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! ==Etymology== {{Main|Name of Armenia}} The original native [[Armenian language|Armenian]] name for the country was {{lang|hy|Հայք}} (''{{lang|hy-Latn|[[wikt:Հայք|Hayk’]]}}''); however, it is currently rarely used. The contemporary name {{lang|hy|Հայաստան}} (''[[wikt:Հայաստան|Hayastan]]'') became popular in the [[Middle Ages]] by addition of the [[Persian language|Persian]] suffix ''[[-stan]]'' (place).<ref>{{cite book|last= Acharian|first= Hrachia|author-link= Hrachia Acharian|title= Hayocʿ anjnanunneri baṙaran|trans-title= Dictionary of Personal Names of Armenians|publisher= Yerevan University Press|volume= 3|language= hy|page= 29|url= http://www.nayiri.com/imagedDictionaryBrowser.jsp?dictionaryId=35&query=%D5%80%D5%A1%D5%B5%D5%A1%D5%BD%D5%BF%D5%A1%D5%B6|year= 1946|location= Yerevan}}</ref> However the origins of the name Hayastan trace back to much earlier dates and were first attested in {{Circa|5th century}} in the works of [[Agathangelos]],<ref>Ագաթանգեղոս §§ 13 (ի Հայաստան աշխարհէս), 16 (Հայաստան աշխարհիս 2x, ի Հայաստան աշխարհիս), 35 (Հայաստան աշխարհին), 160 (Հայաստան աշխարհիս), 249 (Հայաստան աշխարհիս), 715 (Հայաստան աշխարհիս), 776 (Հայաստան աշխարհին), 784 (Հայաստան աշխարհին), 796 (ի մէջ Հայաստան աշխարհի), 808 (հասանէին ի Հայաստան աշխարհն)։</ref><ref>Ագաթանգեղոս § 885 (ի Հայաստան երկրին)</ref> [[Faustus of Byzantium]],<ref>Փաւստոս Բուզանդ 1883=1984, էջ 1 (Հայաստան աշխարհին)</ref><ref>Փաւստոս Բուզանդ 1883=1984, 4.բ, էջ 56 (Հայաստան երկրին)</ref> [[Ghazar Parpetsi]],<ref>904=1985, էջ 2 (Հայաստան աշխարհիս), 110 (կանայս ի Հայաստան աշխարհիս)</ref> [[Koryun]],<ref>Կորիւն 1994, էջ 83 (Հայաստան աշխարհի), 93 (Հայաստան աշխարհին), 103 (ի Հայաստան աշխարհին), 120 (ի Հայաստան աշխարհէս)</ref> and [[Sebeos]].<ref>ժը (սեռ. Հայաստանեայց, բացառ. ի Հայաստանեայց), տես Աբգարյան 1979, էջ 66, 90</ref> The name has traditionally been derived from [[Hayk]] ({{lang|hy|Հայկ}}), the legendary patriarch of the [[Armenians]] and a great-great-grandson of [[Noah]], who, according to the 5th-century AD author [[Moses of Chorene|Moses of Chorene (Movsis Khorenatsi)]], defeated the [[List of Kings of Babylon|Babylonian king]] Bel in [[3rd millennium BC|2492 BC]] and established his nation in the [[Ararat, Armenia|Ararat]] region.<ref>Razmik Panossian, The Armenians: From Kings And Priests to Merchants And Commissars, [[Columbia University Press]] (2006), {{ISBN|978-0-231-13926-7}}, p. 106.</ref> The further origin of the name is uncertain. It is also further postulated<ref>Rafael Ishkhanyan, "Illustrated History of Armenia," Yerevan, 1989</ref><ref name="Bauer">Elisabeth Bauer. ''Armenia: Past and Present'' (1981), p. 49</ref> that the name ''Hay'' comes from one of the two confederated, Hittite vassal states{{snd}}the [[Hayasa|Ḫayaša]]-Azzi (1600–1200 BC). The [[exonym and endonym|exonym]] ''Armenia'' is attested in the [[Old Persian]] [[Behistun Inscription]] (515 BC) as ''[[wikt:𐎠𐎼𐎷𐎡𐎴#Old Persian|Armina]]'' ({{cuneiform|peo|𐎠𐎼𐎷𐎡𐎴}}). The [[Ancient Greek]] terms {{wikt-lang|grc|Ἀρμενία}} (''Armenía'') and {{wikt-lang|grc|Ἀρμένιος|Ἀρμένιοι}} (''Arménioi'', "Armenians") are first mentioned by [[Hecataeus of Miletus]] ({{circa|550 BC}} – {{circa|476 BC}}).<ref>"{{lang|grc|Χαλύβοισι πρὸς νότον Ἀρμένιοι ὁμουρέουσι}} (The Armenians border on the [[Chalybes]] to the south)". {{cite book|last=Chahin|first=Mark|title=The Kingdom of Armenia|publisher=[[Routledge]]|year=2001|location=London|page=fr. 203|isbn=978-0-7007-1452-0}}</ref> [[Xenophon]], a Greek general serving in some of the Persian expeditions, describes many aspects of Armenian village life and hospitality in around 401 BC.<ref>{{cite book |last=[[Xenophon]]|title=Anabasis|pages=IV.v.2–9|title-link=Anabasis (Xenophon)}}</ref> Some scholars have linked the name ''Armenia'' with the Early Bronze Age state of ''[[Armani (kingdom)|Armani (Armanum, Armi)]]'' or the Late Bronze Age state of ''[[Shupria|Arme (Shupria)]]''.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3WqaAAAAQBAJ&pg=PA42|title= Armenia Country Study Guide Volume 1 Strategic Information and Developments|author= Ibp Inc| page=42|isbn= 978-1438773827|date= 1 September 2013|publisher= International Business Publications, USA}}</ref> These connections are inconclusive as it is not known what languages were spoken in these kingdoms. Additionally, while it is agreed that Arme was located to the immediate west of [[Lake Van]] (probably in the vicinity of [[Sason]], and therefore in the greater Armenia region), the location of the older site of Armani is a matter of debate. Some modern researchers have placed it near modern [[Samsat]],<ref>{{cite journal|last=Archi|first=Alfonso|title=Egypt or Iran in the Ebla Texts?|journal=Orientalia|date=2016|volume=85|page=3 |url=https://www.academia.edu/34915656}}</ref> and have suggested it was populated, at least partially, by an early Indo-European-speaking people.<ref>{{cite journal |vauthors=Kroonen G, Barjamovic G, Peyrot M |title=Linguistic supplement to Damgaard et al. 2018: Early Indo-European languages, Anatolian, Tocharian and Indo-Iranian |date=9 May 2018 |page=3 |journal=Zenodo |doi=10.5281/zenodo.1240524 |url=https://zenodo.org/record/1240524 |access-date=8 June 2019 |archive-date=29 June 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190629152739/https://zenodo.org/record/1240524|url-status=live}}</ref> It is possible that the name ''Armenia'' originates in ''Armini'', Urartian for "inhabitant of Arme" or "Armean country".<ref>Armen Petrosyan. ''The Indo-European and Ancient Near Eastern Sources of the Armenian Epic''. ''Journal of Indo-European Studies.'' Institute for the Study of Man. 2002. p. 184. [https://www.academia.edu/3656244/The_Indo_European_and_Ancient_Near_Eastern_Sources_of_the_Armenian_Epic_Washington_D_C_2002?auto=download]</ref> The Arme tribe of Urartian texts may have been the Urumu, who in the 12th century BC attempted to invade Assyria from the north with their allies the [[Mushki]] and the [[Kaskians]]. The Urumu apparently settled in the vicinity of Sason, lending their name to the regions of Arme and the nearby lands of Urme and Inner Urumu.<ref>Armen Petrosyan. ''The Indo-European and Ancient Near Eastern Sources of the Armenian Epic''. ''Journal of Indo-European Studies''. Institute for the Study of Man. 2002. pp. 166–167. [https://www.academia.edu/3656244/The_Indo_European_and_Ancient_Near_Eastern_Sources_of_the_Armenian_Epic_Washington_D_C_2002?auto=download]</ref> Given that this was an [[exonym]], it may have meant "wasteland, dense forest", cf. ''[http://www.aina.org/cad/cad_a2.pdf armutu]'' (wasteland), ''[https://www.assyrianlanguages.org/akkadian/dosearch.php?searchkey=8112&language=id armaḫḫu]'' (thicket, thick woods), ''[http://www.maravot.com/Akkadian.dictionary.html armāniš]'' (tree). The southerners considered the northern forests to be the abode of dangerous beasts. According to the histories of both Moses of Chorene and Michael Chamchian, ''Armenia'' derives from the name of [[Aram (given name)|Aram]], a lineal descendant of Hayk.<ref>Moses of Chorene,[http://www.vehi.net/istoriya/armenia/khorenaci/index.html ''The History of Armenia''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20030419093358/http://www.vehi.net/istoriya/armenia/khorenaci/index.html |date=19 April 2003 }}, Book 1, Ch. 12 {{in lang|ru}}</ref><ref name=battles>''History of Armenia'' by Father Michael Chamich from B.C. 2247 to the Year of Christ 1780, or 1229 of the Armenian era, Bishop's College Press, Calcutta, 1827, p. 19: "[Aram] was the first to raise the Armenian name to any degree of renown; so that contemporary nations... called them the Aramians, or followers of [[Aram (given name)|Aram]], a name which has been corrupted into Armenians; and the country they inhabited, by universal consent, took the name of Armenia."</ref> In the [[Hebrew Bible]]/[[Old Testament]], the [[Table of Nations]] lists [[Aram, son of Shem|Aram]] as the son of [[Shem]], to whom the [[Book of Jubilees]] attests, {{blockquote|And for Aram there came forth the fourth portion, all the land of Mesopotamia between the Tigris and the Euphrates to the north of the Chaldees to the border of the mountains of Asshur and the land of 'Arara'.<ref name="pseudepigrapha">{{cite web |title=Charles, R.H. (1913). The Book of Jubilees 9:5 from The Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha of the Old Testament. Clarendon Press |url=http://www.pseudepigrapha.com/jubilees/8.htm |website=www.pseudepigrapha.com |access-date=13 June 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180614031249/http://www.pseudepigrapha.com/jubilees/8.htm |archive-date=14 June 2018 |url-status=live |df=dmy-all }}</ref><ref name="digitalcommons.andrews.edu">{{cite web |title=Charles, R.H. (1913). The Book of Jubilees 8:21 from The Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha of the Old Testament. Clarendon Press. |url=https://digitalcommons.andrews.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1003&context=papers |website=digitalcommons.andrews.edu |access-date=13 June 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180613134227/https://digitalcommons.andrews.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1003&context=papers |archive-date=13 June 2018 |url-status=live |df=dmy-all }}</ref>}} Jubilees 8:21 also apportions the Mountains of Ararat to [[Shem]], which Jubilees 9:5 expounds to be apportioned to [[Aram, son of Shem|Aram]].<ref name="pseudepigrapha"/><ref name="digitalcommons.andrews.edu"/> The historian Flavius Josephus also states in his [[Antiquities of the Jews]], {{blockquote|Aram had the Aramites, which the Greeks called [[Syrians]];... Of the four sons of Aram, Uz founded [[Trachonitis]] and [[Damascus]]: this country lies between [[Palestinian territories|Palestine]] and [[Celesyria]]. Ul founded Armenia; and Gather the [[Bactrians]]; and Mesa the Mesaneans; it is now called [[Charax Spasini]].<ref>{{cite book|last1=Josephus|first1=Flavius|title=Antiquities of the Jews|page=Book 1, section 143|url=https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0146:book=1:section=143&highlight=aram|access-date=13 October 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171014101850/http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0146:book=1:section=143&highlight=aram|archive-date=14 October 2017|url-status=live|df=dmy-all}}</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! 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