The first ever study in English dedicated to Albania in Late Antiquity to the Medieval period...........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
By consequence of the Karabakh War in 2020 and due to Azerbaijanian revisionism concerning the history, culture and cultural monuments of the region, the discussion on Caucasian "Albania", which is little known in the West in both academic and public circles, has been reignited. The handbook provides an overview of the current state of research on the Caucasian "Albanians" in an objective, scientifically sound manner. The contributions are not necessarily intended to reveal new scientific findings but rather to summarise approved knowledge. The volume brings together internationally renowned scholars, researchers and practitioners from various fields of studies reporting on and reviewing the state of research concerning the Caucasian "Albanians", their history and archaeology, their language and written monuments, their religion, church history and their art, including their relation to the Udi people of today. The companion is intended to neutrally introduce the readership to the subject of Caucasian Albania from various perspectives.
The Caucasian Archaeology of the Holy Land investigates the complete corpus of available literary, epigraphic and archaeological evidence of the Armenian, Georgian and Caucasian Albanian Christian communities’ activity in the Holy Land during the Byzantine and the Early Islamic periods. This book presents the first integrated approach to a wide variety of literary sources and archaeological evidence, previously unpublished or revised. The study explores the place of each of these Caucasian communities in ancient Palestine through a synthesis of literary and material evidence and seeks to understand the interrelations between them and the influence they had on the national churches of the Caucasus.
The volume serves as an introduction to what its editors have chosen to call the "artistic cultures" prevalent during the Middle Ages in the region of the South Caucasus. Although far from comprehensive in terms of material, chronology and geography, the volume intends to raise awareness of a region whose artistic wealth and cultural diversity has remained relatively unknown to most medievalists. Stretching from Eastern Anatolia and the Black Sea in the West to the Caspian Sea in the East, and from the snow-capped Great Caucasus mountain range in the north to the Armenian highlands in the south, medieval southern Caucasia was originally divided into the kingdom of Caucasian Albania, Greater and Lesser Armenia, and western and eastern Georgia, that is, the kingdoms of Lazica (Egrisi) and Iberia (Kartli) respectively. Together, these entities made the South Caucasus a true frontier region between Europe and Asia and a place of transcultural exchange. Its official Christianization began as early as in the fourth century, even before Constantine the Great founded Constantinople or had himself been converted to Christianity. During the subsequent centuries, the region became a well-connected and strategic buffer zone for its neighboring and occupant Byzantine, Persian, Islamic, Seljuk and Mongol powers. And although subject to constantly shifting borders, the medieval kingdoms of the South Caucasus remained an internally diverse yet shared and distinct geographical and historical unity. Far from being isolated, these cultures were part of a much wider medieval universe. Because of the transcultural nature and elevated artistic quality of their objects and monuments, they have much to offer the field of art history, which has recently been challenged to think more globally in terms of transculturation, movement and appropriation among medieval cultures.
The Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict for control of the mountainous territory of Nagorny Karabakh is the longest-running dispute in post-Soviet Eurasia. Laurence Broers shows how more than 20 years of dynamic territorial politics, shifting power relations, international diffusion and unsuccessful mediation efforts have contributed to the resilience of this stubbornly unresolved dispute. Looking beyond tabloid tropes of 'frozen conflict' or 'Russian land-grab', Broers unpacks the unresolved territorial issues of the 1990s and the strategic rivalry that has built up around them since.
Presents an alphabetical listing of information on the peoples of Asia and Oceania including origins, prehistory, history, culture, languages, and relationships to other cultures.
As the Soviet Union entered its death throes, the self-determination of the nations within its republics became an issue over which people were prepared to die. When Azerbaijan declared its independence, the Armenian enclave of Nagorno-Karabagh followed suit. Before long, pogrom and war were the order of the day, resulting in thousands of Armenian and Azeri casualties. This book examines the history of Mountainous Karabagh, the ancient Artsakh of the Armenians, and assesses the mass of archaeological material and documentary evidence supporting the conflicting Azeri and Armenian claims. The authors follow the populations of the area from antiquity through periods of Mongol, Turkmen and Persian occupation, on to Turkey's and Russia's entry onto the scene, the period of Bolshevik rule, perestroika and, finally, the war with Azerbaikjan. This book highlights the Armenian culture of the enclave, traces Karabagh's demographic evolution and situates the current hostilities in terms of the interests of neighbouring Russia, Iran and Turkey. The picture that emerges of a clash of nationalistic passions and of Russian economic, military and diplomatic calculation is a signpost for future conflicts on both sides of the Caucasus. The assertion of Armenian and Azeri identity and culture remain at the heart of this tragedy. This book helps us to understand why the Armenians feel so strongly that Artsakh is theirs and is worth dying for.
This is the first multidisciplinary volume whose focus is on the barely accessible highlands between Armenia and Azerbaijan, and their invaluable artistic heritage. Numerous ancient and mediaeval monuments of Artsakh/Karabagh and Nakhichevan find themselves in the crucible of a strife involving mutually exclusive national accounts. They are gravely endangered today by the politics of cultural destruction endorsed by the modern State of Azerbaijan. This volume contains seventeen contributions by renowned scholars from eight nations, rare photographic documentation and a detailed inventory of all the monuments discussed. Part 1 explores the historical geography of these lands and their architecture. Part 2 analyses the development of Azerbaijani nationalism against the background of the centuries-long geopolitical contest between Russia and Turkey. Part 3 documents the loss of monuments and examines their destruction in the light of international law governing the protection of cultural heritage.
