AZG Armenian Daily #123, 06/07/2005
Science
13 CENTURY ARMENIAN BOOK ON WELFARE ART FOR HORSES AMAZES FOREIGNERS
“This book on welfare art for horses written in Cilicia is a real scientific
treasure”, Dr. Jasmin Dum-Tragut, linguist and armenologist at Linguistic
Institute of Salzburg, Austria, said. In cooperation with Zoology University
of Vienna, Dr. Dum-Tragut translated into German the most ancient Armenian
book on how to cure horses dated back 13 century (1295-98). The book titled
“The Welfare Art for Horses in Cilicia. Armenian Legacy” includes also a
dictionary of professional terms and explanations. The original book,
written by an Armenian polyglot priest (unfortunately the name is not
mentioned) and a Syrian horse breeder, came to be the most ancient and most
professional research in the Middle East. Specialists at Vienna Zoology
University were taken by surprise to read about herbal medicines that were
far more productive than those medicines we have today. Those medicinal
herbs used to grow in the Armenian Plateau and were used for healing human
diseases as well.
During the 2 and a half years of preparation for translation, Dr. Jasmin
Dum-Tragut has met Armenian zoologists, horse breeders and common peasants
to find out the exact root of some terms. He found out that all of these
people use Russian or Turkish words and do not even remember the Armenian
equivalents.
Thanks to the Austrian armenologist and linguist we have not only the book
translated but also have Armenian words saved from oblivion.
By Hakob Tsulikian
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress