Armenia is so old that its early history only survived in the form of legends and myths. It often reminds me of the following line: And some things that should not have been forgotten were lost. History became legend. Legend became myth. ― Galadriel in The Lord of the Rings, by J.R.R. Tolkien A...
The forgotten kingdom: Bagratid Armenia
Guest entry – Author: Kietos Starikian Throughout thousands of years Armenia has had ever changing empires and kingdoms. The time period which many argue as the greatest empire in our history was the first major kingdom to appear under the name “Armenia”, taking place from roughly 321 BC to 428 AD. The Kingdom which included...
Yerevan turns 2800
Yerevan is the capital and the largest city in the Republic of Armenia and one of the world’s oldest continuously inhabited cities. Today marks the 2800th anniversary of the foundation of the capital city of Erebuni-Yerevan. Celebrations in its honor are to be held in the capitol with music, dances life performances and various other cultural activities. Founded by...
Documentary about the Kingdom of Ararat (Urartu)
A new documentary about the ancient Armenian kingdom of Ararat (a.k.a. Van or Urartu) has recently been published to YouTube by Artak Movsisyan. Check it out guys, it’s worth to watch. For those who want it to see it in a different language click bellow: Russian – ЦАРСТВО АРАРАТ – УРАРТУ Armenian – «ԱՐԱՐԱՏ-ՈՒՐԱՐՏՈՒ ԹԱԳԱՎՈՐՈՒԹՅՈՒՆԸ» (Ամբողջական տարբերակ)...
Rare gem with Tigranes the Great
A rare intaglio gemstone with the engraved bust of Tigranes the Great of Armenia is displayed on the website of the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston. The gemstone is made of red Jasper and dates to the early–mid 1st century B.C. It’s 14 mm. (9/16 in.) in length. According to the description of...
New DNA study supports an Armenian origin of the Indo-Europeans
The Indo-European language family includes most of the European languages like English, Spanish, French, German, Greek, Russian, but also Armenian, Persian and Hindi. With over 400 languages (including dialects) it is by far the world’s largest language family and is spoken by almost 3 billion native speakers world wide. Armenian language is considered to...
3,000-year-old footprint found in historic Armenia
An ancient human footprint from the Iron Age kingdom of Van (also known as Urartu / Ararat) was recently discovered at a castle in the historic Armenian city of Van (today part of Turkey). The footprint, measuring some 26 centimeters long and fitting a modern shoe size of 36, was found at Van Castle...
World’s oldest surviving melody was composed by Armenian ancestors 3400 years ago
The 3400 year old hymn, is the oldest known fragment of noted music so far discovered in history. It was created by an anonymous Hurrian artist in 1400 BC. and dedicated to the goddess of orchards. At the time, the Armenians from the region of Van were known to their Hittite and Assyrian neighbors...
Documentary about one of the leading composers of the 20th century; Aram Khachaturian
This multi-part documentary is based on the memoirs of Armenian composer Aram Khachaturian (1903-1978). Rare archival materials have been gathered from Russian archives in Moscow and Armenia, family members have been interviewed on camera, and research is underway for a film that will be the first in the West to document the life and...
Tracing the oldest Armenian script
Simple questions rarely have simple answers. That’s certainly true for the following question: “What is the oldest extant example of the Armenian alphabet?” Initially I though it was a fairly straightforward question to ask and a simple google search would provide the answer. Surely there has to be the oldest surviving image of Armenian...
