Eghegis Lecture.5.09

Stone, Eghegis Lecture, page 1 7/9/09 The Background of the Medieval Jewish Cemetery in Eghegis, Vayots Dzor Region, Armenia Michael E. Stone 1. Introduction In the autumn of 1997 I received exciting information from Bishop Abraham Mkrtchyan that near the village of Eghegis, in the Vayots Dzor region, an ancient cemetery had been discovered. The first pictures that I saw showed indubitably that the tombstones in this cemetery bore Hebrew inscriptions. This was a Jewish cemetery. My initial impression of the antiquity of the inscriptions sufficed to highlight their importance for Jewish and Armenian history. This stemmed from one central fact. There was almost no evidence from the previously known literary and historical sources for a Jewish community in Armenia in the Middle Ages. A Jewish settlement of the type implied by the Eghegis cemetery is a new historical fact and the inscriptions on its tombstones are major new evidence for a previously unknown and unsuspected medieval Jewish community and for the complexity of the population of Vayots Dzor at that time, and of patterns of trade and travel. A survey in 2000 was followed by expeditions in 2001 and 2002, Stone Eghegis Lecture, page 2 April 11, 2009 in the course of which we excavated the site and published all the tombstones. Today, I shall deal with the context and cultural significance of the site. Dr. Amit will discuss the inscriptions themselves. 2. Historical Background The inscriptions date from the middle of the thirteenth century (1266) to the middle of the fourteenth century (1346/7), as is witnessed by the dates on them (see below). Before this period, Vayots Dzor was the largest district of the kingdom of Siwnik which was founded in 987 by the "principal prince" Smbat, son of Sahak prince of Baghk. Its capital, Kapan, fell to the Seljuks in 1103 and by 1170 the Seljuk rule of the kingdom of Siwnik was total. After the fall of Siwnik many inhabitants moved to the north and settled in Arpa, Eghegis and other villages of Vayots Dzor. The historian Stepanos Orbelian (thirteenth- fourteenth century) narrates that during the Seljuk conquest of Kapan in 1103, the Jewish quarter of the town, which was outside the fortress, at a place that seemed inaccessible to foes, suffered particularly. Under the command of the Zakarian brothers, Zakarē and Ivanē, the joint Georgian and Armenian troops warred against the Seljuks for 25 years (from the 1190's on). As a result, many regions of Armenia were liberated from the Seljuks and Ivanē received the title of "at‘abek" and became the ruler of Vayots Dzor (together with the regions of Stone Eghegis Lecture, page 3 April 11, 2009 Gegharkunik, Sodk and northeastern Siwnik). The most powerful ruling house in Ivanē's dominion were the Orbelians of Siwnik. The Georgian noble family of Orbeli had been massacred by King Georgi III (1156-1184) of Georgia. Rehabilitated during the reign of Queen Tamara (1184-1213), Liparit Orbeli was granted lands in Vayots Dzor and Kotayk. He had residences in Eghegis and the area of Arpa (Areni), married the daughter of one of the local nobleman, Bubak, and became the ancestor of the Orbelian family, of which the historian Stepanos was a scion. In 1236 the Mongols invaded and conquered Armenia. Under their pitiless sway, Armenia was devastated, "the country was full of dead bodies, and there was no one to bury them" (Kirakos Gandzaketsi), and thousands of people were constrained to migrate. From the very beginning, however, Prince Elikum Orbelian of Siwnik had accepted the Mongol yoke. Thanks to this Orbelian diplomacy, Siwnik thus became a comparatively privileged region in Armenia. The second half of the thirteenth century was the apogee of Orbelian power. Elikum's successor was his brother Smbat (1251-1273) whom some sources even call "king of Siwnik". In 1251 Smbat went to the Mongol court and received high rank from Mangu Khan. Siwnik became reckoned among the "indju"-s (i.e., “royal estates”) directly subject to the Great Khan, independent of the Georgian court and the Stone Eghegis Lecture, page 4 April 11, 2009 Zakarians. Smbat's dominion also included Eghegis and Vayots Dzor, Kotayk and a significant part of Gegharkunik. During his rule, Smbataberd, the fortress of Eghegis on a ridge overlooking the town, was restored and strengthened. The Orbelian rulers had a great position and were titled "prince of princes." Due to the extremely severe economic situation in most of Armenia and the comparative prosperity of Siwnik, many people migrated there. Consequently, during the second half of the thirteenth century Siwnik became a cultural center as well. Eghegis was also home to a significant scriptorium and many manuscripts were copied there. In addition, a distinct school of sculpture developed in Vayots Dzor. Up to 1273, Arpa, located on the important route Nakhijevan- Gegharkuni, was the residence of the Orbelians. This center is in the valley of the Arpa River, and well located from the point of view of trade. Afterwards, the Orbelian center was transferred to Eghegis. However, the new Orbelian capital of Eghegis was not closely connected with the two arterial trade routes (northern and southern) that pass through Armenia, for which reason it was never among the most important cities of Armenia. From the tax imposed for the monastery of Tat‘ew (12 drams), it appears that even in its floruit Eghegis did not have numerous inhabitants, and that its population did not surpass 10,000. Stone Eghegis Lecture, page 5 April 11, 2009 With the disappearance of the Persian Khanate in the fourteenth century, the Georgian King Georgi V (1327) restored the independence and territorial unity of Georgia. The Armenian princedoms were reduced to a local role after 1350. Subsequently, Eghegis gradually decreased in size to a town and then a village. According to local tradition, the city was abandoned as the result of a volcanic eruption, which is not corroborated by the written sources or material evidence we examined in situ. Thus, the period of the tombstone inscriptions, the second half of the thirteenth century and first half of the fourteenth century, was one of relative prosperity and independence Siwnik and Vayots Dzor, while the dominant power was in the hands of the Mongol khans. The relative isolation of the region behind its mountainous barriers contributed to this prosperity, which contrasted with the devastation of most of Armenia. 3. The Site The Jewish cemetery is close to the present-day village of Eghegis, in the region of Vayots Dzor, ca. 16 km. north of Eghegnadzor. The village is on the Eghegis river, a tributary of the Arpa, which flows into the Araxes in the Ararat valley. It is characterised by fruitful orchards and vineyards in a narrow valley between mountains. Stone Eghegis Lecture, page 6 April 11, 2009 The cemetery is to be connected with a Jewish community that existed in this city in the Middle Ages. This hypothesis is supported by the dating of the tombstones to the floruit of the city of Eghegis. The course of the powerfully-flowing Eghegis river separates the present-day village from the Jewish cemetery. The cemetery is located on a level shelf of ground rises a few metres above the southern bank of the river Eghegis. It extends over an area of 1550 square meters covered by thick vegetation. In considering the relationships of the Jews of Eghegis with their Christian neighbours, the first element to be considered is the decoration on the tombstones. Decorations occur on seven of the 64 tombstones. These include rosettes and whirl rosettes (nos. 12 and 45). Whirl rosettes are found on ancient synagogues, but signficantly also among Armenians, to this day, this is the symbol of eternity or eternal life. It is prominently set on the memorial to the Armenian Genocide in Erevan. Tombstone no. 9 is engraved on both long sides with a dense running geometric relief of interlaced diamonds and triangles. A strikingly similar design is found on one of the tombstones of the Orbelian cemetery in the nearby village of Eghegis (Figs. 26, 27) and on a panel in Noravank’. Most interesting is tombstone no. 6 which is covered with reliefs divided into three panels on each side. On the southern side, from left to Stone Eghegis Lecture, page 7 April 11, 2009 right, we observe a lion and another animal in realistic poses, and a circular geometric design in the third panel. The unidentified animal has been suggested to be a crowned lioness (Amit) or a bull (Stone). It is clearly winged which leads Stone to wish to connect it with Ezekiel 1 and the Evangelist symbols. On the northern side are engraved, from left to right: an eagle surrounded by fish in the four corners of the frame, a rosette with twelve petals and a knot design in the corners of the frame, and a wheel of immortality with similar designs in the corners with six clockwise spokes. These beasts might indicate qualities of the deceased as mentioned in inscription no. 12. These three animals are common in Jewish art from antiquity and they are, of course, three of the faces of the Cherubs enumerated in Ezekiel, chapter 1. The fourth face, the human one, is not found on the Jewish tombstone, presumably because of the Second Commandment. Tombstone no. 49 is extensively decorated, in a style that is quite different from anything else found at Eghegis. We have not been able to characterize this style and content. Donabédian stresses both the originality and creativity of architectural sculpture in Vayots Dzor at this time, and particularly the role of relief sculpture.

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