Among the notices of Artemid contained in the works of travellers, a few useful remarks may be gleaned. Shiel (Journey in 1836) tells us that in his time it was a large Armenian village of about 350 houses. Brant (1838) speaks of it as populous, and alludes to the quantity of fruit which was grown there. He approached it from the side of Vostan and the Anguil Su, after crossing which he came upon the Shamiram Su, which he describes as an open canal, supported by a wall in some places. Schulz was impressed by the squalor of the houses; according to him it was peopled half by Armenians and half by Mussulmans; the latter dwelt below the cliff, on the border of the lake (Schulz, op. cit. p. 310). Ussher (before 1865) calls it an Armenian village, and adds—“The flat summit of the rocky hill, on the slope of which the village stood, was surrounded by an ancient wall, built of huge stones laid one upon another without mortar or cement of any kind, and resembling somewhat in appearance Cyclopean remains” (From London to Persepolis, London, 1865, p. 324). Müller-Simonis (op. cit. p. 270) speaks of the “grandes substructions du caractère le plus ancien” which support the Shamiram Su at a certain point three-quarters of an hour on the further side of Artemid, coming from Van. [↑]
[4] See [Fig. 108], p. 2. [↑]
[5] For Mahmudia and a striking photograph of the castle there, see Binder (Au Kurdistan, Paris, 1887, pp. 123 seq.). [↑]
[6] The course of the Shamiram Su has been followed and described by Dr. Belck (Zeitschrift für Ethnologie, Berlin, 1892, pp. 137 seq.). It is carried across the Anguil Su or Khoshab by means of a conduit, made of wood, which spans the stream. [↑]
[7] Clarified fat or butter, which is generally used for cooking purposes in the East. [↑]
[8] I would refer my reader for further information concerning the origin of the patriarch etc. of Akhtamar to Ritter (Erdkunde, vol. x. p. 261), and to the authorities there cited. [↑]
[9] An inscription over the door of the narthex is to the effect that it was constructed by Thomas, Katholikos of Akhtamar, in the year of the Armenian era, 1212 (A.D. 1762). [↑]
[10] In the geography ascribed to Vardan, a work of the thirteenth century (translated by Saint Martin, Mémoires sur l’Arménie, vol. ii. p. 429), it is said of Akhtamar: “On y trouve l’admirable monastère de la croix bâti par Kagig, roi des Ardzrouniens.” According to Chamchean, quoted by Saint Martin (op. cit. vol. i. p. 140), the monastery was founded in A.D. 653 by a prince of the Reshtuni family, named Theodore.
We are informed by Thomas Artsruni (ninth century) that King Gagik brought the stone for building this church all the way from the province of Aghznikh, extending to the Tigris and now comprised within the vilayet of Diarbekr. [↑]
[11] Layard, Nineveh and Babylon, London, 1853, pp. 199 and 414. I would ask my reader to compare the illustration of the bronze bull’s head with the head in my photograph ([Fig. 141]) on the right hand or north of the furthest recess of the apse. [↑]