Overview

The Life of Mashtots' is mostly praise for the inventor of the Armenian alphabet--the only inventor of an ancient alphabet known by name--and progenitor of Armenian literacy that began with the translation of the Bible. Written three years after his death, by an early disciple named Koriwn, it narrates the master's endeavors in search for letters, the establishment of schools, and the ensuing literary activity that yielded countless translations of religious texts known in the Early Church of the East. As an encomium from Late Antiquity, The Life of Mashtots' exhibits all the literary features of the genre to which it belongs, delineated through rhetorical analysis by Abraham Terian, who comments on the entire document almost phrase by phrase. Translated from the latest Armenian edition of the text (2003), this edition of The Life of Mashtots' includes a facing English translation and commentary. The extraordinary narrative parades historical characters including the Patriarch of the Armenian Church, Catholicos Sahak (d. 439), the Arsacid King of Armenia, Vramshapuh (r. 401-417), and the Roman Emperor of the East, Theodosius II (r. 408-450). Koriwn is an eminently inspiring rhetorical writer and one of the first four authors known to write in the newly invented script. The marked influence of The Life of Mashtots' is discernible in subsequent Armenian writings of the fifth century, dubbed 'The Golden Era'.

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9780192847416

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Abraham Terian is Professor Emeritus of Armenian Theology and Patristics at St. Nersess Armenian Seminary, New York, where he also served as Academic Dean for ten years. Earlier he was Professor of Intertestamental and Early Christian Literatures at Andrews University for twenty years. More recently, he was Robert F. and Margaret S. Goheen Fellow in Classical Philosophy at the National Humanities Center, where this work was completed. Recipient of the Fulbright Distinguished Chair in the Humanities award and academician of the National Academy of Sciences of Armenia and of the Ambrosian Academy of Milan, he has extensive publications in Hellenistic, early Christian, and medieval studies.

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