Management of Water Resources in Medieval Armenia Based on the Archaeologial and Epigraphic Sources (Several Examples of Combination)

The economic development of Medieval Armenia includes periods of rise and degradation, depending on which the volumes and balance of the economy changed. However, even in the case of a decline in economic life and commodity turnover, water and the management of irrigation systems continued to play a key role in maintaining the socio-economic potential of the country.

The progress of the medieval economy of Armenia was directly related to the development of cities and city-type settlements, royal and monastic economies, and the increase in the volume of trade and goods circulation. Moreover, Armenian cities, monasteries, manor and community farms were engaged in agriculture and cattle breeding and had their own horticultural zones. In other words, the traditions of creation, operation and care of water distribution systems, originated still during the Prehistoric period and the period of the Van Kingdom, continued in the Classical and Medieval periods: old canals and reservoirs were renovated and reactivated, and new ones were built.

In parallel with the archaeological data on the medieval irrigation systems of Armenia, written sources and especially epigraphic inscriptions also provide important information. Hundreds of epigraphic inscriptions are known in the territory of the Republic of Armenia, which refer to the construction, repair, donation or other circumstances related to the use of a canal, stream, reservoir, spring, mill. In this article, an attempt is made to combine the data of archaeological monuments and epigraphic inscriptions representing water-distribution systems, which allows to fully understand the place and role of water in the life and economy of the medieval society of Armenia.