David Zakarian | California State University, Fresno (original) (raw)

Videos by David Zakarian

In this podcast Erin Piñon (Ph.D. Student, Princeton University) is in conversation with Dr David... more In this podcast Erin Piñon (Ph.D. Student, Princeton University) is in conversation with Dr David Zakarian (University of Oxford) about his newly published book 'Women, Too, Were Blessed: The Portrayal of Women in Early Christian Armenian Texts' (Armenian Texts and Studies, Volume: 4, Brill 2021).

Originally published on https://armenianstudies.podbean.com/e/sas-podcast-no-51-%e2%80%93-david-zakarian/

67 views

Dr David Zakarian (University of Oxford) speaks at the 2019 Teaching the Codex colloquium about c... more Dr David Zakarian (University of Oxford) speaks at the 2019 Teaching the Codex colloquium about colophons in Armenian manuscripts.

The talk took place on 24 October 2019 at Merton College, Oxford as part of the Teaching the Codex Colloquium organised by Mary Boyle and Tristan Franklinos.

Originally published on http://podcasts.ox.ac.uk/teaching-codex-2019-18-armenian-palaeography

107 views

Books by David Zakarian

Brill, 2022

The open access publication of this book has been published with the support of the Swiss Nationa... more The open access publication of this book has been published with the support of the Swiss National Science Foundation.
From pilgrimage sites in the far west of Europe to the Persian court; from mystic visions to a gruesome contemporary “dance”; from a mundane poem on wine to staggering religious art: thus far in space and time extends the world of the Armenians.
A glimpse of the vast and still largely unexplored threads that connect it to the wider world is offered by the papers assembled here in homage to one of the most versatile contemporary armenologists, Theo Maarten van Lint.
This collection offers original insights through a multifaceted lens, showing how much Armenology can offer to Art History, History, Linguistics, Philology, Literature, and Religious Studies. Scholars will find new inspirations and connections, while the general reader will open a window to a world that is just as wide as it is often unseen.

Brill, Armenian Texts and Studies Series, 2021

The main aim of this monograph is to explore the issue of representation of women in the fifth-ce... more The main aim of this monograph is to explore the issue of representation of women in the fifth-century Armenian literature and historiography, and to investigate the ways in which the largely patriarchal society of Armenia treated women after Christianisation. A close scrutiny of the rhetorical aspects of the texts and of the content of the passages that speak about women enables us to acquire a deeper understanding of the role of women in society as envisioned by the ecclesiastical authorities of the country and to gain insightful, albeit limited, knowledge of women’s lived experience.

https://brill.com/view/title/57649

Articles and Book Chapters by David Zakarian

Brill, 2023

Several colophons of Armenian manuscripts from the late fourteenth and fifteenth centuries contai... more Several colophons of Armenian manuscripts from the late fourteenth and fifteenth centuries contain references to an enigmatic object described as ‘the Holy Sign of King Vasil’ or ‘the Holy Sign of war of King Vasil’. It was kept in the monastery of Arckē, north of Lake Van in the Turuberan province of Greater Armenia. The scribes provide no other information about the nature of the revered relic and no clarification is given regarding the identity of King Vasil. Considering the fact that there were no kings in the Armenian tradition called Vasil, it seems reasonable to assume that the holy object was associated with one of the Byzantine emperors, either Basil I or II. This paper explores the relevant colophons and historiographical material, and attempts to establish what the holy relic was, which Byzantine emperor’s name was so keenly linked to it many years after their rule, and the turn of events that brought it to Arckē monastery.

Brill, 2022

The History of Tamerlane and his Descendants by the Armenian cleric and chronicler Tʽovma Mecopec... more The History of Tamerlane and his Descendants by the Armenian cleric and chronicler Tʽovma Mecopecʽi (1378–1446) is one of the few historiographical sources from the 15th century that provides valuable details about the socio-political and cultural history of the Caucasus between the years 1386 and 1440s. It focuses on the constant struggle of various Mongol and Turkic groups such as the Timurids, the Jalayirids, the Qaraquyunlu, the Aqquyunlu, the Ottomans, and the armies of the Golden Horde, which strove to establish effective control over this important region.

The History is a complex work that both contains an eyewitness account of events and reflects the orally transmitted tradition which was preserved in Tʽovma’s milieu. Tʽovma’s narrative abounds in graphic details of violence inflicted on the local population especially by the Timurid, Qaraquyunlu, and Aqquyunlu armies. The present paper provides an in-depth analysis of the passages from Tʽovma’s oeuvre in which accounts of violence towards women are preserved and explores the narrative techniques deployed by Tʽovma to represent and interpret these events.

Palgrave Macmillan, 2022

The present paper discusses the genre of colophon writing in the Armenian tradition and focuses o... more The present paper discusses the genre of colophon writing in the Armenian tradition and focuses on its truly unique characteristic feature—the commemoration part. The etymology of the Armenian term for colophon, yišatakaran (“place of commemoration or remembrance”), already suggests that a colophon was conceived as part of the manuscript where an act of remembrance of the living and the dead was taking place. Most commonly, colophons contained heartfelt and repeated pleas urging the readers of the manuscript to remember in their prayers a number of people, including the sponsor(s) of the manuscript and their families, the scribe(s) with their families, their colleagues, people who in one way or another assisted them in their work, and many others. Remembering others in one’s prayers was considered to be the moral duty of the members of congregation. It was an act of piety which was believed to increase the chances of salvation for both the remembered person and the one who performed the act of remembrance.

Journal of Eastern Christian Studies, 2021

Presses Universitaires de Rennes, 2019

Le gouvernement en déplacement : Pouvoir et mobilité de l’Antiquité à nos jours. Sylvain Destephe... more Le gouvernement en déplacement : Pouvoir et mobilité de l’Antiquité à nos jours. Sylvain Destephen, Josiane Barbier et François Chausson (éds.), Rennes : Presses Universitaires de Rennes, 2019.

Résumé
Les sources laissent entendre que les rois arsacides d’Arménie menaient un mode de vie itinérant et voyageaient régulièrement dans leur royaume à cheval. Le temps fort de ces voyages était constitué par la chasse royale et les banquets auxquels participaient invariablement les représentants des influentes familles de la noblesse qui gouvernaient les principautés semi-indépendantes d’Arménie. Les terrains de chasse et plus encore la table de banquet devinrent les lieux où la hiérarchie socio-politique de l’Arménie arsacide était établie, maintenue et renforcée. De plus, les déplacements incessants offraient de nombreuses opportunités aux rois pour obtenir les attributs transcendants de l’autorité royale – la gloire, la vaillance et la fortune – que les Arméniens considéraient comme la source de légitimité du roi. C’est seulement par ses actes justes et son courage que le roi pouvait acquérir ces attributs symboliques que l’on croyait vivre dans le corps du roi et protéger le royaume même après sa disparition. Les rois s’efforçaient également de démontrer leur piété et leur dépendance fidèle envers les puissances divines en visitant régulièrement des lieux sacrés au sein de leur royaume où ils prenaient part aux cérémonies collectives.

Abstract
Sources suggest that the Arsacid kings of Armenia led a peripatetic lifestyle and regularly travelled in the realm on horseback. The highpoint of these journeys was the royal hunt and the banquets, which were invariably attended by the representatives of influential noble families who governed Armenia’s semi-independent principalities. The hunting grounds and, more importantly, the banqueting table became the loci where the social and political hierarchy of Arsacid Armenia was shaped, maintained, and reinforced. Moreover, constant movements opened up ample opportunities for the kings to achieve the transcendental attributes of royal authority – glory, valour, and fortune – which the Armenians perceived as the source of the king’s legitimacy. Only through his righteous and valiant deeds would the king acquire these symbolic attributes, which were believed to live on in the king’s bones and protect the realm even after his demise. The kings also strove to demonstrate their piety and faithful dependence on divine powers by regularly visiting holy sites within their realm, where they participated in communal ceremonies.

Studia Iranica, 2018

The present article revisits Nina Garsoïan’s Iranian hypothesis regarding the marriage of the Ars... more The present article revisits Nina Garsoïan’s Iranian hypothesis regarding the marriage of the Arsacid Armenian King Aršak II (350-368 C.E.). While fully concurring with her suggestion that the “highly Iranized” Armenian elite, despite being Christian, still followed the Iranian traditions of marriage, this paper demonstrates that Aršak’s marriage to P‘aṙanjem was in accordance with the tradition of stūr marriage, through which the agnatic group would ensure that a male heir be given birth by the deceased man’s widow, daughter or a woman appointed by the agnates. This heir would subsequently inherit the deceased man’s property and preserve the domestic cult of his ancestors.

Augusta, Regina, Basilissa: La souveraine de l’Empire romain au Moyen Âge, 2018

Le Muséon 130 (1-2), 2017, pp.123-138. Despite the fact that ecclesiastical authorities strongl... more Le Muséon 130 (1-2), 2017, pp.123-138.
Despite the fact that ecclesiastical authorities strongly condemned it, syneisaktism or spiritual marriage was present in most early Christian ascetic communities. This article discusses references to the practice in the Armenian sources of the fifth century and attempts to establish how widespread syneisaktism was in Armenia, where it came from, and how it was perceived in ecclesiastical circles. The discussion explores two sources which are our only evidence of the presence of this practice in Armenia in the fifth century – the canons of the Šahapivan Council (AD 444) and Łazar P‘arpec‘i’s History of Armenia (c. AD 495-505).

Journal of the Society for Armenian Studies, 2013

Queenship in Arsacid Armenia has so far attracted no attention of scholars, and the aim of this a... more Queenship in Arsacid Armenia has so far attracted no attention of scholars, and the aim of this article is to provide the first overview of this social institution. For this purpose I shall investigate the representation of the rules of the Arsacid Armenian Queen P‘aṙanjem, who reigned for a short period in the second half of the 4th century C.E., and of her daughter-in-law, Queen Zarmanduxt, who acceded to the Armenian throne after her husband’s death. The accounts of their reigns are relatively well preserved in 'The Epic Histories Attributed to P‘awstos Buzand (5th c. C.E.)'. These orally transmitted stories were compiled by an unknown cleric almost a century after the actual events but they still provide invaluable evidence concerning the institution of queenship in Arsacid Armenia. The analysis of P‘aṙanjem’s and Zarmanduxt’s representations will thus enable us to understand the conditions under which the Queen of Armenia had a legitimate right to rule the country and how differently her reign was perceived in comparison with the rule of a male monarch.
Virtually nothing is known about the institution of queenship in Arsacid Armenia prior to the reigns of P‘aṙanjem and Zarmanduxt. For this particular reason I shall initially focus on the symbolic representation of the institution of kingship, and then compare it with the anonymous compiler’s description of the rule of the Armenian queens. The juxtaposition of the two representations will make manifest the differences and similarities, if any, between these social institutions. The formulaic language, used in early Armenian literature to describe and evaluate the rule and the deeds of an Arsacid king, who possessed the hereditary right to the Armenian throne, reveals the symbolic attributes of king’s authority. The discussion of these attributes will elucidate the way the royal authority was perceived by the contemporaries, and thus help us shed light on the institution of queenship.

Revue des Études Arméniennes, 2013

One of the contemporary approaches to history, namely that it should be reread, deconstructed and... more One of the contemporary approaches to history, namely that it should be reread, deconstructed and basically rewritten in order to fully present previously silenced or censored perspectives, has allowed modern historians, without falling into the trap of relativism, to reinvigorate the field and provide a better understanding of our past and present. This article aims at such a rereading of a cornerstone text in the study of Armenian society of the 4th c. C. E. generally known as P῾awstosi Buzandac῾woy Patmut῾iwn Hayoc῾ (The History of Armenia by Faustos of Buzand). By a close reading of the text, I analyse the valuable information about the position of fourth-century Armenian women in the society in the transitional period of the country’s history characterised by a fierce clash between pagan norms and values, and recently adopted Christian ideology. This analysis enables us to answer the following questions: 1) which women attract the fifth-century cleric’s attention and what is their function in the narrative? 2) How does the compiler present and appraise his female protagonists’ agency and experience? What are the criteria that influence his evaluations? Is the factor of gender one of them? 3) What is the overall image of women’s position in the society that the compiler creates?

Book Reviews by David Zakarian

Renaissance Quarterly, 2020

Work in Progress by David Zakarian

British Academy Postdoctoral Research Fellowship The historical interactions of Christians and M... more British Academy Postdoctoral Research Fellowship

The historical interactions of Christians and Muslims in medieval Anatolia and the Southern Caucasus have so far been explored mainly through the narratives preserved in official court histories and chronicles. As a result, an inherently elitist, therefore incomplete, history of relationships has been written. By bringing together the fields of Islamic and Armenian studies, my research aims to provide an original, interdisciplinary study of the Christian-Muslim relations. It will reveal the individual voices and perspectives of the Christian scribes, who in their vast majority were low-ranking clerics. This research focuses on about 3000, often lengthy, extant colophons of manuscripts written between 1375 and 1501. Living under Muslim political pressure of varying intensity, Christian scribes tended to reflect on
their community’s immediate contact with the Muslims and to record their perception of Islam and everyday experience under Muslim rule. The present investigation will evaluate this wealth
of material and further our understanding of the dynamics of interreligious relations.

Doctoral Thesis by David Zakarian

In recent decades there has been a growing scholarly interest in the representation of women in e... more In recent decades there has been a growing scholarly interest in the representation of women in early Christian texts, with the works of Greek and Latin authors being the primary focus. This dissertation adds a new chapter to the existing scholarship by examining the representation of Armenian women in the fifth-century Christian narratives, which have been instrumental in forging the Christian identity and worldview of the Armenian people. The texts that are discussed here were written exclusively by clerics whose way of thinking was considerably influenced by the religious teachings of the Greek and Syriac Church Fathers. However, as far as the representation of women is concerned, the Greek Fathers’ largely misogynistic discourse did not have discernible effect on the Armenian authors. On the contrary, the approach developed in early Christian Armenian literature was congruous with the more liberal way of thinking of the Syriac clerics, with a marked tendency towards empowering women ideologically and providing them with prominent roles in the male-centred society. I argue that such a representation of women was primarily prompted by the ideology of the pre-Christian religion of the Armenians.
This research discusses the main historical and cultural factors that prompted a positive depiction of women, and highlights the rhetorical and moralising strategies that the authors deployed to construct an “ideal woman”. It further explores the representation of women’s agency, experience, discourse, and identity. In particular, women’s pivotal role in Armenia’s conversion to Christianity and female asceticism in fourth–fifth century Armenia are extensively investigated. It is also argued that women’s status in the extended family determined the social spaces they could enter and the extent of power they could exercise. It appears that Iranian matrimonial practice, including polygyny and consanguineous marriages, was common among the Armenian elite, whereas the lower classes mainly practised marriage by bride purchase or abduction. Special attention is devoted to the institution of queenship in Arsacid Armenia and the position of the queen within the framework of power relationships. Finally, this study examines the instances of violence towards women during wars and how the female body was exploited to achieve desirable political goals.

Originally published on https://armenianstudies.podbean.com/e/sas-podcast-no-51-%e2%80%93-david-zakarian/

67 views

The talk took place on 24 October 2019 at Merton College, Oxford as part of the Teaching the Codex Colloquium organised by Mary Boyle and Tristan Franklinos.

Originally published on http://podcasts.ox.ac.uk/teaching-codex-2019-18-armenian-palaeography

107 views

Brill, 2022

Brill, Armenian Texts and Studies Series, 2021

https://brill.com/view/title/57649

Brill, 2023

Brill, 2022

Palgrave Macmillan, 2022

Journal of Eastern Christian Studies, 2021

Presses Universitaires de Rennes, 2019

Studia Iranica, 2018

Augusta, Regina, Basilissa: La souveraine de l’Empire romain au Moyen Âge, 2018

Journal of the Society for Armenian Studies, 2013

Revue des Études Arméniennes, 2013

Renaissance Quarterly, 2020

British Academy Postdoctoral Research Fellowship The historical interactions of Christians and M... more British Academy Postdoctoral Research Fellowship

Armenian Studies Seminar Writing History from Below: The World through the Colophons of Medieva... more Armenian Studies Seminar

Writing History from Below: The World through the Colophons of Medieval Armenian Manuscripts

Four lectures by Dr David Zakarian
Faculty of Asian & Middle Eastern Studies

Tuesdays, 5:00-6:30 pm, The Allen & Overy Room, Pembroke College, Oxford

Week 2 | 18 October
Colophons as Sources for the History of Anatolia, the Near East, and the Caucasus

Week 4 | 1 November
Colophons and the Economy of Salvation

Week 6 | 15 November
Curses in Colophons

Week 8 | 28 November
Colophons as Sources for Women’s History

Conveners: Dr David Zakarian & Prof Theo M. van Lint
For further details, please contact:
david.zakarian@orinst.ox.ac.uk

Armenian Institute, London (22 October 2020) https://youtu.be/6cWNWAyYnr0

Harvard’s Center for Middle Eastern Studies (CMES) Ahead of Time: Exploring the Relationship Bet... more Harvard’s Center for Middle Eastern Studies (CMES)

Ahead of Time: Exploring the Relationship Between Ancient and Modern Armenian Studies (Thursday, March 28, 2019, 5:00pm to 7:00pm)

https://cmes.fas.harvard.edu/armenianstudies

Venue: Institut für Byzantinistik und Neogräzistik der Universität Wien 1010 Wien, Postgasse 7, 1... more Venue: Institut für Byzantinistik und Neogräzistik der Universität Wien
1010 Wien, Postgasse 7, 1. Stiege, 3. Stock
Time: Wednesday, 18 April 2018, 18:30

The adoption of Christianity as the official religion of the Arsacid kingdom of Greater Armenia at the beginning of the fourth century is viewed as a particularly significant event in the history of the Armenian people. Christianisation not only transformed the society and introduced a new element in the geopolitical relations in the area, but it also contributed to the development and perpetuation of Armenian culture and national identity. The Armenian historical tradition has preserved memories of glorious, powerful women who had an active participation
in both the conversion of the nation and the subsequent propagation of the Christian faith and values.
This talk discusses the traditional narratives of Armenia’s Christianisation (History of Armenia by Agat‘angełos / Agathangelos and the anonymous Martyrdom of St Thaddeus and Sanduχt), and explores the ways in which women are represented by the first generation of Christian Armenian writers.

EASTERN CHRISTIANITY HISTORICAL, LITERARY & CULTURAL HERITAGE LECTURE SEMINAR SERIES Hilary Term ... more EASTERN CHRISTIANITY HISTORICAL, LITERARY & CULTURAL HERITAGE LECTURE SEMINAR SERIES Hilary Term 2018

Tuesdays, 5:00-6:30 PM, The Allan and Overy room, Pembroke College, Oxford Conveners: Dr Hratch... more Tuesdays, 5:00-6:30 PM, The Allan and Overy room, Pembroke College, Oxford

Conveners: Dr Hratch Tchilingirian (Oriental Institute) and Prof Theo Maarten van Lint (Oriental Institute)

Eastern Christianity: Historical, Theological, & Cultural Heritage -- While small in numbers relative to global Christianity, multi-ethnic Eastern Christian communities are amongst the most ancient natives in the Middle East and the wider West Asia region. Four of the five most important hierarchical centres in Christianity are in this region, whose roots go back to two millennia. These lecture seminars are part of the series on Eastern Christianity held in the last four years, which highlight the rich historical, theological, literary and cultural heritage of Eastern family of churches.

This lecture explores, what they call in the field of gender history, the “representation of wome... more This lecture explores, what they call in the field of gender history, the “representation of women” in the fifth-century Christian Armenian texts. Its focus is not on the actual experience of 'real' women but rather on how the male authors, who were, with no exception, all clerics, presented and interpreted the role of Christian Armenian women. In other words, it discusses the message that the Armenian ecclesiastical elite endeavoured to deliver to women and men regarding the function and position of women in the society that until recently was predominantly Zoroastrian and in which the Zoroastrian worldview was still deeply rooted.

Prehistoric Armenia to the End of the Arsacid Kingdom

This paper examines the representation of the rule of the Arsacid Armenian queens P‘aṙanjem and Z... more This paper examines the representation of the rule of the Arsacid Armenian queens P‘aṙanjem and Zarmanduxt, who reigned in the second half of the 4th century C.E. The account of their reign is relatively well preserved in 'The Epic Histories' attributed to Pʿawstos Buzand (5th c. C.E). To get a better understanding of the extent of power that these queens had in society, the representation of their rule is compared to the representation of the reign of male monarchs.

On the basis of the extant sources we may conclude that within the context of Armenian culture a common belief was that a king's authority was symbolically accompanied by the supernatural concepts of p‘aṙk‘ (glory), baxt (fortune), and k‘ajut‘iwn (valour). These concepts represented masculine virtues and would only accompany the rule of a legitimate and, most importantly, a righteous king but never that of a queen. However, the representation of P‘aṙanjem and Zarmanduxt explicitly shows that the institution of queenship in Arsacid Armenia was an integral part of the state mechanism. The queen would assume authority as head of state only when the king’s throne was empty and when the legitimate male heirs were too young to accede to the throne.

Whilst the discourse of the Greek, Latin and Syriac Church Fathers is imbued with assumptions o... more Whilst the discourse of the Greek, Latin and Syriac Church Fathers is imbued with assumptions of female inferiority, the works of the fifth-century Christian Armenian authors display a marked tendency towards empowering women and providing them with prominent roles in society. My paper explores the most feasible reasons behind such a representation with the focus on the mechanism which the Christian authors used to define and redefine the gender norms after the country’s official conversion from Zoroastrianism to Christianity (ca 305-307). I shall primarily argue that the positive description of female agency and the authors’ strong inclination to attach considerable weight to women’s social roles should be attributed to the tenets and practices of the old religion. The extant sources reveal that, besides exerting enormous influence within their household, women, predominantly of higher rank and status, actively participated in the religious education of their children and greatly contributed to the perpetuation of the cult of the spirits of dead ancestors. In the process of transition form Zoroastrianism to Christianity these roles of women were deemed acceptable by the Christian authorities and were readily adapted to the emerging reality.

This is a cpf for the III meeting of "Armenia & Byzantium Without Borders", a workshop for advanc... more This is a cpf for the III meeting of "Armenia & Byzantium Without Borders", a workshop for advanced PhD students and early career scholars that takes place in Vienn and Oxford in alternate years. The workshop was initiated by Dr. Emilio Bonfiglio and Prof. Claudia Rapp and is now run in partnership with Dr. David Zakarian and Prof. Theo Maarten van Lint.

Les femmes de la famille impériale ou royale, impératrices, reines ou « princesses », de la basse... more Les femmes de la famille impériale ou royale, impératrices,
reines ou « princesses », de la basse Antiquité
au Moyen Âge, jouissent d’une position protocolaire
souvent assortie de prérogatives et de privilèges.
Cette position est le fruit d’un héritage complexe, entre
traditions gréco-romaines lentement sédimentées et
pratiques germaniques variées. Un atelier sur la figure
de la souveraine, entre Orient et Occident, viserait, par
une suite de rapports de synthèses problématisés, à
définir rang et position de la souveraine sur le temps
long. Le but est de réserver un certain temps aux discussions
et de permettre le dialogue entre antiquisants
et médiévistes qui disposent souvent d’une documentation
analogue et dont les interrogations sont
proches (tout comme, dans deux ateliers précédents
à Grenoble et à Lausanne, hellénistes et romanistes
avaient dialogués).
On sera sensible aux développements des siècles
allant de la basse Antiquité au Haut Moyen Âge et on
accordera une attention particulière aux titres, prérogatives,
positions protocolaires et honorifiques, capacités
juridiques et patrimoniales, de ces femmes situées
dans l’immédiat proximité du sommet du pouvoir.
Chaque contributeur essaiera de fournir une sorte
de rapport de synthèse sur son époque et de dégager
des lignes pouvant être soumises à la réflexion des
spécialistes des autres périodes (des cas seront
certes invoqués mais sans faire porter toute la communication
sur un seul cas traité monographiquement),
de manière à faire ressortir les héritages, les
traditions, les innovations et les évolutions.
Le propos se concentrera sur le devenir de la figure
royale sur l’aire de l’Empire romain et de ses marges,
afin de mieux étudier les évolutions de la tradition gréco-
romaine du statut de la souveraine dans un espace
circonscrit et entré en contact avec diverses populations
barbares.

Seventy years ago Sirarpie Der Nersessian published a translation into French of a little known A... more Seventy years ago Sirarpie Der Nersessian published a translation into French of a little known Armenian treatise in defence of icons. Claimed by some to be the earliest example of this genre of writing to survive intact and imagined by others to have had a decisive influence on the theology of John of Damascus, it remains fundamentally unstudied. “Concerning Iconoclasm” is an extraordinary seventh-century treatise in support of the veneration of holy images. The author offers an extended argument (against an unnamed opponent) with ample textual citations from biblical and historical sources. This work offers a robust sense of the position of images within contemporary theology and culture. It also offers precious insight into a range of issues, including the relations (particularly regarding image-making) between the Armenians and Byzantines, and regarding the subject matter, and materials used to make, paintings.
Amid the flood of icon studies in recent decades, Vrt‘anēs’ contribution goes unexamined and virtually unmentioned. It is the purpose of the present Workshop to offer to the scholarly community a fresh translation into English of this critical document and to open the field to new scholarship, to which the scholars mentioned below cordially were invited to contribute from their own valuable background in the field.
The new translation prepared by Christina Maranci, Arthur H. Dadian and Ara T. Oztemel Chair of Art History, Tufts University, with Theo Maarten van Lint, Calouste Gulbenkian Chair of Armenian Studies at the University of Oxford, will be circulated in advance among the contributing participants. The place of the treatise in the history of the Armenian language and literature, the theological premises of its argument in the debate among Orthodox and Monophysite theologians, its background in earlier writings – Jewish, pagan and Christian – its contribution to the Byzantine dialogue on icon cult and its long-range impact on the history of art will all be under discussion in the two day conference.
The workshop will convene at Pembroke College, University of Oxford 30-31 October as part of the celebration of the fiftieth anniversary of the establishment of the Calouste Gulbenkian Professorship of Armenian Studies at the University of Oxford.
The workshop is convened by: Dr Jaś Elsner, Professor Thomas F. Mathews, Professor Christina Maranci, and Professor Theo Maarten van Lint.

The workshop is hosted by Theo van Lint, incumbent of the Calouste Gulbenkian Professorship of Armenian Studies and Fellow of Pembroke College, University of Oxford.

The workshop is made possible by a grant from the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation.

The main aim of the seminar is to present current research in Armenian Studies, which may be the ... more The main aim of the seminar is to present current research in Armenian Studies, which may be the presentation of work in progress, or of a piece of research that has been submitted for publication. The Seminar normally consists of early career researchers, postgraduate students (MA/MSt/MPhil/DPhil), and postdoctoral researchers working on a subject in or touching on Armenian Studies.

by Irene Tinti, Valentina Calzolari, David Zakarian, Robin Meyer, Armenuhi Magarditchian, Gohar Grigoryan, Dmytro Dymydyuk, Maria Francesca Melloni, Heinrich J Evanzin, Paolo Lucca, and Marta Filippini

From pilgrimage sites in the far west of Europe to the Persian court; from mystic visions to a gr... more From pilgrimage sites in the far west of Europe to the Persian court; from mystic visions to a gruesome contemporary "dance"; from a mundane poem on wine to staggering religious art: thus far in space and time extends the world of the Armenians. A glimpse of the vast and still largely unexplored threads that connect it to the wider world is offered by the papers assembled here in homage to one of the most versatile contemporary armenologists, Theo Maarten van Lint. This collection offers original insights through a multifaceted lens, showing how much Armenology can offer to Art History, History, Linguistics, Philology, Literature, and Religious Studies. Scholars will find new inspirations and connections, while the general reader will open a window to a world that is just as wide as it is often unseen.

Table of Contents of a forthcoming volume: ALPI, F. ‒ MEYER, R. ‒ TINTI, I. ‒ ZAKARIAN, D. (eds.... more Table of Contents of a forthcoming volume:
ALPI, F. ‒ MEYER, R. ‒ TINTI, I. ‒ ZAKARIAN, D. (eds., in press), Armenia through the Lens of Time. Multidisciplinary Studies in Honour of Theo Marteen van Lint, Brill (Armenian Texts and Studies), Leiden – Boston.