The ancient Armenians had a refined knowledge of astronomy. The oldest known observatories are located in Armenia. Dated as early as 4200 BCE, Karahunj and the ca. 2800 BCE observatory at Metsamor allowed ancestral Armenians to develop geometry to such a level they could measure distances, latitudes and longitudes, envision the world as round, and were predicting solar and lunar eclipses about 1000 years before the Egyptians began doing the same. One can find all types of  monuments and petroglyphs, written manuscripts and astronomical terms created in the Armenian language thousands of years ago, attesting to the rich knowledge of astronomy by the ancient Armenians.

Every Armenian villager since childhood knows the name of the Milky Way. It can be translated as “the way of a man who had stolen the straw” or the “straw tief’s way”. This proper noun comes from the pre-Christian Armenian legend devoted to the god of fire – Vahagn. It is noteworthy that this name is rather old and is cognate with the words “vah” and “agn” in the Sanskrit meaning a god and a fire. The old Armenian legend recorded by Movses Khorenatsi tells the story of Vahagn who contrived to steel some straw from Assyrian king Barsham once in a very cold winter and brought it to Armenia. According to this tale Milky Way was originated as some part of the stolen straw has been dropped on the heaven in Vahagn’s back way. Vahagn himself was birth into existence by fire from out a reed straw, as the song of his birth recounts:

In travail were heaven and earth,
In travail, too, the purple sea!
The travail held in the sea the small red reed.
Through the hollow of the stalk came forth smoke,
Through the hollow of the stalk came forth flame,
And out of the flame a youth ran!
Fiery hair had he,
Ay, too, he had flaming beard,
And his eyes, they were as suns!

Source:

Hayk Harutyunyan, Byurakan Observatory

http://www.aras.am/ArasNews/arasnews06.html

The Stork is traditionally considered a sacred animal in Armenian legends and mythology. The stork “Aragil”  was in ancient Armenian mythology considered as the messenger of Ara the Beautiful, as well as the defender of fields. According to ancient mythological conceptions, two stork symbolize the sun. Storks are found in abundance on Armenia Highlands, of particular importance are the wetlands of the Ararat valley. Even today Armenia is a proud residence for a sizable population. They are seldom persecuted and often nest close to people, on anything from telegraph poles to roofs. A stork nest on your house is seen as a sign of good luck. As such the stork has often been a source of inspiration from the times immemorial, revered in ancient folk tales, legends, mythology and folk songs. The Song of the Stork is a medieval Armenian folk song translated into English by Zabelle C. Boyajian in her book “Armenian Legends and Poems” (1916). Click on the image to enlarge!

Noah’s ark depicted on a 14th century Irish manuscript. The text was compiled by Adhamh O’Cianáin, a scribe whose death is recorded in 1373 AD. The picture is titled ‘Denamh na hairce andseo, Sliabh Armenia fuithe’, which roughly translates as ‘the construction of the Ark with the Armenian mountain below’

Noah’s ark depicted on a 14th century Irish manuscript. The text was compiled by Adhamh O’Cianáin, a scribe whose death is recorded in 1373 AD. The picture is titled ‘Denamh na hairce andseo, Sliabh Armenia fuithe’, which roughly translates as ‘the construction of the Ark with the Armenian mountain below’.

From an early series of stamps issued by the Armenian Soviet Republic. (1921)

From the first series of stamps issued by the Armenian Soviet Republic – interesting mythological beast! (1921)

Another mythological figure – from another early Armenian Soviet series. (1922)

From an early series of stamps issued by the Armenian Soviet Republic. (1922)

King Lion Mher artwork by Arman Akopian

Lion Mher (Armenian: Aŕiwc “Lion” or Aŕiwcajew “Lion-shaped”) is a mythical king from an ancient pagan Armenian folk epic of the “Daredevils of Sassoun“, who slew a lion with his bare hands earning the title of “lion-like”. Lion Mher is the father of David (also known as Mher the younger), the hero of the epic. He is the epitome of the noble, wise, fair and self-sacrificing father-king. Approaching old age, he accepts with gentility the passing of his generation as the price of the next generation. As the reading from the Armenian requiem states, “except a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears fruit.” Lion Mher represents the strength of nature and rectitude of character that bears fruit in his son, David.

He is also associated with the ancient deity Mithra. As his name suggests Mher/Mihr is the Armenian name for Mithra and there are numerous parallels between both in the epic tale. For example Lion Mher concludes a treaty with his adversary “Melik of Egypt”. This is the only treaty concluded by the heroes of Sasun. Mithra is known for mediating treaties and the name Mithra has often been explained as “treaty” “agreement” or “friendship”. Lion Mher is also know for slaying a bull similar to Mihtras. Mher learns that he cannot defeat the White Monster who has captured his bride, if he doesn’t kill the Black Bull. He finds the bull and kills it with his sword. This episode can shed light upon the problem of the origin of the key myth of Mithraism, the slaughter of the bull by Mithras. Furthermore, the Armenian Mihr (Mithras) was regarded as the son of the supreme god Aramazd. Aramazd was identified with Zeus and, like the latter, was called “thunderer”. As the thunder god’s son, Mihr is comparable with Lion Mher, whose father Sanasar, the first possessor of the “lightning sword,” represents the figure of the thunder god. Together with Mithra, Lion Mher is sometimes associated with the pagan Armenian deity Haldi of the Ararat period.  Due to his name ‘the lion-like Mher’, reminding us of Haldi’s depictions standing above a lion. Mher’s wife was acording to saga called Armahan, a name which appears to be a distortion of Aruban(i), the name of Haldi’s wife.

The epic has been passed down generations through oral traditions and bares a lot of pagan elements from the times immemorial. Below an English translation of a passage on Lion Mher:

Great Lion Mher, with his noble pride,
for forty long years ruled Sassoon far and wide.
His rule was so awesome that in his day,
across Sassoon’s peaks even birds feared to stray.
Far from the highlands where Sassoon was found,
his dreaded fame spread with a thunderous sound.
And praise for the high deeds of Lion Mher,
on thousands of lips, in one voice, filled the air.

He ruled in Sassoon with lionly might,
the prince of the highlands, unchallenged in right…

Source: http://armscoop.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/Haldi-and-Mithra-Mher.pdf

In the Armenian Mountains

The above phrase translated from Solomon’s Book of Proverbs is said to be the first sentence to be written down in Armenian by Mashtots after his recovery of the Armenian alphabet. Armenian literary tradition dates back to times immemorial. In Armenian mythology there exist deities and spirits of writing and literature. Like the god of literature Tir and the spirit writer Grogh. Armenia’s rich writing tradition is considered one of the major factors behind the survival of the Armenian people. Despite centuries of prosecution by numerous invading empires, Armenians managed to preserve their language, religion and culture, all thanks to this exceptional love for literature.

Today the ancient manuscript repository (Matenadaran) located in Yerevan, holds one of the world’s richest depositories of ancient manuscripts and books which span a broad range of subjects, including history, philosophy, medicine, literature, art history and cosmography in Armenian and many other languages. Although much has been destroyed (e.g., over 10,000 manuscripts were burned by Seljuk Turks in 1070 after a 40-year siege of Kapan), over 30.000 have survived and are preserved until today.

“Armenians are being urged to do their patriotic duty – by each writing an article on Wikipedia. The national campaign – One Armenian, One Article – aims to raise the number and quality of articles and promote the culture.” BBC reports.  High profile artists, musicians and politicians are getting in on the act too. Education minister Armen Ashotyan says in the clip: “One Armenian, one article – I will definitely do that and believe you will too.”  The campaign began with a YouTube video, but is now being promoted to worldwide audiences on Armenian satellite TV channels.

BBC first reported on this campaign and it seems it was picked up by other major media outlets like The Guardian and Newsweek (see links bellow). It’s a great opportunity and a great cause for us to participate in. While the campaign aim at writing in Armenian, I see now reason why we shouldn’t get involved in editing or writing about Armenian culture and history in other languages as well. Let’s all participate and get involved in Wikipedia by helping with edits, or writing new articles. I will be writing my article soon and will share it with you.

Sources: 

BBC: http://www.bbc.com/news/blogs-news-from-elsewhere-28588188

The Guardian: http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/aug/01/armenia-wikipedia-entry-promote-language-culture?CMP=fb_gu

Newsweek: http://www.newsweek.com/theres-more-armenia-kardashians-262663

I’d like to bring to attention the following project titled: The 100 Years, 100 Facts Project

It’s a great initiative to educate and raise awareness about Armenian history and culture as a way to commemorate the centennial of the Armenian Genocide. In an absolutely unique manner the project aims to raise awareness by posting 2 articles every week until they reach the 100th article on 24th of April 2015, which marks the 100th commemoration of the Armenian genocide.

I absolutely love their topics and articles which are written with great care and devotion. And that is why I would recommend everyone interested to visit the website and get acquainted with a wealth of knowledge on the Armenian culture and history.

I’d love to share all their articles here, but I rather tell you where you can find them yourselves, because they are all very interesting. So make sure to visit their website and/or share and like them on social media.

Website      –      Facebook      –      Twitter      –      Google+      –      Instagram

Largest archaeological settlement of Tunceli province was discovered bearing Armenian writing on ancient stones

The discovery of a large 3000 year old archaeological settlement in Eastern Turkey has been widely reported in Turkish media, last year. The news has reached international audiences through the English translations from sources such as the Worldbulletin.

The article reports:

“3,000-year-old settlement found in eastern Turkey”

Largest archaeological settlement of Tunceli province was discovered

An archaeological settlement dating back to 3,000 years ago was discovered in eastern Tunceli province of Turkey.

Thanks to the efforts of Turkish researcher Serkan Erdogan from Faculty of Science and Letters of Bitlis Eren University, and Culture and Tourism Director of Tunceli Ismet Hakan Ulasoglu, a 3,000-year-old settlement near Rabat hamlet of Cemceli village was discovered.

Being the largest archaeological settlemet of Tunceli, a citadel-like settlement containing overtones of early iron age, Urartian, Hellenistic, Roman, Byzantium period, Islamic middle age and Ottoman era was predicted to be one of the most important centres situated at an old transportation network.

Having encountered iron dross, ceramics, historical bridge and weight objects, researcher Erdogan thought that the area in question was an important economic production centre in different eras of the history.

Erdogan said that the discovered citadel was wider than three football stadiums.

What the report doesn’t mention however, is that there are clearly visible old Armenian texts (as is seen in the picture above) inscribed on the ancient stones found at the sight. Whether the Turkish researchers are aware of this or not remains a mystery. Nevertheless the Armenian traces are undeniable. Tunceli province (formerly Dersim Province) was historically part of the Greater Armenian region of Sophene (Tsopk). Later it was annexed to the Byzantine empire and eventually occupied by the Seljuk Turks. Nonetheless the Armenian population remained thriving up until the first world war.  After the tragic events of the Armenian Genocide most of the Armenian population has vanished from Eastern Turkey including Dersim Province. Today it is largely populated by the majority Alevi Zaza Kurdish and Sunni Turkish people. Yet the Armenian traces are still found among the ruins of the ancient stones.

See bellow for more pictures from the archaeological sight.

Turkish researcher holding ancient artifacts

Ancient bridge found in Eastern Turkey

Ancient cave dwelling found at the sight

Ancient cave dwelling

Circular stone from the ancient Armenian settlement

Waterfall at the site of the ancient settlement, visited by tourists.

More cave entries from the site

Overview of the mountain range at the sight

Two cave entries from the ancient settlement

Ruined structure from the ancient settlement

Cave entries from the ancient settlement

Tourists walking across an ancient bridge

Source: http://www.worldbulletin.net/haber/122863/3000-year-old-settlement-found-in-eastern-turkey