the Yerevan State University, the founder of the chair of archaeology and oriental studies. With architect Alexander Tamanian and painter Martiros Saryan he was one of founders of the Commission of Ancient Monuments in Armenia. During 1920-1938 he organized over 30 expeditions in Armenia. In 1931 Kalantar directed the excavations in Old Vagharshapat. In 1930s with Alexander Tamanian acted to save the two basilica churches, Katoghike and Poghos-Petros in Yerevan (both were finally destroyed by the ruling regime). In 1935 Kalantar was appointed as the member of the Council of Armenian branch of Soviet Academy of Sciences. Publications Ashkharbek Kalantar authored over 80 articles. The English translations of his selected works were published in 3 volumes in 1994, 1999, 2004 by Recherches et Publications, Paris-Neuchâtel, and in Armenian in Yerevan, 2007. American Journal of Archaeology (AJA 100, 638, 1996) reviewing Kalantar's volume writes: "While Lehmann-Haupt and Marr are often credited with sparking investigations into the history and prehistory of eastern Anatolia and southern Transcaucasia, this compilation* of selected writings and photographs of Ashkharbek Kalantar (1884-1942) makes a persuasive case that it was he who most thoroughly shaped archaeology in the Armenian highlands." "Kalantar's life and work provide a testimony to the enduring importance of the Armenian highlands to world history and prehistory..." Great Purge victim On 19 March 1938 Kalantar was arrested in Yerevan by the Stalinist regime, among other professors, as an ‘enemy of the nation’; the precise date and place of his death in Russia are unknown. Legacy A bust of Ashkharbek Kalantar was unveiled in February 2015 in the entrance hall of Yerevan State University. Edik Minasyan, Dean of the Faculty of History at Yerevan State University, said of Kalantar: Later publications Ashkharbek Kalantar, Armenia: From the Stone Age to the Middle Ages, Civilisations du Proche Orient, Se´rie 1, Vol. 2, Recherches et Publications, Neuchâtel, Paris, 1994; Ashkharbek Kalantar, The Mediaeval Inscriptions of Vanstan, Armenia, Civilisations du Proche-Orient: Series 2 - Philologie, Vol. 2, Recherches et Publications, Neuchâtel, Paris, 1999; Ashkharbek Kalantar, Materials on Armenian and Urartian History (with a contribution by Mirjo Salvini), Civilisations du Proche-Orient: Series 4 - Hors Série, Neuchâtel, Paris, 2004; From Kalantar's documents References Webarchive template wayback links 1884 births 1942 deaths People from Lori Province Saint Petersburg State University alumni Academic staff of Yerevan State University 20th-century Armenian historians Armenian archaeologists Archaeologists from the Russian Empire Soviet archaeologists Armenian studies scholars