Balkans & Western Asia (Near East) (c. 500-1500)

This article examines the Noah material found in the tenth-century Armenian historical work by Ukhtanēs. The traditions known to him are compared with those in the abundant later Noah parabiblical works and while he has some unique emphases on the other hand he is not familiar with material common in later parabiblical texts.

This article presents a challenging and complex study of a hitherto unexplored medical manuscript the codex no. 11161 of the Matenadaran (M11161) starting with its physical characteristics provenance and textual composition. By a detailed analysis of one of the key texts of this medical compilation a book on horses it is compared with other medical manuscripts. Through our research it has been possible to date and locate the production of this unusual manuscript more precisely and to place it within the Armenian medical tradition between medieval Cilicia and early modern Nor Jugha (New Julfa) — not without a surprise at the end.

The aim of this article is to demonstrate the importance of the old Armenian translation of Philo’s De Abrahamo in establishing its correct Greek original. The work on a forthcoming critical edition of the Armenian text provides us with new information on the Greek text as well. It is argued that the Greek manuscript from which the treatise was translated into Armenian was independent of the archetype of the extant Greek manuscripts and free from certain errors contained in the archetype. Furthermore the relations of the Armenian text with the two main recensions of the Greek manuscripts are described. It is also argued that the Greek manuscript from which the work was translated did not have its own specific errors.

This article presents a small text by Yovhannēs Orotnets‘i on divine names that is preserved in Matenadaran manuscript 2121. The paper first provides a brief overview of Orotnets‘i’s life and works then an edition and translation of the text with commentary. The commentary elucidates parallels with the works attributed to Dionysius the Areopagite Aristotle Dawit‘ Anyaght‘ (David the Invincible) the scholiastic tradition on the corpus Areopagiticum John of Damascus and Armenian commentaries on grammar. Many of the points forwarded by Orotnets‘i also appear in the writings of his student Grigor Tat‘ewats‘i (1344–1409). The text underscores not only Orotnets‘i’s erudition but also how the ideas found in the works attributed to Dionysius the Areopagite were integrated with the study of grammar philosophy theology and biblical exegesis in the monastic school curricula of Gladzor and Tat‘ew.

This article addresses the understudied field of early modern Armenian diplomacy specifically focusing on the overlooked case of Abgar Dpir’s delegation to Rome in 1562. The delegation marked a turning point in Armenian religious history triggering Vatican’s aggressive intervention and exacerbating the confessional division between Catholic and Apostolic Armenians. This paper aims to unravel the motives behind Abgar’s mission acknowledging the diverse goals of those involved. As such the article claims that Abgar Dpir was not of royal origin. This background was invented by Etchmiadzin leaders to fit Abgar within the Western “society of princes” and to give his delegation a fighting chance. Additionally the author states that Abgar’s printing activity was a cover-up for his diplomatic mission. Rooted in the “new diplomatic history” paradigm this article contributes to the understanding of non-elite intermediaries in Mediterranean cross-confessional diplomacy during the early modern period.

The book investigates the transformation of the architectural and visual language in Zadar eastern Adriatic town at the dawn of the early modern era when the mighty mediaeval commune was being transformed by the emerging governmental structures of the Republic of Venice. These events coincided with the Ottoman Empire's takeover of the hinterland of Dalmatian cities transforming Zadar into a city on the brink of two worlds.

A highly autonomous mediaeval commune was a lively trans-Adriatic artistic centre a network of builders painters and sculptors from Dalmatia Venice Marche and Lombardy so with the early adoption of humanist concepts by the local elite this practice continued. However the transformations the governmental structure and economic policies steadily limited its community autonomy and commercial sources. The crisis worsened in the 16th century when the local elites lost a large portion of their revenue from the fertile hinterland captured by the Ottoman Empire.

This launched an ongoing militarisation of social structures and fortifying the town.  These events were reflected in the fields of architecture and art. The process of adopting a new architectural and artistic language began in the second half of the 15th century as demonstrated by motifs in architectural decoration and sculpture with impulses from important Dalmatian sculptural and stonemasons’ circles as well as Venetian models from the circles of Pietro Lombardo and Mauro Codussi. When the new classical language of architecture began spreading in the middle of the 16th century it expressed mostly in the renovation of administrative structures with occasional departures from the stylistic canons of artistic centres.

This paper seeks to reinscribe the debate regarding the Christianisation of the gusans (bards) from one concerned with an essentialised notion of “Christian-ness” to one which better accounts for the multifarious notions of “Christian” in medieval Armenia. That is the contrary conceptions of the gusan in literary and material sources are surveyed and taxonomised. By way of a close reading of Movsēs Daskhurants‘i’s History of the Caucasian Albanians supplemented by an exegesis of the gusan in other canonical Armenian histories the gusan as a polemical category in clerical literature is shown to represent the antithesis of Christian piety. However the spoor of a more general assimilation of the gusan into Christian society specifically that of the gentry and laypeople is evidenced by other material sources and texts. The intention of this paper is to offer a new approach with which to think about the gusan and Armenia’s pre-Christian heritage writ large.

This article discusses the translation techniques employed in rendering the Greek genitive absolute in Book I of the Armenian Alexander Romance amidst the transition from sensus de sensu to verbum de verbo translation approach. Through a comparative analysis of corresponding passages in the Armenian and Greek texts six primary techniques are revealed — three leaning towards descriptive interpretations and three favouring a more literal rendition. These techniques align closely with those found in other translations labelled pre-Hellenising. The findings not only enhance our understanding of translation practices in the fifth and sixth century Armenia but also provide valuable insights for the broader field of translation studies. Also the results add evidence to the discussion of the still obscure question of continuity between the classical pre-Hellenising and Hellenising translations.

The oldest textual form of the first recension of the Physiologus can be reconstructed thanks to a precise comparison between the Armenian translation Latin translation y and one single Greek manuscript Π (Moscow GIM Sinod. Gr. 467). The strange placement of the chapter on the lizard at the beginning of the collection in both Π and the Armenian translation can be explained by assuming a codicological accident in their common ancestor. The chapter on the lizard is the last in the collection in the Latin version y of the Physiologus and the model of the Physiologus syrus Leidensis and this must have been its original position. The folio on which that chapter was written fell off and was wrongly put at the beginning rather than the end of the book in the ancestor of Π and the Armenian version. The placement of the lizard in the second position as in the majority of Greek manuscripts can be interpreted as an attempt at correcting the misplacement that had occurred in the model of Π. In accordance with that hypothesis all Greek manuscripts (except Π) and the Ethiopic translation as well as Latin x depend upon a unique hyparchetype. This conclusion completely changes our views on the textual history of the Physiologus.