Armenian Highlands: the birth place of civilization [Archive]

Armenian

08-20-2004, 01:23 PM

I hope the following information will interest you.

Based on my exposure to European and Near-Eastern research regarding genetics, archeology, mythology and linguistics, I have come to the conclusion that the aboriginal homeland of Armenians and all proto-Indo European and Aryan tribes were somewhere within the vicinity of the Armenian Highlands (eastern Anatolia, northern Mesopotamia, north eastern Iran and the southern Caucasus), more specifically, within the triangle formed by the Caspian sea, the Black Sea and the Mediterranean Sea.

Putting aside wishful thinking and fairytales propagated by self-serving "Euro-centric" White Supremists on the one hand and equally unreliable Zionist saturated academia within America and England on the other hand, there is a large body of evidence that mainstream western academia has not been exposed to yet that clearly points to the Armenian Highlands as the primordial location where civilized man as represented by Indo-European and Mesopotamian tribes first entered the pages of history.

According to Armenian and some European scholars and scientists, the following statements are either accepted as corroborated facts yet to be disproved by other discoveries elsewhere, or very likely speculation and/or theories that yet need to be corroborated through additional research. Thus, based on the evaluation of various scholarly and scientific disciplines, the Armenian Highlands are said to be:

The earliest location where metal smelting is said to have taken place.

The earliest location where agriculture is said to have been developed.

The earliest location where animal husbandry is said to have been developed.

The earliest location where wheeled transportation is said to have been implimented.

The earliest location where petroglyphs of wheels, ox carts and swastikas are depicted.

The earliest location where mankind is said to have developed a keen understanding of movements of the stars and the planets.

The earliest location where cyclopic walls and round dwelling have been unearthed.

The earliest location where some of the Babylonian, Sumerian, Iranian, Celtic, Slavic, Germanic and Greco-Roman gods and goddesses have their primordial predecessors.

The location where Babylonian/Sumerian and Hebrew sacred texts indicate the civilization/mankind was first "created."

The location where Babylonian/Sumerian and Hebrew sacred texts indicate the world was repopulated after the Great Flood.

The location where, according to Hebrew sacred scripture, God is said to have changed the languages of mankind, thus, scattering them to the far corners of the world. (in my opinion, most probably a metaphor describing the Indo-European language diffusion)

The following web-sites are related to the aforementioned statements:

Indo-European homeland, Armenian prehistoric artifacts:
http://www.armenianhighland.com/homeland/chronicle120.html

Karahunge: Armenia's "stonehenge" advent of astronomy:
http://www.tacentral.com/karahundj/karahundj1.asp

Shengavit: a seven thousand year old dwelling:
http://www.armenianow.com/2003/nove...atures/history/

Metsamor: Pre-ancient dwelling a center for metallurgy and astronomy:
http://www.tacentral.com/history/metsamor.asp / http://www.tacentral.com/astronomy.asp?story_no=3

Petroglyphs: Neolithic depictions of celestial bodies, swastikas, wheeled transportation, etc:
http://www.arminco.com/hayknet/naskal.htm / http://www.iatp.am/ara/map/index.html

Pre-historic religions within the Armenian Highlands, Armenian national gods and goddesses:
http://www.ercole.net/hayaser/religion.asp / http://www.angelfire.com/hi/Azgaser/AR.html

Virgil

08-20-2004, 02:53 PM

Armenian thats a interesting read, good stuff. :)

Armenian

08-24-2004, 06:15 PM

Olive tree was brought into Palestine from Armenia 4000 BC

Zaitounah Museum new addition to Tunisian heritage

By Naceur M'tir

SOUSSE, Tunisia, July 12 (KUNA) -- The Zaitounah (olive) Museum which was
opened recently in the eastern city of Sousse is considered a new addition
to the Tunisian cultural heritage due to the pivotal role the olive tree
plays in the lives of Tunisians and the population of the Medieterranean
region.

[...]

Gadira said that it also aims at preserving the heritage of this "blessed"
tree for future generations, noting that this tree remained steadfast before
the various civilizations which ruled Tunisia over some 3000 years like the
Berbers, Phoenicians, Byzantines, Arabs, Spaniards and Turks.

He said that the most ancient documented sources available report that the olive tree was brought into Palestine from Armenia 4000 BC and then taken by the Phoenicians to Greece and later to North Africa, particularly Tunisia.

Since the ancient times, olive oil was the choice of the elite and notables
in Tunisia and other countries of the region. It was used in religious
rituals, as a massage oil, producing perfumes and for other medical
purposes. According to the latest figures, there are an estimated 55 million olive trees stretching from the country's north to south and covering an area of nearly 1.6 million hectares or 30 percent of Tunisia's farmlands.

Tunisia is the world's second largest producer and exporter of olive oil
after EU states, mainly Italy and Spain. Article originally published by Kuwait News Agency (KUNA) 12-Jul-04

Source: http://www.kuna.net.kw/English/Story.asp?DSNO=648372

Armenian

08-24-2004, 06:17 PM

Archeologists find evidence of settlement seven thousand years old.

Excavations in the Yerevan district of Shengavit over the past two years have uncovered a city which local and some foreign archeologists believe to have been settled five thousand years before the birth of Christ. Scientists say the site has yielded some of the archeologically-richest finds in all the Caucasus, and if the dating proves accurate, it would mean that the area was settled nearly 4,000 years before the Urartus founded Yerevan. Among the unearthed remains are xxxelry, female idols, baked-clay statues, a furnace for making flint forging instruments, suggesting a developed settlement. More than 50 horse bones have been found, evidence of developed horse-breeding - a find that archeologists say is the first of its kind in the Caucasus. Shengavit is not a new site of interests for archeologists. The shapeless hill some 30 meters above the Yerevan Lake has been the focus of scientific study since 1936, when archeologist Yevgeni Bayburdyan started a two-year study there.

In 1958, excavations were renewed by a group of archeologists under the leadership of Sandro Sardaryan. After 1985, however, the area was turned into a training ground for archeological practice. It remained an archeological laboratory until last year and over the years the site itself suffered damage as a result. Research restarted in 2000, but was sporadic. But new funding from the British Embassy (about $4,000) helped the research continue since September. It is being carried out by the Armenian Center of Cultural-Historical Heritage. Two main areas have been the focus of excavation. In one, an area of about 250 square meters, evidence of brick and river-stone walls was found. In the second area, on the hill's northern side researchers found a wall surrounding the city. "The low level dwellings discovered as a result of the excavations were two-to-three meters below the ground level," says director of the Center, historian Hakob Simonyan. According to Simonyan the dwellings were built in a hurry, using available materials, not paying attention to the aesthetic side and also ignoring seismic stability.

Unlike its common first-level houses, two meters below the ground level are dwellings made of stone blocks and basalt, mortared with clay, and are of rectangular, polygonal and round shapes. "The variety of construction materials indicates that the society was divided into different social and economic groups," Simonyan says. Onyx, marble and granite staffs were found among structures that surprised scientists by their sense of aesthetics and attention to seismic stability. "A very interesting method of building the lodgings was used to resist earthquakes," Simonyan says. "Stones were attached to each other with weeds dipped into liquid clay. This made the walls more flexible and protected from the quakes."

Sanctuaries, decorated by ornamentation depicting rams, stone instruments and clay plates made with great professionalism were also found here. Obsidian stones were used for the sheep eyes, which according to ancient belief, was a symbol of protection. "This is the first case in Armenia when eyes of an animal are decorated by stones," Simonyan says. Pear-shaped barns for storing grain, with round entrances were also found. The huge, four-meter deep storages could have held four tons of wheat. A large quantity of sickles, axes, and tools for wheat milling were found in the barn areas. The principles of town-planning and house construction suggest that Shengavit was once a city. Further, remnants of a forge with nine smelts indicate an industrial settlement producing copper. Some of the artifacts have been sent to Germany, where archeologists there confirm local scientists' belief that the finding - from the bronze age - shows Yerevan to have been built not only on the basis of the ancient city of Erebuni, but also on the basis of this earlier founded habitat.

Source: http://www.armenianow.com/2003/nove...atures/history/

Armenian

08-24-2004, 06:18 PM

ONE OF MOST ANCIENT GRAINS FOUND IN SOUTH CAUCASUS AND MIDDLE ASIA FOUND IN ARMENIA

YEREVAN, JULY 27. ARMINFO. While exploring the rocks in the canyon of the river Kasakh a group of Armenian and French archaeologists has found a monument of mesolite (epipaleolite) quite unique for the South Caucasus and Middle East region, says Boris Gasparyan, the head of the group, the employee of the Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography of the National Academy of Sciences of Armenia.

Found in the Kmlo caves near the village of Apna, Aragatson region, were not only fragments of obsidian tools but also a wild wheat grain dating back from a period 10,000-8,000 years ago. If the experts confirm the age of the grain it will become one of the oldest grains ever found in the region's mesolite monuments (11,000-10,000 years ago). The discovered cultural layers are well preserved which is a good opportunity to collect enough scientific materials about the period. Despite threat of caving-in the archaeologists are going to continue the excavations. The group consists of three research teams. Besides the Kmlo caves they are exploring the traces of the man living in the areas of so called paleo lakes (middle paleolite). There they have found sites of primitive men who are assumed to do hunting, fishing and collecting.

Another group is examining the rock paintings found in the cave Gegamavan I, 1 km of the Kmlo caves. The unique paintings are in ochre - a substance said to be used only in late eneolite and early bronze (IV-III). Meanwhile the Gegamavan I paintings date back from neolite. The neolite man proves to already master the linear drawing technique. The paintings depict animals mostly deer. So the findings have shown that the rock painting traditions widely presented in the mountains of Gegama, Sunik and Aragats are older than they were thought to be. The objective of the expedition is to study the ancient history of the use of obsidian as a tool of the primitive man. Obsidian tools are widely spread over the territory of historical Armenia and perfectly characterize social-economic relations of the Stone Age. The expedition is financed by Gfoeller Foundation (US).

Source: web-link: http://www.arminfo.am/

Armenian

08-26-2004, 04:19 PM

Some fascinating analysis of pre-historic mythology and archeological remains of the proto-Armenian peoples. Within the text regarding the linguistics study you will find a brief mention of a long held theory by Armenians that claims the Angels (as in the Anglo/English) had their aboriginal homeland within the southern Caucasus prior to migrating into Europe. I admit the theory is based on a subjective linguistics premise, however, it nevertheless is very interesting. At the bottom of this post I have added a web-site regarding what Armenians call "karahunj" which is said to be an astrological observatory that resembles the one found within Stonehenge England, yet predates it by many centuries. Maybe the two prehistoric sites are connected? Maybe the theory put forth by Armenian linguists regarding the 'Anglos' are more substantial than it seems at first glance?

HAYK -- THE NATIONAL GOD OF ARMENIANS

The god Hyek (Hayk), the mighty archer, has been closely interwoven with the life of the Armenian people since times immemorial, as ancient perhaps as the hunting stage of the primeval communal society. He was the principal indigenous deity of the most prominent (central)group of the Nairian tribes that have formed the Armenian people. We know that Hyek (Hayk) is none other than Haldi and that Hyek-Haldi was a deity of fire who had taken origin from the volcanic nature of the Armenian Highland.

As mentioned earlier, Movses Khorenantsi, drawing his information from Mar Aba's book, uses a distinctive expression for Hyek:"the Yapetostean Hayk",i.e. having the nature of Yapetos-Hephaestus. Remembering that Hephaestus was a god of fire, such a characterization of Hyek appears to have taken place during the Hellenistic (Artashessian) period of Armenia when Hyek's fiery nature was still remembered. Personified as the eponymic ancestor of the Armenian people, Hyek is also described as having "very curly hair and sparkling eyes",a description that was inspired by his fiery nature and paralleled with that given to Vahagn who, too "had hair of fire...and his eyes were two suns."

In the old genealogical list preserved by Khorenatsi, Hyek is considered the son of Torgom. The origin of this name is linked with that of the city-land of Tarkuma/Tarhigama (some scholars locate this city in Hyeasa, but others who place it in the south-western regions of the Armenian Highland (see Tarkuma)), in Arme-Subaria, north of Syria (see Tarhigamani), seem to be more correct. In this connection, it might be right to point out the village of Derik, below Angel Tun-the birthplace of Angls or English, in the region of the sources of the Khabur, 40km west of Mardin.As we have seen before, Adad-Nirari-2 called this region Hark'((Harki)) which was in Armani as mentioned by Naram-Sin) mentioned in Hittite and Urartian inscriptions.

It must be recalled that Hyek is a deity, hence, he should have been considered the son of the god Tarku, the god Tork' of Armenians, whose name is radical component of the city name of Tarkuma/Tarhigama.Tork's main temple was in Aghtznik(Arme-Subaria), at the Armenian sacred city-fortress Angel-Tun(Ingalava?), now called Egil. Among Armenians Tork 'was also called Tork'Angel; Khorenatsi refers to him as Tork'of Angel, i.e.Tork' of Angelian descent.In the Old Armenian translation of the Bible, the god of the Underworld, Nergal of the Semitic text, is translated as Angel (who probably corresponds also to the Sumerian Engur, the god of the Abyss).

Thus, it becomes easier to understand why Hyek, the god of volcano (later attributed to Vahagn) is called "son of Torgom", i.e. the son of Angelian Tork,' the god of the Underworld, because both the volcano and the god of volcano originate from the underworld forces. The epic of Hyek's fight against Bel(babylonian god) provides a substantial proof that Hyek and his people were already in existence in the land called Hark', at the center of the Armenian-Nairian Highland, at the time when Bel was carrying out his raids, that is, when the mighty Assyro-Babylonian empire was seeking to expand; a proof which, unfortunately, has been overlooked by those who (wrongly) support the theory of migration of Armenian people from the Balkans...

Source:http://www.angelfire.com/hi/Azgaser/AR.html

ARMENIA'S STONEHENGE?

"These simple stones stretched out along the crest of a hill overlooking the Sissian River challenge the very dating of early astronomy and the answer to the question, "Who were the first astronomers?" If proven true, a current controversial dating of the stones at Karahundj predate England's Stonehenge, they predate the Babylonian's claim to being the first astronomers, and they confirm what some people already suspect: that Armenia is the birthplace of the zodiac, and perhaps the beginning of navigation and the concept of time..."

"It should be no surprise to anyone who knows something of Armenia's history that astronomy is such an important part of the national character. Sun symbols, signs of the zodiac, and ancient calendars predominated in the region while the rest of the world was just coming alive, culturally speaking. Egypt and China were still untamed wilderness areas when the first cosmic symbols began appearing on the side of the Geghama Mountain Range around 7000 BC..."

Source: http://www.tacentral.com/karahundj/karahundj1.asp

Virgil

08-26-2004, 06:23 PM

Armenian, nice posts. We need to reform the Armenian legion. :)

Armenian

08-27-2004, 07:33 PM

Pantheon of Armenian gods

The Armenian god or goddess is listed with the Greek equivalent deity in parenthesis.

The first god in Armenia was one of the language’s first sounds, ‘AR’, which means sun or light. As the source of life, the sun became equated with power and the supreme god. Ararat is mentioned as early as ca. 6000 BC in the Sumerian epoch poem Gilgamesh, as the land of the mountains where the gods live. The word Ararat can be divided into three words: AR-AR-AT. AR-AR being a plural form or all encompassing god; ‘AT’ being an archaic version of the Armenian word ‘hat’, which means ‘a piece of’. Thus Ararat meant ‘a piece of gods, or a piece of creation.

Early symbols for gods are closely connected with astral symbols. The first use of the sacred swastika and cross are found in ca. 20,000-15,000 BC inscriptions in the Geghama Mountain Range. Carvings dating back to ca. 8500 BCE show symbols associated with astronomy, giving them a god like prominence: the sun, moon, and constellations were thought to be deities in themselves, and astral occurrences such as an eclipse or a comet were considered communication from the gods. By the 5th millennium BC, Ancestral Armenians combined sun worship with sophisticated astronomy. They are now credited with assigning the constellations of the zodiac their design and names, and creating one of the first solar calendars based on 365 days in the year.

Also around the 5th millennium BC a series of Vishaps (Dragon Stones) began to be erected on mountainsides throughout Armenia, near water sources. At first resembling fish (dragons in Armenian were thought to be huge fishlike creatures, something like a cross between a whale and a gigantic squid), the monolithic stones were later carved with snakes, the heads of beasts, swastikas and crosses. Around 3000 BC, Ancestral Armenians had created a specific iconography and pantheon of the gods. The Armenian gods were still centered on the worship of the sun, but by the Urartian period, they resembled Mesopotamian and Egyptian deities based on animal-human combinations. Human deities emerged during the Armenian Hellenistic period. Though bearing remarkable likeness to Greek gods and goddesses, which first gave speculation as to their Greek origins, it is now thought that many of the Greek gods are actually inherited from Ancestral Armenian sources, with some coming from as far away as India. The heroic legends of Hercules, for example, were first attributed to the legend of the Armenian king-god Haik in the 3rd millennium BC.

Aramazd (Zeus) - The father of all gods and goddesses, the creator of heaven and earth. The first two letters in his name, "AR" is the Indo-European root for sun, light, and life. Aramazd was the source of earth’s fertility, making it fruitful and bountiful. The celebration in his honor was called Am'nor, or New Year, which was celebrated on March 21 in the old Armenian calendar (also the Spring equinox).

Anahit (Artemis) - The goddess of fertility and birth, in early period she was the goddess of war. By the 1st c. BCE she was the main deity in Armenia.

Nuneh (Athena) - The goddess of wisdom, common sense, motherhood and protector of the home, keeper of the family.

Vahagan (Hephaestus) - The god of thunder, clouds and fire. Comes from "Vah" -god, "Agne" - fire. Vahagan is the constellation Orion.

Astghik (Aphrodite) - The goddess of love and beauty, symbolized by skylight. She was the wife or lover of Vahagan, the god of fire and metal. She was also the goddess of water. The celebration in her honor occurred in mid June and was called Vardevar. It is still celebrated in Armenia by pouring water on unsuspecting passersby.

Ara Geghetsik - "Ara the Beautiful’- the god of spring, flora, agriculture, sowing and water. He is associated with Isis, Vishnu and Dionysus, as the symbol of new life.

Haik - a king, but in legend the father of Armenia. He slew the Babylonian god Bel, which in history was Nemruth, the Babylonian king described in the bible as attempting to build the tower of Babel. Haik’s armies invaded Babylon, and establish the kingdom from which Armenians claim their heritage. The legend of Haik is the forerunner of the legend of Hercules.

Tsovinar, Nar - The goddess of water, sea, rain. She was a fire creature, who forced the rain and hail to fall from the heavens with her fury.

Vanatur - the god of hospitality and bountiful hosts.

Tir (Apollo) - the god of literature, science and art, also an interpreter of dreams.

Tork Angegh (Aries) - the god of power, bravery, war, the military.

Aralez - One of the oldest gods in the Armenian pantheon, Aralez was a god in the form of a dog, whose powers included the ability to resurrect the dead by licking wounds clean.

Source: http://www.tacentral.com/mythology.asp?story_no=2

angelik22

08-27-2004, 07:35 PM

omg i have been looking all over for this kind of stuff- thaaaank you!!!! that was amazing!

angelik22

08-27-2004, 07:37 PM

ooooooo i remember vahagn- i used to know this whole poem about him- memorized- thanx to my teacher in 3rd grade- went something liek this-
yerknets yerkin yev yerkir
yerknets yev tsov tsiranee
yev yeghekneekee karmeer...
i forgot next line- but the rest is too long to write anyway--- i wish i could find it again!

Armenian

08-27-2004, 08:13 PM

i used to know this whole poem about him- memorized- thanx to my teacher in 3rd grade

I love the poem/song of the "Birth of Vahakn" dearly. I consider it a pre-Christian "Sharakan,"a cultural xxxel, that needs to be uttered by every self-respecting Armenian. I have even taught it to my five year old daughter. And every time she recites it, with her clear, angelic and innocent voice, it is absolutely ethereal - it transports me into another world.

I apologize for the bad transliteration, nevertheless, it goes something like this.

1) Yerkner yerkin, yerkner yerkir, yerkner yev tsoven tsirani
2) Yerkn i tsovoun ouner zkarmrikn yegheknik
3) Ent yeghegan pogh dzoukh yelaner
4) Ent yeghegan pogh pots yelaner
5) Yev i potsouyn vazer, khartiash pataneik
6) Na hour her ouner
7) Bots ouner morous
8) Yev ajkounkn eyin aregakounk

Armenian

09-04-2004, 09:24 PM

The Early History of Indo-European Languages

by Thomas V. Gamkrelidze and V. V. Ivanov

"Migrations and Cultural Diffusion carried the Indo-European proto-language from the homeland, which the authors place in the Trans-Caucasus (see Historical Armenia maps), and fragmented it into dialects. Some spread west to Anatolia and Greece, others southwest to Iran and India. Most Western languages stem from an Eastern branch that rounded the Caspian Sea. Contact with Semitic languages in Mesopotamia and with Kartvelian languages in the Caucasus led to the adoption of many foreign words."
"Linguistics, the scientific study of language, can reach more deeply into the human past than the most ancient written records. It compares related languages to reconstruct their immediate progenitors and eventually their ultimate ancestor, or protolanguage. The protolanguage in turn illuminates the lives of its speakers and locates them in time and place. The science developed from the study of the Indo-European superfamily of languages, by far the largest in number of languages and number of speakers. Nearly half of the world's population speaks an Indo-European language as a first language; six of the 10 languages in which Scientific American appears—English, French, German, Italian, Russian and Spanish—belong to this superfamily."

"Over the past 200 years, linguists have reconstructed the vocabulary and syntax of the postulated IndoEuropean protolanguage with increasing confidence and insight. They have tried to unravel the paths by which the language broke into daughter languages that spread throughout Eurasia, seeking at the origin of those paths the homeland of the protolanguage itself. The early investigators placed the homeland in Europe and posited migratory paths by which the daughter languages evolved into clearly defined Eastern or Western branches. Our work indicates that the protolanguage originated more than 6,000 years ago in eastern Anatolia and that some daughter languages must have differentiated in the course of migrations that took them first to the East and later to the West..."

Source: http://www.armenianhighland.com/homeland/chronicle120.html

Armenian

09-04-2004, 09:26 PM

World's oldest sewer system found in Van (historic Armenia)

NTVMSNBC.com
August 23, 2004

September 02, 2004 13:14:56

The find revealed a far more advanced understanding of architecture and
plumbing that had hitherto been known

August 23 - What is believed to be the world's oldest first toilet
and sewer system, dating to prehistoric times, has been unearthed in
the eastern Turkish province of Van.

The sewerage system was found by archaeologists working on excavations
at the site of a Urartian castle in Gurpinar region of eastern Turkey.

According to Professor Dr. Oktay Belli, the director of Istanbul
University's Eurasian Archaeology Institute, the find was of
particular significance. The discovery of a toilet in the western
part of Cavustepe Castle built by Urartian King Sarduri II in 764 BC
pushed back the dating for such systems, he said in an interview with
the Anatolian news agency.

"We revealed that Urartian architects had formed a sewer system before
building the castle. The toilet and sewer system in the castle is
similar to today's toilets," the professor said.

The Urartu Kingdom gave great importance to architecture," Belli said.
"Their architects used the most developed techniques of the prehistoric
period. They had built their castles in strategic areas after carrying
out ground studies. We believe that Urartu Kingdom was the first
civilisation to use toilet and sewer systems."

The Urartu Kingdom was formed in eastern Anatolia at the beginning
of the first millennium BC after the fall of the Hittite empire and
survived for three centuries.

Source: http://www.ntvmsnbc.com/news/283730.asp?cp1=1

Armenian

09-04-2004, 09:27 PM

Indo-European language tree rooted in Anatolia

By Russell Gray and Quentin Atkinson, of the University of Auckland in New Zealand

"A family tree of Indo-European languages suggests they began to spread and split about 9,000 years ago. The finding hints that farmers in what is now Turkey drove the language boom - and not later Siberian horsemen, as some linguists reckon. Russell Gray and Quentin Atkinson, of the University of Auckland in New Zealand use the rate at which words change to gauge the age of the tree's roots - just as biologists estimate a species' age from the rate of gene mutations. The differences between words, or DNA sequences, are a measure of how closely languages, or species, are related."

"Gray and Atkinson analyzed 87 languages from Irish to Afghan. Rather than compare entire dictionaries, they used a list of 200 words that are found in all cultures, such as 'I', 'hunt' and 'sky'. Words are better understood than grammar as a guide to language history; the same sentence structure can arise independently in different tongues. The resulting tree matches many existing ideas about language development. Spanish and Portuguese come out as sisters, for example - both are cousins to German, and Hindi is a more distant relation to all three."

"All other Indo-European languages split off from Hittite, the oldest recorded member of the group, between 8,000 and 10,000 years ago, the pair calculates1. Around this time, farming techniques began to spread out of Anatolia - now Turkey - across Europe and Asia, archaeological evidence shows. The farmers themselves may have moved, or natives may have adopted words along with agricultural technology. The conclusion will be controversial, as there is no consensus on where Indo-European languages came from. Some linguists believe that Kurgan horsemen carried them out of central Asia 6,000 years ago. "No matter how we [changed] the analysis or assumptions, we couldn't get a date of around 6,000 years," says Gray..."

Source: http://www.nature.com/nsu/031124/031124-6.html

IvyLipstick

09-06-2004, 12:48 PM

Armenian

09-06-2004, 07:25 PM

Armenian: the land of the sun.

Within the Armenian highlands (comprising the present territories of north-eastern Iran, eastern Turkey, south Caucasus), the sun was revered second to none. The sun was the physical manifestation of the supreme deity in the heavens. During the classical period, Aramazd (an Armenianized version of the Iranian supreme god Ahura-Mazda of Zoroastrianism) symbolized by the Zoroastrian sun/fire, was the supreme deity of the Armenian highlands. Sun worship was so profound within Armenian territories that many of its rituals and theosophies were incorporated within Armenian Apostolic Church, which was officially founded in 301 A.D. and even as late as the nineteenth century, there were isolated pockets of sun worship being practiced. Of historical importance is a medieval Armenian source (eight centuries after the conversion of Armenians to Christianity) describing a resilient Armenian sun cult whose adherents were known as "Arevorti", sons (children) of the sun (light).

It is suggested by Armenologists that even the essence of the compound word "Ar-men-ia,” implies sun worship. The prefix Ar, the first syllable of Armenia, is the primordial root word for Areg or Arev (sun). This pre-historic root word for the sun also manifests its-self as the pre-historic Armenian god Ara popularly known in Armenian historiography as Ara the Fair, the primordial god most commonly associated with agriculture and spring. The second component of the compound word men obviously designates group of people. The final component of the compound word ia designates a geographic location.

It should be noted here that the Armenian Highlands were not the exclusive location were the god Ara was revered and worshiped. According to Armenian scholars Ghapantsian and Kavookjian, the worship of the cult of Ara as they term it, could be observed within the worship of various peoples throughout the ancient Near-East and Europe. For the Urartians the deity was known as Ardi; within the Hellenic world he was known as Ares, Aras and Er, Germanic tribes recognized him as Ertag; among the Celts of Ireland he was manifested as Ir, within Georgia he was called Arali, among Slavic tribes he was know as Yar or Yarilo, within Mesopotamia Ar was worshiped as Aria and Aru. It is interesting to note at this time that the sun god Ra (Ra-Amon) of ancient Egypt might very well have been a corrupted (reversed) form of the root word of the god Ara. Ar or Ara may very well have been introduced into Egypt by the conquering Hyksos tribes who Armenian historians speculate originated somewhere within the territories of the Armenian Highlands. Thus, the compound word Armenia may very well imply – the land of the god Ar or the land of sun worshipers.

Armenian

09-08-2004, 09:17 PM

Below is an excerpt from an essay titled "The Evolution of Armenian and World Alphabets" written by an Armenian Historian named Melkon Khandjian. The essay is concerning the early culture of proto-Armenians and the very early development of civilization within the Armenian Highlands.

"Astounding archaeological discoveries and scientific research of the post two decades in Soviet Armenia and in lesser degree in Turkish occupied western Armenia, have come to establish the Armenian Highlands as the cradle of human civilization. With a unique and indigenous culture, her contributions of universal magnitude have decisively shaped the course of history and human destiny. After two billion years of evolutionary progress from pre-human species, the modern physical man appeared about 50,000 years ago. Although the origins of civilization are complex, yet modern investigations agree that the foundations of civilization building began about 9000 BC. Through the Neolithic Revolution in the highlands of Armenia and Kurdistan. Here for the first time man cultivated wheat and barley and domesticated the goat, sheep, and cattle: species of plants and animals the wild ancestors of which were native to this region. Thus, the savage hunting and food-gathering man transformed into sedentary village-city life, and through the control of his food production and acquisition of more leisure time, mankind diverted his energy and intellect to civilization making through economic, technological, religious, social, and political developments, Following the Agricultural and Animal Husbandry Revolutions, major developments followed. First, pottery making was discovered in western Armenia about 7000 BC, making possible the storage of surplus foodstuff."

"Next emerged the Technological Revolution, in the vicinity of Lake Van in Armenia, when after a million and a half years of stone age subculture, the native volcanic gloss known as obsidian was used and later exported as a material from which sharp edged and superior tools were manufactured Between 6500 and 4000 before Christ, Armenian tribesmen carried on a thriving trade by supplying obsidian to Near Eastern lands. This traffic set in motion the beginnings of trade and commerce, and o communication system, which initiated the diffusion, and exchange of economic. Cultural, and urban advances among the ancients. Thereafter, in the metalliferous Armenian highlands emerged the Metallurgical Age, when natives discovered the technique of cold working with (8000 BC) and smelting of (5000 BC) copper, and later the manufacture of bronze by addition of tin. All evidences confirm Armenia was also the birthplace for silver, brass, and iron, and her riverbeds and mines source for ancient gold. Although meteoric iron had been in use since 2500 BC the true Iron Age begins about 1400 BC, when some Armenian smelters learned how to make steel from wrought iron: a secret closely guarded for centuries. In 1963, the world's oldest metallurgical factory was excavated at Metzamor, in Soviet Armenia, doted beyond 4000 years ago and containing over 200 furnaces."

"Although wheels and carriages had been known for some time, the invention of the first practical wheeled vehicles -- the cart and the chariot -- seem to have token place in the vicinity of Lake Sevan in Soviet Armenia circa 3000 BC. After taming of the horse around 2500 BC, probably in Eurasia, this swift animal replaced the slower moving oxen as the driving power. The development of the lightweight, horse drown chariot revolutionized long distance transport and warfare, which under the Hyksos in 1730 BC, made possible the establishment of the world's first empire. Of paramount importance to the evolution of religion and political and social order is the birth of astrology the understanding of the movements of the heavenly bodies and their relationship to earth and its life cycles. Modern research concludes that since the Zodiac signs represent animals native only to ancient Armenia and east Asia Minor, and that the arrangement of the stars in the constellation are such as if viewed from an area around the 40th parallel; therefore, the sciences of astrology, as well as alchemy and medicine, have their origins in Armenia. The recent discovery in Soviet Armenia of 5000-year-old triangular, three story astronomical observatory where the star Sirius was worshipped (just as in Egypt) adds strength to the above conclusion. Ancient peoples believed that mankind evolved in Armenia, built a high civilization, but was destroyed by a great flood, offer which the remnants spread to Oil directions Modern geology supports the view of a catastrophic local flood. Mythology and traditions of nations of antiquity confirm this belief. The Holy Bible places the Garden of Eden in Armenia and the genesis of human races around Mount Ararat upon which landed Noah’s Ark."

Armenian

09-17-2004, 08:34 PM

Armenian Religion During the Pre-Christian Era

Similar to all the pre-historic nations, Armenians, during their Pre-Christian era worshiped the nature, the elements, spirits, eponymous and other legendary heroes and a number of gods. We can divide the Armenian pre-Christian era into three periods.

Period of nature worship:

During this time, Armenians had nature gods and worshiped the elements. Consequently they worshiped.- The mountains. Armenia being mountainous, Armenians worshiped the mountains in a special way and particularly the volcanoes. Massis, Arakatz, Krkour, Gortuk, Nebad, Varak, Sipan and Nemrout are some of them. It is noteworthy that Armenians had devoted particular days of the months to the above mentioned "mountain-gods". The trees and the flowers. Special place among Armenians' nature gods had the poplar and the plane-tree. The worship of the plane-tree had a special significance for Armenians.

In the valley of Mount Ararat (near Armavir city) a wood of plane-trees was planted, which unfortunately has not been preserved till nowadays. Armenians believed, that their priests (Kourms) could foretell the future or that they could communicate with the spirits of their ancestors by listening to the rustling of leaves. The offer of royal family boys to the plane-tree, called "sosanver", is also mentioned The water. Armenia also being full of water Armenians worshiped the very essential element for life, water.

They worshiped the rain, the flood, the water spring, the river, the lake and the sea. The lakes Sevan and Van and the rivers Arax, Yeprad, Dikris, Tzorokh and Gour were some of the worshiped "nature gods". The animals. Some of the animals worshiped by Armenians are the sheep, the pig, the cow, the horse, the dog, the cat, the mouse, the frog, the eagle, the crane, the stork, the swallow, the chicken, the xxxx, the lion, the bear, the wolf, the bull and the snake or dragon. The sun and the moon. Armenians had so deep faith to the sun that even after their conversion to Christianity they continued worshipping the sun, for some time. The planets and the stars. Together with the sun and the moon, Armenians worshiped the rest of the planets of the solar system, naming the days of the week after them. Armenians worshiped also our galaxy -the Milky Way-, and the rainbow. During this period the Armenians paid their respects mostly in the forest.

Period of spirits' and heroes' worship:

In the following centuries the Armenians started worshipping invisible and imaginary spirits and heroes. According to the Armenians these spirits belonged to their ancestors and to various nature elements and they were distinguished to "good" and "evil". They lived in water or on land having human, animal or both human and animal appearance. "The Braves", were good spirits. The most famous of them were those who inhabited at the foot of Massis (an other name for Mt. Ararat) and were vengeful spirits against bad people. The Haralez (Arlez or Aralez), were good spirits, having dog-form appearance who, by licking the wounds of dead brave soldiers, brought them back to life.

The Armenians continued worshipping the "Haralez"s for some time even after their conversion to Christianity. The Vishap (Dragon), was an evil and harmful spirit having various appearances.(Big snake, big fish) The Haverzahars, the nymphs, were good spirits protecting the women. They lived in beautiful places. Beside the mentioned spirits, the Armenians also worshiped others such as the.- Barig, Bai, Hamparou, Nhunk and Shahabed. In time, after the conversion to Christianity at 301AD, the spirits turned to either angels or demons.

The Pagan period:

During the 5th century BC Armenians adopted the Iranian form of these divinities and domesticated them. The principal gods Armenians worshiped were.- Aramazd, the father of the gods, the creator of the sky and the earth. Anahid, daughter of Aramazd, goddess of fertility and maternity, mother of all prudence and virtues. She was the favorite goddess of the Armenians. Her statue in Yeriza was golden. Vahakn, the god of fire, power and bravery. These three divinities constituted the "trinity". Mihr (of iranian origin), the son of Aramazd, god of light and sun. Dir, the god of rain.

He was also the scribe of Aramazd and the messenger of the gods. He was mosthe messenger of the gods. He was most likely the god of literature, science and the recorder of man's deeds of good and evil. One of his duties was to record the dead and take them near Aramazd. Astghik, the goddess of water, beauty, love and fertility. She was the mistress of Vahakn. Armenians used to celebrate, in order to honor Astghik, they offered her roses (vart in Armenian - therefore the celebration was called "Vartavar"), they let doves fly and sprinkled water on each other. Armenians still celebrate "Vartavar", having adopted it to a christian custom.

Nanne, daughter of Aramazd and the goddess of the sky, she Aramazd and the goddess of the sky, she represented the mind and the bravery. Parshamin (of syrian origin), the god of the sky and Vanadour, the god of germination and fruit bearing. During this period, Armenians built temples the "mehian"s. In these temples there were statues of the god or goddess for whom the temple was built, and in front of the statues there was the altar, called Pakin, where offerings were made to the god or goddess. There was also a special place called kantsaran (something more or less like a safe), where the gifts from the people were kept.

The priests were called kourm. In Armenia there were a lot of temples. However, only seven of them were the most famous. Armenians gathered there every year to worship. Those are The Temple of Aramazd, in Ani and Pakavan, the Temple of Anahid, in Yeriza and Ardashad, the Temple of Mihr, in Pakaraidz, the Temple of Dir, in Yerazamuin, the Temple of Astghik, in Ashdishad, where there were also the Temples of Vahakn and Anahid, the Temple of Nane, in Til and the statue of Parshamin in Tortan. All these temples were ruined during the 4th century by St. Gregory the Illuminator.

Source: http://www.ercole.net/hayaser/religion.asp

Hayq

09-18-2004, 08:22 PM

Virgil

09-18-2004, 08:45 PM

If we are talking about the roots of European civilization, then perhaps Armenia is. But, there has been earlier civilizations such as China.

Around what year was this? There was probably no OFFICIAL Armenian back then, just our many tribes.

The "official" birth of China is dated at around 233 BC when the Qin dynasty united the Chinese provinces. However, the "official" birth of the Armenian nation is dated around 550 BC when Darius (Persian King) list the Armenians as one of the people he conquered.

Armenian

09-18-2004, 10:13 PM

If we are talking about the roots of European civilization, then perhaps Armenia is. But, there has been earlier civilizations such as China. Around what year was this? There was probably no OFFICIAL Armenian back then, just our many tribes.

My friend: this thread is concerning the birth of advanced civilization that spread worldwide from the Armenian Highlands. During the time in question only proto-Armenians were around (tribes that eventually became the Armenian nation). These proto-Armenian tribes were loosely organized groups of people who spoke a language that eventually became know as Armenian during the classical period. We Armenian are essentially a conglomeration of these various tribes that lived in Asia Minor, Caucasus and Europe in pre-history.

Please read some of the information I have posted within this thread, it will answer some of your questions. Nevertheless, based on archeological, linguistic, folkloric and anthropological evidences available today, the Armenian Highlands and the Caucasus are the epicenter of world civilization - especially of European civilization.

Although most Armenians today are only familiar with the modern or classical history of our nation, Armenian folklore, nevertheless, goes back many thousands of years. Moreover, certain archeological sites revealing organized and advanced settlements within the Republic of Armenia, such as Metsamor, Shenkavit, Zorats Karer (and various other ones found throughout Asia Minor and the Caucasus) predate anything yet unearthed anywhere within the world as to date - including China and Egypt.

In your reference to China, you were most probably referring to the finding of primitive settlements and/or manmade tools there that may predate a site like Metsamor for instance. In that case, there are such "primitive" sites within Yerevan alone that are dated to be around a hundred thousand years old. Again, the point of this thread is to reveal that the first civilized settlements, where there was technological advancement such as building construction, astronomy/theology, metallurgy, animal husbandry and agriculture, are found within our ancestral lands. By stating this, however, I am not in any way giving "Armenians," as per say, credit for starting civilization - our lands yes, our people no.

Incidentally, there is no such thing as the "official founding" of the Armenian nation in 550 BC (sorry Virgil) - that particular date, in essence, signified the later stages of the development of the Armenian nation. Nevertheless, prior to that time period, the proto-nations of Hayasa, Nairi, Armani, Mushki, Mittani and Urartu were names under which Armenians were known for centuries.

Virgil

09-18-2004, 10:44 PM

Incidentally, there is no such thing as the "official founding" of the Armenian nation in 550 BC (sorry Virgil) - that particular date, in essence, signified the later stages of the development of the Armenian nation. Nevertheless, prior to that time period, the proto-nations of Hayasa, Nairi, Armani, Mushki, Mittani and Urartu were names under which Armenians were known for centuries.

Armenian I agree with you, but my point was that if you look at "western" history books they usually state that "around 600 BC the Proto-Armenians migrated into what is now known as Eastern Turkey and mingled with the indigenous population" and say something like "the first recorded account of the Armenian people is when Darious placed them under the list nations he conquered". My point is that if you use "technicalities" then Armenians are "officially" older then the Chinese by about 300 years. Yes, the Chinese existed prior to that date, but not as unified group of people.

Hayq

09-20-2004, 06:47 PM

Armenian

09-20-2004, 08:31 PM

A civilization is usually considered to be large cities, a government, a written code of law, etc...if we can not find these documents, then we do not have nothing but theories. Egypt and Babylon were civilizations. I always believed that Armenians lived more like the Nords, in scattered clans...at least that is what i have read.

Generally speaking, Armenians, due to the topography of the Armenian Highlands, did live in scattered clans. However, just because something is not yet discovered does not mean that it does not exist. Just because something was lost or destroyed does not mean it did not exist. Nevertheless, you need to read the "documents" of Urartians, Hittites and Sumerians - all of whom were essentially proto-Armenians. Besides which, the city states of Metsmor and Shenkavit, along with various other ones found throughout Anatolia and the Caucasus, are, as of this date, considered to be the oldest centers of organized civil society.

I suggest you do some reading. There are various Armenian works by scholars such as Ghapantsian, Adonts, Djahukian, Kavukjian, Khanzadian, Tormanian and Adjarian and non-Armenian sources such as Sayce, Powell, Toynbee, Kramer, Ivanov, Diakonoff, Gamkrelidze and Conway that cover the regional (Asia Minor, Caucasus, Mesopotamia) folklore, archeology, linguistics and anthropology. Based on the works of the aforementioned international scholars (and others I cannot recall at his time), it is clear that civilization first took root within our ancestral lands. This thread has nothing to do with my Armenian Nationalism - because the during time in question, the Armenian nation, as we know it, did not exist.

Listen, if you here just to argue with me - please don’t. I want to discuss this with people who are genuinely interested in this topic. However, if you are interested, please carefully read the articles I have posted along with the web-sites I have provided, there is a mountain of information regarding the Armenian Highlands that are only now beginning to reach western academia.

Incidentally, what do you think about Moses? Yes, the Eyptian xxx that saved his people from bondage. I will tell you why I am asking this after you answer my question.

Virgil

09-20-2004, 10:25 PM

Armenian from what I know about Moses is that he never existed, but ten bucks says if he did exist, he was Armenian. :laugh:

Armenian

09-21-2004, 10:21 PM

Armenian from what I know about Moses is that he never existed, but ten bucks says if he did exist, he was Armenian. :laugh:

Baron Virgil:

Why did you have to ruin it for me!!! :mad: My question was mean to be a rhetorical trap.

The Moses story being a mere fable was my exact point. Armenians tend to swear by other peoples histories, but when it comes to our own - it get put under an electron microscope.

It all just pathetic. There is so much self-hate and ignorance within our communities.

It was good to hear from you.

Virgil

09-21-2004, 11:38 PM

Baron Virgil:

Why did you have to ruin it for me!!! :mad: My question was mean to be a rhetorical trap.

The Moses story being a mere fable was my exact point. Armenians tend to swear by other peoples histories, but when it comes to our own - it get put under an electron microscope.

It all just pathetic. There is so much self-hate and ignorance within our communities.

It was good to hear from you.

Armenian I know what you mean. The history of the Hebrews (Hebrews not xxxs) will survive through Christians, Muslims, and xxxs. Mostly, Christians and Muslims, but in general ALL of us are somewhat colonized Hebrews. We learn about, record, and ultimilty pass down their history. Thousands of years from now, when the world has again fallen into the "dark ages", mankind will remember the Hebrews.

Now, In no way am I implying that the ideas present in the Christian religion is "xxxish" and what I mean by that is that the entire "one god" concept originated from civilizations that are MUCH older then the Hebrews. The entire bible is just a recycling of ancient beleifs. However, that does not mean it is not a part of history and because most of the information in that book is the "Hebrew" account of things, the Hebrews (xxxs for arguments sake) take the credit. It is the equivalent of me taking the homework of my dead classmate and putting my name on it.

Anyways, yes, I know what you mean. Armenians have a "rich" history, but yet nobody really pays attention to it and when they do you have other Armenians trying to discredit him or her. It is a really pathetic cycle, I mean, here you have this group of people that have a city "older then Rome", but because they are devoid of any sort of nationalism don't really care or try to put up a fake facade of "were better then that".

What I don't get is why is it ok for the Chinese to make a movie entitled "Hero", which basically is about the unification of China, but yet Armenians canabalize other Armenians for their opinions on our history? Armenian I know that you understand what I am talking about seeing as to how it happend to you on the "other forum". Did you notice how quickly Armenians got on your case? It is like they hate being known for somthing outside the "genocide", hell, you have Armenians that refer to the xxxish holocaust as the "Shoah". Now if you are wondering why this is ridiculous, let me explain, by refering to the holocaust as the "Shoah" you make it out to be some "special" tragedy that only xxxs experienced, thus, your basically promoting the very idea that downplays the significance of the Armenian Genocide.

In short, through out time Armenians have been shoting themselves in the foot. From the day that our ancient temples were destroyed till now, we as Armenians, have brought everything upon ourselves.

Armenian

09-25-2004, 05:54 PM

The civilizing influence of Ararat (the name for the Armenian state one thousand BC)

The civilizing influence of Ararat was widespread. It reached even such distant peoples (geographically and chronologically) as the Etruscans, the Greeks and the Achaemenid Persians (who were greatly influenced by the cultural heritage of the Kingdom of Ararat). The nomadic Scythians and Cimmerians and the semi-civilized Iranians states no doubt regarded the Armenian officials and army officers of Ararat as the representatives of one of the most highly civilized countries; and as prisoners of war, slaves or as soldiers serving in the armies of Ararat, they witnessed the luxurious life led by the aristocracy and the relatively high standard of living of the people in the great cities and fortresses of Ararat such as Tushpa (Biaina-Van, the capital of the kingdom), Erebuni (modern Yerevan), Argishtikhinili (Armavir), Menuakhinili, Teishebaini (Karmir Bloor, in the confined boundaries of modern Yerevan).

The abundant deposits of iron, copper, tin, lead and silver in Armenia were generally employed in the service of various manufacturers. The ancient Greeks regarded Armenia as the land were iron was first smelted by the tribe of Armenians named Khaldi (the name refers to the supreme god of Ararat Khaldi and is another substitution for the Armenian name Haik, the legendary forefather of the Armenian nation, who in later centuries was also worshiped as an ancestral god).

Weapons of war and certain agricultural implements, especially plowshares, were made of iron. The rock-hewn fortresses were fashioned with iron tools. It was not until Sargon's reign in Assyria, (722-705B.C. that iron replaced bronze extensively in Assyria, the change most probably being due to Sargon's extent of military and economic contacts with Ararat, where he must have seen the great advantages of the use iron over bronze, both in military and as well as economic aspects. Sargon also made an inscription of a raid made on the sacred temple of Musasir-Ardini, where he and his army were amazed by the richness and abundance of finest and precious artifacts (more then 330,000 objects large and small) of gold, silver and precious stones; as well as ivories and bronzes, rare textiles and embroideries.

The Assyrians, barbarously plundered looted and melted down the great statues of gold and silver, the temple, which in itself was a marvelous architectural column structure (the proto-type of Greek-Doric temples) Armenia was also the first producer of bronze (Armenian highlands are dotted with hundreds, if not thousands of, bronze-smelting foundries). This abrupt Assyrian raid (and sacrilegious pillaging of divine Musasir) resulted in the renewal of hostilities between Ararat and Assyria and by the retaliatory invasion of Ararat's army (at its height 300,000 strong) deep into the Assyrian territory. The two metals, the alloy of which produces bronze (92 per cent copper: 8 per cent tin), were found together in Armenia and Northern Syria (historically part of the Armenian kingdom of Mitanni) and not in Mesopotamia.

From about 2500 B.C. experiments with alloys of bronze and lead showed that the addition of 5-10 per cent lead to bronze alters its properties when molten, yet it does not impair its strength as a metal for the manufacture of tools and weapons. The advantage of adding lead to copper and tin is that the alloy becomes much less viscous at low temperatures and pours more freely into moulds of fine and intricate patterns. A splendid copper bison of superb workmanship, depicting one of the three main species in ancient Babylonia, now extinct, was found near Lake Van, dated 2300 BC. The Summerians (Suberian, from Arme-Subria) "settlers" from the Armenian highlands and Northern Mesopotamia carried the great culture of Ararat (Aratta, as they called it) to the lower Mesopotamia and there established cities such as Ur and Uruk (both of which carry and derive their name from the sacred Armenian Ar-Ur prefix). The Cretans too, were greatly affected and influenced by the rich heritage of Ararat and imported artifacts from the Kingdom of Biaina.

Interestingly enough most of the artifacts of the great Araratian culture and craftsmanship are to be found in foreign countries that imported Araratian artifacts and goods. At the Zenith of its power (800-743 B.C.) Ararat occupied the Mediterranean port of Poseidon, at the mouth of the River Yervand (Orontes), whence its bronze and iron articles (among other goods), dispatched from Tushpa, and elsewhere, through Carchemish, were shipped via Rhodes or Samos, Corinth and Delphi; or Cyprus and Crete to Italian peninsula; or overland, via Phrygia and the Ionian cities on the coast, to Samos and mainland Greece.

The Araratian bronzes (statuettes, pottery, cauldrons, weaponry etc.) that were shipped abroad were copied extensively by the smiths of the importing countries. Those commercial relationships even helped to mould the art of Classical Greece. It is only in recent years that archaeologist have been able to study and assess the significance of Ararat finds, of which many pieces are of great artistic and historical merit in respect to their significant world contribution. An eminent British scholar, Leonard Woolley wrote, "the most original and the most fruitful contribution to art was made by the metal-workers of Ararat (Urartu)" (Mesopotamia and the Middle East, London 1961). The flowering of Araratian art coincided with the period of Ararat's military greatness in the eighth century BC when the Araratian Empire included central and eastern Anatolia, extensive provinces in Syria, and northern Mesopotamia, when Assyria had to yield the status of the super power to Ararat.

Source:
http://www.armenianhighland.com/ararat/chronicle301.html
http://www.armenianhighland.com/ararat/chronicle302.html

Armenian

09-29-2004, 12:48 PM

Ethereal origins of the Swastika

The Swastika was recognized a few years back as the most recognizable symbol of the twentieth century. Needless to say, the Swastika’s recognition was due to the symbols unfortunate association with atrocities committed during the Second World War. Nevertheless, the symbol has a much deeper history that has fascinated people throughout the ages, a history that goes back to the genesis of human cultural evolution. The name Swastika itself, is an ancient Indian Sanskrit term, suggested by linguists to mean either “illumines being” or “good being.” This eight pointed geometric symbol suggesting a celestial body, has traveled great distances world-wide with Indo-European (Aryan) tribes to whom it seemed to have played a sacred role.

It is imperative for the reader to consider that the superficial term “Swastika” and what it specifically meant to the Sanskrit Indians should not be understood as exclusive reality. The Swastika, before and after it entered ancient Sanskrit culture, had numerous other connotations and renderings that have been revered by various ancient cultures worldwide. Thus, the term Swastika should not exclusively be connected with Sanskrit, and more importantly, it should not be exclusively connected with the traditional form made infamous during the Second World War. However, for the lack of a better term, I shall continue referring to the symbol as Swastika.

Throughout, the cultural evolution of humankind, the Swastika has been prominently depicted within innumerable forms. From the Celtic isles to the Aztec jungles; from the eastern Asian steppes to the Egyptian desert; the Swastika has been one of mankind’s most resilient and versatile symbols. The Armenian highland (also known as historic Armenia and/or Asia Minor comprising the territories of eastern Turkey, northern Mesopotamia, north-western Iran and southern Caucasus) are home to a vast amount of petroglyphs (rock carvings) dating back to the early Neolithic era. Amongst these primitive depictions by early man, the Swastika, within its various forms, is prominent. However, where did this popular symbol originate? How did this symbol come to appear within various cultures as divers as Celtic and Aztec? And, what did this most mysterious of symbols represent?

The key to understanding these questions lie in determining where Aryan tribes originated and what was their association to the symbol. The answers to aforementioned questions lie primarily within the realms of archeology and linguistics. Many prominent Armenian academicians such as Adontz, Adjarian, Kavookjian and Jahoukian as well as international ones such as Gamkrelidze, Ivanov and Renfrew agree that the general territories of the Armenian highlands might very well have been the original homeland of the “proto” Indo-European tribes prior to their yet unexplained mass migration east and west.

Furthermore, classical Armenian, which is still used today within liturgical services of the Armenian Church, is considered by Armenian and International linguists alike, as a language that most closely resembles the theorized reconstruction of the proto Indo-European language spoken by Aryan tribes prior to their migrations. Moreover, the Armenian highlands, situated immediately north of Mesopotamia, were home to revolutionary inventions such as iron smelting, animal husbandry, agriculture and horse drawn carriages among many others. These aforementioned developments have been most commonly associated with Aryan tribes by archeologists. As an additional case in point, Mesopotamian tales regarding the origins of humanity implicate the Armenian highlands as its genesis. Various Mesopotamian tales regarding the emergence and subsequent spread of civilization such as the stories regarding the Garden of Eden, the Great Flood and the Tower of Babel, adopted, refined and passed on to us by Judaism, contain telltale signs of the actual birth of civilization within the region and the subsequent spread of it worldwide, now known as the Indo-European diffusion.

Moreover, extensive archeological research conducted within the region is revealing that the first progeny of Mesopotamian culture, the Sumerians, were at least partially of Indo-European and who had migrated into the Fertile Crescent from their mountainous homeland to the north. Moreover, Sumerians believed their gods dwelt within the Armenian highlands, which incidentally, explains why they constructed enormous “manmade mountains” known as Ziggurats as their holy temples. The aforementioned theories, long held by Armenian linguists and archeologists, are gradually gaining international validity as more and more specialists within the field are realizing the intellectual futility of placing the original homeland of the Proto Indo-Europeans within Central Europe and/or southern Ukraine.

Hence, considering the extensive research conducted by Armenian scholars coupled with contemporary developments within linguistics and archeology, it would be a logical conclusion that the vicinity of the Armenian highlands, home to the earliest civilization, was also the original home of the Indo-European and, thus, it’s most sacred symbol, the Swastika. Armenian highlands are also home to some of the most beautifully evolved medieval and modern forms of the Swastika.

It has been established that the origins of the Swastika lies within veneration of a sun deity. Veneration of the sun as a symbol of the universal supreme deity was very probably the most prominent form of worship practiced by early man. The rituals and iconography of sun worship has proven to be one of humanities most resilient. This sun deity was especially revered by Armenians throughout history and was considered the physical manifestation of the all-powerful and eternal God. Sun worship has been the most resilient of all faiths on earth and certain aspects of which still survives today within Christianity. It is quite easy to see why this great solar body, humankinds only source of light, and thus, life, must have generated great awe and reverence within the psychology of early man.

Throughout the three to four thousand years of Armenian cultural evolution, the Swastika has been widely depicted, by ever changing forms within the secular and sacred arts, even to this day. It is interesting to note that according to the suggestions of some Armenian scholars, the Armenian alphabet, a unique alphabet founded in 406 A.D. by a group of scholars lead by the monk Mesrob Mashtots, is believed to have more than a few characters derived from various forms of Armenian petroglyphs including the Swastika. However, there is no way to confirm whether this was a deliberate effort on the part of the monks or whether it came about subconsciously, perhaps through their environmental exposure to such types of symbols that were ever popular within the ancient world.

Due to the mass migrations of the Indo-European tribes out of their homeland within the Armenian highlands, the sacred symbol of the Swastika was taken across the Iranian plateau into the Indian sub-continent where it became a prominent part of Sanskrit culture and was later entered into Tibetan iconography. Thereafter, depictions of the symbol began to appear within various cultures of the Orient, Near-East and the European continent. It is fascinating that some forms the Swastika have even surfaced within the folk-art of Mesoamericans. It is theorized that the Aztec symbol was either a coincidental result stemming from common human creative expressions or, more probably, adopted by tribes somewhere within the Asian continent from where it was taken into the American continent.

The ethereal significance of the Swastika was most regrettably corrupted by the Nazi party during the Second World War, probably for eternity. Armenia is probably the only nation today where the symbol of eternity, the direct descendent of the Swastika, is a prominent and integral part of artistic expression and spiritual symbolism. It would not be a stretch of the imagination to claim that the Swastika is the oldest sacred symbol on earth and, moreover, a symbol that represents the very genesis of human cultural development. Accordingly, the Swastika belongs to all the nations, not just to those of Indo-European heritage. It is a symbol profound in its antiquity, beauty and allegorical significance. It transports us into the psyche early man and takes us to the beginnings of human existence. It is a sacred symbol our primordial ancestors used to convey their awe and admiration of God’s creation.

Armenian

10-06-2004, 07:49 PM

Armenia’s Cradle of Civilization

Armenia’s ‘Fertile Crescent’ was located in two places: at the headwaters of the Euphrates and Tigris, and along the Arax River, its tributaries a series of liquid ribs along a central Ararat spine. Within the Ararat Valley lies a smaller crescent of land, still bearing the marks of vast marshlands and forests that once covered the entire valley floor. As you wander through this area, you can spot sudden eruptions of the terrain, hills that seem to appear from nowhere. They do not ‘fit’ the contour of the land. These are the remains of the first urban civilization to leave its imprint on the ancient Armenian world: they are the sentinels of the Metsamor Kingdom, the ‘Cradle of Armenian Civilization’.

The oldest settlement found in Armenia is a 90,000 BC Stone Age settlement in suburban Yerevan. From then through the Paleolithic period, proof of human settlement is scattered between cave dwellings and stone inscriptions on the Geghama Lehr. Suddenly, at the end of the Mesolithic period, a complex web of cities and fortified settlements appeared throughout the Ararat valley, only handfuls of which have been excavated. But enough have been uncovered to show a startlingly developed culture that rivaled the Mesopotamian urban cities, and in the area of astronomy, led the way. Between 7000 and 4000 BC, this series of cities appeared at evenly placed spots in this crescent, all of them built around the metal industry.

The inhabitants were the first known to forge copper and bronze; and are the first recorded to successfully smelt iron. The metal ore mined in this area was among of the purest in the world, and the natives shaped their culture around it. They believed the technique for forging metal was given to them from the heavens, and their temples combined metal idols with sophisticated stone observatories that charted the night sky. The first recorded astronomers, they were the earliest to create a calendar that divided the year into 12 segments of time, among the first to devise the compass, and to envision the shape of the world as round.

The successful smelting of bronze (along with gold, silver and magnesium) and the mining of precious gems transformed an agrarian civilization into to an urban one. The first signs of fortified cities are traced to this era, beginning with the excavation at Metsamor (a thriving trade culture by 5,000 BC, and with many more strata to be uncovered, conjectured to be as old as 10,000 BC in its first incarnation). Other 5th millennium cities include Dari Blur (Armavir), Aratashen Blur, AdaBlur and Teghut. In the 4th millennium BC the cyclopic walls of Lechashen had been erected by Lake Sevan, while in the Ararat valley cities at Shengavit, Aigevan and Aigeshat were established. By 3000 BC a large kingdom was established around Metsamor with additional cities at MokhraBlur Jerahovit, Lejapi Blur, Kosh and Voski Blur (Voski means “golden” in Armenian).

Shengavit is distinct among the cities in Armenia for its use of round shaped dwellings made from river stones and mud brick. The artifacts found at Shengavit (ca. 5000-3000 BC) include black-varnished, red and gray pottery, in geometric patterns similar to those used in the Minoan culture. The culture had distinctive religious beliefs revolving around the sun and planets, reflected in burial artifacts found at the sites.

Ancestral Armenians developed a trading culture at a very early time. To do that, they needed to understand and create a system of navigation. Longitude, latitude, distance and direction had to be calculated for any trip farther than across a few mountains. Artifacts uncovered at Metsamor come from as far-flung cultures as those in Central Asia, Mesopotamia, the Black Sea and the Mediterranean. Others include navigational tools, inscribed in stone and accurately mapping the night sky. In Sissian, an astral observatory built from stone shows an incredibly sophisticated knowledge of the universe way before the Babylonians—which used to be thought the first astronomers—had built their first city...

Source: http://www.tacentral.com/history.asp#

garegin

10-07-2004, 03:55 PM

Armenian

10-07-2004, 08:55 PM

lets give up the animalistic hedonism of the people who lived in the dark.

What's animalistic is your gutteral, almost primoridal, reaction to my posts. Moreover, your quote is ample evidence of the utter darkness your soul seems to be drowning in.

This thread has nothing to do with my reverence towards "paganism" - it must be your small twisted demonic mind that is seeing such things. This thread has to do with the various influences the Armenian Highlands had upon its surrounding cultures during ancient times - nothing else. Thus, I can only deduce that you are another one of the hopeless self-hating ignorant Armenians who have no life but to go around criticizing everything any anything that is Armenian.

You are either a troubled Jehovah witness (I know many, they are all psychological basket cases) or an ignorant xxx-loving protestant. Regardless of your psychological, emotional and intellectual problems, realize that the pagan heritage of us Armenians is just as glorious as our Christian heritage.

Moreover, get this through your thick head - Christianity is, in essence, a non-Hebraic "pagan" faith system - theologically, philosophically and ethically. When I meet little children like you I always tell them to learn about Pythagoras, Mithraism, Zoroastrianism and Buddha in order to better understand Christianity and better appreciate Christ.

IvyLipstick

10-09-2004, 02:01 AM

sun worwish is wack. im am strobgly against incorporating pegan rituals in the church. why cant u leave ur stinking haloween and vardavar behind. armenians are far away from the times when people couldnt "give up" their pegan ways. the old way should be forgotten instead of remembered amd honored. lets give up the animalistic hedonism of the people who lived in the dark.
Uhhh HALF WIT it was not just Armenians that were pagans all we are doing now is just conceding what was happening back in the ancient days and times before and why can't you spell right? Surprised you can use your cpu.

garegin

10-10-2004, 11:38 AM

my keyboard empoys an intel procesor that was made during the manhatten project. :)

sleuth

10-10-2004, 03:03 PM

Moreover, get this through your thick head - Christianity is, in essence, a non-Hebraic "pagan" faith system - theologically, philosophically and ethically. When I meet little children like you I always tell them to learn about Pythagoras, Mithraism, Zoroastrianism and Buddha in order to better understand Christianity and better appreciate Christ.

*The whole conception of an eternal world, revealed to the intellect but not to the sense* (Pythagoras)

And PLATO'S theory of creation:

*Good God who created an eternal world by turning disorder into order. God put intelligence into the soul, and the soul into man. However, real knowledge could not be gained through the senses* based on Pythagorean belifes.

Armenian you are very well informed :)

Great contribution.Thank you

garegin

10-11-2004, 05:02 AM

you can keep pounding your jimmi hendrix deism. :rolleyes:

Armenian

10-11-2004, 10:38 PM

BIBLICAL RESEARCH BIBLICAL ARCHAEOLOGY

"The great majority of the cultivated plants of the world trace their origin to Asia. Out of 640 important cultivated plants, about 500 originated in Southern Asia. In Asia alone we have established five of the principle regions of cultivated plants.... The fifth region of origin in Asia is the Southwestern Asiatic centre and includes Asia Minor, Trans-Caucasia, Iran and Western Turkmenistan. This region is remarkable, first of all, for its richness in numbers of species of wheat resistant to different diseases...There is no doubt that Armenia is the chief home of cultivated wheat. Asia Minor and Trans-Caucasia gave origin to rye which is represented here by a great number of varieties and species....

Source: http://www.accuracyingenesis.com/biblicalresearch.html

Wheat Domestication and Evolution:

I have been focusing on studies of origin and evolution of Triticum species. In collaboration with Dr. J. Dvorak and other colleagues, RFLPs, SSRs and DNA sequencing have been employed in studies of domestication of emmer and evolution of almost of all the wheat species, including some special forms of cultivated species. Our results showed that T. aestivum originated in Transcaucasia, most likely in Armenia from hybridization between a tetraploid wheat and Ae. tauschii. It is generally believed that the tetraploid parent was cultivated emmer (T. turgidum ssp. dicoccum). Our results suggest a provocative possibility that the A and B genome genepool of T. aestivum was modified by hybridization of T. aestivum with wild emmer. The geographic distribution of the diagnostic alleles in the T. aestivum genepool suggests that this hybridization occurred in Turkey.

Source: http://agronomy.ucdavis.edu/mcluo/interest.htm

Evolution of Cultivated Wheat and Barley in Armenia According to the Archaeological Material

P.A. Gandilyan

Department of Biology, Armenian Agricultural Academy. 74 Terian Street, Yerevan, Armenia

Geographically, the territory of the Republic of Armenia is a part of a spacious region, conventionally called the Armenian Upland. Armenia was the place of origin of the ancient Armenian nation that encompassed the whole upland. The Armenian Upland is an integral part of the Western Asiatic region which is widely known as one of the primary foci of civilized culture. It is known that primitive communities were established predominantly in areas rich in biodiversity of vegetation including a wide range of edible plants. There is strong evidence to suggest that wheat (Triticum L.) and barley (Hordeum L.) have been cultivated in Armenia since ancient times. Many scientists assume that the place of wild plant domestication and the conversion to cultivated forms must lie within the area of the plant's natural habitat.

Wheat/barley crop mixtures were grown in Armenia, though the relatively "pure" plantings of wheat and barley were found only during a certain period of history. Both wheat and barley forms with small and round grains prevailed in more ancient samples. Later, the oblong forms appeared and very gradually began to dominate over other forms. This process was connected with the change to a drier climate and genetic changes. Bakhteyev named the "bottle-shaped" barley in Armenia Hordeum lagunculiformae. Tumanyan had also found such forms in archeobotanical material and named the round-grained forms as H. antiquorum sphaerococcum and forms with oblongBelliptical kernels as H. urartu. These forms have not been cultivated for a long time, but they can still be found under wild conditions.

The possible origins of "speltoid" tetraploid wheats in the wild and their domestication is assumed as follows: AA DD = AD, followed by increase of the chromosome number = AADD. They disappeared in the wild because of shattering of the spikes which prevented self-fertilization. The theory that barley of the Bronze Age was awnless is argued. Ears with well-developed awns have also been found. It is necessary to investigate thoroughly and to conserve the Armenian archaeobotanical material in genebanks for study and more precise taxonomic identification.

Source: http://agronomy.ucdavis.edu/symposium/ABSBOOK.htm

sleuth

10-12-2004, 04:34 AM

you can keep pounding your jimmi hendrix deism. :rolleyes:

His soul music makes your ears bleed,doesn't it?

PS: It's JIMI and he has nothing to do with Pythagoras

Armenian

11-05-2004, 03:06 PM

Armenian Influences upon Crusader Castles in the Holy Land 1097–1192

Osprey Publishing - military history books

An extract from ‘Design and Development’

In the 19th and early-20th centuries, historians of the Crusades believed that Crusader military architecture was most strongly influenced by that of the Byzantine Empire. Shortly before World War I, a student from Oxford University conducted field research in the Asiatic provinces of the Ottoman Empire: he then returned to write a thesis in which he argued that the designers of Crusader castles largely based their ideas upon what was currently being built in Western Europe. This student’s name was T.E. Lawrence, soon to be better known as Lawrence of Arabia. His thesis eventually influenced the next generation of historians of Crusader architecture, but neither they nor Lawrence seriously considered the influence of Islamic traditions of fortification. This idea developed more recently and today it is widely accepted that the military architecture of the Crusader States reflected a broad array of influences, in addition to the inventiveness of those who actually designed it.

The late Nikita Elisséeff, who worked for much of his life in Damascus, maintained that Byzantine forms of military architecture in northern Syria were soon added to the Western European design concepts of the early Crusaders. Within a few decades these newcomers were also learning from their Muslim neighbours, especially in making greater use of topographical features to strengthen a fortified site. More recently the Israeli scholar Ronnie Ellenblum highlighted the fact that Crusader castles were built to deal with specific military situations or threats, and that their designers drew upon what seemed most suitable in the circumstances.

In the early-12th century, each of the newly established Crusader states found itself in a different situation. The Principality of Antioch, for example, was adjacent to the Armenian states of Cilicia, which evolved into the Kingdom of Cilician or Lesser Armenia. Here fortifications ranged from tiny hilltop outposts to major garrison fortresses, while Armenian architects favoured half-round towers that protruded from a curtain-wall far enough to permit archers to enfilade the enemy. Such design ideas influenced castle building in the Principality of Antioch. Furthermore Antioch attracted few Western European settlers and hence relied to a greater extent on military elites of Armenian, Greek and Syrian origin who may also have influenced the design of local fortifications. The mountainous character of the Principality of Antioch and the County of Tripoli clearly encouraged experimental and daring design ideas, though the castles themselves ranged from very simple, almost rustic structures to huge hilltop fortresses. Meanwhile building techniques ranged from a typically Byzantine use of small masonry an bricks within one structure, to mixtures of Byzantine, Armenian, Western European and soon also Syrian-Islamic methods of both cutting and shaping stones – each of which had their own distinctive. Sometimes variations in ways of mixing cement and mortar also reflected different cultural influences.

Crusader castle building quickly grew more sophisticated. For example the building of concentric castles first took place in the late-1160s, and although the idea had been around for some time, concentric castles certainly appeared in the Crusader States before they did in Western Europe. On the other hand, most early structures remained relatively small while the vast sums of money and effort expended on larger and more elaborate fortifications were characteristic of the 13th rather than the 12th century.

One ‘supposed’ characteristic of Crusader castles was a lack of timber in their construction, with this being attributed to a lack of suitable timber in the areas where they were built. However, abundant excellent timber was available in neighbouring Cilician Armenia. Although the deforestation of the Kingdom of Jerusalem may have been well advanced by the time of the Crusades, suitable large baulks of timber were available in the mountains of Lebanon and on Mount Carmel. The situation was better in the County of Tripoli, the Principality of Antioch and the northern regions of the County of Edessa. Furthermore Western Europeans probably enjoyed a technological advantage over their Middle Eastern foes, not only in their tradition of timber architecture but in their logistical ability to transport large timbers over long distances...

Source: http://www.ospreypublishing.com/title_detail.php?ser=FOR&title=S7158&view=spread&view=extract

Armenian

12-08-2004, 11:16 AM

ARMENIA'S GREAT CONTRIBUTION TO BYZANTIUM

There were 20 Byzantine Emperors of Armenian origin:

1. Morick Oshakanatsi (Mavrikiy) 582-602.
2. Vardan Pikick 711-713.
3. Artavazd - 742-743.
4. Levon (Lion the V) Artsruni - 813-830.
5. Barseg Arsha - kuni (Vasil the I - the founder of armenian Makedonian dinasty) - 867-886.
6. Levon Arshakuni (Lion the VI, philosopher) 886-912.
7. Alexander 912-913.
8. Kons tandin the VII Bagrianorodny 913-959.
9. Romanos Vashtakian (Roman the I) 919-949. Ruled with Konstandin the VII Bagrianororodny).
10. Romanos the II - 959-963.
11. Nikiphor the II Phoka (the Great) - 963-969.
12. Hovanes Chimishk (Ioan Tsimiskhy) 969-976.
13. Vasily the II Bulgaroboyts 976-1025.
14. Konstandin the VIII - 1025-1028.
15. Roman the III 1028-1034.
16. Mikhael Paflagon (Mikhael the IV) - 1034 1041.
17. Mikhael Kalapat (Mikhael the V) - 1041-1042.
18. Konstandin the IX Monomakh - 1042-1054.
19. Teodora the II (Phedora the II) empress - 1054-1056.
20. Mikhael Stratiotik (Mikhael the II) - 1056-1057.

...that among Byzantian military leaders more than eighty were armenians and among them: Sittas (528), Buz (538), Balisarios (545), Nerses (555) Vardan Mamikonian (571), Smbat Bagratouny (582), Atat Khorkhrouny (601), Vardan Pilick (711), Vasack Patrik (741), Musheg Alex (792), Arshavir Patrik (807., Manuel Mamikonian ("Byzantian Ahiless" 830.), Hobgan Kurkuas (941., conquered 1000 cities and was called "the Greatest"), Mlag (Melios), the "Great" (went down in byzantian epos "Diogonis - Akritas" (934), Vard Skleros (976), Vard Pokas (987), Magistros Bagratouny (990), Grigor Taronatsy (996), Nikapor Tsrviz (1022), Levon - Tornick Bagratouny (1047), and others.

...that from 837 till 843 the patriarck of Konstantinopulus was the famous armenian scientist Hoivanes Karahan (loan Grammatick).

...that the founder of an ancientslatinopolsky university of Magnavr was Levon, the great mathematician and astronomer of the IV century, Hovanes Karahan`s niece.

...that the creators of the ancientslavonic alphabet Kirill ( Konstandin ) and Mephody were the sons of Levon and the pupils of Hovanes Karahan in the University of Magnavr. They created the alphabet which consisted of 36 letters, as in armenian one, by Mesrob Mashtots, but not of 24 letters as in Greek one.

... that the sister of Vasily the II Bulgaroboyts Anna, in 988, married Kiev prince Vladimir Sviatoslav, on condition that he and the whole Kiev Russia adopts christianity. Russia was baptized by Armenian priests.

...that the patriarchs of Byzantine church, in different years, were armenian churchmen: Melitos (360), Apgtikos (406-427), Isaak (625-643), Hovanes Karahan (837-843), Stepanos (888), Teopilintos (931-1057), Bagrat (Pankratios) (9th c.).

... that Kiev was founded by the armenian prince Smbat Bagratouny in 585, and was named originally - Smbatos.

...that the mother of Vladimir Monomakh (1053-1125) Mariam (Maria) was the daughter of the emperor of armenian origin Konstandin the IX Monomakh (1042- 1054). From him Vladimir inherited the nickname "Monomakh". Mariam was married with Vsevolod, the son of Yaroslav Mudry (the Wise) - the Great prince of Kiev Russia - the son of Vladimir Monomakh, the Great prince Yuri Dolgorouky (1096- 1157) the founder of Moscow (1147) - is mentioned in the russian chronicles as "Grugy" or "Kriuk", that is to say George. The church of George was built in Vladimir, in his honour (1158-1164). The grandchild of Yury Dolgorouky and the husband of the queen of Georgia Tamar - was named George.

... the lion was represented on the emblem of armenian prince family of Dolgorouky - Argutinsky, as on the emblem of Bagratouny dynasty in Armenia, which was in family ties with it. This lion was represented also on the emblem of Yury Dolgoruky.
- the icon St. George in Moscow (12)- the patron of Yury Dolgoruky - represents the Great prince itself.
- the armenian historian Zenon Glack (5-6 cc, by Marr, 7-8) in "The history of Taron", writes about Kuar (Kie), Sheke (Meltey) and Chorean : "Kuar built the city of Kuar and it was named Kuar after him. And Meltey built its city on that field and named it Meltey (Shekovitsa). And Chorean built its own city in the district of Paluni and named it Khorean (Korevan).

Smbatas was founded on the mountain of Zamk (Kiselevka), soon near it "gradok Kiev" appeared on the mountain of Andreev, which was founded by Kie (on the place of Kiev historical Museum). Thus near Smbatas city situated on the Zamk mountain appeared three cities - Kiev, Shekovitsa and Korevitsa. According to Byzantine emperor of armenian origin, Konstandin Bagrianorodny (948) "Russ are going downstream the Dnepr and are gathering in the Kiev fortress, called Smbatas".

There were cities with armenian names: Armen (Romen), Artan, Artavet. They surrounded Kiev. In the arabian source of the 9-11 cc. "Huddud- al - aalem", is said that precious bladed for swords and swords, which can be bended, were produced in the city of Artavet. Artavet specialists so firmly kept the secrets of producing their weapon, that killed all foreighners,when they reached the city (Roden on the Dnepr).

Yury Dolgorouky, for the first time, gave the name of Moscow in March, 1142. "Come to my place, in Moscow, my brother", this armenian pronounciation (transcription) of Moscow reached to ourdays. The russian chronicler informes: "arrange the dinner party by Giurgy's will...". "Giurgy" - "Kiurk" - this is the form of name "Yury Dolgorouky" in the russian chronicles.

V.N. Tatishev describes Yury Dolgorouky, according to kiev sources, in this way: "This great prince was tall and stout with white face and small eyes, with long and curve nose, with short beard. He was the great lover of women, sweets and drinks. In a word, the powerfull founder and ruler of Moscow, Suzdal, Vladimir, Yaroslav, Rostov - Dmitrov and the other cities, wasn't deprived of courage".

In the capital Vladimir, the city of Yury Dolgorouky, after his death in 1157, the church of George was built in his honour in 1158 - 1164. And the famous "Golden gates" of Vladimir led to it.

Source: http://www.arminco.com/hayknet/cult-e.htm

Armenian

09-22-2005, 07:11 PM

A link between Urartu and Bolivia?

A suspected link exists between Ur as in the Uru people (which means People of the Dawn) of the Bolivian Altiplano and Lake Uru Uru; and Ur as in the city of that name and early peoples of the Near East Mesopotamian region, presently Iraq.

Heyerdahl quotes the early Sumerians coming from Dilmun which he identifies with the island of Bahrein. Another Dilmun exists near Mt Ararat and Lake Van on the shores of Lake Urumia in present day Iran near the border with Turkey. It was near here that the fossilised remains of a possible giant reed ship 500 ft in length were found, suggesting that this was indeed Noah’s Ark. Since this region is several thousand feet above sea-level, an alternative to the flood theory might be that the reed ships were built locally and used on either Lake Van or Lake Urumia.

There are many similarities between the people and region of Urartu (Armenia) and the people and region of the Altiplano. An extract is given below of details of the Urartu region and these similarities will be familiar to those who know the Uru and Chipaya regions of the Altiplano.

From The Penguin Encyclopedia of Ancient Civilisations, Urartu and Armenia

"Urartu is the Assyrian name for the Armenian province and lofty mountain which we call Ararat"……… "there existed a flourishing Bronze Age civilisation on the territory of present –day Armenia from about 3,000BC onwards – long before the Urartians or the Armenians appeared in history…….

The core of both Urartu and ancient Armenia takes in the Lake Van area, the middle Araxes valley, and also the mighty double peak of Mount Ararat and the upper reaches of the rivers Tigris and Euphrates…. Most of the area is high plateau or table land, cut up by enormous mountains, many being extinct volcanoes more than 10,000 ft high……Parts of Armenia, notably the Araxes valley and the Van region, are incredibly beautiful and fertile. This gives some encouragement to the view that Armenia was the site of the biblical Garden of Eden. Certainly it can be said that the story of Noah’s ark landing on Mount Ararat has some historical justification of a symbolic kind, since a number of animals, birds, and useful plants, including the vine, developed from species still extant in Armenia and the Caucasus……..Much of the highland zone of Armenia is virtually uninhabitable, except by nomad shepherds seeking summer pasture for their flocks and herds. This windswept region, mostly over 5,000ft above sea level, has a harsh climate, and snow lies there for seven or eight months of the year. The findings of archaeology indicate that the climate was milder and moister in ancient times. …….The country is often shaken by destructive earthquakes. The subsoil is rich in metals and minerals, including gold, silver, copper and iron, and there are important salt mines. There are large supplies of a hard volcanic rock called obsidian, formed from dark vitreous lava, and much used by Stone Age man for making implements.

A notable geographic feature in northeastern Armenia is the enormous alpine Lake Sevan (Lake Van) surrounded by a ring of mountains and lying some 6,000ft above sea level. ……Colossal irrigation works and fortifications bear witness to the power and resources of the Urartian rulers, who assumed the title ‘king of kings’…….The local inhabitants dwelt in beehive-shaped houses and sometimes the dwellings were rectangular in ground plan……the local people benefited from extensive public works (particularly irrigation)….the Urartians were small in stature…..besides gold and silver, Urartu possessed rich deposits of iron, copper and tin…..around 400 BC they lived in partly subterranean houses cleverly designed to exclude the winter frost and snow………From the early Bronze Age onwards, the inhabitants of the Armenian lands placed themselves at the forefront of ancient technological development, notably in the fields of ceramics and metallurgy….The burnished pottery is decorated with imaginative motifs in the form of spirals and other geometric designs…The Urartians were expert at carving large blocks of stone which could be fitted neatly together, even without the use of mortar."…………………..

Source: http://www.geocities.com/myessays/UrartuLakeVan.htm

Armenian

09-22-2005, 07:21 PM

ARMENIAN FOLK LORE - HAIK NAHAPET

According to the chronicles, Haik was the grandson of Japheth, himself grandson of Noah. "After the Flood, Noah's sons Japheth, Shem and Ham settled in the Ararat region and increased there. Then Shem took his sons and went northwest in search of a new place of settlement. Coming to a plain in the high mountains, he stopped by a river and named the mountain Sim after his own name. He gave this region to his youngest son Tarpan (note similarity to the Armenian word "Tapan", meaning 'ark'). He continued his march in the southeastern direction and gave the regions there to his other children. Tarpan remained with his sons and daughters in the region given to him by his father and called it Taron and later Taruperan after his own name. His children settled in this area and Ham's and Japheth's sons spread out to the various regions of the Armenian Plateau. They spoke the same dialect of the same language. From Japheth sprang Gomer and from Gomer sprang from Torgom, and from Askenaz and Torgom Haik was born.

At the age of 130, Haik went to Sendjar, and worked on the building of the Tower of Babel. After the Tower of Babel collapsed, Haik, famous for his handsome appearance, curly hair, ken sight, mighty arms and skill in archery, dominated both the giants and the heroes, and subdued those who defied him. In the chaos that reigned, men threatened men, ready to plunge their swords into the bosoms of their own friends, all each tried to conquer the rest. After the dispersion of the human race over the face of the world, the mighty Haik, famed for his courage and audacity, defied Bel and his tyranny. Fate was on Bel's side though, he conquered the world. He subdued the mighty and proclaimed himself a god, ordering all to worship him.

Bel was the ruler of the realm, but Haik refused to submit to him. In this realm his sons Armenak, Manavaz, Hor and others were born, and his family grew larger and larger. Since he did not accept Bel's sovereignty, he left for Ararat in the North with his three hundred sons, grandsons and a retinue of his ablest men. There he found people of his nation, who, being the victims of God's wrath at Babel, had migrated and spoke the language of Noah.

Haik lived in the lands he took and gave them to Armenak's son Kadmos and went to the northwest with his retinue. In a high, mountainous region which he named "Haik", he had a city built called Haikashen, or the city built by Haik.

Bel, being displeased by Haik's migration, sent one of his sons in the company of most trustworthy men to order him to come back, saying, "You have settled in icy lands. Temper the harshness of your proud nature, submit to me and live comfortably in the place of your desire." But Haik, belittling the messengers, sent them back to Babylon. Upon this, collecting his forces, Bel marched northwards and reached the land of Ararat not far from where Kadmos dwelt. Kadmos fled, sending a message to Haik:
"Oh the greatest of heroes! Bel and his immortal warriors, heroes and giants are coming upon you like a torrent. I fled when I heard that they had entered my realm. With speed I am coming to you. Decide what is to be done."

Bel and his army of mighty soldiers, like a torrent tearing down a mountain stream entered Haik's domain. Bel had faith in the courage of his soldiers. Haik, this curly-haired, keen-sighted, cautious and calm mighty man, collected his sons, grandsons and most able men, skilled archers, warlike and valiant, but few in number. He came to the shores of a lake, whose salty water fed its fish. He lined them up and said "We must be fast and reach the land surrounded by Bel's heroes and strike them there. If we die, all that we have will be theirs, but if we defeat them by the strength of our own arms, then the victory will be ours.

Haik's words spurred on his men, and going forth with great speed they covered great distances. They came to a plain situated between very great mountains and climbed a hill to the right of the river. Both armies were at the mountains flanking the valley. From there they saw Bel's army attacking with terrible violence. Bel, at ease and sure of himself amongst his men, stood on a high spot as if on a lookout on the left side of the river. Bel was wearing an iron helmet the plumes of which blew in the wind and iron armor protecting his chest and back, and covering his hips and arms. On his left a sharp sword hung from his belt, and he carried a fine lance in his right hand and a shield in his left. On his side chosen soldiers stood.

When Haik saw Bel thus equipped and surrounded by his soldiers, he put his son Armenak with his two brothers on his right, and Kadmos with two of his sons on his left, all of them famed archers and swordsmen. He himself took position in the front, and the soldiers who followed took a triangular formation.

The battle began. The collision of the mighty, their terrifying roar, the brutality and violence of the attacks, spread horror all around. On both sides the mighty fell. But it was too early to know the outcome of the battle.

When Bel saw this sudden and dangerous resistance, he climbed back on the hill from which he had stood and waited for his forces to gather and attack again from all sides. Haik saw that this was so, and he, the mighty and skilled archer that he was, stood opposite Bel, he stretched his bow and shot a three feathered arrow at his heart. The arrow pierced the iron and passed through Bel's chest, and thus the vain Bel was felled and gave his last breath.

When Bel's army saw this frightful sight, it retreated without looking back. Haik named this battlefield Haiyotsdzor (the valley of Hai), and the spot where Bel fell Gerezman (the Grave). The battle had taken place on the banks of Lake Van. Haik had Bel's body dyed with many colors, and hung from a high place so his wives and children could see it.

Haik returned to his native land. He bestowed the spoils on Kadmos and the bravest of his followers. Haik remained in his land, and lived many years and died at the age of 400, leaving the rule of the country and his nation to Armenak.

Historically Bel was the Babylonian King Nemruth. Discovery of boundary stones and Babylonian writings during the time of Nemruth’s reign confirm the battle and Nemruth’s death as described in the legend. The main style Armenian calendar (old Armenian calendar) begins with the year that the battle took place. The use of Bel in the myth is for a reason: Bel was the Babylonian equivalent to Khronos in Greek, and Saturn in Roman Deities. His death is a symbolic representation of the end of the old rule, and beginning of a new pantheon of rulers. This may be why Haik is considered a god in some versions of the story. Just as Khronos was deposed by Zeus, Haik (curiously the favorite of Bel, who promises him the entire world if he will only submit), overthrows the last vestige of the world before the Babel.

Other legends of Haik are considered forerunners to Greek tales about Hercules

Source: http://www.tacentral.com/mythology.asp?story_no=6

Additional information about Haik:
http://www.armenianhighland.com/kings/chronicle570.html
http://www.armenianhistory.info/origins.htm

Armenian

09-22-2005, 07:23 PM

Ararat, the Cradle of Civilization?

The Sumerians, an ancient peoples and one of the first civilizations in the world called Ararat, Arrata. In their great epic poems of Gilgamesh and Arrata, they tell of the land of their ancestors, the Arratans in the Highlands of Armenia. The Sumerians also in the epic poems describe the Great Flood and the rebirth of life after the terrible deluge that fell from the Highlands of Armenia unto the lands of Mesopotamia and the Fertile Crescent. The Sumerians had a very close connection with the ancestral Land of Ararat and considered it as their ancestral homeland (many historians and archaeologists are convinced that the Sumerians initially lived in Northern Mesopotamia and Armenian Highland).The Greeks believed that the people who first worked with bronze and iron came from the same area, they called them Khaldi.

"The great majority of the cultivated plants of the world trace their origin to Asia. Out of 640 important cultivated plants, about 500 originated in Southern Asia. In Asia alone we have established five of the principle regions of cultivated plants.... The fifth region of origin in Asia is the Southwestern Asiatic centre and includes Asia Minor, Trans-Caucasia, Iran and Western Turkmenistan. This region is remarkable, first of all, for its richness in numbers of species of wheat resistant to different diseases...There is no doubt that Armenia is the chief home of cultivated wheat. Asia Minor and Trans-Caucasia gave origin to rye which is represented here by a great number of varieties and species....

Our studies show definitely that Asia is not only the home of the majority of modern cultivated plants, but also of our chief domesticated animals such as the cow, the yak, the buffalo, sheep, goat, horse, and pig...The chief home of the cow and other cattle, the Oriental type of horse, the goat and the sheep is specifically Iran....

As the result of a brilliant work of Dr. Sinskaya, the discovery was recently made that the home of alfalfa, the world's most important forage crop, is located in Trans-Caucasia and Iran....

From all these definitely established facts the importance of Asia as the primary home of the greatest majority of cultivated plants and domesticated animals is quite clear."

The above quotes from the book by Vavilov, N. , "Asia: Source of Species" in Asia, February 1937, p. 113, indicate a long held belief by many that cradle of civilization was in the hills of Armenia. Also the location of the Garden of Eden and the location of the flood and the landing place of the Ark of Noah!

More recent studies conducted by Melinda A Zeder and Brian Hesse (Science 287 (2000) 2254-57) place the initial domestication of goats to the Zargos Mountains at about 10,000 years ago. And Manfred Heun's (Science 278 (1997) 1312-14) studies indicate that large scale wheat cultivation began from 8,000 to 9,000 years ago near the Karacadag Mountains. Both areas are very near where the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers come close together.

"The cradle of agriculture generally has been placed in the Jordan Valley of the southern Levant (today's Israel and Jordan). But work by Simcha Lev-Yadun of Israel's Agricultural Research Organization and colleagues suggest the first farms may have been farther north, between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers in what is today northeastern Turkey and northern Syria.
Wild progenitors of the main Neolithic founder crops (einkorn wheat, emmer wheat, barley, lentil, pea, chickpea, bitter vetch, and flax) are found together only in this small core area of the Fertile Crescent.

Lev-Yadun reports that wild chickpea especially is extremely rare, yet it was a staple crop of Neolithic life 10,000 years ago. Agriculture, therefore, probably began in an area where chickpea is native. Archaeological evidence shows that the earliest known farming settlements of the Fertile Crescent were in this core area. Also, the limited genetic variability of these crops implies that they were domesticated only once — rather than by several different cultures at roughly the same time. Evidence of domesticated crops in the core area dates to about 10,000 years ago, while the earliest signs of farming elsewhere are about 9,300 years ago.

Neolithic sites discovered in the core area indicate that a society with plenty of food thrived there. In sites such as Cayonu, Novali Cori, and Gobekli Tepe, impressive architecture, images, and artifacts have been found. Settlement sites are also larger in this area than many others of the same time in other parts of the Fertile Crescent. .." (From "The Cradle of Agriculture? New Evidence Moves the World's First Farmers into Turkey" by Reagan Duplisea, http://www.discoveringarchaeology.com/ articles/ 060100-turkeyfarm.shtml)

The emphasized areas of the above quote are indicators that this part of the Fertile Crescent was settled and developed first, consistent with the Genesis record.

[...]

Source: http://www.accuracyingenesis.com/ararat.html

Armenian

09-22-2005, 07:31 PM

Metsamor Civilization

Written by Grigor Hakobyan

Through out the last two hundred years, hundreds of world scholars have spent thousands of hours of in-depth scholastic research, in their pursuits to identify the unique birthplace of the world civilizations; The birthplace of the first human intelligence in the world. From the Siberian mountains of Ural to the Sub-Saharan Africa, from the Sub-Tropical jungles of Peru to the warm shores of the Mediterranean/Adriatic, from the highest tops of the Himalayas to the soaring twins of the Mt. Ararat, the beginning of the first human civilization have been pre-supposed. But the highly sophisticatedarchaic ruins of the Mestamor, lying at the heart of the Armenian Highland emerged to be the most likely of them all.

Extensive archeological finds of obsidian instruments roughly fashioned by the primitive man indicate ancient human settlements in Armenia, dating back to the Old Stone Age (Abbevillian culture) and further onwards. Thus, the archaic history of the human race begins to unravel in Armenia, dating back to 500,000 years ago.

The earliest civilization that has been found in Armenia, and is believed to be the first in the world is the Metsamor Civilization, which is dating back to around 5,000 BCE. The ancient capital of the Metsamor kingdom is located on the area of 26 acres, which consists of a cyclopic stonewalls, citadel within them and a vast cosmic observatory. The fortress of Metsamor is further enhanced by a large series of oval shaped dwellings along with adjacent buildings and an underground tunnels.

The "heavenly" knowledge of metal processing thought to be received from the pre-deluvial "gods" of the ancients was the most sophisticated of its kind ever found to be of that time period. Metsamor was known to have processed a high-grade gold, copper, and various types of bronze, strychnine, manganese, zinc, mercury and iron. Metal goods made in the Metsamor were highly valued and widely known by its surrounding cultures, stretching out as far as Central Asia, Chine, India and Egypt.

Around 11BCE, Metsamor city-capital grew to occupy 247 acres of land, extending itself up to the Lake Akna. Some 500 m. southwest of the citadel, archeologists have found another stretch of land, about 247 acres big, hosting ancient dwellings enough to accommodate about 75, 000 people. A city of such size rivaled any those of the archaic world.

Another swat of land, around 200 acres big, located next to the city constitutes to be the main burial ground of the archaic Metsmorians, where archeologists have managed to retrieve the remnants of 30, 000 people. Very interesting commonality with the Egyptians that Metsamorians had was to burry the rich and noble people separately, just like the Valley of the Kings in Egypt. However, such distinction have helped to avoid grave robbers, thus providing scholars with a significant amount of information into the traditions and burial rights of the deceased on their way to the afterlife.

Armenia's Fertile Crescent was located in the land between rivers, the famous Tigris and Euphrates, further encompassing the land behind the Arax River. However, within the Ararat valley, a much smaller crescent of land still bearing the marshland once covering the entire Ararat Valley is found. One of the oldest settlements found in Armenia, beyond Erevan extend to the caves and stone-inscriptions found on the Geghama Ler (Mt), where only few sites have so far been excavated.

The metal ore mined in Armenia was the purest in the world that resulted in the formation of a culture, where the use of metal idols and building of temples made out of metal have been widely practiced. Their complex cosmic observatories made out of stone stood proudly, charting the vastness and enormity of the nightly sky.

Source: http://www.angelfire.com/hi/Azgaser/Metsamor.html

Tour Armenia: Metsamor

"Located just outside the village of Taronik, Metsamor (which means "black swamp" or "black quicksand") is a working excavation and museum on the site of an urban complex with a large metallurgical and astronomical center (occupied ca. 5000 BC-17th c. CE).; The site occupies a volcanic hill and surrounding area. The citadel on top of the volcanic hill is about 10.5 hectares in size, but the entire city is believed to have covered 200 hectares at its greatest extent, housing up to 50,000 people (making it a huge metropolis in those days).; Nearby spring-fed marshes and lakes suggest the extent of the wildlife that covered the area up to the bases of Mount Aragats and Ararat.; The area was rich in water, m