Adamgirk` The Adam Book of Arak`el of Siwnik`

This is the first English translation of the major Armenian epic on Adam and Eve composed by Arak'el of Siwnik' in the early fifteenth century. At the end of the fourteenth century the intellectual and religious world of the Armenians was in disarray. The fall of the Cilician kingdom and the repeated conquests and wars in Armenia with the Seljuk and Mongol invasions took a terrible toll. Arak'el of Siwnik', Abbot of the Monastery of Tat'ew in the southern region of Siwnik', was nephew of the greatest Armenian scholar of the age, Gregory of Tat'ew. At Gregory's request, Arak'el wrote three major epic poems on the story of Adam and Eve-two short and one much longer, comprising over 6,000 lines of poetry in all. These poems combine vivid description in the popular style of Armenian bards with the conceptual theological strength Arak'el had drawn from his uncle's teaching.

Michael E. Stone is Professor of Armenian Studies and Comparative Religion, Hebrew University of Jerusalem.