Semur, a great city destroyed by the Tartars
Editorial contextNear Mount Ararat, at the lake where ten thousand martyrs were said to have been crucified, Jordanus says there was once a very great city called Semur, destroyed by the Tartars. He adds that he had been over almost the whole of that country. He does not say when the city was destroyed, and it has not been securely identified.
and that part of the mountain is called Ararat; and there was a city there called Semur, very great, which was destroyed by the Tartars. I have been over almost the whole of that land.
Working translation
Original wording
et vocatur pars illa montis Ararat; et fuit ibi civitas una quæ Semur vocabatur, magna valdè, quæ per Tartaros fuit destructa. Ego fui per totam terram istam, ferè.
About Tartars (Mongol armies in Armenia)
Keep in mind
He travelled the region, but the city's destruction is reported, not witnessed; the city is unidentified.
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An Armenian monastery levelled by the Tartars and rebuilt in brick
Editorial contextAt Etchmiadzin, seat of the Armenian patriarch, Chardin was told the first monastery was built by the patriarch Nerses and ruined by the Tartars, and that it had been levelled five times in all. What he saw was built of brick. Here Tartars appear as destroyers, not builders.
The first Monastery of this Church was built by Nierses the Twenty Ninth Patriarch of Armenia: This the Tartars ruin'd; and if we may believe the Chronology of the Place, it had been Five times levell'd with the Ground: It is at present built of Brick
About Tartars (Mongol and later invaders)
Continue in this sourceChardin's journey through Crimea and the Caucasus to Persia1660 to 1679 · 13 passagesThe first city after the Flood, sacked by the 'Emperor of Tartary'
Editorial contextIn Armenia the envoys reached Calmarin, a strong city in sight of Mount Ararat, which locals said was the first city built after Noah's flood. Its people told them that eight years earlier an 'Emperor of Tartary' had besieged it, broken the terms of surrender, and sacked and burned it. A few days later Clavijo passed Cusacana, 'half destroyed', which he says Toktamish, Emperor of Tartary, had ruined.
This city of Calmarin was the first city that was built in the world, after the flood, and it was built by the lineage of Noah. The people of the city said that, eight years ago, Tetani, Emperor of Tartary, besieged
About Golden Horde army ('Tetani, Emperor of Tartary')
Keep in mind
The Noah origin is local legend; the siege story continues on the next page.