Origin of the Armenian people. Origin of Armenians, Urartu, goddess Anahit, Semitic blood

Where did the Armenians come from? And who are the zoks? - There is an opinion There are various versions about the origin of the Armenians, but the first, and still not lost its significance, the most reliable mention of this belongs to the "father of history" Herodotus. This ancient Greek historian, who lived in the 5th century BC, wrote that the alleged ancestors of the Armenians - Phrygians (Phrygians) moved to Asia Minor from Europe, from the territory adjacent to Macedonia. The Byzantine writer Stefan (end of the 5th century - beginning of the 6th century) cites the message of the Greek author Knidli Eudoks, who lived before him 1000 years ago, which sounds as follows in the translation of the prominent orientalist I.M. Dyakonov: “Armenians come from Phrygia and are very similar in language to the Phrygians." Another Byzantine author, Eustathius (XII century), referring to the message of the Greek author Dionysius Periegetes, who lived ten centuries before him, also notes the similarity of the Armenian and Phrygian languages. Modern researchers, based on this information cited by ancient Greek authors, also suggest that the ancestors of the Armenians, the Frigi tribes, left their homeland in the Balkan Peninsula in a common stream, moved at the end of the 2nd millennium BC. to Asia Minor, to the territory of modern Turkey. It is curious that although this migration took place chronologically during the decline of the most powerful state on the territory of Anatolia - the Hittite kingdom, there is no information about the Phrygians or Armenians in the Hittite texts. At the same time, it is known that the Frigi in the VIII century BC. created a kingdom with a center in Gordion in the Sangaria valley (modern Sakarya) and sought to influence the political processes in the region. Assyrian and Urartian texts provide the most complete information about the events of the subsequent period (VIII-VII centuries BC), where there is also no information about the Armenians. He told a lot of interesting things about the falsification of facts related to the origin of the Armenians in an interview with a correspondent. 1news.az well-known Azerbaijani historian Ilgar Niftaliyev. According to him, everything written about the ancestors of the Armenians regarding the period from the middle of the XII century BC. (that is, from the time of the alleged migration of the “proto-Armenians” from the Balkan Peninsula to Asia Minor) and until the fall of the Armenian kingdom at the end of the 4th century, it is built mainly on the assumptions and assumptions of Greek and Roman authors, as well as the conclusions of Armenian chroniclers, which are not confirmed by any archaeological results. excavations, neither the information of the Assyrian chronicles, nor the philological analysis of the names of places and the names of individuals. By the way, the Phrygian and Armenian languages, although they belong to the Indo-European language family, have quite a lot of differences between themselves. Moreover, the differences are not limited to lexicological material and some grammatical indicators. On this occasion, the well-known Russian historian and orientalist I.M. Dyakonov once wrote: “... the proximity of the Armenian language to Phrygian is not very great, so that it would be possible to derive Armenian from Phrygian.” It is no coincidence that in the Phrygian texts, the content of which has been determined, not a single fact about the Armenians is given. How Tigranakert appeared It is known that the Armenians, with their characteristic resourcefulness, resort to various tricks in an attempt to substantiate their territorial claims to Karabakh. And one of the examples of this is the falsification of facts allegedly related to the discovery of the ruins of the capital of the mythical "Great Armenia" city of Tigranakert in the territory of the occupied part of the Aghdam region of the Republic of Azerbaijan. According to the Azerbaijani scientist Ilgar Niftaliyev, this pseudo-idea was planted by the Armenians from the very beginning for a political purpose. “The world scientific community has long been accustomed to such “shocking finds” by Armenian pseudo-scientists. Back in the 60s and 80s. In the 20th century, Azerbaijani archaeologists carried out extensive research work in Karabakh. In Aghdam, scientists explored located on the outskirts of the modern city and related to the first half of the 2nd millennium BC. (Middle Bronze Age) Uzerliktepe settlement surrounded by fortified walls. Azerbaijani archaeologists have studied on the territory of the villages of Aghdam - Shykhbabali and Papravenda - settlements surrounded by fortified walls and dating back to the 12th-9th centuries BC. These monuments testify to the formation of early urban culture in Azerbaijan, especially in its Karabakh region. As for the temporal and spatial localization of Tigranakert, it follows from the sources that the ideas of the Armenian pseudo-scientists simply do not stand up to criticism. For example, a contemporary of King Tigran, who ruled in the 1st century BC, the Greek geographer Strabo wrote in his Geography that “... Tigran built a city near Iberia, between this place and Zeugma above the Euphrates. He resettled here the population of 12 Greek cities plundered by him and named the city Tigranakert. However, Lucullus (a Roman commander, his campaign against Tigranakert dates back to about 69 BC), who fought with Mithridates VI (Pontic king), not only let the population go to their native places, but also destroyed the half-built city, leaving in its place only a small village,” said the scientist. The Armenian historian M. Nersesyan, in his book “History of the Armenian people from ancient times to the present day”, published in 1980, notes that Tigranakert was built on the banks of one of the upper tributaries of the Tigris River. Tigranakert, which, moreover, was never completed, was located not only outside of Karabakh, but also in the Caucasus, in the southwest of Lake Van, on the territory of modern Turkey. This version is also followed by the authors of the second volume of the History of the Ancient World, published in 1989 under the editorship of I.M. Dyakonov. The myth of the Armenian Highlands There are many conjectures about the origin of the so-called Armenian Highlands. I.M.Dyakonov noted in this regard: “Since the ancient Armenian language is not related to the languages ​​of the autochthons of the Armenian Highlands… it is clear that it was brought here from outside…. proto-Armenians came to this area in the 7th-6th centuries BC… (“Armenian Highlands” is a term invented by Armenian authors - A.M.) According to I. Niftaliyev, ancient Greek and Roman historians, as well as ancient Armenian highlands", as it appeared with the light hand of Europeans in the late XIX - early XX centuries. Later, Armenian authors politicized this concept, interpreting its geographic outlines and dimensions in their own way. Based on the Armenian version, reflected in the Armenian Soviet Encyclopedia, published in the 70s of the last century, this highland covers part of the territory of the USSR (the entire territory of the Armenian SSR, the southern part of the Georgian SSR and the western part of the Azerbaijan SSR), Iran and Turkey, and located between the Iranian and Asia Minor plateaus, the Black Sea, the Transcaucasian and Mesopotamian plains. It was also noted there that the territory of the Armenian Highlands is 400 thousand square kilometers, and it was entirely part of the territory of “Great Armenia”, where the Armenian people allegedly formed from ancient times. Although on the territory of the so-called. 600 - 1000 years before the appearance of the ancestors of modern Armenians, and also after their appearance, various states existed and various peoples lived in the Armenian Highlands, for some reason the name of the highlands was designated as Armenian. “Is it really true to associate the name of a mountainous relief with the name of a people who for more than a millennium did not play any decisive role in the political processes that took place on the map of the Near and Middle East, was not a state-forming ethnic group in this territory, lived for a long time mainly within the borders of the Muslim Turkic states, and only in 1918, due to a favorable combination of circumstances, did he create his own national state for the first time?”, the scientist asked, noting the following important detail. “Despite the fact that the highland is called Armenian, there is not a single Armenian toponym in the name of the mountain peaks that make it up. Most of them have Turkic names: Kabirdag, Agdag, Koroglydag, Zordag, Sichanlydag, Karachumagdag, Partchenisdag, Pambugdag or Khachgeduk, etc. From west to east, these mountain peaks make up the Agrydag ridge - an extinct volcano, which in the Armenian historical literature was called Ararat,” Niftaliyev said, adding that in ancient sources this mountainous relief is called Mount Taurus. By the way, Armenian historians are so carried away by the fantasy of ancient Armenia that they still confuse ethnic and geographical concepts that are fundamentally different from each other. “It is known that some countries are named after the peoples inhabiting them (Turkey, Germany, France, England), others, in accordance with the geographical or administrative name that determines the name of the inhabitants - by territory (Georgia, Italy, Azerbaijan, etc.). ). In ancient times, in modern Anatolia, which Armenians consider the cradle of the Armenian people, there were no geographical names that united the inhabitants of these areas, regardless of their ethnicity. Accordingly, there have never been communities called by the name of these geographical concepts. The fact that Armenia is a geographical concept has long been known. Naturally, all the inhabitants of ancient Armenia, or Arminia, were called Armenians, regardless of their linguistic and ethnic affiliation. The name of the geographical space was transferred to the name of a population with a different ethno-linguistic composition. This is the same as that the inhabitants of ancient Caucasian Albania were called Albanians, although they consisted of an association of 26 tribes that differed in their linguistic and ethnic composition. Thus, Armenians is the collective name of all the inhabitants of Arminia and does not express the name of any one ethnic group,” the historian continued. According to him, no continuity can be traced between the population and the territory of ancient Armenia (located outside the Caucasus) and the Armenians and the territory of modern Armenia - neither ethnic, nor linguistic, nor geographical. According to the Azerbaijani scientist, the assertion of modern Armenian researchers that the ancestors of the present-day Armenians have lived in these places since the first mention of the term “Armenian” in written sources is the same myth as the assertion that the Armenians descended from Noah. “A term similar to the geographical name “Armenia” is first found in the inscription of Darius I (522-486 BC) on the Behistun rock (the territory of modern Iran). In this inscription, among the countries that make up the Achaemenid Empire, “Armina” is also mentioned. In the Behistun inscription, Armina is mentioned among a number of countries that rebelled against the Achaemenids after Darius I came to power in 522 BC. But in the inscription nothing is reported either about the people who rebelled in Armin, or about the leader of the uprising. We find further information about the territory of Armina's location in the aforementioned work of Herodotus "History". According to the Greek author, Armenia, or Armina, was located to the northwest of Lake Van, in the region of the sources of the Euphrates River. Herodotus included Armenia in the XIII district (satrapy) of the Achaemenid Empire. Moreover, the Greek author, mentioning the names of some tribes that inhabited the XIII satrapy, calls the Caspians, Paktians. Consequently, various ethnic groups lived on the territory, which, according to Herodotus, was part of the XIII satrapy of the Achaemenid state, and in the Behistun inscription this district was called Armina not by ethnicity, but by the ancient name of the territory, which has nothing to do with modern Armenians. - I. Niftaliev explained. Armenian-zoki-Jews? By the way, the existing versions about the origin of the Zok Armenians are also very curious. For example, the Russian ethnographer of the late 19th century V. Devitsky wrote that the Zoks lived in the village of Akulis (Aylis) in the neighborhood of Ordubad (the current Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic), in 7-8 villages, had an independent language, most of the words of which fundamentally different from Armenian. This gave grounds to assert that the Zoks were the remnants of some independent ethnic group, which, having adopted the religion and liturgical language of the Armenians, gradually became Armenianized, although they continued to speak their own language among themselves. Developing the theme, the Azerbaijani historian added another interesting fact to it. According to him, there is also a version that these were Jews who, due to historical circumstances (loss of statehood, resettlement), turned out to be neighbors of the Armenians and converted to Christianity. Interestingly, the Armenian authors deny this version, assuring that the Zoks are the same Armenians, whose name does not express ethnic content and comes from the peculiarities of the local dialect. Thus, despite the futile efforts of Armenian pseudo-historians, who zealously assert that the Armenian people are autochthonous, the real facts reflected in the collections of world scientists indicate the opposite, which calls into question the inflated myth about the ancient origin of the Armenians. Matanat Nasibova

Armenians are one of the most ancient peoples...

Armenians live in more than 85 countries of the world, predominantly in cities. In total, there are about 7-11 million Armenians in the world. Armenians are Christians, mostly believers of the Armenian Apostolic Church, belonging to the group of pre-Chalcedonian (Miaphysite) ancient Eastern Orthodox churches. There are believers of the Uniate Armenian Catholic Church, as well as Protestants.

There are not only legends about the formation of the Armenian people, but also numerous scientific theories. But the case of the Armenians is exactly the case when the legend explains everything, and the scientific theory only confuses everything.

The history of the Armenians began when the Assyrian king Shalmaneser V conquered the Northern Kingdom of Israel, inhabited by ten of the twelve tribes of Israel. The entire population of the kingdom was taken away in a direction unknown to the Jews. However, being unknown to the Jews, this direction was well known to the Assyrians themselves.
They were taken away to the Armenian Highland, to the place where the state of Urartu, also defeated by Assyria, was located until recently. The inhabitants of Urartu were taken to the western coast of the Persian Gulf, the inhabitants of those places were resettled to the place of the former Israeli kingdom, and the Israelis themselves were settled around Lake Van and at the foot of Ararat. There, having merged with the remnants of the local population formerly under the rule of Urartu, the former Israelites adopted their language, but basically retained their anthropological type. That is why Armenians are so similar to Jews.

Genetics also confirms this legend - most Armenians have the J2 haplogroup. Although she is non-Jewish, she has a common ancestor with the Jews. This ancestor lived long before Abraham. The carrier of the original base haplotype of the Armenian and Jewish populations lived 6200 years ago, that is, two and a half thousand years before the exodus of Abraham from Ur to Canaan.

In Armenia itself, another version of the origin of the Armenians is more common: the Armenian state, from the name of which the self-name of the Armenians comes, was Hayasa, which is described in sufficient detail in the ancient Hittite cuneiforms between 1500-1290. BC e., even earlier, between 1650-1500. BC e. this country was found in the Hittite cuneiforms under the name of Armatana. The Armenians themselves call themselves hai, and their country - Hayastan. However, the second version does not contradict the first one: first, the Urartians captured Hayasa, and then they brought the proto-Jews to this territory, and they, having mixed with the Hayastanis, formed the Armenian ethnos.

The Armenian language belongs to the Indo-European family of languages. The latest researchers suggest that in ancient times, together with the Thracian and Phrygian languages, it was part of the southern group of Indo-European languages. At the same time, the Armenian language has similarities with the Caucasian languages. They can be traced in the vocabulary, phonetics and grammatical structure.

The ancient Armenian language survived until the 19th century. as a literary language. However, due to the evolution of live speech and interaction with other languages ​​(Persian, Greek, Arabic, Georgian, Turkic), the ancient Armenian language gradually became only a written language, receiving the name “grabar” (“written language”). The common people ceased to understand it, and it became the property of only a narrow circle of educated people and the church.

In the language of the Armenian people, 31 dialects were discovered and briefly described. Some of them have such deep sound differences with the national language that they are incomprehensible to Armenians who do not speak this dialect. Such are the Msgrip, Karadag, Karchevan, Aguli, Zeytun, Malat, Sasup and many other dialects. The urban population of modern Armenia speaks the literary Armenian language, and the Armenians of the Diaspora use the Western Armenian dialect.

The basis of men's and women's traditional clothing of Armenians is a shirt with a low collar and wide trousers, gathered and fastened at the ankles for women and wrapped around with a wide winding for men. Arkhaluh (a type of long frock coat) was worn over the shirt; in Western Armenia, men wore shorter and more open vests and jackets instead of arkhalukh. The townspeople, artisans, rich peasants had belts made of massive silver plaques. Various types of outerwear such as chukha (Circassian) were put on top, girdled either with a belt or (more often for women) with a long scarf.

Women wore an embroidered apron. Headwear for men was fur hats in Eastern Armenia, felt and woven hats in Western Armenia, for women - capes, complemented by a rim with various decorations, shoes - rawhide pistons, low-heeled shoes with a turned toe or boots made of soft leather. From the end of the 19th century, these forms of clothing were gradually replaced by European-style clothing.

Of all the components of the traditional culture of Armenians, food is most fully preserved. Traditional food is based on grain products. From wheat (formerly barley) flour in tonirs, thin bread is baked - lavash, butter cookies and other flour dishes are made, including noodles - arshta. Porridge is cooked from cereals, pilaf is made, soups are seasoned with them.

Dairy products are common: cheeses, butter, sour milk - matsun and buttermilk - tan, used both as a soft drink and as a basis for making soups. Poor people rarely ate meat: boiled meat was used in ritual dishes, and fried meat on holidays. The set of mixed vegetable, cereal and meat dishes is diverse: arisa - porridge with meat boiled to the fiber, kyufta - meat and cereal meatballs in soup, tolma - vegetable cabbage rolls with meat and cereals, etc. The range of preservatives prepared from grapes and fruits is very wide. Wide use of spicy herbs in a fresh and dried look is characteristic.

The traditional family is large, patriarchal, with a clear gender and age regulation of the rights and obligations of its members. The traditions of kinship and neighborly mutual assistance in the 19th century began to collapse as a result of the development of capitalist relations, especially in Eastern Armenia, which was part of the Russian Empire.

The first mention of the name of Armenia, which then acted as its synonym for Urartu, is found in the Behistun inscription dated to 520 BC. e. After the defeat of the Persian Empire by the troops of Alexander the Great, Armenia became dependent on the Seleucids and was ruled by special governors, of which. two, Artaxias and Zariadr, in 190 BC, declared themselves independent and formed two states: Greater and Lesser Armenia.

The ruler of the first of them, Tigran the Great, united both in 70 BC. Under Tigran II, Great Armenia turned into a large state stretching from Palestine to the Caspian Sea, but soon the Armenian Kingdom fell into semi-vassal dependence, first from Rome, and then from Byzantium, which eventually divided its territory with the Persians.

Constant relations with new peoples developed in the Armenians a love for trade, and soon they realized what a huge force capital is in the daily life of not only a person, but also entire states. In 301 AD, Armenia became the first Christian country in the world, but without taking part in the IV Ecumenical Council, the Armenians preserved, that is, the rejection of the God-man in Jesus Christ.

In 405, the Armenian scientist and educator Mesrop Mashtots created the Armenian alphabet, which is still used by Armenians. Before Mashatots, Armenians, as in other Hellenistic states of Western Asia, used Syriac and Greek scripts in their state and cultural life.

“So he endured many hardships in [the] provision of good assistance to his people. And he was granted such happiness by the most merciful God with his holy right hand, he, like a father, gave birth to a new and wonderful child - the letters of the Armenian language. And there he hastily drew, gave names and arranged [the letters in order], arranged [them] according to syllabic syllables.

In the middle of the 7th century, the Armenian lands were occupied by the Arabs, but in the 860s, the Bagratid princely family united most of the Armenian lands and overthrew the power of the Arab Caliphate.

In 885, the Arabs and Byzantines recognized the independence of the Armenian kingdom of the Bagratids, which was the largest and most powerful feudal state of ancient Armenia.

In 908 the Vaspurakan kingdom was formed, in 963 the Kars kingdom, in 978 the Tashir-Dzoraget kingdom, and in 987 the Syunik kingdom.

All these Armenian states were in vassal relations with the Bagratid family. In 1064, most of the Armenian lands, with the exception of Syunik and the Tashir-Dzoraget kingdom, were conquered by the Seljuk Turks.

At the end of the 12th century, during the reign of the Georgian queen Tamara, the Armenian lands became part of the strengthened Georgian kingdom. In the first half of the 13th century, the Armenians were invaded by the Mongols, and later by the troops of Tamerlane. As a result of centuries-old foreign invasions, the Armenian lands were inhabited by Turkic nomadic tribes. In the middle of the 16th century, the Ottoman Empire and Persia, after a 40-year war, agreed on the division of spheres of influence. The eastern Armenian lands went to the Persians, and the western - to the Turks.

Under the rule of the Turks, who were rather indifferent in all respects to the peoples they conquered, the Armenians calmly practiced their religious cult and, having united around the Catholicos, the head of the Armenian church, were able to preserve the language, writing and culture. But sometimes Turkish indifference disappeared by itself, and the conquerors turned to the pockets of the conquered.

Of course, this was most painful for the Armenians, who set capital as the main goal in life. The resistance awakened the fighting instincts of the Turks, and therefore Armenian pogroms often began.

In the 17th century, the Turks had a mortal enemy - Russia. The Armenians noticed this and when they saw that this enemy was gradually inflicting heavy blows on Turkey and gradually moving south, despite the fact that Russia was still far from Armenia, they took advantage of this and began to ask for protection from the Russians. Already Potemkin became their ardent defender.

In order to arouse sympathy even more, the Armenians resorted to deception with their religion and presented themselves as the same Orthodox. When Emperor Paul assumed the title of Grand Master of the Order of Malta and, at the same time, the title of defender of Christians throughout the world, the Armenians sent a deputation to him with a request to be taken under their protection. In 1799, Paul I was even presented with the liturgy rite, compiled specifically for this purpose by Bishop Joseph Argutinsky. This liturgy said that it was necessary to pray for the Orthodox Emperor of the All-Russian and the August House. Since then, Armenians have been considered “Orthodox brothers” in Russia. The deception was revealed only in 1891, when Eastern Armenia was already part of Russia.

Back in 1779 Armenians appeared on the Don. The relocation of Armenians to the Don from the Crimea was commanded by the famous commander Suvorov. They founded Nakhichevan-on-Don, which in 1928 merged with Rostov. That is why there are so many Armenians in Rostov-on-Don.

As a result of the Russian-Persian war (1826-1828), Russia took possession of the Erivan and Nakhichevan khanates and the Ordubad district. By the 19th century in these territories, as a result of centuries of emigration and expulsion of the Armenian population], Armenians made up only 20% of the population. The Russian authorities organized a mass resettlement of Armenians in Transcaucasia from Persia and Turkey, which led to significant changes in the demographics of the region, also taking into account the mass emigration of the Muslim population to Turkey from the regions annexed to Russia.

According to the cameral description of the Armenian region by General Merlini for 1830, 30,507 people lived in the Nakhichevan province (this did not include Sharur and Ordubad), of which 17,138 people were Muslims, 2,690 people were native Armenians, 10,625 people were Armenians resettled from Persia and 27 people - Armenians resettled from Turkey. In 1830, about 45,000 more Armenians from the Erzurum and Bayazet Pashaliks immigrated to the lands of the former Erivan Khanate and settled southeast of Lake Sevan. By 1832, the Armenian population of the Erivan province had reached 50%. The ethnic composition of the region also underwent great changes in the second half of the 19th century. As a result of the war of 1877-1878, the Russian Empire defeated Turkey and captured part of southern Georgia, which later formed the Batumi region. In two years (1890-1891), more than 31,000 Muslims were evicted from the region, replaced by Armenian and partially Georgian settlers from the eastern regions of the Ottoman Empire. The resettlement of Armenians from these regions to the Batumi region continued until the beginning of the 20th century.

In Turkey, relations between Armenians and Muslims escalated in the second half of the 19th century. Repeatedly, the Turks slaughtered the Armenian population of entire regions (the Sasun massacre of 1896, the Adana massacre of 1909), and during the First World War, the Turks decided to exterminate the Armenians without exception. On the personal order of Nicholas II, the Russian troops took a number of measures to save the Armenians, as a result of which 375 thousand of the 1 million 651 thousand souls of the Armenian population of Turkey were saved, that is, 23%.

In 1918, the Armenians gained independence, but were left face to face with the Turks and Azerbaijanis, who did not even think of abandoning the plans for the total extermination of all Armenians. On September 24, 1920, the Armenian-Turkish war began. Turkish troops under the command of Kazym Karabekir took first Sarykamysh, then Ardagan, and on October 30 Kars fell. In response to an inquiry about the intentions of the Entente, made in Tiflis by the Armenian representative Alexander Khatisov, the representative of England, Stokes, stated that Armenia had no choice but to choose the lesser of two evils: peace with Soviet Russia.

On November 29, 1920, a group of Armenian Bolsheviks, with the help of the Soviet 11th Army and the troops of Soviet Azerbaijan, entered the city of Ijevan and proclaimed the creation of a Revolutionary Committee, an uprising against the Armenian government and the establishment of Soviet power in Armenia. The Turks did not fight the Russians, especially since the Bolsheviks supported their leader Mustafa Kemal with money and weapons.

Armenia entered the Transcaucasian Federation, and in its composition in 1922 joined the USSR. In 1991, with the collapse of the USSR, Armenia became independent. For several years by that time, she had been waging a war with Azerbaijan over Nagorno-Karabakh, which ended in an Armenian victory.

Artak Movsisyan, Candidate of Historical Sciences, Professor at YSU, Senior Researcher at the Institute of Oriental Studies, Armenologist Artak Movsisyan answers the questions of Vadim Arutyunov, the host and author of the project. The questions have been prepared on the basis of various discussions on the Internet on the history of Armenia and the Armenian people.

- The question is often asked about the origin of the Armenian people, in particular, where did the proto-Armenians come from?

This is a pretty big topic. On the Internet, I have a special lecture lasting about an hour on the origin of the Armenian people for those who are interested, and now I will try to present it in a very concise and more popular form. Speaking about the origin of the Armenians, it must be very clearly understood that the Armenians are an autochthonous people. Armenian legends testify that Armenians are an indigenous people. The Armenian historian of the 18th century Mikael Chamchyan and other historians, based on the Bible and Armenian sources, went even further. They argued that Armenia is the cradle of mankind, the country where life was reborn after the Flood, and the Armenians are the indigenous people of this divine, paradisal, biblical land, the land of Noah's ark.

But the 19th century came and what happened? When deciphering the cuneiforms found in Armenia, it turned out that they were not in Armenian, they were cuneiforms called Urartian or Biaynili cuneiforms, and the names of the kings - Menua, Argishti, Sarduri, were not mentioned by Movses Khorenatsi. Today, of course, it is clear and understandable why they are not there, but in the 19th century this gave rise to doubts. Moreover, the question was raised - where to look for the homeland of the Indo-Europeans or Aryans, as some scientists call them, that is, it was necessary to understand where the ancestral home of the Indo-Europeans was located. In the 19th century, among European scientists, it was generally accepted that the ancestral home of the Indo-Europeans is located in Europe, in the southeastern part of Europe - in the Balkans. That is, it turned out, on the one hand, that the cuneiform writings found on the Armenian Highlands were not read in Armenian, the kings were not mentioned at Khorenatsi, and on the other hand, it was commonly believed that linguistics believed that the homeland of the Indo-Europeans was in the Balkans. If it is in Europe, in the Balkans, then the Armenians came from there. And there was such a theory that, allegedly, the Armenians came from the Balkans, seized the territory of the Armenian Highlands, and later created their own state. And this, despite the fact that there were cuneiform inscriptions, where the most ancient variants of the name Armenia are mentioned, are mentioned more than 30 times even before the well-known Behistun inscription. The first mentions date back to the 24th-23rd century BC. Akkadian rulers - Sargon of Akkad, Naram-Suen and others, mention the country of Armani, which is the oldest form of the name Armenia. And since there was an idea that there were no Armenians here, they were newcomers, it was believed that the similarity of the names Armenia, Armenians, Ararat was random. If there were no Armenians here, then the similarity of the names is also accidental. Accident can be 1, 2, 3 times, but not dozens of times, there are hundreds of cuneiform writings where Armen, Hay, Ararat are mentioned in different versions. Subsequently, this Balkan theory was not developed, since it was discovered that the homeland of the Indo-Europeans was not in the Balkans, but in the north of Asia Minor, more specifically in the territory of the Armenian Highlands, in the east of Asia Minor, in the north-west of Iran and in the northern part of Mesopotamia. And this is confirmed today not only by the data of linguistics, archeology, but also by genetic engineering, and studies at the level of DNA study provide ultra-accurate data. Today we can say that the Armenians are an autochthonous people. The period of separation of the Armenian language from Proto-Indo-European, linguists erect by the end of the 4th millennium BC. X, and the data of genetic engineering even earlier, by the 6th millennium BC, that is, 8 thousand years before us. That is, we can clearly speak about the existence of a separate Armenian ethnos already over the past 8 thousand years, we can say that the Armenians created their entire history on this territory, on the Armenian Highlands, which, by the way, non-Armenian scientists called Armenian. In written sources, the most ancient Sumerian written sources from the 28th-27th century. to R. Chr. refers to the state of Aratta, which is the oldest name of Ararat in Sumerian sources.

At different times, Armenians and Armenia had connections with the Semitic peoples. Is it possible to say that in addition to the Indo-European beginning, a certain percentage of Semitic blood cannot be excluded from the Armenians?

In terms of origin, no. But in the course of history, when speaking Semitic, we must also have in mind, for example, the Assyrians. Of course, they lived in Armenia, they were our southern neighbors, in the 4th century we used the Assyrian language and writings, many works of Assyrian authors were preserved only in Armenian, the Assyrians used the Armenian language. There were contacts, of course, and a certain number of Assyrians assimilated with the Armenians. Some very small numbers of Jews may have assimilated with the Armenians. Today, when they speak Semitic, people for some reason are afraid of this term, understanding by this purely Jews. This is not so, in the end, we must not forget that there was a huge Arab world, the Arameans, who were the southern neighbors of the Armenians. In terms of origin, we are pure Indo-Europeans. But in a historical context, every nation communicates, everyone gives blood and takes, and this is natural. And recent DNA research has yielded startling results. Even in Chinese genetics, 4 percent of Armenian blood was found, which at first glance is very surprising. It is possible to show as a result of what historical events, in what time periods migration and emigration were observed. It is no coincidence that the share of Armenian blood is quite often found in the blood of other peoples, and not only the blood of other peoples is found in us, we did not live surrounded by a fortress wall. But in terms of origin, the Armenians are not of Semitic origin. Although, it must be said that according to the Jewish tradition, which was preserved by Josephus, the Armenians are the descendants of Aram, therefore, they are Semites, that is, they are related to the Jews. In the legends of many peoples of ancient and medieval ages, information has been preserved that they are related to the Armenians. But this has its simple explanation, because in the ancient and Middle Ages Armenia was a powerful state, the Armenians were a great people, and kinship with the powerful is always desirable. Here is a very simple explanation.

Considering that these same Semites: Assyrians, Jews, Arabs belong to the Armenoid subrace, it seems to me that they also have an Indo-European grain, thanks perhaps to the same Armenians.

There is such an opinion in science, and the author is not an Armenian - Igor Dyakonov. He put forward a theory according to which the Arameans, in ancient cuneiforms they are called Ahlamu, who came to Armenia from about the 14th century BC, began to be called Ahlamu-Aramaeans, and then - Arameans and Dyakonov put forward the point of view that the name Aram, ethnic the name they took from the Armenians. We know that the French, for example, took the name franc from the Germans, this is a normal phenomenon. Naturally, there were such connections, but one should not see any super-complex phenomena under this. I know that today there are extreme, deliberately politicized opinions, but that's all.

A lot of talk also goes around the state of Urartu. Who were its inhabitants and what language did they speak?

Let's start with the fact that the very term Urartu goes back to the Ashuro-Babylonian version of the name Ararat. As in the Sumerian sources it was Aratta, but in the Bible Armenia is always called Ararat. In Ashura-Babylonian cuneiforms there is an alternation of sounds a-u: Arme-Urme, Arbela-Urbilu, Ararat-Urartu. And interestingly, in Palestine in the Qumran caves, where they found a huge number of ancient manuscripts of the 1st millennium BC, Urarat is mentioned there instead of Ararat. Ararat-Urarat-Urartu, that is, even an intermediate transitional link has been preserved. That is, this is one of the names of Armenia. And today it is simply absurd to say that the Armenians are one people, and the Khayis are another, or Somekhs, as the Georgians call us, the third.

On what basis did you decide that Urartu is an Armenian state? Having deciphered the cuneiforms, they realized that they were not in Armenian. But let's not forget that three writing systems were used in Urartu: Assyrian was used in Assyrian cuneiforms, Urartian or Biaynian, relatively speaking, in local cuneiforms, and local hieroglyphics, a decoding that shows that this is the oldest Armenian. Both cuneiforms are imported, brought from Mesopotamia, and the local hieroglyphics, which goes back to the Armenian rock carvings, are Armenian. And even these letters already testify in favor of the Armenian origin. Many arguments can be made. For example, the Urartian hierarchy of gods is a classical Indo-European hierarchy, with three supreme deities, with a three-level structure, that is, there is no doubt that it is connected with the Indo-European world. As for the names of the kings, Menua has long been associated with Minos, Argishti with Argestes, etc., who were known in the Indo-European world. There are many criteria: in which case the state can be considered Armenian, say, Georgian, Russian or Mongolian. Can a dynasty be considered a sufficient condition? Of course not. A dynasty may be Armenian, but a state cannot be Armenian. For example, in Byzantium, the dynasty, which began in 867 when Vasily I ascended the throne, was Armenian in origin, but the state of Byzantium did not become an Armenian state from this. Or, let's say, the Arshakid dynasty, which established itself in Armenia, was Parthian in origin, but it is clear that this did not make Armenia Parthia. And there are many such examples. So in what case is the state considered, say, Armenian? If the vast majority of the population were Armenians, can we assume that the state was Armenian? Yes and no. No, because, for example, in the eastern regions of the Ottoman Empire, that is, in Western Armenia, the majority of the population was Armenians, but the state was not Armenian. Thus, comparing all the criteria, which of them can be considered decisive? There is only one answer. Namely: the determining factor is the interests of which ethnic group is represented by the supreme elite of the state. Stalin was a Georgian, but the Soviet Union was not a Georgian state. On the contrary, Stalin spoke all the time about the great Russian people, and even had great Russian views, it is clear that he ascended the throne and had to submit to the interests of the Russians. Thus, returning to Urartu, the interests of which ethnic group did it express? Certainly Armenians. It was the first pan-Armenian state that absorbed the entire territory of the Armenian Highlands and neighboring regions. And it is no coincidence that the final formation of the Armenian ethnos is attributed by most scientists to the time of the existence of the state of Urartu. The Armenian tribes were numerous, and naturally united as part of a single state, merged together precisely during the Urartu period. And if there were some other ethnic group, then it would be mentioned somewhere in the future. How can it be that in the 7th century BC. e. Urartu is mentioned, but in the 6th century - no, no Urartians, no Urartu. No, because Urartu is Armenia, Urartians are the same Armenians. I often talk about this in my works, and I would like to know more about the fact that the term Urartu was used until the 360s, until the 4th century BC. e. That is, after the fall of the Kingdom of Van, the Kingdom of Urartu-Biaynili, the term was used for another 200-300 years. And it was used as an equivalent of the concept of Armenia. As in the Behistun inscription of 520 BC, which, as you know, is written in three languages, Armenia is called Armina in the Persian inscription, Harminua in the Elamite, Urartu in the Babylonian. In the Ashurian and Babylonian texts, Urartu is last mentioned in the cuneiform writings of the Achaemenid king Artaxerxes II, who ruled until 360 BC. e. In Babylonian texts, Armenia is called Urartu, and Armenians are called Urartians.

- Then where did the thesis come from that the Caucasian tribes came from the Urartians?

Here we are dealing with politics, and in its purest form. I'll tell you why. Back in the 1890s, the very famous Russian orientalist Nikolsky published the collection Cuneiform Inscriptions of Transcaucasia. And already in the preface he writes: “Why are we Russians interested in these cuneiform inscriptions, the culture of cuneiform writing? Because Urartu was the first state on the territory of the Russian Empire.” The same thing happened in the Soviet period: Urartu was considered the first state, a slave-owning state on the territory of the USSR. That is why quite a lot of work was done, excavations were carried out, rather large funds were allocated, all this was not done for the sake of the beautiful eyes of the Armenians. Look what happened in the end: do you remember what was written in Soviet history textbooks? That the descendants of the Urartians are Armenians, Georgians, Azerbaijanis. Azerbaijanis ... Turks, whose ancestors, the Seljuk Turks, appeared in these parts at best only in the 11th century AD, and Urartu existed in the 9th century BC, that is, 2000 years before that. But after all, the Soviet state promoted internationalism, and the Transcaucasian peoples were proclaimed descendants of the Urartians, while neither the Georgians nor the Azerbaijanis were in any way related to Urartu. And a theory appeared that it was necessary to tear Urartu from Indo-Europeanism. And there were even confessions - Boris Piotrovsky himself admitted that the corresponding directive of the Central Committee had been issued. At the end of the 19th - beginning of the 20th century, Urartu was considered an Indo-European state, while Soviet Urartu studies received a directive to cut off Urartu from the Indo-European world. Naturally, Urartu, being cut off from the Indo-European world, is also separated from us, but this is our territory, Urartian words have been preserved in Armenian. When already in the 1960s and 70s a new thesis was put forward about deepening ties with the Russian state, because if it is an Indo-European state, then only Armenian, and the Armenians began to deal with the Russian Empire only after 1801, it was necessary to deepen the connection with the north. And then the North Caucasian, East North Caucasian and proto-Dagestan theory of the kinship of languages ​​entered the arena, which was sharply criticized already in the 60s. Both Jaukyan, our well-known linguist, and the German scientist, a representative of the German linguistic school, simply did not leave a stone unturned from this theory. But the order was lowered from above. Unfortunately, studying the history of the study of Urartu, we see that it was mainly a political order that was carried out, and not pure science. We are currently working on a documentary about Urartu. I hope it will be ready by the end of the year and will be released in three languages: Armenian, Russian and English. I hope that our viewers, also on youtube, will have the opportunity to watch it and get answers to all questions. It will be a big film in 2 parts, each 40-50 minutes long.

It is known that there are Chechen historians who study the Grabar, as they are looking for their roots in the Armenian Highlands.

I myself saw maps where they consider Nakhichevan their city, since their self-name is Nokhchi, and avan is a settlement in Armenian. And it seems that Chechen authors also interpret the self-name Nokhchi as the son of Noah, Nokhchi, Nokhchavan and consider them their city.

The cult of the goddess Anahit is often discussed. Some associate her name almost with prostitution. What was the cult of this goddess?

In Armenian sources, Armenian authors considered Anahit the mother of all virtues. The very name Anahit is translated as immaculate, virtuous. Some Greek authors, in particular Strabo, mention that the cult of the goddess Anahit was widespread among almost all the peoples of the East, but the Armenians especially loved her. This goes back to hetaerism, the scientific name for sacred priestly prostitution. There was one day in the year when everyone could copulate with whomever they wanted. It should be noted that the Greek authors, often turning to the East, presented everything in an exaggerated form, wanting to stir up interest in their stories.

As for the cult of the goddess Anahit among the Armenians, there was a day in the year, it was the day of the cult of the goddess, when barren women, only barren ones, were allowed to have intercourse with another man. And this act of the ancient priests is worthy of respect and has nothing to do with prostitution. We live in the 21st century and the problem of infertility is still relevant today - mismatch of chromosomes, etc. What is done today with the help of medical intervention was then done in this way. Moreover, this was often done confidentially, the woman did not see the face of the one with whom she had intercourse, and this had nothing to do with prostitution. And if a child was born from this connection, he was often called Anakhtatur or Astvatsatur (God-given), he was considered a gift from the mother goddess and no one had the right to accuse this woman, or call her immoral or a prostitute. I consider this a manifestation of humanity. And today in the 21st century they love, get married, but often, when it is not possible to have children, the marriage falls apart and the couple gets divorced. And it is only worthy of respect that the priests in ancient times were also concerned about this problem: even on the day of the cult of the goddess of motherhood, a barren woman was given such an opportunity, and whoever wants to stick labels, let it be on his conscience.

Interviewed by Vadim Arutyunov

About Armenians in the words of famous people and the Armenians themselves

“A bad opinion has been formed about the Armenians since ancient times, and this, of course, is not without foundation, since otherwise it could not have arisen among entire nations and, moreover, at different times. It is the Armenians who tend to shout at every opportunity. or reveal any of their intrigues, or bring their thieves to justice - they not only raise a cry themselves, but also make foolish or corrupt people from other tribes cry.

Armenians about Armenians

The father of Armenian history, Movses Khorenatsi (Moses of Khorensky), spoke about his fellow tribesmen in the 5th century:
"-I want to point out the hardness of heart, as well as the arrogance of our people, ...
- rejecting the good, betraying the truth, ...
- the people are obstinate and criminal, ..
- A SOUL WHICH DOES NOT BELIEVE GOD!
- you have committed an angry thing and in your lodges have not brought repentance
- you slaughtered and iniquity and despised those who trust in the Lord
-therefore, the nets of someone you did not recognize will be found on you, and the prey for which you were chasing will make you their prey, and you will fall into the same nets ... "

Professor Leo (the Armenian author of several major works on Armenian history, who is one of the creators of the mythical Armenian history, which was distributed in Europe, America and Russia with the money of the Armenian church and millionaires) was forced to admit:

"Only a small part of the Armenian ashug creativity, one might say the smallest part of it, refers to our literature. Most of it (dastans, heroic songs) is in the Turkic language. For the ashugs, in order to express the life depicted in fairy tales and songs, the Turkic language is more convenient than the Armenian folk dialects, it is more figurative and much richer."

In 1914, the Armenian historian Gevorg Aslan wrote in his book "Armenia and the Armenians":
"Armenians did not have statehood. They are not bound by a sense of homeland and are not bound by political ties. Armenian patriotism is connected only with the place of residence." The chimerical idea of ​​recreating "Great Armenia", which never existed as a state, is a nationwide concept that has united all the hays of the world.

Armenian journalist R. Acharyan in his book"Turkic borrowings in the Armenian language" wrote that more than 4200 Turkic words are used in the Armenian language.

Kh. Abovyan (XIX century) wrote:
"... in our language, half of the words are Turkic or Persian words."

The Armenian poet Yeghishe Charents owns the words:
"Hypocrisy appears in us even in the womb."

Russians about Armenians

Memoirs of a Russian diplomat, General Mayevsky. From the book "Massacres perpetrated by Armenians"

"Has anyone heard about the national heroism of the Armenians? Where are the names of their battles for freedom carved? Nowhere! Because the "heroes" of the Armenians were more executioners of their people than saviors."

"The historical roots of Karabakh go back to antiquity. This is one of the historical provinces of Azerbaijan. This region is an important political, cultural and spiritual center of Azerbaijan... The notorious Karabakh problem was created by the falsified ideas of the Armenians"

A.S. Pushkin: You are a slave, you are a coward, you are an Armenian...

A.S. Griboyedov in a report on September 11-13, 1819 wrote to Mazarevich:"What a vile brat these Armenians are. None of them even wanted to know me, and at the same time they always whisper in my ear that we are their future patrons. A good protégé. They sell us to the same Persians who are ready to crucify them and cook them with any sauce "

Russian researcher V.L. Velichko (late 19th - early 20th century):

“Armenian women have always had a connection with other peoples, albeit sometimes by force. Iranian soldiers, Turks, Georgians and mountaineers, apparently never expected from Armenian women who have long lost their honor and dignity, decency and nobility. so much blood."

" We are not yet talking about the Armenian textbooks, which have undertaken a global mission to "cultivate" all their neighbors, textbooks that write about this unfortunate country - "Great Armenia". Church schools even distribute maps of Greater Armenia, whose capital is Tiflis, and whose borders reach as far as Voronezh.

"Patkanov's student, Mr. Marr keeps promising that he will be able to snatch something from the Georgians in favor of the Armenians and prove the Armenian identity of this. In his opinion, the well-known Georgian poem "The Knight in the Panther's Skin" is a borrowed work. This is necessary for Armenian politicians, for the entire period of their existence, the Armenians did not have a single powerful poetic work, that is, evidence of the prosperity of folk culture.Despite the efforts of Yuri Veselovsky and similar writers who are trying to convince the Russian public of the existence of good Armenian literature, they will advance beyond empty talk in this matter they can't, because no matter how hard you try, what isn't there isn't there."

The historian A. Anninsky at the end of the 19th century wrote:
"Due to the fact that nothing has been preserved that would testify to the former political power and importance of the culture of the ancient Armenians, it should be assumed that they did not possess either one or the other. Apparently they were always a small and wild tribe. They never possessed a complete political independence. This is the reason for the glaring poverty of the artistic creativity of Armenians. There is no need to talk about science at all. Armenians have not created anything original for the entire period of their existence. "

Researcher V. Elikhovskaya wrote:
“Armenians scattered all over the world adopt the customs, clothes, traditions of the peoples with whom they live together. In Turkey, an Armenian cannot be distinguished from a Turk, in Persia an Armenian is a typical Persian.

Thoughts of the famous

The great Amir Timur (Tamerlane) said: History will not forgive me 2 things:
"1) The fact that I wanted to destroy the Armenians as an ethnic group, 2) and the second - because I did not do this. True, there are good people among the Armenians, but in general the people are nasty. They will never express their thoughts in person, and therefore seems cultured, but in a convenient case, he will slaughter.

Friedrich Engels:

"Armenian slaves and concubines were the first dancers and prostitutes serving in Corinth ("Aphrodite's concubines") and even in the temples of India.

Karl Marx:

"Armenians, the first nation that began to use their women as bedding for other peoples, as a way of survival"

Alexandre Dumas (Father), "Journey to the Caucasus":

"Armenians have always lived under the rule of rulers who served a different religion from the Armenian one. As a result, they turned into people who hide their thoughts, feelings and intentions, turned into swindlers and liars."

English traveler Wilson: Armenians are greedy, greedy and vile, they do not respect anyone. They are masters of inflating all sorts of little things, lovers of intrigue

P. Kerop Patkanov. Van inscriptions and their significance for the history of Western Asia. SPb.1981, pp. 36-37. From Magdy Neiman's book "Armenia". St. Petersburg, 1899.
"Armenia, as a state, did not play any significant role in the history of mankind, its name was a geographical term common to Armenians, it was a place for resolving disputes between powerful states - Assyrians, Medes, Iranians, Greeks, Mongols, Russians..."

"Immediately after the conclusion of the Turkmenchay Treaty (February 10, 1828), under the leadership of Paskevich, 40 thousand Armenians from Iran and 90 thousand Armenians from Turkey were resettled in Azerbaijan. In total, in 1828-1896, more than 1 million 200 thousand were resettled from Iran and Turkey of them 985 thousand 460 people were placed in the western lands of Azerbaijan, and the rest - in Karabakh and the Elizavetpol (Ganja) province. of people".

Adam Metz, a Swiss Jew by origin (Moscow publishing house > 1973, p. 144, Swiss Orientalist A. Metz, 1869-1917, wrote this book in 25 years), covering the history and culture of the Caliphate, wrote:
"Armenians are the worst white slaves, just like Negroes (Zinji) are the worst of blacks. They have ugly legs, they have no modesty, theft is very common ... Their nature and their language are rude. If you leave an Armenian slave even for an hour without work, then his nature will immediately push him to evil. He works well under pressure and out of fear. If you see that he is lazy, it is only because it gives him pleasure, and not at all from weakness. Then you should take a stick, blow him up and make him do what you want."

Georgian writer and thinker I. Chavchavadze: Your Excellency, do not allow the settlement of Armenians in the central Russian lands. They are from such a tribe that having lived for several decades, they will begin to shout to the whole world that this is the land of our fathers and great-grandfathers.

Georgian writer Sergi Sajaya:"Armenians are not lions, but only jackals serving stronger nations"

German figure and scientist Colmer von der Goltz, "Anatolian sketches"
"Everyone who is familiar with the bulk of the population in the provinces of Anatolia quickly gets used to respect and love the Turks, despise the Greeks and hate the Armenians. The local proverb "a Greek will deceive two Jews, and an Armenian - two Greeks" justifies itself everywhere. deceived, then it can be said with certainty that you met Armenians. I do without any written agreement when I deal with a Turk, because only his word is enough. When I deal with a Greek or other Levantines, I conclude a written agreement, because with them it is impossible to conduct business otherwise. With the Armenians, I don’t even have written business certified, because even a written condition will not protect the Armenians from intrigues and lies.”

American historians Justine and Carolyn McCarthy:

"The modern territory of Armenia does not belong to Armenians, but to Azerbaijanis. This is precisely the reason that most of the geographical names on the territory of Armenia refer to Azerbaijanis."

References:

Anninsky A. History of the Armenian Church, Chisinau, 1900

Velichko V.L. Caucasus. Russian business and tribal issues, Baku, Elm Publishing House, 1990

Tagaev M. Moscow, or the Center for International Terrorism and Genocide. Publishing house "Iskra", 2001

Shavrov N.I. A new threat to the Russian cause in Transcaucasia: the forthcoming sale of Mugan to foreigners, St. Petersburg. 1911

Chopin I. Historical monument of the state of the Armenian region in the era of its accession to the Russian Empire, St. Petersburg. 1852.

Review of Russian possessions beyond the Caucasus, St. Petersburg, 1836.

Complete collection of journalistic works, St. Petersburg, vol. I, 1904

Material collected and researched by Amir Eyvaz

Armenians are truly amazing people. Their history goes back over 2,500 years, and taking into account the period of formation, even more. National traditions, cuisine and charisma of Armenians are well known in Russia. And this is no accident.

Story

The history of the Armenian people is divided into several eras. There are several periods of tribal formation that continued until the 13th century BC. An important stage in the formation of the Armenians was the emergence of the states of Hayas and Urartu. The latter lasted until about the 6th century BC. Then the era of ancient Armenia began. Many historians believe that at that time Urartu was preserved, it was just that in ancient sources the name changed to the modern one.

Xenophon described the country as quite rich and vast. From about 500 B.C. Persian rule began, which marked the rapid development of the country. The Achaemenid dynasty brought peace and prosperity to Armenia, which contributed to the development of trade and agriculture.
From the 4th century BC to the 5th century AD, Armenia was in the Hellenistic era. A very significant event at this time was the coming of Alexander the Great, who seized the territories belonging to the Achaemenids. It should be noted that his army failed to enter the territory of Armenia, so most of the population did not recognize the king. Macedonia belonged to the so-called Lesser Armenia, soon after the death of Alexander, it became an independent state.
During the Hellenistic era, the Armenian states were divided into several kingdoms, including Ararat and Sophene. Historians divide Armenia at that time into Lesser and Greater, as well as the Ptolemaic Commagene, founded in 163 BC. Commagene belonged to the Yervandid dynasty and existed until 72 AD. Then it became part of the Roman Empire. The period from the 6th to the 15th century AD is commonly referred to as the medieval period. It begins with the Armenians receiving a partially independent status with the possibility of choosing any religion and full religious freedom. The ninth century marked a period of prosperity and military buildup. This played a significant role during the invasion of the Turks and later influenced the periods that are called "wars of empires". Battles and battles brought both victories and defeats. One of the most difficult moments in history was the struggle for Armenian rule in Karabakh. Armenia began to draw closer to the Russian Empire, regularly asking for its help.
In their history, the Armenian people faced genocide, which reached its peak at the end of the 19th century. During the First World War, over a million Armenians died as a result of the genocide, although today Turkey denies this phenomenon and writes it off as a civil war.
The period of Soviet Armenia lasted from 1922. It marked collectivization and repatriation to the SSR. The positive aspects of the influence of the Soviet Union were manifested in support for statehood, in protection from the Turks and the direct benefit of the development of the economy, which suffered greatly due to regular and centuries-old battles, as well as the influence of foreign domination.
From 1991 to the present day, Armenia has been a republic.

Traditions

There is a great national self-consciousness in Armenia. The observance of traditions is so important not only in families, but also in society as a whole. The Armenian culture is characterized by hospitality, good neighborly relations, the desire to preserve family ties, great respect for elders and a reverent attitude towards marriage.
The wedding in the Armenian society is perceived as an extremely important holiday. Previously, during it, it was customary to walk for a whole week, and weddings were celebrated by entire villages. Now they are celebrated more modestly, but still on a grand scale. The tradition of the Armenian wedding includes the choice of the godfamily, which is selected based on the character. Godparents should be like their godchildren, they become practically relatives for a married couple. It is interesting that it is the godfather who makes the most expensive gift, but all other guests must bring gifts that are presented in a special way. It is customary for Armenians to give jewelry, money, expensive fabrics and household items for a wedding celebration.
Quite remarkable is the tradition of rocking the child. The bride must hold the boy in her arms, because the man in the Armenian family is considered to be the mainstay and head. With the onset of the morning after the wedding, women in the line of their husbands should bring a red apple to the bride's house, symbolizing her innocence.
Large families in Armenia are not uncommon. This is especially true for rural residents, most of whom have many children. It is customary for the Armenian people not to show the baby for 40 days from the moment of birth. Only close people can see it. It is interesting that both at the birth of a child and in any other joyful event, it is customary for Armenians to put their hand on the head of a friend and say: “I pass it on to you.”

Armenians put something more into the concept of hospitality than we are used to seeing. In the event of a joyful event, it is customary to set the table not only at home, but also at work, treating friends, relatives and colleagues. In this way, people share happiness with others, while multiplying it.

Winemaking occupies a special place in the life of Armenians. It is believed in the country that the traditions of this complex occupation were known in ancient times. According to legend, the first winemaker was Noah, who planted a vine, being on the territory of the modern Armenian state. Modern winemaking has ancient roots and has more than one hundred years. Recipes have been preserved since the time of Urartu. For the production of wines, a special press "hanzan" is used. This design provides for a vat made of stone. A huge jug was connected to this vat, which was dug into the ground. The grapes were crushed with bare feet, thereby squeezing the juice directly into the jug, in which it wandered for some time. Then the wort was poured from a jug into another and after that it was poured into small earthenware jugs. They kept them in the ground. Armenian grape varieties have one important feature - they contain a lot of sugar, which contributes to the production of alcohol. In this regard, sweet and semi-sweet wines are more common in Armenia.

Cognac is revered in Armenia just like wine. Moreover, the production of this drink is much more difficult. It was possible to establish the production of cognac in Armenia only in the 19th century. Popular varieties are still Mskhali, Chilar and Voskehat. Due to tradition, barrels are of great importance in this craft. The wood material is incredibly important, it is he who will greatly affect the taste of cognac. Alcohol must be aged for at least 3 years and only then spring water is used. Water is considered an extremely important ingredient, because without it the cognac bouquet will not be sufficiently saturated.
Before pouring cognac, it must be kept in an old wooden barrel for about a year, and if we are talking about vintage, then all 3 years. Such a scrupulous attitude to wines and cognacs has already been appreciated all over the world. Winston Churchill himself bought 400 bottles of Armenian cognac annually.

Holidays

Holidays in Armenia are directly related to the seasons of the year. For example, Trndez is celebrated in winter and symbolizes the worship of the flame. The holiday is pagan, but it is usually celebrated at the church. The rite of celebration is familiar to every inhabitant of Ukraine, Russia and Belarus. During the trndez, a large fire is lit, over which everyone can jump, although it is primarily intended for newlyweds.
With the advent of spring, the celebration of Tsarzardar begins. During its celebration, people come to the church with willow branches and weave wreaths for children from it.
With the onset of summer comes Vardavar. This holiday symbolizes the victory over the drought. In the tradition of Armenians, it is customary to douse with water, which is again associated with pagan rites. Girls 3 days before the holiday pour clean water into the bowl and throw wheat and oats into it. After seed germination, this water should be poured over.
Armenians also have an analogue of Valentine's Day. It is celebrated on February 13th. On this holiday, the girl certainly needs to eat salty cookies and always before going to bed. It is believed that in a dream a man should appear to her, who will bring water. It is he who must become narrowed.

dwelling

Armenian houses are quite specific. Of course, modern buildings have little in common with traditional ones, except that they have retained the style of the exterior. The same houses that were built in ancient times by Armenians are square in shape and are built exclusively of stone. The roof is earthen with wooden pillars. Light in such a house penetrated only through a window or chimney. The oven was made of clay. Shelves were made from it. The Armenians did not have chairs and armchairs, they used mats to sit on the floor. The table was usually low. Wealthy people could afford mattresses, carpets and a lot of utensils.

clothing

The traditional national costume of Armenia consists of a silk shirt and wide trousers, which are sewn from cotton or wool. Over the shirt, they usually wore an archaluk, which could reach to the knees. This element of outerwear was fastened with hooks or buttons and had a standing collar. Over it they wore a chukha made of wool. She was necessarily girdled so that the clothes fit snugly to the body. In the western part of the country, the Armenians used a jacket that reached the waist. There were no fasteners, and instead of a belt they used a scarf, which was wrapped several times.
Women's costume with the change of regions remained unchanged. Arkhaluk was used as outerwear, but with a changed style - there was a slit below the hips, and a cutout on the chest was also provided. A distinctive feature of the women's national costume was a beautifully decorated apron.
Hats were used as headwear. Eastern Armenians used knitted, and Western - woven. Women wore headbands and large headdresses, tied with scarves, partially hiding their faces.

Dancing

Armenian dances are a real art and are popular all over the world. Armenians have different dances for different events. Both men and women can perform the performance. For example, bird and trahag are military compositions, so only men take part in them.
Bird is considered a rather difficult dance that requires serious physical preparation, since in the process of performing men must abruptly climb onto each other's shoulders and form a wall of 2 floors. Such a complex composition symbolizes the need for protection and strong defense.
Trahag involves even more complex preparation, as the dance involves the use of various types of weapons. In fact, the dance imitates a real battle, so it was always performed by warriors before.
Brides dance uzundara - a solo composition that was born in Karabakh. The dance symbolizes gratitude to parents, as well as leaving home and starting family life. Dynamics is invariably smooth and requires considerable flexibility from the girl.
Shalakho is very popular among Caucasian Armenians. Now it is common among the Caucasian peoples. The peculiarity of the dance lies in the performers, who must certainly be two men and one girl. The dance symbolizes the struggle for a woman's heart.

Language

The proto-Armenian language is called Mushka. It was spoken by the ancient Armenians, and it appeared even before the formation of the state of Urartu. The formation of the language was quite complex and was always characterized by the emergence of new dialectisms. Writing appeared later, so office work was often conducted in Persian and Greek. Now the Armenian language is included in the Indo-European family and stands out as a separate branch.
The modern version is usually called the new Armenian. In its history, it has been around for several centuries, although it began to be used in literature around the beginning of the 19th century. The language is divided into Western and Eastern. They are characterized by significant differences in comparison with the ancient Armenian. There are many new formations, simplifications and peculiarities of syntax. In the Republic of Armenia, the most common is Ashkharabar, which is the eastern version.

Character

Armenians are characterized by pride in their own history and people. The main features of the Armenians, in their own opinion, are diligence and passion for life. This is due to the need to establish agriculture and long centuries of relentless struggle. One of the hobbies of almost every Armenian is a craft in one form or another. Pottery or woodwork. Modern residents of Armenia show interest in sciences, primarily medicine and construction. Another trait is the love of reading. The Armenian people often had to deal with a lack of books, when the Turkic and Mongol conquerors burned entire libraries. Therefore, if you take a book from an Armenian, be sure to return it at the appointed time. Otherwise, he will say that you took her prisoner. This expression has long historical roots. Under Tamerlane, a large ransom had to be paid for books.
Sincerity is one of the main features. In Armenia, it is not customary to be hypocritical, but it is also unacceptable to be rude to people. Despite the respect for the existing status, no one will fawn or overly flatter. This is acceptable for older people.
Mass migrations made the Armenians quite well adapted to the new conditions. At the same time, they practically do not assimilate, but preserve spiritual and cultural traditions.
Armenian humor is also well known in the CIS countries. It so happened that the Armenians love to joke and find a reason for jokes at any convenient moment. At the table, in a business conversation, in everyday conversations. Every adult Armenian knows a whole bunch of jokes that he will certainly want to tell during a stormy feast.
In traditional Armenian families, the father is the head, and his word is tantamount to law. Armenians living in Moscow or other cities of Russia are distinguished by a more loyal attitude to life, but their brothers who remain at home, on the contrary, have rather strict morals.
We have already talked about hospitality. It is important to note that Armenians love it when people announce their intention to visit in advance. This way they can prepare as many dishes as possible for a sumptuous lunch or dinner.
The attitude to the holidays has a cult significance in the literal sense. Even if an Armenian does not have enough money, he will borrow or borrow money. But weddings must certainly be luxurious, and the celebration of the birth of children is even more beautiful.

Food

Armenian food is worthy of the highest praise. Armenians use a wide variety of ingredients in their dishes. A special place in their cuisine is occupied by lavash and cheeses.

• If you are a soup lover, be sure to try khash. The main ingredient in it is beef meat. The dish is prepared all day long and served with herbs and salt;
• Another option is save. Excellent soup with wheat groats. It can be eaten cold and hot. Often Armenians order two options at once. This is a dietary dish that does not contain a, so vegetarians will definitely like it;
• For lovers of unusual combinations, bozbash was invented. This soup includes meat, peppers, onions, eggplant and tomato paste;
• Shashlik is called khorovats by Armenians. In many ways, it is he who is associated with Armenian cuisine. In total, 20 types of barbecue were invented. They cook it on coals, in a saucepan, tandoor and in many other ways;
• Kufta meat balls are made from minced meat with the addition of onions and eggs;
• Harissa porridge is popular in Armenia; it is cooked with butter and wheat. Chicken meat is necessarily added to the dish;
• The main snacks in Armenia are dolma and zhengyalov hats. The latter is a flatbread made from lavash with the addition of greens;
• Sweets should be noted separately. Gata is divided into several types. The pie can be baked from different doughs, including puff, yeast or unleavened. Gata is baked with butter and powdered sugar. This dessert may well pass for an independent dish, as it is distinguished by satiety;
• Try sujukh, walnuts drenched in grape syrup;
• Walnut rolls with puff pastry - nazuk;
• In Armenia, fruit lavash is also popular, to which they add dogwood, cherries, plums and apricots.

Religion

1. Now the dominant religion in Armenia is Christianity. Islam is not as widespread as during the reign of the Ottomans. Muslims can be found in Yerevan, while Christians are more common in other cities.
2. The Armenian Church adheres to special rules that affect the life of the believer. So, during baptism, the baby is sprinkled with water three times and lowered into it three times.
3. Communion requires the use of exclusively pure wine and sour bread.
4. Religious Armenians do not believe in purgatory.
5. Fasting is strictly observed, and the well-known in Orthodoxy prayer “Our Father” is read in ancient Armenian.
6. It is believed that the Armenian Church was founded by the Apostles Thaddeus and Bartholomew. It is known that it was Armenia that adopted Christianity as the state religion first in the world. The date of official adoption is 301.

Armenians, without exaggeration, are a great people. They managed to survive despite the difficult times when their unity and culture were threatened with destruction. Having begun its formation in the Armenian Highlands, this people managed to spread throughout the planet. Now many Armenians live in Russia, the USA, Turkey and other countries. They are distinguished not only by love for life and diligence, but also by the desire to bring beauty into the world. Among the Armenians there are many artists who gave us amazing musical instruments, among which is the duduk, which has become part of the UNESCO World Cultural Heritage.

With the advent of Christianity, unique works of art - khachkars - began to appear in the country. Monuments made by stone cutters are found exclusively in Armenia. They were placed at the monasteries on the occasion of victory over enemies or in honor of the completion of the construction of a new temple. The use of "cross-stones" also has a ritual significance.