Periodic Reporting for period 2 - ArmEn (Armenia Entangled: Connectivity and Cultural Encounters in Medieval Eurasia)
Reporting period: 2022-04-01 to 2023-09-30
The project ArmEn seeks to position the Armenian plateau and the area around, stretching south of the Caucasus, east of Anatolia and north of Mesopotamia (CAM) as a a space of cultural entanglements and a vital node for understanding the history of medieval Eurasia. Between the 9th and 14th centuries the CAM region was inhabited by a great variety of ethno-linguistic and religious groups, rarely under one centralized, hegemonic cultural, political or religious control. We aim to test the hypothesis whether such polycentrism and concentration of diversity, at times under extreme political instability, enhanced or, on the contrary, prevented cross-pollination and boundary-crossing. Was there inter-communal violence and how was it contained? Can we trace the formation of multiple identities and shared social and religious practices? Or was there a strong crystallization of differences and imposition of homogenous identities? We answer these question by looking at 1). medieval texts: especially those that have been little studied, such as apocalyptic tales, sermons, hagiographies, monastic or waqf documents, and folkloric narratives; and 2). Material culture: artistic and architectural representations, finds from archaeological excavations, and numismatics.
The experience of living in complex and multi-cultural societies, the anxieties created by the so-called Globalization and a search for answers within ‘local’ contexts has accelerated in unprecedented ways in the last few decades. Members of host societies and migrant groups are often engaged in the challenging task of accepting each other, questioning long-held assumptions, and rethinking their identities. Violence is anything but unknown, as are different means of containing it. These experiences have always characterized human history, albeit with varying degrees of intensity and speed. Studying the history of such phenomena in the past is vital for contextualizing current concerns and opportunities. Doing so we gain new perspective on the interaction of human population groups in different contexts. ArmEn project seeks to advance our knowledge in these domains, that are felt to be vital to contemporary sensitivities, identities, and insecurities, by focusing on one specific region and placing it against a Eurasian continental background. A tension between the evidence of close interactions and entanglements on the one hand, and a concomitant tendency to draw group boundaries in a pre-modern context reverberates in many of our post-modern societies. Thus, the results of research carried out in the ArmEn project are sure to raise important questions of contemporary relevance and perhaps provide some answers to dilemmas we face today.
The experience of living in complex and multi-cultural societies, the anxieties created by the so-called Globalization and a search for answers within ‘local’ contexts has accelerated in unprecedented ways in the last few decades. Members of host societies and migrant groups are often engaged in the challenging task of accepting each other, questioning long-held assumptions, and rethinking their identities. Violence is anything but unknown, as are different means of containing it. These experiences have always characterized human history, albeit with varying degrees of intensity and speed. Studying the history of such phenomena in the past is vital for contextualizing current concerns and opportunities. Doing so we gain new perspective on the interaction of human population groups in different contexts. ArmEn project seeks to advance our knowledge in these domains, that are felt to be vital to contemporary sensitivities, identities, and insecurities, by focusing on one specific region and placing it against a Eurasian continental background. A tension between the evidence of close interactions and entanglements on the one hand, and a concomitant tendency to draw group boundaries in a pre-modern context reverberates in many of our post-modern societies. Thus, the results of research carried out in the ArmEn project are sure to raise important questions of contemporary relevance and perhaps provide some answers to dilemmas we face today.
Several lines of enquiry have been launched. Research into Armenian manuscripts has allowed team members to discover new texts, of which two translated from Arabic are noteworthy. One is an inter-religious disputation and another one is a manual of dream interpretation. These are being edited and analyzed jointly by ArmEn researchers. Collaboration between team members, has bridged knowledge and source evidence from different languages and disciplines, allowing us to identify cultural brokers, their mobility, and the locations of entanglements in CAM. A detailed palaeographical study of translations from Latin into Armenian, as well as marginal notes in manuscripts have given us a glimpse into a hidden world of conflict and accommodation between Latin missionaries in Armenian clerics. Studying élite women and their pious practices, we have trace their role in shaping politics. This was possible, among others, due their independent wealth. The study of shared elements in hagiographies, apocalyptic discourses, and legal documents, has led to novel interpretations Christian-Muslim interacitons in the CAM region. The archaeological team of ArmEn has conducted two field seasons of excavations at the site of Dvin – one of the major medieval urban centers of West Asia and an important trading hub. The on-going study of the urban topography and ceramic finds are providing new documentation on Eurasian connections as articulated on this specific territory. Analysis of mixed coin hoards has added an economic dimension to the various types of entanglements documented through written sources and archaeological finds. In December 2022, the team successfully organized the First ArmEn international conference dedicated to trade and archaeology and the proceedings will be published in the coming months. All of us have been extremely active in our dissemination efforts, both to the wider public, and to specialist audiences. This has been achieved through the participation in conferences, workshops, public lectures, and interviews to news outlets, as well as the project website.
Two seasons of archaeological excavations in Dvin and the application of archaeometallurgical analysis on ceramic and glass finds have provided completely new data on a number of issues. Stratigraphic excavations have allowed, for the first time, to document and date more correctly the abandonment phases of the city. The current working hypothesis that there may have been a nomadic presence within the city walls and in a highly prestigious is an unexpected result that sheds light on the modalities of the Seljuk presence in Armenia and the interaction of sedentary vs nomadic populations in urban space. Collecting and systematizing information on construction techniques and the effort to trace different craftsmanship skills will provide material cultural evidence on entanglements regarding knowledge transfer and exchange. The archaeometric analysis, on the other hand, will document for the first time the provenance of extremely rich ceramic finds of Dvin and, coupled with the first time ever quantification of ceramic types, put into scholarly circulation new data on long-range connectivities on the Eurasian scale. The discovery of new texts translated from Arabic to Armenian, as well as the types of texts identified thus far, has challenged the accepted view that there was no production of inter-religious debates in Armenia, and thus, no intellectual curiosity towards other religious traditions present in the territory of CAM. At least two volumes will be published with these texts, including their thorough analysis. Studying the rationale and pedigree of individuals who converted between Christianity and Islam has proven to be another productive direction of research. At least three team members are in the process of exploring this aspect of cultural entanglements in CAM, especially looking into conversions due to inter-religious marriages, slave trade, and the mobility of certain military men. In all these areas we find shared practices and ideas that circulated among different ethno-linguistic and religious groups. Publications on these topics have been submitted, while others are in the making. We expect to publish three collective volumes where all team members.