Ancient Faith: The Churches of Nagorno-Karabakh

[1] We use the name Karabakh throughout this website, rather than Nagorno-Karabakh, the latter of which was used when the area came under Soviet control.

[2] Igor Dorfmann-Lazarev, ed., Sharing Myths, Texts and Sanctuaries in the South Caucasus: Apocryphal Themes in Literatures, Arts and Cults from Late Antiquity to the Middle Ages (Leuven: Peeters, forthcoming 2021).

[3] Robert H. Hewsen, Armenia, A Historical Atlas (University of Chicago Press, 2001).

[4] Levon Abrahamian and Nancy Sweezy, eds., Armenia Folk Arts (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2001).

[5] S. Barkhudarian, Corpus Inscriptionum Armenicarum, vol. 6, Artsakh (Yerevan, 1982).

[6] For a discussion, see Hewsen, Armenia: A Historical Atlas (University of Chicago Press, 2001).

[7] Roger S. Mathews and Thomas F. Wieck, eds., Treasures in Heaven: Armenian Illuminated Manuscripts (New York: The Pierpont Morgan Library, and Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press,1994).

[8] Hratch Tchilingirian, “Religious Discourse and the Church in Mountainous Karabagh 1988–1995,” Revue du monde arménien moderne et contemporain 3 (1997): 67–83. 

[9]https://www.evnreport.com/magazine-issues/conversion-to-christianity-and-the-creation-of-the-armenian-alphabet.

[10] Erin Blakemore, “How the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict has been shaped by past empires,” National Geographic, October 15, 2020, https://www.nationalgeographic.com/history/article/how-nagorno-karabakh-conflict-shaped-by-past-empires.

[11] Michael P. Croissant, The Armenia-Azerbaijan Conflict: Causes and Implications (Westport, CT: Praeger, 1998).

[12] Will Englund, “In Karabakh, the first post-Soviet war,” The Washington Post, July 7, 2011, https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/in-karabakh-the-first-post-soviet-war/2011/07/06/gIQAF7tm1H_story.html.

[13] Council on Foreign Relations, Global Conflict Tracker, “Nagorno-Karabakh Conflict,” last updated May 28, 2021, https://www.cfr.org/global-conflict-tracker/conflict/nagorno-karabakh-conflict.

[14] Caucusus Heritage Watch, We are grateful to Cultural Heritage Monitoring Lab (CHML) for their independent analysis of the damage to the Shusha/Shushi Northern Cemetery,” Twitter, May 17, 2021, 6:41 p.m., https://twitter.com/CaucasusHW/status/1394422798097977345?s=20.

[15] Joshua Kucera, “Azerbaigjan begins controversial renovation of Armenian church, Eurasianet, May 7, 2021, https://eurasianet.org/azerbaijan-begins-controversial-renovation-of-armenian-church.

[16] Jonah Fisher, “Nagorno-Karabakh: The mystery of the missing church, BBC News, March 25, 2021, https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/world-europe-56517835.

[17] Christina Maranci et al., eds., “Preserve Artsakh: An Open Letter to the World Community,” StreetInsider.com, November 12, 2020, https://www.streetinsider.com/Globe+Newswire/Preserve+Artsakh%3A+An+Open+Letter+to+the+World+Community/17592356.html.

[18] Dale Berning Sawa, “Monumental loss: Azerbaijan and ‘the worst cultural genocide of the 21st century,’” The Guardian, March 1, 2019, https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2019/mar/01/monumental-loss-azerbaijan-cultural-genocide-khachkars.

[19] Geospatial Technologies and Human Rights Group, “High-Resolution Satellite Imagery and the Destruction of Cultural Artifacts in Nakhchivan, Azerbaijan,” American Association for the Advancement of Science, December 5, 2010, https://www.aaas.org/resources/high-resolution-satellite-imagery-and-destruction-cultural-artifacts-nakhchivan-azerbaijan.

[20] Ibid.

[21] The White House Briefing Room, “Statement by President Joe Biden on Armenian Remembrance Day,” April 24, 2021, https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2021/04/24/statement-by-president-joe-biden-on-armenian-remembrance-day/.

[22] UNESCO, “UNESCO is awaiting Azerbaijan’s Response regarding Nagorno-Karabakh mission,” December 21, 2020, https://en.unesco.org/news/unesco-awaiting-azerbaijans-response-regarding-nagorno-karabakh-mission.

[23] Ibid.

[1] Movses Dasxuranci, The History of Caucasian Albanians, translated by C. J. F. Dowsett (London: Oxford, 1961), 22.

[2] Tchilingirian, “Religious Discourse.”

[3] A. Louth, ed., The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church, 4th ed. (Oxford: Oxford University Press, forthcoming).

[4] Tchilingirian, “Religious Discourse.”

[5] Hamlet Petrosyan, “Tigranakert of Artsakh,” in Armenian Archaeology. Past Experiences and New Achievements, eds. Aram Kosyan et al., Aramazd: Armenian Journal of Near Eastern Studies 10.1–2 (2020): 342–343.

[6] Petrosyan,“Tigranakert of Artsakh.”

[7] A. Louth, ed., The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church, 4th ed. (Oxford: Oxford University Press, forthcoming).

[8] Ibid.

[9] Jost Gippert, Wolfgang Schulze, Zaza Aleksidze, and Jean-Pierre Mahé, The Caucasian Albanian Palimpsests from Mount Sinai, 2 vols. (Turnhout: Brépols, 2008–2010).

[10] Thomas F. Mathews and Roger S. Wieck, eds. Treasures in Heaven (New York: The Pierpont Morgan Library, and Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 1994).

[1] Samvel Karapetian, Armenian Cultural Monuments in the Region of Karabakh, Research on Armenian Architecture 3 (Yerevan: "Gitutiun" Publishing House of NAS RAA, 2001), 11.

[2] Karapetian, Armenian Cultural Monuments in the Region of Karabakh, 18.

[3] Shahen Mkrtchyan, The Treasures of Artsakh-Karabakh (Yerevan: Tigran Mets Publishing House, 2002).

[4] Jean-Michel Thierry, Eglises et Couvents du Karabagh (Antélias, Liban: Catholicossat Arménien de Cilicie, 1991).

[5] Karapetian, Armenian Cultural Monuments in the Region of Karabakh, 74–121.

[6] Karapetian, Armenian Cultural Monuments in the Region of Karabakh, 101.

[7] L. A. Durnovo, Essays on the Fine Arts of Medieval Armenia (Moscow, 1979), 153–154.

[8] Karapetian, Armenian Cultural Monuments in the Region of Karabakh, 121.

[9] Karapetian, Armenian Cultural Monuments in the Region of Karabakh, 13.

[1] Robert Hewsen, The Meliks of Eastern Armenia: A Preliminary Study (Paris: C. Klincksieck, 1972). Jasmine Dum-Tragut contributed the end date of 1816.

[2] Mkrtchyan, The Treasures of Artsakh-Karabakh.

[3] Tchilingirian, “Religious Discourse,” 68–69.

[1] James Bosbotinis, ed., Revival of Shushi (Moscow: MIA Publishers, 2015).

[2] Bosbotinis, Revival of Shushi.

[3] Tchilingirian, “Religious Discourse.”

[4] Ibid.

[5] United Kingdom Parliament, Select Committee on Foreign Affairs, Appendices to the Minutes of Evidence — Sixth Report, “Notes from Lord Hylton, MA ARICS, resulting from a visit to Nagorno Karabakh and Armenia 13–21 April 1998,” https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm199899/cmselect/cmfaff/349/349ap18.htm.

[6] Human Rights Watch, “Azerbaijan: Attack on Church Possible War Crime,” December 16, 2020, https://www.hrw.org/news/2020/12/16/azerbaijan-attack-church-possible-war-crime.

[7]https://medium.com/dfrlab/church-and-memorial-desecration-in-post-ceasefire-nagorno-karabakh-87ece968af3f (Atlantic Council Digital Forensics Lab)

[8] https://eurasianet.org/azerbaijan-begins-controversial-renovation-of-armenian-church

[1] Hamlet Petrosyan,“Handaberd Monastery and its Excavations”

[2] Christina Maranci, “An Unusual Mother and Child Sculpture in Handaberd,” Hyperallergic, February 28, 2021, https://hyperallergic.com/614598/an-unusual-mother-and-child-sculpture-in-handaberd/.

[3] Ibid.

[4] Hamlet L. Petrosyan, Handaberdi Vank'ẹ ev nra peġowmnerẹ (Erevan : HH GAA "Gitowt'yown" Hrat., 2009).

[1] Karapetian, Armenian Cultural Monuments in the Region of Karabakh, 17.

[2] Ibid., 65.

[3] Christina Maranci, “The medieval Armenian monuments in Nagorno-Karabakh must be protected,” Apollo: The International Art Magazine, December 9, 2020, https://www.apollo-magazine.com/medieval-armenian-monuments-nagorno-karabakh/.

[4] Karapetian, Armenian Cultural Monuments in the Region of Karabakh, 53.

[5] Ibid.

[1] Mkrtchyan, The Treasures of Artsakh-Karabakh.

[2] Karapetian, Armenian Cultural Monuments in the Region of Karabakh, 139.

[3] Ibid., 147.

[4] Karapetian, Armenian Cultural Monuments in the Region of Karabakh, 144.

[5] Ibid., 147.

Our thanks to the scholars and specialists who have contributed to this exhibit and carefully reviewed its contents.

Patrick Donabedian, Aix-Marseille University

Igor Dorfmann-Lazarev, Aix-Marseille University

Jasmine Dum-Tragut, University of Salzburg

Roberta Ervine, St. Nersess Armenian Seminary

Rachel Goshgarian, Lafayette College

Sergio La Porta, Fresno State University

Theo Maarten van Lint, University of Oxford

Christina Maranci, Tufts University

Hamlet Petrosyan, Yerevan State University

Our thanks also to the Armenian General Benevolent Union for its support of documentary video production and to Hrair Hawk Khatcherian, Professor Hamlet Petrosyan, Joseph Dagdigian, and the Mesrop Mashtots Institute of Ancient Manuscripts (Matenadaran) for photo images.