The Letter of King of Assyria to the King of Armenia – The Legend of the Strength of Armenian Mountains

Once, the king of Assyria Ninos, husband of Semiramis, wrote a letter to the governor of Armenia Aram, father of Ara the Beautiful: “King, I have bad news for you. Our astrologers told me in great secrecy that a mighty knight would soon appear from the sky, seize all your country under his yoke, and enslave the people.

So say the stars King, not me. The sun will cease to shine, darkness will cover your palace, an impenetrable haze will come, and all the inhabitants of your country will be doomed to death. So say the stars, o King Haldi, not me. Come quickly, do not hesitate, I will give you shelter.”

The messenger then brought the response of King Aram: “May the king of Assyria and his wise viziers be blessed for making such an amazing discovery, which our gods had known about hundreds of years ago. For this, thousands of mountain peaks were created.

Therefore, no matter what forces throw darkness at Armenia, its blanket will be penetrated from all sides. Through the cracks, the sunlight will reach us, and not a single Armenian will remain in the dark. So the gods said, not me.”

“Madman,” King Ninos laughed, “he does not understand what he is talking about. My stargazers are intelligent and educated. And his legends are outdated like last year’s snow.”

Ninos has been sending his instructive letters about the imminent death of Armenia to Aram for a long time. Eventually, Ninos would give up.

In the meantime, history was already preparing an unenviable fate for him and the kingdom of Assyria. And today, it is clear from history’s pages that the viziers-advisers were not so wise: it was not Armenia that had to be saved from death but Assyria itself.