Origin of the Armenian people. Origins and formation of the Armenian people

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 Stephen (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: “The Armenians are from Phrygia and by language very similar 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 given by ancient Greek authors, also suggest that the ancestors of the Armenians - the tribes of the Frigs, 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. website 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 wrote in his time: “... the proximity of the Armenian language with Phrygian is not very great so that it would be possible to deduce 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 justify 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.

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” - a term invented by Armenian authors - A. M. )

According to I. Niftaliyev , ancient Greek and Roman historians, as well as ancient Armenian chroniclers, have no concept of the "Armenian Highland", since it appeared with the light hand of Europeans in the late 19th - early 20th 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 set 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 are the collective name of all the inhabitants of Arminia and do 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.

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

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 is 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

YEREVAN, Oct 22 - Sputnik. Armenians are an ancient people who predominantly speak the Armenian language. The formation of the Armenian people on the territory of the Armenian Highlands began at the end of the 2nd millennium BC. e. and ended by the 6th century BC. e.

Despite the fact that the Armenians are united by one history, one blood and many common features, both externally and internally, the representatives of this nation are radically different from each other. The Sputnik Armenia portal tried to understand what an Armenian really is.

One heartbeat

Representatives of the Armenian communities live predominantly in all major countries of the world. Most of the Armenians live in Russia, France and the USA. In particular, Armenians moved to many countries after the Armenian Genocide in the Ottoman Empire. The most interesting thing is that Armenians have about 50 dialects, while there are Western Armenian and Eastern Armenian languages, which are spoken by the vast majority of representatives of this nation. As for Eastern Armenian, this is one of the modern variants of the Armenian language, which is spoken in modern Armenia.

The second variety of the Armenian language is common among the Armenian diaspora, which appeared after the Genocide. This group of Armenians predominantly lives in North and South America, Europe and the Middle East. Despite the fact that the dialects are very different, Armenians can easily communicate with each other, speaking their own dialect. The most difficult to understand Armenian dialects are among the inhabitants of the Syunik region and the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic (Artsakh). It is for this reason that many Armenians do not speak their native language, but they are fluent in the language of the country in which they live.

If you communicate with Armenians, then, undoubtedly, you have noticed that these people have a bright sense of humor. They can cheer you up in a few minutes, tell a lot of funny stories, anecdotes, and make you walk around with high spirits for the next few days.

It is impossible not to note the fact that there are a lot of famous Armenian comedians in the world. In particular, the well-known Evgeny Petrosyan, Garik Martirosyan and Mikhail Galustyan. In fact, despite their cheerful disposition and enthusiasm, Armenians are very serious people, especially when it comes to people of the older generation, who have had a lot of difficulties.

There are also eternally dissatisfied Armenians. Usually, these are people who will never find their place in life. Most of all, in my opinion, Armenian taxi drivers and public transport drivers are dissatisfied. It is clear - the driving style in Yerevan and in other cities of Armenia is distinguished by a special temperament.

If you are a person close to an Armenian, then, most likely, he is ready for a lot for you, and maybe for everything. Probably, only Armenians know how to give everything to a loved one without a trace, surround him with care, attention and affection.

Armenians love and value family very much. In the Armenian family, the parent is the king. And in fact, this is all mutual, since many Armenian parents raise their children in great love and do everything for them, even the impossible. The attitude towards children in our country is special, and this can be called a cult of children. Also, an Armenian man idolizes his beloved women (mother, sister, wife).

Hospitality

Another national trait is hospitality. If you are visiting a "correct" Armenian, then he will definitely treat you to something. But if you have agreed in advance to visit an Armenian or an Armenian family, then a whole festive treat awaits you! And especially, delicious Armenian cognac.

You can talk about Armenian dishes forever and write for a long time, but the most favorite dishes of Armenians are dolma (stuffed cabbage from grape leaves), khash - a spicy soup of beef legs with garlic, spas - a healthy soup based on yogurt, Armenian salad taboule from bulgur and finely chopped parsley.

Armenian habits

Most Armenians are hardworking. If an Armenian finds a job he likes, then he works tirelessly.

The sunny weather of Armenia allows the inhabitants of the country to hang clothes on the streets. Such a habit is traditional, for example, for the inhabitants of Italy, when a huge amount of clothing is hung from building to building.

The "classic" Armenian is distinguished by the fact that he likes to consume a large amount of bread and coffee, organizes luxurious weddings, birthdays, engagements, christenings and other holidays. And in fact, an Armenian may not have money ... He will take it on credit, he will pay off the debt for months. But if the soul wants a holiday, then he will not be able to deny himself and his loved ones this.

Armenians love expensive cars, clothes and accessories. Probably, this feature is characteristic of all nationalities.

And many Armenians also open all the windows in the car when their favorite song is playing, regardless of whether you like this music or not. But the music lover will pass through the city, having listened to his favorite track several times, even in winter.

If you decide to use public transport in Armenia, and there is no longer a place where you can sit down, then you will definitely give it up.

And Armenians love to greet each other very much. "Barev" and "Bari luys" ("hello" and "good morning") - this is what can cheer up a person or become an occasion for further communication. No wonder they say in Armenia that "the greeting belongs to God."

Very often Armenians say "merci" instead of the traditional "thank you". Maybe it's just too lazy to pronounce the beautiful word "shnorakalutsyun" every time.

By the way, only an Armenian will buy an expensive gadget for himself - a phone, a laptop, a tablet or a netbook, and will be too lazy to study it himself in order to properly exploit it. He will definitely start asking others how to set everything up and make it work.

In fact, Armenians have a lot of habits, both positive and negative, and their character traits are very diverse. The temperament and mentality of Armenians is a very complex thing. However, this article contains everything that can distinguish an Armenian from representatives of other nationalities.

We are glad if Armenian habits are also characteristic of you.

With the collapse of the empire called the USSR in the 20th century, many stereotypes and fake concepts were refuted in world history.

During the years of Soviet power, the history of the territory of modern Armenia, as a rule, was written by pro-Armenian and Armenian researchers who put forward the theory of the existence of "Ancient, or Great Armenia." At the same time, consistent work was carried out to falsify the facts that take place in the history of such peoples living in this area as Jews, Greeks, Urartians, Aisors (Assyrians), Persians, Georgians, Albanians and, especially, the ancient Turks, whose direct descendants are Azerbaijanis. It should be noted that in world history it is difficult to find a more complicated and falsified history than the history of the Hays, the so-called modern Armenians. The same can be said about their ethnogenesis. This was noted in their studies by many Armenian scientists and European researchers.

Thus, the famous Armenian linguist Manuk Abeghyan confirmed that the Armenian language, like the Armenian tribe, is a hybrid one.

According to primary sources, in order to establish Christianity as the state religion, the Khays first arrived on the territory of modern Armenia (Hayastan) as missionaries. During the period of the Arab Caliphate, having taken possession of the places of worship of the Turkic tribes who at that time converted to Islam, they turned these temples into churches and began to falsify historical facts and events to their advantage. The alphabet, presented today as Armenian and serving the missionaries for the spread of Christianity, was in fact the alphabet of the peoples who lived in Asia Minor and eventually disappeared from the historical scene. It should be noted that the so-called creator of the Armenian alphabet Mesrop Mashtots was also a Christian missionary and never lived in the territory of modern Armenia.

The history of the hays was attached to world history, in particular to the Christian Gospels and mythological traditions of different peoples, the main characters of which served as prototypes for fictional Armenian characters, and the localities were used in a falsified history. The work of the “father of the history” of the Khays, the chronicler of the 5th century Movses Khorenatsi “History of the Khays” (despite the fact that in Armenian it is called “Hayos patmutyun”, i.e. “History of Armenians”, it was translated into Russian as “History of Armenia”) many Armenian scholars consider them to be scribbles of a compilative nature, consisting from beginning to end of anachronisms. The statement of Armenian historians about the existence of the Etchmiadzin Monastery from the beginning of the 4th century and the appearance of the Hai alphabet from the beginning of the 5th century seems surprising, while the oldest manuscript of the “History of the Hays” by M. Khorenatsi dates back no earlier than the 14th century.

This is explained by the fact that in these manuscripts, Armenian religious figures from time to time adjusted all periods of their history in accordance with the periods of the history of the peoples and states of the region. In Europe, "History" by M. Horentsai was first translated and published in 1695 in Amsterdam. Western scientists La Croza, A. Carriere, S. Martin, A. Gutshmidt, as well as Armenian researchers N. Emin, K. Patkanov, G. Khalatyants, M. Garagashyan came to the conclusion that, having rewritten the historical facts about the Urartians, Assyrians and the Medes, reflected in the Bible and the works of such ancient Greek scholars as Strabo, Herodotus, Ctesia, Xenophon, M. Khorenatsi, presented in his “History” the commanders and historical figures of these peoples as hayami, and the territories as Hayastan.

The famous Armenian historian Leo (Arakel Babakhanyan) pointed out that in the “History” of M. Khorenatsi, 59 names of sovereigns were mentioned for the 1800-year history of the descendants of Hayk (from the Haykazyan dynasty), of which 32 names were simply mentioned without indicating the time of their reign. Leo argued that M. Khorenatsi, who is considered the “father of Armenian history”, by fitting history to the Gospel, thereby rendered an artificial service to Christianity. This once again proved that he was not a devoted chronicler of the Khaykazian dynasty. Thus, Leo comes to the conclusion that the story written by M. Khorenatsi is a fictional story.
Another Armenian historian Bakhshi Ishkhanyan pointed out that the territory of "Great Armenia" extended beyond the borders of Russia into Lesser Armenia.

Russian researcher Alexander Anninsky wrote that the works of the authors (Mar Abas Katina, Agafangel, Zenob, Favstos Buzand), which M. Khorenatsi referred to, were questioned and denied as historical sources by European Armenian scholars.

Another Russian Caucasian scholar Ivan Chopin, examining the works of ancient authors, came to the conclusion that the Khays and Armenians are of different origin. In the XII century BC. Khai, together with their kindred tribes of Franco-Phrygians, moved from the Balkans to Asia Minor, namely, to the territory between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. According to mythological legends, the descendants of Gaik, the Khays, who defeated the Assyrian king Belin, settled in the area of the Lake Van basin, which was then called Hayasa (Hayastan). Living on the territory of the plateau of Ermeniyya (Armenia) in Anadolu, in the region of the basin of Lake Urmia and in the Caucasus, the Khays, having mixed with the Hurrians, appropriated the heritage and history of the Ermen tribe, which had disappeared by that time, who by origin were Subar Turks (or Mitans). As a result, at the present time the same nation has two names - it calls itself Hays, and others call it Armenians. It should be noted that the ethnonym Ermen is common not only in Anadolu and the Caucasus, but also in Central Asia and Transbaikalia (Erman Mountains).

Modern Armenian, European, Russian and even some Azerbaijani historians, describing the history of the South Caucasus and Western Asia and referring to the rigged history of M. Khorenatsi and other falsified historical books of the Armenian Church, thereby agree that the modern territory of Armenia is an ancient Armenian land. However, the partial resettlement of Armenians in the territory of present-day Armenia began in 1441, when during the reign of the emirs of Gara-goyunlu, the catholicosate was transferred from Cilicia to the church of the village of Vagharshapat, not far from the city of Irevan. Thanks to the financing of European states, the lands around these churches were acquired and the first Armenian settlements began to appear there. Of particular interest are the documents on the purchase and sale of land by the Church of Echmiadzin from Azerbaijanis, presented in the work "Jambr" by the Catholicos of Echmiadzin Simeon Yerevantsi (1763-1782) and the book of the historian A. Papazyan , compiled by him on the basis of documents on sale and purchase stored in the Matenadaran, which indicate from whom, when and for how much the lands belonging to Azerbaijanis were acquired.

In fact, the Armenian ethnos settled in the territory of the South Caucasus later than the others. In those days when the ancient Turks (Saks, Scythians, Cimmerians, Huns, Barsils, Oguzes, Kypchaks) ruled here, there was no Armenian trace in the Caucasus at all. This is evidenced by the Armenian historian Karen Yuzbashyan, who noted that the Turks are not alien tribes, but lived in the Caucasus region long before the Seljuks arrived here. The resettlement of the Turks in Asia Minor and the Balkans was observed in the 4th-7th centuries, and by the 8th-10th centuries this process had become widespread. The Armenian historian also noted that during the period of the Arab Caliphate, as a rule, the leaders of the Turkic tribes were chosen as emirs of the border regions.

After the occupation of the Iravan Khanate by Tsarist Russia and the signing of the Turkmanchay (1828) and Adrianople (1829) treaties, the mass resettlement of Armenians from Iran and Turkey to the territory of modern Armenia began.

Thus, the studies of many scientists and researchers prove that the modern Republic of Armenia and its capital Yerevan (Irevan) are not originally Armenian territory, but have belonged to the Oghuz Turks since ancient times.

Origins and formation of the Armenian people

The most common question in the history of Armenian studies has been and continues to be the question of the origin and formation of the Armenian people, which is controversial in some respects. Where does the Armenian people come from, where is its cradle located, when it was formed as a separate ethnic unit and from what time is it mentioned in the most ancient written sources. The controversy of these issues or their individual points is due not only to the variety of information from primary sources, but also to the frequent political or other interest of those involved in these issues. Nevertheless, the available facts, as well as the level of modern research, fully allow us to answer the question of the origin of the Armenian people and its formation. First of all, we will touch upon the legends about the origin of the Armenian people, recorded in the ancient and Middle Ages, with a common line we will present the most common theories in historiography, then the current state of the issue under study and the preserved ancient facts about Armenia and Armenians.

In the ancient and Middle Ages, a number of legends were recorded about the origin of the Armenians, the most interesting of which, from the point of view of Armenian studies, (as primary sources) are the Armenian, Greek, Hebrew, Georgian and Arabic versions.

a) Armenian tradition

It was created from time immemorial and has come down to us from the recording of Movses Khorenatsi. Separate fragments of the legend are also mentioned in the works of other Armenian medieval bibliographers. In this tradition, two layers can be distinguished, the first - the most ancient layer, was created and existed in pre-Christian times. According to an ancient legend, the Armenians descended from a god-like ancestor Aika, who was one of the titanic sons of the gods. Here is how Movses Khorenatsi presents his origin: “The first of the gods were formidable and prominent, the cause of the virtues of the world, and the beginning of the multitude and the whole earth. A generation of titans came before them, and one of them was Hayk Apestostyan.”

In Christian times, the Armenian tradition is modified, adjusting to the Biblical ideas, according to which, after the Flood, all mankind descended from the three sons of Noah - Ham, Shem and Japhet. According to the new Christian version, Hayk is considered a descendant of Japheth, the son of the ancestor of Torgom, hence the name given to Armenia by medieval written sources "Torgom's house" and "Trading nation".

The legend says that Hayk fought the tyrant of Mesopotamia Bel, defeated him, and as a sign of this, the Armenians began to celebrate the original Armenian date (according to the well-known Armenian scholar Ghevond Alishan, this was August 1, 2492).

According to the Armenian version, after the name of the ancestor Hayk, the Armenian people are called “Hay”, and the country is called “Ayastan”, and the names “Armenia” and “Armenians” appeared after the name of his descendant Aram. Also, by the names of Hayk and other Armenian ancestors, numerous names of the Armenian Highlands received their names (from Hayk-Haykashen, Aramanyak - Mount Aragats and the region of Aragatsotn, from Aramais - Armavir, from Erast - Eraskh (Araks), from Shara - Shirak, from Amasia - Masis, from Gegham - Lake Gegharkunik and the Gegharkuni region, from Sisak - Syunik, from Ara the Beautiful - Ayrarat, etc.).

b) Greek tradition

The Greek legend that tells about the origin of the Armenians is connected with the beloved and widespread in Ancient Greece legend about the Argonauts. According to which the ancestor of the Armenians, who gave them the name Armenos Tesalsky, who, along with Jason and other Argonauts, took part in the journey to search for the Golden Fleece, settled in Armenia, which was named Armenia after him. Tradition says that he originally lived in the Thesalian (region in Greece) city of Armenion. This legend is told in more detail by a Greek bibliographer of the 1st century BC. Strabo, who says that the source of his information was the stories of the commanders of Alexander the Great. Judging by the facts, the legend about the Armenians was created and associated with the Argonauts during the campaigns of Macedonian, since there are no earlier sources that tell about this. In all likelihood, this had the same political orientation as the legends about the Greek origin of the Persians and the Medians. There are many cases in history when some conqueror, in order to give his goals a “legal” form, invents false grounds in advance. Thus, the axial information about the Thesalian (Greek) origin of the Armenians cannot be considered reliable. About the western (Phrygian) origin, incoherent information also remained with the Greek authors Herodotus (5th century) and Eudoxus (4th century). These information refers to the similarity in the clothes of the Armenian and Phrygian warriors and the presence of numerous Phrygian words in the Armenian language. This, of course, cannot explain the origin of one people from another. The Phrygians and Armenians are related nations (they have the same Indo-European origin), therefore, the presence of the same root words in the Armenian and Phrygian languages can be considered a regularity.

c) Georgian tradition.

The Georgian tradition was written under the influence and was written down in the 9th - 11th centuries. Georgian authors (Nameless Historian, Leonti Mroveli, etc.). According to Georgian legend, numerous peoples descended from the eight sons of Targamos (Torgom), Armenians from the eldest son of Ayos, Georgians from Kartlos, and many peoples of the Caucasus from other sons. Judging by the endings of proper names, this legend had some kind of Georgian primary source that has not come down to us. It partially bears the trace of the political situation of that era, when the influence of the Bagratids was widespread throughout the Caucasus. This should explain the fact that Hayos, the ancestor of the Armenians, was the eldest of the brothers.

d) Arabic tradition.

Connects the origin of the Armenians with the idea of the emergence of nations from the sons of Noah after the flood. It is described in most detail in the works of the Arab bibliographers of the 12th-13th centuries, Yakuti and Dimashka. According to this legend, Avmar descended from the son of Noah Yafis (Japhet), then his grandson Lantan (Torgom), whose son was Armini (the ancestor of the Armenians), the Aghvans (Caucasian Albanians) and Georgians descended from the sons of his brother. This tradition considers Armenians, Greeks, Slavs, Franks and Iranian tribes to be related. It is interesting that this legend has preserved a memory coming from the period of the kindred unity of the Indo-European peoples.

e) Hebrew tradition.

It was recorded on the pages of "Jewish Antiquities" by Josephus Flaphius (1st century BC - 1st century AD). According to the source "Uros founded Armenia". There is no single point of view in Armenian studies regarding the primary source of this information and its reliability. There is an opinion that it refers to the son of the ancestor of Aram Ara the Beautiful. According to other opinions, Uros could be the "son of Rus Erimene" - the king mentioned in the cuneiforms of the Kingdom of Van. In Assyrian written sources, the name "Rusa" is also mentioned under the name "Ursa", and the name "Erimena" can be interpreted both as an anthroponym and as a genus name.

In addition to those noted, there are other legends that tell about the origin of the Armenians, which, however, to some extent repeat the above-mentioned and are of no interest.

f) The question of the ethnogenesis of Armenians in historiography.

From the 5th century to the 19th century, the Armenian version, formed on the pages of Movses Khorenatsi's “History of Armenia”, was unquestioningly accepted on the issue of the ethnogenesis of Armenians, which for many centuries has been a textbook and evidence of genealogy for the Armenian people. However, the news that appeared in science in the 19th century cast doubt on the reliability of the historian's information, and the veracity of the national version of the origin of the Armenians was called into question.

In the 19th century, comparative linguistics was born, according to which the Armenians are of Indo-European origin, along with other peoples in prehistoric times, they constituted one ethnic unity and occupied one territory, which in science is conditionally called the “Indo-European ancestral homeland”. The question of the origin of these peoples in the framework of this theory is connected with the location of the Indo-European ancestral home. At different times, different versions of the location of the ancestral home prevailed in science (Southeastern Europe, the South Russian plains, the north of Western Asia, etc.).

In the 19th century, in comparative linguistics, the version about finding the Indo-European ancestral home in Southeastern Europe became widespread. On the other hand, Greek sources about the Balkan origin of Armenians put forward a theory about the resettlement of Armenians. An opinion was formed according to which the Armenians, having left the Balkan Peninsula in the 8th-6th centuries, invaded Urartu, conquered it and after the fall of the latter in the 6th century created their own state (the Ervandi kingdom). This theory is not based on a set of facts and cannot be considered true for several reasons, it has become and still continues to be the subject of political manipulation (in particular, by Turkish falsifiers of history).

The next theory about the origin of the Armenian people is the Abestan or Asinik theory, according to which the Armenian language is a mixed non-Indo-European language, therefore, the Armenians did not take part in the Indo-European migration and originated from local Asian tribes. This theory could not resist serious scientific criticism and is still denied, since there can be no mixed languages: mixing two languages does not give rise to a third.

In the early 1980s, the point of view was revised that the Indo-European ancestral home in the 5th-4th millennium BC. was located in the north of Western Asia, more precisely in the territory of the Armenian highlands, in the regions of Asia Minor, in the northern Mesopotamia and in the north-west of the Iranian plain. This point of view is supported by many facts to this day and is accepted by most experts. The question of the ethnogenesis of the Armenians received a new explanation. By itself, the thesis of the resettlement of Armenians was rejected, since the Indo-European ancestral home was located precisely on the territory where the Armenian people were formed and went through all the stages of their formation.

Now we can definitely say that the Armenians in the 5th-4th millennium BC. formed part of the Indo-European people and at the end of the 4th millennium and at the beginning of the 3rd millennium they separated from the Indo-European community. It was from that time that the formation of the Armenian people began, which took place in two stages. The first stage, which can be characterized as a period of tribal associations and early state formations, took place in the 3rd-2nd millennium BC. At the second stage, in the 5th-6th centuries BC. the stage of the formation of the Armenian people ended through the creation of a single statehood.

Summarizing all that has been said, it can be argued that the Armenian language and all speakers of it separated from the Indo-European community and became independent in the 4th-3rd millennium BC. existed and created their own history.

Movsisyan A.