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  • The God-Borne Days Of Ani

    THE GOD-BORNE DAYS OF ANI
    By Armen Manuk-Khaloyan

    http://www.armenianweekly.com/2011/11/29/the-god-borne-days-of-ani/
    Tue, Nov 29 2011

    A Revealing Look at the Former Medieval Armenian Capital of Armenia
    at the Turn of the 20th Century

    The city of Ani occupies a special place today in the popular
    imagination of Armenians and non-Armenians alike. The celebrated
    metropolis was proclaimed the capital of the kingdom of Armenia in
    961 by the ruling Bagratuni sovereigns, who lavishly endowed it with
    countless churches, monasteries, palaces, and inns, and transformed
    it into a thriving cultural and trade center that rivaled its
    contemporaries Constantinople and Baghdad. Its status as the preeminent
    city of the region remained unchallenged even after it was captured and
    sacked by the Seljuk Turks in 1064. But in the following centurie,s
    Ani's fortunes began to fade with the Turkic-Mongol invasions and
    the interminable wars waged between the Ottoman and Safavid Empires,
    and in the 17thcentury the city was abandoned as an inhabited site.

    IMG 4336 300x225 The God Borne Days of Ani

    The Ani Cathedral

    Anyone who has visited or glanced at photos of Ani, which now lies
    tucked inside the border of Turkey opposite Armenia, knows that the
    city is a shadow of its former self. Desolated and in ruins, little
    has survived from the medieval period save for the double-line of
    walls that once enclosed the city, a few churches, a mosque, and the
    citadel. There is, likewise, little sign of human presence, with the
    exception of the few tourists and local villagers who occasionally
    visit the site. But it would be misleading to think this is a situation
    that has consistently prevailed over three centuries.

    Though life became impossible to sustain along the volatile
    Ottoman-Safavid border, Ani's prospects dramatically improved when
    the sanjak (district) of Kars, where Ani was located, was annexed
    by the Russian Empire after the conclusion of the Russo-Turkish
    war of 1877-78. Though Russian imperial rule over Eastern Armenia
    was not entirely beneficent to the Armenian subjects of the tsar,
    it did bring a measure of stability to the region. One of the most
    notable cultural developments that took place was the Russian Imperial
    Academy of Sciences' decision in 1892 to inaugurate the first of
    over a dozen archaeological expeditions to Ani, which were headed by
    Nikolai Y. Marr, a renowned Russian archaeologist and historian.

    The imposition of Russian rule provided a greater degree of security
    to the Armenian villagers and the revitalization of Armenian cultural
    life is poignantly captured by Artashes Vruyr (b. 1897) in his book
    In Ani, a semi-biographical work published in in 1964. Along with
    his father Aram Vruyr (1863-1924, ne Mak'ashchyan), a photographer
    in the employ of Marr, Artashes Vruyr, who later pursued a career
    in acting in Soviet Armenia, visited Ani on a regular basis and
    observed not only the excavations but also a city that had once been
    pronounced dead suddenly coming back to life. His account of his
    childhood years in the former medieval capital is a rich compendium
    of personal stories and encounters with towering figures of Armenian
    society. It is blended with humor as well as mourning, as the author
    laments on the expulsion of the local Armenian population and the
    new destruction that was wrought against the fabled city after it
    was taken by Turkish forces under Mustafa Kemal in 1920.

    IMG 4312 225x300 The God Borne Days of Ani

    Ruins of Ani.

    What follows then is a translated excerpt from Vruyr's memoirs on Ani
    during what he calls the "God-borne days" (Astvatsatsnats orer). In
    the space of just a few paragraphs Vruyr provides a sweeping look of
    Ani's rebirth and all the hopes and expectations that the Armenians
    projected upon the "city of a thousand and one churches." Although
    his language is, at times, repetitive, his attention to detail is
    remarkable. It is hoped that his description of Ani will not only
    allow readers today to reimagine the city and its people at the turn
    of the 20th century, but hearten them to seek out and reclaim other
    little known stories from the pages of Armenian history.

    ***

    In the God-borne days, Ani's quiet was disturbed: the ruined
    city received breath and spirit and was infused with a sense of
    liveliness1. You could say that the dead city was reawakening.

    Peasants from distant and neighboring villages rushed to Ani. Even
    pilgrims from Alexandropol visited2. They would arrive in carriages,
    carts, on horses or on foot, fulfilling the word of their holy vow
    at Ani's Cathedral of the Holy Virgin3. Some also came to celebrate
    and pass the time.

    Shops were opened near the northern fortifications of the city,
    where all kinds of fruits and drinks were offered. The zurnas blared
    under the rhythmic beating of the drums while the Armenian shurjpar4
    dancers formed a perfect circle in front of the sturdy monuments
    of the historical city. And so there, on the square near the Mother
    Cathedral, brides and girls, garbed in attire of varying hues, danced
    the shurjpar together with the youth, the boys and girls singing one
    after the other. There was excitement and joy everywhere one looked.

    And the blast of that music and songs and the exuberant sounds
    and noises pierced the eternal recesses of the ancient's city's
    half-ruined temples, its striking palaces, stout walls, valleys and
    caves and cliffs, creating a wonderfully charming and elegant harmony.

    In front of the Mother Cathedral, the pilgrims sacrificed lamb and
    sheep so that their longings and supplications would be received
    kindly. The bonfires crackled and the cauldrons sizzled-the aroma of
    the offerings to God permeated all around. Here and there, groups of
    men and women and young girls roamed the revered city's ruins. They
    wandered past the magnificent monuments of their ancestors one more
    time, past the remains of these miraculous works. And there, sitting
    atop a tower, was someone who was wailing and weeping, and at the
    same time singing:

    Ani k'aghak'e nste kula,

    Chka usogh mi lar-mi lar.

    Ay hay tgha khghtcha indzi,

    Tes, t'e k'o Anin inchpes e...


    (The city of Ani sits down, weeping

    There's no one to say, Don't cry, don't cry.

    Oh, Armenian lad, pity me,

    See in what state is your Ani...)5

    Some listened intently to the singer, their hearts drowned in grief
    and sorrow... Some, with bitter tears rolling down from their eyes,
    passionately kissed the polished stones and inscriptions, mourning the
    demise of the structures their ancestors had built. It did not escape
    the attention of the more astute observer the grey-haired elder, far
    from the crowds, praying while kneeling at the front of the great and
    holy stone of this or that ruined temple; nor the anguished mother,
    her pleading eyes directed toward the firmament above, imploring for
    mercy and penance.

    During those days, the Marr6 archaeological museum was filled to the
    brink with curious visitors. Captivated, they observed the various
    excavated artifacts that had been delicately placed behind a glass
    display. Behold the metal water pipes that were discovered when the
    palace bath at the citadel was excavated. There were colorful dishes
    and metal bracelets, pottery and bronze jugs, great jars, arrows,
    coins, the small bronze chandelier that was found at the circular
    Gagkashen Church7, silver vessels, and many, many other objects. A
    little girl's dress, which was discovered near the ancestral tomb of
    Tigran Honents'8 in the cave network below Ani, was seen on display:
    the fine fiber, the beautifully and elegantly woven thread of the bib,
    the belt of the virgin. And standing under the decorated columns of the
    hall was the statue of the great peace-loving philosopher King Gagik
    I, which had been sculpted out of tufa stone. The visitors observed
    the great sovereign with fear. Unpleasant sighs originated from the
    hearts of some; some looked at the sculpture with admiration; with
    bitter hearts, some paused for a moment as they plumbed the depths of
    history, imagining the glorious past of their forbears while recalling
    the present.

    And then, at approximately 11 o'clock, the great bell of Ani's Holy
    Virgin Cathedral began to toll, striking in heavy but even intervals.

    Its pealing reverberated across the city, inviting the faithful to
    participate in the Holy Liturgy and prayer.

    On that day, priests and sarkavags9 from the neighboring villages
    arrived at Ani. The religious ceremony began. The people had filled
    the church to the brim. They had brought the warm yearnings and
    beautiful desires that had accumulated in their hearts so that
    supplications and entreaties may be heard. Some were clinging
    onto the dress of the compassionate Holy Virgin, appealing to her
    assistance and for the soothing of their sorrows, their torments,
    their pains. Many had come with their sinful souls, seeking mercy
    and absolution. Everyone-everyone-with honest hearts and great faith
    had fallen to their knees in fear and were praying in the cherished
    temple of the Holy Virgin, under the light of hundreds of candles
    and burning censers. The liturgy concluded. The entire mass of the
    spiritual procession, with their crosses, banners10, and censers, filed
    out of the temple. Under the chanting of sharakans11 the procession
    solemnly circled the great temple. It paused for a brief moment in
    front of the inscription that Queen Katranide had commissioned on
    the south facade of the Mother Cathedral and move eastward.

    There, not far from the ancient eastern wall of the temple of the Holy
    Virgin, the remains of the pious Queen Katranide, the consort of the
    powerful King Gagik, lay in repose. A chapel stood over her tomb,
    which is now in ruins. The procession stopped at the foot of those
    ruins and the spiritual leaders delivered the Requiem Mass. Numerous
    candles were lit and incense was burned on the exquisite, polished
    rocks of those ruins, their scent carried off in four directions.

    Everywhere, hearts were moved, tears slid down from the eyes, and
    fervent prayers were heard from murmuring lips in memory of the
    pious queen...

    And the images of these heartrending scenes pressed against my soul
    with an inexplicable, heavy force...a perpetual grave, covered by
    a pile of stones and by the ruins of the chapel-mausoleum... Just a
    single line from the pages of history... And thousands upon thousands
    of souls were bending down on their knees in front of the tomb of
    the Armenian queen...

    I Katranideh, Queen of the Armenians, daughter of Vasak, King of
    Siunik, entrusted myself to the mercy of God and, by order of my
    husband Gagik shahanshah, built this holy cathedral, which the great
    Smbat had founded...12

    Endnotes

    1. Artashes A. Vruyr, Anium (Yerevan: Haypethrat, 1964), pp. 41-44.

    For the sake of continuity, some of the shorter paragraphs have been
    integrated to form a single paragraph. I have tried in the translation
    to remain as faithful to the original text as possible.

    2. Soviet Leninakan, modern-day Gyumri.

    3. The construction of the Mayr Kat'oghike, or Mother Cathedral Church
    (named the Holy Virgin by some commentators), began in 989, in the
    last year of the reign of King Smbat II. Queen Katranide, the wife
    of Smbat's brother and successor Gagik I, saw the completion of the
    cathedral in 1001.

    4. Traditional Armenian circle dance.

    5. These are the opening lines from a lament titled "Ani k'aghak'
    nster kula," dedicated to the ruined city. Composed by Vardapet
    Alexander Araratian in the 19th century, it gained popularity among
    all classes of Armenians. The version found here differs slightly from
    the one recorded by the historian Ghevond Alishan in the 1880's. For
    a brief discussion, see T'adevos Kh. Hakobyan, Anii patmutiun (The
    history of Ani), vol. 2 (Yerevan: Yerevan State University Press,
    1982), pp. 389-90.

    6. The "Marr museum" refers to Ani's mosque of Manuche, which was
    located near the Wall of Ashot III in the southern section of the city
    and converted into a makeshift storehouse by the archaeological team.

    7. The Gagkashen, or Church of St. Gregory, was completed in about
    the year 1000, probably by the hand of the architect Trdat, during
    Gagik I's reign. It was built on the model of the 7th-century church
    of Zvart'nots', although its overall design and construction differed
    somewhat. Within 10 years after its completion, however, emergency
    repairs were made to the Church of St. Gregory because it was on the
    verge of collapse. Whether this was due to it being built on unstable
    ground or the unwieldy design structure is uncertain, and by the time
    of the Seljuk capture of Ani it had completely collapsed.

    8. Tigran Honents' was a wealthy merchant from Ani. In 1215, he
    completed the construction of the church (dedicated to Saint Gregory
    the Illuminator) in Ani that still bears his name.

    9. Deacons.

    10. The khachvar, alternatively translated as the gonfalon or khorugv
    (used by the Eastern Orthodox Church), was a processional banner that
    was brought out during religious ceremonies.

    11. Hymns.

    12. This is part of the opening lines of the dedicatory inscription
    found on the south wall of the Mother Cathedral. The translation
    is taken from Paolo Cuneo et al., Ani, Documenti di architettura
    armena/Documents of Armenian Architecture 12 (Milan: Edizioni Ares,
    1984), p. 75.

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