Movses Khorenatsi

Movses Khorenatsi is the author of the History of the Armenians, the standard account of Armenian origins, and is honored as the Father of Armenian History.¹ The History says that he was a pupil of Mesrop Mashtots, the inventor of the Armenian alphabet, that he studied in Alexandria and Byzantium, and that he wrote at the request of Sahak Bagratuni.¹ Nothing else about his life is recorded.

The History

The work has three books. The first begins with Hayk, the ancestor of the Armenians, within the line of descent from Noah. The second tells of the founding of the kingdom and the Hellenistic age, and of the conversion of King Trdat (Tiridates III) by Gregory the Illuminator. The third covers the Arsacid kings from the fourth century to the end of the dynasty in 428, and closes with the death of Mashtots in 440.¹

Khorenatsi preserved the stories of the early Armenian kings, including Ara the Beautiful and Queen Shamiram, and an Iranian tale and a fragment of a hymn.¹² The History glorifies the Bagratuni house as defenders of the faith, and it treats the Armenian lands as one nation.¹

The Classical Armenian text, with a parallel English version, is available online here.