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A letter from Meri

One of my friends Meri has sent me this very touchy story.

It was on the 7th of 1988 December…

Prayer …..The pain has many faces and voices, but the time often makes us forget about it… We tend to put a band-aid on the bleeding scars, yet the epistle gets messaged to the forgetting sections of our minds, coming to us as dreams, deja-vue… In the Armenian reality for those witnessing The Earthquake of 1988, the horror is still quite breathing with paranoia. When we are inside apartments, we do scrutinize all the possibilities of getting out of it, every December 7th each and every self-conscious Armenian lights a candle, but to me, the most every living moment occurs every weekend when passing by Spitak to go home…. Yes, the city center is built, though… Not far from the center, I used to notice a shiny church built of a thin metal. Later during one of my field visits several years ago when I drove closer to the place the view nailed itself into myself forever: the small church was surrounded with vast cemetery. When the Earthquake happened, people had nowhere to bury their family, friends, neighbors… memories, pain, disaster. They had no place to pray for God’s mercy, for His caress, for His forgiveness… They built the Church, and they call it Earthquake Church. The tranquility of the scene brings quite a fatigue to one’s soul, and gets one thinking: “I wonder why I survived. This grave’s ownder is exactly my age…”

This year the weather was quite warm around late November, and early December, it still is. People are scared for the Armenian existance, and the ill presence or absence of it…

Yours fondly and as ever,
Meri

Lord’s prayer in Arameic
Father our Who is in Heaven Art….

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Հակոբ Գեւորգյան

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8 responses to “A letter from Meri”

  1. maestro Avatar
    maestro

    The story is touchy…
    I did not get the relevance of the “Lord’s prayer in Arameic” though…
    It would be nice to have “Lord’s prayer in Armenian” instead :)

  2. Հակոբ Գեւորգյան Avatar
    Հակոբ Գեւորգյան

    Hi :)

    Maybe I should ask her how to read Arameic.

    P.S. Mel Gibson, if you are out there, please help us read the prayer.

  3. Meri Avatar
    Meri

    Maestro jan, there is not much to explain… I made the letter, and the relevance between the letter and the prayer is written in the Grigor Narekatsi book called “Narek” or “Voghb”… Do you mind to read it?!
    Gladly,
    Meri

  4. maestro Avatar
    maestro

    Meri, my comment was not about the connection between the prayer and the content of your blog, but about the language the prayer was presented to the public in.
    It looks like Arameic is closer to you than Armenian… :)
    And thank you for your suggestion to take time and read Grigor Narekatsi’s “Voghb”. I hope it is not in Arameic and, fortunately or not, I do not feel the necessity of doing that though :)
    Thanks!

  5. Հակոբ Գեւորգյան Avatar
    Հակոբ Գեւորգյան

    Can anybody tell me who is the translator of the book of Grigor Narekatsi, because it seems to be a faulty one? Here is why I do not believe in present day historians.

    I was reading the Poets, Mystics, and Philosophers; or The Near East in the Mind of Armenia by James Russell, and I found this unacceptable theory:

    Around the eighth century B.C., Akkadian came to be supplanted in daily and literary usage by another Semitic language, Aramaic– of which Syriac is a northeastern dialect. Aramaic is a language very close to Hebrew, and the principal language of the Jewish literature of two millennia ago; it is likely to have been the native tongue of Jesus Christ. Aramaic thus existed in the regions to the south of Armenia, but also in the country itself. In the second century B.C., following a practice particularly common to the Iranian kingdoms, the Armenian rulers Artaxias and Zariadres (Artashes and Zareh) used Aramaic as the official language of their inscriptions.

    (My next input from Armen Aivazian’s book will raise a question: What happened to the Urartu?)

    In 1996-97 an Armenian scientist A. Movsisian, along with academician Gagik Sargsian, first time in the history were attempting to read Urartian hieroglyphs. According to the unapproved experiment of A. Movsisian, Urartian hieroglyphs were written in old Armenian. Later the Mashtots Professor of Armenian Studies of University of Harvard, James Russell, denied this experiment. The question is not about whether or not will this experiment be approved. It is the unpleasant order that the Armenian Studies of Armenian have been receiving from Kremlin, is now receiving from the University of Harvard.

    1996-1997 թթ. հայ երիտասարդ գիտնական Ա. Մովսիսյանը, ակադեմիկոս Գագիկ Սարգսյանի ղեկավարությամբ, աշխատում էր ընթերցել ուրարտական հիերոգլիֆները (sic — ո՛չ սեպագրերը), որոնց ուսումնասիրությունը դեռ նոր է սկսվում։ Ա. Մովսիսյանի պրպտումները հանգել էին տակավին հաստատում չգտած այն վարկածին, համաձայն որի այդ հիերոգլիֆները գրված են հին հայերենով։ Այս վարկածի հրապարակմանն անմիջապես հետեւեց Հարվարդի համալսարանի՝ Մաշտոցի անվան հայագիտական ամբիոնի պրոֆեսոր Ջեյմս Ռասսելի մամուլով լայնորեն սփռված հայտարարությունը, որտեղ նա՝ նախապես Ավդոյանի առաջադրած եղանակով, բունիաթովականության մեջ մեղադրեց հայ գիտնականներին, առանց դույզն իսկ խորամուխ լինելու հարցի էության մեջ, նույնիսկ չիմանալով, որ խոսքը վերաբերում է ուրարատական հիերոգլիֆներին, եւ ո՛չ վաղուց ի վեր հիմնականում վերծանված սեպագրերին [209]։ Այստեղ կարեւորն այն չէ, թե Ա. Մովսիսյանի վարկածը հետագայում կհաստատվի, թե կմերժվի, այլ այն, որ կրեմլյան թելադրանքից ազատված հայաստանյան հայագիտության վրա այժմ էլ փորձում են հաստատել «հարվարդյան սանձը»։
    http://artsakhworld.com/Armen_Aivazian/US_Armenology/Ch4.html#23 page 121

  6. Meri Avatar
    Meri

    Dear Hakob jan,
    Life is difficult and history is made for no trust, it is hand-made and man-made….

    Maestro, I would place a kind request for you making close to zero comments about what is and what is not closer to me regarding the langauge:) As a matter of fact, hay linel u chkardal Narekatsi, nshanakum e ughaki chlinel hay :) Kardal Narekatsi u ch@haskanal Narekatsun, arden ch@tin partkn e darnum… Aveli lav e pakenk ays teman, kani vor yes karogh em nuynisk vicharkel vor duk “Chanachel z’imastutyun yev z’khrat, imanal z’ban@s Hancharoy” chgitek inch e nshanakum kam gone ov e grel :) As to Aramaic, Hakob has written all that possible.
    Thank you for attention; I will be placing no more comments under this topic for the lack of appropriate literacy of my opponent and excuse myself out :)
    Gentlemen?!
    Cheers
    Meri

  7. Հակոբ Գեւորգյան Avatar
    Հակոբ Գեւորգյան

    Come on guys, Մի բուռ ազգ ենք։ Եկեք բարեկամանանք։

  8. Avatar
    Anonymous

    eloi eloi lema

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