Categories: Antiquities

Sakravor – Warrior Of Ancient Armenia

Sakravor (Armenian: Սակրավոր, from the word sakura, that is, ax) was a soldier in the ancient Armenian army usually armed with an ax. Sakravors have also had shovels and some other tools.

The sakravor squads paved roads, built bridges, cut down forests, set up military camps, trenches, and engaged in other forms of military engineering.

Sakravors were also obliged to monitor the gumak – the cart of horses or oxen which carried groceries, ammunition, and other camp supplies.

In the modern Armenian army, the term sakravor refers to sappers.

Vigen Avetisyan

Recent Posts

From Lake Van to Yerevan: The Bronze Helmet of Urartu, the First Armenia

The crested bronze helmet on the left of this comparison was not made by a…

3 days ago

A Tower Crowned by a Lion-Rider: Reading a Bronze Age Cult Vessel Through the Lens of the Armenian Highlands

A small, weathered piece of fired clay — barely 31 centimeters tall — sits today…

6 days ago

A Hand Reaching Through Three Millennia: The Bronze Pendant from Yeghvard

Pendant (Amulet) in the Shape of a Human Hand | 7th–6th centuries BC | Yeghvard…

2 weeks ago

Duduk (Tsiranapogh): The Ancient Voice of Armenia from the Bronze Age to UNESCO Heritage

Introduction The duduk (Armenian: դուդուկ)—traditionally known as tsiranapogh (ծիրանափող, “apricot-wood pipe”)—is one of the most…

2 weeks ago

The Earliest Known Mention of Yerevan in Armenian Epigraphy: The 874 Inscription of Sevanavank

Perched on the rocky peninsula of Lake Sevan, the medieval monastery of Sevanavank preserves one…

4 weeks ago

The Land of Kajants: Language, Kings, and Gods

Reconsidering the Language and Sacred Heritage of Urartu in Armenian Historical Thought For more than…

1 month ago