Movses Kaghankatvatsi Explained

Movses Kaghankatvatsi (Մովսէս Կաղանկատուացի 'Moses of Kaghankatuk'), or Movses Daskhurantsi (Մովսէս Դասխուրանցի 'Moses of Daskhuran), is the reputed author (or the alias of several authors) of a tenth-century Classical Armenian historical work on Caucasian Albania and the eastern provinces of Armenia, known as The History of the Country of Albania (Պատմութիւն Աղուանից Աշխարհի,).^{[1] [2] [3]}

Authorship

The first historian to mention Movses' work was the medieval Armenian legal scholar Mkhitar Gosh, referring to him as "Movses Daskhurantsi."^[4] A later historian, Kirakos Gandzaketsi, referred to a statement in the History itself, to attribute the name of the author as Movses Kaghankatvatsi. The statement in question (Book II, ch. 11) says:

Movses narrates the Khazar invasion of Transcaucasia and other events up to the seventh century in Book I and II of his History. Book III of his History differs from the previous ones in style of writing^[5] and date. It deals with the Caspian expeditions of the Rus' and their conquest of Partav in the tenth century.Because of such time lapse and difference in style, attribution of the work to a single author seems doubtful. For this reason it has been common to assume two consecutive authors or editors, Kaghankatvatsi (seventh century) as the author of Books I and II, and Daskhurantsi (tenth century) as the editors of Kaghankatvatsi's text and the author of Book III.^[4]

Publications and translations

Grabar (Old Armenian)

• Book: Movsēs Kaghankatuatsʻi . Patmutʻiwn Aghuanitsʻ ashkharhi . Tp. Lazarean chemarani Arewelean lezuatsʻ . 1860 . Moscow . hy:Պատմութիւն Աղուանից աշխարհի. Published by N. Emin.
• Book: Movsēs Kaghankatuatsʻi . Patmutʻiwn Aghuanitsʻ. Tp. Karapet Shahnazarean . 1860. Paris. hy:Պատմութիւն Աղուանից. 2 vols.. (Vol. 1, vol. 2.)
• Book: Movsēs Kaghankatuatsʻi . Patmutʻiwn Aghuanitsʻ ashkharhi. Tparan ōr. N. Aghanean . 1912. Tiflis. hy:Պատմութիւն Աղուանից աշխարհի. A reprint of the 1860 Moscow edition.
• Book: Movsēs Kaghankatuatsʻi . Patmutʻiwn Aghuanitsʻ ashkharhi. HSSH GA hratarakchutʻyun . 1983. Erevan. hy:Պատմութիւն Աղուանից աշխարհի. Critical text and introduction by Varag Arakelian.

Modern Armenian

• Book: Movses Kaghankatvatsʻi . Patmutʻyun Aghvanitsʻ ashkharhi . "Hayastan" hratarakchʻutʻyun . Translated by Varag Arakelian . 1969 . hy:Պատմություն Աղվանից աշխարհի.

Russian translations

• Book: Kerovbe Patkanian . Istorīia Agvan Moĭseia Kagankatvatsi, pisatelia X vieka . Tip. Imp. Akad. nauk . . 1861 . Saint Petersburg . ru:Исторія Агванъ Мойсея Каганкатваци, писателя X вѣка .
• Book: Movses Kalankatuatsi . Istoriia strany Aluank . Matenadaran. 1984. Erevan. ru:История страны Алуанк. Translated by Sh. V. Smbatian.

Georgian translation

• Book: Movses K'alank'at'uatsi . Alvanta kveq'nis ist'oria . Metsniereba . Translated by L. Davlianidze-Tatishvili . 1985 . Tbilisi. ka:ალვანთა ქვეყნის ისტორია.

English translations

• Book: The History of the Caucasian Albanians . . . 1961 . London Oriental Series, Vol. 8 . London . Movsēs Dasxuranc̣i.
• Book: The History of the Aghuans . Translated by Robert Bedrosian . 2010 . Sources of the Armenian Tradition . Long Branch, New Jersey . Movsēs Dasxuranc'i.

Notes and References

1. Book: Kushnareva , Karinė Khristoforovna . The Southern Caucasus in Prehistory. H. N. Michael (trans). Univ. of Pennsylvania. 1997. 0-924171-50-2 . The tenth century A.D. Armenian historian Movses Kalankatuatsi states that .... 196.
2. Gesellschaft, Görres. Oriens Christianus. Leipzig, Germany: O. Harrassowitz 1905, p. 274
3. Book: Howard-Johnston . East Rome, Sasanian Persia and the End of Antiquity . Ashgate Publishing, Ltd. . 2006 . 0-86078-992-6 . 49.
4. Book: Hacikyan , Agop Jack . The Heritage of Armenian Literature . registration . Wayne State University Press . 2000 . 171–172, 364 . 0-8143-3023-1.
5. Book: Hewsen , Robert H. . Notes and Communications. Bulletin of Oriental and African Studies, University of London vol. 27 . 1964. London. 151–156.