PRESS RELEASE
"YERKIR", UNION OF NON-GOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATIONS
FOR REPATRIATION AND SETTLEMENT
20 Bakunts str.,Yerevan, Armenia
Contact: Robert Tatoyan
Tel. +(374 1) 21 10 21
E-mail: [email protected]
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THE RESULTS OF THE FIRST PHASE OF ARCHEOLOGICAL EXCAVATIONS OF THE CITY OF
TIGRANAKERT IN ARTSAKH
Yerevan, August 19, 2006
Through an initiative and the financing of the "Yerkir" Union of
Non-governmental Organizations for Repatriation and Settlement,
an expedition of the Institute of Archeology and Ethnography of the
National Academy of Sciences (headed by Hamlet Petrosyan) achieved from
August 3-18, 2006 the first phase of the archeological excavations of
the city of Tigranakert and its surroundings, built in Artsakh by the
Armenian king Tigran the 2-nd, better known as Tigran the Great. Prior
to the excavation works themselves, the same team of researchers had
visited and studied the area in March 2005, to determine the exact
location of the city of Tigranakert.
Excavation works led to the discovery of the fortified outer wall of
a citadel, as well as the supporting wall of one of the terraces,
a basilica of the 5-6 centuries, and hundreds of archeological
artifacts. A church complex carved in the rock has also been studied
in the valley of Khachenaget, in the vicinity of the city.
The preliminary study of the findings has shown that since its
foudation in the 1-rst century B.C. until the 13-14 centuries A.D., the
city of Tigranakert has continued to exist without interruption. The
discovered buildings and pottery are similar to the ones found in other
Armenian areas, and in particular, to those discovered in the plain of
Ararat, a fact which corroborates once more the testimony of Armenian
medieval historians concerning the Armenian ownership, the Armenian
nature of the city of Tigranagert and of its surrounding areas. The
excavations also confirm that this area is part of our Homeland,
or in other words, part of that territory, where the Armenian people
has been formed and has built its history.
The findings have an exceptional historical, cultural and religious
value not only for Armenians, but also internationally speaking,
in terms of mankind’s patrimony. For example, the remains of the
early medieval basilica of the 5-6th centuries found in the inhabited
neighbourhoods of the city and the church complex carved in the rock
prove that Tigranakert has been one of the centers of the oriental
christian civilization.
The study of the findings will follow the excavation works, and the
results will be published in an illustrated book.
"Yerkir" Union will ensure the pursuit of the excavation works in
Tigranakert, as well as of the study of the findings.
To get Tigranakert excavation photos, please, visit
.