Expert in Armenian studies Abraham Teryan discovered a letter dating back to 4 century AD testifying to connection of the Armenian church with Jerusalem, writes Nouvelles d‘Armenie.

The letter was written by Bishop Macarius of Jerusalem who was sent to the Holy Land to supervise the construction of the Church of the Holy Sepulcher ordered by Emperor Constantine. The letter provides answers to questions asked by the newly established Armenian church about baptism and the Communion.

A letter is written in Greek with an Armenian translation (before creation of the Armenian alphabet in 406, Armenian texts were written in Greek or Syriac alphabet).

Abraham Teryan’s research on this discovery was published in 2008. For studies on the letter of Bishop Macarius, he was awarded by Armenia’s National Academy of Sciences.

Earlier, he was awarded by the Fulbright Foundation, the Council for International Exchange of Scholars and United States-Israel Educational Foundation.