Press release: The results of the first phase of archaeological excavations of the city of Tigranakert in Artsakh

PRESS RELEASE

"YERKIR", UNION OF NON-GOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATIONS

FOR REPATRIATION AND SETTLEMENT

20 Bakunts str.,Yerevan, Armenia

E-mail: contact@yerkir.org

Web: http://www.yerkir.org

THE RESULTS OF THE FIRST PHASE OF ARCHAEOLOGICAL EXCAVATIONS OF THE CITY OF

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 Archaeology and Ethnography of the National Academy of Sciences

(headed by Hamlet Petrosyan) achieved from August 3-18, 2006 the first phase of the archaeological 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 archaeological artefacts. 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 foundation in the 1-st 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 Tigranakert 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 centres 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.

Tigranakert excavation photo's courtesy of www.Yekir.org:

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