Armenian Studies
Report on Activities 1997-1998

Faculty of Humanities, Institute of Asian and African Studies
Mt. Scopus, Jerusalem 91905, Israel
Fax: (972) 2 5883658

Introduction
Background and History of the Program

An active program in Armenian Studies has existed at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem for thirty years. By this means the University granted recognition to the significant role of the Armenians in Israel's complex society and in the Holy Land.

        In recent years the department of Armenian Studies entered a period of unprecedented and dynamic growth. Ever closer relationships with the Republic of Armenia and its academic institutions have been one factor. A recent agreement between the Armenian Patriarchate and the University encourages newly ordained clergy to continue their education at the Hebrew University. A new interest in Armenian Studies is exhibited by Israeli students. The number of students increases each year. The Hebrew University has striven to respond to this growing demand. The program has been enriched and now a broad range of courses is offered, reflecting the wealth and variety of Armenian history, language and culture.

        Armenian Studies forms part of the Department of Indian, Iranian and Armenian Studies in the University's Institute of Asian and African Studies. Georgian Studies are also taught in conjunction with the Armenian program. The programs of the Hebrew University and its Rothberg School for overseas students are fully accredited.

Degrees and Courses

        The Hebrew University of Jerusalem offers degree courses in Armenian Studies at the Bachelor's, Master's and the Doctoral levels. Undergraduate and graduate students also come for one year periods of study as part of their degree programs at other institutions. Post-doctoral students often spend a research year in the Department.

        The faculty members directly involved in Armenian and Georgian Studies are:

Michael E. Stone, Ph.D. (Harvard), D.Litt. (Melbourne), Armenian Studies (Professor)
Roberta Ervine, Ph.D. (Columbia) - Armenian Studies (Visiting Lecturer)
Konstantine Lerner, Dr.Sc. (Tbilisi) - Georgian Studies (Senior Lecturer)
Nira Stone, Ph.D. (Hebrew University) - Armenian Art (Adjunct Lecturer).

Many other faculty members offer courses relevant to Armenian Studies in associated fields, such as History, Middle East Studies, Central Asian Studies, Turkish Studies, Iranian Studies, Classical Studies, Comparative Religion and Christian Studies.

Courses taught at the Armenian Studies Program

In the current year Professor Michael Stone and Dr. Nira Stone are on leave. Without them, following courses are being taught. The numbers of students attending is added following the name of the course.

The Armenians in the Time of the Crusades - Dr. R. Ervine: 25 students
Armenian Mysticism - Dr. R. Ervine: 23 students
Modern Armenian Literature - Dr. R. Ervine: 3 students
Intermediate Classical Armenian - Dr. R. Ervine: 5 students
Semitic Traditions in Georgian Historiography - Dr. K. Lerner: 4 students.
Spoken Georgian - Dr. K. Lerner

Courses to be offered in the academic year 1998-1999, with the return of the Stones, will include:

Elementary Classical Armenian - Professor M.E. Stone
Classical Armenian Texts from Manuscripts - Professor M.E. Stone
Advanced Spoken Modern Armenian - Dr. R. Ervine
Guided Reading in Modern West Armenian - Dr. R. Ervine
The Armenians under Arab Domination (7th-11th centuries) - Dr. R. Ervine
The Mystical Exegesis of the "Song of Songs" in the Armenian Tradition (Texts in Translation) - Dr. R. Ervine
Armenian Art - Dr. Nira Stone
Elementary Georgian - Dr. K. Lerner
Advanced Georgian - Dr. K. Lerner

Teaching in Connection with the Rothberg School for Overseas Students

In the coming year, both Dr. R. Ervine and Dr. N. Stone will offer courses at the Rothberg School relating to Armenian topics. This year, in connection with the Rattisbone ecumenical institute and the Jewish Theological Seminary, Hebrew University through the Rothberg School has been co-sponsoring a course on Jewish and Christian prayer with a large Armenian component (Dr. Ervine). Students have also visited Armenian sites in the city.

Field Trips and Study Trip to Armenia

Two field trips this year will be held, to the Armenian Patriarchate and to Mary's Tomb.

A study trip to Armenia is being organized for this summer in co-operation with the State University of Yerevan. It is under the leadership of Dr. Ervine.

Graduate Students and Research Visitors

At present the following persons are writing doctoral theses:

Noune Poghossian, On the Liturgical Music of the Armenian Church of Jerusalem
Marlen Eordigian, On the Relationship between the State of Israel and the Armenian Patriarchate 1948-1967.
Julia Nazarian is now commencing a master's degree.

In the Fall of 1998 we expect the arrival of a Visiting graduate student, Ms Cornelia Horn from the Catholic University of America. She will work on the life of Peter the Iberian.

In the Fall we also look forward to a visit by Dr. Bert Vaux of the Department of Linguistics, Harvard University, an expert on Armenian dialects, who will commence work on the special dialect of the Armenians of the Holy Land. We hope that this will lead to a recording of this dialect of Armenian, which is threatened with extinction.

Library

Steps were taken this year to start developing the library resources of the Armenian and Georgian program. Two important exchange agreements will assist greatly in this respect. In February, Professor Stone concluded and agreement for book exchange with the Library of Congress in Washington. A number of important books have been received under this program. Currently, at the initiative of the Department, negotiations are underway for an exchange agreement between the Jewish National and University Library in Jerusalem and the National Library of Armenia. Again, much benefit will accrue to our collections.

A survey is currently being carried out to assess the major lacunae in the Armenian holdings of the University.

Through the good offices of Dr. K. Lerner, a gift of 400 scholarly books was received from Academician A. Apakidze of the Georgian Academy and deposited in the Univesity and National Library.

Student Activities, Outreach and Community-Orientated Program

Advanced reading group in Armenian literature. Last year's topic was Armenian literature relating to Noah. In previous years we have read Narekac'i, T'lkuranc'i and other Armenian authors. This group traditionally attracts interested persons from many parts of Jerusalem.

Public Lecture Series is sponsored by the Department in English, Armenian and Hebrew. Last year's lectures featured the following:

25 January: Dr. Georg Tosunian, Section Head of the Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Armenia, Hrachea Ajarian Institute of Linguistics--The Development of Armenian Dictionaries
23 February: Ms. Nune Boghossian,PhD candidate Hebrew University, Armenian Music and Musicology
16 March: Dr. Grigor Karakhanian, Head of the Institute of Archaeological Studies, Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Armenia, Armenian Petroglyphs
13-14 April Prof. Richard Hovannisian, Professor of Armenian Studies, UCLA:
The First Armenian Republic,
The Caucasian Republics: Democracy and Nation Building

An Internet Site has been established by the Department in order to present its own work, and also the riches of Armenian culture. It is available at: http://atar.mscc. huji.ac.il/~armenia. The development of this site has been a major investment of time and energy by Ms Martine van den Berg, who has been working with Professor Stone in the area of development. The Internet Site is becoming a rich source of historical and cultural information, and the recent posting of K Zuckerman's Repertory of Published Armenian Translations of Classical Works has made this valuable resource widely available. Special pages are devoted to the ancient Armenian mosaics discovered in Jerusalem, Armenian Art (under development) and other similar topics.

A Brochure was prepared presenting the Department's work and is sent to hundreds of academic institutions, representatives of the media, and individual scholars. Regular press-releases have publicized the Department's achievements.

Officially unconnected with the Department is the organization of an Armenian Students Club, currently underway.

Research

The research carried out in the Department rich and varied.
The major funded project is headed by Professor M. Stone and funded by the Israel Science Foundation. It is on The Stories of Adam and Eve in Armenian Culture. It is an attempt to trace the way these stories functioned in Armenian culture throughout the ages.

Other main focuses of research of members of the Department are the following:

Armenians in the Holy Land and the Georgians in the Holy Land

1. M.E. Stone, Armenian Inscriptions in the Holy Land. Professor Stone continues his publications on this field.
2. R. Ervine, Armenian Pilgrimage to Jerusalem in the 18th Century. Dr. Ervine has a number of other researches underway relating to Armenians in Jerusalem and the Holy Land and to the Armenian Patriarchate, including the publication of the Diary of Patriarch Minas Amtec'i.
3. K. Lerner: Problems of Semitic Tradition in Ancient Georgian Culture. Dr. Lerner's monographic study on the early Georgian Judaeo-Christian community is currently in press.

Biblical Traditions in Armenian Culture and Related Topics

M.E. Stone, Further Armenian Apocryphal Texts from Manuscripts; Concordances of the Armenian Apocryphal Adam Literature.
N. Stone, The Figure of Satan in Armenian Art
N. Stone, Apocryphal Stories reflected in Armenian Manuscript Illuminations
N. Stone, The Iconography of Paradise in Byzantine and Armenian Art
Armenian Literature and Thought:
M.E. Stone and N. Stone, The Unpublished Armenian Manuscripts of the Chester Beatty Library.
M.E. Stone and R. Ervine, The Armenian Fragments of Epiphanius de mensuris et ponderibus.
M.E. Stone and M.E. Shirinian, Pseudo-Zeno, An Untitled Treatise, edition, translation, commentary and CD Rom.
R. Ervine, Vanakan Vardapet's Questions relating to the Book of Genesis
K. Lerner, The Social Status of the Jewish Community in Georgia
K. Lerner, An Hypothesis of the Typology of Language Movements

Publications and Works in Press

Books

K. Lerner, The Conversion of Kartli; Translation, Comments, Introductions and Indexes, to go to press in the summer.
N. Stone, The Kaffa Lives of the Desert Fathers: A Study in Armenian Manuscript Illumination, CSCO, 566: Leuven: Peeters, 1997.
M.E. Stone with G.A. Anderson, A Synopsis of the Books of Adam and Eve: New and Revised Edition, Scholars: Atlanta (in press).
M.E. Stone (Editor-in-Chief) with D. Kouymjian and H. Lehmann, Album of Armenian Paleography, Aarhus University Press (in Press)
M.E. Stone and M.E. Shirinian, Pseudo-Zeno: Untitled Treatise, Introduction, Critical Edition, Translation, Commentary and Concordances, Brill: Leiden (will go to press in July).

Articles

R. Ervine, "Review of Nerses Shnorhali's Endhanrakan Tught," JSAS
R. Ervine, "Vanakan's Questions on Genesis: A Sounding," Sion
K. Lerner, Hypothesis of the Typology of Language Movements (article in Russian), Voprosy.
N. Stone,"The Transfiguration in Armenian Art," Shoghagat (Armenian Patriarchate of Istanbul) (in press).
N. Stone, "Apocryphal Elements in Armenian Manuscript Illuminations," Proceedings of AIEA Workshop on the Armenian Apocryphal Literature, Geneva, September 1997.
M.E. Stone "Address at the 10th Anniversary Session of the AIEA," Armenian Perspectives: 10th Anniversary Conference of the Association Internationale des Etudes Armeniennes, ed. N. Awde. Richmond, Surrey: Curzon Press, 1997, 1-2.
M.E. Stone, "The New Armenian Inscriptions from Jerusalem," Armenian Perspectives: 10th Anniversary Conference of the Association Internationale des Etudes Armeniennes, ed. N. Awde. Richmond, Surrey: Curzon Press, 1997, 263-268.
M.E. Stone, "The Oldest Armenian Pilgrim Inscription from Jerusalem," Sion 71 (1997) 340-350.
M.E. Stone, "The Mixed Erkat'agir-Bolorgir Script," Le Muséon (in press)
M.E. Stone, "Some Further Armenian Angelological Texts," Gagik Sarkissian Festschrift Yerevan: Academy of Sciences.
M.E. Stone, "Adam, Eve and the Incarnation," Proceedings of New York Conference on the Armenian Bible (in press).
M.E. Stone, "Further Armenian Inscriptions from Nazareth," Revue des Etudes Arméniennes (in press).
M.E. Stone, "The Mount of the Transfiguration and Armenian Pilgrimage to the Galilee." Shoghakat' (Istanbul: in press).
M.E. Stone with Th.M. van Lint, "More Armenian Inscriptions from Sinai," Eretz Israel: Cross Volume (in press).
M.E. Stone, "Two New Inscriptions from Noravank'" Revue des Etudes Arméniennes (in press)
M.E. Stone, "Two Armenian Manuscripts and the Historia Sacra," Proceedings of AIEA Workshop on the Armenian Apocryphal Literature, Geneva, September 1997.
M.E. Stone, "The Document Called Question," Proceedings of the Naples Workshop on the Alexander Romance.

Lectures

Members of the Department lectured at various international scholarly gatherings, in Israel, in Europe and in Armenia.

More Information

Information on the Armenian program is available on the Web: http://atar.mscc.huji.ac.il/~armenia. Additional information can be obtained from Professor Michael E. Stone, Department of Indian, Iranian and Armenian Studies, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel (stone@vms.huji.ac.il -- Fax: +972-2-5883584).

Admission information is available from The Admissions Office, Rothberg School for Overseas Students, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Mt. Scopus, Jerusalem, Israel or from The American Friends of the Hebrew University, 11 East 69th Street, New York, NY 10021, USA.

Armenian Studies Report on Activities 1997-1998

Armenian Studies
Report on Activities 1997-1998