1 John Katholikos. He has been translated by Saint-Martin (Paris, 1841, a posthumous work). His History, which for a large part is a history of his own times, does not quite bring us down to the constitution of Ani into a royal residence. ↑
2 The vanity of the Byzantine court denied them the actual title of king; and the imperial author, Constantine Porphyrogenitus, translates the Persian distinction which they afterwards acquired, that of Shahanshah, by the term ἄρχων ἀρχόντων. ↑
3 For the Artsruni and the Bagratuni I will refer my reader to Saint-Martin (Mémoires sur l’Arménie, Paris, 1818, vol. i. pp. 418 seq.); for the Georgian Bagratuni to Brosset (Histoire de la Géorgie, Histoire ancienne, St. Petersburg, 1849, Addition IX.). ↑
4 Dulaurier (Recherches sur la Chronologie Arménienne, Paris, 1859, pp. 227 seq.). ↑
5 Sparapet. This and the other Armenian titles of the age had come down from Arsakid times, having survived the destruction of monarchy. A family retained its title even when the functions which it designated were no longer capable of fulfilment (Saint-Martin, Mémoires, vol. i. p. 420). ↑
6 The dates which I have taken from Chamchean’s History of Armenia I have labelled C. Some are taken from the original work in Armenian; others from the abridged edition translated into English and entitled History of Armenia by Father Michael Chamich, translated by J. Avdall, Calcutta, 1827, 2 vols. 8vo. Those marked D. have been fixed by Dulaurier (op. cit.). Saint-Martin is my authority for some dates. ↑
7 Thomas Artsruni specifies the length of the various stages in the career of Ashot. See Dulaurier (op. cit. pp. 266 seq.). The date 861 corresponds with the last year of the caliph Mutawakil and the first of the reign of Muntasir. Lane Poole, Mohammedan Dynasties, London, 1894. ↑
8 Kirakos, quoted by Dulaurier (op. cit.). ↑
9 For discussions of the site of Bagaran (Pakaran) see Ritter (Erdkunde, vol. x. p. 449), and also Abich (Aus kaukasischen Ländern, Vienna, 1896, p. 203). ↑
10 Chamchean and Saint-Martin place the death of Ashot in A.D. 889. But see Dulaurier (op. cit. p. 365). ↑
11 The Tahirids became practically independent in Khorasan A.D. 820–872; they were dispossessed by the Saffarids of Fars and Seistan, A.D. 867–903. ↑
12 Azerbaijan is, of course, the frontier province of Persia on the side of Armenia, having for capital the city of Tabriz. ↑
13 Saint-Martin, following Chamchean, attributes another motive to this embassy. Sembat was desirous of severing his connection with the governor of Azerbaijan and of dealing directly with the caliph. Saint-Martin adds that the Caliph Muktafi, who had just succeeded (A.D. 902), granted the request. ↑
14 Eugène Boré (Correspondance et Mémoires, Paris, 1840, vol. ii. p. 28). The place is situated in the neighbourhood of the town of Erzinjan, and the historian mentions the adjacent village of Tortan, which still appears to exist and to be known under that name. I have not been able to trace it upon any map; but the monastery of Surb Lusavorich and Mount Sepuh, the modern Kohanam Dagh, will be found indicated upon my map, accompanying this work. ↑
15 Chamchean accounts for this change of policy towards the legitimate king by supposing that Yusuf wished to conciliate him prior to revolting from the caliph. ↑
16 I adopt the colouring of John Katholikos. Among the many opprobrious terms under which he alludes to Yusuf are the following: second Pharaoh, prince of wild beasts, man-eater, astute serpent, Satan, foul-breathed basilisk. Such is the language of clerical writers in every age. ↑
17 John Katholikos, ch. clxxxv. ↑
19 Samuel of Ani, in Migne, Patrologiæ cursus completus, series Græca, vol. xix. p. 718. ↑
20 Matthew of Edessa, translated by Dulaurier (Paris, 1858). ↑
21 Samuel of Ani ap. Migne, op. cit. vol. xix. p. 718. ↑
22 Matthew of Edessa (op. cit. iii. p. 2) gives the date as A.D. 959–960. He makes the event contemporary with the expedition of the imperial forces against Crete, which started in 960 and was continued during 961. Saint-Martin (op. cit. vol. i. p. 364) assigns the Armenian victory to the latter year, and Chamchean to the year 962. ↑
23 Matthew of Edessa, op. cit. pp. 14 seq. ↑
24 Vardan. See Brosset, Ruines d’Ani, St. Petersburg, 1860, p. 102. ↑
25 Samuel of Ani ap. Migne, op. cit. p. 721. ↑
27 These dates are taken from Chamchean. But the subject is not free from difficulty. See Prudhomme’s note appended to his translation of Aristakes of Lastivert in the Revue de l’Orient for 1863–64, ch. ii. In general the Armenian historians have a profound contempt for precision in dates and accuracy in statement. Matthew of Edessa is perhaps the worst sinner in this respect. ↑
28 Matthew of Edessa, chs. xxii. and xxiii.; and Asoghik, iii. 38, quoted by Dulaurier. ↑
29 Samuel of Ani ap. Migne, op. cit. p. 723. ↑
30 Samuel of Ani (ibid.) and Asoghik. ↑
32 Samuel of Ani (ibid. p. 720) and Chamchean. According to Samuel of Ani, it was in A.D. 971 that the patriarch established the seat of his spiritual government at Arghina. ↑
33 I have taken the dates of the deaths of these two kings from Matthew of Edessa, who is precise upon the point (see chs. liii. and lvi.). Chamchean (vol. ii. p. 122) places the death of John Sembat in 1039, and makes him predecease his brother Ashot IV. Brosset and Saint-Martin adopt the date 1039, but refuse the next fence, over which the nimble compiler sails with ease, that of the later death of Ashot IV. Perhaps there is an error in the English translation of Chamchean. One ends by getting tired of playing with dates. Happily there is an inscription at Ani which, if rightly translated by the editor of Aristakes (op. cit. ch. x. note), establishes the fact that John Sembat was alive in 1041. ↑
34 Aristakes of Lastivert (op. cit. ii. pp. 358 seq.) and Matthew of Edessa (op. cit. viii. p. 6). ↑
35 Matthew of Edessa, op. cit. x. p. 8. ↑
36 Matthew of Edessa and Aristakes of Lastivert. ↑
37 When Senekerim of Van ceded his kingdom in A.D. 1021 it had been harried for twenty-two years. Such is the statement of Samuel of Ani (op. cit. p. 723). It is true he attributes these incursions to the “Saracens”; but he must mean the Turks, unless we are to discredit altogether the detailed statement of Matthew of Edessa (ch. xxxviii.), that it was a horde of Turks that defeated the forces of Senekerim. I shall not attempt to reconcile the Armenian accounts with the information which we have received from other sources concerning the early incursions of the Seljuks. The Byzantine writers do not appear to mention the invasions of 1021 and preceding years, or the invasion of 1042 (Brosset ap. Lebeau, Hist. du Bas Empire, vol. xiv. p. 353). ↑
38 Matthew of Edessa and Aristakes of Lastivert. ↑
39 Samuel of Ani, Thomas Artsruni (quoted by Dulaurier, Recherches sur la Chronologie Arménienne, pp. 282 seq.), and Chamchean. I prefer to translate oppida by villages and urbes by towns in the Latin version of Samuel of Ani, feeling sure that these terms, as understood in modern times, will be more in accordance with the facts. ↑
40 Vardan (quoted by Dulaurier, notes to Matthew of Edessa, op. cit. p. 378), and Matthew of Edessa, ch. xi. If Toghrul Bey was over seventy years old when he died in A.H. 455, he would be in the flower of his age at the time of this expedition. ↑
41 Matthew of Edessa, ch. lx. p. 71; and Chamchean, vol. ii. pp. 127 seq. ↑
42 Matthew of Edessa, ch. lxix. p. 80. See also Lebeau, op. cit. vol. xiv. p. 351. ↑
43 The campaigns of this period are narrated by Matthew of Edessa (ch. lxxiii. pp. 83 seq.) and Aristakes (op. cit. pp. 268–82 and p. 285), as well as by the Greek and Arab historians. The subject is discussed by Saint-Martin (Mémoires, vol. ii. pp. 201 seq.). ↑
44 Matthew of Edessa, ch. lxxviii. pp. 98 seq., and Aristakes, op. cit. 1863, ch. xvi. p. 289. Melazkert owed its deliverance largely to the intrepidity of a Frankish adventurer. It did not fall to the Turks until A.D. 1069, when it was taken after a siege of a single day by Alp Arslan (Matthew of Edessa, ch. cii.). ↑
45 Matthew of Edessa, ch. lxxxi. p. 109. ↑
46 Ibid. pp. 107, 108, and Aristakes, op. cit. 1864, ch. xxi. ↑
47 Matthew of Edessa, ch. lxxxiv. pp. 111 seq. ↑
48 See Aristakes, ch. xviii., and Matthew of Edessa, ch. lxxxvi. ↑
49 We are informed in the History of Thomas Artsruni that Senekerim and the Artsrunian princes were accompanied in their emigration by a population of 14,000 males, besides women and children. See Dulaurier, Recherches, etc., p. 284. Chamchean (vol. ii. p. 113) increases this estimate to 400,000 souls, I know not upon what authority. ↑
50 Chamchean, vol. ii. p. 104; Saint-Martin, Mémoires, vol. i. p. 366; Brosset ap. Lebeau, vol. xiv. pp. 184 seq. Chamchean and Saint-Martin place this expedition in A.D. 999, Lebeau in 991, while Aristakes assigns it to the year 1001. The latter attributes the capture of Arjish to Nikephorus, the Greek governor of Vaspurakan appointed by Basil. ↑
51 Aristakes in op. cit. ch. ii., together with the authorities collected in the accompanying notes by M. Prudhomme. Chamchean attributes the cession of the kingdom of Ani to the terror which had been inspired by the Seljuk invasions. Basil’s policy of taking over the hereditary possessions of the Armenian and Georgian princes and giving them seats in other parts of the Empire was continued by his brother Constantine. See Aristakes, op. cit., third series, vol. xvi. pp. 51 seq. ↑
52 Samuel of Ani, op. cit. p. 723; and Lebeau, vol. xiv. p. 249. Aristakes is our authority for a curious story respecting the adventures of this testament (ch. x.). ↑
53 Samuel of Ani; Matthew of Edessa; Aristakes; Kedrenus. The Byzantine historians omit the campaign of 1041, and maintain silence upon the disagreeable topic of the deception practised upon King Gagik. ↑
55 Matthew of Edessa, chs. lxxxiv. and lxxxv. ↑
57 Matthew of Edessa; Samuel of Ani; Aristakes. The king of Kars gave over his realm to the Empire shortly after the fall of Ani, taking in exchange the fortress of Tsamentav near Amasia in Asia Minor (Matthew of Edessa, ch. lxxxviii.). ↑
59 Kedrenus calls him ruler of Tibion (= Tivin or Dvin) and parts of Persarmenia about the river Araxes (edit. Bekker, vol. ii. pp. 556 seq.). See Matthew of Edessa (ch. x. with Dulaurier’s note, and ch. cii. p. 165) and Aristakes (ch. x.). For the Beni-Cheddad see Saint-Martin (Mémoires, vol. i. p. 433; ii. p. 235) and Brosset (Ruines d’Ani, pp. 114 and 126, and Hist. de la Géorgie, Hist. ancienne, p. 343). Abulsevar marched with Alp Arslan in 1069 against the Empire (Matthew of Edessa, ch. cii.). His activity therefore ranges over a considerable period. ↑
61 Samuel of Ani; Matthew of Edessa; the Georgian annalist, quoted by Brosset (Hist. de la Géorgie, p. 369). ↑
62 Samuel of Ani and Matthew of Edessa. ↑
64 Samuel of Ani and Matthew of Edessa. ↑
65 Samuel of Ani; the continuation of Matthew of Edessa; the Georgian annalist in Brosset (Hist. de la Géorgie). ↑
66 Brosset, Ruines d’Ani, p. 131, and Voyage Archéologique, livraison 1, rapport 1, p. 94. ↑
67 The Georgian annalist, ap. Brosset, Hist. de la Géorgie. ↑
68 The various emigrations of the inhabitants of Ani are exhibited by Minas Bejeshkean (Travels in Lehastan (Poland) and other Countries inhabited by Armenian Emigrants from Ani, Venice, 1830 (in Armenian)). His account is summarised by Brosset (Ruines d’Ani, pp. 138 seq.) and by Ritter (Erdkunde, vol. x. pp. 597 seq.). For the code of the Armenians of Lemberg see Sitzungsberichte der phil.-hist. Klasse der k. Akad. der Wissenschaften, Vienna, 1862, pp. 255 seq. ↑
69 Let me catalogue in this place the works of previous travellers having reference to Ani which I have collected. I shall annex the date of visit whenever I have been able to ascertain it. I have purposely omitted works written in Russian or in Armenian. The full titles will be found in the bibliography attached to Vol. II.
(1) 1621, Poser (Reyse, etc., Jena, 1675, 4o). His account is confined to a few sentences. He mentions the existence of 200 churches in Ani and the immediate neighbourhood. (2) Tavernier (edit. Paris, 1679, Livre Premier, p. 24). A few misleading sentences. (3) 1817, Ker Porter (Travels in Georgia, etc., London, 1821–22, vol. i. pp. 169 seq.). A fantastic description. (4) 1836, Hamilton (Researches in Asia Minor, etc., London, 1842, vol. i. pp. 197 seq.). The best of these older notices. (5) 1837, Wilbraham (Travels, etc., London, 1839, pp. 287 seq.). The hasty but vivid impressions of a tourist, from which the following is an extract: “The shapeless mounds of Babylon are like the skeleton; but the deserted, yet still standing city (Ani) resembles the corpse whose breath has fled, but which still retains the semblance of life.” (6) 1837, Abbott (Notes of a Tour, Journal R.G.S., 1842, vol. xii. pp. 215 seq.). Not important. (7) 1838, Eugène Boré (Corr. et Mém., Paris, 1840, vol. ii. p. 2) mentions a mémoire in which he was about to resume the results of his seven days’ sojourn in Ani, during which he copied inscriptions. The mémoire has been lost. (8) 1839, Texier (Description de l’Arménie, etc., Paris, 1842, folio, pp. 93–116), with a plan, which is not oriented, and ten fine plates. Texier’s account is both defective and unsatisfactory; but it is the first detailed description. I must warn my reader against accepting his history; he seems to confuse Timur with Alp Arslan in some places. (9) 1844, Herrmann Abich (Bull. hist.-phil. de l’Acad. de Sciences de St. Pétersbourg, 1845, vol. ii. pp. 369–76, with notice by Brosset; Aus kaukasischen Ländern, Reisebriefe, Vienna, 1896, pp. 176–200). The distinguished geologist devoted four days to the study of the ruins and drew out a plan of the site. His full account, for which consult the latter of the two references, had not been published, so far as I could ascertain, at the time of my own journey. But Brosset had already published the plan, the substantial accuracy of which I was able to test upon the spot (Voyage Archéologique, St. Petersburg, 1849–51, Atlas), and the inscriptions copied by Abich (in the same work, livr. 1, rapp. 3, pp. 86–111). (10) 1846, Muravieff, quoted by Khanikoff ap. Brosset (Voy. Arch. livr. 1, rapp. 3, pp. 121–52). (11) 1847, Nerses Sargisean of the Society of the Mekhitarists of Venice copied a number of the inscriptions. See Brosset (Ruines d’Ani, St. Petersburg, 1860, p. 5), and especially Brosset’s article in the Bull. Acad. Sciences St. P., 1862, vol. iv. pp. 255–67. (12) 1848, Khanikoff copied the Mussulman inscriptions. See Brosset (Voy. Arch. livr. 1, rapp. 3, pp. 121–52). (13) 1850, Kästner (Lieut. Julius) was commissioned by Prince Vorontsoff, Governor of the Caucasus, to explore Ani, and spent forty-four days within its walls. He collected fifty inscriptions and made numerous drawings, which have been made use of by Brosset (Ruines d’Ani, pp. 4 seq.). (14) 18—, Ussher (Journey from London to Persepolis, London, 1865, pp. 243–45). A sketchy description.
The whole subject has been fully treated, but unfortunately at second hand, by Brosset (Ruines d’Ani, St. Pet. 1860, and Bull. Acad. Sciences St. P., 1862, vol. iv. pp. 255–67). The traveller is deeply indebted to Brosset for these two valuable treatises. Fergusson has devoted a few pages to Ani in the first volume of his History of Architecture (see pp. 473–75).
I ought not to close this list without referring to two works in Armenian which are of special value: Sargis Dgalaleantz (Journey in Great Armenia, Tiflis, 1842 and 1858, 8vo), and Alishan (Description of Great Armenia, Venice, 1855). Both these works contain accounts of Ani. ↑
70 This ravine is the Armenian Tsaghkotzadzor or Valley of the Flower-garden. ↑
71 The moat may have united the waters of the Alaja and the Arpa Chai. See Ruines d’Ani, p. 60. ↑
72 See Brosset, Ruines d’Ani, pp. 18 and 144. It may belong to the Tartar period (Mongol) and have reference to the restoration of Ani after the earthquake of A.D. 1319. Texier (op. cit. p. 94) commits himself to the statement that it is in Arabic characters; but see Khanikoff, op. cit. p. 135. ↑
73 On the authority of Samuel of Ani. See supra, p. 354. ↑
74 See Brosset, Ruines d’Ani, pp. 16, 17, 58, 59; and Voyage Arch., livr. 1, rapp. 3, p. 143. One of these inscriptions indicates that the name of the reigning prince of the Beni-Cheddad in A.D. 1160, just before the Georgian conquest, was Phatl (Fathlun). Several belong to the reign of Thamar, and exhibit the name of the Georgian ruler, Zakare-Shahanshah, who is styled “chief of the mandatories” and son of Sarkis Shahanshah. See Brosset (Voyage Arch., livr. 1, rapp. 1, pp. 92–94, and Ruines d’Ani, p. 18) for an explanation of this title. Two of these inscriptions of Zakare belong to the years 1206 and 1215 respectively. ↑
75 Ani is said to have contained not less than 100,000 inhabitants in the eleventh century. Yet the circumference of the city has been estimated at not more than 3½ miles. I am inclined to think that a large proportion of the population lived without the walls. ↑
76 The conjecture which Brosset throws out that the mosque referred to may be the cathedral is not, I think, a happy one. For this minaret see especially Khanikoff (op. cit. pp. 135–36), Brosset (Ruines d’Ani, p. 31), and Abich (Aus kauk. Länd. vol. i. p. 191). The inscription describes Kei-Sultan as “son of Mahmud, son of Chawir, son of Manuchar, Cheddadi.” Kei-Sultan is not otherwise known. We must conclude that the Beni-Cheddad were still powerful in Ani as late as the end of the twelfth century. ↑
77 The dimensions of the interior are as follows, according to my measurements:—Length, 105 feet 6 in. (viz. 76 feet 6 in. to the daïs of the apse, and 29 feet from the daïs to the extremity of the recess); breadth, 65 feet 6 in.; breadth of apse, 29 feet 7 in. ↑
78 Texier reminds us that at the time when this cathedral was built (early eleventh century) the Romanesque style was universal in Europe (op. cit. p. 112). Yet in this building we have the characteristics of a style which might be found in Southern Europe in the thirteenth century—the pointed arch, the coupled piers. See also Fergusson, op. cit. p. 473. ↑
79 I must caution my reader against the drawing of this apse in plate ix. of Brosset’s Atlas to the Ruines d’Ani. ↑
80 The cathedral has been recently constituted into quite a little museum, all fragments of sculptured stone found at Ani being preserved there. I photographed one of the most remarkable, which displays the familiar subject of the eagle and the hare (Fig. 75). Another contains a bas-relief of three saints and was probably placed above a doorway. ↑
81 Brosset, Voyage Arch. livr. 1, rapp. 3, pp. 93–95, and Ruines d’Ani, pp. 22–28. ↑
82 Siunik was one of the large provinces into which Armenia was divided. Samuel of Ani places the completion of the cathedral in Arm. era 457 = A.D. 1008. But he may refer to a stage which was not quite the ultimate one. ↑
83 Brosset identifies this Aron with the Aron-Vestes of the Byzantines, who was sent to these countries about the year 1042, was commander of the imperial forces, became governor of Vaspurakan, Ani being attached to his jurisdiction, and was still in possession of his office in 1048 (Voyage Arch. loc. cit. p. 93). ↑
84 I am not aware that any inscription mentions the name of the architect. Sic vos non vobis! But Asoghik tells us that it was Tirdat or Tiridates, an Armenian architect who is reputed to have restored St. Sophia at Constantinople after its partial destruction by an earthquake. ↑
85 My measurements of the interior are:—Length, 41 feet (of which 15 feet is occupied by the apse measured from the daïs to the extremity of the recess); breadth, 26 feet. Texier mentions an adjacent baptistery (?). ↑
86 See especially Texier, Muravieff, and Abich’s Aus kauk. Länd. vol. i. pp. 198–99. ↑
87 The inscription has been translated by Brosset (Ruines d’Ani, pp. 145–48). ↑
88 Brosset (ibid. p. 15). I was able to verify the date, about which Brosset expresses some doubt (ibid. p. 148). ↑
89 For these two ruins see also Abich, op. cit. vol. i. pp. 196–97. ↑
90 For these inscriptions see Brosset, Ruines d’Ani, pp. 11–13. He reminds us of the importance of the date 1320 (Arm. era. 769) as being the year after the great earthquake. I must take this opportunity to caution my reader against accepting the tradition mentioned by Muravieff (ap. Brosset, Voyage Arch. livr. 1, rapp. 3, p. 127) that the little chapel was built in A.D. 1000 by King Gagik I. I may also mention that we could discover no traces of the guardhouse adjacent to the bridge (Ruines d’Ani, p. 10). ↑
91 Khanikoff ap. Brosset, Voyage Arch. livr. 1, rapp. 3, p. 138. ↑
92 Ibid. p. 138, and Ruines d’Ani, p. 30. ↑
93 Ibid. p. 140, and Ruines d’Ani, p. 31. ↑
94 Muravieff ap. Brosset, Voyage Arch. loc. cit. p. 129. ↑
95 Mr. Marr has published an account of his discoveries of new epigraphical material in Armenia in the Zapiski of the Eastern Section of the Imp. Russian Arch. Society, vol. viii., 1893, pp. 69–103. He contributes four new inscriptions from Ani. I have not been able to find any account of his excavations. ↑
96 The interior of the building which forms the subject of my illustration is given by Brosset in plate xiv. of the Atlas to the Ruines d’Ani. The detail and ornament there portrayed do not correspond with reality. The devils are more or less imaginary, and there appears to be only one of them in the actual design, viz. on the south wall, the first pilaster as you enter from the west—in low relief. Brosset styles this interior “a hall in the citadel”; but the following considerations are against this view:—1. It is oriented east; 2. It obviously had an apse; 3. Above the apse you see the form of a cross sculptured on the face of the arch which still remains.
The bas-reliefs are given by Brosset, plates xxxv. and xxxvii. The former (representing the archer) was found in the valley of the Tsaghkotz with an inscription in Armenian, “Christ have pity on the lady Shushan, thy servant.” This personage may be identified with the wife of the Pahlavid Grigor, mother of Vahram. ↑
97 This building must be the subject of plate xiii. in Brosset’s Atlas to the Ruines. ↑
98 The rock with the chapel is described by Abich (op. cit. vol. i. p. 192). It was strongly fortified. ↑
99 It is not exactly symmetrical, the measurement from west to east being nearly 31 feet. ↑
100 Brosset translates, “J’ai construit ce lieu de repos.” But it surely cannot refer to the chapel itself, which, as we have seen, has inscriptions of the mother of Aplgharib, and must therefore have been in existence before 1040. Brosset therefore supposes that the restoration of the church is alluded to (Ruines d’Ani, pp. 37 and 106). For a more probable version of the inscription see Alishan, Shirak, p. 53. ↑
101 For the inscriptions see Brosset (Voyage Arch. loc. cit. p. 91, and Ruines d’Ani, pp. 36 seq.). Aplgharib was brother to Vahram. I could find no trace of the curious figure found upon one of the windows which Brosset refers to (pp. 38 seq.). On the other hand, I was able to identify the two inscriptions last mentioned. ↑
102 Kirakos ap. Dulaurier, Recherches sur la Chron. Arm. p. 280. ↑
103 Asoghik ap. Brosset, Ruines d’Ani, p. 106. ↑
104 Abich confuses the sites of these two monuments in his Reisebriefe (op. cit.). ↑
105 Such is the translation of this inscription given by the editor of Aristakes of Lastivert. Brosset appears to have made a palpable error (Ruines d’Ani, p. 21, inscription of Christaphor). ↑
106 Probably the inscription of this same Aplgharib given by Brosset (Ruines d’Ani, p. 28) belongs to this chapel. It runs thus:—“Under the pontificate of Ter Petros and the reign of Sembat son of Gagik Shahanshah in the year 485 (A.D. 1036) I, the Marzpan Aplgharib, son of the prince Grigor, grandson of Apughamir and brother of Vahram and Vasak, constructed at great expense this Surb-Phrkich in the metropolis of Ani.” This inscription would establish as a fact that the chapel itself was dedicated to the Redeemer. ↑
107 A perfect labyrinth of confusion has been brought into existence by the attribution of the east front of the portal of the church of the Apostles to this castle or palace (see plate xix. of Brosset’s Atlas). Happily I am able to correct the error. It has been instrumental in leading Brosset to assign all the inscriptions found in that church to this castle. The name “palace of the Pahlavids” is purely imaginary. ↑
108 Brosset, Ruines d’Ani, p. 51, and plate xxxvi. No. 3 of the Atlas. It has been wrongly attributed to the castle. ↑
109 Abich describes this chapel as “a magnificent church in the form of a Greek cross with a central rotunda and four large semicircular niches at the sides” (op. cit. vol. i. p. 190). ↑
110 See Brosset (Voyage Arch. livr. 1, rapp. 3, pp. 86, 100, 101, 106, 109; and Ruines d’Ani, pp. 48–52). ↑
111 This is the chapel which Abich names “Kirche der Maria Verkündigung” (op. cit. vol. i. p. 193). ↑
112 Abich, op. cit. vol. i. p. 199. ↑
113 See the Georgian annalist translated by Brosset (Hist. de la Géorgie). ↑
114 I should be sorry to have to swear to this statement. ↑
115 Voyage Arch. livr. 1, rapp. 3, pp. 96, 107, 109–10. ↑
116 Telfer, Crimea and Transcaucasia, vol. i. p. 216. The chamber at Geghard is known as the Rusukna sanctuary, and was completed in A.D. 1288 (Arm. era 737) (ibid.). ↑
117 An inscription of A.D. 1215, much mutilated, seems to infer this (Brosset, Voyage Arch. loc. cit. p. 97). ↑
118 Brosset, Voyage Arch. loc. cit. p. 98. The dimensions of these various apartments are:—No. 1, length, 29 feet 4 inches; breadth, 29 feet; No. 2, 27 feet by 27 feet 2 inches; No. 3, hall of the synod, 18½ paces by 18 paces. The reader will note that the architects avoided exact squares. In this they were governed by a right instinct. ↑
119 Brosset, Voyage Arch. loc. cit. p. 99. Another derivation is from the Greek word for a priest, ἰέρευς (see M. Prudhomme, note to Aristakes, ch. ii.). ↑
120 Asoghik ap. Brosset (Ruines d’Ani, p. 137). ↑
123 Texier (op. cit. p. 112):—“La façade de cette église (the cathedral) construite avec une simplicité remarquable ... peut être regardée comme le type de l’architecture allemande du moyen âge. Il est facile d’expliquer comment, dans toute cette contrée, on retrouve le dôme à toit conique particulier à l’architecture arménienne. En effet, après la prise d’Ani par les Mussulmans, un grand nombre de citoyens abandonnaient la ville....” ↑