The Names of the Rivers

This chapter publishes a previously unknown Armenian text about the four rivers. The text, or something very like it, was at the disposal of the well-known medieval Armenian lyric poet, Yovhannēs T‘lkuranc‘i. Yovhannēs T‘lkuranc‘i (1450-1535) wrote a long poem on the acts of creation, a sort of poetic Hexaemeron called On the Creation of the World. The chapter gives translation of the relevant stanzas of T‘lkuranc‘i’s composition, with some brief notes focused on their geographical features. Following, an appendix is added in which two further versions of it are copied and published, both from manuscripts in the Mastoc‘ Matenadaran, Institute of Ancient Manuscripts in Yerevan. All three texts are published here for the first time. Doubtless further delving into medieval Armenian manuscripts and sources will uncover additional versions of this material, which seems to have undergone a dynamic process of updating of its geographical elements. Keywords:Armenian lyric poet; Armenian manuscripts; four rivers; Hexaemeron; Yovhannēs T‘lkuranc‘i

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