Petroglyphs (rock carvings) are carved-out images of animals, hunting scenes, symbols, rites, mythical characters, and many other concepts, objects, and phenomena. Rock carvings are found in large quantities on the vast territory stretching from the Aegean Sea to the Pacific Ocean. The largest “gallery” that expands tens of kilometers is located in the Gegham and Vardenis Mountains in Armenia.
The gallery was found 25 years ago by architect and explorer Suren Petrosyan during his hike in the mountains. He had been very passionate about the “hunt” for ancient petroglyphs. In the following years, Petrosyan would spend all his vacations in the mountains, searching for new rock carvings. Today, the collection of the explorer includes over 15 thousand petroglyphs.
“Once, I saw unusual images on rocks – lines, holes, and dashes. The images were worn out. The sudden rain caused the images to develop on the stone as if they were being treated by a photographic developer. A miracle happened as I saw the earth with four small human figures on it…
The gigantic gallery of petroglyphs contains thousands of mysteries, which first of all relate to Armenian mythology, evidence of which didn’t quite make it to our days, unlike the Greek’s. Movses Khorenatsi was the only one to present excerpts from the rich history of Armenian mythology in his “History of Armenia”. We can gather the confirmation of Khorenatsi’s accounts from the petroglyphs. Most importantly, they relate to the myths of Vahagn the Dragon Reaper (Vahagn Vishapakagh).
Based on the vast material of petroglyphs in Armenia, I composed tables of the Armenian, Greek, and Latin alphabets.
Astronomical petroglyphs provide us with most of the material. Evidence shows that our ancestors have been very developed in the sense of astronomy. In the book of a 17th-century astronomer Johannes Hevelius, constellations are portrayed in their mythological form. Many of the astronomical petroglyphs from Armenia fully match the images of Hevelius, and keep in mind that the Armenian rock carvings are much older. The “youngest” carvings are 4 thousand years old, while the oldest are nearly 10 thousand years old.
Today, we have the irrefutable proof of the versions of world-renowned researchers of astronomical history – Maunder, Flammarion, Swartz, Olcott, and others – that the inhabitants of Armenia have been the pioneers of the starry sky’s exploration, and they have been the first to name many constellations.
I managed to find an image of a region of the Lunar surface, which clearly features craters, mountains, and canyons. I think this is the oldest image of the Moon.
Several years ago, I discovered a cyclopean fortress in Gegham Mountains at an altitude of 3,250 meters. Near the fortress were lunar annual and monthly calendars, as well as other astronomical symbols. Why did the ancients need to climb these heights? Maybe here was located a unique school that transferred knowledge to those who needed it?”
The Armenian Telecommunication Information Center “Search” has done an immense job researching petroglyphs. Here was created the first-in-the-world digital base of petroglyphs “Karadaran”, which contains over 20 thousand carvings located in the mounts of Armenia. “Karadaran” is available to cultural centers, art institutes, scholars of ethnography and archaeology, sociology and psychology, history, as well as museums and exhibition centers.
The chairman of “Search”, a member of the National Commission for UNESCO Grigory Vahanyan remarked:
“Our studies allowed us to conclude that the Armenian complex of petroglyphs is the oldest stone encyclopedia of the humanity, the first “outdoor” university.
We developed the program “Karadaran”, which is aimed at the revival of this stone encyclopedia of humanity. We view the achievement of this goal in the context of UNESCO as the preservation and examination of this treasury has a significant universal meaning. All-inclusive research and systematical analysis of tens of thousands of petroglyphs is an unbearable task for the small team of scientists and specialists of the “Search” center.”
Meri Cholakyan
Petroglyphs in Republic of Armenia / HD / Welcome to Armenia
Petroglyphs, Zarats Karer, Armenia
Petroglyphs on Ughtasar (mountain), Armenia
