The Mystery Of David Of Sasun’s Monument

The first monument to David of Sasun (photo 1) was created by Yervand Kochar for the 1000th anniversary of the epic in 1939. The monument was made of plaster in 18 days.

However, on June 23, 1941, Yervand Kochar was arrested. The reason was the monument itself – namely the fact that the rider with the drawn sword was facing the “friendly” Turkey. And in this case, there was nothing left but to smash the wonderful sculpture of Kochar on which he had worked for days.

As a result, Yerevan, which had just begun to develop, did not receive another work of art, and Kochar who had returned to his homeland from heavenly Europe ended up behind bars because he dared to direct David’s sword towards Turkey.

Yervand Kochar was released two years after his arrest.

In 1953, Stalin died, and on December 3, 1959, the second statue of David of Sasun was installed on the Yerevan railway station square – the master put all his talent into this work.

Now about the main thing.

Kochar was forced to put the monument in the position in which it is today.

Usually, during battles, a rope was tied to the tail of horses to keep it from getting loose. In the case of his monument, the author tied a “kamar” (Turkish belt) to the tail, thereby dividing the tail into two parts.

And if you look closely, you can see how two legs in wide Turkish trousers emerge from the back of the horse – one straight and the other bent at the knee – both in Sultan shoes. It’s like the upper half of the body has entered the horse’s rear.

Now, some other interesting information.

There is no bit on the horse since Kurkik Jalali was a talking horse and a friend of David, so there was no need for bits.

David holds his sword horizontally (and not perpendicularly like the monument to Vardan Mamikonyan) since he fought alone and mowed down the enemy like wheat rather than one by one.

In front of the monument, there is an inverted vessel with flowing water (photo 4), symbolizing the overflowing cup of patience of the Armenian people.

According to some versions, Vanush Khanamiryan was the model for David.

The last photographs show fragments of the hall of the metro station “Sasuntsi Davit” based on the epic “David of Sasun”. The author of the metro sculptures is Artashes Hovsepyan (Արտաշես Հովսեփյան).

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