Patma-Banasirakan Handes ; , Istoriko-Filologicheskii Zhurnal) is the official Armenian-language
academic journalAn academic journal is a peer-reviewed periodical in which scholarship relating to a particular academic discipline is published. Academic journals serve as forums for the introduction and presentation for scrutiny of new research, and the critique of existing research...
of the
Armenian Academy of SciencesThe Armenian Academy of Sciences is the primary body that conducts research in and coordinates activities in the fields of science and social sciences in the Republic of Armenia. It was founded on November 29, 1943...
that is responsible for publishing articles and releasing reports related to Armenian history (primarily, material related to the ancient and medieval periods),
art historyArt history has historically been understood as the academic study of objects of art in their historical development and stylistic contexts, i.e. genre, design, format, and style...
, literature, and linguistics.
PBH was established in 1958 by Armenian academician Mkrtich G. Nersisyan in
YerevanYerevan is the capital and largest city of Armenia and one of the world's oldest continuously-inhabited cities. Situated along the Hrazdan River, Yerevan is the administrative, cultural, and industrial center of the country...
(while Armenia was still a part of the
Soviet UnionThe Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
). He was the journal's first editor-in-chief and served in this position until his death in 1999. The journal is published quarterly.
Most articles that were published during the Soviet era in Armenian were appended with a Russian language abstract, while those articles published in Russian had an Armenian abstract. In recent years, following Armenia’s independence in 1991, some articles also include English abstracts.
PBH additionally publishes discussions and debates,
book reviewA book review is a form of literary criticism in which a book is analyzed based on content, style, and merit. A book review could be a primary source opinion piece, summary review or scholarly review. It is often carried out in periodicals, as school work, or on the internet. Reviews are also often...
s and also has special sections devoted to
scienceScience is a systematic enterprise that builds and organizes knowledge in the form of testable explanations and predictions about the universe...
news and
Armenian DiasporaThe Armenian diaspora refers to the Armenian communities outside the Republic of Armenia and self proclaimed de facto independent Nagorno-Karabakh Republic...
n affairs.
Its contributors over the years have come to include scholars and academicians from all over the former Soviet Union, Europe, the United States, as well as Armenians from the Diaspora. The journal occasionally publishes obituaries, biographies and notes the works of distinguished scholars who were involved in Armenian studies at the anniversary (e.g., centennial) of their births and deaths.