Scientific Research of the Armenian Highland

In the article “Armenia on ancient maps” we’ve already shown that this region has always been called Armenia, even when it was conquered by foreigners. Meanwhile, the term Armenia and its territory were not subjected to deep physical and geographical studies, and until the 18th century, many authors relied on information received from Strabo.

Armenia According to Strabo

According to Strabo, “The southern parts of Armenia have the Taurus situated in front of them, which separates it from the whole of the country between the Euphrates and the Tigris, the country called Mesopotamia; and the eastern parts border on Greater Armenia and Atropatenê; and on the north the mountains of Parachoathras that lie above the Caspian Sea, and Albania, and Iberia, and the Caucasus, which last encircles these nations and borders on Armenia, and borders also on the Moschian and Colchian mountains as far as the Tibarani, as they are called; and on the west are these nations and the mountains Paryadres and Scydises in their extent to Lesser Armenia and the river-land of the Euphrates, which latter separates Armenia from Cappadocia and Commagenê.”

Strabo

Encyclopedia Britannica

According to many authors, including the British Encyclopedia, “Armenia is a mountainous region that occupies about 400,000 square kilometers.” Of course, the area of the Armenian state of Cilicia is not taken into account here.

The difference between the terms Armenia and the Armenian Highland

Before we start to study the Armenian Highland, we must clearly distinguish the Armenian Highland and Armenia. Do not confuse the concepts of Armenia, Armenian Highland, Historical Armenia, the Armenian World. The territory of the Armenian Highland coincides with the territory of the Greater and Lesser Armenia, which is why these two concepts are often identified. But we need to clearly distinguish between the terms Armenia and Armenian Highland. Highland is a physical geographical concept that basically coincides with the territory of Historical Armenia. The term Armenia has a political meaning and shows a specific area where the Armenian state now exists. The name Armenia is used both in a broad and in a narrower sense. In one case, saying Armenia, we mean the Republic of Armenia and Artsakh. In another case, when we talk about Armenia, we mean the historical and geographical territory where the Armenian people arose, formed and developed. The latter is more often used to describe Historical Armenia.

Geographical Studies of Armenia

Since the 18th century, the geographical studies of Armenia began with even greater interest. At the beginning of the century in the San Lazzaro island in Italy, the Mekhitarist Order founded by Mkhitar Sebastatsi begins to publish the works of outstanding geographers.

In 1751, a map of Historical Armenia was published in Venice, according to the old and new cartographers and geographers. This map can be considered a replacement for the missing map in the “Geography” of Shirakatsi.

Personal collection of Rouben Galichian

Through the efforts of S. Agonts and Gh. Inchichyan a ten-volume work “The Geography of the Four Parts of the Earth” (1802-1806) was published, which actually laid the foundation for the scientific research of the Armenian Highland.

In 1822, Gh. Inchichyan’s work “Description of Ancient Armenia” was published in Venice. Based on rich documentary materials collected from Greco-Roman and Assyrian sources, the author shows the historical and geographical picture of the Greater Armenia: a geographical description of regions and provinces, an etymology of toponyms, information about ethnography, topographic explanations of geographical names. The three-volume “Geographical Antiquities of Armenia” (1835) is the first large-scale work after the “History of Armenia” by Chamchian, in which the author tells in detail about geography, administrative division, laws, science and art, ethnography of ancient Armenia and a number of other issues.

Based on the works of Gh. Inchichyan, in 1857 in Venice the books by Manuel Kajuni “Geography of ancient and new Armenia” were published, in which there is a section about the mountains of Armenia.

In 1864 the work of Nerses Sargisean “Topography of Lesser and Greater Armenia” was published.

A classic of the geography of Armenia is Ghevont Alishan. In his work “Topography of Greater Armenia”, he described the provinces of Historical Armenia and gave them a scientific and geographical characteristic. Alishan was planning to write historical scientific works about all 15 regions of Historical Armenia which had to be placed in 20-22 volumes. The first work in the series was “Shirak” (1881). Although he had never been to Armenia, he was able to present in detail the history and geography of this area. The next works were “Sisouan” (1885), “Ayrarat” (1890), and “Sisakan” (1893)․ These are eternal masterpieces in the treasury of Armenian studies. In these works, Alishan in detail described the mountains, rivers, lakes, gorges, and settlements of the historical regions of Armenia.

Starting from the 19th century, Russian and European researchers began to show an increasing interest in Armenia. In the second half of the 19th century, H. Lynch, F. Oswald, A. Ghukasov, and, of course, german geologist H. Abich played an important role in the scientific research of the Highland. Abich spent decades in the Armenian Highland and wrote many scientific works.

Otto Wilhelm Hermann von Abich

German geologist

Full of biblical legends, Mount Masis has always attracted Christian pilgrims, travelers and natural scientists from around the world. The mountain attracted with its greatness and mysterious inaccessibility. The destructive earthquake in 1840 in Akori made the scientific world of European countries even more interested in Ararat. Many European geologists were interested in the geological processes taking place here, but the Russian Empire made the first steps in researching this region. On the advice of A. Humboldt, the engineers of the Russian Empire turned to H. Abich, who was already widely known in the scientific circles of Europe.

In 1844, with the permission of the Russian Emperor Nicholas I, Abich went to Eastern Armenia, which at that time was part of the Russian Empire. In Armenia, Abich meets the Armenian Catholicos Nerses Ashtaraketsi, who introduces him to Khachatur Abovyan. Abovyan was to become a translator for Abich and accompany him to Mount Ararat. The first few attempts were unsuccessful. The expeditionary team does not manage to climb to the top of the Greater Masis, but in the end, they achieve their goal and start their research.

Scientific activities of Abich

The scientific activities of Abich in the Armenian Highland were very productive and multifaceted, they affected all areas of geology and physical geography. It is impossible to briefly describe the achievements of the great scientist, which are one of the greatest achievements not only for the Armenian Highland but also for the geological science of the whole world.

He was one of the first scientists at the forefront of seismotectonics. His ideas about mountain building processes, earthquakes, volcanism were later studied and improved by his contemporaries and descendants.

In 1882 in Vienna, the fundamental work of the already world-famous H. Abich, “Geologie des Armenishen Hochlandes” about the general geology of the Armenian Highland, was published. Thanks to his work, the world scientific community first learned about this huge physical and geographical unit.

Although during the studies of Abich Armenia was not an independent country, the Armenians were the predominant ethnic element in the region, the culture was Armenian, the territory did not have clear borders, but it was called Armenia. H. Abich was the first to single out the highland as a separate physical and geographical unit, which is a “mountain island” surrounded by fragmented mountains. And it was logical that Abiсh should have called the highland “Armenian Highland”. Please note that the terms Armenian Highland and Armenia are different from each other. Currently, Armenia makes up about 10% of the Armenian Highland. The rest of it is located in Turkey, Georgia, Iran, and Azerbaijan.

The term Armenian Highland as an independent unit

Thanks to Abich, the term Armenian Highland entered the wide scientific community as an independent unit and was adopted by world-famous scientists, geographers, and travelers of the 19-20 centuries, such as E. Suess, H. Lynch, F. Oswald, A. Voeykov, F. Levinson-Lessing, A. Leister, A. Reinhardten and others. Today, this term is used in all encyclopedias and geographical directories of the world.

– To understand Asia, we need to get to know Armenia better

 

Henry Finnis Blosse Lynch

(April 18, 1862 – November 24, 1913)

United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland

Famous geographer, traveler, public and political figure, member of the Royal Geographical Society, member of the British Parliament from 1906 to 1910.

Lynch visited Armenia twice, from August 1893 to March 1894 and from May to September 1898. Based on the materials collected during his travels, he wrote a work that gained wide popularity – “Armenia: Traveling and Research” (1901). It consisted of two volumes: “Russian Armenia” and “Turkish Armenia”. This work contains valuable information about the history, geography, demography, and folklore of Armenia.

The big map of Armenia, which he created together with geologist and cartologist F. Oswald, has a great value.

Of many maps of Armenian Highland Lynch’s map is remarkable.

Felix Oswald

An English geologist, diplomat, Honorary Professor of the University of Nottingham Felix Oswald also took part in the Armenian scientific expedition of Lynch, in 1898. He studied the geological structure of the Armenian Highland in the section of Trabzon-Erzurum-Van. He published a geological schematic map of the Highland (1907). The results of the research of the Armenian Highland were first presented in the monumental work of Oswald – “A Treatise on the Geology of Armenia” (1906). Oswald’s detailed comments on the volcanic mountain ranges of Sipan and Nemrut are especially valuable.

Oswald later published the work “On the History of the Tectonic Development of the Armenian Highland” in German (1910). In 1912, his monograph “Armenia” was published in English in a series of “Regional Geological Reference Books”.

In the 20th century, more and more historians and geographers began to write about the Armenian Highland. Among them: Leo, Dolens, A. Khach, A. Ghanalanyan, S. Yeremyan, T. Hakobyan, S. Melik-Bakhshyan, S. Balyan, L. Zohrabyan, A. Baghdasaryan, A. Voskanyan, H. Gabrielyan, Kh. Nazaryan, G. Shirinyan, and others.

Article by Tigran Varag

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Armenian Highland