History of Lewond, the Eminent Vardapet of the Armenians

219 Pages·1982·12.365 MB·English

by  Arzoumanian, Zaven

HISTORY OF LEWOND
The Eminent Vardapet
of the Armenians
Translation, Introduction and Commentary
by
(Rev.) ZAVEN ARZOUMANIAN
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History of Lewond
The Eminent Vardapet of the Armenians
(Rev.) Zaven Arzoumanian
First Edition
Translation, Introduction and Commentary
© 1982 St. Sahag and St. Mesrob Armenian Church
Wynnewood, Pennsylvania
All rights reserved
Printed in the United States of America
Typesetting by ROSEKEER CO.
Fair Lawn, N.J. [phone]
Book Design: Mirjan Kirian
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CONTENTS
Page
Abbreviations 5
Transcription 6
Preface 7
Armenian Introduction 9
English Introduction 25
Text 48
Notes 151
Bibliography 197
Index 216
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DEDICATED
TO
HIS HOLINESS VAZKEN I SUPREME PATRIARCH
AND CATHOLICOS OF ALL ARMENIANS
For His Highly Esteemed Leadership
as the
Spiritual Head
of the
Armenian Church
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ABBREV/A TIONS
B Byzantion (Brussels).
BEH Banber Erevani Hamalsarani (Erevan).
BGA Bibliotheca Geographorum Arabicorum, de Goeje, M.J. ed.
(Leyden).
BHGI Banber Hayastani Gitakan Instituti (Erevan).
BM Banber Matenadarani (Erevan).
BSOAS Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies (London).
BZ Byzantinische Zeitschrift (Leipzig).
CHA Collection d'historiens armeniens, M. Brosset, ed. (St. Peters
burg, 1874-1876).
CHAMA Collection des historiens anciens et modernes de l'Armlnie, 2
vols. V. Langlois, ed. (Paris, 1867-1869).
csco
Corpus Scriptorum Christianorum Orientalium (Louvain).
CSHB Corpus Scriptorum Historiae Byzantinae (Bonn, 1828-1897).
DO Dumbarton Oaks Papers (Washington).
EB Etudes Byzantines (Paris).
EI Encyclopaedia of Islam, OE (Old ed.) (Leyden, 1913-1948);
new ed. 3 vols. (Leyden, 1954-).
EHR English Historical Review (London).
HA Handes Amsoreay (Vienna).
HTR Harvard Theological Review (Cambridge, Mass.).
JA Journal Asiatique (Paris).
JHS Journal of Hellenic Studies (London).
JRAS Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain (London).
JRS Journal of Roman Studies (London).
M Manuscript No. 1902 of the Mashtots' Matenadaran (Erevan).
A 13th c. collection which contains the earliest available text
of Lewond's History.
MD The History of the Caucasian Albanians by Movses Daskhur
ants'i, C.J.F. Dowsett tr. (London-New York, 1961).
MH Matenagrakan Hetazotut'iwnner, N. Akinian, 6 vols. (Vienna,
1922-1965).
PBH Patma-banasirakan Handes (Erevan. 1958-).
PG Patrologiae cursus completus, Series graeco-latina, Migne,
J.P. ed. (Paris, 1857-1866).
PO Patrologia Orienta/is, R. Graffin and F. Nau edd. (Paris,
1903). ,
REA Revue des Etudes Armeniennes (Paris, 1920-1932); new series
(Paris, 1964-).
RH Rivue Historique (Paris, 1876-1962).
SK Seminarium Kondakovianum (Prague, 1927-1938), (Belgrade,
1940).
T [Text]. Patmut'iwn Lewondeay metsi vardapeti hayots' [His
tory of I,,ewond, the Eminent Vardapet of the Armenians], K.
Ezeants' ed. (St. Petersburg, 1887).
ZAP Zeitschrift fiir armenische Philologie (Marburg).
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PREFACE
The translator's art is one that is all .too often unappreciated. So
much do we value the original work of an author that we overlook
the time, patience and skill necessary to a successful rendering of it
into another tongue. It is meet that we acknowledge our growing
debt to the increasing number of individuals who have labored long
and arduously to make the heritage of Armenian literature avail
able in English. In particular we owe an especial thanks and appreci
ation for the scholars who, one by one, have made an increasing
number of Armenian historical texts accessible in this, the most
widely read of western languages.
The past twenty years have been rich in works of this kind. From
C.F.J. Dowsett's rendering of Moses of Daskhuran's History of
the Caucasian Albanians through the magisterial translations of
Agathangelos, Moses of Khoren and Eghishe by R. W. Thomson,
the riches of Armenian historical literature have steadily been
brought to the attention of the academic community of the English
speaking world. At this writing, translations of the histories of
John the Catholicos (by Krikor Maksoudian), Thomas Artsruni
(R.W. Thomson), and Faustus of Buzanda (N. Garsoian) are in
preparation, while manuscript translations of the Ashkharhatsouyts,
Zenob of Glak, Cyriacus of Ganja and Thomas of Metsop' already
exist, and will doubtless find their way into print as well.
The present translation of the History of I,,ewond, "the Eminent
Vardapet of the Armenians", is from the pen of Reverend Zaven
Arzoumanian, who, in the time-honored Armenian tradition, com
bines the demanding office of active clergyman with the no less
exacting role of the scholar. An important source for the Arab
period in Armenian history, t,ewond's text begins with the death of
Muhammad in 632 and continues to the death of the Catholicos
Isaiah in 778, and thus forms a continuation of the historical work
of Pseudo-Sebeos. A contemporary and often an eye-witness narra
tor of much that he describes, and a reliable reporter of informa
tion gleaned from older contemporaries, I,,ewond is particularly in
terested in the relations between the Armenian nobles and their
Arab overlords, arid gives valuable information upon these. Well
educated and well-read, he had a keen understanding of the situa
tion which existed in Armenia and in the Middle East in general in
his time. His chronology is accurate, his facts are found to be re
liable whenever they can be verified from outside sources, and he
has wisely enriched his history with copies of inscriptions, letters,
and other supportive documentation. It is significant, I believe,
that Western Europe offers no contemporary of t,ewond whose
work is of the same calibre. Reverend Arzoumanian's lucid and
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readable translation, enriched by historical and textual notes which
draw upon the latest Western and Soviet scholarship, is all the more
valuable for the only previous translations into French (G. Chah
nazarian, Paris, 1856) and Russian (K. Patkanov, St. Petersburg,
1862) are rare and, of course, obsolete. Drawing upon previous edi
tions, unpublished manuscripts, and the earlier translations and
commentaries, his work will fill a serious lacuna in the publication
of the separate links which together form the chain of Armenian
historical literature, a chain which has continued without serious
interruption since the fifth century, and whose collective transla
tion into English should do much to enhance the quality, not only
of modern Armenian historiography, but of that of the Byzantine
Empire and of the Caliphate as well.
ROBERT H. HEWSEN
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