Week 2: Journey into ancient maps (part1)

The history of Armenia dates back to 4000 BC and beyond, therefore diving into the mysterious cartography of the whole civilization is going to take a while and I will be mastering one step at a time.
As a crossroad connecting Europe and Asia, Armenia was relentlessly caught between empires, mainly Persian, Ottoman and Russian.
Thus the current size of the country (11490 square miles) represents only the fraction (about 10%) of what was used to be the Greater Armenia.

Current 2013 map of Armenia

On the map below, Portuguese cartographer Fernao Vaz Dourado depicts Armenia Minor and Armenia Major stretching across Black and Caspian seas, occupying the territories that are now known as Georgia, Azerbaijan and most of eastern Turkey, including Mount Ararat. Interestingly, the map dates to 1570, right in the middle of Ottoman-Persian wars. During this time Armenians established a printing press in Constantinople and the first Armenian printed books were produced, which was a significant psychological uplift for the Armenians.

1570 Map of Armenia by F. V. Dourado 

Because of the ongoing territorial disputes, it is complicated to overlay the maps from different centuries, therefore I have been using the Black sea, Mediterranean and Caspian seas to gauge where possible. In that respect, the following map illustrates the territory of current Armenia on the overlay of the Dourado's map.

The current territory of Armenia compared on the 1570 map

Another map, by German Goldsmith, printer and engraver Christopher Weigel, portrays 1720 Armenia again as the land between the Black and Caspian seas. During this time, Armenia was greatly elated by the emergence of new generation of artists, songwriters, lyricists, led by the legendary Armenian poet and musician Sayat-Nova ("Master of songs").
It will be curious, therefore, to find out if there is a concurrent cyclic pattern that ties together the events of the cultural and spiritual up rise movements with the territorial peaks.

1720 Map of Armenia by C. Weigel

On the map, we can observe the location of the current territory of Armenia (in dark orange) in comparison with that of the land occupied at around 1720. It is hard to believe that after the consequent 200 years of numerous devastating wars trapped between Ottoman and Persian empires, Armenia has preserved most of its land at that point. In his "Armenia: Survival of the nation" (Routledge, revised second edition, 1990), British historian and author Christopher J. Walker writes

“Almost without, exception Armenians are Christians, although often in a sociological rather than a religious sense. Their devotion to their ancient Church as the main embodiment of their traditions,  and as the one institution which remained alive when their country was enshrouded in the might of alien empires, is immensely strong”.