ARAMAZD: Armenian Journal of Near Eastern Studies (AJNES) – serie

Established in 2006 by the Association for Near Eastern and Caucasian Studies in corporation with Institute of Oriental Studies and Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography (National Academy of Sciences of Armenia) AJNES is the only periodical in the Republic of Armenia devoted exclusively to the investigation of ancient and medieval cultures of the Near East and the Caucasus. Articles appearing in its pages are contributions of scholars of international reputation in history, archaeology, philology, art, religion and science. This book presents Issues 1 and 2 of ARAMAZD: Armenian Journal of Near Eastern Studies Volume XIV 2020 in one combined printed edition.

Contents: The Paleolithic archaeology of Shirak Province and the open-air site of Aghvorik; Newly discovered Early and Middle Bronze Age tombs in Shirak, Armenia; On some Late Helladic migrants into Anatolia named in Hittite and Luwian sources, their migration to Iron Age Cilicia and their return to Greece in legend; On the origin and meaning of the Assyrian toponym Tabal; Die Mär vom griechischen und/oder wölfischen Ursprung von Lykiern, Lykaonen, Lukkā und Luwija; A recently discovered Urartian stele dedicated to the god Ua from Avnik/Erzurum in East Turkey; A metal belt in the Orumiyeh museum, Iran; New observations on Urartian quarrying in Lake Van Basin; Achaemenid ceramics from the site Beniamin II (Shirak, Armenia): the end of the 6th to the mid 4th centuries BC

Contents of Vol XVII: Issue 1. The Bronze Age fortresses of the Southern Urals – Ivan Semyan; Hittite mi-e-nu-us: Humans as ‘meek’ or ‘lesser’ – Jaan Puhvel; Hartapu – Hittite afterlife following the empire – Michael Banyai; Not hostile but loyal kings in Tabal, c. 735 BC. A new interpretation of TOPADA §§ 3-4 – Martien Dillo; Stamp impressions from ancient Artashat in Armenia – Achim Lichtenberger, Torben Schreiber, Carmen Ting and Mkrtich H. Zardaryan; Reinforcement of Medieval infrastructure: Medieval castles and caravanserais in Aruch and Dashtadem along the Dvin-Ani transit route – Astghik Babajanyan; Widder- und pferdeförmige Grabsteine: ein religions- und völker-übergreifendes Phänomen – Diether Schürr; Nurnus monastery and its excavations – Avetis Grigoryan, Artak Ghulyan and Hasmik Simonyan; Obituaries. Issue 2. The Urartian Onomasticon: A prosopographic study – Yervand H. Grekyan

This issue presents a wide-ranging collection of studies exploring the archaeology, history, art, architecture, epigraphy, and cultural interactions of Armenia and the wider Near East from antiquity through the medieval period. Contributions address material culture and stratigraphy at key sites such as Dvin, Aruch, Dmanisi, and Ohanavan; investigate early Christian architecture, funerary monuments, and ecclesiastical practices; and offer new readings of epigraphic, manuscript, and textual sources. Several articles examine identity, memory, and cultural transmission across the Caucasus and neighbouring regions, including studies of princely power, ethnogenesis, toponymy, and interreligious relations. Together, the volume highlights the interdisciplinary scope of ARAMAZD and its role in advancing scholarship on Armenia’s place within broader Near Eastern and Mediterranean worlds.