BOOK ONE

...certain scattered fragments of history left to us, which serve as signals original: "հրահանջս" (hrahanchs) — can mean signals, instructions, or beacons. from high hills, or as if from watchtowers in the distance, a voice guiding us along the path to keep the course of our narrative straight and without error. Whatever we judge necessary for the completion of our current inquiry from those things which were recorded and scattered about, we have gathered with care, as if from the mouths of rational men. Having joined together the appropriate parts of those ancient writings, we shall strive to form them into a single historical body.

And it is my desire—if not for all, then at least for the most famous apostles of our Savior—to record the successions Successions: From the Armenian "յաջորդութիւնս" (yajordut'iunsh), referring to the unbroken chain of bishops following the Apostles. and the history of the renowned churches until this present time. I feel it is necessary to undertake this labor because I see that no other ecclesiastical historian has shown diligence in recording these matters. I hope that this will be a useful and profitable study for those who love ancient history. And because I previously set these things down in brief in my Chronological Canons Chronological Canons: A reference to Eusebius’s earlier work, the Chronicon, which synchronized the timelines of various ancient civilizations., I shall now set my hand to the work of arranging the history more fully. I will begin my words as I previously planned...

...the times in which they lived, leaving us various fragments. It is as if from a long distance they cry out with a spark of their voice, signaling from the heights and commanding us which way we should go, directing the course of our narrative without error. For everything that we consider necessary for this discourse, we shall gather from those things sown in the memories of the first chroniclers original: "ժամանակագիր" (zhamanagagir) — literally "time-writers" or chroniclers., plucking the flowers of their words as if from speaking men. We shall join these together in the retelling of our history, and we shall provide the order of the apostles of our Savior.

By preserving their memory among the famous and visible churches until this present time—if not of all of them, then at least of those who were most eminent—this labor is indeed a very necessary task that we have undertaken. For among the first writers who belonged to the Church, we have not found even one who was diligent in the writing of this discourse; yet I hope it will be of great benefit to those who love the study of recounting these histories. But until now, in this same discourse...