The Turco-Mongol Invasions and the Lords of Armenia in the 13 ...

from it. Their principal wealth was land, and the labor
of dependent peasants living on that land .
Quite different were the lords of the Zak'arid
revival. The nobility of the early 13th century consisted
of different elements. One substantial group included
men of ambition and military talents from newly-arisen
families, who were rewarded by their Zak'arid overlords
with grants of land and/or the rights of administration
(see below). Before and after receiving lands and
villages, this category of 13th century lord derived
much wealth from booty taken during military campaigns.
Another element is referred to in the sources from the
12th century as mecatun. which means literally "of a
great House". In fact, these were men of great financial
wealth, who formed the upper class in tfce many Armenian
cities which had recuperated from the Saljuq dislocations.
These men too lacked antique pedigrees, and did not
belong to the old naxarar families. Their wealth had been
gained through trading and money-lending and, in contra-
distinction to the Arsacid lords who did not engage in
trade, a substantial part of the mecatuns' assets were in
cash. However, these merchants reinvested their
capital in land, buying not only entire estates, but
p
also shares of establishments (such as mills) . An
1 See Adontz, Armenia pp. 289-371, and Toumanoff, Studies.
pp. 33-144.
2 HAP ch. 34, B.H.Afak'elyan, "Mecatunneri k'alak'ajin
yernaxayi jevavoruma[Formation of the Mecatun Urban Upper
Stratum]« pp. 585-94.
160