”$150 thousand is needed annually for archeological works at Artsakh’s Tigranakert. We have never had the sum, but we stubbornly continue the excavations,” says Hamlet Petrosyan, Head of the Tigranakert archeological expedition group of the Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography at the National Academy of Sciences of Armenia.
The expedition in Artaskah’s Tigranakert is not only a process targeted at exploring and popularizing our cultural heritage, but also an important factor to prove the fact of being the master of that legacy. Hamlet Petrosyan says the fact of Tigranakert’s being located on the territory of unrecognized Artsakh creates obstacles on the way of its internationalization and popularization, at the same time making the process more interesting.
An archeological museum was opened in Panahi castle on the Territory of Tigranakert in 2010, and the number of people visiting it in the course of 2.5 years has exceeded 45 thousand. For comparison, about 40 thousand people visit the Armenian History Museum annually.
“This number means something, especially considering that Azerbaijan and a number of other countries are constantly urging their citizens not to visit Nagorno Karabakh, Hamlet Petrosyan said. Nevertheless, according to him, the process of popularization is not easy and the obstacles are different.
The first Italian scientific conference on archeology was held in Florence October 23-30. Hamlet Petrosyan presented an extensive report on “The monument and the society: Artsakh’s Tigranakert.” A number of reports on monuments situated in conflicts zones were also presented.
According to Petrosyan, the conference not only underlined the importance of such expeditions, but also suggested to organize a scientific conference dedicated only to monuments in conflict zones and border regions.