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Euroasian Jewish News
The Jewish cemetery in Ehegiz (Republic of Armenia) Opens
12.05.2009
 On the 12th of May in Noravank, one of the ancient spiritual centers of Armenia, the final sessions and the closing of the International Symposium "Medieval Jewish Cemetery in Ehegis" took place.
The symposium began its work a day earlier, on May 11th, in Yehegnadzor (the administrative center of the Vaiotz Dzor oblast of the Republic of Armenia). On the same day, the Jewish cemetery in Ehegis, a unique medieval memorial, was officially opened for visits. Ehegis is an ancient political and cultural Armenian center, which is located near the modern city of Yehegnadzor. The official opening ceremony of the cemetery was the result of many years of research and restoration.
The international symposium gathered leading researchers in epigraphy, archaeology, and the history of Armenian Jewry from the leading scientific institutions of the Republic of Armenia and the State of Israel. Also, the following people took part in the event: the head of the Syunik diocese of the Armenian Apostolic Church Abraham Mkrtchan, chairman of the Jewish community of Armenia and member of the Euro-Asian Jewish Congress General Council Rimma Varjapetyan-Feller, the Chief Rabbi of Armenia Gershon Burshtein, Ambassador of the State of Israel to the Republic of Armenia Shemi Tsur, Ambassador of the United States of America to the Republic of Armenia Mary Jovanovich, Honorary Consul of the Republic of Armenia in the State of Israel Tsolag Momdzhyan, representatives of the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Armenia, journalists, and guests from Russia, Ukraine, the USA, and Canada. The brochure of the outstanding Israeli scholars Michael Stone and David Amit "Medieval Jewish Cemetery in Ehegis" was published specially for the symposium in Hebrew, Armenian, and English.
 As the member of the General Council of the Euro-Asian Jewish Congress Vyacheslav Likhachev noted in his speech at the closing of the Symposium, the events that took place in these May days in Yehegnadzor, Ehegis amd Noravank are not only of extreme scientific and cultural importance, but are also an important step towards the strengthening of the friendship between Armenians and Israelis, and cooperation between the Republic of Armenia and the State of Israel.
The Jewish cemetery in Ehegis was discovered practically by accident in 1997. Only because of the enthusiasm and persistence of Abraham Sprazan and Rimma Varjapetyan-Feller, with the support of the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Armenia and other sponsors, it was studied, described, and restored. The titanic efforts of the Israeli researchers Michael Stone and David Amit, who dedicated ten years to the study of this cemetery, should be commemorated separately.
 It is difficult to overrate the meaning of this memorial: this is the oldest reliable evidence of a Jewish presence in the Republic, and possibly in the entire Southern Caucasus, excepting the matsevas (tombstones) from Mtzheta, Georgia, which are difficult to date precisely. According to the information in more recent sources, the first groups of Jews appeared on the territory of Armenia after the conquering of Jerusalem by the Babylonian king Nabuchodonosor II in 586 B.C. More reliable information says that groups of Jews were resettled to Armenia from Palestine in I B.C. By the kings Tigran II and Artavazd. However, in IV A.D., after the defeat of Armenia by Persian armies, most Jews were taken captive. Despite existing information that groups of Jews remained in Armenia until XIII-XIV A.D., they left no material traces.
The discovered cemetery is not only an irrefutable confirmation of the existence of a Jewish community in the medieval period, but an important testimony to the depth and age of the cultural contacts between Jews and Armenians. Also, the fact that the cemetery lived to our times untouched shows the extreme tolerance of Armenian society both in the Middle Ages and in later periods, when the Jewish community in Ehegis apparently ceased to exist.
 During the final session that took place in Noravank, on behalf of the organizators of the Internation Symposium "Medieval Jewish Cemetery in Ehegis" voiced a number of suggestions, among which were:
- to give the cemetery and the surrounding territory the status of a state historical site;
- to continue the study of the cemetery and the surrounding territory;
- to create a museum, which will be able to become not only an open for visits repository for unique finds made during the research, but also a research center, and, because of the nature of the memorial, an educational center;
- to make the memorial more attractive to tourists by creating an adequate infrastructure;
- to use the memorial and the object and infrastructure connected with it as a base for educational projects that will aid the creation and strengthening of tolerant consciousness in Armenian society.
On photo (top-down):
ceremony of the opening of the cemetery in Ehegis; first on the left – Ambassador of the State of Israel to the Republic of Armenia Shemi Tsur, seconf on the left – professor David Amit;
general look of the cemetery after restoration;
Chief Rabbi of Armenia Gershon Burshtein;
EAJC General Council member Vyacheslav Likhachev
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