Images of snakes could be seen anywhere: on doors, furniture, pillars. Women wore snake-shaped adornments because snakes were symbols of fertility. The snake cult was also reflected in Armenian toponyms such as Odzun (Armenian: օձ (“odz”), snake), Odzaberd (“snake fortress”), Odzi Get (“snake’s river”), Odzi Kaghak (“snake’s city”), etc.
Apart from that, the Armenian word “kapa” had two meanings: “snakeskin” and “attire”. Moreover, Armenians worshipped the harmless Serpent and called him “hay” (corresponds to the endonym of Armenians).
After the adoption of Christianity, the snake cult was forgotten. Besides, many ancient people treated snakes equivocally: Sumerian god of wisdom Haya was portrayed as a snake. Bedouins also called snakes “haya”.
Do modern Bedouins know that “hay” means “Armenian”? They do not, however, their ancestors were perfectly aware of that. Back in the days, they feared Armenians more than snakes. One Ceres wrote: “Bedouins fear snakes as none other animal. They always kill them, loudly shouting ‘haya, haya’.”
Interestingly, Jews considered Armenians the descendants of Amalek, an Old Testament enemy of Jews. That’s probably why Jews hated snakes most of all. And that’s why in the Old Testament, the snake is presented as the antipode of God and the enemy of all humans.
According to a study done by Nvard Sureni by narinnamkn
Perched on the rocky peninsula of Lake Sevan, the medieval monastery of Sevanavank preserves one…
Reconsidering the Language and Sacred Heritage of Urartu in Armenian Historical Thought For more than…
Among the earliest known states of the Armenian Highlands, few are as historically important as…
The medieval monastery of Dadivank is one of the most important spiritual and artistic centers…
In 1917, at the height of global upheaval during World War I, a small but…
The Armenian Genocide (1915–1921 ...) was not an accident of war, nor a tragic byproduct…
View Comments
"That’s probably why Jews hated snakes most of all. And that’s why in the Old Testament, the snake is presented as the antipode of God and the enemy of all humans."
That is complete nonsense and what I could call a baseless assumption, or 'pseudo-scholarship'. The Torah (Genesis, Exodus, Deuteronomy, Leviticus) was first received by Moses, who walked the earth well before Armenia existed as a people. The four books of the Torah were written well before Amelek, even his ancestry before him, was born! Not to mention, the Torah is a recounting of a timeline and history of humanity to Moses by God (Jesus Christ, the Lord, before He manifested Himself through human flesh through the incarnation), which pre-dates Moses by many generations; all the way back to the first two humans created--back when there were no Armenians or any of their ancestors, from Scythia to Sumeria. You Armenians are so self-idolizing of your culture and proud, that you are blind to reality and create your own fantastic history that blends facts with fiction so much that you can't tell the difference between the two.