Jewish cemetery

The Jewish cemetery is located in the Vayots Dzor region of Armenia, in the Yeghegis village, on the left bank of the Yeghegis river. It occupies an area of 1550 m². The regional center is 26 km away from Yeghegnadzor. The tombstones of the cemetery were found in 1997-1998. They were collected and placed in the current area of the cemetery with the efforts of the RA Ministry of Culture and Syunyats Diocese Bishop Abraham Mkrtchyan (at that time). 64 complete tombstones and a larger number of tombstone fragments were found. The oldest tombstone is dated AD. 1266, and the most recent - AD. 1346. Thus, the dates of the inscriptions on the tombstones indicate that the cemetery was in operation for more than a century. According to Jerusalem experts, they are hundreds of years old, and some of them date back to the 13th century.

Before the discovery of the cemetery, there were no evidences of the existence of the Jewish community in medieval Armenia. the recognized ones refer to K. a. in the 1st century (Movses Khorenatsi and Pavstos Byuzand). The Jewish settlement including the Yehegis cemetery is a new historical fact, and the tombstone inscriptions are new testimonies. The latter reveals the existence of a previously unknown medieval Jewish community and proves the multi-ethnicity of the Vayots Dzor marz population. A contract was signed with the Institute of Archeology of the National Academy of Sciences of Armenia to decipher the tombstone inscriptions. Husik Melkonyan from Armenia and David Amit from Jerusalem were appointed as heads of archeology. In 2000-2003, expeditions were sent to Armenia, whose work was sponsored by the Ben-Zvi Institute for the Study of Eastern Jewish Communities, the Jewish University of Jerusalem, the Israel Archaeological Center, the Charles and Agnes Ghazarian Permanent Fund, the Foundation for Theological Archeology, the Armenian Research Center of the University of Michigan in Dearborn, the David Zeselson Foundation. and the Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities, directed by Michael Stone. Just as the origin of the Jews of Yeghegis village is mysterious, so are the circumstances of the disappearance of this community.

Photo By: Cosmo Deus