The mountains surrounding Lake Sevan hold many mysteries. Archaeologists consider this land fertile ground for research, while locals tell captivating stories about dark caves and menacing rocks. It’s said that in ancient times, this is where the Vishap (Dragon) used to reside.
The Van Monster
In the early ’90s, residents of the shores of Lake Van in Turkey were stirred up by rumors of a monster dwelling at its depths. Witnesses claimed they saw a dragon-like creature with a bony ridge on its back.
Quite recently, a resident from the Tatvan district of Bitlis province appealed to the local municipality to investigate the lake waters, where he had seen a strange creature resembling a whale. The request did not go unanswered, and now a specialized team of divers is searching for the “Van Monster.”
It would be hard to surprise the ancient inhabitants of the shores of Lake Van, or indeed any residents of ancient Armenia, with stories of monsters. They have long lived next door to a fearsome dragon. It is no coincidence that there once was a town named Vishap by Lake Van, as well as a monastery called Vishapadzor (“Dragon Gorge”).
Today neither the town nor the monastery exist. However, one of the peaks of the Gegham Mountains—now within modern Armenia—by Lake Sevan is named Mount Vishap, and within the same mountains lies Lake Vishapalich.
There are also other traces of the dragon in these lands—for example, steles called Vishapakars (“Vishap stones”), as well as tales of a Sevan monster, which one can still hear from local residents today.
The Common Armenian Dragon
Among enthusiasts of myths, an entire unofficial science has formed that studies Vishaps in various cultures, known as “dragonology.” It turns out that depending on their “habitat,” these creatures have specific behaviors, appearances, and even diets.
And if Chinese or Japanese dragons are benevolent, symbolizing wisdom and moral perfection, European dragons are characterized by their ferocity and voracious appetite.
The Armenian dragon was a master of the water element, dwelling in lakes, rivers, and also in the sky—within the clouds, causing storms and hurricanes. In terms of appearance, the Armenian Vishap significantly differed from intricate Asian dragons and multi-headed winged European creatures.
In the popular imagination, this was a colossal serpent. Vishap’s nature is ambiguous. In some myths, he is a spirit that grants water and riches; in others, he brings terrible disasters.
On one hand, people worshipped Vishap, especially during droughts. It was believed that the serpent, dragging its long tail across the ground, indicated where canals could be dug. On the other hand, it was precisely he who obstructed access to life-giving moisture, and water could only be obtained by defeating the dragon.
Vishap’s main rival in Armenia was the storm god Vahagn, who later, with the adoption of Christianity, was replaced by Saint George (Gevorg). Both, as is customary, defeated the despised serpent in an unequal battle, after which long-awaited rain would fall on the earth.
“Terrifying Vishap grows his entire life and after a thousand years can become so enormous that he would devour the whole world; a hungry Vishap could even swallow the sun, causing an eclipse,” the elders would tell children.
Time to Collect Dragon Stones
In Armenia, even in prehistoric times, Vishapakars (or Vishaps)—”dragon stones”—were placed at the sources of rivers and generally near water. For the rest of the world, they were first “discovered” in the early 20th century.
Vishapakars are carved from a single piece of stone, up to five meters high, and usually take the form of a fish. On many of them, there are images of bulls or rams, and sometimes snakes or birds resembling cranes or storks.
There are numerous theories about the purpose of these “dragon stones.” According to one of the main theories, they were sculptures of the mythical dragon that blocked the source of water.
On the other hand, Vishaps were dedicated to the goddess of love and fertility, Astghik, or the dying and resurrecting god, Ara the Beautiful. It is also believed that they may have served as a kind of spatial demarcation for areas inhabited by humans.
Today, anyone interested can see some of the Vishap stones while strolling through the parks of Yerevan, where they have been transported from the Gegham Mountains. This area, now part of Gegharkunik Province, was once the habitat of the Armenian Vishap.
Who Owns Gegharkunik?
Legend has it that as they age, Vishaps change their “habitat”: celestial dragons descend to the depths of seas and lakes, while aquatic ones ascend to the sky, thereby causing hurricanes.
It is said that an old Vishap once lived in Lake Sevan. When it was time for him to ascend to the clouds, he soared straight to the sun and burned up. The dragon’s ashes scattered into the lake’s waters, turning them dark, which is why it was called Sev Van (“sev” meaning “black”). Of course, this is just one of the many versions of the origin of the lake’s name, which has changed several times throughout its history.
One of them, and perhaps the oldest, is Lake Gegham. According to Movses Khorenatsi, Gelam (or Gegham) once ruled this area, giving rise to local toponyms like the Gegham Mountains and Gegharkunik.
“However, the name of the region, Gelakuni (Gegharkuni), is still preserved in records from the Urartian period as Velikuni or Uelikuni,” says historian Armen Petrosyan. He believes that, in the widespread myth about the battle between the dragon and the storm god, the name of the fearsome serpent originates from the Indo-European root ‘wel,’ which, following the rules of the Armenian language, transformed into ‘gel’ (or in later pronunciation, ‘gekh’).
“Considering that the stone Vishaps are mainly found in the region of the Gegham Mountains, east of Lake Sevan, it can be assumed that the steles originally contained the root ‘gel’ in their name, and the term ‘Vishap’ entered the Armenian language later,” suggests Armen Petrosyan.
Early researchers of Vishaps—Boris Piotrovsky and Nikolai Marr—were inclined to believe that the term “dragon stones” with the root “Vishap” dates back to the end of the first millennium BCE.
In their opinion, the Vishap gradually transformed from a deity of fertility into an embodiment of evil, into a dragon, and its new name was borrowed from Iranian languages. By this time, the original meaning of the Vishaps had been forgotten, and they likely became associated with invaders.
Incidentally, one of the peaks of the same Gegham Mountains bears the name of the Persian dragon, Azhdaha. In this case, it turns out that the original owner of Lake Sevan is none other than the old Vishap.
The Red Trace of the Dragon
Vishaps have also left their mark on applied art—their images can be found on jewelry, statuettes, ceramic objects, in textile patterns, and of course, on the famous Armenian Vishapagorg rugs. These dragon-depicting rugs are a unique subset of Armenian carpets.
They are considered to be among the oldest examples of carpet weaving in the world. The earliest remains of carpets, found during excavations, date back to the 2nd and 1st millennia BCE. For instance, on a fragment of a carpet from the 14th–9th centuries BCE, symbols of water, swastikas, and snakes are depicted.
Later, symbolic dragon-serpents surrounded by animals and plants were placed along the edges of the rug, and a “world tree” blossomed in its center. These carpets employed colors like ivory, blue, and brown, but red was always dominant and pervasive.
The large rug (approximately 3×7 meters) served not only as an interior decoration but also as a kind of talisman, protecting the home from evil forces. Examples of classic Vishapagorg rugs can be seen in New York’s Metropolitan Museum, the State Museum in Berlin, the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, and many other renowned galleries worldwide.
Gayane Mirzoyan | William Karapetyan, Armen Petrosyan
Translated Vigen Avetisyan
