EXCAVATIONS TO PROVE ARMENIAN TRACES IN KARABAKH
Lena Badeyan

"Radiolur"
20.07.2009 17:45

While the world powers and politicians are trying to resolve the
Karabakh issue, historians and archeologists are trying to prove that
the territory has been originally Armenian. The Armenian specialists
reached the greatest success in 2005, when they found one of the four
Tigranakert cities founded by Armenian King Tigran the Great on the
liberated land of Aghdam, to the southeast of Martaket region.

"For me this is Troy, this is how I would assess it. We continue
finding different items here, but it’s not the most important. What’s
important is that the city once existed here," said Vardges Safaryan,
member of the Tigranakert expedition, assessing the political and
historical essence of the diggings.

"The two main walls and the towels of the Hellenic city have been
discovered. The city was founded in the 80s B.C. and survived through
the 15th century, about 1 500 years. That is whey here we have not
only Hellenic monuments, but also Christian ones. We have discovered
an Armenian church built in 5-7th centuries, where we found one of
the most interesting items last year – a clay disk-like item with an
engraving: "Me, Vache, the slave of God." This inscription dates back
to the 6-7th centuries and it is the most ancient Armenian inscription
found on the20land of Karabakh up to now," Vardges Safaryan said.

The authorities of Nagorno Karabakh also attach great importance to
the excavations of Tigranakert and the government has been financing
the works for about two years.