Where did the Armenians come from: etymology, history of origin and characteristics

2024 Author: Henry Conors | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-02-12 02:41

This people has a self-name - ah, hai (or gay). Where did the Armenians come from? No one can give absolutely accurate evidence, since they are considered "original", and there are very few such nationalities. In addition, not everyone can boast that the basis of the origin is an interesting biblical legend about the flood, when Noah and his family were miraculously saved on Mount Ararat.

Controversy continues

Armenian studies have a very long history. However, the most important question still remains without a clear answer. Where did the Armenians come from? Information varies. Moreover, there are even diametrically opposed versions. Where was the cradle of this people? When exactly did it manage to form into a separate ethnic unit? What are the oldest references to him in written sources?

Researchers argue not only on cardinal issues, but also ontheir individual items. And the thing is that even in the ancient primary sources, information about where the Armenians came from is contradictory. Yes, and researchers are often too interested in the political side of the issue. However, the facts are available, even if they somehow contradict each other.

The level of research in our time has become much higher, so it is possible to get more accurate answers about the origin and formation of the people, to establish where the Armenians came from. It is necessary to study the legends that came from ancient times more carefully, to compare historiographical theories with modern research.

The legends of antiquity deep

In the Book of Genesis, Noah's offspring are named by name, and the resettlement of people in the Sanaar Valley near Ararat is also indicated there. Greek, Syrian, Chaldean ancient historians confirm almost all of this information. When Noah's great-grandson named Forgom (son of Homer, grandson of Japheth) grew old, he divided his own lands among his sons. Armenia went to Gayk (otherwise - Hayk). From here came the Armenian kings of the Haykids. They are rightfully considered the ancestors of a whole people. That is, who the Armenians are and where they came from is already becoming clear.

There are a lot of legends about Tsar Gaik. In addition to the Armenian, he also gave birth to a significant part of the Babylonian people, even built the famous tower at the invitation of the ancestor of the Chaldeans Nimrod (aka Bel). Feeling that the supreme Chaldean did not want to share power, Gaik easily yielded to him (but alsodid not obey) and returned to his lands. And Nimrod held a grudge. He knew well who the Armenians were and where they came from, and therefore he really wanted to subjugate this God-marked people.

Gaiq was smart, he did not fall into the traps set for him, he even refused to choose lands in Babylon. Nimrod also failed to conquer the Armenians. Note that this was the very first documented real war between people. Near Lake Van, the army of Nimrod was defeated, and he himself fell. On the site of the battle, the city of Hayk was built. This is where the roots of Armenians come from. This whole story is described in great detail in the Bible.

From the point of view of historians

Researchers still do not undertake to state for certain where the Armenians came from. They believe that the process of nation formation is much more complicated. The fact is that any sufficiently numerous people always consists of hundreds and hundreds of various clans, tribes and groups. There are migrations, conquests, raids, victories and defeats in wars. All this necessarily adds "fresh blood" to any ancient nation.

Therefore, scientists cannot yet know for sure where the Armenians came from as a nation. Too much time must be taken into account, there are too many conflicting sources that claim to be the only correct one. In addition, the formation of the people is influenced by religious traditions. This also needs to be taken into account. Where the Armenians come from is understandable. How has this people changed over the millennia? This is no less important, since the formation of a nationtook place according to general laws.

Fresh blood

Ancient written monuments testify that the territory where the Armenians came from gradually became a place of residence for many small tribes. These are Karkarians, Dzotians, Janarians, Cartmanians, Utians, Albans, Aguvans and others. They settled in all parts of Armenia and were assimilated. This means that they created families with representatives of the local population. Children were born in marriage.

In addition, a million Semites who were captured by King Grachya completely disappeared among the local population. It was from the Semitic Armenians that the magnificent family of Bagratuni appeared - princes, commanders. The most famous among them is Bagration. They replenished the royal dynasty first in Armenia, then in Georgia.

Assimilated and settlers from China, who owned the lands bordering on Georgia. They made a huge contribution to the origin of the Armenians, from where the princely title of the famous Mamikonyans and Orbelians appeared.

Resettlement

Migration of people existed at all times. The Armenians, too, have not been in the shadow of Ararat for all centuries. They actively settled around the world. There were various reasons for this. Today, their representatives live in many on almost all continents and in all countries.

For example, Armenians appeared in Central Asia around the third or fourth centuries. This was facilitated not only by the persecution of the spread of Christianity, but also by trade - the Great Silk Road. You can find representatives of this people inIn Iran, in Tajikistan, in Turkestan, there are Ferghana Armenians. Where they came from is understandable. Everyone left the Sanaar Valley.

The process of forming a nation is very long, but the Armenians are different from other nations. The fact is that they acquired self-consciousness very early, and since then, these people have not allowed serious changes in the ethnic composition up to the present day. However, the most interesting thing in history is where the Armenians came from. This issue, as already mentioned, is very controversial, so at least some of the existing versions should be considered.

Tradition from Armenians

Now the most popular is the story of the origin of the nation, told above. This is the version of the Armenians themselves (according to the records of the medieval historian Movses Khorenatsi). Many fragments of this legend are mentioned by other historians of this period. Hayk (or Gayk) in them is endowed with the god-likeness of the son of a titan.

Later Armenian tradition changed, adjusted to the information given by the Bible: the three sons of Noah gave birth to mankind - Ham, Shem and Japhet. Gaik is a descendant of the latter. His father was Torg, which is why in the Middle Ages the country was called the House of Torg, and the Armenians were called the trading nation. The initial date of the emergence of Armenia is the day of victory in the first human war - August 1 (2492).

Hayk (or Hayk), the ancestor of this people, his name sounds everywhere right in the names - places, rivers, lakes, settlements. His descendant is Aram, hence Armenia. It is enough to listen to the names: Haykashen, Aragats,Aragatsotn, Arax, Ararat.

Tradition from the Greeks

In this country, the myth of the Argonauts, closely connected with the origin of the Armenians, spread. The Greeks call Armenos Tesalsky the ancestor of this people. He is an active participant in the expedition for the Golden Fleece, along with Jason and his other comrades. This Argonaut decided to leave his native region of Tesalia and his native city of Armenion and settle in new lands. The country he founded began to bear his name.

This information is given by the Greek bibliographer of the 1st century BC Strabo, who drew it from the stories of the commanders of the army of Alexander the Great. Everything suggests that the very myth of the Argonauts originated during the campaigns of the great commander. No earlier source found.

The Greeks benefited from such a turn: they wanted to consider almost all people to be from Hellas. We see the same thing in their attitude towards the Medians, Persians and many other peoples. Since the legal form is always laid down on false grounds, many conquerors have sinned precisely with this approach. Apparently, such information cannot be considered reliable.

However, both Herodotus and Eudoxus wrote about the same Phrygian origin of the Armenians, cited as evidence a large number of identical words in languages, as well as the similarity in the clothes of warriors. Of course, the origin of both the one and the other people is Indo-European, and these nations are kindred. Therefore, some similarity is quite natural.

Tradition from Georgians

According to another legend that is clearlywas created under the influence of already existing legends in neighboring territories (the time of the first known Georgian record belongs to the 9th-11th centuries, that is, this is much later evidence), Torgom (called Targamus) had eight sons, from whom all Caucasian peoples originated.

The eldest was Hayos, the ancestor of the Armenians. Georgians are descended from his brother Kartlos. It is quite possible that the record of this legend had a certain primary source, which has not come down to our time. However, even in the legend under consideration there are obvious political motives corresponding to the very era when this document was compiled. The influence of the Bagratids in the text is already visible throughout the Caucasus.

Tradition from the Arabs

In the legends of this people, the origin of the Armenians is associated with a special idea of the resettlement of people after the flood through the efforts of the sons of Noah. The written works here are voluminous and very detailed, dating back to the 12th-13th centuries.

The Arabs fully agree with the biblical interpretation of this process: Noah gave birth to Yafis (Japheth), then Avmar was born, then from him - Torgom (the Arabs called him Lantan), and then the direct ancestor of all Armenians appeared - Armini. He had a brother, from whom the Caucasian Albanians (Aghvans) and Georgians descended. The most interesting thing about this legend is that it preserves the oldest memory from the period of complete unity of all Indo-Europeans.

Arabs rightly consider as relatives not only Georgians, Armenians and Greeks, but also Slavs, Iranians, even Franks.

Tradition from the ancientsJews

From Josephus Flavius (1st century BC), on the pages of his work "Jewish Antiquities" you can get acquainted with the legend that claims that Armenia was founded not by Hayk, but by Uros.

It can be assumed that the son of the ancestor, Ara the Beautiful, is meant. But another interpretation is also possible: Uros is the son of Rus Erimena. Such a king was mentioned in cuneiform inscriptions in the Kingdom of Van.

Assyrian written sources transparently hint that the name of Erimen is quite comparable with the name of the Armenian family. True, Rusa in these documents sounds like Ursa. However, Armenians cannot fully agree with the Hebrew interpretation of the origin of their people.

What the historiography says

From the 5th century to the 19th century, the Armenian version of ethnogenesis was accepted unquestioningly. It was she who was published in the works of the already mentioned Mosves Khorenatsi. It was both a textbook of history and evidence of genealogy. But at the end of the 19th century, new monuments were found, due to which the reliability of the information of the most authoritative historian was under suspicion.

At the same time, new sciences appeared, including comparative linguistics, thanks to which the belonging of the Armenians to the Indo-European peoples became clear. They were united in prehistoric times and lived on the same territory (Indo-European ancestral home). Further, theories of the origin of the Armenian people arose often, but none of them was really reliable. Some were even used for political purposes (by the Turks, for example).

Point of view regarding the location of the Indo-Europeanancestral home is constantly being revised. Many facts indicate that it was located in Asia Minor on the Armenian Highlands. Most experts are convinced of this. Judging by this point of view, the resettlement of Armenians did not take place. They were originally located in the same place where they live now.

What can I say for sure

Today, according to available information, it can be argued that in the fifth and fourth millennia BC Armenians were part of the Indo-European people, and at the beginning of the third millennium they separated from this community. It was then that they began to form their own nation - first by merging clans into an early state union, then (by the sixth century BC) a single statehood was created.

They became independent around the fourth century BC. At that time, written monuments began to mention the mountainous country, where the active and enterprising Armenian people created their richest and very long history.