Vardan Areveltsi

Vardan Areveltsi (; Vardan the Easterner, – 1271 AD) was a medieval Armenian historian, geographer, philosopher and translator. In addition to establishing numerous schools and monasteries, he also left behind a rich contribution to Armenian literature. He is known for writing the Historical Compilation (Havak'umn Patmuc'yan), one of the first ever attempts to write a history of the world by an Armenian historian.

Biography

Early life Vardan was born in Gandzak in 1198. He received his education at a school in Gandzak and at Nor Getik Monastery (later known as Goshavank), where he was student of the prominent scholar Mkhitar Gosh. He continued his studies at the Khornashat monastery in Tavush, learning literature, grammar, and theology. He also learned several languages while at Khornashat, mastering Hebrew, Greek, Latin and Persian.

Vardan died in 1271 in Khor Virap, bequeathing a significant literary legacy which encompassed Armenia's political, cultural, religious, and social lives. It is written in the vernacular tongue, making it easily comprehensible and concerns itself with many questions related to the nature of life (nature, the formation of celestial bodies, astronomy, botany and zoology, language, philosophical questions revolving around man, music, etc.). Vardan's work contains a quote, consisting of information on the Ghaznavids and Seljuqs, taken from Mkhitar of Ani's "Universal History".

Vardan wrote commentaries on biblical books, namely the Song of Songs, the Psalms and the Book of Daniel.

Vardan also translated many foreign works into Armenian. One of the most significant was Michael the Syrian's Chronicle translation in 1248 for which he could use the original manuscript of the author that had been transferred from the Mor Bar Sauma Monastery to Rumkale. The relatively free translation was produced at the request of Catholicos Constantine I of Cilicia and with the support of the Syrian philanthropist and physician Ishots, as Vardan himself would probably not have had sufficient knowledge of Syriac to undertake the translation. Other translated works included conversations and works on philosophy, theology, which were translated from Greek, Latin, and Syriac.

Below is a partial list of his works, many of which, including facsimiles, are currently preserved at the Matenadaran in Yerevan, Armenia.

Ashkharats'uyts (Geography) Lutsmunk' i Surb Groc' (also known as Zhghlank) Havak'umn Patmucyan (Historical Compilation) Vark' Zardaretsin (Those who embellished)