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Moses of Chorene
statue of Moses of Chorene in front of the Matenadaran in Yerevan.
Occupation	Historian
Known for	History of Armenia

Moses of Chorene (also Moses of Khoren; Armenian Movses Khorenatsi Մովսես Խորենացի, also transliterated Movsēs Xorenac‘i, Movses Khorenats'i) was an early Armenian scholar, author of a History of Armenia, in reference to which Movses has been dubbed the "father of Armenian history" (patmahayr) and the "Armenian Herodotus." Nothing is known of his life apart from alleged autobiographical details contained in this work. Traditionally believed to date to the 5th century, is mostly dated to between the 7th and 9th centuries by historians.

The History contains unique material on ancient Armenian legends, and such information on pagan (pre-Christian) Armenian as has survived. It also contains plentiful data on the history and culture of contiguous countries. The book had an enormous impact on Armenian historiography. In the text, the author self-identifies as a disciple of Saint Mesrop, and states that he composed his work at the request of Isaac (Sahak), the Bagratuni prince who fell in battle in 482.

Date

19th century scholarship first cast doubt on the fifth century date due to historical inconsistencies. Since the author self-identifies as a disciple of Saint Mesrob (d. 440), he came to be known as "Pseudo-Movses".

The work is dated to between the 7th and 9th centuries in current scholarship. The traditional date has been established as untenable since at least 1961, when C. Toumanoff summarized the arguments already presented by A. Carriere in the 1890s.

When Harvard historian R. W. Thomson published a translation of Movses' work in 1978, his account of the evidence of the later date than the traditionally assumed 5th century drew a lot of criticism from Soviet Armenian scholars. It is a peculiarity of Soviet-era Armenian Armenology that it conflated historiography and nationalism including fierce critiques of any foreign historians who "attempted to question sacred assumptions in the canonical version of Armenian history."

Authorship

The author of the History gives a number of auto-biographical details, posing as a disciple of Mesrop Mashtots.

The byname Khorenatsi was taken to place the author's origin in Khorni (also spelled as Khoron) in the Armenian province of Taron 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.

Moses claims to have been taught under the auspices of Mesrop Mashtots, the creator of the Armenian alphabet, and Catholicos Sahak Partev. Mesrop and Sahak later sent Movses and several of their other students to Alexandria in Egypt. 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:

While they awaited our return to celebrate their student’s accomplishments , we hastened from Byzantium, expecting that we would be dancing and singing at a wedding...and instead, I found myself grieving at the foot of our teachers' graves...I did not even arrive in time to see their eyes close nor hear them speak their final words.

Back in Persian Armenia, Movses and the other students faced the hostility and contempt of the native population. 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. Serving as a bishop, Movses was approached by Sahak Bagratuni, 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 nakharar families. Movses agreed to do so and he finished his book sometime in the time period of 483-485. 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.

Contents

The book is divided into three parts:

• "Genealogy of Armenia Major", embracing the history of Armenia from the beginning down to Alexander the Great;
• "History of the middle period of our ancestors", extending from Alexander to the death of St. Gregory the Illuminator and the reign of King Terdat (AD 330);
• the third part brings the history down to the overthrow of the Arshakuni Dynasty (AD 428).

According to Thomas Artsruni, writing in the 10th century, there was also a fourth part which brings the history down to the time of the Emperor Zeno (474-491).

Genealogy

In 32 chapters, from Adam to Alexander the Great. List of the Armenian patriarchs according to Moses:

• Haik (grandson of Tiras), Armenag, Aramais, Amassia, Gegham, Harma, Aram
• Ara Keghetzig, Ara Kardos, Anoushavan, Paret, Arbag, Zaven, Varnas, Sour, Havanag
• Vashtak, Haikak, Ampak, Arnak, Shavarsh, Norir, Vestam, Kar, Gorak, Hrant, Endzak, Geghak
• Horo, Zarmair, Perch, Arboun, Hoy, Houssak, Kipak, Skaiordi

These cover the 24th to 9th centuries BC in Moses' chronology, indebted to the Chronicon of Eusebius. There follows a list of legendary kings, covering the 8th to 4th centuries BC:

• Parouyr, Hratchia, Pharnouas, Pachouych, Kornak, Phavos, Haikak II, Erouand I, Tigran I, Vahagn, Aravan, Nerseh, Zareh, Armog, Bagam, Van, Vahé.

These gradually enter historicity with Tigran I (6th century BC), who is also mentioned in the Cyropaedia of Xenophon (Tigranes Orontid , traditionally 560-535 BC; Vahagn 530-515 BC), but Aravan to Vahé are again otherwise unknown.

chapter 1: letter to Sahak

chapter 5: from Noah to Abraham and Belus

chapters 10-12: about Haik

chapter 13: war against the Medes

chapter 14: war against Assyria

chapters 15-16: Ara and Semiramis

chapters 17-19: Semiramis flees from Zoroaster to Armenia and is killed by her son.

chapter 20: Ara Kardos and Anoushavan

chapter 21: Parouyr, first king of Armenia at the time of Ashurbanipal

chapter 22: kings from Pharnouas to Tigran

chapter 23: Sennacherib and his sons

chapters 24-30: about Tigran I

chapter 31: descendants of Tigran down to Vahé, who is killed in resistance against Alexander

chapter 32: Hellenic wars

Middle Period (332 BC - AD 330)

92 chapters, from Alexander the Great to Tiridates III of Armenia.

Arsacid period AD 330-428

68 chapters, from the death of Tiridates III to Gregory the Illuminator.

Editions and translations

• editio princeps, Amsterdam, 1695;
• London, with a Latin translation, 1736
• Venice, 1752
• Italian and French translations, Venice, 1841
• Tiflis, 1913 (facsimile ed., intro. by R. W. Thomson, 1981 Caravan Books, ISBN 9780882060323).
• R. W. Thomson, English translation, 1978 (Harvard, ISBN 9780674395718).
• G. Kh. Sargsyn, Russian translation, 1991 (ISBN 9785808401853).
• R. W. Thomson, English translation, rev. ed. 2006 (Caravan Books, ISBN 9780882061115).

Notes

1. Chahin, Mack. The Kingdom of Armenia: A History. London: RoutledgeCurzon, 2001, p. 181 ISBN 0-7007-1452-9.
2. Encyclopedia Britannica
3. David M. Lang. Reviewed work(s): "Moses Khorenats'i": History of the Armenians by Robert W. Thomson. Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, Vol. 42, No. 3 (1979), pp. 574-575
4. Toumanoff, Cyril. "On the Date of Pseudo-Moses of Chorene." Handes Amsorya. № 9 (75), 1961.
5. History of the Armenians, Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1978.
6. Template:Hy icon Hovhannisyan, Petros. "Review of History of the Armenians." Banber Yerevan Hamalsarani. № 3 (45), 1982, pp. 237-239.
7. Template:Hy icon Ter-Petrosyan, Levon. "Review of History of the Armenians. Patma-Banasirakan Handes. № 1 (88), 1980, pp. 268-270.
8. Nersessian, Vrej. "Review of History of the Armenians." Journal of Ecclesiastical History. Vol. 30: № 4, October 1979, pp. 479-480.
9. Sarkissian, Gaguik . The "History of Armenia" by Movses Khorenatzi. Trans. by Gourgen A. Gevorkian. Yerevan: Yerevan University Press, 1991, pp. 58-59, 76ff.
10. Hacikyan et al. Heritage of Armenian Literature, p. 306.
11. "Soviet Armenian scholars bitterly attacked Thomson's dating of Khorenatsi and his characterization of the author. In a sense, a foreigner had tampered with the soul of the nation. ... A young historian in post-Soviet Armenia, Armen Aivazian, begins his critical review of American historiography on his country by declaring, 'Armenian history is the inviolable strategic reserve of Armenia.' His views, hailed by his countrymen, provide a window into the particular form of historical reconstruction of Armenian identity and historical imagination that dominates post-Soviet Armenian historiography. His tone is militant and polemical, for his self-appointed task is to defend Armenia from its historiographical enemies." Ronald Grigor Suny. Constructing Primordialism: Old Histories for New Nations. The Journal of Modern History, Vol. 73, No. 4 (Dec., 2001), pp. 862—896
12. "Since Moses was in fact a writer of the eighth century or thereabouts, he could easily have continued his narrative for another three hundred years, but this would have exposed his own literary deception, making nonsense of his claim to be a disciple of St Mesrop Mashtots, the inventor of the Armenian alphabet." David M. Lang. Reviewed work(s): "Moses Khorenats'i": History of the Armenians by Robert W. Thomson. Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, Vol. 42, No. 3 (1979), pp. 574-575.
13. For this reason, some have also referred to him as Movses of Taron.
14. Malkhasyants. "Introduction" in History of Armenia, p. 7.
15. Malkhasyants. "Introduction" in History of Armenia, p. 7.
16. Template:Hy icon Sargsyan, Gagik. «Մովսես Խորենացի» (Movses Khorenatsi). Soviet Armenian Encyclopedia. vol. viii. Yerevan, Armenian SSR: Armenian Academy of Sciences, 1982, pp. 40-41.
17. Template:Hy icon Movses Khorenatsi. History of Armenia, 5th Century (Հայոց Պատմություն, Ե Դար). Annotated translation and commentary by Stepan Malkhasyants. Gagik Sargsyan (ed.) Yerevan: Hayastan Publishing, 1997, 3.68, p. 276. ISBN 5-5400-1192-9.
18. Hacikyan, Agop Jack, Gabriel Basmajian, Edward S. Franchuk, and Nourhan Ouzounian. The Heritage of Armenian Literature: From the Oral Tradition to the Golden Age, Vol. I. Detroit: Wayne State University, 2000, p. 307. ISBN 0-8143-2815-6.
19. Malkhasyants. "Introduction" in History of Armenia, p. 15.
20. Malkhasyants. "Introduction" in History of Armenia, p. 16.
21. Movses Khorenatsi. History of Armenia, 1.4., pp. 70-71.

• Template:Ru icon Abeghyan, Manuk. Истории древнеармянской литературы. Yerevan, Armenian SSR: Armenian Academy of Sciences, 1975.
• Adonts, Nicholas. Armenia in the Period of Justinian: the Political Conditions Based on the Naxarar System. Translated with partial revisions, a bibliographical note, and appendices by Nina G. Garsoïan. Lisbon, 1970.
• Conybeare, F. C. "The Date of Moses of Khoren." Bazmavep. № 10 (1901).
• Template:Hy icon Malkhasyants, Stepan. Խորենացու առեղծված շուրջը (About the Enigma of Khorenatsi). Yerevan, Armenian SSR, 1940.
• Template:Hy icon Sargsyan, Gagik. Հելլենիստական դարաշրջանի Հայաստանը և Մովսես Խորենացին (Armenia in the Hellenistic Age and Movses Khorenatsi). Yerevan, Armenian SSR: Armenian Academy of Sciences, 1966.
• Template:Hy icon ______________. 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 . 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. Peeters Publishers, 2006.
• Robert H. Hewson, "The Primary History of Armenia": An Examination of the Validity of an Immemorially Transmitted Historical Tradition, History in Africa (1975).

See also

• History of Armenia
• Zenob Glak
• John Mamikonean
• Gregory the Illuminator
• Roman relations with the Armenians

External links

• Movses of Chorene, "The History of Armenia" (in Armenian)
• Movses of Chorene, "The History of Armenia" (in Russian)
• History of the Armenians, Moses Khorenats'i. Commentary on the Literary Sources by R. Thomson
• Template:Ru icon Movses Khorenatsi. The History of Armenia.

• History of Armenia
• Medieval literature
• Armenian literature
• Armenian historians