| Titre : | The History of Caucasian Albanians by Movses Dasxuranci / auteur(s) : C. J. F. DOWSETT - Translated by C. J. F. Dowsett |
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| Editeur : | Oxford University Press |
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| Année : | 1961 |
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| Imprimeur/Fabricant : | Oxford |
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| Description : | 14,5 x 22 cm, 252 pages |
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| Collection : | London oriental series, Volume 8 |
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| Notes : | |
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| Autres auteurs : | |
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| Sujets : | History -- Caucasus -- Albanians |
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| ISBN : | |
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| Lecture On-line : | non disponible |
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Commentaire :The present work is the only complete translation into a West European language of the History of the Caucasian Albanians compiled by Movses Dasxuranci or Kalankatuaci. It is the first translated version of the work since it was rendered into Russian by K. P. Patkanean in 1861. The translation is based upon the editions of Shahnazarean and Emin in conjunction with manuscripts and lists of variants available outside Armenia representing the two principal groups into which the manuscripts have been divided. The History is the main source of information on the affairs of the Aluank' (the Albani of Classical writers) from the 4th to the loth century and is of interest also to students of the Byzantine, Sassanian and Arab empires and of the Khazars. Many of the documents assembled by Movses concern the ancient Albanian branch of the Armenian Orthodox Church. Words otherwise un-attested in Armenian have been indicated in the notes. The Armenian editions and the Russian translation have long been bibliographical rarities, and the present translation makes the contents of the History more readily available to scholars than hitherto. PrefaceAn annotated translation of the historical passages of the second and third Books of the Patmut'iwn Aluanic or History of the Caucasian Albanians was accepted in 1954 by the University of Cambridge for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, and it is a pleasure for me to record here my sincere thanks to Professor Sir Harold Bailey, who acted as my supervisor, for his most generous help and advice. Much of my work was carried out in Paris where I was fortunate enough to be able to draw upon the erudition of Monsieur Hayk Berberian who lent me from his large library books and articles I might otherwise have overlooked. Courses followed in Paris with Professors Frederic Feydit of the Ecole Nationale des Langues Orientales Vivantes and Charles Mercier of the Institut Catholique have placed me in their debt for background knowledge without which it would be vain to specialize. From 1954 onwards, while the translation was being completed with a view to publication, Professor W. B. Henning offered many useful suggestions in clarification of obscure words and passages and for these, as for his general guidance and criticism, I am deeply grateful. I thank also Dr. W. C. H. Driessen, O.P., of the Albertinum, Nijmegen, for reading through my translation with a friendly but critical eye.
I have been dependent for much of my material on specialized Armenian libraries, and I gladly acknowledge all the help and hospitality afforded me by the abbot and fathers of the Mekhitarist Congregation at Venice who gave me free access to their rich collection of manuscripts and printed books and a place to work amid the idyllic peace of the Isola San Lazzaro. I am also indebted to Dr. Nerses Akinean of the Mekhitarist Congregation at Vienna for his practical help in placing at my disposal Datean's useful lists of variant readings, and to Bishop Norayr Bogharian, librarian of the Armenian Patriarchate, Jerusalem; Monsieur A. Salmaslian of the Bibliotheque Armenienne, Paris; Mr. S. Simonian of the Catholico-sate of Cilicia at Anthelias, Lebanon; and Mr. Vagharshak Ter-Khatchaturian, librarian of the Cathedral of the Holy Saviour, New Djulfa, Isfahan, for facilitating my work on the manuscripts contained in their libraries.
The present volume might never have been written were it not for the generous studentship awarded to me from 1949 to 1954 by the Treasury Committee for Foreign Languages and Cultures. My debt to the School of Oriental and African Studies for including the work in the London Oriental Series and for bearing the full cost of its publication is very great.
Finally, I should like to express my admiration for the skill of the printers in giving shape to a typescript bristling with diacritical points and other typographical obstacles, and my thanks to the readers of the Oxford University Press for many helpful suggestions. C. J. F. D. |
