The registers of the births, marriages and deaths of

members of the Armenian community of Jerusalem, have

been kindly made available to this project by the

Armenian Patriarchate of Jerusalem. The records currently

hosted on our website go as far back as 1840, and efforts

are being made to obtain data pertaining to earlier

generations.

The records are part of the archives of the Armenian Patriarchate of Jerusalem, and were made accessible to us through the support and encouragement of the late Archbishop Torkom Manougian, the reformist 96th Patriarch, a firm believer in "glasnost" and "perestroika" who will also be remembered for his reconstruction efforts. The records, or "domar" in Armenian, were photographed by one of Jerusalem's leading photographers, Garo Nalbandian - a labor of love that saw him painstakingly film the 250 pages of the three "domar". The registers have been converted into Portable Document Format (PDF) files that can be opened and read using, preferably, in Acrobat Reader, (available here https://get.adobe.com/reader/ ).   There are four main registers hosted on the Armenian Jerusalem website: births or baptisms, marriages and deaths, in addition to an all- in-one family tree that lists the various "kaghakatsi" clans and the direct or indirect inter-family connections of their. This particular tree depicts one whole homogenous family where everyone is related to everyone else, either directly or indirectly. Please note the database file is read-only and cannot be edited. It will display a whole "all-in-one" page view of the kaghakatsi family tree and can be zoomed in or out for easier viewing. Visitors can navigate through the tree using the family name bookmarks on the left. Private family trees, contributed to the project by some "kaghakatsis", are available for viewing only to family members at their request. We are always seeking more genealogical information about the "kaghakatsi" to fill in the gaps in the all-in-one tree, and warmly welcome and encourage all members of this unique extended family to help us in our efforts. We hope that the spirit will move all those who have yet to contribute family information, to come forth and help us preserve the great heritage of our forefathers. To assist you with your efforts, and make it easier for you, we have created a special form which can be filled in with the relevant details, and emailed to us (by pressing the SUBMIT button). The form (in two parts) can be accessed here: http://armenian-jerusalem.org/keypart1.html http://armenian-jerusalem.org/keypart2.html The information provided is entered into the database which now boasts over 3,400 names and documents the relationship of family and clan members based on information supplied by friends and relatives whose contributions are appreciated and gratefully acknowledged here.

The Kaghakatsi Armenians of Jerusalem are all related to each other, either directly or indirectly. The 20 or so clans or petty “neighboorhoods”, boasting such exotic names as “ dar el gazmarar ” (home of the book-binder), “ dar el bostaji ” (home of the postman), “ dar el hoki ” - short for “ hokezavag ” (home of the adopted son), share a common ancestry, dialect, traditions, culture and history. The Kaghakatsi family tree is the culmination of several years of research, with highly appreciated support from members of the community who contributed their personal genealogical information to help craft the tree. While there are no official Kaghakatsi demographic figures available, it is safe to assume that they numbered close to 10,000 at their peak, prior to the 1948 Arab-Israeli war. We have been able to collate details of some 3,500 Kaghakatsis, culminating in a striking homogenous chart that vividly displays the whole gamut of family relations, going back to the 1840’s.

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