ՄԱՐԻԱՄ ԿԱՐՍԵՑՈՒ ՉՀՐԱՊԱՐԱԿՎԱԾ ԿՆԻՔԸ ԵՎ ԲԱԳՐԱՏՈՒՆԻՆԵՐԻ ՏԱՆ՝ ԴԱՎԻԹՅԱՆ ԾԱԳՄԱՆ ՀԱՎԱԿՆՈՒԹՅՈՒՆԸ (ԱՆԳԼ.) / AN UNPUBLISHED SEAL OF MARIA OF KARS AND THE DAVIDIC DESCENT CLAIM OF THE HOUSE OF BAGRATUNI

<jats:p>The seal presented in this study is one of three preserved female seals from an Armenian- Byzantine background. It concerns a historical figure already known and documented by an early seal with a legend in Armenian and Greek: Maria, daughter of Gagik of Kars. The main interest of this seal is its mention of the Davidic origin of the Bagradite line. Until now, the earliest assertion of this claim was made by Sumbat Davitis-dze, author of Life and Tale of the Bagratuni, composed around the middle of the eleventh century. The seal studied in these pages is either contemporary with Sumbat Davitis-dze, or slightly earlier, and shows that the Davidic origin of the Bagratuni is also attested in the branch of Greater Armenia.</jats:p>