Speaking about Armenian holidays, where national costumes are traditionally present, one cannot fail to mention the musical heritage of this people. Their music is very melodious, because it has absorbed not only Middle Eastern motifs, but also taken something from the Mediterranean.
A striking example of musical instruments can be considered the Armenian duduk, which many call unique, and those who hear it claim that it is heavenly music. It is impossible to move awkwardly to such fabulous motifs. Therefore, they are always distinguished by extreme harmony and internal aestheticism.
It does not go unnoticed, which, as historians have proven, is one of the oldest in the world. The gastronomic set of cooks always includes a lot of greens, meat, and dairy products. Sweets are widely known, often created only from sugar and flour, but with an indescribable taste.
Other Armenian dishes are no less unique, among which shashlik comes first. It is no coincidence that their restaurants are famous throughout the world for their delicious dishes.
What are modern Armenians like?
Armenians are an integral part of modern society. They can equally be attributed to both European and Eastern ethnic groups. Today, their number cannot be accurately calculated, however, according to statistics, there are up to 10 to 12 million representatives of this people in the world. They live in many countries, from Russia to Brazil and Australia. And everywhere they bring a touch of Armenian flavor, which is undoubtedly worthy of respect.
Even jokes about Armenians speak about the unusual mentality these people have. In numerous literary sources, they appear as a friendly, brave and cheerful people who can joke, dance, and defend their independence if necessary. And the old good neighborly relations with the Russians largely became the guarantee that their contribution to Russian and world culture did not go unnoticed.
Thus, among those who fought the fascist aggressors in the Great Patriotic War, there were many Armenian heroes. These are Senior Lieutenant Sergei Burnazyan, Lieutenant Colonel Garnik Vartumyan, Marshal of the Soviet Union Ivan Bagramyan. These are just three names of those representatives of the Armenian people who became Heroes of the Soviet Union. And there were dozens of such people, and thousands more ordinary Armenians, along with Russians, Belarusians, and Georgians, fought for their common homeland.
There are no fewer of those that have become among the symbols of world culture and sports. Among the most famous Armenians we can name film director Sergei Parajanov, actors Dmitry Kharatyan and writer William Saroyan, football player, chess player, singer Bulat Okudzhava (the last names of both of the latter are on the maternal side). These and many other people contributed to the development of modern civilization.
They really gave a lot not only to those peoples next to whom they were historically forced to live, but also to the entire world community. Today they complement the community of Caucasian ethnic groups in a special way, preserving their originality and at the same time remaining a people, genetically intact. The Armenian diasporas existing all over the world only confirm this.
The fact that Armenians are not the ancient Caucasian people is known to all Western and Russian historians, governments and intelligence services. Most people know about this in Russia and the Vatican. However, it was the West and Russia who came up with the story of the “Caucasian Armenians” in order to later use the latter to fight against the Muslims of the Caucasus and the entire East. Thanks to the Russian Empire, namely Peter Romanov and his descendants, Armenians appeared in the Caucasus, in particular in Azerbaijan.
The appearance of Armenians in the Caucasus is the work of Tsarist Russia. However, the idea of relocating Middle Eastern Armenians to Transcaucasia did not arise out of nowhere. The main role here was played by the Armenian-Gregorian Church and its ministers.
Relations between the Armenian Gregorian Church and the Russian Empire and European states were established back in the 17th century. The Armenians tried to convince the Europeans that Muslims were “oppressing the Armenian people, connected with Europe by one faith."
In 1699, the Armenian Church entrusted the Armenian Israilu Ori negotiate with European states and Russia. The church appointed a monk as his assistant Minas Vardapet. Arriving in Europe, these adventurers met with the Emperor of Austria and the King of Florence, informing the latter of plans to create an Armenian state.
However, the efforts of the Armenians to get help from the Europeans did not yield any results, and Israil Ori and his assistant headed to Russia. Having met with the Russian Tsar Peter Romanov in 1701, Israil Ori introduced him to the notorious Armenian plan to create a united Christian front against Ottoman Turkey. Peter clearly liked this idea, who awarded Ori the rank of carabinieri colonel and sent him to Europe to recruit weapons specialists. In 1711, Israil Ori died in Astrakhan.
Ori’s fantasies of creating an Armenian state were continued by Minas Vardapet, who by that time had become an archimandrite. In 1716 this the adventurer went to the possessions of the Qizilbash (Safavid Iran, Persia), to convey a letter from Prince Shafirov to the Russian Ambassador Volynsky. The content of the letter was as follows: “Gather information about the Armenian people in Persia, about their numbers, their strength of attraction to His Majesty the Tsar. Minas Vardapet, whom you know, is coming here. Provide possible assistance to him without arousing suspicion...”
In 1722 Peter joined the Persian campaign. The Russians, moving along the Caspian coast, captured Derbent, Baku, Lankaran and some other Azerbaijani provinces of the Kyzylbash state. The western coast of the Caspian Sea ended up in Russian hands. In October 1724, Peter allowed the resettlement of Armenians to territories captured by Russia.
It was from this period that Armenians settled en masse in the Caucasus. According to Peter's order, Armenians were allowed to settle “near Baku, Derbent and Salyan” (Russian historian Soloviev, 19th century). Emperor Peter did not forget to give instructions regarding the local Muslim population: “Try in every possible way to recruit Armenians, if any, and settle them, and to very quietly reduce the number of Muslims...”
A new project for the creation of an Armenian state on the ancestral Azerbaijani lands was drawn up by a certain Shamiryan. According to his plan, the Armenian king was to become the head of the newly created state. He was supposed to have an official representative office in St. Petersburg, and to protect the new kingdom, a six-thousand-strong Russian garrison was supposed to be stationed here for 20 years.
However, in 1735 the Russians were forced to leave the western Caspian lands. This, although not for long, did not allow the Armenians to carry out their adventurous plans.
100 years later...
The situation changed with the Russian seizure of the Erivan Khanate in 1827. Russian monarchs remembered the covenants of their ancestor regarding the Armenians. In turn, the Armenian Catholicos Nerses Ashtaraketsi prepared a special resettlement project. The Russian playwright and Russian ambassador to the court of the Qajars (the Turkic dynasty that ruled Iran in 1796-1925) A.S. Griboyedov did everything possible to implement this plan.In a letter sent in 1827 to Russian colonel of Armenian origin Egizar Lazarev, Nerses wrote: “Now I humbly turned to the devoted defender of our Armenian people A.S. Griboedov with a request to accept captured Christians under the powerful flag of Russian rule... I also made a request to His Excellency (we are talking about the commander of the Russian troops in the Caucasus I.F. Paskevich - approx. Amir Eyvaz) regarding all Armenians from Persia and now I humbly ask your Excellency about this: persuade Paskevich to ensure that he at the moment negotiations did not forget to include in the agreement an article on the free return of Armenians from the cities and villages of Persia to Armenia under the protection of the great Russian Empire."
Griboyedov and Paskevich really did not forget about the “poor and oppressed” Armenians, deciding to settle them on the lands of the Azerbaijani Turks.
Thus, Article 15 of the Turkmanchay Treaty states: “His Majesty the Shah... kindly grants full and complete forgiveness to the entire population and officials of the region called Azerbaijan... In addition, he grants, starting from this day, one year of time to all officials and residents for free relocation with their families from this region to Russia, for the transportation and sale of movables and property without any obstacles from the local authorities and without imposition of any taxes and duties..."
Griboedov personally achieved the inclusion in this article of a clause on the abolition of punishment and prosecution of those Persian subjects who committed treason in favor of the Russians during the war. The fact is that most of them were Armenians.
Following the Russian-Turkish war of 1828-1829, the Treaty of Adrianople with similar conditions was signed with neighboring Turkey, which allowed Russia to resettle Turkish Armenians in the Caucasus. In just a few years, Russia resettled over 130 thousand Armenians from Turkish and Persian regions to the Caucasus. And the policy of resettlement existed in Russia until its fall, and was revived again during the period of the USSR.
Russian scientist and researcher Nikolai Shavrov wrote in 1911: “Of the 1,300,000 Armenians currently living in Transcaucasia, more than 1,000,000 souls do not belong to the indigenous inhabitants of the region and were settled by us.” However, even those 300 thousand Armenians whom Shavrov considered “indigenous inhabitants of the region” can hardly be considered aborigines. They were moved here a little earlier - during the time of Peter the Great.
The fact that the Armenians were resettled is clear. But the Russian Empire went further. As we remember, Peter personally ordered the Armenians to be settled wherever they wished, even the lands of Muslims, who, in turn, must be “reduced in a very quiet way.” In essence, it was an order to give the Muslim lands to the Armenians, without ceremony with the local residents.
The Russian Empire not only resettled the Armenians, it rewrote the entire history of the region.
Perhaps the most important thing that the Russian Empire did for the Armenians is the liquidation of the Albanian Apostolic Church. Thus, the Russians gave the Armenians a free hand - the Armenians appropriated for themselves what did not belong to them, wrote their history on a foundation that did not belong to them.
Let us note that the Albanian Church is the first church in the Caucasus; it was founded by the Apostle Bartholomew, whose remains rested in Baku until the 9th century. Officially, Caucasian Albania adopted Christianity in 313. And the Armenian-Gregorian Church was founded later, because as the Armenian Catholicos Abraham wrote in his letter to the Albanians: “The Albanian Throne, which was before ours, the Armenian one...” (Z. Buniyatov. “About the forced dialogue of Gevorg Emin”).
Despite the spread of Islam in Azerbaijan, the Catholicosate was not abolished in the Middle Ages; the Albanian population, who retained the Christian faith, freely attended Albanian churches, of which there were many throughout Azerbaijan, especially in Karabakh.
These Christians continued to be called Albanians until the 19th century and lived mainly in Karabakh. However, Russian Emperor Nicholas I liquidated the Albanian Apostolic Church in 1836. All its property was transferred to the Armenian Church, despite the fact that it was considered lower in rank than the Albanian Church. By the beginning of the twentieth century, the Karabakh Albanians assimilated with the Armenians, and this is how the “Armenian” community of Karabakh arose...
During the years of the Russian Empire, the dream of the Armenians about their own state (even if as a Russian protectorate) remained a dream. But it was during this period that a precedent was created for the emergence of an Armenian state on the historical lands of Azerbaijan.
This is about renaming Russians Erivan and Nakhichevan Khanates in the so-called "Armenian region" immediately after their conquest. Despite the fact that in subsequent years the “Armenian region” was abolished by the same Russian colonial administration, these lands received a kind of connection with the toponym “Armenia” (although historical Armenia is a small region in Asia Minor and has never had anything to do with the Caucasus).
On the basis of this, after the collapse of the Russian Empire, the Armenians demanded the creation of their own republic on the territory of that very “Armenian region”. In 1918, the Armenian Republic was proclaimed in Tiflis with its capital in Erivan. The Armenians also put forward claims to other lands of Azerbaijan, and with the Sovietization of the region with the support of Stalin, Mikoyan and other Turkophobes, they gradually began to achieve their goals.
Since the 1920s, the northeastern coast of Gokchi, Zangezur, and part of the Sharur-Daralayaz district were torn away from Azerbaijan and transferred to the Soviets of the Armenian SSR. In Karabakh, the Bolsheviks created autonomy for the Armenians, because it was not possible to separate this region from the Azerbaijan SSR for economic reasons: due to the close connection of Karabakh with Baku.
In 1948-1952, according to the resolution No. 4083 of the Council of Ministers of the USSR on December 23, 1947, thousands of Azerbaijani Turks were resettled from Zangezur and Gokchi to the lowland regions of the Azerbaijan SSR. This was done with the aim of eradicating the Turkic population of the region.
The eviction of Azerbaijanis from Zangezur and Gokchi was not just an act of ethnic cleansing. In fact, the resettlement policy of Russia (albeit already Soviet) continued to create and strengthen the Armenian puppet state. Thus, Armenians from Lebanon, Iran and Syria were settled on the lands of the Azerbaijanis evicted in 1948-1952.
The above-mentioned resolution of the Council of Ministers of the USSR stated: “To allow the Council of Ministers of the Armenian SSR to use buildings and residential buildings vacated by the Azerbaijani population for the resettlement of foreign Armenians.”
As you can see, the policy of ethnic cleansing with the subsequent settlement of the region by a loyal population was carried out in Russia at the state level from the time of Peter I until the Stalin era.
Already today, the Armenians, already living on the ancestral lands of Azerbaijan, have occupied, in addition, the mountainous part of Karabakh (Upper Karabakh) and seven adjacent regions, where they exterminated thousands of civilians. Over a million Azerbaijani Turks have become refugees on their own land.
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| Monument "Maraga-150" (1978) |
As you can see, over the past 200 years, the Armenians have achieved from Europe and Russia the creation of their own state on the lands of Azerbaijan and the recognition of Armenians as the indigenous population of the Caucasus.
Only the local Turkic population remained oppressed, and the “long-suffering” Armenian people, in just over two centuries of their residence in the Caucasus, put an end to the lives of more than a million peaceful Azerbaijanis (massacres in 1905-1906, 1918, 1920, 1992), destroyed the Turkic-Muslim culture of Erivan, Gokchi, Zangezur, Karabakh, razing many mosques, khan's palaces, cemeteries, monuments...
Text of the article from 2006 (published with minor copyright edits)
Armenians are one of the most ancient peoples on Earth. This is well known. It is all the more interesting to find out how the formation of the ethnic group took place, and also to recall several theories.
Urartu
The theory about the connection between modern Armenians and the inhabitants of the ancient state of Urartu first appeared in the 19th century, when historians discovered traces of an ancient civilization in the Armenian Highlands. Controversy on this issue continues in scientific and pseudo-scientific circles to this day.
However, Urartu as a state came to a decline already in the 6th century BC, at which time the ethnogenesis of the Armenians was only in the final stage of development. Even in the 5th century BC, the population of the Armenian Highlands was heterogeneous and consisted of remnants of the Urartians, Proto-Armenians, Hurrians, Semites, Hittites and Luwians. Modern scientists recognize that the genetic component of the Urartians is present in the genetic code of the Armenians, but no more than the genetic component of the same Hurrians and Luwians, not to mention the proto-Armenians. The connection between the Armenians and the Urartians can be evidenced by the borrowings taken by the Armenian language from the Urartian and Hurrian dialects. It can also be recognized that the Armenians also experienced the cultural influence of the once powerful ancient state.
Ancient sources
The “Greek version” of the ethnogenesis of the Armenians traces this people back to Armenos of Thessalos, one of the participants in the Argonaut expedition. This legendary ancestor received his name from the Greek city of Armeninon. After traveling with Jason, he settled in the territory of future Armenia. This legend is known to us thanks to the Greek historian Strabo, who wrote, in turn, that he learned it from the records of the military leaders of Alexander the Great.
Apparently, given the lack of earlier sources, it was during the years of the campaigns of the “king of the world” that this legend arose. In principle, this is not surprising. At that time, there was even a widespread version about the Greek origin of the Persians and Medes.
Later historians - Eudoxus and Herodotus spoke about the Phrygian origin of the Armenians, finding similarities between the two tribes in clothing and language. Today's scientists recognize that the Armenians and the Phrygians are related nations that developed in parallel, but no scientific evidence of the origin of the Armenians from the Phrygians has yet been found, therefore both Greek versions of the ethnogenesis of the Armenians can be considered pseudo-scientific.
Armenian sources
The main version of the origin of the Armenians until the 19th century was considered to be the legend left by the “father of Armenian historiography” and the author of the work “History of Armenia” Movses Khorenatsi.
Khorenatsi traced the Armenian people to the legendary progenitor Hayk, who, according to the pre-Christian version of the myth, was a titan, according to the Christian version - a descendant of Japheth and the son of the ancestor of the Armenians, Togarm. According to myth, Hayk entered into battle with the tyrant of Mesopotamia Bel and defeated him. After Hayk, his son Aram ruled, then his son Arai. In this version of Armenian ethnogenesis, it is believed that numerous names of the Armenian Highlands received their names from Hayk and other Armenian ancestors.
Hayasian hypotheses
In the middle of the last century, the so-called “Hayas hypotheses” became popular in Armenian historiography, in which Hayas, the territory east of the Hittite kingdom, became the homeland of the Armenians. Actually, Hayas is mentioned in Hittite sources. Armenian scholars such as academician Yakov Manandyan (a former adherent of migration theory), professor Yeremyan and academician Babken Arakelyan have written scientific works on the topic of the new “cradle of Armenians.” [С-BLOCK]
The main migration theory up to this time was recognized as “bourgeois”.
The presentation of the Hayasian theory began to be published in Soviet encyclopedias. However, already in the 60s of the 20th century it was criticized. First of all, on the part of the honored orientalist Igor Dyakonov, who published the book “The Origin of the Armenian People” in 1968. In it, he insists on the migration-mixed hypothesis of Armenian ethnogenesis, and calls the “Hayas theories” unscientific, since there are too few sources and evidence base for them.
Numbers
According to one of the hypotheses (Ivanov-Gamkrelidze), the center of formation of the Indo-European language was eastern Anatolia, located on the Armenian Highlands. This is the so-called glottal theory, that is, based on language. However, the formation of Indo-European languages already occurred in the 4th millennium BC, and the time of the alleged settlement of the Armenian Highlands is the 1st millennium BC. The first mention of Armenians is in the records of Darius (520 BC), the first texts are in the 5th century AD.
Where did the Armenians come from? And who are the Zoks? - There is an opinion There are different versions about the origin of the Armenians, but the first, and also the most reliable mention of this, which has not yet lost its significance, belongs to the “father of history” Herodotus. This ancient Greek historian, who lived in the 5th century BC, wrote that the supposed ancestors of the Armenians - the Phrygians (Phrygians) moved to Asia Minor from Europe, from the territory neighboring Macedonia. The Byzantine writer Stefan (end of the 5th century - beginning of the 6th century) cites the message of the Greek author Knidli Eudox, who lived before him 1000 years ago, which reads as follows in the translation of the prominent orientalist I.M. Dyakonov: “The Armenians come from Phrygia and are very similar in language on the Phrygians." Another Byzantine author, Eustathius (12th century), referring to the message of the Greek author Dionysius Periegetes, who lived ten centuries before him, also notes the similarity of the Armenian and Phrygian languages. Modern researchers, based on this information provided by ancient Greek authors, also suggest that the ancestors of the Armenians - the Frigian tribes - left their homeland on the Balkan Peninsula in a common stream and moved at the end of the 2nd millennium BC. to Asia Minor, to the territory of modern Turkey. It is curious that although this migration occurred chronologically during the decline of the most powerful state on the territory of Anatolia - the Hittite kingdom, in the Hittite texts there is no information about either the Phrygians or the Armenians. At the same time, it is known that the Frigs in the 8th century BC. created a kingdom in the Sangaria valley (modern Sakarya) centered in Gordion and sought to influence political processes in the region. The most complete information about the events of the subsequent period (VIII-VII centuries BC) is provided by Assyrian and Urartian texts, where there is also no information about the Armenians. He told a lot of interesting things about the falsification of facts related to the origin of the Armenians in a conversation with a correspondent. 1news.az famous Azerbaijani historian Ilgar Niftaliev. According to him, everything written about the ancestors of the Armenians regarding the period from the middle of the 12th century BC. (that is, from the time of the supposed resettlement of the “proto-Armenians” from the Balkan Peninsula to Asia Minor) and until the fall of the Armenian kingdom at the end of the 4th century, it was built mainly on the assumptions and assumptions of Greek and Roman authors, as well as the conclusions of Armenian chroniclers, which are not confirmed by any archaeological results excavations, neither information from Assyrian chronicles, nor philological analysis of place names and personal names. By the way, the Phrygian and Armenian languages, although they belong to the Indo-European language family, have quite a lot of differences between them. Moreover, the differences are not limited only to lexical material and some grammatical indicators. On this occasion, at one time the famous Russian historian-orientalist I.M. Dyakonov wrote: “... the closeness of the Armenian language with Phrygian is not very great for it to be possible to derive Armenian from Phrygian.” It is no coincidence that in the Phrygian texts, the content of which was determined, not a single fact regarding the Armenians is given. How Tigranakert appeared It is known that the Armenians, with their characteristic resourcefulness, resort to various tricks in attempts to justify their territorial claims to Karabakh. And one example of this is the falsification of facts allegedly related to the discovery of the ruins of the capital of the mythical “Great Armenia”, the city of Tigranakert, in the territory of the occupied part of the Agdam region of the Republic of Azerbaijan. According to the Azerbaijani scientist Ilgar Niftaliev, this pseudo-idea was planted by the Armenians from the very beginning for political purposes. “The world scientific community has long been accustomed to such “shocking finds” of Armenian pseudoscientists. Back in the 60-80s. In the 20th century, Azerbaijani archaeologists carried out extensive research work in Karabakh. In Agdam, scientists examined a site located on the outskirts of the modern city and dating back to the first half of the 2nd millennium BC. (Middle Bronze Age) settlement of Uzerliktepe, surrounded by fortified walls. Azerbaijani archaeologists studied in the territory of the villages of Agdama - Shikhbabaly and Papravenda - settlements surrounded by fortress walls and dating back to the 12th-9th centuries BC. These monuments testify to the formation of early urban culture in Azerbaijan, especially in its Karabakh region. As for the temporal and spatial localization of Tigranakert, it follows from the sources that the ideas of Armenian pseudoscientists simply do not stand up to criticism. For example, a contemporary of King Tigran, who ruled in the 1st century BC, the Greek geographer Strabo wrote in his “Geography” that “... Tigran built a city near Iberia, between this place and Zeugma above the Euphrates. He resettled here the population of 12 Greek cities he plundered and named the city Tigranakert. However, Lucullus (Roman commander, his campaign against Tigranakert dates back to approximately 69 BC), who fought with Mithridates VI (the Pontic king), not only released the population to their native places, but also destroyed the half-built city, leaving in its place only a small village,” the scientist said. Armenian historian M. Nersesyan in the book “History of the Armenian people from ancient times to the present day,” published in 1980, notes that Tigranakert was built on the banks of one of the upper tributaries of the Tigris River. Tigranakert, which, moreover, was never completed, was located not only outside of Karabakh, but also the Caucasus, in the southwest of Lake Van, in the territory of modern Turkey. This version is also adhered to by the authors of the second volume, “History of the Ancient World,” published in 1989, edited by I.M. Dyakonov. The myth about the Armenian Highlands There are many conjectures about the origin of the so-called Armenian Highlands. I.M. Dyakonov noted in this regard: “Since the ancient Armenian language is not related to the languages of the autochthons of the Armenian Highlands... it is clear that it was brought here from the outside.... proto-Armenians came to this area in the 7th – 6th centuries BC... (“Armenian Highlands” is a term invented by Armenian authors - A.M.) According to I. Niftaliev, ancient Greek and Roman historians, as well as ancient Armenian chroniclers, have no concept of “Armenian highlands”, since it appeared with the light hand of Europeans at the end of the 19th - beginning of the 20th centuries. Later, Armenian authors politicized this concept, interpreting its geographical outlines and dimensions in their own way. Based on the Armenian version, reflected in the Armenian Soviet Encyclopedia, published in the 70s of the last century, this highland covers part of the territory of the USSR (the entire territory of the Armenian SSR, the southern part of the Georgian SSR and the western part of the Azerbaijan SSR), Iran and Turkey, and is located between the Iranian and Asia Minor plateaus, the Black Sea, the Transcaucasian and Mesopotamian plains. It was also noted that the territory of the Armenian Highlands is 400 thousand square kilometers, and it was entirely part of the territory of “Great Armenia”, where the Armenian people allegedly formed from ancient times. Although in the territory of the so-called In the Armenian Highlands, 600 - 1000 years before the appearance of the ancestors of modern Armenians here, and also after their appearance, various states existed and different peoples lived; for some reason the name of the highlands was designated as Armenian. “Is it even correct to associate the name of a mountainous relief with the name of a people who for more than millennia did not play any decisive role in the political processes that took place on the map of the Near and Middle East, was not a state-forming ethnic group in this territory, lived for a long time mainly within the borders of Muslim Turkic states, and only in 1918, due to a favorable combination of circumstances, did he create his own national state for the first time?” the scientist asked, noting the following important detail. “Despite the fact that the highland is called Armenian, there is not a single Armenian toponym in the names of the mountain peaks that make it up. Most of them have Turkic names: Kabirdag, Agdag, Koroglydag, Zordag, Sichanlydag, Karachumagdag, Parchenisdag, Pambugdag or Khachgeduk, etc. These mountain peaks form, from west to east, the Agrydag ridge - an extinct volcano, which in Armenian historical literature was called Ararat,” Niftaliev pointed out, adding that in ancient sources this mountainous terrain is called Mount Taurus. By the way, Armenian historians are so carried away by the fantasy of ancient Armenia that they still confuse fundamentally different ethnic and geographical concepts. “It is known that some countries are named after the peoples inhabiting them (Turkey, Germany, France, England), others, in accordance with the geographical or administrative name, which also determines the name of the inhabitants - by territory (Georgia, Italy, Azerbaijan, etc. ). In ancient times, in modern Anatolia, which Armenians consider the cradle of the Armenian people, there were no geographical names that united the inhabitants of these areas, regardless of their ethnicity. Accordingly, there have never been communities named after these geographical concepts. The fact that Armenia is a geographical concept has been known for a long time. Naturally, all the inhabitants of ancient Armenia, or Arminia, were called Armenians, regardless of their linguistic and ethnic background. The name of the geographical space passed on to the name of the population of different ethnolinguistic composition. This is the same as the inhabitants of ancient Caucasian Albania were called Albanians, although they consisted of a union of 26 tribes that differed in their linguistic and ethnic composition. Thus, Armenians are a collective name for all residents of Arminia and do not express the name of any one ethnic group,” the historian continued. According to him, no continuity can be traced between the population and territory of ancient Armenia (which was located outside the Caucasus) and the Armenians and the territory of modern Armenia - neither ethnic, nor linguistic, nor geographical. According to the Azerbaijani scientist, the statement of modern Armenian researchers that the ancestors of today’s Armenians lived in these places since the first mention of the concept “Armenian” in written sources is the same myth as the statement that the Armenians descended from Noah. “A term similar to the geographical name “Armenia” is first found in the inscription of Darius I (522-486 BC) on the Behistun Rock (the territory of modern Iran). In this inscription, among the countries that were part of the Achaemenid Empire, “Armina” is also mentioned. In the Behistun Inscription, Armina is mentioned among a number of countries that rebelled against the Achaemenids after Darius I came to power in 522 BC. But the inscription does not say anything about the people who rebelled in Armin, nor about the leader of the uprising. We find further information about the territory of Armina in the above-mentioned work of Herodotus “History”. According to the Greek author, Armenia, or Armina, was located northwest of Lake Van, in the area of the sources of the Euphrates River. Herodotus included Armenia in the XIII district (satrapy) of the Achaemenid Empire. Moreover, the Greek author, mentioning the names of some tribes that inhabited the XIII satrapy, calls the Caspians, Paktians. Consequently, on the territory that, according to Herodotus, was part of the XIII satrapy of the Achaemenid state, various ethnic groups lived, and in the Behistun inscription this district was named Armina not on an ethnic basis, but on the ancient name of the territory, which has nothing to do with modern Armenians,” - explained I. Niftaliev. Armenian-zoki-Jews? By the way, existing versions about the origin of the Armenian Zoks are also very interesting. For example, the Russian ethnographer of the late 19th century V. Devitsky wrote that the Zoks lived in the village of Akulis (Aylis) next to Ordubad (the current Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic), in 7-8 villages, had an independent language, most of the words of which was fundamentally completely different from the Armenian. This gave grounds to assert that the Zoks were the remnants of some independent ethnic group, which, having adopted the religion and liturgical language of the Armenians, gradually became Armenianized, although they continued to speak their own language among themselves. Developing the topic, the Azerbaijani historian added another interesting fact. According to him, there is also a version that these were Jews who, due to historical circumstances (loss of statehood, resettlement), turned out to be neighbors of the Armenians and adopted Christianity. It is interesting that Armenian authors deny this version, assuring that the Zoks are the same Armenians, whose name does not express ethnic content and comes from the peculiarities of the local dialect. Thus, despite the vain efforts of Armenian pseudo-historians who zealously claim that the Armenian people are autochthonous, the real facts reflected in the collections of world scientists indicate the opposite, which casts great doubt on the exaggerated myth about the ancient origin of the Armenians. Matanat Nasibova
YEREVAN, Oct 22 – Sputnik. Armenians are an ancient people who predominantly speak the Armenian language. The formation of the Armenian people on the territory of the Armenian Highlands began from the end of the 2nd millennium BC. e. and ended by the 6th century BC. e.
Despite the fact that Armenians are united by one history, one blood and many common features, both externally and internally, representatives of this nation are radically different from each other. The Sputnik Armenia portal tried to understand what an Armenian really is like.
One heartbeat
Representatives of Armenian communities live predominantly in all major countries of the world. Most Armenians live in Russia, France and the USA. In particular, Armenians moved to many countries after the Armenian Genocide in the Ottoman Empire. The most interesting thing is that Armenians have about 50 dialects, while there are Western Armenian and Eastern Armenian languages, which are spoken by the vast majority of representatives of this nation. As for Eastern Armenian, it is one of the modern variants of the Armenian language spoken in modern Armenia.
The second variety of the Armenian language is common among the Armenian diaspora, which appeared after the Genocide. This group of Armenians primarily resides in North and South America, Europe and the Middle East. Despite the fact that the dialects are very different, Armenians can easily communicate with each other, speaking in their own dialect. The most difficult to understand Armenian dialects are among residents of the Syunik region and the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic (Artsakh). It is for this reason that many Armenians do not speak their native language, but are fluent in the language of the country in which they live.
If you communicate with Armenians, then, undoubtedly, you have noticed that these people have a bright sense of humor. They can cheer you up in a few minutes, tell you a huge number of funny stories, anecdotes, and make you walk around in high spirits for the next few days.
It is impossible not to note the fact that there are a lot of famous Armenian comedians in the world. In particular, everyone knows Evgeny Petrosyan, Garik Martirosyan and Mikhail Galustyan. In fact, despite their cheerful disposition and enthusiasm, Armenians are very serious people, especially when it comes to people of the older generation, who have faced many difficulties.
There are also eternally dissatisfied Armenians. Usually, these are those people who cannot find their place in life. In my opinion, the most dissatisfied are Armenian taxi drivers and public transport drivers. It is clear - the driving style in Yerevan and other cities of Armenia is distinguished by a special temperament.
© Sputnik/Asatur Yesayants
If you are a person close to an Armenian, then, most likely, he is ready for a lot, and maybe even everything, for your sake. Probably only Armenians know how to give everything to a loved one without reserve, to surround him with care, attention and affection.
Armenians love and value family very much. In an Armenian family, the parent is the king. And in fact, this is all mutual, since many Armenian parents raise their children with great love and do everything for them, even the impossible. The attitude towards children in our country is special, and this can be called a cult of children. Also, an Armenian man idolizes his beloved women (mother, sister, wife).
Hospitality
Another national trait is hospitality. If you are visiting a “correct” Armenian, he will definitely treat you to something. But if you have agreed in advance to visit an Armenian or an Armenian family, then a whole festive treat awaits you! And especially, delicious Armenian cognac.
One can talk about Armenian dishes forever and write for a long time, but the most favorite dishes of Armenians are dolma (stuffed cabbage rolls made from grape leaves), khash - a spicy soup made from beef legs with garlic, spas - a healthy soup based on matsoni, Armenian tabbouleh salad made from bulgur grains and finely chopped parsley.
Armenian habits
Most Armenians are hard-working. If an Armenian finds a job he likes, then he works tirelessly.
Armenia's sunny weather allows residents of the country to hang out their laundry on the streets. This habit is traditional, for example, for residents of Italy, when a huge amount of clothing is hung from building to building.
© Sputnik / Asatur Yesayants
The “classic” Armenian is distinguished by the fact that he loves to consume large quantities of bread and coffee, organizes luxurious weddings, birthdays, engagements, christenings and other holidays. And in fact, the Armenian may not have money... He will take it on credit and will repay the debt for months. But if the soul wants a holiday, then he will not be able to deny himself and his loved ones this.
Armenians love expensive cars, clothes and accessories. This trait is probably characteristic of all nationalities.
And many Armenians open all the windows in the car when their favorite song is playing, regardless of whether you like this music or not. But a music lover will drive around the city after listening to his favorite track several times, even in winter.
If you decide to use public transport in Armenia, and there is no longer a place where you can sit, then they will definitely give it to you.
Armenians also love to greet each other. “Barev” and “Bari luys” (“hello” and “good morning”) are something that can lift a person’s mood or become a reason for further communication. It is not for nothing that they say in Armenia that “greeting belongs to God.”
Very often, instead of the traditional “thank you,” Armenians say “merci.” Maybe I’m just too lazy to say the beautiful word “shnorakalutsyun” every time.
By the way, only an Armenian will buy himself an expensive gadget - a phone, laptop, tablet or netbook, and will be too lazy to study it in order to use it correctly. He will definitely start asking people around him how to set everything up and make it work.
In fact, Armenians have a lot of habits, both positive and negative, and their character traits are very diverse. The temperament and mentality of Armenians is a very complex thing. However, this article contains everything that can distinguish an Armenian from representatives of other nationalities.
We are glad if Armenian habits are also characteristic of you.