2,000 years of glorious history
The
Armenian
connection
to
Jerusalem
predates
the
Christian
era.
The
first
Armenians
to
set
foot
in
the
Holy
Land,
pagan
idol-
worshippers,
would
have
been
conscripts
or
mercenaries
marching
with
the
conquering
armies
of
Tigranes
II.
Historically,
it
is
uncertain
whether
Tigranes
did
actually
conquer
Jerusalem,
but
there
is
no
doubt
that
he had overrun Judea.
Some
of
his
soldiers
settled
in
the
region,
others
moved
north
towards
greener
the
pastures
of
the
fertile
crescent
(that
would
have
included
Syria
and
Lebanon),
and a number settled in the land of Canaan.
When
the
Armenian
nation
became
the
first
in
the
world
to
accept
Christianity
as
its
state
religion,
my
ancestors
lost
no
time
making
the
pilgrimage to Jerusalem.
They
came
on
the
back
of
camels
and
donkeys,
braving
the
long
travails
of
danger
and
hardship:
but
their
first
sight
of
the
golden
city
with
its
towering
walls,
reinforced
their
faith.
In one caravan alone, there were more than 700 camels.
Halfway
between
Jericho
and
Jerusalem,
the
pilgrims
paused
to
set
up
what
would
later become the foundation for the first Christian monastery in the Holy Land.
The
site,
now
known
by
its
Arabic
name
of
Khan
El
Ahmar
(the
red
khan),
also
features
in
the
bible
as
the
place
where
the
the
Good
Samarian
came
to
the
succor
of
the injured traveler.
A
typical
feature
of
those
early
monasteries
was
the
creation
of
a
floor
mosaic
with
the
emphasis
on
depicting
local
flora
and
fauna.
But
the
6th
Century
"medallion"
uncovered
recently
(in
1991),
bore
only
a
script
in
the
Classical
Armenian
of
the
day,
laid
out in capital letters.
Historians
estimate
that
the
Armenians
had
built
hundreds
of
monasteries
and
churches
along
the
width
and
breadth
of
the
Holy
Land,
but
today
only
a
handful
survive,
among
them
the
magnificent
cathedral
of
St
James,
situated
within
the
convent
that
is
the seat of the Armenian Patriarchate.
Armenians
are
a
nation
of
survivors.
Pulitzer
Prize
winner
William
Saroyan
calls
us
a
small tribe of unimportant people that no power on earth can destroy.
"See
if
you
can
do
it,"
he
says.
Even
if
you
"send
them
into
the
desert
without
bread
or
water,
burn
their
homes
and
churches,"
they
will
laugh,
sing
and
pray
again.
And
whenever
two
of
them
meet
anywhere
in
the
world,
"see
if
they
will
not
create
a
New
Armenia."
Of
course,
he
got
it
wrong
when
he
assumed
that
our
structures
have
crumbled,
our
battles
fought
and
lost,
our
literature
unread
and
our
music
unheard.
Had
he
forgotten
William
Saroyan
and
Ohan
Durian?
There
were
no
Kim
Kardashians
or
Joe
[Hokedoonian]
Hockeys
then,
true.
Neither
had
Armenia
broken
free
of
the
former
Soviet
Union
and
reclaimed
its
independence.
The
Persians
tried
to
force
Christian
Armenia
into
fire-
worship
and
failed.
The
Turks
tried
to
exterminate
the
flower
of
Armenian
intellectual,
artistic and religious culture, and failed.
Perhaps,
in
time,
the
Armenians
are
destined
to
succumb
to
the
insipid
wiles
of
assimilation where armies and armaments made no headway.
It
won't
happen
in
Jerusalem.
Despite
the
relentless
encroachments
of
attrition:
at
one
stage,
there
were
thousands
of
Armenians
living
in
and
around
the
Convent
of
St
James,
their
numbers
touching
25,000.
Today,
that
has
shriveled
to
a
fraction,
but
although
the
political
future
remains
uncertain
as
Israelis
and
Palestinians
wrangle
over
the
status
of
the
city
they
have
made
their
home,
Armenians
know
that
the
imprint
they
have made on Jerusalem, is indelible.
Armenians
reached
the
Holy
Land
between
the
tenth
and
sixth
centuries
BCE,
when
Tigranes
the
Great
ruled
an
empire
extending
from
the
Caspian
Sea
to
the
shores
of
the
Mediterranean.
The
first
time
the
word
"Armenia"
is
mentioned
in
a
historical
context
is
in
an
inscription
attributed
to
King
Darius.
Armenians
arrived
in
the
wake
of
conquering
armies,
as
traders,
artisans,
legionnaires
and
administrators.
But
it
was
Christianity
that
put the final stamp on the perpetual Armenian presence in Jerusalem.
Diaspora
Armenians
are
thus
descended
primarily
from
ancestors
who
lived
in
historic
Armenia.
Many
still
have
relatives
in
the
disparate
towns
and
villages
of
the
parts
of
Armenia
now
ruled
by
Turkey,
although
their
roots
may
have
disappeared
from
the
pages
of
history
following
frequent
family
name
changes,
necessitated
by
political
exigencies.
Apkar,
for
example,
has
been
changed
to
Ali,
Misak
into
Murad,
or
even
Mohammed.
And
the unique Armenian patronymic "ian" has been obliterated from family names.
Armenians
have
survived
in
the
past
by
challenging
empires
and
by
scuttling
all
attempts
at
assimilation.
They
have
never
taken
kindly
to
these.
However,
they
adapt
easily to changing circumstances because they are pliable and pragmatic.
Social
historians
point
out
that
being
a
mountain
race,
Armenians
have
always
been
a
fighting
people,
fiercely
jealous
of
their
independence.
But
that
has
not
made
them
ossified
relics.
On
the
contrary,
the
Armenians
have
merged
with
the
stream,
while
retaining their own uniqueness, quite adroitly.
In
Jerusalem,
the
only
threat
to
their
ethnic
purity
would
be
intermarriage
with
"odar"s (non-Armenians), mainly other Christians.
This
is
a
people
that
believes
in
the
eternality
of
their
race,
symbolized
by
their
emblem
-
the
soaring
twin
peaks
of
Mount
Ararat,
traditional
site
of
Noah's
stranded
ark.
The
goldsmiths,
jewelers,
photographers,
pharmacists,
teachers
and
potters
who
pound
the
ancient
cobblestones
of
the
Old
City
of
Jerusalem
-
which
has
become
a
fount
of
spirituality
second
only
to
the
Cathedral
of
Etchmiadzin
in
Yerevan,
capital
of
Armenia
-
are living proof of Armenian durability.
Jerusalem's
Armenian
community
is
concentrated
in
the
complex
of
St.
James
and
the
encircling
Armenian
Quarter.
In
its
heyday,
the
compound
was
home
for
nearly
25,000
people,
sometimes
crammed
ten
to
a
room.
That
number
has
been
shrinking
inexorably
over
the
years,
the
first
significant
depletion
occurring
in
the
1948
exodus
(some
would
call
it
repatriation)
to
the
homeland
in
Armenia.
Today,
barely
a
few
hundred
still
hold
the
fort
in
the
Old
City,
with
another
eight
to
nine
hundred
scattered
throughout
Israel,
mainly
in
Jaffa
and
Haifa,
and
the
West
Bank
(Bethlehem,
Ramallah
and
Gaza).
A
far
larger
number
live
in
the
neighboring
Arab
countries
where
they
had
found
a
secure
and
generous haven as they fled from the Turkish massacres.
The
Armenian
Patriarchate
has
won
semi-diplomatic
status
as
one
of
the
three
guardians
(the
others
are
the
Greek
Patriarchate
and
the
Franciscan
Custodia)
of
the
Holy
Places
[which
includes
the
church
of
the
Holy
Sepulchre,
the
Church
of
Ascension,
the
Tomb
of
the
Virgin
at
Gathsemane,
all
in
Jerusalem,
and
the
Church
of
Nativity
in
Bethlehem].
Without
this,
the
Armenians
here
would
be
no
more
than
simple
landholders.
The
Armenian
Patriarchate
is
a
city
within
a
city,
running
manifold
educational,
cultural
and
religious
programs,
subsisting
on
revenues
mainly
derived
from
the
rents
it
collects
on
its
properties
in
West
Jerusalem
and
other
parts
of
the
land,
both
in
Israel
and the West Bank.
The
Armenians
of
the
Holy
Land
generally
fall
into
four
different
groupings.
The
"kaghakatsis"
(native
residents)
live
in
the
Armenian
Quarter
where
they
established
roots
centuries
ago.
They
have
a
cultural
club
of
their
own,
the
JABU
(Jerusalem
Armenian
Benevolent
Union).
At
one
time
the
JABU
was
the
guiding
spirit
of
the
Armenian
community,
but
it
has
become
a
mere
shadow
of
its
former
self,
its
members
scattered
all
over
the
world.
The
club
premises
have
virtually
been
abandoned;
the
beautiful,
expansive
hall
where
banquets
were
once
held
and
the
grand
stage
where
Julius
Caesar
used to strut have been claimed by ghosts.
Within
the
St.
James
convent,
the
"Vanketsis"
(convent
dwellers)
are
divided
into
two
distinct
groupings
with
differing
"political"
leanings,
the
shades
blurred
in
the
wake
of
Armenia's
newly
gained
independence:
the
Hoyetchmen,
the
bigger
group,
has
been
more
active
and
more
influential.
It
pines
for
a
return
to
the
homeland,
even
under
Soviet
rule,
while
the
Homentmen
wanted
a
free,
independent
Armenia.
The
Homentmen
cultivates
the
"Hai
Tad"
(Armenian
cause)
organization,
set
up
to
perpetuate
the
memory
of
the
Armenian
genocide
and
to
spur
Turkey
to
admit
guilt
and
responsibility
for
the
estimated
1,500,000
men,
women
and
children
massacred
in
1915.
The
two
run
youth
clubs
at
a
stone's
throw
from
each
other.
In
years
gone
by,
there
had
been
no
love
lost
between
the
two,
but
global
developments
and
realities
have
inevitably
dulled
the
edge
of irreconcilable differences and they have grown closer to each other.
The
fourth
Armenian
grouping
revolves
around
the
Catholic
church.
They
have
their
own
church
and
were
traditionally
considered
outcasts
by
mainstream
Armenians
who
pride
themselves
on
being
sons
of
the
Lousavoritch,
Gregory
the
Illuminator,
patron
of
the Armenian Orthodox Church.
The
Armenian
Patriarchate
of
Jerusalem
has
titular
ownership
of
all
property
in
the
Armenian
compound
-
but
no
one
pays
it
rent
although
the
kaghakatsi
are
liable
to
municipal
taxes
since
their
residences
fall
outside
the
boundaries
of
the
Convent
which,
as a religious institution, is exempt from land duties.
Some
of
the
houses
in
the
Armenian
Quarter
have
been
inhabited
by
the
same
family
for
generations.
A
cursory
glance
at
the
architecture
yields
telltale
evidence
of
the
slipshod
art
of
Ottoman
masonry.
Walls
are
sometimes
three
feet
thick.
Foundations
are
pure
earth,
pressed
tight,
with
a
scattering
of
rocks.
Sunlight
and
ventilation
are
unheard
of
luxuries.
The
plaster
cakes
continually,
as
the
walls
shed
their
whitewash
under
the
ravages
of
humidity.
The
houses
may
be
nothing
more
than
dank
dungeons,
in
some
cases, but for hundreds of years, Armenians have been born and bred here.
Perhaps
the
fact
that
the
houses
are
blessed
twice
every
year
(at
Christmas
and
Easter) by the parish priest, helps to make them habitable.
Although
the
older
generations
are
too
deeply
rooted
in
their
way
of
life
to
consider
leaving,
the
young
are
inclined
to
think
of
their
sojourn
in
Jerusalem
as
merely
temporary.
Many
believe
that
this
is
merely
a
way
station,
that
their
future,
or
that
of
their offspring, lies in America, Canada, Australia, or perhaps Armenia.
There
was
a
time
in
the
Old
City
when
family
ties
were
unshakable
-
and
no
one
ever
heard
of
a
son
or
daughter
leaving
home,
whether
when
he
or
she
turned
eighteen,
or
at
all.
This
did
not
imply
a
total
embargo
or
moratorium
on
the
movements
of
people:
rather
the
reluctance
to
abandon
familiar
and
familial
grounds
for
the
strange
unknown,
perhaps
replete
with
risks
and
uncertainty.
The
only
exception
was
the
odd
"business"
travel
-
my
own
father
left
home
as
a
late
teen,
accompanied
by
an
uncle,
to
try
his
luck
in
Uruguay,
of
all
places.
They
stayed
there
fore
10
years:
the
money
they
made
peddling
clothes
door
to
door
enabled
my
father
to
set
up
shop
as
a
leading
wool
merchant,
just
outside Jaffa Gate.
But
things
change,
and
ties
begin
to
loosen.
Almost
every
parent
in
Jerusalem
will
at
some
time
face
the
inevitable
prospect
of
seeing
a
son
or
daughter
leave
the
family
roost,
temporarily
or
permanently.
But
they
are
bolstered
and
consoled
by
the
opportunities the children will have to better their prospects.
And
with
Skype
and
Facebook,
and
God
knows
what
other
hi-tech
communication
delights are yet in store for us, the distances and time lapses are shortened.