grew considerably both during and after the First World War due to the dissolution of the Ottoman Empire . In the year 1910, over 5,500 Armenians immigrated to the United States, and by 1913, 9,355 more Armenians entered the North American borders. As World War I approached, the rate of Armenian immigration rose to about 60,000. In 1920 and until the Immigration Act of 1924 , 30,771 Armenians came to

5050-467: The Hurro-Urartian and Northeast Caucasian origins for these words and instead suggest native Armenian etymologies, leaving the possibility that these words may have been loaned into Hurro-Urartian and Caucasian languages from Armenian, and not vice versa. A notable example is arciv , meaning "eagle", believed to have been the origin of Urartian Arṣibi and Northeast Caucasian arzu . This word

5151-469: The Israeli courts. Writing in 2000, Graham Usher estimated that the Armenian Quarter had a population of 1,200. According to a 2007 study, the quarter housed 2,424 people (6.55% of Old City's total). Armenians began emigrating from Jerusalem's Old City in the mid-20th century, being in the middle of the conflict between Arabs and Jews, mainly since the 1948 Arab–Israeli War , and what Daphne Tsimhoni characterized as "their feeling of loneliness." The lack of

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5252-602: The Israeli government considers them "permanent residents"—the same status as Palestinians. The Jerusalem Post wrote in 2005 that the Israeli bureaucracy "considers Jerusalem Armenians to be Palestinians, which means endless delays in getting documents, and hassles at the airport." A map published by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in November 2015 indicated

5353-569: The Middle East. This marked the beginning of the long-term decline of the Armenian community of Jerusalem. During the 1948 Arab–Israeli War , Armenian Quarter housed Armenian refugees from all over Palestine. An Armenian civil guard, armed with " makeshift weapons ", was formed to defend the quarter from the Haganah shelling of the Old City. More than forty Armenians were killed in the fighting. Jerusalem's Old City came under Israeli control in

5454-606: The Old City continues to grow while the Armenian population withers." The location of the Armenian Quarter athwart the main access roads between the Israeli-controlled West Jerusalem and the holy sites within the Jewish Quarter and the Western Wall has made Armenian properties a prime real estate in Israeli eyes. A major obstacle for the Armenians residing in the Armenian Quarter is their Jordanian citizenship (from before 1967), because of which

5555-475: The Old City. During the Jordanian rule of eastern Jerusalem (1948–67), no Jews were allowed to live in the Old City. Since the start of Israeli rule of the Old City in 1967, the Jewish Quarter has expanded by some 40% and by 2000, 71 (12%) or 81 (14%) of the 581 properties in the Armenian Quarter were owned by Jews. The Armenian community is concerned that the Jewish Quarter "will expand as the number of Jews in

5656-592: The Old City." Armenians consider the Armenian Quarter to be part of the Christian Quarter. This stance was reaffirmed by Armenia's Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanian , who in late 2000 stated that Armenia was against the separation of the Armenian and Christian Quarters. Aram I , the head of the Holy See of Cilicia , one of the sees of the Armenian Apostolic Church (based in Lebanon), stated in

5757-465: The Ottomans in 1690, an increase of 239%. According to the chronicler Simeon Lehatsi only some twelve Armenian families lived in Jerusalem in 1615–16. The significant increase in the population in 1690 is attributed to urbanization experienced by the Armenians and other Christians. Thus Armenians came to make up 22.9% of Jerusalem's Christians by 1690, becoming the second largest Christian community. In

5858-669: The Russian Empire), removed almost all of their Turkish lexical influences in the 20th century, primarily following the Armenian genocide . In addition to Armenia and Turkey, where it is indigenous , Armenian is spoken among the diaspora . According to Ethnologue , globally there are 1.6 million Western Armenian speakers and 3.7 million Eastern Armenian speakers, totalling 5.3 million Armenian speakers. In Georgia, Armenian speakers are concentrated in Ninotsminda and Akhalkalaki districts where they represent over 90% of

5959-459: The Russian and Ottoman empires led to creation of two separate and different environments under which Armenians lived. Halfway through the 19th century, two important concentrations of Armenian communities were further consolidated. Because of persecutions or the search for better economic opportunities, many Armenians living under Ottoman rule gradually moved to Istanbul , whereas Tbilisi became

6060-833: The Soviet linguist Igor M. Diakonoff noted the presence in Classical Armenian of what he calls a "Caucasian substratum" identified by earlier scholars, consisting of loans from the Kartvelian and Northeast Caucasian languages . Noting that Hurro-Urartian-speaking peoples inhabited the Armenian homeland in the second millennium BC, Diakonoff identifies in Armenian a Hurro-Urartian substratum of social, cultural, and animal and plant terms such as ałaxin "slave girl" ( ← Hurr. al(l)a(e)ḫḫenne ), cov "sea" ( ← Urart. ṣûǝ "(inland) sea"), ułt "camel" ( ← Hurr. uḷtu ), and xnjor "apple (tree)" ( ← Hurr. ḫinzuri ). Some of

6161-403: The St. James Monastery. According to the 1905 Ottoman census in the Old City, the Armenian Quarter had a population of 382, of which Armenians (121) comprised less than one-third (31.7%). Jews (127) made up 33.2%, other Christians (94) 24.6% and Muslims (40) 10.5%. The Jews, who numbered a little more than the Armenians, inhabited the eastern part of the Armenian Quarter, which in the second half of

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6262-430: The St. James Monastery. The latter was last expanded in the mid-12th century. An Armenian scriptorium was in operation by the mid-5th century. A secular community composed of merchants and artisans was established in the 6th century in the Zion Quarter , where an Armenian street existed ( Ruda Armeniorum ). In the First Council of Dvin (506), the Armenian Church broke off from Chalcedonian Christianity by rejecting

6363-455: The United Arab Emirates" and was expected to receive a net income of hundreds of thousands of dollars. The Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin , the leading body of the Armenian Church, said the situation had disrupted the "internal solidarity and unity" within the Patriarchate and "reduce[d its] reputation." Catholicos Karekin II urged Patriarch Nourhan Manougian to "reflect on the concerns through proper interpretation, and to restore solidarity in

6464-441: The United States; the immigrants were predominantly widowed women, children, and orphans. Although many Armenians perished during the Armenian genocide , some of the Armenians who managed to escape, established themselves in various parts of the world. By 1966, around 40 years after the start of the Armenian genocide, 2 million Armenians still lived in Armenia, while 330,000 Armenians lived in Russia, and 450,000 Armenians lived in

6565-432: The aftermath of the Six-Day War in 1967. However, the Armenian patriarchate is the de facto administrator of the quarter and acts as a "mini- welfare state " for the Armenian residents. The Arab-Israeli conflict significantly affected the quarter's politically uninvolved Armenian population. According to Reuters , the Armenian Patriarchate "share[s] a view held by the mostly Muslim Palestinians—that Israel's designation of

6666-434: The center of Armenians living under Russian rule. These two cosmopolitan cities very soon became the primary poles of Armenian intellectual and cultural life. The introduction of new literary forms and styles, as well as many new ideas sweeping Europe, reached Armenians living in both regions. This created an ever-growing need to elevate the vernacular, Ashkharhabar, to the dignity of a modern literary language, in contrast to

6767-423: The closed environment in the Armenian Quarter spurs many to move to Beirut or the West." Armenian author Matthew Karanian wrote about the Armenian community of Jerusalem in 2010 as follows: Haytayan identifies three groups of Armenians living within the Armenian Quarter. The first group includes monks and clergymen (around 50), who live within the monastery. Lay people are divided into two groups: those living within

6868-566: The constraints and opportunities found in varied host cultures and countries." In the fourth century, Armenian communities already existed outside Greater Armenia . Diasporic Armenian communities emerged in the Achaemenid and Sassanid empires, and they also defended the eastern and northern borders of the Byzantine Empire . In order to populate the less populated areas of Byzantium, Armenians were relocated to those regions. Some Armenians converted to Greek Orthodoxy while retaining Armenian as their primary language, whereas others remained in

6969-469: The contacts with Arabs and the Ottoman authorities for fear of persecution." Many members of the Armenian community in Jerusalem spoke Arabic, in addition to Armenian. In 1538, the current walls of Jerusalem were completed on the orders of Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent . These walls, along with the internal walls built by the Armenians, determined the outline of the quarter. In the 1562–63 record, only 189 Armenians were counted, whereas 640 were counted by

7070-449: The existence of the two modern versions of the same language was sanctioned even more clearly. The Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic (1920–1990) used Eastern Armenian as its official language, whereas the diaspora created after the Armenian genocide preserved the Western Armenian dialect. The two modern literary dialects, Western (originally associated with writers in the Ottoman Empire) and Eastern (originally associated with writers in

7171-425: The hypothetical Mushki language may have been a (now extinct) Armenic language. W. M. Austin (1942) concluded that there was early contact between Armenian and Anatolian languages , based on what he considered common archaisms, such as the lack of a feminine gender and the absence of inherited long vowels. Unlike shared innovations (or synapomorphies ), the common retention of archaisms (or symplesiomorphy )

7272-470: The interests of the population at large were reflected in other literary works as well. Konsdantin Yerzinkatsi and several others took the unusual step of criticizing the ecclesiastic establishment and addressing the social issues of the Armenian homeland. These changes represented the nature of the literary style and syntax, but they did not constitute immense changes to the fundamentals of the grammar or

7373-523: The lands for thousands of years, and they are not considered Diaspora [representatives]." Before 1870, 60 Armenian immigrants settled in New England. Armenian immigration rose to 1,500 by the end of the 1880s, and rose to 2,500 in the mid-1890s due to massacres caused by the Ottoman Empire. Armenians who immigrated to the United States before WWI were primarily from Asia Minor and settled on

7474-434: The late 5th to 8th centuries, and "Late Grabar" that of the period covering the 8th to 11th centuries. Later, it was used mainly in religious and specialized literature, with the exception of a revival during the early modern period, when attempts were made to establish it as the language of a literary renaissance, with neoclassical inclinations, through the creation and dissemination of literature in varied genres, especially by

7575-495: The majority in Jerusalem. During the British Mandate period, the number of Armenians is estimated to have reached up to 20,000. However, the 1931 British census showed only 3,524 Armenians in all of Palestine. In 1947, around 1,500 Armenians from Palestine repatriated to Soviet Armenia as part of the Soviet government's efforts to boost Armenia's population by a large-scale repatriation of ethnic Armenians, mostly from

7676-487: The mid-19th century onwards meant the Jewish quarter began to expand into the cartographically-defined boundaries of the Armenian Quarter. The table below shows the evolution of both the Armenian Quarter and the Jewish Quarter, from 1495 up until the modern system: In the early 4th century Armenia, under king Tiridates III , became the first country to adopt Christianity as a state religion. A large number of Armenian monks are recorded to have settled in Jerusalem as early as

7777-608: The monastery compound, and those living in the Armenian Quarter, but outside of the monastery walls. Around two-thirds of lay persons reside within the monastery walls. Locally known as vanketsi (վանքեցի, lit. "those from the convent"), they number up to 700 people. They do not pay rent (or pay only a symbolic amount) to the patriarchate. Those living outside of the monastery walls are called kaghakatsi (քաղաքացի, lit. "city-dwellers"). Their ancestry goes back centuries. They pay only municipal taxes. Bert Vaux identifies two subgroups of Armenians: The Armenian dialect spoken in Jerusalem

7878-567: The morphology of the language. Often, when writers codify a spoken dialect, other language users are then encouraged to imitate that structure through the literary device known as parallelism . In the 19th century, the traditional Armenian homeland was once again divided. This time Eastern Armenia was conquered from Qajar Iran by the Russian Empire , while Western Armenia , containing two thirds of historical Armenia, remained under Ottoman control. The antagonistic relationship between

7979-619: The most valuable possessions of the Patriarchate are not normally on display, some of those being kept in a special vault. Among the treasured possessions are the miniatures of Toros Roslin (c. 1210–1270), the most prominent Armenian manuscripts illuminator (four of the extant seven are in Jerusalem), kondak s ( pastorals ) issued by the Catholicos and the Patriarch in 1064, Saladin 's writ instructing Muslims not to harm Armenians in

8080-477: The name Holy Translators' School and became the first coeducational school in Jerusalem. In 1854 Karl Marx reported 350 Armenians in Jerusalem. In 1883, 102 Armenian families (8%) constituted the third largest Christian community in the Old City after the Greek Orthodox and Catholic (Latin) communities. Besides these residents, in the same year, 46 Armenian priests and monks and 55 servicemen lived within

8181-521: The nineteenth century, became the western part of the Jewish Quarter. Prior to World War I, there were some 2,000–3,000 Armenians in Palestine, mostly in Jerusalem, which was captured by the British in 1917. From 1915 and onward, thousands of Armenian genocide survivors from Cilicia ( Adana Vilayet ) found refuge, and settled in the quarter, increasing its population. In 1925, around 15,000 Armenians are believed to have lived in all of Palestine, with

8282-403: The now-anachronistic Grabar. Numerous dialects existed in the traditional Armenian regions, which, different as they were, had certain morphological and phonetic features in common. On the basis of these features two major standards emerged: Both centers vigorously pursued the promotion of Ashkharhabar. The proliferation of newspapers in both versions (Eastern & Western) and the development of

8383-410: The number of Armenians, Israeli scholar Daphne Tsimhoni wrote in 1983 that "the existence of their church headquarters in Jerusalem provides for the continued presence of some clergy and a certain number of laity." On the contrary, American linguist Bert Vaux argued in 2002 that the Armenian community of Jerusalem is "in immediate danger of disappearing—the wealthy move into other parts of Jerusalem, and

8484-541: The official status of the Armenian language. Eastern Armenian is the official variant used, making it the prestige variety while other variants have been excluded from national institutions. Indeed, Western Armenian is perceived by some as a mere dialect. Armenian was also official in the Republic of Artsakh . It is recognized as an official language of the Eurasian Economic Union although Russian

8585-639: The oldest surviving Armenian-language writing is etched in stone on Armenian temples and is called Mehenagir . The Armenian alphabet was created by Mesrop Mashtots in 405, at which time it had 36 letters. He is also credited by some with the creation of the Georgian alphabet and the Caucasian Albanian alphabet . While Armenian constitutes the sole member of the Armenian branch of the Indo-European family, Aram Kossian has suggested that

8686-483: The parent languages of Greek and Armenian were dialects in immediate geographical proximity during the Proto-Indo-European period. Meillet's hypothesis became popular in the wake of his book Esquisse d'une histoire de la langue latine (1936). Georg Renatus Solta (1960) does not go as far as postulating a Proto-Graeco-Armenian stage, but he concludes that considering both the lexicon and morphology, Greek

8787-407: The path to a new and simplified grammatical structure of the language in the two different cultural spheres. Apart from several morphological, phonetic, and grammatical differences, the largely common vocabulary and generally analogous rules of grammatical fundamentals allows users of one variant to understand the other as long as they are fluent in one of the literary standards. After World War I ,

8888-570: The population. The short-lived First Republic of Armenia declared Armenian its official language. Eastern Armenian was then dominating in institutions and among the population. When Armenia was incorporated into the USSR, the Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic made Eastern Armenian the language of the courts, government institutions and schools. Armenia was also russified . The current Republic of Armenia upholds

8989-545: The presence of non-Muslim, Dhimmi , communities including the Christian Armenians. There was religious tolerance and an Ottoman administration existed to sort out religious differences between the rival Christian churches and Muslims. Israeli historians Kark and Oren-Nordheim wrote in 2001: "The Armenian Quarter, although Christian, represented a distinct ethnic group with its particular language and culture, intent on retaining separate identity and unity, minimizing

9090-436: The representation of word-initial laryngeals by prothetic vowels, and other phonological and morphological peculiarities with Greek. Nevertheless, as Fortson (2004) comments, "by the time we reach our earliest Armenian records in the 5th century AD, the evidence of any such early kinship has been reduced to a few tantalizing pieces". Graeco-(Armeno)-Aryan is a hypothetical clade within the Indo-European family , ancestral to

9191-851: The same faith." Pope Benedict XVI , during his 2009 visit to St. James Cathedral, stated: [REDACTED] [REDACTED] Gates 1. Jaffa 2. Zion 3. Dung 4. Golden 5. Lions 6. Herod 7. Damascus 8. New ( Double, Single, Tanners ' ) Al-Mawazin 31°46′30″N 35°13′46″E  /  31.775°N 35.2294444°E  / 31.775; 35.2294444 Armenian language Pontic Steppe Caucasus East Asia Eastern Europe Northern Europe Pontic Steppe Northern/Eastern Steppe Europe South Asia Steppe Europe Caucasus India Indo-Aryans Iranians East Asia Europe East Asia Europe Indo-Aryan Iranian Indo-Aryan Iranian Others European Armenian

9292-468: The similarities between the two languages meant that Armenian belonged to the Iranian language family . The distinctness of Armenian was recognized when philologist Heinrich Hübschmann (1875) used the comparative method to distinguish two layers of Iranian words from the older Armenian vocabulary . He showed that Armenian often had two morphemes for one concept, that the non-Iranian components yielded

9393-418: The site in 2023 and a sign was posted listing XANA Capital Group, a Dubai-registered Israeli firm. The Armenian Patriarchate of Jerusalem released a statement on 1 November 2023 announcing the cancellation of the agreement to lease the property. Bulldozers arrived soon afterwards and began tearing up the carpark portion of the leased land. The validity of the contract is being challenged by Armenian Church through

9494-519: The terms he gives admittedly have an Akkadian or Sumerian provenance, but he suggests they were borrowed through Hurrian or Urartian. Given that these borrowings do not undergo sound changes characteristic of the development of Armenian from Proto-Indo-European , he dates their borrowing to a time before the written record but after the Proto-Armenian language stage. Contemporary linguists, such as Hrach Martirosyan , have rejected many of

9595-405: The two quarters. The central reason for the quarter's being perceived as separate from the rest of Christian Quarter has to do with the distinct language and culture of the Armenians, who, unlike the majority of Christians in Jerusalem, are not Arabic speakers nor Palestinians . The Armenian Quarter is located in the southwestern corner of Jerusalem's Old City. The quarter can be accessed through

9696-609: The wake of him recapturing Jerusalem from the Crusaders in 1187, the Ashtiname of Muhammad guaranteeing the Armenian Christians of Jerusalem their rights and properties, and one of the very few surviving medieval Armenian wooden church doors with carved inscriptions (a 14th-century specimen). The United Nations General Assembly considers East Jerusalem , of which the Old City is part, to be " Occupied Palestinian Territory ". The "quiet political consensus" among

9797-464: The whole city as capital of the Jewish state means its control of residence and building permits is being used to press Arabs and other non-Jews to give up and leave." Israeli sovereignty over the Armenian Quarter would be, according to Usher, the "worst future imaginable" for the Armenian community. Members of Jerusalem's Armenian community have voiced concerns about the Israeli government's policies and commitment to preserving their community's presence in

9898-464: The world. However, the modern Armenian diaspora was largely formed as a result of World War I , when the genocide which was committed by the Ottoman Empire forced Armenians who were living in their homeland to flee from it or risk being killed. Another wave of emigration started during the dissolution of the Soviet Union . The High Commissioner for Diaspora Affairs established in 2019

9999-462: Was no reason to believe that the Armenians preferred his control [over Israeli control]." In a 2011 meeting with the leaders of various Christian communities in Ramallah, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas stated: "The Palestinian leadership sticks to its position that considers the Armenian Quarter an integral part of east Jerusalem, the capital of the independent Palestinian state." According to

10100-405: Was situated between Proto-Greek ( centum subgroup) and Proto-Indo-Iranian ( satem subgroup). Ronald I. Kim has noted unique morphological developments connecting Armenian to Balto-Slavic languages . The Armenian language has a long literary history, with a 5th-century Bible translation as its oldest surviving text. Another text translated into Armenian early on, and also in the 5th-century,

10201-682: Was the Armenian Alexander Romance . The vocabulary of the language has historically been influenced by Western Middle Iranian languages , particularly Parthian ; its derivational morphology and syntax were also affected by language contact with Parthian, but to a lesser extent. Contact with Greek, Persian , and Syriac also resulted in a number of loanwords. There are two standardized modern literary forms, Eastern Armenian (spoken mainly in Armenia) and Western Armenian (spoken originally mainly in modern-day Turkey and, since

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