A Crash Course in Armenian History

A wonderful country which deserves better than it has received in modern times.

The reference to Aleppo reminds me of our family wedding rug made by Armenians in Aleppo, which was brought here by Grandpa when he worked there with those refugees

You wanted history but skipped Erebumi?

Thank you Seth for shedding some light! You won't find one Armenian, still to this day after a century, that isn't affected by the Genocide. Being raised, as far back as I can remember we heard stories from family members and memorized poems and songs that made us feel what are families went through and how we survived. Every single thing about me and my life has been shaped by those horrors. I hope that one day in my lifetime we can have the recognition we strive for and finally have some peace. By the way...Aleppo is where my family settled before my parents moved to New York in the 70's...the proper spelling for the restaurant should be "Halebi Jasher".

"Our Wounds Are Still Open"

One of comments says that Jews and Armenians have "similar but distinct experiences of genocide". I would like to note that Jews were mainly prosecuted for their believes. Where The Armenian church is more like a political organisation with distinctive differences from Catholic and Orthodox churches, which makes them even closer to Muslims rather Christians. Strabo said that the Armenians are small nation who seek to expand their territories at the expense of the neighbouring nations. So creation of the illusive "Great Armenia" is the main source of all your troubles, not the faith in Jesus Christ.

Can we PLEASE stop referring to the Kardashians as "one of the most prominent Armenian-American families." How about other artists, writers, doctors, authors, historian, educators who came to and live in this country? There are many many others who just do not self promote in the same way as the Kardashian publicity machine. Shame on this author. You should start with William Saroyan and Vartan Gregorian and go from there.

I, too, have recently returned from Armenia and have nothing but praise for the people and the country. We hit the main sights -- Echmiadzin (where we were received by a bishop), Gekhard (magnificent and breathtaking), Garni (reconstructed Greek temple) and lots and lots of roadside stands with homemade preserves artistically presented. My personal favorites were the apricots, white cherries, and rose petal jam. I will definitely go again, this time stopping at Sevan. The Matenadaran is closed at this time and this was very disappointing.
Sergei Paradjanov is honored in Armenia and in Tbilisi. I have also been fortunate to see a personal gift collection of Paradjanov's collages in a private home in Moscow. (Film Forum ran a retrospective about 15 years ago. Well worth repeating somewhere.)
Can not wait to go back to Armenia. European level service, great coffee, pianists playing Aznavour in every second cafe, families and couples strolling through the city well into the evening and lots and lots of public art (including two Boteros). A hidden gem.

For the few who get this far, and have not seen it, the film Ararat....."interrogated by a customs officer, a young man recounts how his life was changed during the making of a film about the Armenian genocide"

thanks for an interesting and good read!

This article should be along with "Armenians Shouldn’t Let Genocide Define Us" By Meline Toumani. It is admirable the Armenians preserved their alphabet and religion. There are positive sides in the Armenians as nation, but the Armenians should also come in terms with their negative side.

The land, claimed as the Armenias, is also disputed with Assyrians and Kurds. Armenians was not oppressed by Persians, Mongols, Arabs, their actually flourished by involving into slave trading. During the Arab conquest Armenia allied with Arabs against Georgians and Azerbaijanis (they were christians then). The deportation of 1915 was actually organised and managed by the high rank Armenian serving in the Ottoman Turkey. Most clashes at that time were between Armenians and Kurds and Arabs, and to less extent with Turks. Armenians themselves committed a lot of atrocities during WWI in East Anatolia and Caucasus. However, for some reason Armenians mostly blames Turks and Azerbaijanis for their misfortunes.

Meline Toumani called Armenians "little sisters of Jews" because they suffered as much as Jews (it is insulting for Jew to hear that). For her information, Jews didn't serve in Armenische Legion of Wehrmacht. Every nation in the world had time when they attacked or prosecuted Jews, but Turks and Azerbaijanis. Turks saved Jews in 1492 from Spanish Inquisition. In Azerbaijan Jews have ben living for over 2400 years, they even took name Ashkenaz after Azeri kingdom.

Seth,

As always, an enjoyable column, but you need to get a better proof reader!

Yours sincerely,
Irrationally Bothered By Grammatical Errors

Hi Seth, terrific article! I grew up in a suburb of Washington D.C., with a last name that ended in "ian" and for most was difficult to pronounce. Armenia was not free and never seen on the maps of our history books. I'm overwhelmed with joy to read your article and to know that a "non" Armenian would take such an interest. Glad this article popped up on my computer! Thank you!

California's Central Valley also has a large Armenian population, and Fresno has several great Armenian restaurants. You don't grow up in that region without learning about some of the history of Armenia.

Refreshing to hear an outsider taking a real interest in the history of our country. Thank you.

That you had not heard of Parajanov or "The Color of Pomegranates" is somewhat surprising because it played at least a couple of times in New York; once relatively shortly after its release for foreign showings, then some years later.

When I was in Yerevan some years ago, I heard a memorable performance of "La Boheme." Memorable because of the outstanding singing and acting in a provincial opera house.

Among the musts in Yerevan, you did not mention the Matenadaran, a repository of manuscripts and books in front of which is a sculpture of Mesrop Mashtots, the inventor of the Armenian alphabet. The illuminated manuscripts are marvelous to behold both in terms of their execution and in their style.

Seth, thank you so much for documenting your travels in Armenia especially during this important time in our country's history. It's experiences and stories like yours that truly reflect the rich culture, history and of course incredible food that our country has.