[142] For a description of this book and its ivory panels see

Strgygowski, Das Etschmiadzin-Evangeliar, Vienna, 1891.

[143] The institution of the twelve bishops, who reside in the palace

of the katholikos and fulfil various offices about his person, dates

from the commencement of the Armenian State Church. See Faustus of

Byzantium, vi. 5, and Gelzer (Die Anfänge der Armenischen Kirche,

in Berichte der K. S. Gesellschaft der Wissenschaften zu Leipzic,

Phil.-Hist. Classe, 1895).

[144] I was informed that the notes are those of the fifth century;

but there appears to be no sufficient historical evidence for this

belief. The historians, however, speak of this or that vartapet as

having been a musician (erajisht). The Katholikos George IV. (d. 1882)

transcribed the original notes from the Armenian manuscripts, but

brought them into consonance with European methods.

[145] So it is known to all the early travellers. Cp. Poser, 1621;

Evliya, 1647, "the Three Churches, a great convent built by the Greek

emperors"; Rhodes, 1648-49; Tavernier, 1655; Chardin, 1673; Jesuit

Missionaries, seventeenth century, Letter of Père Monier; Schillinger,

c. 1699; Tournefort, 1701, who notices the inappropriateness of

the name.

[146] It is given at length by Agathangelus, and may be found in

that portion of the treatise to which I shall hereafter allude as

"the Acts" (see note on p. 291, infra). There can be little doubt that

the legend of the Ripsimians took the place of an old heathen legend,

associated with the site at Vagharshapat. There seems to have been

a local tradition that the cathedral and the chapels of Ripsime and

Gaiane stand upon three rocks, whence in pagan times voices would

be heard coming from underlying cavities and returning answers to

questions addressed to them.

[147] This is probably an anachronism.

[148] I interpret him in the sense of there and back.

[149] It appears to have been the custom among the Armenians down to

comparatively recent times for pious people to place large blocks of

stone in front of the entrance to a church by way of offering. Dubois

de Montpéreux saw a number of such stones, 6 or 7 feet high, covered

with crosses and arabesques, in front of the portal of the cathedral

at Edgmiatsin. I do not know what has become of them.

[150] Chardin (ed. Langlès, Paris, 1811, 8vo, vol. ii. p. 175). See

also Tavernier (book i. ch. iii.). The Jesuit missionaries, however,

later on in the seventeenth century, speak of a structure resembling

a mausoleum and having four stone columns and an altar in the

centre. There can be little doubt that this is an allusion to the

erection of Eleazar.

[151] Chardin, ibid.

[152] History of Architecture, book i. ch. iv. Neo-Byzantine style. His

remarks have reference to the shape of the dome and not to the pointed

arches of the false arcade, which perhaps argue a much later date.

[153] Dubois de Montpéreux, Voyage autour du Caucase, Paris, 1839-43,

vol. iii. pp. 372 seq.

[154] Ibid. Atlas, series iii. plate 7.

[155] See Telfer, The Crimea and Transcaucasia, London, 1876,

vol. i. p. 222, and Dubois, op. cit. vol. iii. pp. 382 seq.

[156] Strgygowski, Das Etschmiadzin-Evangeliar, Vienna, 1891. I read

the large inscription thus:--Iêsou boêthei pantas tous euchomenous en

tê ekklêsia Zibithain (?)--kyrie eleêson ton doulon sou Archian--kai

kyrie Eleêson Elpidin (for Elpida or Elpidian, the variation of the

accusative of Elpis into -pidin being not unusual)--Daniêl, Tirer,

Garikinis. The word Zibithain is taken as a proper name by Brosset

(Voyage Archéologique, St. Petersburg, 1849-51, 3me rapp., p. 16),

and by Strgygowski, who supposes it to be the same as Zuithai, found in

Armenian writers, e.g. in Faustus of Byzantium, who speaks of a Zuithai

as priest of the town of Artaxata during the persecution of Shapur

(Faustus, iv. 56). Zuithai would be the priest in whose church the

memorial had been placed. As for the three proper names at the end,

that of Tirer has been found in an inscription of the thirteenth

century. Garikinis denotes the proper name Garegin.

[157] It is a matter of surmise that Nerses I. restored the sacred

buildings of Vagharshapat after the destruction of that city by the

Persian armies in the fourth century (see Faustus, v. 1); but the first

restoration of the cathedral of which I can find any certain mention

is that of the great Armenian chief Vahan Mamikonean in or about the

year 483 (Lazar Pharpetzi in Langlois' Collection des historiens de

l'Arménie, Paris, 1867-69, vol. ii. p. 352. And see Saint-Martin,

Mémoires sur l'Arménie, Paris, 1818, vol. i. p. 328). Armenia was at

this time struggling to rid herself of the Persian (Sasanian) yoke,

having lost her Arsakid dynasty. The katholikos no longer resided at

Edgmiatsin, the pontifical seat having been transferred to Dvin in

A.D. 452 (Saint-Martin, ibid. vol. i. p. 437); nor does he return until

A.D. 1441. In 618 it was again restored by the Katholikos Komitas

(Saint-Martin, i. 116, quoting John Katholikos; and cp. Sebeos,

Hist. of Heraclius, iii. 25 (in Armenian)), who substituted a dome

in stone in place of the earlier wooden one. Certain repairs are

attributed to the Katholikos Nerses III., surnamed the builder,

A.D. 640-661, I know not upon what authority. After this there

ensues a long period, for which we appear to have no records. The

katholikos often changes his residence. After the destruction of the

Cilician kingdom and in the year 1438 the right arm of St. Gregory,

a relic which had become the palladium of the pontifical office,

was transferred from Sis, the capital of that kingdom, to Edgmiatsin

(Gelzer, article Armenien in Realencyklopädie für protestantische

Theologie, Leipzic, 1896). Saint-Martin places the transfer thither of

the seat of the pontificate in the year 1441. In 1442 the Katholikos

Kirakos undertook the necessary repairs (Thomas Metsobatzi). We now

leap to the reign of Shah Abbas of Persia, who, as is well known,

transported a whole colony of Armenians from the valley of the Araxes

to the outskirts of his capital, Ispahan. In 1614 this monarch carried

off a number of the venerated stones of the church to New Julfa to form

the nucleus of a new Edgmiatsin (Arakel of Tauris, ch. xxiv.). The

famous monastery fell into woeful neglect. The Katholikos Moses

(1629-33) restored it, but added no new feature. His successor

Philip renewed the roof (inscriptions, records, etc.). I think I

have mentioned subsequent additions. The steps which run round the

church were added or extensively restored by the Katholikos Lukas

(in 1784). But they have been modified by Makar I. Repairs are

ascribed to the pontiffs Astvatsadur, Simeon and Ephraim, the last

of whom repaired in 1816 the damages which the Persians had done to

the roof by placing a battery upon it. For more detailed information

I may refer my reader to a work entitled: Description of the Mother

Church of the Armenians, by Vahan Vardapet Bastamean, Edgmiatsin,

1877 (in Armenian and Russian).

[158] See the translation of the De Edificiis by Stewart, annotated

by Sir Charles Wilson, London, 1896, pp. 73 seq. (Palestine Pilgrims

Text Society).

[159] John Katholikos, c. xii. And see Sebeos, Hist. of Heraclius,

iii. 33.

[160] They bear the monograms of Nerses Katholikos and are reproduced

by Strgygowski (op. cit.), to whom I refer my reader. I only saw one

of them during my stay.

[161] Brosset (Bull. Scient. de l'Acad. de Sc. de St. Pétersbourg,

vol. ii. 1837) has transcribed the letters and published a valuable

little notice on the subject.

[162] The circumstance appealed to Brosset as a rare example of

religious tolerance (Voyage Arch., rapp. 3, p. 19).

[163] Dubois, Voyage autour du Caucase, vol. iii. p. 371. But see

Haxthausen, Transcaucasia, p. 287.

[164] I was unable to measure each apse; but I was assured that they

were all of the same or nearly the same size. The portal is of course

not included in the above measurements.

[165] Telfer (Crimea and Transcaucasia, London, 1876, vol. i. p. 231)

seems to refer to this throne, which he ascribes to Pope Innocent XI.,

a gift to James IV. (1655-80).

[166] See Morier, Second Journey, pp. 323 seq.

[167] See Dubois de Montpéreux, op. cit. vol. iii. p. 213, and

Neale's Holy Eastern Church, vol. i. p. 296. The former of these

writers informs us that our church of St. Ripsime "a servi de type

à une foule d'autres églises," and the latter has improved upon

this statement by asserting that it is "the norm of all Armenian

ecclesiastical buildings" (Dubois, vol. iii. p. 380, and Neale,

vol. i. p. 293). Leaving Georgia out of account, both these statements

are incorrect.

[168] Unless we accept Neale's hypothesis that they served as a

narthex. But the narthex is not a feature of the churches of Great

Armenia.

[169] According to Brosset (Voyage Arch., rapp. 3, p. 82) the diameter

of the dome is not less than about 35 feet. The height is given by

Neale, op. cit. p. 296, as 104 1/2 feet to the top of the cross.

[170] Sebeos, History of Heraklius (in Armenian), part iii. ch. xxv.

[171] For the theft and recovery of these relics see Smith and Dwight

(Missionary Researches, London, 1834, p. 280), and Brosset (Voyage

Arch., rapp. 3, p. 83).

[172] Brosset, ibid. p. 82. The date reposes upon the authority of

the historian, John Katholikos.

[173] According to Agathangelus the third chapel was built upon the

site of the wine-press. Further on we are told that it was situated

north of the town, and that in it was buried the unfortunate nun who

was left behind owing to sickness.

[174] Brosset (Bull. Scientifique Acad. Sc. St. Pétersbourg, 1840,

pp. 46 seq.) quotes a letter from Nahabet to this effect.

[175] Brosset, ibid.

[176] Belck, in Zeitschrift für Ethnologie, Berlin, 1893, Heft

ii. p. 77.

[177] Haxthausen, Transcaucasia, p. 295.

[178] Schillinger, Persianische und Ost-Indianische Reise, Nürnberg,

1707. I do not credit the statement of Evliya, who visited Edgmiatsin

in A.D. 1647, to the effect that at that time the monastery was

inhabited by about 500 monks.

[179] Bryce, Transcaucasia and Ararat, note to 4th edition, London,

1896, p. 314.

[180] It is interesting to place together the two following passages,

the first taken from a modern and representative Armenian source,

the second from the work of a German scholar. I translate both

from the German. Dr. Arshak Ter-Mikelean, professor of theology in

the Academy at Edgmiatsin, writes (Die Armenische Kirche in ihren

Beziehungen zur byzantinischen, Leipzic, 1892, p. 9): "The mother

church of Gregory was not founded by him nor even by the apostles,

who are only mortal men; but the everlasting Founder, the only Head of

the Church, Himself descends in glory from Heaven and commands him to

build a church after His plan and His directions on a prescribed site

in the royal city, Vagharshapat. Christ Himself appears to Gregory

in a vision and instructs him what he shall do ..."; and Professor

Gelzer draws the inference (Die Anfänge der armenischen Kirche, in

Berichte über die Verhandlungen der K. S. Gesell. der Wissenschaften

zu Leipzic, Phil.-Hist. Classe, 1895, p. 127): "The ancient capital

Vagharshapat ... bears at the present day the name Edgmiatsin, 'the

Only Begotten descended from Heaven,' in everlasting remembrance that

Christ Himself founded the Armenian Church and thereby established

her as autokephalous and completely independent of every patriarchate,

whether of the East or of the West."

[181] Moses of Khorene mentions St. Bartholomew and St. Simon (ii. 34,

in Langlois, Collection des hist. de l'Arménie, Paris, 1867-69,

vol. ii. p. 98), and says that the former suffered martyrdom in

the town of Arevban, while the other was reputed to have met the

same fate in Veriospora. According to Gelzer (article Armenien in

Realencyklopädie für protestantische Theologie, Leipzic, 1896) the

martyrdom of St. Bartholomew in Urbanopolis, a town of Great Armenia,

was known to Greek writers as early as the fifth century. Urbanopolis,

Albanopolis, or Korbanopolis (Armenian, Arevbanos or Arebonos-Kaghak)

may perhaps be identified with Arabion castellum, where in fact Vardan

(c. 1270) tells us that the saint was murdered. Arabion castellum was

a fort on the Stranga, or Great Zab, which Mr. F. C. Conybeare (Key of

Truth, Oxford, 1898, p. cii.) connects with the modern Deir, where at

the present day the monastery and church of St. Bartholomew stand. I

surmise that nothing is known of the site of Veriospora. Moses,

following the Edessene tradition, speaks of St. Thaddeus as one of

the seventy disciples, relates at length his mission to King Abgar of

Edessa (Urfa in Mesopotamia), and speaks of his conversion of King

Sanatruk, successor of Abgar, and of his martyrdom in the canton

of Chavarchan, called in his day Ardaz, as well-known facts. For

St. Jude I rely on Issaverdens (Armenia and the Armenians, Venice,

1878, vol. ii. p. 21), who relates that he was put to death and buried

in the city of Urmi in Azerbaijan.

[182] Moses of Khorene, ii. 30-36, in Langlois, op. cit. vol. ii.

pp. 95 seq.; and Saint-Martin, Mémoires, etc. vol. i. p. 127.

[183] Professor Carrière (La Légende d'Abgar dans l'histoire de Moïse

de Khorène, Paris, 1895) shows that Moses used an Armenian version

of the legend of Abgar which commenced to form about the middle of

the third century but was subsequently remodelled. The same writer in

this work relegates the unfortunate Moses of Khorene, or rather the

writer who assumes the mask of this name, to a position inter deos

minores and to a period not earlier than the eighth century. He had

previously been made to step down several places, and was shivering

somewhere in the seventh century. See Gutschmid, Kleine Schriften,

Leipzic 1892, iii. p. 335.

[184] Faustus of Byzantium, iii. 1, and iv. 3, in Langlois,

op. cit. vol. i. pp. 210, 237.

[185] Issaverdens, ii. 20, and Saint-Martin, i. p. 131.

[186] Eusebius (Hist. eccl. vi. 46, 2), speaking of Dionysius of

Alexandria (A.D. 248-265), says, "And in the same manner he writes

to those in Armenia over whom Merujan was bishop on the subject of

repentance." For the probable connection of this bishop with the Van

country see Gelzer (Die Anfänge, etc. pp. 171 seq.).

[187] Mr. F. C. Conybeare (Key of Truth, Oxford, 1898,

pp. ci. seq.) discusses the locality of the see of Archelaus. He is

called in the Acts of Archelaus bishop of Karkhar (episkopos Karcharôn

or Kascharôn), which again is called a city of Mesopotamia, three days'

hard riding from castellum Arabion, a fort on the river Stranga, the

modern Great Zab. Karkhar was included in the Roman dominions. May

it not have been somewhere in the neighbourhood of Sert?

[188] Conybeare, ibid. pp. lviii. and ciii.

[189] Conybeare, ibid. p. cx.

[190] Conybeare, ibid. p. xcvi.

[191] I refer to the long account contained in the Agathangelus

treatise (see note infra).

[192] Conybeare, op. cit. pp. cxi. cxii.

[193] Ibid. pp. clx. clxi.

[194] Letter of Lazar Pharpetzi ap. Conybeare, op. cit. p. cviii.;

Nerses of Lampron, ibid. p. lxxxv.; Isaac Katholikos, ibid. Appendix

vii. p. 171, and pp. lxxvi. lxxvii.

[195] Conybeare (op. cit.) gives the gist of the canon of the Council

of Shahapivan (pp. cvii. cviii.) and a translation of the canon of

John Katholikos at the Council of Dvin and of portions of his tract

(pp. 152 seq. in Appendix iv.).

[196] Conybeare (ibid. Appendices i. to iv. inclusive) details these

various persecutions from the original sources; his discussion of the

identity of Sembat is a most interesting contribution to the history

of Armenia in the Middle Ages (pp. lxi. seq.).

[197] The visit is almost certainly a fable.

[198] For some enquiry into the ethnical affinities and earliest

history of the Armenians see Vol. II. of the present work, pp. 67 seq.

[199] Note especially the interesting incident mentioned by Faustus

of Byzantium (v. 4). An ally of the Sasanian king of Persia and a

sincere imitator of his example thus addresses his army: "When you get

to close quarters with the imperial troops I bid you try your best to

make prisoners and avoid bloodshed; we must endeavour to carry them off

with us as trophies, and we will make them work for us when we get home

as artisans and masons for the construction of our cities and palaces."

[200] Dion Cassius (lxxx. 3) adds this last statement. The preceding

are based on Agathangelus (ch. i.). The chronology is that of A. von

Gutschmid. See his article Persia in Ency. Brit. and Kleine Schriften,

iii. pp. 402 seq.

[201] Mommsen (Provinces of the Roman Empire, vol. ii. p. 75) tells

us, on the authority of Dion Cassius ap. Suidas, that it was the

Roman general Priscus who, after destroying Artaxata in A.D. 163,

laid out the city which was called kainê tolis, or, in Armenian,

Nor-Kaghak. This latter name is used by Armenian writers of the fifth

century alongside of that of Vagharshapat (Edgmiatsin).

[202] Herodian (vi. 5, 6) gives us an account of the war waged by

Severus, which is not even noticed by the Armenian historian.

[203] Agathangelus, ch. ii. Life of St. Gregory. A. von Gutschmid,

who throws doubt upon the statement in the Life that St. Gregory

was a son of Anak who was taken to Greece, views with a suspicion,

which is quite natural, the words of the historian, "one was taken

to Persia, the other to Greece." The territory of the Empire would

have been hostile to such protégés of the Persian king. But even if

this view be plausible it is surely not necessary to take the words

too literally (Kleine Schriften, iii. 380).

[204] Elisoeus Vardapet (ap. Langlois, Collection des hists. de

l'Arménie, vol. ii. p. 206) gives the text of a petition despatched by

the Armenian nobles to Theodosius II., in which occurs the following

passage:-- ... "our king Tiridates, while yet a child, was taken to

Greek territory and educated there in order to escape from his cruel

and parricidal uncles...." On the other hand, Agathangelus leads us

to infer that Ardashir took possession of Armenia after the murder

of Chosroes and that it was then that the child Tiridates was taken

to Greece. In this statement he comes into conflict with Zonaras,

who tells us (xii. 21) that it was only in the time of Gallus (252 or

253) that the Persians were able to possess themselves of Armenia,

after the flight of the king, Tiridates. It does not seem open to

doubt that it was not Ardashir but his successor Shapur I. who became

master of Armenia; and these various sources may perhaps be partially

reconciled in the manner suggested by Von Gutschmid (Kleine Schriften,

iii. 405) and adopted in my text. Von Gutschmid interprets parricidal

in the sense of the uncles having murdered, or helped to murder,

not their own father but the father of Tiridates.

[205] The campaign of Odaenathus against Shapur is placed in 265

by Robertson Smith (article Palmyra in Ency. Brit.) and in 264 by

Mommsen (Provinces of Roman Empire, ii. 104). We learn from Vopiscus

(Aurel. 27) that an Armenian contingent was enrolled under the banner

of Zenobia against the Emperor Aurelian in 271. What was the attitude

of Tiridates during the war?

[206] Tiridates was no doubt influenced by the persecutions of

the emperors Decius (249-251) and Valerian (253-260). The latter

persecution took place during the last three and a half years of the

reign of Valerian.

[207] Agathangelus is our earliest authority for the reign of

Tiridates and for the events connected with the conversion of the

Armenians as a nation to Christianity. But the scholars who examined

this precious treatise were impressed with the scale and frequency

of the interpolations to which the original text appeared to have

been subjected; and partly for this reason, partly owing to the

former ascendency of Moses of Khorene, full use was not made of the

work. In 1877 there appeared in the pages of a German periodical one

of those masterpieces of the higher criticism of which German writers

now appear to have a monopoly. It is entitled Agathangelos, by Alfred

von Gutschmid, and it has been incorporated in the collected edition

of Von Gutschmid's minor works (Kleine Schriften von A. von Gutschmid,

Leipzic, 1892, vol. iii. pp. 339 seq.). The author laboured under the

disadvantage of not being an Armenian scholar; but he has nevertheless

succeeded in discriminating between the various sources from which

the treatise, as it has come down to us, has been built up. They

are--1. An earliest source which we may call the Life of St. Gregory,

and which also contains an account, running parallel, of the reigns

of Chosroes and Tiridates down to the conversion of the latter. Von

Gutschmid thinks that this writing was composed in Armenian during

the pontificate of Sahak, or Isaac, the Great (A.D. 391-442). It

seems more probable, however, that it was originally written in

Greek or Syriac and subsequently translated into Armenian. 2. A

later piece which we may distinguish as the Acts of St. Gregory and of

St. Ripsime and her Companions. It is a hagiograph, which Von Gutschmid

supposes to have been written about the year 450. It seems to me,

however, that a certain passage in Faustus of Byzantium (iii. 13,

in Langlois' translation, "jusqu'à changer même l'image de l'homme

en une figure de bête") points to that author having been acquainted

with the Acts; at all events he is familiar with the legend of the

Ripsimians. Faustus appears to have written 395-416. To the Acts

portion of the Agathangelus treatise belongs a long and possibly

independent piece which contains the teaching of St. Gregory; but

neither the Greek version nor the extant translations include it, and

I am not aware that any consecutive account of its contents has yet

appeared. In the Armenian text this last piece takes up over one-half

of the treatise as a whole. And finally--3. The Vision or Apocalypse of

St. Gregory, in which the saint receives the Divine mandate to build

the church at Edgmiatsin. This piece, together with the prologue

and epilogue to the whole work, was probably added by a priest of

Vagharshapat (Edgmiatsin), who edited the treatise and gave it its

present form, publishing it under the pseudonym of Agathangelus. Von

Gutschmid thinks that the work as a whole may be assigned to the

period of Persian persecution (A.D. 452-456). The fact that Lazar

Pharpetzi displays an intimate acquaintance with it under the name

of Agathangelus shows that it cannot be placed later than about the

close of the fifth century. I do not know, however, that Lazar shows

a knowledge of the Apocalypse, or that the statement contained in a

Paris MS. can be conclusively disproved, that the Armenian text which

has come down to us is a translation made in the seventh century, at

the time of the discovery under Komitas of the relics of St. Ripsime,

from a Greek original. Von Gutschmid, however, argues against this view

(pp. 354 seq.). Ter-Mikelean (Die armenische Kirche, p. 5) supports the

view that the work was translated at the close of the fourth century

by Koriun from a Greek original (see Langlois, vol. ii. Introduction

to Koriun, p. 4); but Von Gutschmid has shown that certain passages

have been borrowed from Koriun, and until the Armenian text has

been subjected to a searching philological criticism we are not safe

in saying more than this. The student will find the various pieces

enumerated above distinguished one from another, passage by passage,

in the table given by Von Gutschmid (pp. 375 seq.). The latest edition

of our present Greek text, which is a translation from the Armenian,

is that of De Lagarde (Göttingen, 1887), but the references given in

my notes are to that of Langlois. The best translation is that of

the Mekhitarists in Italian (Venice, 1843). The French translation

in Langlois omits some of the most important passages. As regards

the historical importance of the pieces, Von Gutschmid concludes that

the Life may be regarded as a source of absolute reliability for the

conversion of the king and for the events in Armenia which succeeded

the conversion. As regards what took place before that event, it is

in the main reliable, although interwoven with legend. The Acts,

on the other hand, and the Apocalypse are as good as useless as

historical material.

The scholarly study of Von Gutschmid rendered possible Professor

Gelzer's profound and brilliant essay, Die Anfänge der armenischen

Kirche, to which I have already alluded (p. 277, note 1) and in which

he reviews the work of the Armenian writer known to us under the name

of Faustus of Byzantium.

[208] See p. 145 of the Italian translation of Agathangelus. Von

Gutschmid (Kleine Schriften, iii. 358) is careful to point out the

discrepancy in the two sources. While the Acts speak of possession

by devils as the malady with which the people of Vagharshapat were

afflicted and which caused them to be transformed into animals,

the Life only mentions "possession" as one of the diseases which

are enumerated.

[209] See the Italian translation, p. 153.

[210] Sozomen, ii. 8. He places the conversion before Constantine,

but does not give the exact date.

[211] "With Gallienus (260) there begins for the Christians a long

period of peace, lasting about forty years" (Moeller, History of the

Christian Church, A.D. 1-600, London, 1892, p. 196).

[212] It seems impossible to precise the date of the conversion of

Tiridates. The author of the Life in Agathangelus allows thirteen

years for the captivity of Gregory, who was imprisoned in the first

year of the restoration. But I am not aware that we are able to fix

this latter date. The conversion probably occurred about the year 280.

[213] Emin, Recherches sur le paganisme arménien, p. 20, note 1.

[214] The Pontic regions.

[215] The king himself preached (Agathangelus, Life of St. Gregory,

in p. 253 of the Italian translation).

[216] I insert the word "years" in deference to Professor Gelzer,

who argues (Die Anfänge, etc., p. 166) that if the conversion took

place about the year 280, the journey to Cæsarea could scarcely

have been undertaken before 285-290. He is wishing to show that

the statements contained in a portion of the Agathangelus treatise

ascribed by Von Gutschmid to the less reliable source, viz. the Acts,

to the effect that St. Gregory was ordained by Leontius, archbishop

of Cæsarea, may quite well be true. We know that Leontius subscribed

the Council of Nice (325); and his pontificate must have covered a

period of forty-five years if St. Gregory was ordained by him in or

about the year 280. The Life mentions the visit of Gregory to Cæsarea

but not the name of Leontius; and Von Gutschmid, while he regards the

visit as historical, views with suspicion the connection with that

particular prelate (Kleine Schriften, iii. pp. 415 and 418). That

seems to me the sensible view. We learn from an independent source

(Gelas. Cyzic. ii. 36, ap. Mansi, ii. p. 929) that in the year 325 and

during the lifetime of Saint Gregory and Leontius, Great Armenia was in

ecclesiastical subordination to Cæsarea; and the link with the capital

of Cappadocia was maintained until the death of the Katholikos Nerses

I. about the year 374 (cp. Faustus, v. 29). The later story, to the

effect that Tiridates received Christianity from the bishop of Rome

(so in the petition of the Armenians in the year 450 to Theodosius,

ap. Elisoeus in Langlois, ii. 206), is plainly a story with a purpose

and must therefore be viewed with suspicion.

[217] The car with the white mules is mentioned in the Life, and the

escort of sixteen princes in the Acts.

[218] A bishop of Sivas with this name was martyred under Diocletian;

but this saint will not suit our chronology. Certain features in

connection with the cult of the saint--a hind is offered up to him

on his name day--have suggested to Von Gutschmid (Kleine Schriften,

iii. 414) that Athenogenes was a heathen god of the chase, converted

in comparatively remote times into a Christian martyr. A local cult of

this nature seems to have attached to Herakles in certain countries;

therefore it might quite well have been natural for Gregory to supplant

the worship of his Armenian counterpart, Vahagn, at Astishat with that

of Athenogenes, the saint corresponding to the god of the chase. This

is ingenious but not convincing. The hunting features in the cult of

Athenogenes may surely have been derived from his worship at Astishat

in place of Vahagn (Herakles).

[219] I adopt the Greek version of Agathangelus in this passage in

preference to the Armenian text, which has "he laid the foundations

of the church and erected an altar to the glory of Christ. It was

here that he first commenced to build churches, and erected an altar

in the name of the Holy Trinity and added a baptistery." See Gelzer

(Die Anfänge, etc., p. 129).

[220] After a second perusal of the passages in Agathangelus and

Faustus (in Langlois: Agathangelus, cxiv. and cxv.; Faustus, iii. and

iv. 14), I do not hesitate to identify the site of the temples of

Astishat--Mount Karke, in face of the great range, Taurus--with the

immediate surroundings of the present cloister of Surb Karapet (see

Vol. II. p. 177). The view which I shall offer from the terrace of

that famous monastery (Fig. 157) will be the view which excited the

cupidity of the eunuch Hair; the ash trees in the foreground may be the

descendants of the hatzeatz-drakht or garden of ash trees; finally,

the confluence of rivers, overgrown with thick forest, to which the

eunuch descended and where he met his death, may be represented by

the still wooded banks of the Murad in the valley of Charbahur. The

identification of the scene of the events narrated in the text with

the present monastery of Surb Karapet may be found in the geography

attributed to Vardan in Saint Martin (Mémoires, etc., vol. ii. p. 431).

The baptism of Tiridates probably took place on the banks of the Upper

Murad upon the site of another existing cloister of Surb Karapet,

also called Uch Kilisa, near Diadin (see Smith and Dwight, Missionary

Researches, p. 417).

[221] Faustus, iii. 3.

[222] Faustus, iii. 13.

[223] Ibid.

[224] Agathangelus, Life of St Gregory, sec. 158.

[225] Faustus, iii. 13.

[226] Faustus, v. 31. "The obsequies of the dead were conducted

amid loud lamentations, accompanied by trumpets, guitars and

harps. Monstrous dances took place, men and women, with bangles on

their arms and painted faces, giving themselves up to every kind of

abomination." The picture is coloured by malice, but is vivid.

[227] Agathangelus, Life of St. Gregory, sec. 169.

[228] Faustus, iv. 4.

[229] Faustus, iv. 14. It seems plain from this chapter that these

domains had been bestowed upon the family of Gregory by Tiridates

and his successors.

[230] Faustus, iii. 15 and 19. The profane delinquents were named Pap

and Athenogenes, and the makeshift office-bearers Daniel the Syrian,

Pharen and Shahak. The two last-named were formally invested with

the office and sent to Cæsarea to be consecrated.

[231] Note especially the election of Nerses I., a descendant of

St. Gregory who was loth to accept the office. "The numerous troops

of all Armenia demanded and proclaimed Nerses as katholikos ... the

entire assembly commenced to cry with a loud voice, 'It is Nerses who

must be our pastor.' Nerses refused to accept the mandate, of which

he professed himself unworthy. Nevertheless the assembly persisted

in their resolution and continued to cry before the king, 'No one

except Nerses shall be our pastor; nobody but he shall occupy the holy

chair!'" The whole chapter (Faustus, iv. 3) is well worth reading,

and contains some very vivid portraiture. Nerses was a layman and was

raised to the pontificate in one day. He was then sent to Cæsarea to

be formally consecrated.

[232] Professor Gelzer pertinently observes (Die Anfänge, etc.,

p. 148) that the Armenian kings in pagan times had been in the

practice of placing their own near relatives in priestly offices,

and quotes Strabo to the effect that in the neighbouring provinces

of Cappadocia and Pontus the high priest was deuteros kata timên

meta basilea, or second in rank after the king. On the other hand,

traces of Jewish custom are to be found in the existence of a second

priestly House in Armenia during the early period of Christianity,

who in a sense were rivals of the House of the Illuminator. I allude

to the House of Albianus. It must not be forgotten that there were

extensive settlements of Jews in Armenia at this period, brought

thither by the Armenian king Tigranes (Faustus, iv. 55).

[233] Eusebius, Hist. Eccl. ix. 8. For the date see Von Gutschmid

(Kleine Schriften, iii. p. 412).

[234] The doubts of Von Gutschmid would perhaps have been removed by

the more correct translation given by Professor Gelzer of the passage

relating to the journey in Agathangelus and by his editing of the

context. The passage should read, "By land and sea they proceeded with

haste until they reached the State of the Italians and the land of the

Dalmatians and arrived in the imperial city of the Romans." Dalmatia

is the præfectura per Illyricum. The name of the bishop is given

in the text of Langlois as Sylvester, and as Eusebius in the Greek

translation. The best Armenian MS. also has Eusebius. The name

of Sylvester appears to have been substituted much later, when the

"imperial city of the Romans" was very naturally identified with Rome

and the prelate with the bishop of Rome.

My friend Mr. F. C. Conybeare calls my attention to the interesting

circumstance that the Armenian equivalent for Latin is Dalmatian. Thus

in their Gospels it is said that the title King of the Jews was

inscribed on the cross in Hebrew, Greek, and in Dalmatian.

[235] And yet the homoousion was not incorporated into the Armenian

Creed! But it does not appear that this omission was intentional. The

creed already in use was allowed to stand. I confess to a feeling of

astonishment, having regard to the unequivocal language in which

the author of the Life attests the acceptance of the Council;

but the canons could not have been much appreciated in Armenia at

the time if we are to credit Koriun's statement that he himself,

with Ghevond and Eznik, brought authentic copies of them to Armenia

in the fifth century (Biography of Mesrop in Langlois' Collection,

vol. ii. p. 12). Mr. F. C. Conybeare informs me that the Creed of Nice

was only communicated to the Armenian diaspora in Persia and Southern

Mesopotamia by the Katholikos Papken after the Council of Dvin, c. 490

A.D. It was rejected by that diaspora as in contradiction with their

already established Ebionite or Adoptionist tenets (see Letter-book of

the Patriarchs, MS. of the Armenian Father, St. Anthony, in Stambul).

Dr. Arshak Ter-Mikelean prints the Armenian and Nicene creeds

side by side and accompanies them with some interesting remarks

(Die armenische Kirche in ihren Beziehungen zur byzantinischen,

Leipzig, 1892, p. 22 seq.). The statement of Agathangelus (Life of

St. Gregory), that King Tiridates acted in concert with St. Gregory in

making certain additions to the canons must be received with caution,

although such additions do appear to have been actually made (see the

note of the Mekhitarists to the Italian translation of Agathangelus,

p. 196). His son, Chosroes II., appears to have come to the throne in

314. As neither Agathangelus nor Faustus gives us dates, and as the

most monstrous anachronisms occur in both treatises, one may do pretty

well what one likes with the chronology. I should even mistrust them

when they assign a given number of years for a particular period. In

the East at the present day ten years means more than one and less

than twenty years; and I see no reason to credit the old historians

with much greater precision of statement. That the Armenians took part

in the Council of Nice is attested by Agathangelus, Faustus, Moses

of Khorene, etc., and also by the list of signatures of participants

in the Council:--Armeniæ majoris Aristarces, Threnius Diosponti (Von

Gutschmid, Kleine Schriften, iii. 415). But we may reasonably doubt

that either Tiridates or St. Gregory was alive at the time.

[236] Lazar Pharpetzi, chs. x. and xi.; Moses of Khorene, iii. 36.

[237] Moses of Khorene, iii. 10. The following chronology (which is

not that of Moses) is taken from Saint Martin (apud Lebeau, Hist. du

Bas-Empire). I attach to it a parallel list of the contemporary Greek

Emperors and a similar column for the Sasanian monarchs, which is

proudly filled by a single name. The date of Sapor II. rests on the

authority of Th. Nöldeke.

Armenian Arsakid Kings.

Chosroes II. (the Little) 314-322

Tiran 322-337

Arshak 338-367

Pap 369-374

Roman Emperors.

Death of Constantine 337

Constantius 337-361

Julian 361-363

Valens 364-378

Theodosius (the Great) 379-395

Persian Sasanian Kings.

Shapur II. (succeeds as an infant) 310-379

[238] Faustus wrote c. A.D. 395-416.

[239] Moses of Khorene (iii. 10) places the king at the head of a

Greek army. The patriotism of Faustus was stronger than his veracity,

and he maintains a discreet silence upon this circumstance.

[240] The first statement in this sentence is all that we learn from

Faustus; the two last rest on the authority of Moses of Khorene, who

assigns the death of Verthanes to the third year of Tiran. Aristakes,

the younger son of St. Gregory, and his successor in the functions

of the pontifical office during the closing years of the life of

the saint, was assassinated, apparently by a Roman prefect, at an

uncertain date.

[241] In A.D. 339-340, according to Th. Nöldeke (article Persia:

Sasanians, in Ency. Brit.).

[242] The peace of A.D. 363.

[243] Agathangelus, Life of St. Gregory, sec. 154.

[244] Faustus, iv. 3.

[245] Mr. F. C. Conybeare has kindly communicated to me the following

interesting note to this passage:--"These communities were really

cities of refuge, imitated from the old Jewish legislation; and the

Armenian monarch's aim was a wise one, namely, to set limits to the

blood-feuds and vendettas of his subjects."

[246] I adopt the ingenious suggestion of Professor Gelzer (Die

Anfänge, etc., p. 155) that the dioceses of Korduk and Aghdznik were

included in the provinces ceded to Persia under Jovian's treaty in

363. Their bishops would have taken refuge in the dominions of the

king and be receiving his support. The sequence of events in Faustus

is against this hypothesis; but that is not of much account.

[247] We know from Ammianus Marcellinus (xxx. 1) that King Pap himself

died in 374.

[248] Professor Gelzer, whose admirable essay I have freely used in the

composition of this paragraph, adduces evidence from the correspondence

of Basil to show that the advisers of King Pap proceeded cautiously

along the path which they had chosen.

[249] Such is the translation given by Professor Gelzer of the passage

in Faustus iv. 14.

[250] I am indebted to Mr. F. C. Conybeare for the following

note to this passage:--The Armenian alphabet was imposed on Sahak

(Isaac the Great) by the Persian Government as a political device to

estrange the Armenians both from Greeks and from Syrians. The only

historical account is that of Anania of Shirak (unedited chronicle in

an uncial MS. at Mush), who relates that the twenty-nine consonants

were "arranged in order" by Daniel, a Syrian philosopher, and sent

(during the reign of Theodosius the Less) to the Armenian Satrap

Vakortsh by Viram Shapu the king by hand of the Elder Abel. The seven

vowels were still wanted, and Mesrop received these from Hayek, a

noble of Taron. Stephanus, a scribe of Samosata, incorporated these

seven vowels among the consonants.

[251] Nor at the Councils of Constantinople and of Ephesus.

[252] It appears that this formula was added to the Trisagion by the

Synod of Vagharshapat (Ter-Mikelean, Die armenische Kirche, etc.,

p. 47).

[253] The subject is fully discussed by Ter-Mikelean (op. cit. pp. 52

seq., and cp. pp. 70 and 89).

[254] My reader may consider that I have been dealing too largely

in ancient history. My excuse is that the position remains much the

same at the present day. The differences between the Armenian and the

Greek Churches are well summarised in a note by the Mekhitarists to the

famous address delivered by Nerses of Lambron in the twelfth century

to the council assembled at Romkla (Orazione sinodale di S. Nierses

Lampronense, Venice, 1812, p. 188). The Greek Church demanded that

the Armenian Church should:--1. Anathematise all those who assert that

Christ has one nature. 2. Confess Jesus Christ in two natures. 3. Not

address the Trisagion to the Second Person of the Trinity. 4. Celebrate

the Dominical feasts in conformity with the Greek Church. 5. Prepare

the Chrism or Holy Oil with oil alone. 6. Celebrate the Holy Communion

with leavened bread and with water in the wine. 8. Receive the

fourth, fifth, sixth, and seventh OEcumenical Councils. 9. Receive

the nomination of the Armenian patriarch from the Greek Emperor. The

attitude of the two Churches towards one another is regretfully but

most pithily summed up by the same Nerses of Lambron. The Greeks

thanked God that they were not like the Armenians; and the Armenians

thanked God that they were not like the Greeks.

It has been generally supposed that the Armenians subscribed the

Councils of Constantinople and Ephesus; but I must repeat that this

does not appear to have actually been the case (see Ter-Mikelean,

op. cit.).

Apart from dogma and ritual, the traveller notices a conspicuous

difference between the Greek and the Armenian Church at the present

day. You will not find eikons in Armenian houses, while no Russian

house is without them. As regards the Church of Rome, the dogmatic

breach is even wider than with the Greek Church; in common with the

latter the Armenian Church rejects the Filioque. And of course it

denies the infallibility of the Pope.

[255] See especially Tournefort, Voyage du Levant, Paris, 1717,

vol. ii. p. 335; Parrot, Reise zum Ararat, p. 83, and passim.

The ingenious botanist, Tournefort, was tickled by the

question--suggested by the tobacco fields through which he

passed--whether the fragrant weed was included among the plants of

the terrestrial paradise. Owing to the absence of olive trees in this

region, he is puzzled by the story of the dove and the olive branch.

[256] For the intercourse of the Armenians with the Jews I would

refer my reader to Ritter, Erdkunde, vol. x. pp. 586 seq.

[257] Dubois, Voyage autour du Caucase, vol. iii. p. 448.

[258] Ibid. p. 419; and compare the account of this city given by

Moses of Khorene.

[259] See Ouseley's Travels, vol. iii. p. 450; Ker Porter's Travels,

vol. ii. p. 640; Dubois, op. cit. vol. iii. p. 446. Ouseley and Ker

Porter thought that they were the remains of Armavir. Dubois probably

goes astray in assigning them to Tigranocerta.

[260] Dubois, op. cit. vol. iii. p. 435 seq. On a hill at the

confluence of the Arpa Chai with the Araxes, and on the western side of

the former river, this traveller found relics of the ancient fortress

of Ervandakert. It communicated with the Araxes by a subterranean

passage. Ervandashat was situated on the eastern bank, a little higher

up the stream.

[261] At Ervandakert and at Karakala, according to the testimony of

Dubois. See also Ker Porter (loc. cit.) for the relics of the bridge

at the latter place.

[262] Dubois, op. cit. vol. iii. pp. 421 and 449. Compare also Von

Behagel's account (apud Parrot, op. cit.).

[263] Probably Sembat II. (A.D. 977-89), the monarch who laid the

foundations of the cathedral at Ani.

[264] Ker Porter, op. cit. vol. i. p. 178; Ritter, Erdkunde,

vol. x. p. 449.

[265] John Katholikos. He has been translated by Saint-Martin (Paris,

1841, a posthumous work). His History, which for a large part is

a history of his own times, does not quite bring us down to the

constitution of Ani into a royal residence.

[266] The vanity of the Byzantine court denied them the actual

title of king; and the imperial author, Constantine Porphyrogenitus,

translates the Persian distinction which they afterwards acquired,

that of Shahanshah, by the term archôn archontôn.

[267] For the Artsruni and the Bagratuni I will refer my reader to

Saint-Martin (Mémoires sur l'Arménie, Paris, 1818, vol. i. pp. 418

seq.); for the Georgian Bagratuni to Brosset (Histoire de la Géorgie,

Histoire ancienne, St. Petersburg, 1849, Addition IX.).

[268] Dulaurier (Recherches sur la Chronologie Arménienne, Paris,

1859, pp. 227 seq.).

[269] Sparapet. This and the other Armenian titles of the age had

come down from Arsakid times, having survived the destruction of

monarchy. A family retained its title even when the functions which

it designated were no longer capable of fulfilment (Saint-Martin,

Mémoires, vol. i. p. 420).

[270] The dates which I have taken from Chamchean's History of Armenia

I have labelled C. Some are taken from the original work in Armenian;

others from the abridged edition translated into English and entitled

History of Armenia by Father Michael Chamich, translated by J. Avdall,

Calcutta, 1827, 2 vols. 8vo. Those marked D. have been fixed by

Dulaurier (op. cit.). Saint-Martin is my authority for some dates.

[271] Thomas Artsruni specifies the length of the various stages in

the career of Ashot. See Dulaurier (op. cit. pp. 266 seq.). The date

861 corresponds with the last year of the caliph Mutawakil and the

first of the reign of Muntasir. Lane Poole, Mohammedan Dynasties,

London, 1894.

[272] Kirakos, quoted by Dulaurier (op. cit.).

[273] For discussions of the site of Bagaran (Pakaran) see Ritter

(Erdkunde, vol. x. p. 449), and also Abich (Aus kaukasischen Ländern,

Vienna, 1896, p. 203).

[274] Chamchean and Saint-Martin place the death of Ashot in

A.D. 889. But see Dulaurier (op. cit. p. 365).

[275] The Tahirids became practically independent in Khorasan

A.D. 820-872; they were dispossessed by the Saffarids of Fars and

Seistan, A.D. 867-903.

[276] Azerbaijan is, of course, the frontier province of Persia on

the side of Armenia, having for capital the city of Tabriz.

[277] Saint-Martin, following Chamchean, attributes another motive

to this embassy. Sembat was desirous of severing his connection

with the governor of Azerbaijan and of dealing directly with the

caliph. Saint-Martin adds that the Caliph Muktafi, who had just

succeeded (A.D. 902), granted the request.

[278] Eugène Boré (Correspondance et Mémoires, Paris, 1840,

vol. ii. p. 28). The place is situated in the neighbourhood of the

town of Erzinjan, and the historian mentions the adjacent village

of Tortan, which still appears to exist and to be known under that

name. I have not been able to trace it upon any map; but the monastery

of Surb Lusavorich and Mount Sepuh, the modern Kohanam Dagh, will be

found indicated upon my map, accompanying this work.

[279] Chamchean accounts for this change of policy towards the

legitimate king by supposing that Yusuf wished to conciliate him

prior to revolting from the caliph.

[280] I adopt the colouring of John Katholikos. Among the many

opprobrious terms under which he alludes to Yusuf are the following:

second Pharaoh, prince of wild beasts, man-eater, astute serpent,

Satan, foul-breathed basilisk. Such is the language of clerical

writers in every age.

[281] John Katholikos, ch. clxxxv.

[282] Ibid. ch. clxxxvii.

[283] Samuel of Ani, in Migne, Patrologiæ cursus completus, series

Græca, vol. xix. p. 718.

[284] Matthew of Edessa, translated by Dulaurier (Paris, 1858).

[285] Samuel of Ani ap. Migne, op. cit. vol. xix. p. 718.

[286] Matthew of Edessa (op. cit. iii. p. 2) gives the date as

A.D. 959-960. He makes the event contemporary with the expedition

of the imperial forces against Crete, which started in 960 and was

continued during 961. Saint-Martin (op. cit. vol. i. p. 364) assigns

the Armenian victory to the latter year, and Chamchean to the year 962.

[287] Matthew of Edessa, op. cit. pp. 14 seq.

[288] Vardan. See Brosset, Ruines d'Ani, St. Petersburg, 1860, p. 102.

[289] Samuel of Ani ap. Migne, op. cit. p. 721.

[290] Ibid.

[291] Matthew of Edessa, chs. xxii. and xxiii.; and Asoghik, iii. 38,

quoted by Dulaurier.

[292] Samuel of Ani ap. Migne, op. cit. p. 723.

[293] Samuel of Ani (ibid.) and Asoghik.

[294] Samuel of Ani (ibid.).

[295] Samuel of Ani (ibid. p. 720) and Chamchean. According to Samuel

of Ani, it was in A.D. 971 that the patriarch established the seat

of his spiritual government at Arghina.

[296] Aristakes of Lastivert (op. cit. ii. pp. 358 seq.) and Matthew

of Edessa (op. cit. viii. p. 6).

[297] Matthew of Edessa, op. cit. x. p. 8.

[298] Matthew of Edessa and Aristakes of Lastivert.

[299] When Senekerim of Van ceded his kingdom in A.D. 1021 it had been

harried for twenty-two years. Such is the statement of Samuel of Ani

(op. cit. p. 723). It is true he attributes these incursions to the

"Saracens"; but he must mean the Turks, unless we are to discredit

altogether the detailed statement of Matthew of Edessa (ch. xxxviii.),

that it was a horde of Turks that defeated the forces of Senekerim. I

shall not attempt to reconcile the Armenian accounts with the

information which we have received from other sources concerning the

early incursions of the Seljuks. The Byzantine writers do not appear

to mention the invasions of 1021 and preceding years, or the invasion

of 1042 (Brosset ap. Lebeau, Hist. du Bas Empire, vol. xiv. p. 353).

[300] Matthew of Edessa and Aristakes of Lastivert.

[301] Samuel of Ani, Thomas Artsruni (quoted by Dulaurier, Recherches

sur la Chronologie Arménienne, pp. 282 seq.), and Chamchean. I

prefer to translate oppida by villages and urbes by towns in the

Latin version of Samuel of Ani, feeling sure that these terms, as

understood in modern times, will be more in accordance with the facts.

[302] Vardan (quoted by Dulaurier, notes to Matthew of Edessa,

op. cit. p. 378), and Matthew of Edessa, ch. xi. If Toghrul Bey was

over seventy years old when he died in A.H. 455, he would be in the

flower of his age at the time of this expedition.

[303] Matthew of Edessa, ch. lx. p. 71; and Chamchean, vol. ii. pp. 127

seq.

[304] Matthew of Edessa, ch. lxix. p. 80. See also Lebeau,

op. cit. vol. xiv. p. 351.

[305] The campaigns of this period are narrated by Matthew of Edessa

(ch. lxxiii. pp. 83 seq.) and Aristakes (op. cit. pp. 268-82 and

p. 285), as well as by the Greek and Arab historians. The subject is

discussed by Saint-Martin (Mémoires, vol. ii. pp. 201 seq.).

[306] Matthew of Edessa, ch. lxxviii. pp. 98 seq., and Aristakes,

op. cit. 1863, ch. xvi. p. 289. Melazkert owed its deliverance largely

to the intrepidity of a Frankish adventurer. It did not fall to the

Turks until A.D. 1069, when it was taken after a siege of a single

day by Alp Arslan (Matthew of Edessa, ch. cii.).

[307] Matthew of Edessa, ch. lxxxi. p. 109.

[308] Ibid. pp. 107, 108, and Aristakes, op. cit. 1864, ch. xxi.

[309] Matthew of Edessa, ch. lxxxiv. pp. 111 seq.

[310] See Aristakes, ch. xviii., and Matthew of Edessa, ch. lxxxvi.

[311] We are informed in the History of Thomas Artsruni that Senekerim

and the Artsrunian princes were accompanied in their emigration by a

population of 14,000 males, besides women and children. See Dulaurier,

Recherches, etc., p. 284. Chamchean (vol. ii. p. 113) increases this

estimate to 400,000 souls, I know not upon what authority.

[312] Chamchean, vol. ii. p. 104; Saint-Martin, Mémoires,

vol. i. p. 366; Brosset ap. Lebeau, vol. xiv. pp. 184 seq. Chamchean

and Saint-Martin place this expedition in A.D. 999, Lebeau in 991,

while Aristakes assigns it to the year 1001. The latter attributes

the capture of Arjish to Nikephorus, the Greek governor of Vaspurakan

appointed by Basil.

[313] Aristakes in op. cit. ch. ii., together with the authorities

collected in the accompanying notes by M. Prudhomme. Chamchean

attributes the cession of the kingdom of Ani to the terror which

had been inspired by the Seljuk invasions. Basil's policy of taking

over the hereditary possessions of the Armenian and Georgian princes

and giving them seats in other parts of the Empire was continued

by his brother Constantine. See Aristakes, op. cit., third series,

vol. xvi. pp. 51 seq.

[314] Samuel of Ani, op. cit. p. 723; and Lebeau,

vol. xiv. p. 249. Aristakes is our authority for a curious story

respecting the adventures of this testament (ch. x.).

[315] Samuel of Ani; Matthew of Edessa; Aristakes; Kedrenus. The

Byzantine historians omit the campaign of 1041, and maintain silence

upon the disagreeable topic of the deception practised upon King Gagik.

[316] Aristakes, ch. xvii.

[317] Matthew of Edessa, chs. lxxxiv. and lxxxv.

[318] Aristakes, ch. xvii.

[319] Matthew of Edessa; Samuel of Ani; Aristakes. The king of Kars

gave over his realm to the Empire shortly after the fall of Ani,

taking in exchange the fortress of Tsamentav near Amasia in Asia Minor

(Matthew of Edessa, ch. lxxxviii.).

[320] Pp. 337 and 362.

[321] Kedrenus calls him ruler of Tibion (= Tivin or Dvin) and parts

of Persarmenia about the river Araxes (edit. Bekker, vol. ii. pp. 556

seq.). See Matthew of Edessa (ch. x. with Dulaurier's note, and

ch. cii. p. 165) and Aristakes (ch. x.). For the Beni-Cheddad see

Saint-Martin (Mémoires, vol. i. p. 433; ii. p. 235) and Brosset (Ruines

d'Ani, pp. 114 and 126, and Hist. de la Géorgie, Hist. ancienne,

p. 343). Abulsevar marched with Alp Arslan in 1069 against the Empire

(Matthew of Edessa, ch. cii.). His activity therefore ranges over a

considerable period.

[322] Samuel of Ani.

[323] Samuel of Ani; Matthew of Edessa; the Georgian annalist, quoted

by Brosset (Hist. de la Géorgie, p. 369).

[324] Samuel of Ani and Matthew of Edessa.

[325] Samuel of Ani.

[326] Samuel of Ani and Matthew of Edessa.

[327] Samuel of Ani; the continuation of Matthew of Edessa; the

Georgian annalist in Brosset (Hist. de la Géorgie).

[328] Brosset, Ruines d'Ani, p. 131, and Voyage Archéologique,

livraison 1, rapport 1, p. 94.

[329] The Georgian annalist, ap. Brosset, Hist. de la Géorgie.

[330] The various emigrations of the inhabitants of Ani are

exhibited by Minas Bejeshkean (Travels in Lehastan (Poland) and other

Countries inhabited by Armenian Emigrants from Ani, Venice, 1830 (in

Armenian)). His account is summarised by Brosset (Ruines d'Ani, pp. 138

seq.) and by Ritter (Erdkunde, vol. x. pp. 597 seq.). For the code of

the Armenians of Lemberg see Sitzungsberichte der phil.-hist. Klasse

der k. Akad. der Wissenschaften, Vienna, 1862, pp. 255 seq.

[331] Let me catalogue in this place the works of previous travellers

having reference to Ani which I have collected. I shall annex the date

of visit whenever I have been able to ascertain it. I have purposely

omitted works written in Russian or in Armenian. The full titles will

be found in the bibliography attached to Vol. II.

(1) 1621, Poser (Reyse, etc., Jena, 1675, 4o). His account is confined

to a few sentences. He mentions the existence of 200 churches in Ani

and the immediate neighbourhood. (2) Tavernier (edit. Paris, 1679,

Livre Premier, p. 24). A few misleading sentences. (3) 1817, Ker Porter

(Travels in Georgia, etc., London, 1821-22, vol. i. pp. 169 seq.). A

fantastic description. (4) 1836, Hamilton (Researches in Asia Minor,

etc., London, 1842, vol. i. pp. 197 seq.). The best of these older

notices. (5) 1837, Wilbraham (Travels, etc., London, 1839, pp. 287

seq.). The hasty but vivid impressions of a tourist, from which

the following is an extract: "The shapeless mounds of Babylon are

like the skeleton; but the deserted, yet still standing city (Ani)

resembles the corpse whose breath has fled, but which still retains

the semblance of life." (6) 1837, Abbott (Notes of a Tour, Journal

R.G.S., 1842, vol. xii. pp. 215 seq.). Not important. (7) 1838,

Eugène Boré (Corr. et Mém., Paris, 1840, vol. ii. p. 2) mentions a

mémoire in which he was about to resume the results of his seven days'

sojourn in Ani, during which he copied inscriptions. The mémoire has

been lost. (8) 1839, Texier (Description de l'Arménie, etc., Paris,

1842, folio, pp. 93-116), with a plan, which is not oriented, and ten

fine plates. Texier's account is both defective and unsatisfactory;

but it is the first detailed description. I must warn my reader

against accepting his history; he seems to confuse Timur with Alp

Arslan in some places. (9) 1844, Herrmann Abich (Bull. hist.-phil. de

l'Acad. de Sciences de St. Pétersbourg, 1845, vol. ii. pp. 369-76,

with notice by Brosset; Aus kaukasischen Ländern, Reisebriefe,

Vienna, 1896, pp. 176-200). The distinguished geologist devoted four

days to the study of the ruins and drew out a plan of the site. His

full account, for which consult the latter of the two references,

had not been published, so far as I could ascertain, at the time

of my own journey. But Brosset had already published the plan,

the substantial accuracy of which I was able to test upon the spot

(Voyage Archéologique, St. Petersburg, 1849-51, Atlas), and the

inscriptions copied by Abich (in the same work, livr. 1, rapp. 3,

pp. 86-111). (10) 1846, Muravieff, quoted by Khanikoff ap. Brosset

(Voy. Arch. livr. 1, rapp. 3, pp. 121-52). (11) 1847, Nerses Sargisean

of the Society of the Mekhitarists of Venice copied a number of

the inscriptions. See Brosset (Ruines d'Ani, St. Petersburg, 1860,

p. 5), and especially Brosset's article in the Bull. Acad. Sciences

St. P., 1862, vol. iv. pp. 255-67. (12) 1848, Khanikoff copied the

Mussulman inscriptions. See Brosset (Voy. Arch. livr. 1, rapp. 3,

pp. 121-52). (13) 1850, Kästner (Lieut. Julius) was commissioned by

Prince Vorontsoff, Governor of the Caucasus, to explore Ani, and spent

forty-four days within its walls. He collected fifty inscriptions

and made numerous drawings, which have been made use of by Brosset

(Ruines d'Ani, pp. 4 seq.). (14) 18--, Ussher (Journey from London

to Persepolis, London, 1865, pp. 243-45). A sketchy description.

The whole subject has been fully treated, but unfortunately at second

hand, by Brosset (Ruines d'Ani, St. Pet. 1860, and Bull. Acad. Sciences

St. P., 1862, vol. iv. pp. 255-67). The traveller is deeply indebted

to Brosset for these two valuable treatises. Fergusson has devoted a

few pages to Ani in the first volume of his History of Architecture

(see pp. 473-75).

I ought not to close this list without referring to two works in

Armenian which are of special value: Sargis Dgalaleantz (Journey in

Great Armenia, Tiflis, 1842 and 1858, 8vo), and Alishan (Description of

Great Armenia, Venice, 1855). Both these works contain accounts of Ani.

[332] This ravine is the Armenian Tsaghkotzadzor or Valley of the

Flower-garden.

[333] The moat may have united the waters of the Alaja and the Arpa

Chai. See Ruines d'Ani, p. 60.

[334] See Brosset, Ruines d'Ani, pp. 18 and 144. It may belong to

the Tartar period (Mongol) and have reference to the restoration

of Ani after the earthquake of A.D. 1319. Texier (op. cit. p. 94)

commits himself to the statement that it is in Arabic characters;

but see Khanikoff, op. cit. p. 135.

[335] On the authority of Samuel of Ani. See supra, p. 354.

[336] See Brosset, Ruines d'Ani, pp. 16, 17, 58, 59; and Voyage Arch.,

livr. 1, rapp. 3, p. 143. One of these inscriptions indicates that

the name of the reigning prince of the Beni-Cheddad in A.D. 1160,

just before the Georgian conquest, was Phatl (Fathlun). Several

belong to the reign of Thamar, and exhibit the name of the Georgian

ruler, Zakare-Shahanshah, who is styled "chief of the mandatories"

and son of Sarkis Shahanshah. See Brosset (Voyage Arch., livr. 1,

rapp. 1, pp. 92-94, and Ruines d'Ani, p. 18) for an explanation of

this title. Two of these inscriptions of Zakare belong to the years

1206 and 1215 respectively.

[337] Ani is said to have contained not less than 100,000 inhabitants

in the eleventh century. Yet the circumference of the city has been

estimated at not more than 3 1/2 miles. I am inclined to think that

a large proportion of the population lived without the walls.

[338] The conjecture which Brosset throws out that the mosque referred

to may be the cathedral is not, I think, a happy one. For this minaret

see especially Khanikoff (op. cit. pp. 135-36), Brosset (Ruines d'Ani,

p. 31), and Abich (Aus kauk. Länd. vol. i. p. 191). The inscription

describes Kei-Sultan as "son of Mahmud, son of Chawir, son of Manuchar,

Cheddadi." Kei-Sultan is not otherwise known. We must conclude that

the Beni-Cheddad were still powerful in Ani as late as the end of

the twelfth century.

[339] The dimensions of the interior are as follows, according to

my measurements:--Length, 105 feet 6 in. (viz. 76 feet 6 in. to the

daïs of the apse, and 29 feet from the daïs to the extremity of the

recess); breadth, 65 feet 6 in.; breadth of apse, 29 feet 7 in.

[340] Texier reminds us that at the time when this cathedral was built

(early eleventh century) the Romanesque style was universal in Europe

(op. cit. p. 112). Yet in this building we have the characteristics

of a style which might be found in Southern Europe in the thirteenth

century--the pointed arch, the coupled piers. See also Fergusson,

op. cit. p. 473.

[341] I must caution my reader against the drawing of this apse in

plate ix. of Brosset's Atlas to the Ruines d'Ani.

[342] The cathedral has been recently constituted into quite a little

museum, all fragments of sculptured stone found at Ani being preserved

there. I photographed one of the most remarkable, which displays the

familiar subject of the eagle and the hare (Fig. 75). Another contains

a bas-relief of three saints and was probably placed above a doorway.

[343] Brosset, Voyage Arch. livr. 1, rapp. 3, pp. 93-95, and Ruines

d'Ani, pp. 22-28.

[344] Siunik was one of the large provinces into which Armenia was

divided. Samuel of Ani places the completion of the cathedral in

Arm. era 457 = A.D. 1008. But he may refer to a stage which was not

quite the ultimate one.

[345] Brosset identifies this Aron with the Aron-Vestes of the

Byzantines, who was sent to these countries about the year 1042,

was commander of the imperial forces, became governor of Vaspurakan,

Ani being attached to his jurisdiction, and was still in possession

of his office in 1048 (Voyage Arch. loc. cit. p. 93).

[346] I am not aware that any inscription mentions the name of

the architect. Sic vos non vobis! But Asoghik tells us that it was

Tirdat or Tiridates, an Armenian architect who is reputed to have

restored St. Sophia at Constantinople after its partial destruction

by an earthquake.

[347] My measurements of the interior are:--Length, 41 feet (of

which 15 feet is occupied by the apse measured from the daïs to

the extremity of the recess); breadth, 26 feet. Texier mentions an

adjacent baptistery (?).

[348] See especially Texier, Muravieff, and Abich's Aus

kauk. Länd. vol. i. pp. 198-99.

[349] The inscription has been translated by Brosset (Ruines d'Ani,

pp. 145-48).

[350] Brosset (ibid. p. 15). I was able to verify the date, about

which Brosset expresses some doubt (ibid. p. 148).

[351] For these two ruins see also Abich, op. cit. vol. i. pp. 196-97.

[352] For these inscriptions see Brosset, Ruines d'Ani, pp. 11-13. He

reminds us of the importance of the date 1320 (Arm. era. 769) as being

the year after the great earthquake. I must take this opportunity

to caution my reader against accepting the tradition mentioned by

Muravieff (ap. Brosset, Voyage Arch. livr. 1, rapp. 3, p. 127) that

the little chapel was built in A.D. 1000 by King Gagik I. I may also

mention that we could discover no traces of the guardhouse adjacent

to the bridge (Ruines d'Ani, p. 10).

[353] Khanikoff ap. Brosset, Voyage Arch. livr. 1, rapp. 3, p. 138.

[354] Ibid. p. 138, and Ruines d'Ani, p. 30.

[355] Ibid. p. 140, and Ruines d'Ani, p. 31.

[356] Muravieff ap. Brosset, Voyage Arch. loc. cit. p. 129.

[357] Mr. Marr has published an account of his discoveries of new

epigraphical material in Armenia in the Zapiski of the Eastern Section

of the Imp. Russian Arch. Society, vol. viii., 1893, pp. 69-103. He

contributes four new inscriptions from Ani. I have not been able to

find any account of his excavations.

[358] The interior of the building which forms the subject of my

illustration is given by Brosset in plate xiv. of the Atlas to

the Ruines d'Ani. The detail and ornament there portrayed do not

correspond with reality. The devils are more or less imaginary, and

there appears to be only one of them in the actual design, viz. on

the south wall, the first pilaster as you enter from the west--in low

relief. Brosset styles this interior "a hall in the citadel"; but the

following considerations are against this view:--1. It is oriented

east; 2. It obviously had an apse; 3. Above the apse you see the form

of a cross sculptured on the face of the arch which still remains.

The bas-reliefs are given by Brosset, plates xxxv. and xxxvii. The

former (representing the archer) was found in the valley of the

Tsaghkotz with an inscription in Armenian, "Christ have pity on the

lady Shushan, thy servant." This personage may be identified with the

wife of the Pahlavid Grigor, mother of Vahram.

[359] This building must be the subject of plate xiii. in Brosset's

Atlas to the Ruines.

[360] The rock with the chapel is described by Abich

(op. cit. vol. i. p. 192). It was strongly fortified.

[361] It is not exactly symmetrical, the measurement from west to

east being nearly 31 feet.

[362] Brosset translates, "J'ai construit ce lieu de repos." But it

surely cannot refer to the chapel itself, which, as we have seen,

has inscriptions of the mother of Aplgharib, and must therefore have

been in existence before 1040. Brosset therefore supposes that the

restoration of the church is alluded to (Ruines d'Ani, pp. 37 and

106). For a more probable version of the inscription see Alishan,

Shirak, p. 53.

[363] For the inscriptions see Brosset (Voyage Arch. loc. cit. p. 91,

and Ruines d'Ani, pp. 36 seq.). Aplgharib was brother to Vahram. I

could find no trace of the curious figure found upon one of the

windows which Brosset refers to (pp. 38 seq.). On the other hand,

I was able to identify the two inscriptions last mentioned.

[364] Kirakos ap. Dulaurier, Recherches sur la Chron. Arm. p. 280.

[365] Asoghik ap. Brosset, Ruines d'Ani, p. 106.

[366] Abich confuses the sites of these two monuments in his

Reisebriefe (op. cit.).

[367] Such is the translation of this inscription given by the editor

of Aristakes of Lastivert. Brosset appears to have made a palpable

error (Ruines d'Ani, p. 21, inscription of Christaphor).

[368] Probably the inscription of this same Aplgharib given by Brosset

(Ruines d'Ani, p. 28) belongs to this chapel. It runs thus:--"Under

the pontificate of Ter Petros and the reign of Sembat son of Gagik

Shahanshah in the year 485 (A.D. 1036) I, the Marzpan Aplgharib, son

of the prince Grigor, grandson of Apughamir and brother of Vahram

and Vasak, constructed at great expense this Surb-Phrkich in the

metropolis of Ani." This inscription would establish as a fact that

the chapel itself was dedicated to the Redeemer.

[369] A perfect labyrinth of confusion has been brought into

existence by the attribution of the east front of the portal of the

church of the Apostles to this castle or palace (see plate xix. of

Brosset's Atlas). Happily I am able to correct the error. It has been

instrumental in leading Brosset to assign all the inscriptions found

in that church to this castle. The name "palace of the Pahlavids"

is purely imaginary.

[370] Brosset, Ruines d'Ani, p. 51, and plate xxxvi. No. 3 of the

Atlas. It has been wrongly attributed to the castle.

[371] Abich describes this chapel as "a magnificent church in the form

of a Greek cross with a central rotunda and four large semicircular

niches at the sides" (op. cit. vol. i. p. 190).

[372] See Brosset (Voyage Arch. livr. 1, rapp. 3, pp. 86, 100, 101,

106, 109; and Ruines d'Ani, pp. 48-52).

[373] This is the chapel which Abich names "Kirche der Maria

Verkündigung" (op. cit. vol. i. p. 193).

[374] Abich, op. cit. vol. i. p. 199.

[375] See the Georgian annalist translated by Brosset (Hist. de

la Géorgie).

[376] I should be sorry to have to swear to this statement.

[377] Voyage Arch. livr. 1, rapp. 3, pp. 96, 107, 109-10.

[378] Telfer, Crimea and Transcaucasia, vol. i. p. 216. The chamber

at Geghard is known as the Rusukna sanctuary, and was completed in

A.D. 1288 (Arm. era 737) (ibid.).

[379] An inscription of A.D. 1215, much mutilated, seems to infer this

(Brosset, Voyage Arch. loc. cit. p. 97).

[380] Brosset, Voyage Arch. loc. cit. p. 98. The dimensions of these

various apartments are:--No. 1, length, 29 feet 4 inches; breadth, 29

feet; No. 2, 27 feet by 27 feet 2 inches; No. 3, hall of the synod,

18 1/2 paces by 18 paces. The reader will note that the architects

avoided exact squares. In this they were governed by a right instinct.

[381] Brosset, Voyage Arch. loc. cit. p. 99. Another derivation is

from the Greek word for a priest, iereus (see M. Prudhomme, note to

Aristakes, ch. ii.).

[382] Asoghik ap. Brosset (Ruines d'Ani, p. 137).

[383] Ruines d'Ani, p. 137.

[384] Ibid. p. 61.

[385] Texier (op. cit. p. 112):--"La façade de cette église (the

cathedral) construite avec une simplicité remarquable ... peut être

regardée comme le type de l'architecture allemande du moyen âge. Il

est facile d'expliquer comment, dans toute cette contrée, on retrouve

le dôme à toit conique particulier à l'architecture arménienne. En

effet, après la prise d'Ani par les Mussulmans, un grand nombre de

citoyens abandonnaient la ville...."

[386] Abich, Geologische Forschungen in den kaukasischen Ländern,

Vienna, 1882, part ii. pp. 47 seq. Das Plateau von Kars.

[387] Strabo, xi. c. 528.

[388] Ptolemy, v. 13, pages 135 and 136 of the folio edition. The

identification with one of these towns is generally assumed; but in

view of the statement of Evliya, noted below, that in his time there

existed three towns of this name, it cannot be regarded as certain.

[389] to kastron to Kars, Const. Porphyr. De adm. imp. cap. 44.

[390] See Chapter XVIII. p. 353 and p. 364; and Saint-Martin, Mémoires

sur l'Arménie, vol. i. p. iii. Tsamentav was the name of the appanage

received in exchange. It was situated in the Cilician Taurus.

[391] Koch, Reise im pontischen Gebirge, Weimar, 1846, p. 462.

[392] Travels of Evliya, translated by Von Hammer, vol. ii. p. 181. The

passage runs: "Eight hours further to the east we reach the frontier

fortress of the Ottomans, the castle of Karss. There are three towns of

that name; one is in Silefka, the Karss of Karatashlik; the second the

Karss of Mera'ash, and the last that of Dúdemán, which is the present

one." I am ignorant of the locality assigned to the first mentioned.

[393] The name Vanand is said by Moses of Khorene (ii. 6) to be

derived from that of the chieftain of a horde of Bulgarians who settled

there. Now that Moses has been assigned to the eighth century of our

era the statement need not surprise us.

[394] Von Hammer, Geschichte des osm. Reiches, vol. viii. p. 58.

[395] Uschakoff, Geschichte der Feldzüge, 1828, 1829, Leipzig, 1838,

part i. p. 194.

[396] Uschakoff, op. cit. i. pp. 191 seq.

[397] Sandwith, Narrative of the Siege of Kars, London, 1856; Lake,

Kars and Our Captivity in Russia, London, 1856.

[398] According to Sandwith (op. cit. p. 286) no less than 6300

Russians were buried by the besieged after the grand assault on

Takhmas. Loris Melikoff informed the Daily News Correspondent in

1877 that during the operations of 1855, at which he himself had been

present, the Russians lost more than 8000 men, killed or disabled.

[399] Loris Melikoff contented himself with making a strong

demonstration against the forts on the left bank, and directed his

main attack against the Karadagh and the forts in the plain. It was

completely successful, having been undertaken at night. The Turks had

concentrated their forces on the heights overlooking the left bank

and might probably have gone on holding them after the capture of the

town. But the Commander lost heart; the cunning Armenian who organised

the victory left him an open door, and he took to his heels. I think

one must regard these heights as practically impregnable, if held by

a force well supplied with artillery, provisions, and water.

In 1877 the garrison was 26,000 strong, augmented to an even higher

figure by the townsmen. The attacking force seems to have been about

equal in number. Kars fell on the night of the 17th of November. See

Daily News Correspondence, London, 1878; Norman, Armenia and the

Campaign of 1877, London, n.d.; Étude critique des opérations en

Turquie d'Asie pendant la guerre en 1877-78 d'après des documents

officiels, par un officier supérieur Turc (Constantinople and Leipzic,

1896).

[400] Ussher, Journey from London to Persepolis, London, 1865, p. 238.

[401] Ker Porter (1819), Travels, etc., vol. ii. p. 648.

[402] Wilbraham, Travels, etc., London, 1839, pp. 294, 314; Koch,

Reise im pontischen Gebirge, Weimar, 1846, p. 460.

[403] I may cite Brant (1835), Hamilton (1836), Abbott (1837), Consul

Taylor (1868)--the last being an unpublished report. Taylor estimates

2000 houses, of which 200 are Christian and the rest Moslem.

[404] Travels of Evliya, translated by Von Hammer, London, 1850,

vol. ii. p. 182.

[405] Samuel of Ani, in Migne, Patrologiae cursus completus, series

Græca, vol. xix. p. 718. "Abasus, Sembati filius, mirae magnificentiae

templum excitat cathedrale in urbe Carsa."

[406] Brosset, Ruines d'Ani, p. 8.

[407] Abich, Geologische Forschungen in kaukasischen Ländern, Vienna,

1882, vol. ii. p. 145, and Map I. He measures from the western

foot of the Ala Dagh below the village of Kalabashi in an easterly

direction. See also his various measurements (ibid. pp. 376, 377).

[408] By my own instruments.

[409] The bed of the river at the ford has an elevation of 3900 feet

according to my barometers. Abich's readings are as follows:--Bank of

the river below the village of Changly, above Kagyzman, 3932 feet;

below the village of Kers, below Kagyzman, 3671 feet. The elevation

of Kagyzman is 4621 feet. Evliya, who travelled in the middle of the

seventeenth century, furnishes the following account of the place:--

"The castle of Kaghzemán being situated on the Kiblah side of the

Aras is reckoned to be on the frontier of Azerbeiján, but belongs

to the Ottoman government of Karss. It is named after its builder,

one of the daughters of Núshirván. It was taken out of the hands of

Uzún Hassan by Sháh Ismail, and then submitted to Sultán Súleimán. It

is the seat of a Sanjak Beg whose khass amounts to 200,000 aspers,

9 ziámets, 178 timárs: 900 feudal militia, a judge appointed with 150

aspers, and a garrison of 300 men, who are paid by the impost on salt;

the salt mines, and a quarry of mill-stones, are on the west side of

the castle. The mill-stones of Persia and Rúm come from Kaghzemán;

the borax of the goldsmiths, barbers' whetting-stones, and the common

whetting-stones are extracted from the mines of Kaghzemán; in two

places gold and silver are found, but as the product was exceeded by

the expenses they were abandoned; there are altogether 11 mines. The

castle is a square strong building standing on a hill on the bank

of the Aras; there are 700 small houses; it is not a commercial town

(Bender), but a frontier town (Serhadd). Mount Aghrí, which appears to

the west, is one of the most praiseworthy mountains in the world; it is

near the town, and is the summer abode (Yaila) of Turcomans. The air

is temperate and allows of the cultivation of gardens on some spots;

the inhabitants are mild and some of them fair. The Levend troops

(irregular levies) sing Persian songs with harmonious voices. As soon

as I entered the town the Diván assembled, and notwithstanding the

repeated oaths of the members of it, that they had not molested the

Persian caravan, but only taken their custom duties, I took seven Aghás

of them with me to prove the truth of what they said, by their presence

at Erzerúm, whereunto I returned" (The Travels of Evliya, translated

from the Turkish by Von Hammer, London, 1850, vol. i. p. 183).

[410] According to the official statistics the population amounts to

3435 souls, of whom the Armenians number 1709 and the Turks 1578.

[411] Suess makes the outer Iranian arc commence at Tank, near

Dereh Ismail Khan on the Indus (Das Antlitz der Erde, Leipzic, 1885,

vol. ii. p. 552).

[412] Such is the view of Suess.

[413] Besides the great work of Suess already cited, I may refer

my reader to Dr. Edmund Naumann's admirable study: Die Grundlinien

Anatoliens und Centralasiens, in Heltner's Geographische Zeitschrift,

ii. Jahrgang, 1896, pp. 7-25, with two maps. Also to a paper by the

same author in the Report of the Sixth Int. Geog. Congress, London,

1895, pp. (661)-(670).

[414] For a comprehensive account of the salt deserts of Persia,

extending over 500 miles of country, I may refer my reader to Lord

Curzon's Persia, London, 1892, vol. ii. pp. 246 seq.

[415] This must be a most interesting approach to Armenia from the side

of Tiflis, and is worth suggesting to the lover of unbeaten tracks.

[416] Karabagh is portrayed to us from various points of view by Smith

and Dwight, Missionary Researches in Armenia, London, 1834, letters

ix.-xiii.; Radde, G., Karabagh in Petermann's Mitt., Ergänzungsheft

No. 100, Gotha, 1890; Abich, H., op. infra cit., part iii. p. 4; Madame

B. Chantre, À travers l'Arménie Russe, Paris, 1893, chs. iv.-viii.

[417] This demarcation has been adopted by Herrmann Abich, who,

however, would include the Karadagh. He speaks of the elevation which

may be traced from the neighbourhood of Ardabil in Persia through the

volcano of Savalan all the way to the mountains south of Lake Van as

the "natural physical frontier between Armenia and Azerbaijan" and

as the "southern border chain of Great Armenia." But he is pressing

the word chain a little unduly. See Geologische Forschungen in den

kauk. Ländern, Vienna, 1882, part ii., introduction, pp. 10 and 11.

[418] Karl Koch, Reise im pontischen Gebirge und türkischen Armenien,

Weimar, 1846, pp. 203-4.

[419] Herrmann Abich, Geologische Forschungen in den kauk. Ländern,

Vienna, 1882 and 1887, part ii. pp. 20-21, part iii. p. 81.

[420] Abich, op. cit. part iii. p. 18.

[421] Ibid. part ii. p. 138.

[422] Ibid. part ii. p. 139.

[423] The old Armenian province of Shirak.

[424] An analysis of this earth is given by Abich (op. cit. part

iii. p. 49).

[425] Abich, op. cit. part ii. pp. 35-46.

[426] Karl Koch, op. cit. pp. 223 seq. He regards the south-western

branch as the most considerable.

[427] Abich, op. cit. part ii. p. 23.

[428] See Vol. II. of the present work, Ch. IV. p. 44.

[429] Abich, op. cit. part ii. pp. 9 and 38.

[430] The Statistics of 1886 underestimate the population of Tiflis

town. I have corrected them on the assumption that the population

of the city in 1886 was 145,731. See the Caucasus Calendar for 1893,

p. 20.

[431] I have substituted the figures of 1891 for those of 1886. The

former are given in the Caucasus Calendar for 1893, p. 43.

[432] Including 2743 Jews, 2150 Assyrians, and 1665 Germans and Swedes.

[433] 8 per cent must be added to these figures if it be assumed that

the number of females is at least equal to that of the males.

[434] This is the official figure. I make approximately the same area

measure about 23,000 square miles, allowing for curvature of the earth.

[435] See especially Ch. III. p. 68 and Ch. IV. pp. 75, 77.

[436] Consul Taylor, an unpublished Report.

[437] "The manner in which he (Tergukasoff) handled his men at Taghir

on the 16th of June, when, with eight battalions, he thoroughly

defeated the twelve which Mahomed Pasha opposed to him; the stubborn

resistance with which he checked Mukhtar Pasha's onslaught on the

21st at Eshek Khaliass; the gallant retreat which his half division

effected in front of Ahmed Pasha's twenty-three battalions; and,

finally, his dashing flank march from Igdyr to Bayazid, and the relief

of that place in front of two Turkish corps, both superior to him in

numbers, stamp him a general of division of the first class. Had the

Czar many more like him, this war would have been completed a month

ago." C. B. Norman (Times war correspondent), Armenia and the Campaign

of 1877, London, n.d. p. 247. In most cases when Armenians enter the

Russian service they Russianise their names by turning the Armenian

termination -ean into the Russian -off, as Melikean into Melikoff.