Historical and philological journal
PUBLISHED SINCE 1958

ԼՈՒՅՍ Է ՏԵՍՆՈՒՄ 1958 ԹՎԱԿԱՆԻՑ
Историко-филологический журнал
ИЗДАЕТСЯ С 1958 ГОДА
  • Arsen Bobokhian - Gods, Heroes and Saints: Armenian mountains as spheres of sacred burials
    16 Pages | 166-182 | DOI: Doi:10.54503/0135-0536-2023.1-166 |

    Published in: 2023 N 1 (222) / Ethnography

    In imaginations of many peoples the high mountains appear as the main habitat and field of action of gods, heroes and saints, who not only act in those landscapes, but are also buried (= reborn) there. The omnipresent category for the Armenian mountains is the vishap (= Arm. for dragon). This is visible both in corresponding archaeological and ethnological materials. According to them, the vishap appears both as deity, and as hero (= giant) and saint. Moreover, these functions are either intermingled or contradicted to each other.
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  • Karen Bayramyan - Ashkharbek Kalantar’s activities for preservation of monuments (1930s)
    12 Pages | 183-195 | DOI: Doi:10.54503/0135-0536-2023.1-183 |

    Published in: 2023 N 1 (222) / Ethnography

    From a political, economic and cultural point of view, the 1930s were a turning point in the history of the Soviet Armenia: socialist construction marked an unprecedented rise, which caused new problems in the preservation of ancient monuments and architectural constructions of cultural value. The soviet authorities showed emphasized intolerance, first, to the spiritual institutions; many churches of cultural value were demolished or turned into collective farm warehouses, hayfields, etc.
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  • Tamar Hayrapetyan - Food culture in Armenian oral tradition (daily, feast and ritual, and mythological levels)
    24 Pages | 216-240 | DOI: Doi:10.54503/0135-0536-2022.2-216 |

    Published in: 2022 N 2 (220) / Ethnography

    The food system is one of life essentials, where the key features of popular worldview and lifestyle of people are relatively evident. Traditional cultural manifestations of having or refusing meals are interrelated with life style of an individual, with a subsequent procedure, type of food, rules of conduct typical of festive meal. These rules are of universal nature and are represented in folklore (sometimes implicitely hidden), and often appear in mythological plots.
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  • Hasmik Abrahamyan - “Atsik” food in the Armenian festive and ritual system (According to the materials recorded in Syunik)
    15 Pages | 241-256 | DOI: Doi:10.54503/0135-0536-2022.2-241 |

    Published in: 2022 N 2 (220) / Ethnography

    Food is an essential part of the culture of the national feasts. In this context, it is a sacrifice (cereals, meat, dairy products), the purpose of which is to express gratitude for a high harvest and protection from natural disasters (drought, rain, etc.). Atsik (malt) in the scientific literature is mentioned as food symbolizing the arrival of spring and is prepared during Lent or on the eve of Easter.
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  • Suren Hobosyan - The folk storyteller Hobos from Lori (Period and environment of his activity and morals)
    11 Pages | 182-193 | DOI: DOI:10.54503/0135-0536-2022.3-182 |

    Published in: 2022 N 3 (221) / Ethnography

    Lori is the homeland of the fabulist Hobos (abbreviated name for Hovhannes); the villages of Shnogh, Chochkan and Hobardzi are associated with his name. In 1903 in Tbilisi, ethnographer Yervand Lalayan published part of Hobos' fables, writing in the preface that he moved to Shnogh from Chochkan village. In one of the cemeteries of Shnogh, the tombstone of Hobos is preserved, on the eastern edge of which is written: “This is grave of Hobos”, the year of death - 1874.
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  • Ani Saratikyan - Some observations on medicinal plants and their references in written sources (According to Syunik ethnographic materials)
    8 Pages | 194-202 | DOI: Doi:10.54503/0135-0536-2022.3-194 |

    Published in: 2022 N 3 (221) / Ethnography

    Ethnobotanical studies carried out in the Syunik region provide valuable information on species of medicinal plants, purposes and methods of their use, as well as folk traditions in the field of exploitation of natural resources. There are also data on some of the currently used medicinal plants (mint, everlasting, nettle, wild garlic, caraway, plantain, bryony, etc.) in medieval works, where options and methods of treating various diseases with these medicinal plants are discussed and interpreted.
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  • Astghik Israelian - Sacred trees in Armenian folk beliefs
    24 Pages | 170-194 | DOI: Doi:10.54503/0135-0536-2025.1-170 |

    Published in: 2025 N 1 (228) / Ethnography

    Sacred trees had different meanings and therefore different purposes. It was important not only to preserve them in reality but also to ensure their existence and growth by supernatural means. Trees were thought to have magical properties: people made pilgrimages, offered sacrifices, made offerings, prayed for healing, for having descendants, and begged for help and protection from harmful natural phenomena, and so on, through various rituals. Supernatural power was attributed to the objects made of wood of sacred trees and even to the pieces of those trees, which protected people from all evil and brought success acting as amulets.
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