It has long been known that history is written for the benefit of politics. Historical science could not develop freely under the harsh pressure of Bolshevik ideology. The doctrine that a “pre-Urartian” state hadn’t existed in Transcaucasia towered over official historiography. And the concept of Urartu completely swept away any idea of the existence of Armenians and other peoples before the 1st millennium BC.
However, Movses Khorenatsi already in the 5th century wrote that there had indeed been statehood in the territory of the Armenian Highlands thousands of years before Urartu.
His words were unexpectedly confirmed in 1956 when as a result of the shallowing of the high-altitude Lake Sevan, a whole archaeological complex appeared on land. On the exposed bottom of the lake near the village of Lchashen, remains of buildings and tombs were discovered. The cultural riches found in the graves refuted all previously existing doctrines.
Officials had to admit that civilization in these places had appeared long before Urartu, ancient Rome, and Greece. But the review of the dates hasn’t ended back then – it continues to this day.
In the necropolises at the bottom of Lake Sevan were found chariots, household items, gold and silver jewelry encrusted with precious stones, a strange object made of bronze which was named the “image of the Universe”, as well as skeletons of people who were dated to the 3rd millennium BC.
Analysis of gold jewelry showed that they are made of local gold mined at the Zod mine on the shore of Sevan. The discovered chariots – which are now kept at the Historical Museum of Armenia – were made of Arat cedar, very strong wood that can withstand the stress of running horses.
Their great resemblance to the chariots of the Hyksos that captured Lower Egypt in the 17th century BC was recognized. However, in Soviet times, no one dared to talk about the influence of pre-Urartian civilization on the entire Middle East.
Even the presence of a state formation in more ancient periods was not officially recognized. Only tribes with a rich culture were mentioned. But even then, discoveries showing a surprisingly high level of development thousands of years ago were already being made.
Հայաստանի առեղծվածները – Լճաշեն-ստորջրյա գաղտնիքներ
