Hak, the Aghbatkhert Bridge

Hak, the Aghbatkhert Bridge

Location

In the upper valley of the Aghavno River, approximately 3 km south of the village of Hak in the Kashatagh Region of the Republic of Artsakh, lies the historic settlement of Aghbatkert, its church, and its bridge (Fig. 1). The site is situated at an elevation of 1,550 meters above sea level.

Fig. 1. The Aghbatkhert settlement – the church and the bridge. Photo by Z. Erqoyan.

Historical Overview

The earliest attested mention of the settlement appears in Stepanos Orbelyan’s History of the Province of Sisakan, where it is listed under the names Aghakhird or Aghakherd among the villages paying dues to Tatev Monastery. According to Aleksan Hakobyan, however, this reflects a scribal error: Aghbatkert, which is actually the last village of the Aghahejk canton, was mistakenly recorded as the first village of the neighboring Haband Province that follows Aghahejk (Hakobyan 1982, 276). No other historical data about the monument are known.

Architectural–Compositional Examination

Immediately adjacent to the Church of Aghbatkert (see “Aghbatkert Church,” Monumentwatch.org) stands a single-span bridge (Fig. 2). The bridge is built of locally quarried, rough-hewn basalt bonded with lime mortar, with the edges executed in two courses of ashlar. The single-span bridge bears no construction inscription (Fig. 3). Based on its architectural composition, it is dated to the 18th century (per the monument’s official registry).

Fig. 2. The Single-span Bridge from the west. Photo from the List of Monument Certificates of the Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sports of the Republic of Artsakh.

Fig. 3. The Single-span Bridge from the east. Photo from the List of Monument Certificates of the Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sports of the Republic of Artsakh.

The Condition Before, During, and After the War

Before and during the war, from 1989 to 1992, as a water pipeline was being laid from Ishkhanasar to Berdzor (Lachin), Azerbaijanis cleared the area and removed khachkars, tombstones, and wall stones from their original locations, piling them up (Yakobean 1982, 271). Subsequently, the situation did not undergo any noteworthy change.

Bibliographic Review

Researcher S. Karapetyan, at the end of his discussion of the village of Hak in his book Armenian Cultural Monuments in the Districts Annexed to Soviet Azerbaijan, touches upon the monument, identifying it with the settlement of Aghvesahak mentioned in the Chronicle, and considers "Aghvatkher" to be the Kurdish form of that name (Karapetyan 1999, 132).

Aleksan Yakobyan offers a comparatively fuller treatment of the monument. He presents the site, publishes inscriptions discovered in the area at different times, and addresses the toponymic issue, among other matters (Yakobyan 1982, 270–280; Yakobyan 2009, 228–232).

Bibliography

  1. Yakobyan 1998 - A. Yakobyan, "Newly Discovered Inscriptions of the Upper Valley of the Hakari," Handes Amsorya, Vienna.
  2. Yakobyan 2009 - A. Yakobyan, “Newly Discovered Inscriptions of the Upper Valley of the Hakari, Part B,” Countries and Peoples of the Near and Middle East, vol. 27, Yerevan.
  3. Karapetyan 1999 - S. Karapetyan, Armenian Cultural Monuments in the Districts Annexed to Soviet Azerbaijan, Yerevan.
  4. “Aghbatkert Church,” Monumentwatch.org — https://monumentwatch.org/hy/monument/%d5%a1%d5%b2%d5%a2%d5%a1%d5%a9%d5%ad%d5%a5%d6%80%d5%bf%d5%ab-%d5%a5%d5%af
Hak, the Aghbatkhert Bridge
Hak, the Aghbatkhert Bridge
Hak, the Aghbatkhert Bridge
Artsakh