235 



On the Laws and Law-books of the Armenians. By Johannes 

 Avdall, Esq., M. A. S. &c. 



[This paper, Mr. Avdall informs me, was drawn up at the instance of Mr. J. C. C. Sutherland, 

 who having referred to the author for information on the recognized sources of Armenian law, was 

 answered by the production of this erudite paper. It contains a very clear exposition of a subject 

 wholly unknown to general students, and mooting points of historical as well as legal interest.] 



ft 



An account of the first enactment of laws, instituted in Armenia, by 

 the Armenian king Valarsaces, a descendant of the Arsacidae, is re- 

 corded in the historical work of Moses Chorenensis, a Latin translation 

 of which, with the Armenian text, was published at London, in the 

 year 1735, by the two brothers, William and George Whiston. This 

 Armenian historian, of venerable antiquity, enumerates in a successive 

 and proper order, the rules and regulations enacted by Valarsaces, both 

 for the guidance of the inmates of the royal palace, and of the citizens 

 in general. i(t \^*- ont^Lu fcuh ^uMumiuunt^ */r uiufu p~ui- 

 QLUJt-nnnL.f^'trufu f"-P n J ♦ "- o~uiuu npnp^T tr^hnfinhq lu 

 funn^nnLnn h. ^nuifuT^utuni-^lruaun U. qjs.ouutuuiq • • * 

 ^nuiuufu inuMj ovurnujoiunhruLti^ tSiunqJ^uhi uina^nj Ll, u£uj- 

 uiftL. [h u ^ r l_ jdumU qa-fri^pifUMtj j L. n^trn^Oliujn u£uiuml.If7 

 nj^iunuMjauiahu nnugl^u nfirf""^'* * "- ^uinutoiMjnlrujnu 

 J/t fyuinfi turn, QLtrnptyojaU uffrnTJkiuuuujr) "iJL, ^ r 1F uu ifP ut '- 

 P-iun duinhj tl inula p.iupk'LuMnqyni.^O'nruMli tc ualauiujuuju- 

 An in Ltruiuq , nn £r 2JP unL P'^ ru ' u "" [uujnutnni-[d-truiu II. 

 hhrutun ujUMwlSiun.jp j Ll nn fiu< uuufu injuntiji^ ♦ " 5^* 

 7. " Legesque quasdam de aula sua posuit, quibus exeundi et intrandi, 

 consiliorum, et epularum atque oblectamentarum tempora distribuit. 

 Ampliorem dignitatem atque honorem civibus, quam rusticis haberi 

 jubet ; Rusticis, ut cives, tanquam principes, colant, imperat ; Civibus, 

 ne se erga rusticos superbe gerant, sed fraternam inter se vitam 

 degant, honeste institutam, et ab invidia remotam, unde tranquillitas 

 vitae et securitas, aliaque ejusdem generis sint oritura." Lib. n. 

 Cap. vn. — From the foregoing facts it is evident that Valarsaces had 



