Performance of the Armenian epic of 'Daredevils of Sassoun' or 'David of Sassoun'

Overview

The Armenian epic Daredevils of Sassoun recounts the story of David of Sassoun, a defiant and self-reliant youth, who by the grace of God defends his homeland in an unequal duel against the evil. The epic falls within the tradition of heroic folktales that dramatize and voice the deepest sentiments and aspirations of a nation. The epic is told in a lyrical voice with rhythmic enunciation, while separate cantos are sung in a rhyming poetic style. It is performed annually on the first Saturday of October (Epic Day holiday in some villages), during weddings, birthdays, christenings and major national cultural events. Usually the epos teller sits, wearing national costume and is accompanied on the duduk, a woodwind instrument. The epic-telling art has no gender, age or professional limitations. It is transmitted through families as a vocation, most strongly in rural communities with close...

This record is imported from the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage public dataset as discovery metadata. ARED has not independently verified community authority, access protocols or local naming beyond the source record.

Community and Authority

Communities: Armenia
Languages: Not specified in UNESCO dataset
Cultural territories: Armenia
Countries: Armenia

How the System Works

Music, Performance and Oral Literature Language, Story and Memory Material Culture, Design and Technology Ceremony, Spirituality and Cosmology Ways of Knowing and Knowledge Transmission

Sources and Evidence

Imported from UNESCO DataHub dataset ich001. Field-level provenance is retained in the record metadata.

UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage ListsDataset

Open original source record

Field-Level Provenance

title: UNESCO DataHub field title_en
preferredTitle: UNESCO DataHub field title_fr
summary: UNESCO DataHub field description_en
type: UNESCO DataHub fields type_of_element_en and type_acronym
countries: UNESCO DataHub field countries, ISO codes resolved with ISO-3166 regional metadata
categories: ARED category inference from UNESCO concepts_primary_names, concepts_secondary_names and title
relationships: UNESCO concepts_primary_names, concepts_secondary_names, type fields and World Heritage links
sourceUrl: UNESCO DataHub field http_url_en
rights: UNESCO DataHub dataset metadata license and license_url

Original Source Metadata

uuid9556543b-2ae5-4e8b-b21d-6e188d0d900c

ich_public_ref743

inscription_year2012

title_enPerformance of the Armenian epic of 'Daredevils of Sassoun' or 'David of Sassoun'

title_frL’interprétation de l’épopée arménienne « Les enragés de Sassoun » ou « David de Sassoun »

type_of_element_enRepresentative List

type_acronymRL

countriesAM

http_url_enhttps://ich.unesco.org/en/RL/00743

concepts_primary_namesEpic poetry, Oral tradition

concepts_secondary_namesBard, Costumes, Cultural events, Family, Festivals, Folk literature, Religious belief, Story telling, Vocal music, Woodwind instruments

main_image_urlhttps://ich.unesco.org/img/photo/thumb/07926-LRG.jpg

main_image_caption_enNot supplied

main_image_copyright2004 by "House of Sassoun" NGO

main_image_authorAvag Avagyan

videos

images[object Object], [object Object], [object Object]

Why This Record Is Credible

This public record is connected to 1 source and has been labelled Source Supported. ARED separates evidence sources from cultural authority so users can see both provenance and review limits.

Cultural Access

Use this as public discovery metadata only. It does not replace community authority or local access protocols.

Relationships

Epic poetry Oral tradition Bard Costumes Cultural events Family Festivals Folk literature Religious belief Story telling UNESCO representative list

Review and Corrections

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