Knocking in the Night: an Armenian Rite of Church Calling and Its Social Dimensions in Late Ottoman Van
In: Journal of the Economic and Social History of the OrientSearch for other papers by Tigran Matosyan in
Current site
Google Scholar
Abstract
This paper reconstructs the nocturnal practice of calling for matins by the Armenian church in late Ottoman Van. During this ritual, church summoners loudly struck semantrons in churchyards and streets of the town, as well as pounded metallic door knockers of parishioners to gather the faithful. The paper explores various aspects of the night calling, including the acoustics of the rite, and examines the factors that made it possible for this practice to exist in a locale with a mixed Armenian and Turkish population. It argues that the rite transcended its religious boundaries and became a communal good for both Armenians and Muslims by contributing to the town’s economy and security.
Purchase
Buy instant access (PDF download and unlimited online access):
Institutional Login
Log in with Open Athens, Shibboleth, or your institutional credentials
Personal login
Log in with your brill.com account
-
Achemean, Hayk. 1916. Hayreni dzmeṛě, Van-Tosp 12.
-
A-Dō. 1912. Vani, Bit‘lisi ew Erzrumi vilayētnerě: Usumnasirut‘yan mi p‘ordz ayd erkri vichakagrakan, iravakan ew tntesakan drut‘yan. Erewan: Tparan Kultura.
-
Aram. 1923. Ḥusher. Hayrenik‘. 6.
-
Bekgul’i͡ant͡s (Severi͡anin), Svi͡ashch. R. 1914. Po Turetskoĭ Armenii: Vpechatlenii͡a ot poezdki letom v 1914 g. Rostov-na-Donu: Tipografii͡a I͡a. M. Iskidarova.
-
Chankiwlean, Ḥarutʿiwn K. 1913. Hishatakner haykakan chgnazhamēn (patkerazard). Masn A-E. K. Polis: Tparan “Kohak.” Digitized edition. https://digilib.aua.am/am/1109/library/1109
-
DIABL. 1911. Kaytser … mer murchitsʿ. Van-Tosb. October 25.
-
Eramean, Hambardzum. 1929. Ḥushardzan, vol. 1. Aghek‘sandria: Tpagr. Aram Gasapean.
-
Eramean, Hambardzum. 1929. Ḥushardzan, vol. 2. Aghek‘sandria: Aram Step‘anean tpagr.
-
France, Ministère des Affaires étrangères. 1911. Annuaire diplomatique et consulaire de la République française pour 1911, tome XXIX. Paris: Berger-Levrault Libraires-éditeurs.
-
Gabamachean, Simon. 1911. Gamer. Pok‘rik Champ‘ordě Arewelk‘i Mej. K. Polis: Tpagr. Sagaean.
-
Gardon, Viktor. 1990. Zmrukhtavar aspetě. Erevan: “Khorhrdayin grogh.”
-
Gordlevskiĭ, V.A. 1962. Izbrannye sochinenii͡a, t. III: I͡azyk i literatura. Moskva: Izdatel’stvo vostochnoĭ literatury.
-
Gordlevskiĭ, V.A.. 1961. Izbrannye sochinenii͡a, t. II: I͡azyk i literatura. Moskva: Izdatel’stvo vostochnoĭ literatury.
-
Hayk–Arshavir. 1916. Hayreni hishatakner. Mets pahk‘, Van-Tosp 19.
-
Haykuni, S. 1901. Ēminean azgagrakan zhoghovatsu. Hator B. Zhoghovrdakan vēp ew hēkʿēatʿ. Moskua-Vagharshapat: Lazarean chemarani arewelean lezuatsʿ hratarakutʿeamb.
-
Kheranyan, Mkrtichʿ. 1965. Erkar, erkar mi chanaparh. Erevan: Hayastan Hratarakchʿutʿyun.
-
Kheranyan, Mkrtichʿ. 2017. Ardzak ējer. Erevan: VMV-Print.
-
Knapp, Grace H. 1916. The Mission at Van in Turkey in War Time. New York: Privately Printed.
-
K‘osyan, Serob. 2025. «Norahayt» Shatakhě: Hayots‘ ts‘eghaspanut‘yuně veraprats Shatakhts‘u hushagrut‘yun. Erevan: AGMI Publishing House.
-
Lalayean, Ervand. 1910. Vaspurakan. Azgagrut‘iwn. A. Van, Tosp ev Hayotsʿ-Dzor. Mardabanakan hamaṛōt teghekutʿiwnner, Azgagrakan handes 20/2.
-
Lynch, Henry Finnis Blosse. 1901. Armenia: Travels and Studies, vol. 2. London: Longmans, Green, and Co.
-
Mahari, Gurgēn. 2004. Ayruogh aygestanner. Erewan: “Apolon.”
-
Mahari, Gurgēn. 1956. Eritasardut‘yan semin. Erevan: Haypethrat.
-
Malkhas. 1956. Zartʿōnkʿ, B. hator. Pēirut: Matenashar “Hamazgayin.”
-
Meloyean, Gh. 1923. Dawōi Dawachanutiwně, Hayrenik 9.
-
Nuri, Minas. 1945. Zhamhar Guran. Hayrenik‘, March–April 23/2: 12.
-
Pʿapʿazyan, Vrtʿanes. 1959. Erkeri zhoghovatsu, vol. 5. Erevan: Haypethrat.
-
Shakʿarean, Khosrov (Gēorg) K‘ahanay. 2004. Ḥishatakaran kam ěntanekan ardzanagrutʿyun vanets‘i Shakʿarean tan. Ējmiatsin: Mayr Atʿoṛ Surb Ējmiatsin.
-
Srvandzteants‘, Garegin. 1876. Mananay. K. Pōlis: Tpagrutʿiwn E. M. Tntesean.
-
T‘erlemezyan, P‘anos. 2017. Kyank‘is husherě. Erevan: Hratakch‘ut‘yun T‘ek‘eyan mshakut‘ayin miut‘yan.
-
Tevkantsʿ, Misak varzhapet Tēr Sargsean. 1964. Erger u khoher: Grakan, baroyakan, khratakan, azgagrakan, zhoghovrdakan ew barbaṛakan hin otanaworner (gruats Vanum 1880 tʿuitsʿ sksats). Nor Jugha–Shiraz–Tehran: Hratarakutʿiwn Heghine ew Hamlet Azareanneri.
-
Tseruk. 1904. Vani nahangě nerkayums, Murch 5.
-
Tseruk. 1904. Vani nahangě nerkayums, Murch 7.
-
Tseruk. 1904. Vani nahangě nerkayums. Murch 8.
-
Tseruk. 1904. Vani nahangě nerkayums, Murch 9.
-
Tseruk. 1904. Vani nahangě nerkayums, Murch 12.
-
Tʿurshyan, Harutʿyun. 2018. Baṛaran Vani barbaṛi. Erevan: HH GAA “Gitutʿyun” hratarakch‘utʿyun.
-
Van Vilayet Salnamesi. Van: Matbuat-ı Vilayet, 1315/1897.
-
Antaramian, Richard E. 2020. Brokers of Faith, Brokers of Empire: Armenians and the Politics of Reform in the Ottoman Empire. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.
-
Antaramian, Richard, Dzovinar Derderian, and David Gutman. 2023. Reflecting on Armenians in Ottoman Historiography. Review of Middle East Studies 57/1: 140–149.
-
Bagdasarian, Bagdasar Avedis. 2014 (27 February). Memory Book of Verin (Upper) Khokh, Houshamadyan: A Project to Reconstruct Ottoman Armenian Town and Village Life. https://www.houshamadyan.org/mapottomanempire/vilayetofmamuratulazizharput/harputkaza/voices/bagdasar-bagdasarian.html, accessed 1 August 2025.
-
Corbin, Alain. 1999. Village Bells: Sound and Meaning in the Nineteenth-Century French Countryside, trans. Martin Thom. London: Papermac.
-
Datta, Arunima. 2020. Knocker Ups: A Social History of Waking Up in Victorian Britain’s Industrial Towns. Journal of Victorian Culture 25/3: 331–348.
-
Derderian, Dzovinar. 2024. Orders and Disorders of Marriage, Church, and Empire in Mid-Nineteenth-Century Ottoman Armenia. International Journal of Middle East Studies 56/1: 75–90.
-
Ekirch, Arthur Roger. 2022. At Day’s Close: A History of Nighttime. London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 2022.
-
Goshgarian-Calusdian Collection, Falmouth, MA, Houshamadyan: A Project to Reconstruct Ottoman Armenian Town and Village Life. https://www.houshamadyan.org/oda/americas/goshgarian-calusdian-coll-usa.html, accessed 1 August 2025.
-
Hollom, P. A. D., R. F. Porter, S. Christensen, and Ian Willis. 1988. Birds of the Middle East and North Africa. Calton, UK: T. & A. D. Poyser.
-
Hovakimyan, B. M. 2005. Hayots‘ Tsatskanunneri Baṛaran. Erevan: Erevani hamalsarani hratarakch‘utʿyun, 2005.
-
Hovannisian, Richard G. 1997. The Armenian Question in the Ottoman Empire, 1876–1914. In The Armenian People from Ancient to Modern Times, vol. 2, ed. Richard G. Hovannisian. New York: St. Martin’s Press: 204–238.
-
Hovannisian, Richard G. 2000. Armenian Van/Vaspurakan: An Introduction. In Armenian Van/Vaspurakan, ed. Richard G. Hovannisian. Costa Mesa, CA: Mazda Publishers: 1–12.
-
Kniasian, Zaven. 2007. Haykakan awandakan dzerk‘i koch‘naknerě. Revue Bazmavep CLXV: 260–276.
-
Köksal, Yonca. 2019. The Ottoman Empire in the Tanzimat Era: Provincial Perspectives from Ankara to Edirne. London: Routledge.
-
McMurray, Peter and Priyasha Mukhopadhyay. 2024. Introduction: Imperial Sounds, c. 1797. In Acoustics of Empire: Sound, Media, and Power in the Long Nineteenth Century, ed. Peter McMurray and Priyasha Mukhopadhyay. Oxford: Oxford University Press: 1–32.
-
Mirzaoğlu, F. Gülay. 2016. Turkish Oral Poetry and Narrative Songs. Studia Folkloristica et Ethnographica 65: 490–530.
-
Ormanian, Malachia. 1912. The Church of Armenia: Her History, Doctrine, Rule, Discipline, Liturgy, Literature, and Existing Condition. London: A. R. Mowbray.
-
Pogharean, Norayr Ark‘. 1990. Tsisagitutʿyun. New York: Taguhi Tamsěn himnadrami hrat.
-
Suarez, Alex R. 2020. Two Church Bells from Antalya: Traces of the Religious Soundscape of the Late Ottoman Period. Adalya 23: 517–532.
-
Suarez, Alex R. 2023. The Materiality of the Religious Soundscape: Bells and Bell Casting in Lebanon. Journal of Eastern Mediterranean Archaeology and Heritage Studies 11/4: 1129–1145.
-
Suarez, Alex R. 2024a. The Religious Soundscape of Mount Lebanon in the 18th and the First Half of the 19th Century. British Journal of Middle Eastern Studies 51/5: 1129–1145.
-
Suarez, Alex R. 2024b. The Semantron to Western Ears: Othering through Sound. Byzantine and Modern Greek Studies 48/2: 235–252.
-
Suciyan, Talin. 2023. Outcasting Armenians: Tanzimat of the Provinces. Syracuse, NY: Syracuse University Press.
-
Tekin, Zeki. 2005. Van Şehir Tarihi Bibliyografyası. In Türkiye Araştırmaları Literatür Dergisi 3/6: 689–731.
-
Ter Minassian, Anahide. 1973. Le mouvement révolutionnaire arménien, 1890–1903. Cahiers du Monde russe et soviétique 14/4: 536–607.
-
Ter Minassian, Anahide. 2000. The City of Van at the Turn of the Twentieth Century. In Armenian Van/Vaspurakan, ed. Richard G. Hovannisian. Costa Mesa, CA: Mazda Publishers: 171–193.
-
Ueno, Masayuki. 2016. Religious in Form, Political in Content? Privileges of Ottoman Non-Muslims in the Nineteenth Century. Journal of the Economic and Social History of the Orient 59/3: 408–441.
| All Time | Past 365 days | Past 30 Days | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Abstract Views | 80 | 80 | 80 |
| Full Text Views | 6 | 6 | 6 |
| PDF Views & Downloads | 11 | 11 | 11 |
Knocking in the Night: an Armenian Rite of Church Calling and Its Social Dimensions in Late Ottoman Van
In: Journal of the Economic and Social History of the OrientSearch for other papers by Tigran Matosyan in
Current site
Google Scholar
PubMed
Abstract
This paper reconstructs the nocturnal practice of calling for matins by the Armenian church in late Ottoman Van. During this ritual, church summoners loudly struck semantrons in churchyards and streets of the town, as well as pounded metallic door knockers of parishioners to gather the faithful. The paper explores various aspects of the night calling, including the acoustics of the rite, and examines the factors that made it possible for this practice to exist in a locale with a mixed Armenian and Turkish population. It argues that the rite transcended its religious boundaries and became a communal good for both Armenians and Muslims by contributing to the town’s economy and security.
| All Time | Past 365 days | Past 30 Days | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Abstract Views | 80 | 80 | 80 |
| Full Text Views | 6 | 6 | 6 |
| PDF Views & Downloads | 11 | 11 | 11 |
