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91-550: The Armenian chroniclers Movses Khorenatsi and Anania Shirakatsi wrote about vishaps (water dragons in Armenian mythology ) living in Lake Van. According to the legend, the god Vahagn , the vishapakagh ("reaper of vishaps"), would plunge into Lake Van to drag out any vishap that had grown large enough to devour the world. Scholar James Russell considers that this legend is an Armenian adoption of Urartian myths concerning

182-466: A hagiography by Koriun, a disciple of Mashtots, is the primary and most reliable source. Hrachia Acharian , who authored the most comprehensive study on Mashtots and the Armenian alphabet, defended Koriun's work as the only accurate account. It was commissioned by Catholicos Hovsep I , also a student of Mashtots, and written c. 443–450/451. The work has two versions: long and short. The former

273-603: A few fragments exist in Greek, has been preserved entirely in Armenian. In the midst of his literary labors, Mashtots revisited the districts he had evangelized in his earlier years, and, after the death of Isaac in 439, looked after the spiritual administration of the patriarchate. He survived his friend and master by only six months. Armenians read his name in the Canon of the Liturgy and celebrate his memory on 19 February. Mashtots

364-516: A group of 40 disciples and began missionary work among Armenians, many of whom were still pagan. He begin his first mission in Goghtn around 395. He successfully spread Christianity in the area and expelled the pagans. Koryun , his pupil and biographer, writes that Mashtots received a good education and was versed in the Greek and Persian languages. On account of his piety and learning, Mesrop

455-463: 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

546-636: 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

637-476: 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

728-591: A peasant. According to Anania Shirakatsi , Vardan was an azat . Some scholars, including Stepan Malkhasyants , have identified Vardan with Vrik, mentioned by Pavstos Buzand . Vrik was the illegitimate son of Catholicos Pap (not King Pap ), the grandson of Gregory the Illuminator (through Husik ). Mashtots, thus, may have been a second cousin to Catholicos Sahak Partev . Acharian outright rejected this theory, but it has been cited by Elizabeth Redgate . Other scholars, including Ormanian, believed Mashtots

819-654: A poem titled "Van Gölü Canavarı" (Lake Van Monster). The Lake Van Monster appears in The Secret Saturdays episode "The Unblinking Eye". This version resembles a Mosasaurus -like creature. Animal X (an Australian television show) season 1, episode #3 features the Van Lake Monster. Josh Gates and his team search for the Van Lake monster on Destination Truth . Season 3, episode 305 "Alien Mummies/Van Lake Monster". Footage claimed to be of

910-510: A royal secretary, both Koriun and Parpetsi assign him other positions as well, especially in the military. He was initially royal chancellor ( ark’uni divanapet ), then moved on to serve in the military after receiving training. In c. 394 Mashtots became a clergyman and was ordained as a monk and lived in a monastery, in Goghtn . He, thereafter, became an ascetic hermit to live in the mountains and uninhabited areas. Mashtots then gathered

1001-400: A secondary one, "possibly an epithet ." The etymologies of both Mesrop and Mashtots have been widely debated. In his authoritative dictionary of Armenian names, Hrachia Acharian described Mashtots to be of uncertain origin. Nicholas Adontz believed it stemmed from Iranian mašt (from mazd ), which is also the origin of the name Mazdak . Asatur Mnatsakanian suggested an origin from

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1092-423: 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 was used and quoted extensively by later medieval Armenian authors. He is called the "father of Armenian history" ( patmahayr ) in Armenian, and

1183-480: 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

1274-738: 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

1365-520: A young man of about 22 or 23 upon journeying to Alexandria , where Movses writes that he 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

1456-490: Is a saint of the Armenian Apostolic and Armenian Catholic churches. He is sometimes referred to by Armenian churchmen as "The Saint of Oshakan" (Օշականի Սուրբը). There are at least two chants ( sharakan ) and several canticles ( gandz ) dedicated to Mashtots and Sahak. A number of churches in modern and historical Armenia and the Armenian diaspora are named after St. Mesrop, Sts. Mesrop and Sahak or

1547-799: Is buried at a chapel in Oshakan , a historical village 8 km (5.0 miles) southwest from the town of Ashtarak . He is listed officially in the Roman Martyrology of the Roman Catholic Church ; his feast day is February 17. Armenia lost its independence in 387 and was divided between the Byzantine Empire and Persia, which received about four-fifths of its territory. Western Armenia was governed by Byzantine generals, while an Armenian king ruled as Persian vassal over eastern Armenia. The principal events of this period are

1638-684: Is considered by most scholars to be the original. Parpetsi and Khorenatsi largely relied upon Koriun's work. The oldest extant manuscript of Koriun's Life of Mashtots has been dated to the 12th century. It was first printed in Armenian by the Mekhitarists in San Lazzaro degli Armeni , Venice in 1833, and has been translated thrice into Modern Armenian and several foreign languages. While Koriun , his chief biographer, only refers to him as Mashtots, Movses Khorenatsi and later Armenian historiography predominantly calls him Mesrop. It

1729-400: Is now a Yerevan landmark. A statue of Mashtots and Sahak, erected by Ara Sargsyan in the 1940s, was put up in front of the main campus of Yerevan State University in 2002. Yervand Kochar created two sculptures of Mashtots in gypsum (1952) and plasticine (1953). Ara Sargsyan created a bronze plaquette in 1957/59. A statue of Mashtots and Koriun, by Levon Tokmajyan (1978–79),

1820-529: Is portrayed as the key figure who preserved the national language and the nation against cultural absorption. James R. Russell describes Mashtots as "the culture-hero of Armenian civilization." Anthony D. Smith noted that Mashtots, with his invention, helped "convert and unite Armenians as a chosen people ." Gerard Libaridian argued that Mashtots and the alphabet "constitute the most important symbols of cultural identity and regeneration ." Koriun, his biographer, compared Mashtots' return to Armenia after

1911-744: 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 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

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2002-464: 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 the Armenian alphabet . Moreover, he claimed to have written his history at the behest of Prince Sahak of the Bagratuni dynasty . He

2093-449: 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

2184-510: Is usually thought to have originated from "serovbe", Armenian for " seraph ", a word of Biblical Hebrew origin. Russell described Mesrop a mysterious word, seemingly Syriac , "perhaps an epithet meaning 'seraphic'." Some scholars maintain that Mesrop is a blend of " Mar " (" lord " in Syriac) and "Serob", a version of "Serovbe". The date of birth of Mashtots is not well-established, but recent scholarship accepts 361. Others give 361–364 as

2275-611: The Armenian Academy of Sciences , declared that while Mashtots' invention formerly served Armenian national interests, it now serves communist ideas, fraternity of peoples , world peace and progress. It was also celebrated in Moscow's House of the Unions where Armenian ( Silva Kaputikyan and Nairi Zarian ) and Soviet ( Vadim Kozhevnikov , Marietta Shaginyan , Mykola Bazhan , Andrei Lupan ) writers gave speeches. In 1962

2366-679: The Armenian Cathedral of Moscow (2013) and in Alfortville , Paris (2015). In Akhalkalaki , the center of the Armenian-populated Javakheti (Javakhk) region of Georgia, the statue of Soviet leader Vladimir Lenin was replaced with that of Mashtots in 1992. Mashtots has featured prominently in Armenian poetry. In one poem (« Սուրբ Մեսրովբի տոնին »), the mid-19th century poet Mikayel Nalbandian ranked him above Moses . In another, Nalbandian lamented

2457-490: The Bir el Qutt inscriptions of 430, contemporaneously with the Armenian alphabet. Modern Armenian scholarship recognizes Mashtots as the founder of Armenian literature and education and as the "greatest enlightener and first teacher" of the Armenian people. The figure of Mashtots has become a "symbol that embodies the Armenian language, church, and school system, connecting each to one another." In Armenian narratives, Mashtots

2548-543: The Gospel in the district of Goghtn near the river Araxes , converting many. Encouraged by the patriarch and the king, Mesrop founded numerous schools in different parts of the country, in which the youth were taught the new alphabet. He himself taught at the Amaras monastery of the Armenian province of Artsakh (located in the contemporary Martuni region of the unrecognized Nagorno-Karabakh Republic). However, his activity

2639-629: The Matenadaran on May 26. The Matenadaran, established three years earlier, was named after Mashtots on that day according to a government decree. In a speech at the Yerevan Opera Theater , Soviet Armenian Prime Minister Anton Kochinyan proclaimed that it was the Soviet government that made "Mesropian literature the property of the whole nation and opened the alphabet for every Armenian child." Viktor Ambartsumian , president of

2730-651: The Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin . In 1992–94 Khanjyan created a large mural of the same painting inside the Yerevan Cascade (now the Cafesjian Center for the Arts ). The most recognizable statue of Mashtots, depicted with his disciple and biographer Koriun, is located in front of the Matenadaran and was erected by Ghukas Chubaryan in 1962. Although it was not immediately well-received, it

2821-647: The Sasanian Empire . He is venerated as a saint in the Armenian Apostolic Church . He is best known for inventing the Armenian alphabet c.  405 AD, which was a fundamental step in strengthening Armenian national identity. He is also considered to be the creator of the Caucasian Albanian and Georgian alphabets by a number of scholars. The chief sources for the life and work of Mashtots are Koriun , Ghazar Parpetsi , and Movses Khorenatsi . The Life of Mashtots (Վարք Մաշտոցի),

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2912-428: The "greatest benefactor" of the Armenian people, while the linguist Eduard Aghayan called him simply the "greatest Armenian", a view that has been expressed by others as well. Aghayan further described Mashtots as the "greatest linguist of his time in the broadest sense of the word." Catholicos Vazgen I stated that "everything truly Armenian" was born out of the vision and genius of Mashtots. Viktor Ambartsumian ,

3003-668: The 12th century. It is dedicated to Mashtots, Yeghishe , Movses Khorenatsi , David the Invincible , Gregory of Narek and Nerses Shnorhali . Today pilgrimages to the grave of Mashtots in Oshakan are made on this feast. In the Soviet period it became a secular festival. The second, the Feast of Sahak and Mashtots, is celebrated on the 33rd day after the Pentecost , on Thursdays, between June 11 and July 16. Acharian considered it

3094-672: The 14th century. These manuscripts, around 20 in total were created in Constantinople , Etchmiadzin , Sanahin , Haghpat and elsewhere, depict Mashtots with a halo . In the 18th century Mashtots was portrayed by two Italian painters. Giovanni Battista Tiepolo portrayed Mashtots with a pseudo-Armenian alphabet on the frescoes on the ceiling above the staircase of the Würzburg Residence in Bavaria, while Francesco Maggiotto 's Italianate portrait of Mashtots hangs at

3185-463: The 1600th anniversary of the birth of Mashtots in 1961. In May 1962 the 1600th anniversary of the birth of Mashtots was marked with "massive official celebrations" in Soviet Armenia , which had a "powerful impact on Armenian national pride." Vahakn Dadrian noted that Yerevan became an "arena of nationalist fervor and outburst." The statue of Mashtots was ceremonially opened in front of

3276-493: The Armenian Catholic monastery of San Lazzaro degli Armeni near Venice. Stepanos Nersissian 's 1882 painting of Mashtots, commissioned by a wealthy Armenian from Elisabethpol , is considered the most widely recognized artistic depiction of Mashtots. During the Soviet period, numerous Armenian artists portrayed Mashtots. Van Khachatur (Vanik Khachatryan) created a panel painting of Mashtots in 1958–59 for

3367-625: 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

3458-521: The Christian Faith by forbidding or rendering profane all the foreign alphabetic scripts which were employed for transcribing the books of the heathens and of the followers of Zoroaster . To Mesrop we owe the preservation of the language and literature of Armenia; but for his work, the people would have been absorbed by the Persians and Syrians, and would have disappeared like so many nations of

3549-459: 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

3640-748: The Council of Ephesus, when Mashtots and Sahak were correcting the Classical Armenian translation of 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

3731-570: The East". Medieval Armenian sources also claim that Mashtots invented the Georgian and Caucasian Albanian alphabets around the same time. Most scholars link the creation of the Georgian script to the process of Christianization of Iberia , a core Georgian kingdom of Kartli . The alphabet was therefore most probably created between the conversion of Iberia under King Mirian III (326 or 337) and

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3822-680: The Greek language and bring back the masterpieces of Greek literature. The most famous of his pupils were John of Egheghiatz, Joseph of Baghin, Yeznik , Koriun , Moses of Chorene , and John Mandakuni. The first monument of Armenian literature is the version of the Holy Scriptures. Isaac, says Moses of Chorene, made a translation of the Bible from the Syriac text about 411. This work was considered imperfect, for soon afterwards John of Egheghiatz and Joseph of Baghin were sent to Edessa to translate

3913-475: The Holy Translators. He is regarded as the first great vardapet . The Armenian Apostolic Church has two major days of feast dedicated to Mashtots. The first is the Feast of the Holy Translators (Սուրբ Թարգմանչաց, Surb T’argmanchats ), which is celebrated on the second Saturday of October. It was declared a national holiday in 2001. Acharian postulates that it was established no earlier than

4004-400: The Illuminator had the most influence on the course of Armenian history. Catholic Armenian Archbishop and scholar Levon Zekiyan further argued that Mashtots "was our greatest political thinker." Zekiyan argues that Mashtots laid the foundations of a national ideology, "which gave the Armenians a qualitatively new self-awareness [...] in the wider cultural-anthropological sense of a vision of

4095-777: The Mashtots Chair in Armenian Studies at Harvard University , the Mesrop Center for Armenian Studies at Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg , a number of schools and universities in Armenia, Artsakh and educational and cultural institutions in the Armenian diaspora . No contemporary portraits of Mashtots have been found. The first artistic depictions appeared in Armenian illuminated manuscripts ( miniatures ), primarily in sharakans and haysmavurks , starting from

4186-649: The Ottoman government sent an official scientific survey group to the lake who failed to spot the creature. Russell discounts a connection between their belief about lake vishaps and the 1990s sightings of a lake creature, considering that any folk beliefs amongst the Kurdish population are likely to be affected more by stories about lake monsters in popular Western culture than any surviving Armenian traditions. He also recounts that Kurds he met in Van in 1994 and 1997 considered

4277-403: 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

4368-644: The Scriptures. They journeyed as far as Constantinople and brought back authentic copies of the Greek text with them. With the help of other copies obtained from Alexandria, the Bible was translated again from the Greek according to the text of the Septuagint and Origen 's Hexapla . This version, now in use in the Armenian Church, was completed about 434. The decrees of the first three ecumenical councils— Nicæa , Constantinople , and Ephesus —and

4459-530: The Soviets put into circulation a stamp commemorating Mashtots. The Order of St. Mesrop Mashtots , awarded for "outstanding achievements" in science, education, healthcare, and culture, was established by the Armenian government in 1993. The St. Sahak-St. Mesrop award was established by the Armenian Church in 1978. Mashtots and the Matenadaran were featured on the 1,000 Armenian dram banknote of

4550-545: The West, had very strong pro-Hellenic bias, trained the children of pagan priests and assembled their own disciples to spread the faith through learning. In his 1904 book on Mashtots, the historian Leo called him the greatest of all of Armenia's historical heroes and contrasted the continued legacy of Mashtots with the legacy of Tigranes the Great 's brief empire. Similarly, historian Ashot Hovhannisyan described Mashtots as

4641-456: The combat of the god Teisheba with the water monster Ullikummi . Russell writes that into the modern period, the Armenians of the Van basin would refer to the sudden storms that arise on the lake as vishap kami (վիշապ քամի, dragon wind). A story in the Ottoman newspaper Saadet of April 29, 1889, recounted that a creature had dragged a man into lake Van. Following reports of the incident,

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4732-481: 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 ,

4823-477: The continuation of the original feast dedicated to Mashtots. It was on this feast that pilgrimages to Mashtots' grave in Oshakan were made until the mid-20th century. With the rise of national consciousness in the 19th century, it came to be celebrated in large Armenian communities in Tiflis and Constantinople. The Armenian Apostolic Church celebrated the 1500th anniversary of the Armenian alphabet in 1912–13 and

4914-538: The creature. Or why the monster only goes straight, instead of curving through the water. Even criticism as to why the breathing is not in and out, but a continuous release, much like the effects of an air hose. A 4-meter high statue based on reported sightings has been erected to its honor in Van, Turkey . Skeptics point out that the region would benefit from tourist revenue and a hoax might attract visitors. The former Prime Minister of Turkey and poet Bülent Ecevit wrote

5005-533: The cryptid was shown on the TV Series Paranormal Caught on Camera . Movses Khorenatsi Movses Khorenatsi ( c. 410–490s AD; Armenian : Մովսէս Խորենացի , pronounced [mɔvˈsɛs χɔɾɛnɑˈtsʰi] ) 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

5096-581: 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

5187-544: The entrance hall of the Armenian Academy of Sciences in Yerevan. Hovhannes Minasian and Henrik Mamian created a fresco, in 1961–64, for Saint Mesrop Mashtots Church in Oshakan , where he is buried. In 1981 a tapestry titled The Armenian Alphabet , where Mashtots is the central figure, was completed by French weavers based on a painting by Grigor Khanjyan . It is kept at the Pontifical Residence at

5278-471: 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

5369-420: 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

5460-428: The first series, put into ciculation in 1994. The widest street in central Yerevan, called Stalin, then Lenin Avenue in the Soviet period, was renamed after Mashtots in 1990. Between 1985 and 1996, one of Yerevan's eight districts, what are now the districts of Ajapnyak and Davitashen , was called Mashtots. Institutions named after Mashtots include the Matenadaran , the central library of Stepanakert ,

5551-490: 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

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5642-509: The height of the Karabakh movement in 1989, Rafayel Ishkhanian characterized Mesrop Mashtots as "our most genuine, our greatest independentist [...] who, at the moment of the disintegration of the Armenian state, gave us the Armenian alphabet, language and literature, gave us Armenian schools and, as a result, although without political independence, we kept our moral and cultural sovereignty." Levon Ter-Petrosyan , philologist and Armenia's first president, postulates that Mashtots and Gregory

5733-435: The invention of the Armenian alphabet by Mashtots was primarily aimed at spreading Christianity, in the long-run it was also politically significant. Armenians entered the "family of ancient cultured peoples" and developed an original culture and rich literature. In a 1991 book Catholicos of Cilicia Karekin I complained that his work was being "depicted with colours of purely political, nationalistic and secular nature." At

5824-406: The invention of the alphabet to Moses ' descent from Mount Sinai . In another passage, Koriun compared the work of Mashtots and Sahak to the work of the Four Evangelists . Modern scholars have compared Mashtots to Gregory the Illuminator , often describing the former as the "second illuminator." Russell argues that both were visionaries, found a champion for their program in the king, looked to

5915-402: The lake monster story to be a "commercial ploy and a farce". In 1997 a local man called Ünal Kozak claimed to have captured the monster on video which was sent for analysis. Academic Mustafa Y. Nutku has written a book about the creature, together with Kozak. Kozak's video is under constant criticism, with questions like why it never pans left, possibly because of a boat that may have carried

6006-400: 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

6097-399: The likely range. He was born in the village of Hatsekats (Հացեկաց) in the canton of Taron , to a father named Vardan, who may have been a priest or a nobleman. Some scholars believe he was affiliated with the Mamikonian dynasty since Taron was their feudal domain. Others suggest he may have belonged to the lesser nobility or reject his noble origin at all. Leo believed he was the son of

6188-484: 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

6279-419: The long-time president of the Armenian Academy of Sciences , stated in 1962։ "The history of our culture has given many outstanding figures, but of all these figures, the Armenian people owe the most to Mashtots." Soviet Armenian historiography portrayed Mashtots as a secular figure, in line with the official Marxist-Leninist interpretation of history. Hakob Manandian argued in a 1940 pamphlet that although

6370-437: The matter and created an alphabet of thirty-six letters; two more (long O (Օ, օ) and F (Ֆ, ֆ)) were added in the twelfth century. The first sentence in Armenian written down by Mesrop after he invented the letters was the opening line of Solomon's Book of Proverbs : Ճանաչել զիմաստութիւն եւ զխրատ, իմանալ զբանս հանճարոյ : Čanačʿel zimastutʿiwn ew zxrat, imanal zbans hančaroy. «To know wisdom and instruction; to perceive

6461-457: 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

6552-480: The name of the Urartian goddess Bag-Mashtu . Russell argued that the original form of Mashtots may have been Maždoc‘, originated from Middle Parthian mozhdag and means "bearer of good news or reward". Today, Mesrop (Mesrob) is a common male name and Mesropyan (Mesrobian) a common last name among Armenians. There is more agreement about Mesrop. Acharian considered it to be of unknown origin, but noted that it

6643-467: The national liturgy (so far written in Syriac) were also translated into Armenian, the latter being revised on the liturgy of St. Basil , though retaining characteristics of its own. Many works of the Greek Fathers were also translated into Armenian. The loss of the Greek originals has given some of those versions a special importance; thus, the second part of Eusebius 's Chronicle, of which only

6734-456: The previously unknown Urartian language . The following works are also attributed to Movses: Mesrop Mashtots Mesrop Mashtots ( listen ; Armenian : Մեսրոպ Մաշտոց Mesrop Maštoc' ; Eastern Armenian: [mɛsˈɾop maʃˈtotsʰ] ; Western Armenian: [mɛsˈɾob maʃˈtotsʰ] ; 362 – February 17, 440 AD) was an Armenian linguist , composer , theologian , statesman , and hymnologist in

6825-444: The prominent Surb Karapet Monastery , not far from his birthplace. Koriun tells that Mashtots received "Hellenic education," i.e. education in the Greek language . Besides his native Armenian, Mashtots knew Greek , Persian ( Middle Persian ), and Syriac (Aramaic). In late 380s Mashtots moved to Vagharshapat , Armenia's capital, where he began a career at the court of King Khosrov III . While Khorenatsi says that he worked as

6916-535: The reinvention of the Armenian alphabet , the revision of the liturgy, the creation of an ecclesiastical and national literature, and the revision of hierarchical relations. Three men are prominently associated with this work: Mashtots, Part'ev, and King Vramshapuh , who succeeded his brother Khosrov IV in 389. Armenians probably had an alphabet of their own, as historical writers reference an "Armenian alphabet" before Mashtots, but used Greek , Persian , and Syriac scripts to translate Christian texts, none of which

7007-534: 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

7098-451: 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

7189-432: The state of the church in Oshakan where Mashtots is buried. In his 1912 poem "St. Mashtots", Siamanto compared him to Moses and called him "God of Thought." In a 1913 poem , Hovhannes Tumanyan , Armenia's national poet , praised Mashtots and Sahak as luminaries. Paruyr Sevak , a celebrated Soviet Armenian poet, characterized Mashtots as a great statesman who won a "bloodless battle, which cannot be compared to any of

7280-508: The victories of our glorious commanders" in a 1962 poem. It was set to stage in 2011. A popular poem by Silva Kaputikyan , "Words for my Son", reads: "By Mesrop's holy genius, it [the Armenian language] has become letter and parchment; it has become hope, become a flag." In the early 1970s, the popular song "Glorious Nation" («Ազգ փառապանծ»), written by Arno Babajanian and Ashot Grashi  [ hy ; ru ] , and frequently performed by Raisa Mkrtchyan  [ hy ] , included

7371-473: The village of Khoreay ( Խորեայ ) in the Haband district of the province of Syunik , which is mentioned by 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

7462-417: The words of understanding.» The reinvention of the alphabet around 405 was crucial for Armenian literature and was significant in the creation of a separate idea of Armenian language and what was connected to it. "The result of the work of Isaac and Mesrop", says St. Martin, "was to separate for ever the Armenians from the other peoples of the East, to make of them a distinct nation, and to strengthen them in

7553-436: The world, or Weltanschauung ." Mashtots also produced a number of liturgical compositions. Some of the works attributed to him are: «Մեղայ քեզ Տէր» ( Meġay k’ez Tēr , “I have sinned against you, Lord”), «Ողորմեա ինձ Աստուած» ( Voġormea inj Astuac , “Have mercy on me, God”), «Անկանիմ առաջի քո» ( Ankanim aṙaǰi k’o , “I kneel before you”) and «Ողորմեա» ( Voġormea , “Miserere”), all of which are hymns of repentance . Mashtots

7644-461: 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

7735-466: Was appointed secretary to King Khosrov IV , in charge of writing royal decrees and edicts in Persian and Greek. Leaving the court, Mashtots took the holy orders and withdrew to a monastery with a few companions, leading a life of great austerity for several years. In 394, with the blessing of Sahak Part'ev , Mashtots set out on a proselytizing mission. With the support of Prince Shampith, he preached

7826-495: 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 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

7917-750: Was erected near the central square of Ejmiatsin ( Vagharshapat ). Statues, busts and sculptures of Mashtots have been erected in the Armenian diaspora , including in historical communities such as at the seminary in Jerusalem's Armenian Quarter , the library of the Vank Cathedral in New Julfa , Isfahan, Iran, the Melkonian Educational Institute in Nicosia , Cyprus and in newly-established communities, such as on

8008-555: Was not confined to Eastern Armenia . Provided with letters from the Catholicos, he went to Constantinople and obtained from emperor Theodosius the Younger permission to preach and teach in his Armenian possessions. Having returned to Eastern Armenia to report to the patriarch, his first thought was to provide religious literature for his countrymen. He sent some of his numerous disciples to Edessa , Constantinople, Athens , Antioch , Alexandria , and other centers of learning, to study

8099-404: Was not until the 20th century that he came to be referred to by both names, sometimes spelled with a hyphen . Some scholars, including Malachia Ormanian , maintain that Mashtots was his birth name, while Mesrop was his ecclesiastical name by which he was ordained . Anton Garagashian believed the opposite to be true. According to James R. Russell , Mashtots was his primary name, while Mesrop

8190-554: Was the son of Vardan Mamikonian (not the better known one ), the older brother of sparapet Vasak Mamikonian . This theory has been rejected by Hakob Manandian and Garnik Fntglian. James R. Russell writes that Mashtots' father was "probably a member of the Mamikonean clan." Another point of contention is whether Mashtots was a student of Nerses the Great , first mentioned by Khorenatsi. Both Acharian and Leo rejected it. Acharian noted that Mashtots probably studied at

8281-412: Was well suited for representing the many complex sounds of their native tongue. The Holy Scriptures and the liturgy were, to a large extent, unintelligible to the faithful and required the intervention of translators and interpreters. Mashtots was assisted in inventing an Armenian writing system by Sahak and Vramshapuh . He consulted Daniel, a bishop of Mesopotamia , and Rufinus, a monk of Samosata , on

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