The registers of the births, marriages and deaths of
members of the Armenian community of Jerusalem, have
been kindly made available to this project by the
Armenian Patriarchate of Jerusalem. The records currently
hosted on our website go as far back as 1840, and efforts
are being made to obtain data pertaining to earlier
generations.
The
records
are
part
of
the
archives
of
the
Armenian
Patriarchate
of
Jerusalem,
and
were
made
accessible
to
us
through
the
support
and
encouragement
of
the
late
Archbishop
Torkom
Manougian,
the
reformist
96th
Patriarch,
a
firm
believer
in
"glasnost"
and
"perestroika"
who
will
also be remembered for his reconstruction efforts.
The
records,
or
"domar"
in
Armenian,
were
photographed
by
one
of
Jerusalem's
leading
photographers,
Garo
Nalbandian
-
a
labor
of
love
that saw him painstakingly film the 250 pages of the three "domar".
The
registers
have
been
converted
into
Portable
Document
Format
(PDF)
files
that
can
be
opened
and
read
using,
preferably,
in
Acrobat
Reader, (available here
https://get.adobe.com/reader/
).
There
are
four
main
registers
hosted
on
the
Armenian
Jerusalem
website:
births
or
baptisms,
marriages
and
deaths,
in
addition
to
an
all-
in-one
family
tree
that
lists
the
various
"kaghakatsi"
clans
and
the
direct
or
indirect
inter-family
connections
of
their.
This
particular
tree
depicts
one
whole
homogenous
family
where
everyone
is
related
to
everyone
else, either directly or indirectly.
Please
note
the
database
file
is
read-only
and
cannot
be
edited.
It
will
display
a
whole
"all-in-one"
page
view
of
the
kaghakatsi
family
tree
and
can
be
zoomed
in
or
out
for
easier
viewing.
Visitors
can
navigate through the tree using the family name bookmarks on the left.
Private
family
trees,
contributed
to
the
project
by
some
"kaghakatsis",
are
available
for
viewing
only
to
family
members
at
their
request.
We
are
always
seeking
more
genealogical
information
about
the
"kaghakatsi"
to
fill
in
the
gaps
in
the
all-in-one
tree,
and
warmly
welcome
and
encourage
all
members
of
this
unique
extended
family
to
help
us
in
our
efforts.
We
hope
that
the
spirit
will
move
all
those
who
have
yet
to
contribute
family
information,
to
come
forth
and
help
us
preserve the great heritage of our forefathers.
To
assist
you
with
your
efforts,
and
make
it
easier
for
you,
we
have
created
a
special
form
which
can
be
filled
in
with
the
relevant
details,
and
emailed
to
us
(by
pressing
the
SUBMIT
button).
The
form
(in
two
parts) can be accessed here:
http://armenian-jerusalem.org/keypart1.html
http://armenian-jerusalem.org/keypart2.html
The
information
provided
is
entered
into
the
database
which
now
boasts
over
3,400
names
and
documents
the
relationship
of
family
and
clan
members
based
on
information
supplied
by
friends
and
relatives
whose contributions are appreciated and gratefully acknowledged
here.
The
Kaghakatsi
Armenians
of
Jerusalem
are
all
related
to
each
other,
either
directly
or
indirectly.
The
20
or
so
clans
or
petty
“neighboorhoods”,
boasting
such
exotic
names
as
“
dar
el
gazmarar
”
(home
of
the
book-binder),
“
dar
el
bostaji
”
(home
of
the
postman),
“
dar
el
hoki
”
-
short
for
“
hokezavag
”
(home
of
the
adopted
son),
share
a
common ancestry, dialect, traditions, culture and history.
The
Kaghakatsi
family
tree
is
the
culmination
of
several
years
of
research,
with
highly
appreciated
support
from
members
of
the
community
who
contributed
their
personal
genealogical
information
to
help
craft
the
tree.
While
there
are
no
official
Kaghakatsi
demographic
figures
available,
it
is
safe
to
assume
that
they
numbered
close
to
10,000
at
their
peak,
prior
to
the
1948
Arab-Israeli
war.
We
have
been
able
to
collate
details
of
some
3,500
Kaghakatsis,
culminating
in
a
striking
homogenous
chart
that
vividly
displays
the
whole
gamut
of
family
relations, going back to the 1840’s.
.