Yovasap‘ of Sebastia: From Adam to Noah and the Tower

In this article we present an annotated edition and translation of a poem probably written by Yovasap‘ Sebastac‘i (ca. 1510-after 1564). Member of a longer cycle of biblical retellings in verse, it narrates the history of the world from Adam down to the Tower of Babel. At points, Yovasap‘ departs from the biblical narrative to offer homiletic or typological elaborations, and shows a deep familiarity with numerous parabiblical traditions. The poem is a fine specimen of the Armenian embroidered Bible, and attests to the ways biblical and parabiblical traditions were accepted and developed in the Armenian literary sphere.