Treasures of NAASR's Mardigian Library:
Maps and Atlases
Maps and atlases can be appreciated and enjoyed for a multitude of reasons—their artistry, the valuable information they convey, or their historical significance. A map is never just a map. A map is also a political statement: and it may make very different statements to different viewers.
Above: hand-drawn map of Hussenig [Hiwsēnig = Հիւսէնիկ] in the Kharpert region, from G. H. Aharonean, Hiwsēnig (Bost'ěn: Dbaran “Hayrenik,” 1965)
For this installment of the Treasures of NAASR's Mardigian Library, we have chosen examples and maps and atlases and a few related works from our holdings. They are not necessarily selected for their beauty (although some are indeed beautiful) nor for their age (though some are quite old) but because they tell interesting stories and reflect the diversity of approaches to mapping Armenia over the past 325 years, which is the time period reflected in the maps included in this feature.
This Library Treasures feature is part of NAASR’s 2022 focus on Armenian maps and cartography which has been supported by a grant from the Dadourian Foundation. Throughout the year we organized three lectures on this topic which can be viewed on our YouTube channel: Rouben Galichian, “The Ever-Changing Borders of Armenia in Ancient and Modern Times: The Cartographic Record”; Matthew Karanian, “Mapping the Armenian Highland”; and Khatchig Mouradian, “Gas Balloons, Emperors, and Armenian Mapmakers: A Cartographic Journey through the Library of Congress’s Collections.” 

We are deeply grateful to the Dadourian Foundation for their generous support that has allowed us to highlight as aspects important and rich history of Armenia in maps and maps in Armenia.
 
We have transliterated the Armenian names of the maps, cartographers, and publishers according to Classical, Eastern, or Western Armenian as seems most appropriate in each case.

Compiled by Ani Babaian and Marc A. Mamigonian
Maps

Philipp Clüver, Persia Sive Sophorum Regnum cum Armenia Assyria Mesopotamia et Babilonia (Leiden, ca. 1697)
NAASR Mardigian Library, gift of Elizabeth Hagopian
38 x 49 cm.
 
The first Armenian world map, the Hamatarats Ashkharhats‘oyts‘ [Համատարած Աշխարհացոյց] of T‘ovmas Vanandets‘i [Թովմաս Վանանդեցի, 1617-1708], was published in Amsterdam in 1695. Nearly at the same time, this map, which we believe is the oldest in the NAASR collection, was created by German geographer and historian Philipp Clüver (1580-1622; his name is also given as Klüwer, Cluwer, Cluvier, Cluverius, and Cluverii). Clüver was born in Danzig (modern Gdansk, Poland) and “after campaigning in Bohemia and Hungary, suffering imprisonment, and travelling in England, Scotland and France, he finally settled in Holland, where (after 1616) he received a regular pension from Leiden Academy” (Encyclopedia Britannica, 11th ed.).
 
He is perhaps best known for the work Introductio in Universam Geographiam (Introduction to Universal Geography), first published posthumously in 1624, and republished many times subsequently; it remained a standard work for well over a century.
 
This hand-colored map, entitled “Persia Sive Sophorum Regnum cum Armenia Assyria Mesopotamia et Babilonia” (“Persia, or the Realm of the Sophies [“Sophy” was an old term for the Shah], with Armenia, Assyria, Mesopotamia, and Babylonia”), we believe originally appeared in the 1697 London edition of Introductio in Universam Geographiam, but it is possible it derives from a different edition. Copies of the map with different coloring or no coloring at all can be found online or for sale by antiquarian map sellers.
Christoph Weigel, Armenia Utraque (Nuremberg, ca. 1718)
NAASR Mardigian Library, gift of Adrienne Alexanian
31 x 40 cm.
 
The map “Armenia Utraque” (the Latin means, in effect, both parts of Armenia together, i.e., Greater and Lesser Armenia), was created by the German engraver and publisher Christoph Weigel (1654-1725) and seems first to have been included in the volume Bequemer Schul- und Reisen-Atlas by Johann David Köhler, first published in Nuremberg, where Weigel was based, in 1718. Köhler (1684-1755) was a historian and numismatist with a particular interest in Roman coins, thus the use of images of coins in the map’s cartouche at lower right.
Hayastan Ashkharh Ěst Nakhni Ashkharhagrats‘ [Հայաստան Աշխարհ Ըստ Նախնի Աշխարհագրաց = Armenia According to Ancient Geographers] (I Tparan Venetik: Sp. Ghazaru, 1849)
NAASR Mardigian Library, gift of Richard Demirjian
67 x 90 cm.
 
This map produced in Venice by the Mkhitarists originally was included in the Atlas Ashkharhats‘oyts‘ Patkerats‘ [Illustrated World Atlas] published in 1849 and sponsored by Hovhannes Amira Dadian [Յովհաննէս Ամիրա Տատեան] (1798-1869). The exceedingly wealthy Dadian family “held the monopoly for the operation of the gunpowder mills in Istanbul.” In 1827, Hovhannes “devised a new machine for the piercing and rifling of the barrels of muskets, and then a device to polish them,” and subsequently introduced various innovations in the manufacture of gunpowder. (Hagop Barsoumian, The Armenian Amira Class of Istanbul, 2007). Hovhannes was a major benefactor of the Mkhitarean congregation and sponsored the publication of books, atlases, and maps.
Karl Koch, Karte Von Dem Kaukasischen Isthmus Und Von Armenien (Berlin: In Commission bei Dietrich Reimer, 1850) (high-quality photographic facsimile)
NAASR Mardigian Library, gift of Gina and Marsbed Hablanian
86 x 115 cm.
 
Although the NAASR Library does not possess an original of this extraordinarily detailed map of the Caucasian Isthmus and Armenia, a framed high-quality photographic facsimile is displayed in the Seminar Room on the 3rd floor of our Vartan Gregorian Building. The original is a folding map printed in 16 sections mounted on linen, measuring 86 x 115 cm when expanded. As a whole it shows the Caucasus region including modern-day Georgia, Chechnya, Dagestan, Armenia, and Azerbaijan. The map has hand coloring to the coastlines and borders.
E. A. Yeran [Ե. Ա. Երան], Hayasdan ew Trats‘i Ergirnerě [Հայաստան եւ Դրացի Երկիրները = Armenia and neighboring countries]; H. N. Ashodian [Յ. Ն. Աշոտեան], Hayasdan ew Trats‘i Ergirnerě
NAASR Mardigian Library
48 x 58 cm.
 
This map has a somewhat tangled history. The versions shown here were both published ca. 1917 and, as Rouben Galichian has noted, “were identical in every respect except for the cartouche mentioning the name of the publisher. … One was published by Yeran Publishing House and was used as an insert into the book entitled General History of Armenia [Ěntartsag Badmut‘iwn Hayots‘ = Ընդարձակ Պատմութիւն Հայոց] by Harutune Chakmakjean [Յ. Յ. Չագմագճեան = Harutiwn H. Chagmagchean]” while “sometime later” the same map was published by H. N. Ashodian [Ashodean]. 

Galichian convincingly shows that the map (under either name) is closely based on a map published in Geneva in 1904, Hayastan ew Harewan Erkirnerě, designed and engraved by H. P. Manisajian.  (See Rouben Galichian, History of Armenian Cartography Up to the Year 1918.) 
 
Yeran was featured in an earlier Treasures; about Ashodian we have been able to discover much less. In the 1925 Amerikahay Hanragitak Taregirk‘ [Ամերիկահայ Հանրագիտակ Տարեգիրք = Armenian Encyclopedic Almanac], published by Hayrenik in 1924, we see listings and a bi-lingual advertisement for Ashotean Kravajaradun [Աշոտեան Գրավաճառատուն] / Fine Arts Printing Company, D. N. Ashodian, proprietor, at 1035 Westminster St. in Providence. Via ancestry.com, we find a John (= Hovhannes?) Ashodian in Providence, according to the 1920 census working in a dye house, with the same occupation given in the 1940 census. Diran Ashodian—presumably the D. N. Ashodian mentioned above—is listed in the 1930 census as a printer. Are D. N. Ashodian and H. N. Ashodian the same person? Brothers?
The version of the Ashodian map in NAASR’s collection seems to be a later reprinting, devoid of the color in the original Ashodian and Yeran printings, but with blue coloring added by hand for lakes and coastlines. At the bottom of the map is printed “Engraved by the High Engraving Co., Boston” and “Drawing by F. Kasbarian.” (The printing of the name is difficult to read but appears to be “Kasbarian.”) High Engraving Co. existed in Boston at various addresses from at least the late teens. We presume that they were responsible for the reprinting of the map and the hand coloring.
K. J. Basmadjian, Carte de Cilicie et ses Environs (Paris: Imp. Monrocq, 1918)
NAASR Mardigian Library, gift of Richard Demirjian
40 x100 cm.

This is one of several maps that bears the name of Garabed (Karapet) Basmadjian (Կարապետ Բասմաջեան, 1864-1942), a Constantinople-born Armenian polymath who was educated and worked as a pharmacist but expanded into writing numerous works on Armenian history, history of medicine, philology, and other subjects in addition to establishing the monthly journal Banasēr [Բանասէր] in Paris in 1902. This map of Cilicia and its environs was published in Paris in 1918; between 1916 and 1919 other maps produced by Basmadjian include Carte de l'Arménie ancienne (1916), Arménie, revendications arméniennes (1919), and Carte ethnographique de l'Arménie, présentée au Congrès de la paix (1919). The 1918-19 maps in particular seem intended to make the strongest possible case for the largest possible Armenian state in the post-war period.
Z. Khanzadian, Arménie (Paris: Délégation Nationale Arménienne, ca. 1919)
NAASR Mardigian Library, from the Collection of Vartan Gregorian
38 x 52 cm.
 
Zadig Khanzadian [Զատիկ Խանզատեան, 1886-1980] was born in the village of Manas but grew up in Izmir (Smyrna) and was educated at the Mesropian School in that city, going on to attend the French-language naval school there, and becoming a hydrographic engineer. After World War I, he was appointed technical advisor to the Armenian National Delegation attending the Paris Peace Conference, and he created a number of maps for the Delegation, including this one, showcasing the ambitions for large Armenian state. He also created Rapport sur l'unité géographique de l'Arménie. Atlas historique (1920), Atlas de cartographie historique de l’Armenie (1960) as well as Atlas de géographie économique de Turquie (1924), Atlas de géographie économique de Syrie et du Liban (1926), and numerous other works.

His Carte des massacres et des déportations d'Arméniens was the first serious attempt to map the Armenian Genocide and remains highly influential and much imitated.
Mardiros Kheranean [Մարտիրոս Խէրանեան], Van K՛aghak՛ 1915t՛ Abril 7 [Վան Քաղաք 1915թ Ապրիլ 7 = City of Van, April 7, 1915]
NAASR Mardigian Library
44 x 30 cm.
 
This detailed map of Van at the time of its defense in April 1915 was originally published in Vasburagan: Van-Vasburagani Abrilean Herosamardi Dasnewhinkameagin Artiw 1915-1930 = Վասպուրական: Վան-Վասպուրականի Ապրիլեան Հերոսամարտի Տասնեւհինգամեակին Առթիւ 1915-1930 (Venedik: S. Ghazar, 1930). It is one of several maps included in the volume that were created by Mardiros Kheranian. Kheranian was born in Van in 1868 and died in Tabriz in 1928. He was an educator and cartographer. Having participated in the defense of Van in 1915, in spring 1918, at the time when Armenians evacuated Van, he crossed with his family from into Persia and found his way to Mesopotamia, arriving in Baquba and Nahr-el-Omar where there were sizeable refugee camps. He continued to work as a teacher and to make maps. In the fall of 1925 he went to Tabriz, dying there in 1928.
 
A number of Kheranian’s striking maps are shown and discussed by Rouben Galichian in History of Armenian Cartography Up to the Year 1918. Kheranian’s great-great-nephew Matthew Karanian has raised awareness of some of the maps Kheranian created that are at the National History Museum in Yerevan, at the Hairenik building and Armenian Museum of America in Watertown, MA, and in other collections.
 
We do not know when the enlarged poster version of Kheranian’s Van kaghak was published. The version as printed in the 1930 publication appears to be based on his 1928 map of the defense of Van that is now held in the ARF Museum in Yerevan.
Kh. Avdalbegyan [Խ. Ավդալբեգյան], Hayastani Sotsʻialistakan Khorhdayin Hanrapetutʻyan K‘artez [Հայաստանի Սոցիալիստական Խորհրդային Հանրապետության Քարտեզ] (Erevan: Petakan Hratarakchʻutʻyun, 1932)
NAASR Mardigian Library from the collections of Haigazn Kazarian, Richard Demirjian, Vincent Taft
145.5 x 146 cm. (joined); 82 x 84 cm. (each separate sheet)
 
This map, probably the most detailed map created in early Soviet Armenia, exists as four separate sheets which collectively constitute a single map. It is important as well as visually impressive. The map as a whole, created by Kh. Avdalbegyan includes notes, a statistical table of sub-divisions of the Armenian S.S.R., an inset of Yerevan city (with index to points-of-interest), an inset of the South Caucasus republics (with statistical table), color illustrations of mountain heights (with graph), and the Soviet Armenian coat-of-arms.
 
NAASR is fortunate to have several copies of this significant map. In addition to the map in what we consider its normal state (as separate sheets), we also have a copy donated by Mr. Vincent Taft, “in appreciation of Manoog Young,” NAASR’s late founding chairman. Although this copy is not in pristine condition, it is unusual in that the sheets were all mounted together on a cloth backing and hung from a rod: clearly this version of the map was used for display purposes. In this respect it is similar to the copy held by the Library of Congress; see https://www.loc.gov/item/2014585716/.
V. V. Zakeyan, Karabagh Has Always Been an Armenian Land, designed and formulated by translated, edited, and artwork by Navasart Publishing House; joint publication by Navasart Publishing House (Glendale, CA) and Armenia-Editions (Nyon, Switzerland)
NAASR Mardigian Library
64 x 43 cm.
 
This poster map conveys cartographical and historical information as well as delivering a strong and blunt political message, all of which has acquired additional resonance and meaning in the aftermath of the 44-day war of 2020, which resulted in large stretches of territory shown on the map, and the Armenian historical monuments contained therein, being placed under the control of Azerbaijan. Especially poignant is the inset image of Ghazanchetzotz (i.e., Ghazanchets‘ots‘ or Ղազանչեցոց) cathedral in Shushi [Շուշի] (Shusha), which is in itself something of a microcosm the modern history of Artsakh: consecrated in 1888, damaged in 1920 when the city’s Armenians were attacked and their homes destroyed, fallen into disuse and disrepair during the decades of Soviet rule, partly restored in the 1980s, badly damaged by Azerbaijani forces during the first Nagorno-Karabakh war, restored yet again in the 1990s and reconsecrated in 1998, again targeted, damaged, and defaced by Azerbaijani forces in the 44-day war, the cathedral today is under the control of Azerbaijan which is undertaking “renovations” that are in fact yet another form of vandalism.
The original Armenian-language version of this poster map, Arts‘akh / Lernayin Gharabaghi Patmakan Hushardzannerě [Արցախ Լեռնային Ղարաբաղի Պատմական Հուշարձանները] = Historical Monuments of Mountainous Karabagh], bears the date 1990; it is devoid of the bold title as well as the historical mini-essay, but is otherwise largely identical, down to the inset of Ghazanchets‘ots‘.
Atlases
H. Astuatsatur Awagean [Հ. Աստուածատուր Վ. Աւագեան], Atlas Kam Ashkharhats‘oyts‘ Takhtakk‘: I Pets Azgayin Dprots‘ats‘ [Ատլաս Կամ Աշխարհացոյց Տախտակք: Ի Պէտս Ազգային Դպրոցաց = Atlas or World Maps for the National Schools] (I Vienna: I Vans P. S. Astuatsatsni, 1857)
NAASR Mardigian Library
 
This outstanding Armenian language cartography book is the first Armenian school atlas created by Astvatsatur Avakian of the Mekhitarist order in 1857. The Atlas includes 21 maps: Europe, Asia, Africa, North America, South America and Australia/Oceania, Portugal and Spain, France, England, Italy, Germany, Austria, Prussia, Belgium-Holland, Russia, Greece, the Ottoman Empire in Europe, the Ottoman Empire in Asia, Armenia, Persia, and India. The maps lithographed in blue and black and hand colored.  The second edition was published in 1860 with only a slight color difference.
Avakian was a monk at the Mekhitarist Monastery in Vienna, active in the 1850s. Avakian also edited Zuarchalik bnapatmutean [Զուարճալիք բնապատմութեան = Amusing Natural History] (Vienna, 1854), a book for children about dogs, and Skovtiayi Stuartean Tagaworats ew arandzinn Mariam Stuart Taguhwoyn patmutiwne [Սկովտիայի Սթուարթեան Թագաւորաց եւ առանձինն Մարիամ Սթուարթ Թագուհւոյն պատմութիւնը = The Story of the Stuart Kings of Scotland and Queen Mary Stuart] (Vienna,1861).

In 2017, when we were packing all library materials in preparation for the construction of our new headquarters building, the 21 separate maps comprising this atlas were assembled, having been separated at some earlier point. Comparing them with the online PDFs offered by the National Library of Armenia we realized that we lacked only the cover and title page.
Kr. K‘ēosean and Hovh. Salibean [Գր. Քէօսեան եւ Յովհ. Սալիպեան], Adlas: Badmagan ew Arti Hayasdani [Ատլաս Պատմական եւ Արդի Հայաստանի = Atlas: Historic and Modern Armenia] (Bēyrut՛: Hradaragut‘iwn “Hamasp‘iwr”, 1956)
NAASR Mardigian Library, from the collection of Puzant Yeghiayan, gift of his son Raffi P. Yeghiayan
 
A small atlas including ten maps, seven of which are reprinted from the Atlas by S. T. Eremean published in Yerevan in 1955. Maps of Urartu and those showing temples, churches, historic sites, and Modern Armenia are new additions by the publisher.
A.B. Baghdasaryan [Ա. Բ. Բաղդասարյան], Haykakan Sovetakan Sotsialistakan Respublikayi Atlas [Հայկական Սովետական Սոցիալիստական Րեսպուբլիկայի Ատլաս = Atlas of the Soviet Socialist Republic of Armenia] (Erevan: Haykakan SSR Gitutyunneri Akademia, 1961)
NAASR Mardigian Library
 
This important atlas is divided into three parts. Part one includes geological, climatic, and other physical maps as well as maps showing energy resources, population, and more. The second part consists of maps showing industrial and agricultural development. The third contains historical maps. Among them is the map that Israel Ori (1658-1711) presented to Peter the Great in 1701, which was being published for the first time. Ori was a prominent figure in the early history of the Armenian national liberation movement who aspired to place the question of the liberation of Armenia (as he understood it) on the agendas of European states.
 
The Atlas also exists in a Russian-language edition, Атлас Армянской ССР.
Robert H. Hewsen; Christopher C. Salvatico, cartographer-in-chief, Armenia: A Historical Atlas (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2001)
NAASR Mardigian Library
 
Robert H. Hewsen’s Armenia: A Historical Atlas was, when it was published, and remains today, a landmark in scholarship, Armenian or otherwise. Some two decades in the making, the Atlas contains 232 maps and extensive commentary spanning some seven millennia of known human existence in Historic Armenia and environs.
The maps show the often confusing evolution of the Armenian people from earliest times to the formation of the modern Armenian Republic, with all of the attendant shifts in borders, populations, rulers, and names of places. For the scholar of Armenian history the book is invaluable as it provides in one volume reliable maps for all periods of Armenian history (or if a particular map may be unreliable, it is so stated by Hewsen). For the student or layperson it provides an unending source of education and stimulation to investigate different eras of Armenian history. Finally, as a magnificent work of cartography, it can be appreciated for the skill of its design and its coherent presentation of oftentimes only semi-coherent material.
 
Although the Historical Atlas is perhaps Hewsen’s most significant contribution to Armenian Studies it was by no means the only one.  He was well known for his translation of the seventh-century Ashkharatsoyts (Geography) of Anania Shiraktsi and his series of articles on the Meliks of Eastern Armenia, as well as other writings.
These recent efforts produced in Yerevan and Stepanakert demonstrate that the ongoing importance of creating accurate and detailed maps and atlases. While such valuable contributions cannot change the past or dictate the future, they are important foundational works and exist as part of a continuum stretching back centuries. History may be as susceptible to rewriting as borders are susceptible to alteration by force, but the work of documenting facts is essential.
Manuk Vardanyan [Մանուկ Վարդանյան], Hayastani Azgayin Atlas [Հայաստանի Ազգային Ատլաս] [2 vol.] (Erevan, 2007)
NAASR Mardigian Library, from the collection of Vigen and Lusine Sargsyan
Rafayel T‘adevosyan [Ռաֆայել Թադեվոսյան], Arevmtyan Hayastan 1914: Varchakan K‘artez [Արեվմտյան [Հայաստան 1914: Վարչական Քարտեզ] (Erevan: Tigran Mets, 2007)
NAASR Mardigian Library, from the collection of Vigen and Lusine Sargsyan
Ervand Zakharyan [Երվանդ Զախարյան], Erevan: Patmaashkharhagrakan Atlas [Երեվան: Պատմաաշխարհագրական Ատլաս] (Erevan: Tigran Mets, 2009)
NAASR Mardigian Library, from the collection of Vigen and Lusine Sargsyan
Manuk Vardanyan [Մանուկ Վարդանյան], Atlas of the Nagorno-Karabagh Republic (Stepanakert, 2010)
Атлас Нагорно-Карабахской Республики (Yerevan, 2009)
NAASR Mardigian Library, gift of Ani Babaian (English edition); from the collection of Vigen and Lusine Sargsyan (Russian edition)
Other Publications
H. H. Manisajean [Յ. Յ. Մանիսաճեան], Ěntartsag Badgerazart Ashkharhakrut‘iwn: 59 Badgernerov ew 12 K‘ardesnerov [Ընդարձակ Պատկերազարդ Աշխարհագրութիւն 59 Պատկերներով եւ 12 Քարտէսներով = Comprehensive Illustrated Geography: With 59 Pictures and 12 Maps] (G. Bolis: H. Madt‘ēōsean, 1902)
NAASR Mardigian Library, from the collection of Manoog S. Young
 
In the introduction to this work, Manisajian notes the importance of Hamarod Tasakirk‘ Ashkharhakrut‘ean [Համառօտ Դասագիրք Աշխարհագրութեան] published in 1881 by Boyajean [Պօյաճեան] Printing House, which pushed the author to complete this work that he had started many years ago, but due to financial issues had not been able to print. The book is a result of the author’s research as well as his reading of other textbooks and his experience as a teacher. He apologizes to readers for possible editing issues due to his being far from the publisher. He thanks his student S. Dildilean [Ս. Տիլտիլեան] for the drawings and his brother H. B. Manisajean [Հ. Պ. Մանիսաճեան] for engravings. (H. B. Manisajian was mentioned above in the discussion of H. N. Ashodian’s map.)
Tawit‘ Khachgonts‘ [Դաւիթ Խաչկոնց], Nor Badgerazart Ashkharhakrut‘iwn: Pazmat‘iw K‘ardesnerov [Նոր Պատկերազարդ Աշխարհագրութիւն։ Բազմաթիւ Քարտէսներով = New Illustrated Geography: With Many Maps] (G. Bolis: H. Madt‘ēōsean, 1904)
NAASR Mardigian Library, from the collection of Martin Halabian
 
Tawit‘ Khach‘gonts‘ (Դաւիթ Խաչկոնց = Dawit‘ Khach‘konts‘) was born in 1866 in Mashgerd in the area of Arabgir, and from 1878 on he was educated in Constantinople. After 1885 he worked continually until his death as an educator, editor, and writer for various Armenian schools and periodicals, including but not limited to Surhantag [Սուրհանդակ], Piwzantion [Բիւզանդիոն], and Shantʿ [Շանթ]. In the late 1890s he was the editor of Piuragn [Բիւրակն] weekly newspaper as well as the daily Dzaghig [Ծաղիկ]. In the early 1900s, Khachgontz served as co-editor of the Ěntartsag Ōratsʿoytsʿ Surp Pʿrgchʿean Azkayin Hiwantanotsʿi Hayotsʿ [Ընդարձակ Օրացոյց Սուրբ Փրկչեան Ազգային Հիւանդանոցի Հայոց = Comprehensive Calendar of Surp Prgich Armenian National Hospital]. He died in 1918 under mysterious circumstances in Constantinople.
Khachgonts was featured in the 2021 NAASR Newsletter in a piece recounting the visit to NAASR of his grandson and great-granddaughter.
 
Nor Badgerazart Ashkharhakrut‘iwn, while not an atlas, nevertheless contains numerous maps and we therefore take this opportunity to call attention to this neglected figure who contributed much to the intellectual life of his times.
Rouben Galichian, Historic Maps of Armenia: The Cartographic Heritage (London, New York: I. B. Tauris, 2004); Hayastaně Hamashkharhayin Kʻartēzagrutʻean Mēj = Armenii︠a︡ v mirovoĭ kartografii [Հայաստանը Համաշխարհային Քարտէզագրութեան մէջ = Армения в мировой картографии] (Erevan: Printinfo, 2005)
NAASR Mardigian Library, from the collection of Manoog S. Young; Armenian/Russian edition from the collection of Vigen and Lusine Sargsian
 
Armenia appears on various maps dating back to the first known cartographic document, a clay tablet depicting the world as it was known to the Babylonians. The ups and downs of Armenian history can be charted on countless maps created over the last 2,500 years. Rouben Galichian’s Historic Maps of Armenia: The Cartographic Heritage, brings together some 100 maps, many extremely rare, from a wide range of sources.
 
In light of the tense political atmosphere in the South Caucasus, both at the time when the book was published and today, the book gains further relevance, since much of its contents pertain directly to the modern-day relationship of Armenia with her neighbors, and, in particular, the on-going debates about the Armenian homeland. Galichian has often spoken about the fact that maps have a political and historical importance as they reflect power relations among nations and convey an image of the world that reflects the view of those who produce them. Hence, some Turkish and Azeri mapmakers have excluded Armenia from their maps altogether or else minimize it. Many of the maps Galichian showed, made by Europeans, Turks, Persians, and others through the centuries, demonstrate the existence of Armenia as a geographic entity for at least 2,600 years.
Galichian has continued to explore the cartographic heritage of Armenia and the South Caucasus from antiquity to the modern era and its distortion and manipulation for political purposes in numerous publications, including The Invention of History: Azerbaijan, Armenia and the Showcasing of Imagination (2009/2010), Clash of Histories in the South Caucasus: Redrawing the Maps of Armenia, Azerbaijan and Iran (2012), History of Armenian Cartography up to the Year 1918 (2017), and Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Turkey: Addressing Paradoxes of Culture, Geography and History (2019). Most of his works are available in his website www.roubengalichian.com as free downloads. 

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