01 The Archival Chamber of Echmiadzin part 1

A lecture given by Prof. George Bournoutian on February 11, 2009, at the National Association for Armenian Studies center in Belmont, MA.

Siméon of Erevan was Catholicos of the Armenian Church from 1763 to 1780. He reorganized the Holy See of Echmiadzin, restored its spiritual authority, increased its wealth and political influence, and in 1771 established the first printing press at Echmiadzin, the first ever in Armenia.
After assuming the leadership of the Church, Siméon gathered all the documents and manuscripts which were in the Echmiadzin archives and, after examining them, wrote Jambr, Siméons term for archival chamber. Prof. George Bournoutian has just published the first English translation, with extensive annotations, of this important work, it as part of Mazdas Armenian Studies Series.

Jambr begins with the history and apostolic origins of the Armenian Church and the construction of the Holy See of Echmiadzin. It describes the move of the Holy See from its original site to other locations, because of invasions and other uncertainties, and its final return from Cilicia to Echmiadzin in 1441. This enormous work (some 500 pages in Bournoutians edition) provides a wealth of other information that might otherwise have been lost and is one of the most important primary sources on the history of the Armenian Church, as well as the history of Armenia under Muslim rule.

George Bournoutian is the author or translator of numerous other books, including A Concise History of the Armenian People, Two Chronicles on the History of Karabagh, The Travel Accounts of Simeon of Poland, and Tigran II and Rome.

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