The Cultural and Economic Interplay Between Egypt, Mesopotamia, and Ancient Armenia

Scholars often draw comparisons between Egypt and Mesopotamia, particularly in the cultural and economic realms. Both civilizations share a common style of monumental architecture, similar cylinder seals, and decorative patterns that depict the interweaving of fantastic animals. These similarities suggest a flow of ideas and innovations from Mesopotamia to Egypt.

However, the clay tablets from Nekhen present a different perspective. They do not depict the mountains of Mesopotamia or Turkey (Çatal Hüyük), but rather those of Ancient Armenia—the biblical Ararat Mountains. This points to a significant cultural and historical connection between Ancient Armenia and these early civilizations.

According to M. Khorenatsi, the return of Hayk, a descendant of Mher (“our father, the eldest”), from Babylon (Mesopotamia) to the land of his ancestors (the Ararat Mountains) and the joining of the remaining local inhabitants there, reflects fragments of real events. The battle of Hayk with his relative Bel—a giant, tyrant, and ruler of the world—embodies the ancient motif of the struggle between good and evil, light and darkness. Bel symbolizes a bull, representing the forces of evil and darkness.

Artifacts from Urfa and monuments from the era of the Kingdom of Van depict heroes standing on bulls. Similarly, the palette from Narmer features the heads of bulls. In Armenian, “gerezmank” refers to the burial place of the father of human-bulls, buffalos (“her ez man”). The ending “k” transforms human-bulls into a stone (k)—a gravestone or tomb.

In the epic “Sasuntsi David,” the younger Mher (grandson of the elder Mher, son of David) enters the rock with his horse, intending to stay there until humanity becomes fairer and the earth becomes “firm, fertile, and honest” again. This narrative reflects the idea of resurrection and the spiritual rebirth of nature and humanity. Mher’s conquest of the West further supports the early cultural ties between Old Armenia and Old Europe (Vaganyan V., 2009).

Thus, the primary source of early ideas, artistic archetypes, innovations, and pictorial writing that reached Egypt during the pre-dynastic period and Old Europe is not solely Mesopotamia (the biblical myth of Babylon), but also Old Armenia (the biblical myth of the Ararat Mountains), which in turn nourished Mesopotamia.

Artatsolum

Based on excerpt from the book by V. Vaganyan: “Unique rock paintings of natural disasters (Artifacts of the Egyptian King Scorpion again lead to old Armenia)