Movses Khorenatsi

(Moses of Khoren, also Moses of Chorene), representative of Armenian feudal historiography.

Movses Khorenatsi, who lived in the fifth and early sixth centuries, is called the father of Armenian history. He was a pupil of the originator of the Armenian alphabet, Mesrop Mashtots. His History of Armenia (Patmowt’iwn hayots’) was the first systematic history of the Armenian people, composed according to Armenian as well as Syrian, Greek, and other foreign sources.

Movses Khorenatsi began his history with Khaik, the legendary ancestor of the Armenians, and continued it down to the year 428. Most accurate are his accounts of events of the late fourth through the early fifth centuries. Movses Khorenatsi’s work remained a model for Armenian historians until the end of the 19th century. It is valued as a source for the study of the history, folklore, and ethnography of Armenia and the neighboring countries of Transcaucasia and Southwest Asia.