Armenia Warning: You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you log in or create an account, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.Anti-spam check. Do not fill this in! ===Antiquity=== [[File:Arshakuni Armenia 150-en.svg|thumb|upright=1.3|Historical Armenia, 150 BC]] Armenia lies in the highlands surrounding the mountains of [[Mount Ararat|Ararat]]. There is evidence of an early civilisation in Armenia in the [[Bronze Age]] and earlier, dating to about 4000 BC. Archaeological surveys in 2010 and 2011 at the [[Areni-1 cave complex]] have resulted in the discovery of [[Areni-1 shoe|the world's earliest known leather shoe]],<ref name="CNNc">{{cite news |publisher=[[CNN]] |title=Armenian cave yields what may be world's oldest leather shoe |url=http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/meast/06/09/armenia.old.shoe/ |date=9 June 2010 |access-date=28 January 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180128074651/http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/meast/06/09/armenia.old.shoe/ |archive-date=28 January 2018 |url-status=live }}</ref> skirt,<ref name=strawskirt>{{cite web |url = http://news.am/eng/news/73915.html |title = 5,900-year-old women's skirt discovered in Armenian cave |work = News Armenia |date = 13 September 2011 |access-date = 14 September 2011 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20171010142655/https://news.am/eng/news/73915.html |archive-date = 10 October 2017 |url-status = dead |df = dmy-all }}</ref> and [[Areni-1 winery|wine-producing facility]].<ref name="National Geographic">{{cite web|publisher=[[National Geographic Society|National Geographic]]|title=Earliest Known Winery Found in Armenian Cave|url=https://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2011/01/110111-oldest-wine-press-making-winery-armenia-science-ucla/|date=12 January 2011|access-date=28 January 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180108093549/https://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2011/01/110111-oldest-wine-press-making-winery-armenia-science-ucla/|archive-date=8 January 2018|url-status=dead}}</ref> [[File:Xerxes I tomb Armenian soldier circa 470 BCE.jpg|thumb|left|upright=0.7|Armenian soldier of the Achaemenid army, {{Circa|470 BC}}. [[Xerxes I]] tomb relief.]] Several [[Bronze Age]] cultures and states flourished in the area of Greater Armenia, including the [[Trialeti culture|Trialeti-Vanadzor culture]], [[Hayasa-Azzi]], and [[Mitanni]] (located in southwestern historical Armenia), all of which are believed to have had Indo-European populations.<ref>{{cite journal | jstor=603403 | last1=Greppin | first1=John A. C. | last2=Diakonoff | first2=I. M. | title=Some Effects of the Hurro-Urartian People and Their Languages upon the Earliest Armenians | journal=Journal of the American Oriental Society | year=1991 | volume=111 | issue=4 | pages=720–730 | doi=10.2307/603403 }}</ref><ref>Joan Aruz, Kim Benzel, Jean M. Evans, ''Beyond Babylon: Art, Trade, and Diplomacy in the Second Millennium B.C.'' Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York, N.Y.)[https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_gr5BgOwEJicC/page/n179] (2008) pp. 92</ref><ref>{{citation|url=https://docplayer.net/108120425-The-mushki-problem-reconsidered.html|title=The Mushki Problem Reconsidered|date=1997|first=Aram V.|last=Kossian|access-date=31 August 2019|archive-date=29 August 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190829005531/https://docplayer.net/108120425-The-mushki-problem-reconsidered.html|url-status=dead}} pp. 254</ref><ref>Peter I. Bogucki and Pam J. Crabtree [http://lukashevichus.info/knigi/ancient_europe_encycl_bogucki_crabtree_1.pdf ''Ancient Europe, 8000 B.C. to A.D. 1000: An Encyclopedia of the Barbarian World''.] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160109082658/http://lukashevichus.info/knigi/ancient_europe_encycl_bogucki_crabtree_1.pdf |date=9 January 2016 }} Charles Scribner's Sons, 2004 {{ISBN|978-0684806686}}</ref><ref>Paul Thieme, The 'Aryan' Gods of the Mitanni Treaties. JAOS 80, 1960, 301-17</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last=Petrosyan|first=Armen|title=Towards the Origins of the Armenian People: The Problem of Identification of the Proto-Armenians: A Critical Review (in English)|journal=Journal for the Society of Armenian Studies|date=2007|volume=16|pages=49–54|url=https://www.academia.edu/3657764|access-date=30 August 2019|archive-date=4 October 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201004180224/https://www.academia.edu/3657764/Towards_the_Origins_of_the_Armenian_People_The_Problem_of_Identification_of_the_Proto_Armenians_A_Critical_Review_in_English_|url-status=live}}</ref> The [[Nairi]] confederation and its successor, [[Urartu]], successively established their sovereignty over the [[Armenian Highlands]]. Each of the aforementioned nations and confederacies participated in the ethnogenesis of the [[Armenians]].<ref>{{cite book|first=Vahan|last=Kurkjian|title=History of Armenia|location=Michigan|publisher=[[Armenian General Benevolent Union]]|year=1958|edition=1964|url=https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Gazetteer/Places/Asia/Armenia/_Texts/KURARM/home.html|access-date=22 July 2009|archive-url=https://archive.today/20120527052930/http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Gazetteer/Places/Asia/Armenia/_Texts/KURARM/home.html|archive-date=27 May 2012|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=Armenian Soviet Encyclopedia|page=v. 12|location=Yerevan|publisher=Armenian Encyclopedia|year=1987|title-link=Armenian Soviet Encyclopedia}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |first=Artak|last=Movsisyan|title=Sacred Highland: Armenia in the spiritual conception of the Near East|publisher=Yerevan|year=2000}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |first=Martiros|last=Kavoukjian|title=The Genesis of Armenian People|publisher=Montreal|year=1982|author-link=Martiros Kavoukjian}}</ref> A large cuneiform lapidary inscription found in [[Yerevan]] established that the modern capital of Armenia was founded in the summer of 782 BC by King [[Argishti I of Urartu|Argishti I]]. Yerevan is one of the world's [[List of oldest continuously inhabited cities|oldest continuously inhabited cities]].<ref>{{cite book|last=Bournoutian|first=George A.|title=A concise history of the Armenian people: (from ancient times to the present)|year=2003|publisher=Mazda Publishers|location=Costa Mesa, California|isbn=9781568591414|edition=2nd|author-link=George Bournoutian|url=https://archive.org/details/concisehistoryof00geor}}</ref> [[File:Darius I the Great's inscription.jpg|thumb|[[Behistun Inscription|Behistun Inscription of Darius I]] mentioning Armenia. 6th century BC]] After the fall of the state of [[Urartu]] at the beginning of the 6th century BC, the [[Armenian Highlands]] were for some time under the hegemony of the [[Medes]], and after that they were part of the [[Achaemenid Empire]]. Armenia was part of the Achaemenid state from the second half of the 6th century BC until the second half of the 4th century BC divided into two satrapies - XIII (western part, with the capital in [[Melitene]]) and XVIII (northeastern part).<ref name="ИВ">История Востока: в шести томах. Т. 1. Восток в древности / Отв. ред. В. А. Якобсен. — М.: Вост. лит., 1997. — 688 с. — {{ISBN|5-02-017936-1}}. Раздел «[http://gumilevica.kulichki.net/HE1/he129.htm#he129para1 Закавказье и сопредельные страны в период эллинизма] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150712015334/http://gumilevica.kulichki.net/HE1/he129.htm#he129para1}}»</ref> During the late 6th century BC, the [[Satrapy of Armenia|first geographical entity that was called Armenia]] by neighbouring populations was established under the [[Orontid Dynasty]] within the [[Achaemenid Empire]], as part of the latter's territories. [[File:Karte Pomponius Mela.jpg|thumb|Armenia on the oldest Roman map of [[Pomponius Mela]], 1st century BC Book I, 13: «The interior lands [of Asia] are inhabited by many different tribes: […] beyond the Caspian Gulf - Mosquitoes, Massagetae […] and where the country approaches our seas - Matians, Tibarans and names already more familiar to us: honeys, armenia, commagenes,...»]] The kingdom became fully sovereign from the sphere of influence of the [[Seleucid Empire]] in 190 BC under King [[Artaxias I]] and begun the rule of the [[Artaxiad dynasty]]. Armenia reached its height between 95 and 66 BC under [[Tigranes the Great]], becoming the most powerful kingdom of its time east of the [[Roman Republic]].<ref name="RydénRosenqvist1993">{{cite book | editor1 = Lennart Rydén | editor2 = Jan Olof Rosenqvist | author = Svenska forskningsinstitutet i Istanbul | date = 1993 | title = Aspects of Late Antiquity and Early Byzantium: Papers Read at a Colloquium Held at the Swedish Research Institute in Istanbul 31 May-5 June, 1992 | publisher = Swedish Research Institute | pages = | isbn = 9789186884055 | oclc = 1131566057}}</ref> In the next centuries, Armenia was in the [[Persian Empire]]'s sphere of influence during the reign of [[Tiridates I of Armenia|Tiridates I]], the founder of the [[Arsacid dynasty of Armenia]], which itself was a branch of the [[Parthian Empire]]. Throughout its history, the kingdom of Armenia enjoyed both periods of independence and periods of autonomy subject to contemporary empires. Its strategic location between two continents has subjected it to invasions by many peoples, including [[Assyria]] (under [[Ashurbanipal]], at around 669–627 BC, the boundaries of Assyria reached as far as Armenia and the [[Caucasus Mountains]]),<ref>{{cite encyclopedia|url=https://www.worldhistory.org/assyria/|title=Assyria|author=Joshua J. Mark|encyclopedia=[[World History Encyclopedia]]|access-date=13 May 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210416073851/https://www.worldhistory.org/assyria/|archive-date=16 April 2021|url-status=live}}</ref> [[Medes]], [[Achaemenid Empire]], [[Greeks]], [[Parthian Empire|Parthians]], [[ancient Rome|Romans]], [[Sasanian Empire]], [[Byzantine Empire]], [[Arabs]], [[Seljuk Empire]], [[Mongols]], [[Ottoman Empire]], the successive [[Safavid dynasty|Safavid]], [[Afsharid dynasty|Afsharid]], and [[Qajar dynasty|Qajar]] dynasties of Iran, and the Russians. [[File:Garni Temple 02.JPG|upright=0.8|thumb|The pagan [[Garni Temple]], probably built in the first century, is the only "Greco-Roman [[colonnade]]d building" in the [[post-Soviet states]].<ref>{{cite book|title=The Archaeology of Power and Politics in Eurasia: Regimes and Revolutions|date=2012|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-1-107-01652-1|page=65|editor1=Charles W. Hartley |editor2=G. Bike Yazicioğlu |editor3=Adam T. Smith |quote=...the unique temple-tomb at Garni, just east of Yerevan – the only Greco-Roman colonnaded building anywhere in the Soviet Union.}}</ref>]] Religion in ancient Armenia was historically related to a set of beliefs that, in Persia, led to the emergence of [[Zoroastrianism]]. It particularly focused on the worship of [[Mithra]] and also included a pantheon of gods such as [[Aramazd]], [[Vahagn]], [[Anahit]], and [[Astghik]]. The country used the solar [[Armenian calendar]], which consisted of 12 months. Christianity spread into the country in the early 4th century AD.<ref name="CIA">{{cite web|publisher=[[Central Intelligence Agency|CIA]] |title=The World Factbook: Armenia |url=https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/armenia/ |access-date=15 November 2007 }}</ref> [[Tiridates III of Armenia]] (238–314) made Christianity the [[state religion]] in 301,<ref name="CIA"/><ref name="almanac">{{cite book|last=Brunner|first=Borgna|title=Time Almanac with Information Please 2007|page=[https://archive.org/details/timealmanac2007w00brun/page/685 685]|isbn=978-1-933405-49-0|year=2006|publisher=Time Home Entertainment|location=New York|url=https://archive.org/details/timealmanac2007w00brun/page/685}}</ref> partly, in defiance of the [[Sasanian Empire]], it seems,<ref name="books.google.nl">Mary Boyce. [https://books.google.com/books?id=a6gbxVfjtUEC&pg=PA84 ''Zoroastrians: Their Religious Beliefs and Practices''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150919131431/https://books.google.com/books?id=a6gbxVfjtUEC&pg=PA84 |date=19 September 2015 }} Psychology Press, 2001 {{ISBN|0-415-23902-8}} p. 84</ref> becoming the first officially Christian state, ten years before the [[Roman Empire]] granted Christianity an official toleration under [[Galerius]], and 36 years before [[Constantine the Great]] was baptised. Prior to this, during the latter part of the Parthian period, Armenia was a predominantly Zoroastrian country.<ref name="books.google.nl"/> [[File:Vartanantz.jpg|thumb|A 15th-century [[Armenian language|Armenian]] miniature representing the [[Sassanid]] Persians in the [[Battle of Avarayr]] (451 CE)]] After the fall of the Kingdom of Armenia in 428, most of Armenia was incorporated as a [[Sasanian Armenia|''marzpanate'' within the Sasanian Empire]].<ref name="Geukjian2016">{{cite book | author = Ohannes Geukjian | date = 13 May 2016 | title = Ethnicity, Nationalism and Conflict in the South Caucasus: Nagorno-Karabakh and the Legacy of Soviet Nationalities Policy | publisher = Routledge | pages = 30– | isbn = 978-1-317-14074-0 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=E_AoDAAAQBAJ&pg=PA30}}</ref> Following the [[Battle of Avarayr]] in 451, Christian Armenians maintained their religion and Armenia gained autonomy.<ref name="Panossian2006">{{cite book | author = Razmik Panossian | date = 27 May 2006 | title = The Armenians: From Kings and Priests to Merchants and Commissars | publisher = Columbia University Press | pages = 48– | isbn = 978-0-231-51133-9 | oclc = 1017996521 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=cEL-CuhdWU4C&pg=PA48}}</ref> Summary: Please note that all contributions to Christianpedia may be edited, altered, or removed by other contributors. If you do not want your writing to be edited mercilessly, then do not submit it here. You are also promising us that you wrote this yourself, or copied it from a public domain or similar free resource (see Christianpedia:Copyrights for details). Do not submit copyrighted work without permission! Cancel Editing help (opens in new window) Discuss this page