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An Illuminated Armenian Manuscript “Guidebook” to the Sacred Shrines in the Holy Land from the End of the Seventeenth Century

Un « guide de voyage » en Terre sainte dans un manuscrit enluminé arménien de la fin du 17e siècle
Mikayel Arakelyan
p. 217-237

Résumés

Cet article présente un manuscrit rédigé et richement illustré par le moine Eremia d’Adana à Jérusalem à la fin du 17e siècle, et qui était destiné à l’usage des pèlerins en route pour la Terre sainte. Il contient des informations sur 80 lieux saints majoritairement chrétiens, mais aussi juifs et musulmans, accompagnés de 81 représentations picturales.

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Texte intégral

  • 1 For instance: Ms. 121 from the Byzantine Museum, Athens (17th century, 32 folios, 15,5 x 10,5 cm); (...)

1An illuminated guidebook of the holy shrines in the Holy Land, called Նկարագրութիւն Տնօրինական տեղեաց (Nkaragrutʻiwn Tnōrinakan tełeac‘) in Classical Armenian or προσκυνητάριον (Proskynetarion) in Classical Greek, contains descriptions of the monuments located in Palestine, especially Christian edifices, and closely resembles modern travel books or tourist guides to archeological sites. The name derives from the words Tnōrinakan tełeac‘ (Dominical places) with which the majority of them begin, and relates, of course, both to the content of the books and to their readers, who were usually visiting this exceptional part of the world as pilgrims. We know that apart from Armenian codices, several Greek illuminated manuscripts of this type are preserved in libraries and collections all over the world – an indication of their great popularity, particularly in the period following the fall of Constantinople in 1453. They date, in fact, from the sixteenth to the eighteenth centuries.1

  • 2 See W. Deluga, 2005, p. 7. It should be noted that the first publications on this subject were writ (...)
  • 3 See Z. Skalova, 2005, p. 93-103; K. Ciggaar, 2005, p. 127-138; M. Meuwese, 2005, p. 139-148.
  • 4 Cited from M. Immerzeel, 2005, p. 18.
  • 5 Ibid., p. 18; see also R. Röhricht, 1901, p. 129-135.

2Proskynetaria were first the focus of scholarly discussion during an international conference organized in October 2003 in Warsaw by the Cardinal Stefan Wyszyński University and Leiden University. Later, they were also discussed at a symposium in Hernen Castle (the Netherlands) in September 2004.2 According to the proceedings of 2004, the deacon of Mainz Cathedral Bernhard von Breitenbach’s guidebook ‘Beschreibung des gelobten Landes’, published in Mainz in 1485, is the first illustrated and printed travel book. This volume had considerable influence in later years.3 Scholar Mat Immerzeel writes: “Just as modern post-cards show us landscapes and buildings that are characteristic of the location where the cards are purchased, icons destined for the ‘souvenir market’ often show subjects with recognizable prominent elements”.4 Illustrated Proskynetaria were also printed in Europe for Greek and Russian Orthodox pilgrims. For example, a guidebook of 1728 housed in the National Library in Paris (BNF G. 606) contains an engraved map of Jerusalem. Its iconographical concept, however, goes back to the famous map that was included in Bernhard von Breitenbach’s account of a journey that he made to the Holy Land in 1483-1484, and which was probably designed by the Dutch engraver Erhard Reuwig of Utrecht.5 Armenian printed travel books existed from the beginning of the eighteenth century, with approximately 15 being published in Venice, Constantinople, and Jerusalem over the last two centuries. The earliest of these was published in Venice in 1700 under the title Համառօտ պատմութիւն Տնօրինականաց Տեառն մերոյ Յիսուսի Քրիստոսի որ ի Սուրբ քաղաքն Երուսաղէմ.

3During summer 2006, while investigating Armenian miniature paintings in the collections of the Mekhitarist Congregation and the National Library of Austria in Vienna, I discovered a certain illuminated manuscript with the title Nkaragrutʻiwn Tnōrinakan tełeacʻ (“Description of the Dominical Shrines of the Holy Land”). Housed in the monastic library of the Mekhitarist Fathers in Vienna (shelf-mark: W757), this manuscript is a brilliant example of the art and tradition of the miniature – a small, humble work of art that offers us an insight into the Armenian aesthetic of the period. At the same time, the miniatures deal with the topography of Palestine and recall important events from the Bible and the history and tradition of the church. Thus both miniatures and text, from which scholars draw a great deal of information, act as sources of knowledge and enrich the collection of depictions of the Holy Land.

Description and history of the manuscript

  • 6 English translations of the texts are presented for the first time in the article.

4The codex W757 is written on oriental paper of medium format: 4o (19,5 x 15 cm), containing 22 folios with the text written in notrgir (late minuscule) in a single column, and in 24 lines. The cover is of brown leather over wooden boards; there is ornamental stamping on both sides of each cover. Flyleaves are absent at the beginning and the end of the manuscript. However, the oriental paper is glued to the inside surface of each board. It is a travel guide to 80 sites, each accompanied by an image (with a total of 81 varied pictorial compositions in the manuscript). The introduction in poetic form (para. 1) and the full title of the manuscript (para. 2),6 written in black and red ink, are found at the beginning of the book on folio 2v:

1. Տնօրինական եմ Քրիստոսին,
Անեղ անմահ թագաւորին:
Որ ի Կուսէ էառ մարմին,
Եւ շրջեցաւ յայս գաւառին:
Տէր մեր Յիսուս որդի Կուսին,
Մայրն եւ Որդին ի միասին,
Առ զիս սիրով ի քո ձեռին:
Ես քեզ պատմեմ զամէն տեղին,
Ընդ որ երկիր որ գնացին,
Եւ զինչ տեղիք որ կոխեցին:
Առաքեալքն եւս ընդ նմին,
Եւ մարգարէքն այն առաջին,
Որպէս պատմէ Մա[տ]թէոսին,
Մարկոս, Ղուկաս, Յոհաննիսին:

I am administer to Christ,
The uncreated [and] immortal King.
Who became body through the Virgin,
And walked in this region.
Our Lord, Jesus, Son of the Virgin,
Mother and Son together,
Towards me in love, in your hand.
I will tell you about every place,
Which country they went,
And whatever places they stepped in.
The apostles [were] also there,
And the prophets, as tells the first one
to Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.

2. Այս են ամենայն տնօրինականքն Քրիստոսի Աստուծոյ մերոյ ի Սուրբ քաղաքն Երուսաղէմ, ի միջոյ եւ արտաքոյ, որք կան հաւաքեալ ի քաւութիւն եւ ի թողութիւն մեղաց հաւատով երկիր պագողաց:

These are all dominical places of Jesus, our Lord, in the Holy city of Jerusalem, inside and outside, that are assembled for the atonement and the deliverance from sins by the faith of the worshippers.

  • 7 For example, three manuscripts from the Matenadaran: Miscellany of the 17th century (M697), Miscell (...)

5It became clear that the codex was adorned with images in order to acquaint Armenian pilgrims with the holy shrines in the Holy Land. At the very start, I proposed to find and study other illustrated manuscripts of this type using various literary sources and catalogues. However, in the course of my research in the libraries of the Mekhitarist Congregations of Vienna and Venice, as well as in the Matenadaran Institute of Ancient Manuscripts in Yerevan, I was not able to trace any other manuscripts embellished with miniatures in the manner of codex W757. Largely, I located only individual quires with textual descriptions of the holy shrines (without any miniatures) foliated in the several miscellanies housed both in the Matenadaran and the Institute of Oriental Manuscripts of the Russian Academy of Sciences (IOM RAS) collections.7

6The manuscript in question is a very interesting and important representative of the genre, penned and richly adorned as well as written by the miniaturist, scribe and monk Eremia Atanacʻi abełay (the celibate priest), originally from Adana (Cilicia), near Antioch. According to the principal colophon written in classical Armenian in notrgir on folio 21v, the codex was produced in the Armenian chapel of the Vernatun (known also as the Second Golgotha in Armenian tradition) in the Basilica of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem in the year 1697. Two similar late inscriptions in šełagir (ligatured cursive) on the first two pages (ff. 1v, 2r) inform us that the manuscript was in the possession of a certain daughter of Karapet Č‘ēōmlakči and Nek‘tar (presumably from Constantinople). The third late inscription, also written in šełagir (f. 2v), belongs to the hand of Father Grigoris (a priest probably from the Mekhitarist Convent of Vienna) who purchased the manuscript for 30 łuruš (small denomination Turkish coins) in Constantinople in 1909. The fourth late colophon (f. 21r) is written at the end of the manuscript by a certain Petros, and does not give us any further information.

Attribution of the manuscript

  • 8 M. Aghawnuni, 1929, p. 133 and 137.
  • 9 See N. Pogharian, 1966-1967, vol. 1, p. 53-58, 557-559, and vol. 2, p. 152-153.

7Artists usually illustrated manuscripts at the request of local Armenian merchants, notable townspeople or priors of monasteries, while some also received commissions from other cities, adjacent areas or principalities. A number of these manuscripts appeared in Jerusalem during the lifetimes of the artists, a development we can account for in two ways. Firstly, as Armenian pilgrimage to the Holy Land became considerably more active at the end of the sixteenth century and the beginning of the seventeenth century, pilgrims included miniaturists, scribes and patrons who considered it an obligation to donate their creations to the churches of the Holy Sepulchre, St. James, and St. Savior in Jerusalem and the Holy Nativity in Bethlehem. Secondly, masters stayed for several months in Jerusalem, a city regarded as imbued with the Holy Spirit, in order to write and embellish the manuscripts, beseeching Christ and the Mother of God for absolution and intercession on their behalf as well as on behalf of donors and their relatives. These illustrated manuscripts are kept in the collection of the Patriarchal library of the Armenian Monastery of St. James. Information regarding the masters and others who made pilgrimage to Palestine are found in a work in Armenian by Archbishop Mkrtitch Aghawnuni.8 Eremia of Adana was one of the painters who came to the Holy City as a pilgrim (mahtesi). At present, I do not have further information about his life and the number of his works, but I have found three additional manuscripts executed by a certain scribe Eremia in Jerusalem: a Lectionary of 1670 (J5), two Books of Sermons of 1664 and 1684 (J305 and J189).9 All of them were written at the Monastery of St. James. According to the colophons and paleography, the author of these manuscripts is probably the master who produced codex W757.

Pictorial programme

  • 10 The illustrations presented in this article (figures 1-10) are published for the first time with th (...)
  • 11 Compare this pictorial cycle with data from O.F.A. Meinardus, 2005, p. 35-51.

8As has been stated, the Vienna manuscript contains 81 miniatures with representations of the holy monuments. Most are of small dimensions, apart from a few larger illustrations that stand out owing to the importance of the shrines they depict. These are four full-page miniatures illustrating the churches of the Holy Nativity in Bethlehem (figure 1),10 a sectional view of the Cathedral of the Resurrection in Jerusalem from the south side (figure 2), a scheme of the main part of the same Cathedral, including the rotunda, the bell-tower, Holy Sepulchre, Upper Room (alias the Armenian Second Golgotha) and the chapel of the Holy Mother of God (figure 3), as well as the Armenian church of St. Gregory the Illuminator (also known as the Crypt of St. Helena) and the Latin and Greek chapel of the Invention of the True Cross (figure 4). Executed either before or immediately after the completion of the text, Eremia’s compositions are intertextual miniatures located on various parts of the page, normally alongside the descriptions they illustrate. The subjects of the miniatures are monasteries, cathedrals, churches, chapels, caves, tombs, mountains, rocks, rivers, trees, pools and springs.11 Most of the subjects are Christian, but they also reference Jewish and Muslim sites, such as Rachel’s tomb on the road to Bethlehem (figure 5) and the tomb of Patriarchs (Haram el-Khalil) in Hebron, being, according to the description, the burial place of Abraham, Sarah and Isaac (figure 6). Other sites are the Tree at Mambre (f. 6r), where Abraham received the three mysterious visitors and bargained with the Lord for the salvation of Sodom (Gen 18); the tombs of the prophets Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi and Absalom in the valley of Jehoshaphat (f. 10r), as well as the tomb of the prophet Isaiah in the valley of Gehenna (f. 10v); the complex of churches, synagogues and mosques on Mount Sion (figure 7), where there are the Cenacle and tomb of the prophet David, the Hermitage, the Upper Church of the Apostles, and the pool of Jeremiah near the Dung Gate (f. 11r); Herod’s Palace near Jaffa Gate, the Church of St. Anne (alias House of Joachim and Anna), close to the Lion’s Gate, and finally, the Dome of the Rock (Haram el-Sharif) on the Temple Mount (ff. 13v, 14r-v).

9We may also observe an interesting principle of presentation Eremia of Adana employs, for the master arranges his illuminations in groups of various size in accordance with their geographical location. For instance, the south-west area of Jerusalem, on the way to Hebron, has only one intertextual representation of the Spring of Phillip the Apostle (f. 6r); the River Jordan has two illustrations depicting the place of Jesus’s baptism and the Greek Monastery of St. John the Baptist (f. 6v); and Jericho is represented by four miniatures showing the House of the Blind Men, the Sycamore tree climbed by Zacchaeus, the Quarantania Monastery on the Mount of Temptation, and the Temptation Rock where Jesus got rid of Satan (f. 7v). In total I have calculated twelve sections covering the following topographical areas: Bethlehem (5 miniatures), Ein Karim (4 miniatures), the Spring of Phillip the Apostle (1 miniature), Hebron (3 miniatures), the River Jordan and the Greek monastery of John the Baptist (2 miniatures), Jericho (4 miniatures), Bethania (3 miniatures), the Mount of Olives (5 miniatures), the Valley of Jehoshaphat or Kidron (8 miniatures), the Valley of Gehenna (4 miniatures), Jerusalem (25 miniatures), and the Cathedral of the Holy Sepulchre (17 miniatures).

10It should be noted that the pictorial cycle begins with the representation of the Church of the Holy Nativity in Bethlehem and finishes with the miniature of the Cathedral of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem at the end of the codex, thus taking the reader from the birth of Christ to the resurrection. The manuscript under consideration does not contain miniatures with the descriptions of the holy sites around the Sea of Galilee, the church of the Annunciation in Nazareth, Mount Tabor (the site of Christ’s transfiguration), the port of Jaffa with its interesting churches, the various monasteries in the Judean Desert (for example, the fifth-century Monastery of St. Euthymius) and many other biblical sites. Most likely, Eremia had not visited these places and consequently their descriptions are absent from the manuscript. Logically, the artist depicted and described only what he saw with his own eyes.

  • 12 Cited from Z. Skalova, 2005, p. 93-103.
  • 13 Cited from M. Meuwese, 2005, p. 139-148.
  • 14 The compositions representing the Holy Sepulchre and St. George of Kozyba in the mentioned Greek ma (...)

11The illuminated guidebook W757 follows a cartographical prototype: in the centre of the walled city of Jerusalem, the Basilica of the Resurrection (figures 2-3), “looms large, recognizable by its dome and drawn in section”.12 “Although Jerusalem was considered to be the centre of the world, it was also so remote for most Christians in the middle ages that the city was unimaginable except in terms of their own familiar realities. For spiritual reasons, also, representations of the city of Jerusalem in medieval Armenian manuscripts were more symbolic than realistic”,13 as I demonstrate in this paper with some examples. If one compares some of Eremia’s compositions with miniatures from the previously mentioned Greek manuscripts decorated in the seventeenth century, it is possible to find identical details. For example, compare the image of the Holy Sepulchre (W757, f. 17v; figure 2) with the Greek composition of the same basilica from a manuscript in the Docheiariou Monastery on Mount Athos (DM F. 393, f. 2r); and the image of the monastery of Lion at Jericho (alias St. George of Kozyba: W757, f. 7r; figure 8) with a miniature from the Greek manuscript of the Byzantine Museum in Athens (BM Ms. 121, f. 3v).14 As we see, the results of this basic comparative investigation elucidate the traditions, iconography, influences and originality of the miniatures from the codex W757 in relation to the mentioned Greek Proskynetaria. The significance of works by the monk Eremia, their place and role in Armenian miniature painting in a context of the history of pilgrimage to the Sacred Shrines in the Holy Land are clear. Certainly, depictions were relevant to that epoch and had practical value because they not only indicated the holy sites within the same religious (confessional) affiliation, but also disclosed to Armenian pilgrims which sites and shrines of Christianity, Judaism, and Islam were considered relevant at the time. This guidebook comprehensively reveals the history of pilgrimage to the Holy Land, for the pictorial programme was designed by the artist Eremia in order to highlight the dominical shrines that Armenian pilgrims should visit. It is valid to say that as of today the Vienna manuscript is the only illustrated source contributing to our knowledge of the Armenian pilgrimages to the Holy Land. Consequently, it occupies an important place in the research of Armenian miniature painting of the late medieval period and demands further examination.

12The miniatures of the Vienna codex are generally simple and naive, in keeping with the simple text. Throughout they combine the artist’s knowledge and first impressions of the sacred places of pilgrimage with his imaginings; these were the features that helped him concentrate on the technique (manner of execution) rather than the aesthetic depiction of the subjects. Moreover, the miniatures are of historical and cultural significance, since they were designed to help pilgrims become better acquainted with the Holy Land. The master Eremia of Adana offers a comprehensive guided tour to monuments that, during his era, were scattered over the territory of Palestine, several of which are still to be found there today. For example, the Monastery of the Cross which had belonged to the Georgians, the Armenian Cathedral of St. James and the Monastery of the Holy Archangels on the territory of the same Armenian convent (figure 9), as well as the Tomb of the Virgin at the Church of the Assumption of the Holy Mother of God, including the Tombs of Joachim and Anna (figure 10). Although the miniatures are normally of a conventional character, I have not frequently encountered such faithful depictions of monuments, either as a whole or in part, which attest to a knowledge on the part of the painter of their architectural form. Amongst the stylistic features of the images, I should note the simple, vivid outlines, the distinct stylization, and the use of a limited palette. The colours are applied without tonal gradation and have no function other than to stress some of the special features of the scenes. Analysis of their content at once reveals the great value of this manuscript for many branches of research, especially art history, iconography, geography, topography and archeology of the Holy Land. Visual information contained in the images themselves will certainly contribute to the scholarship of the abovementioned fields as the images provide insight into the properties of the sacred shrines as well as determining which branch of the Christian church they belonged to during the end of the seventeenth century. Furthermore, these illustrations will also identify the actual location of each monument which may not have been preserved otherwise.

13This subject of research undoubtedly requires separate comparative analysis of Armenian guidebooks. Such future research will probably uncover more Armenian Proskynetariа. It will also provide opportunities to identify both the differences and similarities in artistic traditions, iconography, influence and palette. Nevertheless, it becomes evident that the illumination programme in the Armenian miniature painting in the Vienna codex was derived from various sources. Knowledge of the pictorial programme, scheme and variation of illumination applied by Eremia of Adana in his manuscript helps us to understand the underlying concept behind the making and illumination of the seventeenth century Proskynetaria. This article reflects a small part of a large-scale scientific research project to create a corpus of Armenian illustrated guidebook manuscripts housed in the different collections throughout the entire world. These collections and the manuscripts therein have been brought to public attention and systemised for the first time. Currently, I have discovered five collections containing a total of up to 10 Armenian Proskynetaria, including the separate fragments. They primarily date from the end of the seventeenth to the beginning of the nineteenth centuries. However, there is just one manuscript from this collection adorned with miniatures, and that is located in the collection of the monastic library of the Mekhitarist Fathers in Vienna.

14Research into the illuminated Vienna manuscript, produced in the Cathedral of the Resurrection in Jerusalem, shows the difficult path taken by the Armenian manuscript heritage from its creation to the present time. The fate of people and the fate of manuscripts in the Armenian historical and cultural traditions are interlinked, thus providing an endless source of historical data. Detailed description of the codex W757 gives the academic world, and all those interested in the written and artistic heritage of Armenians, an opportunity to familiarise themselves with this superb seventeenth-century monument of the book art of Armenian pilgrimage in the Holy Land and can benefit a broader range of research.

Figure 1: Holy Nativity in Bethlehem. W757, f. 3v
Photograph by Mikayel Arakelyan

Figure 2 Cathedral of the Resurrection in Jerusalem. W757, f. 17v
Photograph by Mikayel Arakelyan

Figure 3 The Scheme of the Cathedral of the Resurrection: the Rotunda, the Bell-tower, the Holy Sepulchre, the Upper Room, the Chapel of the Holy Mother of God. W757, f. 19r
Photograph by Mikayel Arakelyan

Figure 4 Church of St. Gregory the Illuminator and Chapel of the Invention of the True Cross. W757, f. 20r
Photograph by Mikayel Arakelyan

Figure 5 Tomb of Rachel. W757, f. 5r
Photograph by Mikayel Arakelyan

Figure 6 Tomb of Patriarchs (Haram el-Khalil) in Hebron. W757, f. 6r
Photograph by Mikayel Arakelyan

Figure 7 The Complex of Churches, Synagogues and Mosques on Mount Sion. W757, f. 11v
Photograph by Mikayel Arakelyan

Figure 8 Monastery of St. George of Kozyba. W757, f. 7r
Photograph by Mikayel Arakelyan

Figure 9 Cathedral of St. James, Monastery of the Holy Archangels. W757, f. 12v
Photograph by Mikayel Arakelyan

Figure 10 Church of the Assumption of the Holy Mother of God. W757, f. 10r
Photograph by Mikayel Arakelyan

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Bibliographie

Adjaryan Hratchya, Հայոց անձնանունների բառարան [Dictionary of Armenian Personal Names], vol. 5, Yerevan: The State University Publishing House, 1962.

Aghawnuni Mkrtitch, Միաբանք եւ այցելուք հայ Երուսաղէմի [Armenian Jerusalem’s Brotherhood and Visitors], Jerusalem: St. James Convent Printing Press, 1929.

Ciggaar Krijnie, “Painters, Paintings and Pilgrims in Medieval Jerusalem. Some Witnesses from East and West”, Eastern Christian Art, vol. 2, 2005, p. 127-138.

Deluga Waldemar, “Introduction”, in Waldemar Deluga and Michał Janocha (ed.), Series Byzantina, Studies on Byzantine and Post-Byzantine Art, vol. III, Warszawa: Neriton Publishing House, 2005, p. 7-8.

Immerzeel Mat, “Proskynetaria from Jerusalem”, Essays on Christian Art and Culture in the Middle East, vol. 2, 1999, p. 53-62.

Immerzeel Mat, “Proskynetaria from Jerusalem. Souvenirs of a Pilgrimage to the Holy Land”, in Waldemar Deluga and Michał Janocha (ed.), Series Byzantina, Studies on Byzantine and Post-Byzantine Art, vol. III, Warszawa: Neriton Publishing House, 2005, p. 9-24, figs. 1-10.

Kadas N. Sotiris, Οι Αγιοι τοποι, εικονογραφημενα προσκυνηταρια, 17ου−18ου αι, [Holy Land: Illustrated Proskynetaria 17th and 18th Century], Athens: Kapon, 1998.

Meinardus Otto F.A., “Greek Proskynitaria of Jerusalem in Coptic Churches in Egypt”, Studia Orientalia Christiana, vol. 12, 1967, p. 311-341.

Meinardus Otto F.A., “17th Century Armenian Proskynetaria of Jerusalem”, in Waldemar Deluga and Michał Janocha (ed.), Series Byzantina, Studies on Byzantine and Post-Byzantine Art, vol. III, Warszawa: Neriton Publishing House, 2005, p. 35-51.

Meuwese Martine, “Representations of Jerusalem on Medieval Maps and Miniatures”, Eastern Christian Art, vol. 2, 2005, p. 139-148.

Pogharian Norayr, Մայր ցուցակ ձեռագրաց Սրբոց Յակոբեանց [Grand Catalogue of St. James Manuscripts], vol. 1-2, Jerusalem: Armenian Convent Printing Press, 1966-1967.

Röhricht Reinhold, “Die Palästinekarte Bernhard von Breitenbach’s”, Zeitschrift des Deutschen Palästina-Vereins, vol. 24, 1901, p. 129-135.

Skalova Zuzana, “A Holy Map to Christian Tradition: Preliminary Notes on Painted Proskynetaria of Jerusalem in the Ottoman Era”, Eastern Christian Art, vol. 2, 2005, p. 93-103.

Yeganyan Onik, Մայր Ցուցակ Հայերէն ձեռագրաց Մաշտոցի անուան Մատենադարանի [General Catalogue of Armenian Manuscripts of the Mashtots Matenadaran], edited by Panos Antabian, Hakob Keoseyan, Arpine Ghazarosyan, Rev. Shahe Hayrapetyan, indexed by Vardan Devrikyan, vol. 3, Yerevan: Magaghat Publishing House, 2007.

Yuzbashian Karen N., Армянские рукописи в петербургских собраниях. Каталог [Armenian Manuscripts in the Collections of St. Petersburg. Catalogue], special issue of Pravoslavnyi Palestinskii Sbornik, vol. 104/41, St. Petersburg: Dmitrii Bulanin, 2005.

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Note de fin

1 For instance: Ms. 121 from the Byzantine Museum, Athens (17th century, 32 folios, 15,5 x 10,5 cm); F. 393 (fragment) from the Docheiariou monastery on Mount Athos (17th century, 20 folios, 21 x 15,5 cm); Cod. guppl. gr. 1151 from the National Library in Paris (1692, 39 folios, 15 x 10 cm); Cod. canon. gr. 127 from the Bodleian Library in Oxford (1693, 42 folios, 15 x 10 cm); for more details, see S.N. Kadas, 1998.

2 See W. Deluga, 2005, p. 7. It should be noted that the first publications on this subject were written by scholars as Otto Meinardus and Mat Immerzeel; for more details, see O.F.A. Meinardus, 1967, p. 311-341; M. Immerzeel, 1999, p. 53-62.

3 See Z. Skalova, 2005, p. 93-103; K. Ciggaar, 2005, p. 127-138; M. Meuwese, 2005, p. 139-148.

4 Cited from M. Immerzeel, 2005, p. 18.

5 Ibid., p. 18; see also R. Röhricht, 1901, p. 129-135.

6 English translations of the texts are presented for the first time in the article.

7 For example, three manuscripts from the Matenadaran: Miscellany of the 17th century (M697), Miscellany of 1724 (M711), Miscellany of 1697 (M740) and Proskynetarion of the 18th century (A-112) kept in IOM RAS in St. Petersburg; for more details, see O. Yeganyan, 2007, p. 378, 426, 569 and K.N. Yuzbashian, 2005, p. 113, no. 225.

8 M. Aghawnuni, 1929, p. 133 and 137.

9 See N. Pogharian, 1966-1967, vol. 1, p. 53-58, 557-559, and vol. 2, p. 152-153.

10 The illustrations presented in this article (figures 1-10) are published for the first time with the permission of Fr. Poghos Gotschanian (the Abbot of the Mekhitarist Congregation in Vienna), to whom I express my own profound gratitude.

11 Compare this pictorial cycle with data from O.F.A. Meinardus, 2005, p. 35-51.

12 Cited from Z. Skalova, 2005, p. 93-103.

13 Cited from M. Meuwese, 2005, p. 139-148.

14 The compositions representing the Holy Sepulchre and St. George of Kozyba in the mentioned Greek manuscripts are published in the book by Sotiris Kadas; see S.N. Kadas, 1998, plates 3b and 23b.

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Table des illustrations

Légende Figure 1: Holy Nativity in Bethlehem. W757, f. 3vPhotograph by Mikayel Arakelyan
URL http://journals.openedition.org/eac/docannexe/image/1231/img-1.jpg
Fichier image/jpeg, 332k
Légende Figure 2 Cathedral of the Resurrection in Jerusalem. W757, f. 17vPhotograph by Mikayel Arakelyan
URL http://journals.openedition.org/eac/docannexe/image/1231/img-2.jpg
Fichier image/jpeg, 360k
Légende Figure 3 The Scheme of the Cathedral of the Resurrection: the Rotunda, the Bell-tower, the Holy Sepulchre, the Upper Room, the Chapel of the Holy Mother of God. W757, f. 19rPhotograph by Mikayel Arakelyan
URL http://journals.openedition.org/eac/docannexe/image/1231/img-3.jpg
Fichier image/jpeg, 328k
Légende Figure 4 Church of St. Gregory the Illuminator and Chapel of the Invention of the True Cross. W757, f. 20rPhotograph by Mikayel Arakelyan
URL http://journals.openedition.org/eac/docannexe/image/1231/img-4.jpg
Fichier image/jpeg, 348k
Légende Figure 5 Tomb of Rachel. W757, f. 5rPhotograph by Mikayel Arakelyan
URL http://journals.openedition.org/eac/docannexe/image/1231/img-5.jpg
Fichier image/jpeg, 304k
Légende Figure 6 Tomb of Patriarchs (Haram el-Khalil) in Hebron. W757, f. 6rPhotograph by Mikayel Arakelyan
URL http://journals.openedition.org/eac/docannexe/image/1231/img-6.jpg
Fichier image/jpeg, 408k
Légende Figure 7 The Complex of Churches, Synagogues and Mosques on Mount Sion. W757, f. 11vPhotograph by Mikayel Arakelyan
URL http://journals.openedition.org/eac/docannexe/image/1231/img-7.jpg
Fichier image/jpeg, 420k
Légende Figure 8 Monastery of St. George of Kozyba. W757, f. 7rPhotograph by Mikayel Arakelyan
URL http://journals.openedition.org/eac/docannexe/image/1231/img-8.jpg
Fichier image/jpeg, 404k
Légende Figure 9 Cathedral of St. James, Monastery of the Holy Archangels. W757, f. 12vPhotograph by Mikayel Arakelyan
URL http://journals.openedition.org/eac/docannexe/image/1231/img-9.jpg
Fichier image/jpeg, 404k
Légende Figure 10 Church of the Assumption of the Holy Mother of God. W757, f. 10rPhotograph by Mikayel Arakelyan
URL http://journals.openedition.org/eac/docannexe/image/1231/img-10.jpg
Fichier image/jpeg, 406k
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Pour citer cet article

Référence papier

Mikayel Arakelyan, « An Illuminated Armenian Manuscript “Guidebook” to the Sacred Shrines in the Holy Land from the End of the Seventeenth Century »Études arméniennes contemporaines, 9 | 2017, 217-237.

Référence électronique

Mikayel Arakelyan, « An Illuminated Armenian Manuscript “Guidebook” to the Sacred Shrines in the Holy Land from the End of the Seventeenth Century »Études arméniennes contemporaines [En ligne], 9 | 2017, mis en ligne le 30 octobre 2017, consulté le 24 mars 2025. URL : http://journals.openedition.org/eac/1231 ; DOI : https://doi.org/10.4000/eac.1231

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Auteur

Mikayel Arakelyan

The Four Rivers Fund of Oriental Christian Studies Development, Moscow

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Le texte et les autres éléments (illustrations, fichiers annexes importés), sont « Tous droits réservés », sauf mention contraire.

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