History of Armenia (book)
The History of Armenia (, "Patmut'yun Hayots") attributed to Movses Khorenatsi is an early account of Armenia, covering the legendary origins of the Armenian people as well as Armenia's interaction with Sassanid, Byzantine and Arsacid empires down to the 5th century. It contains unique material on ancient Armenian legends, and such information on pagan (pre-Christian) Armenian as has survived. It also contains plentiful data on the history and culture of contiguous countries. The book had an enormous impact on Armenian historiography. In the text, the author self-identifies as a disciple of Saint Mesrop, and  states that he composed his work at the request of Isaac (Sahak), the Bagratuni prince who fell in battle in 482. Authorship. Until the 19th century most scholars accepted Movses's History as an authentic script. For example, Gibbon in his "History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire" (ch. 32) still accepted the 5th century date of Movses, on grounds that "his local information, his passions and his prejudices, are strongly expressive of a native and contemporary." Alfred von Gutschmid (1876) showed the secondary nature of much of Moses' material, and current scholarship is divided on the  issue of Moses' authorship of the work. According to Robert Thomson, "there are indications that the book itself was written after the 5th century. Not only does Movses use sources not available in Armenia at that time, he refers to persons and places attested only in the sixth or seventh centuries."It is now thought that the current version we have could not have been written in the 5th century Contents. The book is divided into three parts: Patriarchs. This first book contains 32 chapters, from Adam to Alexander the Great. List of the Armenian patriarchs according to Moses: These  cover the 24th to 9th centuries BC in Moses' chronology, indebted to the "Chronicon" of Eusebius. There follows a list of legendary kings, covering the 8th to 4th centuries BC: These gradually enter historicity with Tigran I (6th century BC), who is also mentioned in the Cyropaedia of Xenophon (Tigranes Orontid, traditionally 560-535 BC; Vahagn 530-515 BC), but Aravan to Vahé are again otherwise unknown. Middle Period (332 BC - AD 330). 92 chapters, from Alexander the Great to Tiridates III of Armenia. Arsacid period 330-428. 68 chapters, from the death of Tiridates III to Gregory the Illuminator . Editions and translations. Under Soviet rule the book was published many times.