The colophons (յիշատակարանք) of medieval Armenian manuscripts served not only as a means for the scribes to provide details about the production of the manuscript but also to perpetuate the memory of people whom they and their sponsors held dear, thus showing their genuine appreciation for the support they received. Alongside a list of names whom the readers were asked to remember in their prayers, the scribes also preserved fascinating insights into the life of ordinary people revealing interesting aspects of their mentality and of their way of life. This talk presents the rich tradition of Armenian colophons featuring some representative examples from medieval manuscripts.

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David Zakarian completed his BA and first MA at Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece and then completed an MA in Classical Armenian Studies at Oxford.  His DPhil dissertation was entitled “The Representation of Women in Early Christian Literature: Armenian Texts of the Fifth Century”. In 2017 he received a British Academy Postdoctoral Fellowship at the Faculty of Oriental Studies and began working on the colophons of Armenian manuscripts composed between 1375 and 1501. He has authored a number of articles and book chapters appearing in prestigious peer-reviewed publications and in January 2021 Brill’s Armenian Texts and Studies series will publish his monograph Women, Too, Were Blessed: The Portrayal of Women in Early Christian Armenian Texts.. Currently, Dr Zakarian is an Associate Faculty Member at the Faculty of Oriental Studies in Oxford.

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Join us on Zoom!

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89465812174?pwd=Ylh0Q1hpa2V0QWE0MmhOYXRRWXJCZz09 Meeting ID: 894 6581 2174 Passcode: 286774

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This Event is funded by The National Lottery Heritage Fund

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