Rewriting Caucasian History: The Medieval Armenian Adaptation of the Georgian Chronicles: The Original Georgian Texts and the Armenian Adaptation (Oxford Oriental Monographs) [Hardcover]

Robert W. Thomson (Translator)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 27, 1996 | ISBN-10: 0198263732 | ISBN-13: 978-0198263739

This is the first modern, annotated translation of the Christian chronicles of Georgia, adapted by the Armenians in the thirteenth century. An important source for writers on Armenia after 1200, the chronicles deal with the history of Georgia from its mythical origins to the time of their composition--and are of particular interest to the historian for the way that they were then altered in a pro-Armenian manner.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"This is an excellent book, which I highly recommend."--Bryn Mawr Classical Review

Language Notes

Text: English, Armenian (translation)
Original Language: Georgian

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 464 pages
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA (June 27, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0198263732
• ISBN-13: 978-0198263739
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 5.7 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.7 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,967,245 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Was quite interesting, July 3, 2005

By 

G. Khurtsidze - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Rewriting Caucasian History: The Medieval Armenian Adaptation of the Georgian Chronicles: The Original Georgian Texts and the Armenian Adaptation (Oxford Oriental Monographs) (Hardcover)

After the invention of a national script, c.400 AD, Armenians rapidly developed their own literary forms, drawing on foreign texts as well as their own traditions. Historical writing is the most original genre in classical and medieval Armenian literature. Greek works (including the Chronicle of Eusebius, now lost in Greek but preserved in Armenian) constituted the major part of translated histories. But in the thirteenth century the extensice Chronicle of the Syrian Patriarch Michael and the first part of the Georgian chronicles were adapted for an Armenian readership. The collection known as the 'Georgian Chronicles' was finally codified in the eighteenth century and represents only a small part of Georgian historical writing. The thirteenth century Armenian version is in fact the earliest attestation of this growing corpus of texts, predating all extant Georgian manuscripts of it. This book presents the two texts, Georgian and Armenian, in English translation for the first time. The Introduction and Commentary draw attention to the ways in which the unknown Armenian translator changed his original material in a pro-Armenian fashion. His rendering became the standard source for early Georgian history used by later Armenian historians. The book includes a useful overview of the background to the chronicles, the history and culture of Christian Georgia and Armenia, and their respective languages and literature.

3 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Response to the Previous Comment, July 14, 2005

By 

R. Surguladze (New York, NY USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Rewriting Caucasian History: The Medieval Armenian Adaptation of the Georgian Chronicles: The Original Georgian Texts and the Armenian Adaptation (Oxford Oriental Monographs) (Hardcover)

I am a Georgian living in the US and I am quite offended by the ignorance of Georgian history portrayed by the reader from Germany. Georgian peoples have existed in the South Caucasus for millenia. Archeological findings have shown that Kartvelian, Svan, and Mingrelian tribes, who are Georgian peoples (Kartvelian =

6 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Do people believe this BS?, June 2, 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: Rewriting Caucasian History: The Medieval Armenian Adaptation of the Georgian Chronicles: The Original Georgian Texts and the Armenian Adaptation (Oxford Oriental Monographs) (Hardcover)

(i could not give a ZERO star since the system did not allow it)
WOW, incredible,

yes it IS a rewrite of history... I am German and in our schools we read many history books, and none of them have claimed the Georgians to have existed before the armenians, it was the opposite, considering the fact that the #1 comes before #2, logic implies that Ur/Armenos/Hayasa, as this is what they were called in the BC timespan existed and the Georgians didnt, the Armenians had a language, but the Georgians didnt even exist yet. as it is writen by not only Greek and Roman historians but of Original Arabic decent historians from that time period, whose books were not burned and distroyed, they were preserved in their countries.

The Armenian language has been studied by anthropoligists, historians, lingists, and other academic scholars from Germany, England, America, and so on... however the Georgian language is one that they adapted FROM the Armenians...

This book would be in the same category to a book about how Hitler was actually attacked by the Jews and not the opposite... does that make sence? no it does not... therefore this book is untrue, it is a falsity, and it is a discrace that someone took the time to attempt to discredit the entire world...

Please read books by French historians, American anthropoligists, and German Linguists, from all of the different views you will only come up with one conclusion, they all state that the Armenians and their language are one of the oldest and purest languages and culture (unmixed and unadapted from others)

Please dont be swayed by some minority of people's who attempt on a daily basis to distort the history of the entire European and American countries.

I say to the person who wrote this book, how about try your attempts on the Greeks. say that the Greeks adapted your language? wait you cannot since they lived much before you did, but that is the same case with the Armenians, they lived much before you did. The Armenians and the Greeks lived as rulers in the same time period.

Danka