Movses Khorenatsi
Encyclopedia
Moses of Chorene, also Moses of Khoren, Moses Chorenensis, or Movses Khorenatsi , or a 7th to 9th century date) was an Armenia
n historian, and author of the History of Armenia.
He is credited with the earliest known historiographical work on the history of Armenia
, but was also a poet
, or hymn writer, and a grammarian. The History of Armenia was written at the behest of Prince Sahak Bagratuni and has had an enormous impact on Armenian historiography and was used and quoted extensively by later medieval Armenian authors. Although other Armenians, such as Agat'angeghos
, had previously written histories on Armenia, Movses' work holds particular significance because it contains unique material on the old oral traditions in Armenia before its conversion to Christianity and, more important, traces Armenian history from Movses' day to its origins. He is considered to be the "father of Armenian history" (patmahayr), and is sometimes referred to as the "Armenian Herodotus
."
Movses identified himself as a young disciple of Saint Mesrop and is recognized by the Armenian Apostolic Church
as one of the Holy Translators
, although many scholars, especially after the highly-influential 1978 publication of the English translation and commentary of his work, believe that he composed his work much later.
sometime in 410. However, some scholars contend that if he was born here, he would have then been known as Movses of Khorneh or Khoron. They instead move the location of his birth from Taron to the Armenian province of Syunik
, in the village of Khorena in the region of Harband.
He received his education in Syunik and was later sent to be taught under the auspices of Mesrop Mashtots, the creator of the Armenian alphabet
, and Catholicos
Sahak Partev
. In having considerable difficulty translating the Bible
from Greek to Armenian, Mesrop and Sahak felt the need to send Movses and several of their other students to Alexandria
, Egypt
, at that time the center of education and learning, so that they themselves learn the Greek
and Syriac languages, as well as to learn grammar
, oratory
, theology
and philosophy
.
To further complicate their problems, the atmosphere in Persian Armenia that Movses and the other students had returned to was one that was extremely hostile and they were viewed at with contempt by the native population. While later Armenian historians blamed this on an ignorant populace, Persian ideology and policy also lay at fault, since its rulers "could not tolerate highly educated young scholars fresh from Greek centers of learning." Given this atmosphere and persecution by the Persians, Movses went into hiding in a village near Vagharshapat and lived in relative seclusion for several decades.
The Catholicos of Armenia
Gyut (461-471) one day met Movses while traveling through the area and, unaware of his true identity, invited him to supper with several of his students. Movses was initially silent, but after Gyut's students encouraged him to speak, Movses made a marvelous speech at the dinner table. One of the Catholicos' students was able to identify Movses as a person Gyut had been searching for; it was soon understood that Gyut was one of Movses' former classmates and friends. Gyut embraced Movses and, being either a Chalcedonian
Christian or at least tolerant of them (since Movses was also Chalcedonian), brought his friend back from seclusion and appointed him to be a bishop in Bagrevan.
families. Movses agreed to do so and he finished his book sometime in 482. However, Artashes Matevosyan, an expert on medieval Armenian manuscripts, basing his conclusions on new details revealed in his research on the Chronicle by the sixth century Armenian historian Atanas Taronatsi, placed Movses' completion of History to the year 474.
One of his primary reasons for taking up Sahak Bagratuni's request is given in the first part of Patmutyun Hayots, or History of Armenia: "For even though we are small and very limited in numbers and have been conquered many times by foreign kingdoms, yet too, many acts of bravery have been performed in our land, worthy of being written and remembered, but of which no one has bothered to write down." Movses' history also gives a rich description of the oral traditions that were popular among the Armenians of the time, such as the romance story of Artashes and Satenik
and the birth of the god Vahagn
. Movses lived for several more years, and he died sometime in the late 490s.
’s History of Armenia (about 500 A.D.), where the author details the persecution of several notable Armenian individuals, including the “blessed Movses the philosopher,” identified by some scholars as Movses Khorenatsi. But there is no indication in Parpetsi that this Movses had "composed any historical works." The second one is the Book of Letters (sixth century), which contains a short theological treatise by "Movses Khorenatsi." However, this treatise, not being an historical work, cannot be convincingly attributed to the historian Movses. The third possible early reference is in a tenth-eleventh centuries manuscript containing a list of dates attributed to Athanasius (Atanas) of Taron (sixth century): under the year 474, the list has "Moses of Chorene, philosopher and writer." This mention is, however, considered as too uncertain.
A historian by the name of Moses was unknown to Armenian literature before the tenth century. The references to Moses and the use of information from his book can be found in the works by Movses Kaghankatvatsi
, Tovma Artsruni
, John V the Historian
and later medieval Armenian authors.
ushered in the hypercritical
phase of the study of Movses' work and many European and Armenian scholars at the turn of the twentieth century reduced its importance as a historical source and placed his writing of the work to sometime in the seventh to ninth centuries. Stepan Malkhasyants
, an Armenian philologist and expert of classical Armenian literature, likened this early critical period from the late nineteenth to early twentieth centuries to a "competition," whereby one scholar attempted to outperform the other in their criticism of Movses.
, and Stepan Malkhasyants
rejected the conclusions of the scholars of the hypercritical school. Ethnographic and archaeological research during this time supported several of their conclusions, confirming information which was only found in Movses's work. Despite these studies, these critical points were revived in the second half of the twentieth century and many Western scholars continue to maintain the arguments raised by earlier scholars.
Robert W. Thomson
, the former holder of the chair in Armenian Studies at Harvard University
and the translator of several classical Armenian works, claimed that Moses of Chorene used sources not available in Armenian at that time, and referred to persons and places attested only in the sixth or seventh centuries. He recapitulated as follows the historical clues scattered in the History, some of which were previously noted by various scholars and which in his opinion enable to reject the fifth century dating:
Thomson also believes that Movses "alters many of his Armenian sources in a tendentious manner in order to extol his patrons, the Bagratuni family, who gained preeminence in the eighth century", while consistently negating the role of their rivals, the Mamikonian
family, in the history of Armenia. His approach in evaluating the Movses's work was criticized when the English translation of History of Armenia appeared in 1978. Several of the points he raised above have been challenged. Vrej Nersessian
, the Curator of the Christian Middle East Section at the British Library
, took issue with many of Thomson’s points, including his later dating of the writing and his contention that Movses was merely writing an apologist work for the Bagratunis:
Gagik Sargsyan
, a historian of the Classics
and a leading scholar and biographer of Movses, also admonished Thomson for anachronistic hypercriticism and for stubbornly rehashing and "even exaggerating the statements once put forward" by the late 19th and early tweniteth century scholars, and in particular, those of Grigor Khalatyants (1858–1912). Sargsyan noted that Thomson, in condemning Movses' failure to mention his sources, ignored the fact that "an antique or medieval author may have had his own rules of mentioning the sources distinct from the rules of modern scientific ethics." Thomson's allegation of Movses' plagiarism
and supposed distortion of sources was also countered by scholars, who contended that Thomson was "treating a medieval author with the standards" of twentieth century historiography
and that numerous classical historians, Greek and Roman alike, engaged in this practice. Aram Topchyan, a Research Fellow at the Hebrew University of Armenian Studies, concurred with this observation, and noted that it was odd that Thomson would fault Movses for failing to mention his sources because this was an accepted practice among all classical historians.
. Истории древнеармянской литературы. Yerevan, Armenian SSR: Armenian Academy of Sciences, 1975.
Armenia
Armenia , officially the Republic of Armenia , is a landlocked mountainous country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia...
n historian, and author of the History of Armenia.
He is credited with the earliest known historiographical work on the history of Armenia
History of Armenia
Armenia lies in the highlands surrounding the Biblical mountains of Ararat. The original Armenian name for the country was Hayk, later Hayastan , translated as the land of Haik, and consisting of the name Haik and the suffix '-stan' ....
, but was also a poet
Poet
A poet is a person who writes poetry. A poet's work can be literal, meaning that his work is derived from a specific event, or metaphorical, meaning that his work can take on many meanings and forms. Poets have existed since antiquity, in nearly all languages, and have produced works that vary...
, or hymn writer, and a grammarian. The History of Armenia was written at the behest of Prince Sahak Bagratuni and has had an enormous impact on Armenian historiography and was used and quoted extensively by later medieval Armenian authors. Although other Armenians, such as Agat'angeghos
Agathangelos
Agathangelos , appropriately so named, was a supposed secretary of Tiridates III, King of Armenia, under whose name there has come down a life of the first apostle of Armenia, Gregory the Illuminator, who died about 332. It purports to exhibit the deeds and discourses of Gregory, and has reached us...
, had previously written histories on Armenia, Movses' work holds particular significance because it contains unique material on the old oral traditions in Armenia before its conversion to Christianity and, more important, traces Armenian history from Movses' day to its origins. He is considered to be the "father of Armenian history" (patmahayr), and is sometimes referred to as the "Armenian Herodotus
Herodotus
Herodotus was an ancient Greek historian who was born in Halicarnassus, Caria and lived in the 5th century BC . He has been called the "Father of History", and was the first historian known to collect his materials systematically, test their accuracy to a certain extent and arrange them in a...
."
Movses identified himself as a young disciple of Saint Mesrop and is recognized by the Armenian Apostolic Church
Armenian Apostolic Church
The Armenian Apostolic Church is the world's oldest National Church, is part of Oriental Orthodoxy, and is one of the most ancient Christian communities. Armenia was the first country to adopt Christianity as its official religion in 301 AD, in establishing this church...
as one of the Holy Translators
Holy Translators
The Holy Translators is a group of literary figures, and saints of the Armenian Apostolic Church, who founded the Armenian alphabet, translated the Bible, and started a movement of writing and translating important works into Armenian language....
, although many scholars, especially after the highly-influential 1978 publication of the English translation and commentary of his work, believe that he composed his work much later.
Early life and education
Movses' biographical details are given at the very end of the History of Armenia but additional information provided by later medieval Armenian historians have allowed modern scholars to piece together additional information on him. Movses was believed to have been born in the village of Khorni (also spelled as Khoron and Khoronk) in the Armenian province of TaronTaron (historic Armenia)
Taron was a canton of the Turuberan province of Greater Armenia, now in the Muş Province, Turkey. It was divided into four districts: Mamikonian, Palauni, , Artokh Taron was a canton of the Turuberan province of Greater Armenia, now in the Muş Province, Turkey. It was divided into four districts:...
sometime in 410. However, some scholars contend that if he was born here, he would have then been known as Movses of Khorneh or Khoron. They instead move the location of his birth from Taron to the Armenian province of Syunik
Syunik
Syunik is the southernmost province of Armenia. It borders the Vayots Dzor marz to the north, Azerbaijan's Nakhchivan exclave to the west, Karabakh to the east, and Iran to the south. Its capital is Kapan. Other important cities and towns include Goris, Sisian, Meghri, Agarak, and Dastakert...
, in the village of Khorena in the region of Harband.
He received his education in Syunik and was later sent to be taught under the auspices of Mesrop Mashtots, the creator of the Armenian alphabet
Armenian alphabet
The Armenian alphabet is an alphabet that has been used to write the Armenian language since the year 405 or 406. It was devised by Saint Mesrop Mashtots, an Armenian linguist and ecclesiastical leader, and contained originally 36 letters. Two more letters, օ and ֆ, were added in the Middle Ages...
, and Catholicos
Catholicos
Catholicos, plural Catholicoi, is a title used for the head of certain churches in some Eastern Christian traditions. The title implies autocephaly and in some cases is borne by the designated head of an autonomous church, in which case the holder might have other titles such as Patriarch...
Sahak Partev
Isaac of Armenia
Isaac or Sahak of Armenia was Catholicos of Armenia. He is sometimes known as "Isaac the Great," and as "Սահակ Պարթև / Sahak Parthev" in Armenian, owing to his Parthian origin....
. In having considerable difficulty translating the Bible
Bible
The Bible refers to any one of the collections of the primary religious texts of Judaism and Christianity. There is no common version of the Bible, as the individual books , their contents and their order vary among denominations...
from Greek to Armenian, Mesrop and Sahak felt the need to send Movses and several of their other students to Alexandria
Alexandria
Alexandria is the second-largest city of Egypt, with a population of 4.1 million, extending about along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea in the north central part of the country; it is also the largest city lying directly on the Mediterranean coast. It is Egypt's largest seaport, serving...
, Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
, at that time the center of education and learning, so that they themselves learn the Greek
Greek language
Greek is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages. Native to the southern Balkans, it has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning 34 centuries of written records. Its writing system has been the Greek alphabet for the majority of its history;...
and Syriac languages, as well as to learn grammar
Grammar
In linguistics, grammar is the set of structural rules that govern the composition of clauses, phrases, and words in any given natural language. The term refers also to the study of such rules, and this field includes morphology, syntax, and phonology, often complemented by phonetics, semantics,...
, oratory
Oratory
Oratory is a type of public speaking.Oratory may also refer to:* Oratory , a power metal band* Oratory , a place of worship* a religious order such as** Oratory of Saint Philip Neri ** Oratory of Jesus...
, theology
Theology
Theology is the systematic and rational study of religion and its influences and of the nature of religious truths, or the learned profession acquired by completing specialized training in religious studies, usually at a university or school of divinity or seminary.-Definition:Augustine of Hippo...
and philosophy
Philosophy
Philosophy is the study of general and fundamental problems, such as those connected with existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language. Philosophy is distinguished from other ways of addressing such problems by its critical, generally systematic approach and its reliance on rational...
.
Return to Armenia
The students left Armenia sometime between 432 to 435. After studying in Alexandria for five to six years, Movses and his fellow classmates returned to Armenia, only to find that Mesrop and Sahak had died. Movses expressed his grief in a lamentation at the end of History of Armenia:To further complicate their problems, the atmosphere in Persian Armenia that Movses and the other students had returned to was one that was extremely hostile and they were viewed at with contempt by the native population. While later Armenian historians blamed this on an ignorant populace, Persian ideology and policy also lay at fault, since its rulers "could not tolerate highly educated young scholars fresh from Greek centers of learning." Given this atmosphere and persecution by the Persians, Movses went into hiding in a village near Vagharshapat and lived in relative seclusion for several decades.
Catholicos of Armenia
The Catholicos of All Armenians is the chief bishop of Armenia's national church, the Armenian Apostolic Church. It is one of the Oriental Orthodox churches that do not accept the decisions of the Council of Chalcedon. The first Catholicos of All Armenians was Saint Gregory the Illuminator...
Gyut (461-471) one day met Movses while traveling through the area and, unaware of his true identity, invited him to supper with several of his students. Movses was initially silent, but after Gyut's students encouraged him to speak, Movses made a marvelous speech at the dinner table. One of the Catholicos' students was able to identify Movses as a person Gyut had been searching for; it was soon understood that Gyut was one of Movses' former classmates and friends. Gyut embraced Movses and, being either a Chalcedonian
Chalcedonian
Chalcedonian describes churches and theologians which accept the definition given at the Council of Chalcedon of how the divine and human relate in the person of Jesus Christ...
Christian or at least tolerant of them (since Movses was also Chalcedonian), brought his friend back from seclusion and appointed him to be a bishop in Bagrevan.
History of Armenia
Serving as a bishop, Movses was approached by Prince Sahak Bagratuni (d. 482), who, having heard of Movses' reputation, asked him to write a history of the Armenians, especially the biographies of Armenian kings and the origins of the Armenian nakhararNakharar
Nakharar was a hereditary title of the highest order given to houses of the ancient and medieval Armenian nobility.-Nakharar system:Medieval Armenia was divided into large estates, which were the property of an enlarged noble family and were ruled by a member of it, to whom the title of Nahapet...
families. Movses agreed to do so and he finished his book sometime in 482. However, Artashes Matevosyan, an expert on medieval Armenian manuscripts, basing his conclusions on new details revealed in his research on the Chronicle by the sixth century Armenian historian Atanas Taronatsi, placed Movses' completion of History to the year 474.
One of his primary reasons for taking up Sahak Bagratuni's request is given in the first part of Patmutyun Hayots, or History of Armenia: "For even though we are small and very limited in numbers and have been conquered many times by foreign kingdoms, yet too, many acts of bravery have been performed in our land, worthy of being written and remembered, but of which no one has bothered to write down." Movses' history also gives a rich description of the oral traditions that were popular among the Armenians of the time, such as the romance story of Artashes and Satenik
Satenik
Satenik was the name of the Alan princess who married Artashes I, the king of Armenia. Their love story, known as Artashes and Satenik, is presented by the Armenian historian Movses Khorenatsi in his History of Armenia...
and the birth of the god Vahagn
Vahagn
Vahagn was a god worshiped anciently and historically in Armenia. Some time in his existence, he formed a "triad" with Aramazd and Anahit. Vahagn was identified with the Greek Heracles. The priests of Vahévahian temple, who claimed Vahagn as their own ancestor, placed a statue of the Greek hero...
. Movses lived for several more years, and he died sometime in the late 490s.
Literary influence
Three possible early references to Movses in other sources are usually identified. The first one is in Ghazar ParpetsiGhazar Parpetsi
Ghazar Parpetsi was a 5th to 6th century Armenian chronicler and historian. He had close ties with the powerful Mamikonian noble famiily and is most prominent for writing a history of Armenia, History of Armenia, sometime in the early sixth century.-Life:...
’s History of Armenia (about 500 A.D.), where the author details the persecution of several notable Armenian individuals, including the “blessed Movses the philosopher,” identified by some scholars as Movses Khorenatsi. But there is no indication in Parpetsi that this Movses had "composed any historical works." The second one is the Book of Letters (sixth century), which contains a short theological treatise by "Movses Khorenatsi." However, this treatise, not being an historical work, cannot be convincingly attributed to the historian Movses. The third possible early reference is in a tenth-eleventh centuries manuscript containing a list of dates attributed to Athanasius (Atanas) of Taron (sixth century): under the year 474, the list has "Moses of Chorene, philosopher and writer." This mention is, however, considered as too uncertain.
A historian by the name of Moses was unknown to Armenian literature before the tenth century. The references to Moses and the use of information from his book can be found in the works by Movses Kaghankatvatsi
Movses Kaghankatvatsi
Movses Kaghankatvatsi , or Movses Daskhurantsi , is the reputed author of a 10th-century Old Armenian historiographical work on Caucasian Albania, known as The History of the Country of Albania .- Authorship :...
, Tovma Artsruni
Tovma Artsruni
Tovma Artsruni was a ninth century to tenth century Armenian historian and author of the History of the House of Artsrunik...
, John V the Historian
John V the Historian
Hovhannes Draskhanakerttsi was Catholicos of Armenia from 897 to 925, and a noted chronicler and historian. He is called John V the Historian, and is known for his History of Armenia. It was printed at the end of the seventeenth century...
and later medieval Armenian authors.
Authorship study
Hypercritical phase
The original manuscript of Movses' History of Armenia does not exist and so the oldest extant manuscript of his work comes from the 14th century, which was based on a revised version dating to the seventh or eighth centuries. Beginning in the 19th century, as a part of a general trend in those years to critically reexamine the validity of classical sources, Movses' History was cast into doubt after the discovery of historical inconsistencies and anachronisms. The conclusions reached by Alfred von GutschmidAlfred von Gutschmid
Hermann Alfred Freiherr von Gutschmid , German historian and Orientalist, was born at Loschwitz near ....
ushered in the hypercritical
Historical method
Historical method comprises the techniques and guidelines by which historians use primary sources and other evidence to research and then to write histories in the form of accounts of the past. The question of the nature, and even the possibility, of a sound historical method is raised in the...
phase of the study of Movses' work and many European and Armenian scholars at the turn of the twentieth century reduced its importance as a historical source and placed his writing of the work to sometime in the seventh to ninth centuries. Stepan Malkhasyants
Stepan Malkhasyants
Stepanos Sargsi Malkhasyants was a notable Armenian academician, philologist, linguist, and lexicographer. As an expert in classical Armenian literature, Malkhasyants wrote the critical editions and translated the works of many classical Armenian historians into modern Armenian and contributed 70...
, an Armenian philologist and expert of classical Armenian literature, likened this early critical period from the late nineteenth to early twentieth centuries to a "competition," whereby one scholar attempted to outperform the other in their criticism of Movses.
Modern studies
In the early decades of the twentieth century, scholars such as F. C. Conybeare, Manuk AbeghyanManouk Abeghian
Manuk Abeghian was a scholar of Armenian literature and folklore. He is the author of a comprehensive history of Armenian literature, the Russian translation of which is entitled, Istoriya drevnearmyanskoi literatury, and of a volume on Armenian folklore, the German translation of which is...
, and Stepan Malkhasyants
Stepan Malkhasyants
Stepanos Sargsi Malkhasyants was a notable Armenian academician, philologist, linguist, and lexicographer. As an expert in classical Armenian literature, Malkhasyants wrote the critical editions and translated the works of many classical Armenian historians into modern Armenian and contributed 70...
rejected the conclusions of the scholars of the hypercritical school. Ethnographic and archaeological research during this time supported several of their conclusions, confirming information which was only found in Movses's work. Despite these studies, these critical points were revived in the second half of the twentieth century and many Western scholars continue to maintain the arguments raised by earlier scholars.
Robert W. Thomson
Robert W. Thomson
Robert William Thomson is retired Calouste Gulbenkian Professor of Armenian Studies at Oxford University.When an Armenian Studies Professorship was established in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences at the Harvard University in 1969, Thomson was appointed to the chair which was subsequently named in...
, the former holder of the chair in Armenian Studies at Harvard University
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
and the translator of several classical Armenian works, claimed that Moses of Chorene used sources not available in Armenian at that time, and referred to persons and places attested only in the sixth or seventh centuries. He recapitulated as follows the historical clues scattered in the History, some of which were previously noted by various scholars and which in his opinion enable to reject the fifth century dating:
Thomson also believes that Movses "alters many of his Armenian sources in a tendentious manner in order to extol his patrons, the Bagratuni family, who gained preeminence in the eighth century", while consistently negating the role of their rivals, the Mamikonian
Mamikonian
Mamikonian, Mamikoneans, or Mamigonian was a noble family which dominated Armenian politics between the 4th and 8th century. They ruled the Armenian regions of Taron, Sasun, Bagrevand and others...
family, in the history of Armenia. His approach in evaluating the Movses's work was criticized when the English translation of History of Armenia appeared in 1978. Several of the points he raised above have been challenged. Vrej Nersessian
Vrej Nersessian
The Reverend Dr. Vrej Nersessian is the Curator of the Christian Middle East Section at the British Library, London....
, the Curator of the Christian Middle East Section at the British Library
British Library
The British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom, and is the world's largest library in terms of total number of items. The library is a major research library, holding over 150 million items from every country in the world, in virtually all known languages and in many formats,...
, took issue with many of Thomson’s points, including his later dating of the writing and his contention that Movses was merely writing an apologist work for the Bagratunis:
Gagik Sargsyan
Gagik Sargsyan
Gagik Sarkisyan was an Armenian historian, academic, Vice-president of the Armenian Academy of Sciences.He studied at Yerevan State University, then finished Leningrad State University in 1950. From 1954 to 1962 Sarkisyan worked at Institute of History of the Armenian Academy of Sciences, deputy...
, a historian of the Classics
Classics
Classics is the branch of the Humanities comprising the languages, literature, philosophy, history, art, archaeology and other culture of the ancient Mediterranean world ; especially Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome during Classical Antiquity Classics (sometimes encompassing Classical Studies or...
and a leading scholar and biographer of Movses, also admonished Thomson for anachronistic hypercriticism and for stubbornly rehashing and "even exaggerating the statements once put forward" by the late 19th and early tweniteth century scholars, and in particular, those of Grigor Khalatyants (1858–1912). Sargsyan noted that Thomson, in condemning Movses' failure to mention his sources, ignored the fact that "an antique or medieval author may have had his own rules of mentioning the sources distinct from the rules of modern scientific ethics." Thomson's allegation of Movses' plagiarism
Plagiarism
Plagiarism is defined in dictionaries as the "wrongful appropriation," "close imitation," or "purloining and publication" of another author's "language, thoughts, ideas, or expressions," and the representation of them as one's own original work, but the notion remains problematic with nebulous...
and supposed distortion of sources was also countered by scholars, who contended that Thomson was "treating a medieval author with the standards" of twentieth century historiography
Historiography
Historiography refers either to the study of the history and methodology of history as a discipline, or to a body of historical work on a specialized topic...
and that numerous classical historians, Greek and Roman alike, engaged in this practice. Aram Topchyan, a Research Fellow at the Hebrew University of Armenian Studies, concurred with this observation, and noted that it was odd that Thomson would fault Movses for failing to mention his sources because this was an accepted practice among all classical historians.
Works
The following works are also attributed to Movses:- Letter on the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary
- Homily on Christ's Transfiguration
- History of Hripsime and Her Companions
- Hymns used in Armenian Church Worship
- Commentaries on the Armenian Grammarians
- Explanations of Armenian Church Offices
Further reading
Abeghyan, ManukManouk Abeghian
Manuk Abeghian was a scholar of Armenian literature and folklore. He is the author of a comprehensive history of Armenian literature, the Russian translation of which is entitled, Istoriya drevnearmyanskoi literatury, and of a volume on Armenian folklore, the German translation of which is...
. Истории древнеармянской литературы. Yerevan, Armenian SSR: Armenian Academy of Sciences, 1975.
- Conybeare, F. C.Frederick Cornwallis ConybeareFrederick Cornwallis Conybeare was a British orientalist, Fellow of University College, Oxford, and Professor of Theology at the University of Oxford.-Biography:...
"The Date of Moses of Khoren." Byzantinische ZeitschriftByzantinische ZeitschriftByzantinische Zeitschrift is a Byzantine studies journal established in 1892 by Karl Krumbacher....
. № 10 (1901). Malkhasyants, StepanStepan MalkhasyantsStepanos Sargsi Malkhasyants was a notable Armenian academician, philologist, linguist, and lexicographer. As an expert in classical Armenian literature, Malkhasyants wrote the critical editions and translated the works of many classical Armenian historians into modern Armenian and contributed 70...
. Խորենացու առեղծված շուրջը (About the Enigma of Khorenatsi). Yerevan, Armenian SSR: Armfan Publishing, 1940. Sargsyan, Gagik KhGagik SargsyanGagik Sarkisyan was an Armenian historian, academic, Vice-president of the Armenian Academy of Sciences.He studied at Yerevan State University, then finished Leningrad State University in 1950. From 1954 to 1962 Sarkisyan worked at Institute of History of the Armenian Academy of Sciences, deputy...
. Հելլենիստական դարաշրջանի Հայաստանը և Մովսես Խորենացին (Armenia in the Hellenistic Age and Movses Khorenatsi). Yerevan, Armenian SSR: Armenian Academy of Sciences, 1966. ______________. Մովսես Խորենացու «Հայոց Պատմության» ժամանակագրական համակարգը. (The Chronological Structure of Movses Khorenatsi's History of Armenia).Yerevan, Armenian SSR: Armenian Academy of Sciences, 1965. - Sarkissian, Gaguik [Gagik Sargsyan]. The "History of Armenia" by Movses Khorenatzi. Trans. by Gourgen A. Gevorkian. Yerevan: Yerevan University Press, 1991
- Topchyan, Aram. The Problem of the Greek Sources of Movsēs Xorenacʻi's History of Armenia. Leuven: Peeters Publishers, 2006.
- Toumanoff, CyrilCyril ToumanoffCyril Leo Heraclius, Prince Toumanoff was an United States-based historian and genealogist who mostly specialized in the history and genealogies of medieval Georgia, Armenia, the Byzantine Empire, and Iran...
. "On the Date of Pseudo-Moses of Chorene." Handes AmsoryaHandes AmsoryaHandes Amsorya Handes Amsorya Handes Amsorya (in is an academic journal that publishes research papers and articles on Armenian history, art, social sciences, linguistics and philology. It was established in 1887 by the Mekhitarian order in Vienna. The title means Monthly Review in Armenian....
. № 10 (75), 1961, pp. 467–475.
External links
Movses of Chorene, "The History of Armenia" Movses of Chorene, "The History of Armenia" Movsēs Xorenac'i, "Storia della Grande Armenia"- History of the Armenians, Moses Khorenats'i. Commentary on the Literary Sources by R. W. Thomson Movses Khorenatsi. The History of Armenia.
- Mother of God, Heavenly Gate, by St. Movses Khorenatsi, Arr. by Komitas.