The Geography of Ananias of Širak by Anania Shirakatsi

It was probably written as the preface to one of his scholarly works, possibly the K'nnikon. It is a brief text, characterized as 'somewhat self-congratulatory' and 'more a statement of academic pedigree' than autobiography. Īnania is the only classical Armenian scholar to have written an autobiography. Vardanyan places his death in the early 690s. Mathews, and Theo van Lint also concur with 610–685, while Greenwood suggests c. place his birth in early 600s but agrees on 685. 610 as a birthdate and 685 as the year he died. Hewsen noted in 1968 that Anania is widely believed to have been born between 595 and 600 a quarter-century later he settled on c. The dates of his birth and death have not been definitively established. Background Īnania Shirakatsi lived in the 7th century. Life Ī modern statue of Anania at the Alphabet Park near Artashavan.

In some manuscripts, he is called Shirakuni (Շիրակունի) and Shirakavantsi (Շիրակաւանցի). The second part of his name denotes his place of origin, the region of Shirak (Širak), though it may have become a sort of surname. Anania is the Armenian variant of the biblical name Ananias, itself the Greek version of the Hebrew Hananiah. His name is usually anglicized as Ananias of Shirak (Širak). He also devised a system of mathematical notation based on the Armenian alphabet, although he was the only writer known to have used it.

In mathematics, his accomplishments include the earliest known table of results of the four basic operations, the earliest known collection of recreational math puzzles and problems, and the earliest book of math problems in Armenian. He composed science textbooks and the first known geographic work in classical Armenian ( Ashkharhatsuyts), which provides detailed information about Greater Armenia, Persia and the Caucasus ( Georgia and Caucasian Albania). Seen as a part of the Armenian Hellenizing School, the last lay scholar in Christian Armenia until the 11th century, Anania was educated primarily by Tychicus, in Trebizond. Little is known for certain of his life outside of his own writings, but he is considered the father of the exact and natural sciences in Armenia-the first Armenian mathematician, astronomer, and cosmographer. All subsequent scientists in Armenia, especially Grigor Magistros and Hovhannes ImastaserĪnania Shirakatsi ( Armenian: Անանիա Շիրակացի, Anania Širakac’i, anglicized: Ananias of Shirak) was a 7th-century Armenian polymath and natural philosopher, author of extant works covering mathematics, astronomy, geography, chronology, and other fields.

The Geography of Ananias of Širak by Anania Shirakatsi