History, Archaeology, Society. Local Multiplicities and Global Connections of a Rural Centre on the Silk Road(s)
Edited by Zaroui Pogossian Edited by Michele Nucciotti
Paperback (Published)
(February 2026)
ISBN: 9788028008109
8.27 x 10.63 inches
Price: $94.00
In stock
This volume reassesses medieval Yeghegis (9th–14th c.) as a key political, economic, and cultural center in Armenia’s Syunikʿ province. Combining stratigraphic and production-focused archaeology with epigraphic study—including the Jewish cemetery and Armenian inscriptions in English translation—it situates local dynamics within wider medieval networks.
This collective volume explores the rich history and archaeological heritage of Yeghegis, a modest village nestled in the Vayots’ Dzor region of Armenia, historically a part of the Syunik’ province. By examining its multifaceted past, the book underscores Yeghegis’ pivotal role as a nexus within medieval networks of political authority, as well as cultural and commercial exchanges, shedding light on its importance in the broader socio-economic landscape of the period between the 9th and 14th centuries. The pioneering articles in the collection provide a comprehensive study of Yeghegis’ splendid material cultural legacy through the application of archaeological, stratigraphic methodologies for the first time, as well as through the lens of archaeology of production and ‘light archaeology’. By integrating perspectives from the broader framework of the medieval global context with a meticulous analysis of local (including inter-dynastic) dynamics, the research redefines Yeghegis’ role as a ‘central place’ in the Middle Ages. Notably, the volume includes a detailed topographical and epigraphical analysis of its Jewish cemetery, the patronage of arts and architecture by its Syuni and Ōrbēlean princes, its tri-lingual grave and its significance, as well as a full collection of Yeghegis’ Armenian epigraphic corpus accompanied by its first English translation. This reevaluation not only enhances our appreciation of Yeghegis’ monuments’ artistic prominence, long recognized as key specimens of medieval Armenian architecture, but also illuminates on its manifold linguistic, religious, and cultural landscape.
Introduction
Zaroui Pogossian & Michele Nucciotti
A Rural Center on the Silk Road: Introduction to an Interdisciplinary Study of the Village Yeghegis
Chapters
Zaroui Pogossian
Vayots‘ Dzor, Syunik‘, and the World: Global Transformations and Local Dynamics between the 9th and 14th Centuries
Zaroui Pogossian
The Golden Age of Yeghegis in the 13th and 14th Centuries: Built Environment, Cultural Heritage, and Local Multiplicities
Michele Nucciotti
Light Archaeologies and Territorial Histories of Medieval Yeghegis
Elisa Pruno
The Stone Production in Medieval Yeghegis. Raw Materials, Products, and Toolmarks
Tatyana Vardanesova
Retracing the Silk Road. Vayots‘ Dzor Through Medieval Ceramic Artifacts
Michele Nucciotti & Francesca Cheli
The ‘Old Church’. An Archaeological Stratigraphic Analysis
Cecilia Luschi & Laura Aiello
Appendix. The Old Church: An Architectural Description
Mariana De Falco & Leonardo Squilloni
The Cupola Church. An Archaeological Stratigraphic Description
Cecilia Luschi & Marta Zerbini
Appendix. The Cupola Church: An Architectural Description
Francesca Cheli & Diletta Bigiotti
The Zorats‘ Complex. An Archaeological Stratigraphic Description
Cecilia Luschi, Francesco Trovatelli & Alessandra Vezzi
Appendix. The Zorats‘ Church: An Architectural Description
Michele Nucciotti, Elisa Pruno & Lapo Somigli
Yeghegis Atlas of Masonry Types
Hamlet Petrosyan & Zaroui Pogossian
Armenian Inscriptions From and Around Yeghegis
Michael Pifer
Reading the Trilingual Gravestone of Yeghegis. On Multilingualism in Medieval Armenia
Alexandra Cuffel
The Jewish Cemetery in Yeghegis in its Wider Context
Conclusion
Vasco La Salvia
As an Epilogue. Historical Insights and Methodological Approaches: Rethinking Yeghegis in the Context of Local Dynamics and Global Networks
Innovation and Medieval Communities
The Circulation of Ideas and Practices in and out of the Town (1200-1500)
Volume 63
Power and Women in Southeast and Central Europe in Late Medieval and Early Modern Period (1300-1600)
Volume 10
Women in Late Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages
Studies from Western Europe and North Africa
Volume 44
Los oficios de los diplomas latinos de la Cataluna altomedieval
Estudio de las innovaciones lexicas: XI Premio Internacional de Tesis Doctorales Fundacion Ana Maria Aldama Roy de Estudios Latinos
Volume 106
A Communication Ethic of Dialogic Reformation
Nicholas of Cusa on Care for Communities in Crisis
Volume 106
Ambiguum 10 of Maximus the Confessor in Modern Study
Papers collected on the Occasion of the Budapest Colloquium on Saint Maximus, 3-4 February 2021
Volume 97
Assyria and the West
A Fresh Look at the Unshakeable Pillars of Late Bronze and Iron Age Chronology in the Eastern Mediterranean World
