EXCAVATIONS IN TIGRANAKERT ARE UNDER WAY
Ministry of Foreign Affairs
2009-08-11 16:27
Nagorno-Karabakh Republic
It is already five years that excavations in the ancient town of
Tigranakert, NKR, founded in 1st century B.C. in Artsakh by Armenian
King Tigran the Great, are underway.
The excavations are realized by the Artsakh archeological expedition
of the Archeology and Ethnography Institute of Armenia’s National
Academy of Sciences (NAS), headed by Hamlet Petrosian, Doctor of
Historical Sciences.
The expedition also includes specialists from Karabakh.
The excavations are financed by the NKR Government. The Tourism
Department under the NKR Government and "Tigranakert reserve"
state nonprofit organization, established this year, coordinate the
organizational issues.
The upper part of the church (basilica) that, according to the
preliminary data, dated to the 6th century has been excavated this
year.
Among this year findings Hamlet Petrosian singled out the agate
gem. For the present, the scientists find difficulty in defining
precisely what period the gem dates back. However, it is considered
to date from the Hellenistic period. According to Hamlet Petrosian,
gem and early medieval clay stamps witnessed Tigranakert’s significant
administrative-commercial role.
The excavations of acropolis’s northern wall go on. 85 meters of the
wall have already been excavated. It is one of the biggest walls,
ever=2 0 excavated in the South Caucasus.
On the whole, the excavations reveal the image of once powerful,
rich and beautiful town.
There is a plan to establish a museum of Tigranakert. At present,
restoration works are on in the 18th century fortress, where the
museum is to be based.
The NKR intends to turn Tigranakert into a pilgrimage shrine for
Armenians all over the world.