Dr. Jesse Arlen’s Medieval Armenian Poetry Lecture Series on YouTube

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Zohrab postdoctoral fellow and director Dr. Jesse Arlen’s medieval Armenian poetry lectures, offered through the St. Nersess Armenian Seminary Fall public lecture series, are available to stream on YouTube.

Part 1 consisted of six lectures, and included material on sharagans (hymns), taghs (odes), and other genres of sacred liturgical song, biblical epic, penitential poetry, and laments over the capture of cities.

A bibliography accompanying the series is available here.

The videos are available below:

Lecture 1 – The Lay of the Land
Lecture 2: The Sharakan and the Origin of Sacred Poetry
Lecture 3 – Sacred Song at Narek Monastery: Gandz, Tagh, and Meghedi
Lecture 4 – Penitential Poetry: Narek and its Heirs
Lecture 5 – Biblical Epic: Grigor Magistros, Nersēs Shnorhali, and Aṛakʿel of Siwnik
Lecture 6 – Laments for the Fall of Cities and Other Calamities

Part 2 of this lecture series will continue as part of the St. Nersess Spring Public Lecture series.

Check their website for upcoming dates, details, and a Zoom link: https://stnersess.edu/global-classroom/live-presentations/

This Giving Tuesday Buy a Book for the Zohrab Center’s Library

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Today on “Giving Tuesday” purchase a book for the Zohrab Information Center’s research library.

The Zohrab Information Center is a research and teaching facility and cultural center that promotes the full range of Armenian studies and assists students, scholars, the Armenian community, and general public in deepening their appreciation for Armenian history, civilization, and culture, especially within their overwhelmingly Christian ambit. 

At the core of this mission stands the vast collection of Armenian printed material in our library, which is one of the best in the Western hemisphere thanks to generous support and donations.

Help us expand our holdings of recent books published in Armenian studies by buying a book (or two or three!) to add to our library. We have compiled a wish list of books on Amazon.

Ship to:
Jesse Arlen
Zohrab Information Center
630 2nd Ave
New York, NY 10016

Let us know how you would like your donation to be noted on the book and in our catalog:

option 1: “Donated by NAME”
option 2: “Donated by NAME in memory of NAME”

Note: After you purchase the book it will automatically be removed from the list, so as to avoid duplicate purchases from multiple donors.

For questions, email: zohrabcenter@armeniandiocese.org

First Volume in a New Publication Series: An Early-Eighteenth-Century Hmayil (Armenian Prayer Scroll)

On By zohrabcenterIn Digitized Books, General Interest1 Comment

The Krikor and Clara Zohrab Information Center is pleased to announce the release of the first volume in a new publication series, entitled Sources from the Armenian Christian Tradition, which provides the Krapar text and English translation of Armenian Christian sources in an attractive digital e-book format.

The inaugural volume in this series is: An Early-Eighteenth-Century Hmayil (Armenian Prayer Scroll): Introduction, Facsimile, Transcription and Annotated Translation by Matthew J. Sarkisian, edited and with a foreword by Jesse S. Arlen (New York, NY: Krikor and Clara Zohrab Information Center, 2022).

Over a year and a half in the making, this volume brings to life a fascinating artifact from the early modern period: a talismanic prayer scroll known as a hmayil, which was a popular and widespread medium in use among Armenians from the fifteenth to nineteenth centuries.

This new e-book offers the reader the opportunity to digitally “unroll” this mesmerizing prayer scroll from beginning to end, thereby discovering a rich panoply of prayers, Scriptural passages, incantations, and illuminations.

Tolle lege! Ա՛ռ ընթերցի՛ր։

Sources from the Armenian Christian Tradition

Dr. Jesse Arlen’s Zoom lecture series on Medieval Armenian Poetry Begins Tonight

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Tonight at 7:00pm ET by Zoom Zohrab Center director Dr. Jesse Arlen will deliver the first lecture in a two-semester series offered through St. Nersess Armenian Seminary’s Public Lecture Series, entitled, “An Introduction to Medieval Armenian Poetry.”

Part I of this series will consist of six lectures delivered on the following dates: Oct 20, Nov 3, Nov 10, Nov 17, Dec 1, Dec 8.

Register for the Zoom meetings here:
https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZUoc-mtqT0jEtV7-sBO9Pp1p21bqCFrJTYR

Series Description

After the invention of the Armenian alphabet in the fifth century, the early centuries of Armenian literature are dominated by prose: theological and philosophical treatises, histories, hagiographies, commentaries, and the like. Nevertheless, the premodern Armenian literary tradition also boasts a vast and dazzling array of poetic texts, which are generally less well known to scholars and novices alike. This two-semester public lecture series will introduce the medieval Armenian poetic tradition, including sharagans, odes, lyrics, laments, poetic prayers, as well as love and wisdom poetry. This vast array of material spanning over ten centuries was composed both in the classical literary idiom as well as a form of the language closer to the vernacular, known as middle Armenian. Attention will also be paid to interchange and contact with neighboring literary and poetic traditions, such as Greek, Persian, and Arabic.

Reminder: Dr. Russell’s Medzarents Lecture Tomorrow by Zoom

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Tomorrow (Wednesday) at 7:00pm ET, Harvard emeritus Prof. James R. Russell will speak on the life and work of Misak Medzarents on Zoom. Advance registration is required at the following link: https://bit.ly/3fImtlK

This talk will draw on Dr. Russell’s recent publication, Misak Medzarents: The Complete Lyric Poems (Armenian Series no. 12. The Press at California State University, Fresno, 2020), a translation and commentary of Medzarents’ complete poetic works, the first of its kind in any foreign language.

You may read a review of the book by Zohrab Center director, Dr. Jesse Arlen, at this link.

The book is available for purchase from the NAASR bookstore or Abril Books.

Dr. Russell’s Misak Medzarents Lecture Now by Zoom

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The October 19th lecture by Harvard emeritus Prof. James R. Russell on the life and work of Misak Medzarents will now take place on Zoom only. Advance registration is required at the following link: https://bit.ly/3fImtlK

This talk will draw on Dr. Russell’s recent publication, Misak Medzarents: The Complete Lyric Poems (Armenian Series no. 12. The Press at California State University, Fresno, 2020), a translation and commentary of Medzarents’ complete poetic works, the first of its kind in any foreign language.

You may read a review of the book by Zohrab Center director, Dr. Jesse Arlen, at this link.

The book is available for purchase from the NAASR bookstore or Abril Books.

Book Talk: The Poetry of Misak Medzarents by Dr. James R. Russell

On By zohrabcenterIn Zohrab Center Events1 Comment

Come to the Zohrab Center to learn from Harvard University Mashtots Professor of Armenian Studies (Emeritus), Dr. James R. Russell: he will speak about the life and work of the great Western Armenian lyric poet, Misak Medzarents. 

The lecture will take place in-person at the Zohrab Information Center on Wednesday, October 19th, 2022 at 7:00pm ET.

This talk will draw on Dr. Russell’s recent publication, Misak Medzarents: The Complete Lyric Poems (Armenian Series no. 12. The Press at California State University, Fresno, 2020), a translation and commentary of Medzarents’ complete poetic works, the first of its kind in any foreign language.

You may read a review of the book by Zohrab Center director, Dr. Jesse Arlen, at this link.

The book is available for purchase from the NAASR bookstore or Abril Books.