La rappresentazione dell’Armenia negli Ašxarhac‘oyc‘. Alcune osservazioni preliminari

The article presents some preliminary observations on the way Armenia is represented in the Geographies (Ašxarhac‘oyc‘) attributed to Anania Širakac‘i and Vardan Arewelc‘i. Both these authors reserve a considerably larger space for the description of Armenia than for that of other countries. However, they convey radically different information about Armenia. In addition to showing the physical aspects of the territory (orography and hydrography) and the anthropic presence (fortresses, cities, villages), Anania Širakac‘i describes the regions he is dealing with by mentioning the flora and fauna that characterize them, and is attentive to the products of the soil and subsoil, only rarely indulging in reporting news of a political nature and even less in giving information of a cultural or religious nature. On the other hand, Vardan Arewelc‘i’s Geography does not provide any information regarding the plants, animals and products that can be found in the regions it deals with, and only to a very limited extent alludes to the political geography of the territory. In general, it can be said that it rather aims to outline a historical-religious geography, which unites space and time, mentioning monasteries and relics that are kept there, and evoking episodes related to their history and to the religious history of Armenia.