Khachkar :: ARTSAKH HISTORICAL MONUMENTS

Khachkar 1680 y․

Azerbaijan / Northern Artsakh / Shamkhor / Bada

Inscription, Armenian, Engraved, Commemoration

Incised into the rear of a khachkar (177 x 106 centimetres):
By the grace of Almighty God, I, Nazlukhan, and my sons, Melik Donmaz and Mr. Ghorkhmaz, the sons of Mr. Ipak’s son Hakhnazar, erected this Holy Cross in memory of my son, Priest Serapion.

A single line inscribed on the cornice of the same khachkar and another line carved in embossed characters in its middle part:
May this Holy Cross protect Priest Serapion and his spouse Khanpar.

Another 5 lines embossed below the horizontal wings of the main cross:
In the year 1680 of the Armenian era.

The Armenian original published in: Kajberuny. The Destruction of Bada Village. In: “Ararat,” 1910, p. 231; Karapetian, S. The Historical Monuments of Northern Artsakh. In: "Lragir,” 21 March 1995, p. 6.
Note: S. Kamalian was the first to decipher this epitaph in 1890 (Yeghishe Charents Art and Literature Museum. Sargis Kamalian Fund, copy-book No. 1, VI-11, pp. 5-6). The cross-stone stood intact until 1988.
Misreading: According to Kajberuny, whose decipherment contains some errors, the epitaph dates back to 1671.

Karapetian, Samvel. Northern Artsakh, Yerevan, 2007, p. 458.

Type Photo
View Exterior
Author Samvel Karapetyan
Source Black-and-white negative
Date 1980 — 1982 yy․

A 10-line inscription carved on the back of a khachkar (1680)

Type Photo
View Exterior
Author Samvel Karapetyan
Source Black-and-white negative
Date 1980 — 1982 yy․

A khachkar (1680)