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68-448: Saint Hripsime Church ( Armenian : Սուրբ Հռիփսիմե եկեղեցի , Surb Hṙip‘simē yekeghetsi ) is a seventh century Armenian Apostolic church in the city of Vagharshapat (Etchmiadzin), Armenia. It is one of the oldest surviving churches in the country. The church was erected by Catholicos Komitas to replace the original mausoleum built by Catholicos Sahak the Great in 395 AD that contained

136-442: A hymnographer , may have been the architect of the church. The church contains two engraved inscriptions in the erkat‘agir uncial script recording the role of Catholicos Komitas in the construction of the church. The inscriptions contain no dates. The first has been conventionally dated to 618. Aleksandr Manucharyan suggested, based on its content, that the second was inscribed after the death of Komitas in 628. Greenwood proposed

204-461: A (new) chapel-martyrium in 395, which later historian Sebeos described as "too low and dark". Archaeological excavations in 1976–78, led by Raffi Torosyan and Babken Arakelyan , uncovered the foundations of a small single-nave ( basilica ) church building around 10 m (33 ft) east of the current church, which is likely the remains of the late fourth century structure. Notably, Christian-style burials were also unearthed, which both scholars and

272-520: 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

340-425: A dating between 616/617 and 628 for both. They are thus the second earliest extant Armenian inscriptions, behind the late fifth century inscription of the now-destroyed Tekor Church (dated c.  478–490 ). The first inscription, four lines long, is located in the central part of the exterior surface of the western wall, and measures 202 cm × 60 cm (80 in × 24 in). The porch and

408-468: 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

476-425: 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

544-425: A porch/portico or an open narthex ( gavit ) in front of the western entrance (upon which a bell tower was added in 1790). Since its restoration in 1653, the church has regularly had a congregation. Subsequent Catholicoi, Eghiazar ( r.  1681–1691 ) and Nahapet ( r.  1691–1705 ), further contributed to its revitalization by adding buildings and sponsoring manuscript production. Six inscriptions, from

612-483: Is "considered one of the great achievements of medieval Armenian architecture." The church is not the earliest example of this architectural form , however, the form is widely known in architectural history as the "Hripsime-type" since the church is the best-known example of the form. It has also been variously named "Jvari-type" or "Jvari-Hripsime-type" for Jvari in Georgia. Despite this, these words can be refuted by

680-955: Is also found in neighboring Georgia, where examples include the Ateni Sioni Church (7th century), Jvari monastery (7th century), and Martvili Monastery (10th century). Its architecture has been directly replicated or inspired several churches in the modern period, especially in the Armenian diaspora . Notable examples include: [REDACTED] [REDACTED] 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

748-552: 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

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816-404: Is believed to have been half buried underground, with an aboveground canopy structure . Excavations inside the church during restoration works in 1958–59 unearthed black tuff fragments of an ornamented cornice under the supporting columns. They were immediately identified as having belonged to a pre-Christian Hellenistic structure, perhaps a temple, and quite similar in style to the cornice of

884-561: 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"),

952-474: 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

1020-467: Is located on a small elevation on the eastern outskirts of the town of Vagharshapat (Etchmiadzin), right next to the main road connecting it with capital Yerevan . It was built outside the historic walls of ancient Vagharshapat. According to the traditional account found in Agathangelos , Hripsime , a Roman virgin, and her companions (including Gayane ), fled to Armenia to avoid persecution by

1088-471: 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,

1156-417: Is on the interior surface of the eastern apse, behind the altar . It was revealed under plaster during restoration works in 1898, when it was lightly damaged. It was likely originally placed on the northern apse and transferred to the eastern ape, an unusual location, when the former was dilapidated. It implores Christ to recognize Komitas's labors. It reads: Not much in known about the church's history in

1224-664: 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 . Tekor Church The Church of Saint Sarkis in Tekor (also known as the Tekor Basilica Armenian : Տեկորի տաճար )

1292-466: 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

1360-508: 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 ),

1428-585: The Garni Temple . It led scholars to believe that a pagan temple may have once stood at the site or nearby. Additionally, the original steps leading down to the underground crypt, located in front of the altar, were discovered. The original martyrium was destroyed by Sasanian king Shapur II and his Armenian Zoroastrian ally Meruzhan Artsruni c.  363 , along with Etchmiadzin Cathedral and other Christian sites. Catholicos Sahak (Isaac) built

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1496-641: 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

1564-643: 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

1632-542: 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

1700-402: The deportation of Armenians to Iran by Shah Abbas in 1604–05, it was "without inhabitants and fences". Abandoned and defenseless, the church was also heavily dilapidated by that time. During periods of neglect, neatly cut facing stones were quarried from the church. Arakel recounts that it had no doors, no altar, the roof and walls had crumbled, and the foundations were shaken and dug up, while

1768-399: The 1720s, engraved on its walls record the donations of salt, oil, incense, rice, candles, wine. In the 17th and 18th centuries, monks at St. Hripsime were provided bread and clothing from the monastery of Echmiadzin, but the monastery also possessed its own farmland and livestock. Catholicos Simeon I of Yerevan ( r.  1763–1780 ) raised a new cross on its dome in 1765, and fortified

1836-494: The 17th to the 19th centuries. The perimeter wall, built in the 1890s, divides it into two. One notable burial is vardapet Stepanos Lehatsi (d. 1689), a member of the Etchmiadzin brotherhood. St. Hripsime Church is a domed tetraconch enclosed in a rectangle, with two angular niches on the northern and southern side. German art historian Wilhelm Lübke wrote that the church is built on "a most complicated variation of

1904-408: 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

1972-550: The Armenian Church identified as Hripsime and her companions. Seventh century historian Sebeos recounts that Catholicos Komitas ( r.  615–628 ) demolished the small martyrium and constructed the present church in the 28th year of the reign of Sassanian king Khosrow II ( r.  590–628 ), which has been calculated as the year 618. This dating has been widely accepted. Two inscriptions record his role in its construction. Some scholars believe Komitas, also

2040-481: 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,

2108-467: 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

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2176-525: The Roman emperor Diocletian . In Armenia, Hripsime was tortured and killed by king Tiridates III after she refused his attempts to woo her. After Tiridates's conversion to Christianity in the early fourth century (dated 301 or 314 AD), the king and Gregory the Illuminator built a martyrium at the location of her martyrdom as an act of remorse. It is, thus, one of the earliest Christian martyriums. It

2244-669: 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

2312-459: 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

2380-833: 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

2448-431: The bell tower, added on its western side in the 17th and 18th centuries, effectively conceal it. Though previously photographed, it is not easily visible, and a researcher noted as recently as 2018, that its exact location is not known. It records Komitas's personal responsibility for the construction. It reads: The second inscription, in three lines and measuring 150 cm × 35 cm (59 in × 14 in),

2516-434: 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

2584-466: The chamber on the northeastern corner. The current gravestone, dating to 1986, depicts her holding a cross. Scholars like Yeremian and Mnatsakanian have dated the crypt to the early fifth century. Mathews suggested that it "appears integral to the seventh century church". Maranci suggested links to the relations to building practice in Constantinople and particularly Palestine. Catholicos Komitas

2652-399: The church in the first years of the reign of Catholicos Vazgen I ( r.  1955–1994 ), concurrently with works on Etchmiadzin Cathedral . The restoration works were overseen by Mikayel Mazmanyan , Varazdat Harutyunyan , Rafayel Israyelyan , Konstantine Hovhannisyan , Karo Ghafadaryan . Initially, its surrounding was beautified; its immediate surrounding was paved with tuff blocks,

2720-549: The cruciform ground-plan." Rouben Paul Adalian wrote that along with Saint Gayane Church , it stands as a "model of the austere beauty of early Armenian ecclesiastical architecture." Harold Buxton suggested that it is the most "perfect specimen of the best age of Armenian architecture." Frank Ching , Mark Jarzombek and Vikramaditya Prakash praised its "well-formed proportions and meticulous stonework". Howard L. Parsons called it "robust and finely proportioned" and described its style as "post- Romanesque ". Its monumental exterior

2788-580: 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

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2856-748: The fact that at the end of the 6th century an Armenian church was built in Avan with the same style as Jvari and St. Hripsime Church. Notable churches with similar plans include the Surb Hovhannes (Saint John) Church of Avan (6th century), Surb Gevorg (Saint George) Church of Garnahovit (6th century), Church of the Holy Cross at Soradir (6th century), Targmanchats monastery of Aygeshat (7th century), Holy Cross Cathedral of Aghtamar (10th century), and Surb Astvatsatsin (Holy Mother of God) Church at Varagavank (11th century). The architectural form

2924-425: 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 )

2992-470: 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

3060-409: The interior was full of manure as livestock were driven into the church. The restoration of Hripsime under Catholicos Pilipos "took three years, from start to finish, for the work began in the [Armenian] year 1100 (1651) and was finished in the year 1102 (1653) with great expenditures and tremendous labor." This restoration encompassed the pediments , the roof of the dome, and saw the construction of

3128-434: 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

3196-546: The medieval period, but inscriptions indicate that it was intermittently active. An inscription from 1296 records that the release of the monastery from tithe and other taxes on cotton by local rulers. Another inscription, from 1302, on the lintel of the western entrance records the donation of 1,000 silver coins. Arakel of Tabriz , a contemporary, recounted the state of the church in the early 17th century and provided details of its restoration (along with St. Gayane) by Catholicos Pilipos ( r.  1633–1655 ). Following

3264-399: The monastery in 1776 with a cob perimeter wall with corner towers, along with an arched entrance built in stone from the northern side. In 1790 Catholicos Ghukas Karnetsi ( r.  1780–1799 ) added a rotunda -shaped bell tower on the porch/narthex built by Pilipos in 1653. In 1894–95, under Catholicos Mkrtich Khrimian ( r.  1893–1907 ), a two-story residence for the monks

3332-567: 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

3400-403: 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

3468-541: 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

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3536-639: 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

3604-483: 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

3672-407: 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 ,

3740-570: 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

3808-415: The remains of the martyred Saint Hripsime to whom the church is dedicated. The current structure was completed in 618 AD. It is known for its fine Armenian-style architecture of the classical period, which has influenced many other Armenian churches since. It was listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site along with other nearby churches, including Etchmiadzin Cathedral , Armenia's mother church, in 2000. It

3876-436: 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

3944-468: 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

4012-501: The steps leading to that area were renovated, and a decorated drinking fountain designed by Israyelian was built in the yard. Restoration works then moved to the interior, where the removal of white plaster from its walls began in May 1958. Traces of limewater were removed through sandblasting . The interior returned it to its original appearance of dark grey-brown tuff color. Damaged stones were replaced. A new altarpiece and chandelier

4080-519: 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

4148-408: The western entrance, where, according to historical accounts, two Catholicoi were buried: Astvatsatur ( r.  1715–1725 ) and Karapet II ( r.  1726–1729 ). Their tombstones had disappeared in the early 1800s, and new marble ones were erected during the 1950s restoration. To the east of the church, a cemetery survives with around 50 tombstones, including 30 with inscriptions, dating from

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4216-471: Was a 5th-century Armenian church built in historical Armenia. It was located facing the town of Digor in the Kars Province of Turkey , about 16 kilometers west of the Armenian border. Tekor was a three aisled basilica with a dome. It was severely damaged by earthquakes in 1912 and 1936, and later damaged by vandalism. Now only the lower parts of the rubble and concrete core of the walls remain,

4284-468: Was built inside the monastery walls and the cob walls were replaced with that of stone in the eastern and southern sections. The church itself underwent considerable renovation in 1898. In 1936, during the Soviet period, the church's foundations were reinforced and its roof, dome, the monastery walls and buildings were restored and the surrounding area underwent beautification . Extensive restoration works and archaeological excavations were carried out at

4352-484: Was designed by Rafayel Israyelian , with the former containing a painting of the Virgin Mary by Hovhannes Minasyan . The restoration, started in 1955, was officially completed by 1962. The removal of the plasterwork furthermore revealed a system of 8 large and 16 small squinches under the circular drum. The church underwent additional restoration in 1985, which was funded by Mari Hyusisian-Mndigian. The bell tower

4420-487: Was presumably buried inside the church. A stone slab before the altar may be his tombstone. Catholicos Pilipos, who restored the church in 1653, was buried in the northern apse inside the church after refusal by the Iranian ruler of Erivan to permit his burial at Etchmiadzin. His marble tombstone was erected by Catholicos Yeprem I in the early 1800s. During restoration works in 1958–59, two graves were found in front of

4488-410: Was restored in 1986–87 by Artsrun Galikyan and Avetik Teknetchyan. Galikyan also designed new wooden doors for the church. Excavations in 1959 revealed the original floor around 40 cm (16 in) beneath the contemporary flooring surface, and, consequently, the floor was lowered. The tomb of St. Hripsime is located in an underground vaulted chamber under the eastern apse. It is accessed through

4556-405: 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,

4624-682: 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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