King of Kings Tigran the Great and the Armenian Empire as Valuated by Modern Arab Historiography E-Book

Nikolay Hovhannosyan

• Herausgeber: Edit Print
• Kategorie: Sachliteratur, Reportagen, Biografien
• Sprache: Englisch
• Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2019

Beschreibung

To date, Tigran the Great’s life and activity (95-55 BC) were elucidated in world historiography mainly based on the Greek and Roman sources of the antique period, as well as the studies of western researchers of the new and newest periods. Arab sources, among others, remained out of scholars’ vision.
The present work is the first attempt to elucidate, based on the most recent studies of the Arab scholars, the activity of Armenia’s King of Kings Tigran the Great, and the role of the founded by him Armenian Empire, which core constituted the Arab countries. Based on methodology of systematization and analysis, the opinions and conceptual views of today's Arab historians, international relations experts, legal scholars and geographers, as well as their evaluation of the problem in question have been put into scientific circulation for the first time. This will contribute to conducting a deeper investigation and forming a clearer notion of the unique and important role of Tigran the Great in the highly complicated historical period as the years of his reign were.
Besides, the studies of the modern Arab authors are yet another evidence of the big interest, shown by foreign scholars in Tigran II and the Armenian Empire.

Leseprobe

Table of Contents

I. INTRODUCTION

CAUSES OF THE SCIENTIFIC INTEREST IN TIGRAN THE GREAT’S PERSONALITY AND POLITICAL ACTIVITY

II. MOTIVATIONS OF MODERN ARAB HISTORIOGRAPHY FOR ADDRESSING TIGRAN THE GREAT AND HIS ERA

III. TIGRAN THE GREAT'S ERA AS A LANDMARK FOR PERIODIZATION OF THE ANTIQUE PERIOD OF ARMENIAN HISTORY BY ARAB HISTORIANS

IV. ARAB CONCEPT OF THE WAYS AND HISTORICAL NECESSITY OF TRANSFORMATION OF THE ARMENIAN KINGDOM INTO ARMENIAN EMPIRE

V. MODERN ARAB HISTORIOGRAPY ON THE TITLES OF TIGRAN II AND THE ARMENIAN KINGDOM

VI. THE FALL OF THE ARMENIAN EMPIRE AND ARMENIA'S RETURN INTO ITS NATURAL BORDERS

I. ВСТУПЛЕНИЕ

ПОБУДИТЕЛЬНЫЕ ПРИЧИНЫ НАУЧНОГО ИНТЕРЕСА К ПЕРСОНЕ И ДЕЯТЕЛЬНОСТИ ТИГРАНА ВЕЛИКОГО

II. МОТИВАЦИЯ ИНТЕРЕСА СОВРЕМЕННОЙ АРАБСКОЙ ИСТОРИОГРАФИИ К ТИГРАНУ ВЕЛИКОМУ И ЕГО ЭПОХЕ

III. ЭПОХА ТИГРАНА ВЕЛИКОГО КАК ВЕХА ДЛЯ АРАБСКИХ ИСТОРИКОВ В ВОПРОСЕ ПЕРИОДИЗАЦИИ АНТИЧНОЙ ИСТОРИИ АРМЕНИИ

IV. АРАБСКАЯ КОНЦЕПЦИЯ О ПУТЯХ И НЕОБХОДИМОСТИ ПРЕВРАЩЕНИЯ ТИГРАНОМ ВЕЛИКИМ АРМЯНСКОГO ЦАРСТВА В АРМЯНСКУЮ ИМПЕРИЮ

V. О ТИТУЛАХ ТИГРАНА ВТОРОГО И АРМЯНСКОГО ЦАРСТВА

VI. ПАДЕНИЕ АРМЯНСКОЙ ИМПЕРИИ И ВОЗВРАШЕНИЕ АРМЕНИИ К СВОИМ ЕСТЕСТВЕННЫМ ГРАНИЦАМ

NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF ARMENIA

INSTITUTE OF ORIENTAL STUDIES

NIKOLAY HOVHANNOSYAN

KING OF KINGS TIGRAN THE GREAT AND THE ARMENIAN EMPIRE

AS EVALUATED BY

MODERN ARAB HISTORIOGRAPHY

Published by the decision of the Scientific Council of the Institute of Oriental Studies

Armenia National Academy of Sciences

EDITOR

Armen MELKONYAN

Ph.D. (History)

To date, Tigran the Great’s life and activity (95-55 BC) were elucidated in world historiography mainly based on the Greek and Roman sources of the antique period, as well as the studies of western researchers of the new and newest periods. Arab sources, among others, remained out of scholars’ vision.

The present work is the first attempt to elucidate, based on the most recent studies of the Arab scholars, the activity of Armenia’s King of Kings Tigran the Great, and the role of the founded by him Armenian Empire, which core constituted the Arab countries. Based on methodology of systematization and analysis, the opinions and conceptual views of today's Arab historians, international relations experts, legal scholars and geographers, as well as their evaluation of the problem in question have been put into scientific circulation for the first time. This will contribute to conducting a deeper investigation and forming a clearer notion of the unique and important role of Tigran the Great in the highly complicated historical period as the years of his reign were.

Besides, the studies of the modern Arab authors are yet another evidence of the big interest, shown by foreign scholars in Tigran II and the Armenian Empire.

I. INTRODUCTION

CAUSES OF THE SCIENTIFIC INTEREST IN TIGRAN THE GREAT’S PERSONALITY AND POLITICAL ACTIVITY

Tigran II, the fourth king of the established in Armenia in 189 BC Artaxiad dynasty, went down in history as Armenia's King of Kings. His role in the centuries-old history of Armenia is exceptional. With his name related are the unprecedented and unparalleled abrupt reforms in the spheres of state organization, politics, armed forces, town building, architecture, culture, etc., which climax was the appearance of the first in history Armenian Empire on the world political map.

The historical role of Tigran the Great is not confined within the Armenian borders, but goes over and beyond,embracing an entire geopolitical region, then known as Front Asia.

The phenomenon of Tigran the Great acquired aworldwide historical significance. In Tigran the Great's days, the Armenian military-political factor broke the Romano-Parthian (Iranian) traditional supremacy and their exclusive “right” to reshape the world political map up to their own interests and will. The Armenian Empire wedged into the domain of Romano-Parthian relationships: not yielding to Rome and exceeding or, at times, even moving Parthia to the background, it occupied its due and influential place in the international relationships of the given historical period, when the term “world factor” also included the Armenian factor.

This accounts for the historiographers’ interest, enduring for almost twenty two centuries now, in the personality and political career of Armenia's King of Kings. A big number of books, monographic studies and scholarly papers in many languages have been dedicated to him. True, this interest has had its upturns and downturns, but on the whole, it remains level with that in other world renowned personalities[1]. Here, worth noting is Romano-Greek historiography, richly represented by such remarkable names as Strabo, Cicero, Plutarch, Appianus, Cassius Dio, Flavius Josephus, and others[2].