Rewriting Caucasian History: The Medieval Armenian Adaptation of the Georgian Chronicles: The Original Georgian Texts and the Armenian Adaptation (Oxford Oriental Monographs) - Hardcover

Thomson, Robert W.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0198263732 ISBN 13: 9780198263739

Publisher: Clarendon Press, 1996

Synopsis

This is the first modern, annotated translation of the Christian chronicles of Georgia, adapted by the Armenians in the thirteenth century. An important source for writers on Armenia after 1200, the chronicles deal with the history of Georgia from its mythical origins to the time of their composition--and are of particular interest to the historian for the way that they were then altered in a pro-Armenian manner.

About this title

From the Back Cover:

After the invention of a national script c. AD 400, Armenians rapidly developed their own literary forms, drawing on foreign texts as well as their own traditions. Historical writing is the most original genre in classical and medieval Armenian literature. The collection known as the Georgian Chronicles ('Life of Georgia' in Georgian) was finally codified in the eighteenth century. It includes the most famous of the chronicles, though these form only a small part of Georgian historical writing. The thirteenth-century Armenian version is in fact the earliest attestation of this growing corpus of texts, pre-dating all extant Georgian manuscripts of it. This book presents the two texts, Georgian and Armenian, in English translation for the first time. The Introduction and Commentary draw attention to the ways in which the unknown Armenian translator changed his original material in a pro-Armenian fashion. His rendering became the standard source for early Georgian history used by later Armenian historians. The book includes a useful overview of the background to the chronicles, the history and culture of christian Georgia and Armenia, and their respective literatures.

About the Author:

Robert W. Thomson is Calouste Gulbenkian Professor of Armenian Studies in the University of Oxford.

About this edition

• Publisher: Clarendon Press
• Publication date: 1996
• ISBN 10: 0198263732
• ISBN 13: 9780198263739
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 464