Monday, October 28, 2024 6:30 PM - 7:45 PM EST

In-Person Location: Columbia University Knox Hall in Room 208, 606 West 122nd St, New York, NY 10027

FEATURED SPEAKERS:

Sergio La Porta, Interim Dean of the Kremen School of Education and Human Development and Professor of Armenian Studies at California State University, Fresno.

Alison M. Vacca, Gevork M. Avedissian Associate Professor of Armenian History and Civilization at Columbia University.

Historians Sergio La Porta and Alison M. Vacca will discuss their English translation of Armenian priest Lewond’s chronicle of 8th century caliphal rule in Armenia. 

The History of the Armenian priest Lewond (Ghevont) is an important source for the history of early Islamic rule and the only contemporary chronicle of second/eighth-century caliphal rule in Armenia. The volume presents a diplomatic edition and new English translation of Lewond’s text, which describes events that took place during the century and a half following the Prophet Muḥammad’s death in AH 11/632 CE. The authors address Lewond’s account as a work of caliphal history, written in Armenian, from within the Caliphate. As such, this book provides a critical reading of the Caliphate from one of its most significant provinces. Reading notes clarify many aspects of the period covered to make the text understandable to students and specialists alike. Extensive commentary elucidates Lewond’s narrative objectives and situates his History in a broader Near Eastern historiographical context by bringing the text into new conversations with a constellation of Arabic, Greek, and Syriac works that cover the same period. The book thus stresses the multiplicity of voices operating in the Caliphate in this pivotal period of Near Eastern history.

For questions, please email Professor Khatchig Mouradian at km3253@columbia.edu.

CO-SPONSORS:

Department of Middle Eastern, South Asian, and African Studies (MESAAS)

The Armenian Center at Columbia University

NAASR