In the biblical age, Armenia was conceived as the mountainous expanse in the north dominating the route from Ereẓ Israel to Mesopotamia (via Haran or its neighborhood) and extending to (and beyond) the boundaries of the known world.
The forested heights near the sources of the Euphrates and the Tigris stimulated Jewish commentators to develop geographical concepts concerning this area regarding Paradise (Gen. 2:8 ff.), the divine “mount of meeting” in the north (Isa. 14:13), the connection of the two (Ezek. 28:13–16), and the rebirth of mankind after the Flood (Gen. 8:4 ff.).
The name Ararat (Gen. 8:4; II Kings 19:37; Jer. 51:27) recalls the indigenous Armenian kingdom of Urartu, based on Lake Van.
On a rocky promontory above the southwestern shore of Lake Sevan, at an elevation of…
Among the most arresting objects to survive from the Early Iron Age Near East are…
How a promise made to genocide survivors was traded away for peace with Ankara —…
A Fragment That Traveled Across Continents The gilt-silver medallion shown above — two richly dressed…
Few episodes in ancient Armenian history capture the imagination quite like the tradition that Hannibal…
Five angles of one small bronze figure — and what emerges is not an abstract…