Alisa Gevorgyan
“Radiolur”
The Intergovernmental Committee for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage inscribed the traditional Armenia epic Daredevils of Sassoun on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity during the sitting held in Paris December 3-7. The Committee approved only 36 out of the 70 applications submitted.
The application was prepared and submitted by the Ministry of Culture and the Armenian National Committee on UNESCO in cooperation with scientific-educational and cultural establishments.
Thus, Armenia will now become better known to the world not only with duduk and khachkars (cross-stones), but also the story of David of Sassoun, which has a history of millennia.
“Inclusion of the epic in such an esteemed list first of all brings fame to the people it belongs to and contributes to the popularization of the given cultural value,” said Yeranuhi Margaryan, representative of the Ministry of Culture.
According to her, epics have been created by many peoples of the world, but they do not exist today as pieces of national folklore, and have been preserved solely as a literary value, since the people who were the carriers of it in the oral form do not exist any more.
According to Yeranuhi Margaryan, by inscribing an item on the List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity, UNESCO assumes no responsibility for the fate of the given cultural value.
“Turkey demonstrated some jealousy connected with the name of Sassoun, but the Armenian delegation managed to settle the issue by making it clear that the Ottoman Empire did not even exist at the time David of Sassoun was created,” she said.
