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| ⚫ | {{History of Armenia}} | ||
| ] | ] | ||
| The '''origin of the Armenians''' is not decisively certain and has been explained by several scholarly theories. | The '''origin of the Armenians''' is not decisively certain and has been explained by several scholarly theories. | ||
| ==Traditional Armenian |
==Traditional Armenian explanation== | ||
| The earliest surviving Armenian writings about their own origin explain that the ] are descendants of ], a son of ]. As ], which was historically in the kingdom of ], is held to be the site on which Noah's ark landed, his family settled in Armenia, and later moved to ]. ], a descendant of Japheth who is said to have been the leader of the Armenian people, rebelled against the Babylonians and returned to the lands of Armenia. This legendary account reflects the ] beliefs of the Armenians after ] ], as they favored an explanation of their origins that gave them a prominent place in the history of the ]. | The earliest surviving Armenian writings about their own origin explain that the ] are descendants of ], a son of ]. As ], which was historically in the kingdom of ], is held to be the site on which Noah's ark landed, his family settled in Armenia, and later moved to ]. ], a descendant of Japheth who is said to have been the leader of the Armenian people, rebelled against the Babylonians and returned to the lands of Armenia. This legendary account reflects the ] beliefs of the Armenians after ] ], as they favored an explanation of their origins that gave them a prominent place in the history of the ]. | ||
| ⚫ | {{History of Armenia}} | ||
| ⚫ | |||
| == Khorenatsi’s theory == | |||
| ⚫ | Khorenatsi’s theory that the ] descended from Torgom (] was the Son of ], Grandson ], Great Grandson of ]) is consistent and derived from, Biblical references to the House of Togarmah, a land known for its horses in the extreme north. ] would have been the north hinterlands for the ] world of the Old Testament, and the ] were renowned for horse breeding and horsemanship throughout ancient times. <ref>Strabo, Geography, XI.14.9.</ref> | ||
| == |
==Armenia (name)== | ||
| The name ''']''' is an ], the ] name for the country being ''Hayk‘'' (see ] for a discussion of that name). Its first unambiguous application as the ethnonym of the ] is in a late 6th century BC ] inscription, as ''Armina'', and a few decades later, ], in his review of the troops opposing the Greeks, wrote that “the Armenians were armed like the ], being Phrygian settlers" <ref>Herodotus, History, 7.73.</ref>. Whether his comment described all ] as Phrygian settlers, or only those warriors he happened to see, is still unclear. ], a Greek general waging war against the Persians, describes many aspects of Armenian village life and hospitality. He relates that the people spoke a language that to his ear sounded like the language of the ].<ref>Xenophon, Anabasis, IV.v.2-9.</ref>. | |||
| There are, however, surprisingly early (Bronze Age) attestations of what appears to be the same name as a geographical term in both Mesopotamian and Egyptian sources. | |||
| Some ancient ] believed the Armenians to be descendants of Armenus the Thessalian, one of the ]. However, the historian ] wrote that the Armenians originated in ], moved into ], and finally settled in the lands of Armenia. ] wrote that the Armenians were descended from people who migrated from Phrygia in the west and the ] region to the south. | |||
| The earliest is from an inscription which mentions ''Armânum'' (also read ''Armani''<ref>Artak Movsisyan, "Aratta: The ancient Kindgom of Armenia," Yerevan, 1992. p. 184</ref>) together with ''Ibla'' (]) as territories conquered by ] (23rd century BC)<ref>surviving in an early Babylonian copy, ca. 2200 BC, URI 275, lines I.7, 13; II.4; III.3, 30.</ref> identified with an Akkadian colony in the ] region.<ref>Horace Abram Rigg, Jr., A Note on the Names Armânum and Urartu, Journal of the American Oriental Society (1937).</ref> To this day the Assyrians refer to Armenians by this form ''Armani''. | |||
| A ] inventory of the Akkadian Empire locates the land ''Armanî'' next to ]<ref>no. 92 of Schroeder's 1920 ''Keilschrifttexte aus Assur''; W. F. Albright, ''A Babylonian Geographical Treatise on Sargon of Akkad's Empire'', Journal of the American Oriental Society, Vol. 45. (1925), p. 212.</ref> | |||
| ==Modern hypotheses== | |||
| Another mention by pharoah ] in the 33rd year of his reign (1446 BC) as the people of ''Ermenen'' ("Region of the Minni"), and says in their land "heaven rests upon its four pillars".<ref>International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, 1915; Eric H. Cline and David O'Connor (eds.) ''Thutmose III'', University of Michigan, 2006, ISBN 978-0472114672.{{page number}}</ref> The ] and ] form referring to Armenians is ''Ermenin''. | |||
| '']'' (מנּי) is also a Biblical name of the region, appearing in ] ({{bibleref|Jeremiah|51:27}}) alongside ] and ], probably the same as the ''Minnai'' of Assyrian inscriptions,<ref>International Standard Bible Encyclopedia s.v. Minni</ref> perhaps corresponding to the ].<ref>Smith's Bible Dictionary</ref> ''Armenia'' is interpreted by some as ''<sup>ḪAR</sup>Minni'', that is, "the mountainous region of the Minni".<ref>Easton’s Bible Dictionary</ref> | |||
| A popular scholarly theory, which was unchallenged until the 1980s, posits that the Armenians were an ] group that migrated with proto-Iranians from the ] or with Phrygians from the ] after the collapse of the ] empire. Another recent theory is that the Armenians were among the original inhabitants of the area, given the apparent uniqueness of ] in the ] family and its similarity to the language of the ], a group of people indigenous to the area. This theory tends to be more popular with Armenian scholars, whereas the theory that the Armenians have origins in ] and ] is more accepted among Western scholars. | |||
| There have been further speculations as to the existence Bronze Age tribe (of an ethnonym, as opposed to a toponym) of the '''Armens''' (''Armans'', ''Armani''; ]: {{lang|hy|Արմեններ ''Armenner'', Առամեններ ''Aṙamenner''}}), either identical to or forming a subset of the ]<ref>Rafael Ishkhanyan, "Illustrated History of Armenia," Yerevan, 1989</ref><ref name="Bauer">Elisabeth Bauer. ''Armenia: Past and Present'' (1981), p. 49</ref> | |||
| Etymological speculation inspired by the ] of Indo-European origins connects the name with the ''Ar-'' root meaning light, sun, fire found in ] (Sun), ] (Light of heaven), ] (God or Creator), ] (place of Arar), ], ] etc.<ref>] and ], ''The Early History of Indo-European (aka Aryan) Languages'', Scientific American, March 1990; James P. Mallory, "Kuro-Araxes Culture", ''Encyclopedia of Indo-European Culture,'' Fitzroy Dearborn, 1997. </ref> Alternatively, the name has been claimed as a "variant" of ''Urmani'', a e living near Lake Van and near Lake Urmia according to an inscription of ].<ref>Vahan Kurkjian, ''History of Armenia'', Michigan 1968</ref> | |||
| According to an increasing number of scholars, ] presents was in the ] since the ]. These scholars place the homeland in Armenia, located where the ] showed Indo-European presents at the same time. <ref>James P. Mallory, "Kuro-Araxes Culture", ''Encyclopedia of Indo-European Culture,'' Fitzroy Dearborn, 1997.; ] and ], ''The Early History of Indo-European (aka Aryan) Languages'', Scientific American, March 1990</ref> | |||
| Armenian tradition makes ''Armenak'' or ''Aram'' the great-grandson of ]. | |||
| Other authors<ref>Hovick Nersessian, ''Highlands of Armenia'', 1998, Los Angeles</ref> connect the Persian name ''Armin'', <ref> Parsiana, ''Book of Iranian Names'': a dweller of the ], a son of king ]</ref> ''Armin'' is also a contemporary Armenian name, its feminine being ''Armin'e''. The Persian inscription referring to Armenia is in this form, as ''Armina''. | |||
| ==References== | ==References== | ||
| <div class="references-small"><references/></div> | |||
| {{reflist}} | |||
| ⚫ | ] | ||
| *Bournoutian, George A. 2002. ''A Concise History of the Armenian People.'' Mazda Publishers, Inc. | |||
| ==See also== | |||
| *] | |||
| ⚫ | ] | ||
Revision as of 17:44, 15 June 2007
 | It has been suggested that this article be merged with Armenians. (Discuss) |
The origin of the Armenians is not decisively certain and has been explained by several scholarly theories.
Traditional Armenian explanation
The earliest surviving Armenian writings about their own origin explain that the Armenian people are descendants of Japheth, a son of Noah. As Mt. Ararat, which was historically in the kingdom of Armenia, is held to be the site on which Noah's ark landed, his family settled in Armenia, and later moved to Babylon. Haik, a descendant of Japheth who is said to have been the leader of the Armenian people, rebelled against the Babylonians and returned to the lands of Armenia. This legendary account reflects the Christian beliefs of the Armenians after 301 AD, as they favored an explanation of their origins that gave them a prominent place in the history of the Bible.
| Part of a series on the |
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| Antiquity |
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Khorenatsi’s theory
Khorenatsi’s theory that the Armenians descended from Torgom (Togarmah was the Son of Gomer, Grandson Japheth, Great Grandson of Noah) is consistent and derived from, Biblical references to the House of Togarmah, a land known for its horses in the extreme north. Armenia would have been the north hinterlands for the Mesopotamian world of the Old Testament, and the Armenian Highlands were renowned for horse breeding and horsemanship throughout ancient times.
Armenia (name)
The name Armenia is an exonym, the Armenian language name for the country being Hayk‘ (see Haik for a discussion of that name). Its first unambiguous application as the ethnonym of the Armenians is in a late 6th century BC Old Persian inscription, as Armina, and a few decades later, Herodotus, in his review of the troops opposing the Greeks, wrote that “the Armenians were armed like the Phrygians, being Phrygian settlers" . Whether his comment described all Armenians as Phrygian settlers, or only those warriors he happened to see, is still unclear. Xenophon, a Greek general waging war against the Persians, describes many aspects of Armenian village life and hospitality. He relates that the people spoke a language that to his ear sounded like the language of the Persians..
There are, however, surprisingly early (Bronze Age) attestations of what appears to be the same name as a geographical term in both Mesopotamian and Egyptian sources. The earliest is from an inscription which mentions Armânum (also read Armani) together with Ibla (Ebla) as territories conquered by Naram-Sin (23rd century BC) identified with an Akkadian colony in the Diarbekr region. To this day the Assyrians refer to Armenians by this form Armani.
A Babylonian inventory of the Akkadian Empire locates the land Armanî next to Lullubi Another mention by pharoah Thutmose III in the 33rd year of his reign (1446 BC) as the people of Ermenen ("Region of the Minni"), and says in their land "heaven rests upon its four pillars". The Kurdish and Turkish form referring to Armenians is Ermenin.
Minni (מנּי) is also a Biblical name of the region, appearing in Jeremiah (Jeremiah 51:27) alongside Ararat and Ashchenaz, probably the same as the Minnai of Assyrian inscriptions, perhaps corresponding to the Minyans. Armenia is interpreted by some as Minni, that is, "the mountainous region of the Minni".
There have been further speculations as to the existence Bronze Age tribe (of an ethnonym, as opposed to a toponym) of the Armens (Armans, Armani; Armenian: Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help)), either identical to or forming a subset of the Hayasa-Azzi Etymological speculation inspired by the Armenian hypothesis of Indo-European origins connects the name with the Ar- root meaning light, sun, fire found in Arev (Sun), Arpi (Light of heaven), Ararich (God or Creator), Ararat (place of Arar), Aryan, Arta etc. Alternatively, the name has been claimed as a "variant" of Urmani, a e living near Lake Van and near Lake Urmia according to an inscription of Menousas. According to an increasing number of scholars, Indo-European presents was in the Armenian Highland since the 3rd millenium BC. These scholars place the homeland in Armenia, located where the Kuro-Araxes culture showed Indo-European presents at the same time.
Armenian tradition makes Armenak or Aram the great-grandson of Haik. Other authors connect the Persian name Armin, Armin is also a contemporary Armenian name, its feminine being Armin'e. The Persian inscription referring to Armenia is in this form, as Armina.
References
- Strabo, Geography, XI.14.9.
- Herodotus, History, 7.73.
- Xenophon, Anabasis, IV.v.2-9.
- Artak Movsisyan, "Aratta: The ancient Kindgom of Armenia," Yerevan, 1992. p. 184
- surviving in an early Babylonian copy, ca. 2200 BC, URI 275, lines I.7, 13; II.4; III.3, 30.
- Horace Abram Rigg, Jr., A Note on the Names Armânum and Urartu, Journal of the American Oriental Society (1937).
- no. 92 of Schroeder's 1920 Keilschrifttexte aus Assur; W. F. Albright, A Babylonian Geographical Treatise on Sargon of Akkad's Empire, Journal of the American Oriental Society, Vol. 45. (1925), p. 212.
- International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, 1915; Eric H. Cline and David O'Connor (eds.) Thutmose III, University of Michigan, 2006, ISBN 978-0472114672.
- International Standard Bible Encyclopedia s.v. Minni
- Smith's Bible Dictionary
- Easton’s Bible Dictionary
- Rafael Ishkhanyan, "Illustrated History of Armenia," Yerevan, 1989
- Elisabeth Bauer. Armenia: Past and Present (1981), p. 49
- T. V. Gamkrelidze and V. V. Ivanov, The Early History of Indo-European (aka Aryan) Languages, Scientific American, March 1990; James P. Mallory, "Kuro-Araxes Culture", Encyclopedia of Indo-European Culture, Fitzroy Dearborn, 1997.
- Vahan Kurkjian, History of Armenia, Michigan 1968
- James P. Mallory, "Kuro-Araxes Culture", Encyclopedia of Indo-European Culture, Fitzroy Dearborn, 1997.; T. V. Gamkrelidze and V. V. Ivanov, The Early History of Indo-European (aka Aryan) Languages, Scientific American, March 1990
- Hovick Nersessian, Highlands of Armenia, 1998, Los Angeles
- Parsiana, Book of Iranian Names: a dweller of the Garden of Eden, a son of king Kobad