All About Armenia
Tushpa (Tosp), later known as Van, was the capital of the Urartu kingdom of ancient Armenia, eastern Turkey, and western Iran from the 9th to 6th century BCE. Located on the eastern shore of Lake Van in modern Turkey, the city was a fortress site which was reused as a provincial capital under the Achaemenian Empire and then, once again, made the capital …
More than a century ago, when the Armenian nation was experiencing one of the darkest times of its history, Armenian women stood up and undertook the mission of educators and caretakers. Once silenced and controlled by men, they courageously raised their voices and spoke boldly about women’s issues, established magazines and journals, educated girls, made …
Antiochus I Theos Dikaios Epiphanes Philorhomaios Philhellen (Ancient Greek: Ἀντίοχος ὁ Θεὸς Δίκαιος Ἐπιφανὴς Φιλορωμαῖος Φιλέλλην, meaning “Antiochos, the just, eminent god, friend of Romans and friend of Greeks After this overblown introduction of himself (we get it, he was friends with everyone) let me introduce Antiochus I, king of Commagene Between 70 BC and …
Armenians who are not linguists are often under the incorrect impression that there are only two possibilities for Armenian origins: either Armenian is the only Indo-European language who stayed in place or Armenian is descendant from Phrygian, following Herodotus’s claim that Armenians were Phrygian colonists. Yet, mainstream historical linguists are convinced by neither position. It …
There are about 110 ancient Armenian inscriptions that were found in the Sinai Peninsula. The inscriptions dating back to the 5th century provide evidence of Armenians traveling to the holy land in large numbers According to Prof Michael E. Stone, from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, “The number and spread of the Armenian inscriptions are …
Teishebaini (aka Tesebaini, modern Karmir-Blur, near Yerevan, Armenia) was an important fortress city of the Urartu civilization and excavations at the site, largely undisturbed since its abandonment c. 590 BCE, have provided an invaluable insight into the daily life of the region during the Bronze and Iron age of the 9th to 6th century BCE. With huge walls, large storerooms, granaries, wine and beer vats, along with …
Zabelle Catherine Boyajian (1872-1957) was an artist, writer, translator and activist and one of the most successful and well known British-Armenian intellectuals of her time. A woman famous for her articles on Armenian literature in British magazines, the first “eastern woman” artist to be exhibited in Europe, an author of books and numerous paintings. Zabelle …
Tiridates I was the King of Armenia beginning in 53 AD and the founder of the Arsacid dynasty of Armenia. He reigned from 52-58 AD, then again from 62-88 AD. The coronation of Tiridates I of Armenia In 66 AD, the Armenian king Tiridates, who had been unable to overcome Roman and homegrown resistance in …
Throughout history, Armenia has seen periods of absolute independence but it has also been invaded by many peoples, such as the Parthians, Romans, Byzantines, Arabs, Mongols and Turkic tribes. The Mongol Empire existed during the 13th and 14th centuries and was the largest contiguous land empire in history. At some point in the 13th century, …
History, especially ancient & medieval, usually chose men to be its heroes. Women tend to be held in the background. Armenian history is not any different in that respect, even though there are records of women playing a significant part. Because Armenia for a majority of its existence has been ruled by kings, history has …
Urartu, also known as the Kingdom of Urartu or the Kingdom of Van, was a civilization which developed in the Bronze and Iron Age of ancient Armenia, eastern Turkey, and northwestern Iran from the 9th century BCE. Controlling territories through military might and the construction of fortresses, the kingdom boasted a lively production in the arts, especially metalwork. Surviving only two centuries, the …
Khor Virap is a monastery located in Armenia that was first established in 642 CE. Its name is derived from “virap nerk’in,” which means “deep dungeon” in Armenian. Khor Virap is one of the most sacred and visited sites in Armenia primarily due to the legend of Saint Gregory the Illuminator who was imprisoned for 13 years in Khor Virap’s …
Urartu was one of several first-millennium B.C. states that came into existence and prominence in Armenian Highland after the destruction of the Hittite state around 1200 B.C. The earliest known Urartian written document, a rock inscription at Van (ancient Tushpa), records the earliest reference to the state. There it says that Urartu was ruled by …
THE state conservatory of music in Yerevan, Armenia, is named for Gomidas, a late-19th-century composer probably unfamiliar to anyone who is not Armenian. An avenue and a grassy park in Yerevan also bear his name, and a monument in the center of the city depicts his long, narrow physique, his melancholy face and the robes …
“But if, violently or otherwise, the populace deposes a just king, or if, as more frequently happens, it tastes the blood of the aristocracy and subjects the entire state to its wild caprice (and make no mistake about it, no tempest or conflagration, however great, is harder to quell than a mob carried away by …
For many wine producers, harvesting the grapes is the most stressful time period as it can make or break the future of potential wines. Some harvests are easier than others with enough time to gather the grapes with the days and nights going exactly as planned and making it a truly wonderful celebration of gathering …
“Trdat the Architect” or Tiridates (c. 940s-c. 1020s?) was a Armenian architect who is noted for his role in the reconstruction of the Hagia Sophia‘s dome in Constantinople following an earthquake in the 10th century CE, as well as the Cathedral of Ani and the Church of Gagik in what is now present-day Turkey. Along with Momik (c.1270-1333 CE), Trdat is …
Every year thousands of people step into the Komitas Museum-Institute in Armenia to learn about the creative world of Komitas Vardapet, his extraordinary gift as a composer, his noble mission as a collector of Armenian folk songs, his captivating spiritual music, and his inspiring, yet tragic life. On a visit to the museum, we talked with …