Jews in Armenia - Classical and Medieval Armenia

Classical and Medieval Armenia

Tournebize holds that the Assyrians deported Jews directly to Armenia, and not to the Khabur valley. Aslan mentions that the Jews of Samaria were deported to Armenia.

A large Jewish population was settled in Armenia from the 1st century BCE. One city, Vartkesavan became an important commercial center.

Tigranes the Great retreated from Israel and encouraged 10,000 Jews to join him on his return to his kingdom. Thus, Armenia's Jewish community was established. Like the rest of Armenia's population, they suffered the consequences of regional powers trying to divide and conquer the country.

There were Jews in pagan Armenia before St. Gregor Lusavoric's coming. Early medieval Armenian historians, such as Moses Khorenatsi, held that the Armenian king Tigranes II (95-55 BCE) deported Jews from Judea to Armenia. Tigranes invaded Syria, and probably northern Israel as well. The Persians also deported thousands of Jewish families from Armenia and resettled them at Isfahan. Jewish families were deported into Armenia and settled in Artashat, Vaghasabat, Yervandashat, Sarehavan, Sarisat, Van, and Nakhichivan.

In 1999 the remains of a medieval cemetery from a previously unknown and unsuspected medieval Jewish community was discovered in the village of Yeghegis in Armenia's Vayotz Dzor region. When excavated, 64 complete tombstones and fragments of a number of others were uncovered. 20 of them had inscriptions, all in Hebrew except for 2 which were in Aramaic. The oldest dated stone was from 1266 and the latest date was 1336/7.