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Document Details : Title: The Sense of an Ending Subtitle: Eschatological Prophecy and the Armenian Historiographical Tradition (7th-10th Centuries) Author(s): LA PORTA, Sergio Journal: Le Muséon Volume: 129 Issue: 3-4 Date: 2016 Pages: 363-393 DOI: 10.2143/MUS.129.3.3180784 Abstract : This essay examines the employment of eschatological prophecies by Armenian historiographers between the 7th and 10th centuries. Eschatological perceptions were quite common in the Armenian tradition, particularly when they also appeared in cultures throughout the region. Political upheavals such as the seventh-century Byzantine-Persian wars, the Islamic invasions, and the Abbāsid revolution, as well as the approach of eschatologically marked years such as 800CE or 200AH, and 1000CE, served as touchstones for speculation on the end of the world or for looking at the past through an eschatological lens. On the other hand, there is evidence that indicates that not all members of the Armenian literary elite shared these sentiments. This paper argues that the eighth-century historian Łewond, for example, attempted to de-eschatologize many of the critical historical events that precipitated eschatological tensions. |
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