KING TIGRAN II THE GREAT

Tigran The Greats Coin

Bargain with Parthians

Tigran II, younger brother of Artavazd II and ruler of Armenia from 95 to 54 B.C., obtained the throne by ceding to the Parthians the districts which their predecessors had wrested from the Medes and Iberians, a seizure which supplied the excuse for the expedition of Mithridates II of Parthia. A quarrel arose between him and King Ardan (or Vardan) of Sophene, and Tigran attacked the latter, vanquished him and took over his domain. When Euphratean Armenia was thus suppressed, Tigran's kingdom then extended from the valley of the Kur to Melitine and Cappadocia. Mithridates VI of Pontus, who aspired to the annexation of Cappadocia, sought an alliance with Tigran by marrying one of his daughters to him. So by the treaty which followed the marriage, Cleopatra, a girl of courage as well as high education, became the Queen of Armenia.

Rome drawn into imbroglio

The ensuing invasion of Cappadocia in 93 B.C. compelled Ariobarzan, its king, to yield and hurry to Rome for aid. His appeal won a ready response. The great Roman general Sulla came to Asia Minor, reinstated Ariobarzan on his throne and forced the Armenian army to retreat to the east bank of the Euphrates. The Eastern allies did not, however, admit defeat. The civil war which raged in Rome in 90 B.C. gave them the opportunity of regaining their advantage on the field of battle, and once more Ariobarzan was put to flight.

Tigran gains supremacy

Tigran's star was now in the ascendency. When Parthia's great king, Mithridates II, died in 86, Tigran felt himself equal to the task of proving his supremacy over the Parthians. He recaptured the lands which had been ceded to them, and marched still further to seize Atropene, Gordiene and a part of Mesopotamia, thus once more subjugating the territory of old Nairi-Urartu. To this were soon added the domains of Adiabene, Mygdonia and Osrhoene. The Armenian armies penetrated further into Greater Media and reduced its capital, Ecbatana, in whose royal palace Tigran had once been held as a hostage. It of course followed that he had now become the "King of Kings," a title which he inscribed on his coins. So the supremacy of Asia, which had belonged to Parthia under the Achaemenids and Seleucidae, was in this triumphant moment transferred to Armenia.

Tigran's glory attained its apogee when he was invited to Antioch in 83 B.C., and offered the crown of the Seleucid dynasty. Syria, which had long been torn by internal strife, under Tigran's rule enjoyed full peace for eighteen years. His power reached even beyond the confines of Syria proper, to include Palestine on the south and Cilicia on the west. But like most Oriental monarchies, his kingdom was only an assembling of uncongenial peoples, with no cohesion.

Tigranes Empire

Building of a new capital

The expansion of his domain to the south and west made necessary the creation of a new and more centrally located capital. Artashat (Artaxata), the old capital, isolated in a remote province, lay too far to the north. Tigran therefore built in the southern part of Armenia the new city of Tigranocerta (Tigranakert), named in his honor. It was probably northwest of Nissibin, at the foot of the spurs of the Taurus chain. As one enthusiastic writer says, the city seemed to spring from the earth as if by enchantment. In the splendor of its palaces, gardens and parks, in the richness of its ornaments and stored treasure, it is thought by some to have rivalled Nineveh and Babylon. Its walls were fifty "brasses" or fathoms (300 feet) high, and stables for the horses were built into their lower parts. The royal palace was in the suburbs, surrounded by a park, in which were many dens for wild game and ponds for fish. Tigran also constructed a strong fort near the palace.

By royal order, the grandees of Armenia were compelled to transfer their residence to the new city. Thousands of Greek families were deported from Asia Minor, as were others from Adiabene, Assyria, Gordiene and Arabian Mesopotamia, to build up the population of the new capital, which at once took on a cosmopolitan character.

Oriental pomp

Tigran's public appearances were spectacular. He displayed all the pomp and magnificence becoming to a successor of Darius or Xerxes. Theoretically an equal of the gods, he clothed himself in a tunic striped in white and purple, and a mantle entirely purple. He always wore everywhere (even when hunting) a tiara of precious stones. Four of his vassal kings stood about his throne, and when he rode forth on horseback, they ran on foot before and beside him. When he received persons upon affairs of state, these kinglets stood around him, "with crossed hands."

Greek culture

As polygamy was the rule in the East, great numbers of concubines were kept in a gynaecium, where Cleopatra ruled as Queen. Although the entire region was oriental in all traditions, under the influence of the scholarly Queen, Greek manners and culture were to a certain degree introduced into the kingdom. The royal princes were taught the Greek language and sciences. Tigran himself, called upon to occupy the throne of the Seleucidae, could not have been a stranger to Greek art and letters. A theater was built in Tigranocerta, and the King invited Greek actors there to give performances in their own language. According to historians the plays performed were of the Bacchic or sensual type. Metrodorus, the Greek writer, a native of Scepsis, in Troy, once a minister of Mithridates, spent several years in the palace, writing the life and achievements of Tigran. Unfortunately, his history has not been discovered. Another famous Greek, Amphicrates, the rhetorician, was among those invited to Tigranocerta. Artavazd, the King's son, wrote dramas and histories in Greek. Remains of his works survived as late as the first century A.D.

Tigran was forty-seven years of age when he married Cleopatra. By her he had three sons, two of whom were slain by his own hand; one of them during a rebellion, when the son took up arms against his father. On another occasion, while hunting, Tigran fell from his horse, and a second son, instead of rushing to his aid, picked up his father's crown and placed it on his own head; whereupon the infuriated King struck him dead. The third of these sons, also named Tigran, having expressed profound regret and sympathy for his father at the time of this accident, was given a crown by Tigran, but later on he too revolted against his father. The son, Artavazd, who succeeded Tigran, was not the child of Cleopatra.

Despite some objectionable aspects of his social, domestic and public life, Tigran deserves honor as a torch-bearer of Hellenistic culture. "The two great kings of Pontus and Armenia," says Jacques de Morgan, "were the last ones capable of reproducing in their states the beautiful civilization of Hellas."

Contradicting Mommsen's assertion that the Armenian and Pontian struggles were reactionary movements, Professor Manandian claims that Tigran's progressive measures met strong opposition in Armenia from the old partisans of Oriental ways of life. He further declares — and is supported by other scholars — that the conquests and achievements, as well as the wealth and prosperity attributed by Khorenatsi to Tigran I, should be credited to Tigran II, the Great. Khorenatsi, misled by ancient popular songs and traditions, ascribed even the building of Tigranocerta to Tigran I, who lived 560 years before "the Great."

His empire short-lived

However, great though Tigran II was in ability, the empire created by him was doomed to be short-lived and a mere flash of lightning in history because of Roman ruthlessness and the mad audacity of his father-in‑law Mithridates. The verbal treaty made between Sulla and Mithridates in 84 B.C., was only an armistice. Murena, the Roman governor of Asia, arbitrarily and without the approval of the Roman Senate, renewed hostilities, but his attacks were repulsed. Mithridates appealed to Rome for peace, but in vain; the internal politics of Rome required brilliant victories abroad. Lucullus came to Asia with a powerful army and navy, and Mithridates, forsaken by his own officers, was badly beaten, even his son seeking favor with the invaders. There was nothing left for him but to take refuge in Armenia. Tigran alone hesitatingly promised him aid, though it meant fighting not only the Romans but also the Parthians, who (according to Gutschmid) held a bitter grudge against him and were already formally at war with him. Plutarch, always ready to besmirch Tigran, attributes to him a cold and unconcerned attitude towards his father-in‑law. Other historians give us a different picture of Tigran, who in answering a demand by Lucullus for the surrender of Mithridates, replied: "The whole world and my own conscience would condemn me if I should surrender the father of my wife to the enemy."

Oppressions of Lucullus

The outcome was inevitable. The entire territory of Pontus was seized by the Romans and pillaged. The large and flourishing cities of Heraclea (modern Eregli) and Amisus (modern Samsun) were ruthlessly sacked and destroyed. Not content with enormous sums of money demanded as war indemnity from the impoverished population, all private property — lands, houses, personal adornments of women — were subjected to heavy taxes. The people, reduced to bankruptcy by the rapacious conqueror, had, in the space of only fourteen years, acquired a debt of 2,000 talents, about $20,000,000.

Lucullus had been secretly planning a sudden assault on Armenia, without a declaration of war. Immediately after the rejection of his peremptory demand for the person of Mithridates, the Romans marched upon Tigranocerta. Upon his return from a Phoenician expedition, Tigran had refused to believe the news of the appearance of Romans on Armenian soil; but now, facing the cold reality, he issued orders for resistance, at least to the extent of retarding the movements of the enemy. But it was now too late. One of his generals, Mihrbarzan, at the head of an infantry division and 3,000 cavalry, was defeated and slain in an engagement with the vanguard of the Roman army under Sextellus. The Armenian troops were dispersed Tigran, upon hearing of this disaster, fled to the northern part of his country, leaving his treasure and wives in Tigranocerta. Another Roman force under Murena pursued him hotly and seized his baggage. Meanwhile, Sextellus invested the new capital and captured the suburbs and the palaces situated outside the walls.

Allies in Tigran's army

Tigran still possessed enormous resources in the form of territory, money, soldiers and munitions. Encamped on a plateau on the northern slope of the Armenian Taurus, he reinforced and reorganized his army. In response to his appeal, the Kings of Adiabene, Atropatenes, Iberia and Albania came to his aid, as well as some Arabian chiefs. Having thus collected an army, whose numbers some estimate as high as 100,000, and learning that Lucullus had laid siege to his capital with a comparatively small force, Tigran disregarded the advice of Mithridates to surround the enemy and cut off its supplies, and instead, thought only of rescuing his treasures. A corps of 6,000 of his cavalry succeeded in piercing the enemy lines by night and bringing off the women and a part of the valuables.

Now emboldened by this achievement, Tigran sallied forth with his main army, in the hope of scattering the besiegers. When he reached a height from which Tigranocerta was visible in the distance, Lucullus left Murena with 6,000 cavalry to watch the city and prevent a sortie, and himself marched with 10,000 infantry and some horsemen to meet the King. "If they are coming as emissaries," Plutarch represents Tigran as saying, as he looked down in some perplexity upon the small advancing force, "they are too many; if as antagonists, they are very few." The story that he made such a remark is derided by Manandian, in view of the inaccuracy of the quoted strength of the two armies. Plutarch gives 14,000 to 15,000 as the number of Lucullus's troops; Ammianus and Mommsen accept this estimate and place the strength of Tigran's host at 300,000. This great disparity of 1 to 20 has been questioned by several scholars, who propose 70,000 to 80,000 as the number of the Armenian army, and add to the Roman forces the number of their Anatolian allies, another 15,000, thus reducing the ratio 1 against 2, or thereabouts.

Armenian disaster

It was an autumn day, October 6th, 69 B.C. when this milestone in Armenian history was reached. Lucullus began the attack by leading two cohorts up a hill which Tigran had neglected to occupy. From there the Romans dashed down upon the cavalrymen, who recoiling from the shock, fell back upon the infantry, throwing the latter into disorder. Within a short time the army of Tigran was defeated and scattered, and the King in flight lost his tiara and diadem.

Tigran and Mithridates could not avoid the fact that their situation was critical. All the provinces lying south of Taurus were lost. Greek troops entrusted with the defense of Tigranocerta mutinied, and despite the efforts of Mancius, the commander of the place, these mercenaries surrendered to the Romans the portions of the city they were supposed to defend. So with the promise of the Romans that the wives and property of the alien citizens be spared and they be repatriated to their respective homelands, Tigranocerta fell. The city was then given up to plunder. The booty was enormous; the treasury alone contained 8,000 talents in gold coin, not to mention other riches hoarded there. Each Roman soldier received 800 drachmas as his share of the spoil. In the still uncompleted theatre, the victory honoring Lucullus was celebrated.

Lucullus spent the winter (69‑68 B.C.) in Gordiene, seeking alliances among the petty kings of the neighborhood, who were ready to shake off the yoke of Tigran. The Roman labored to win the friendship of Phraates, who had succeeded old Sanatruk on the throne of Persia. Phraates, however, held aloof, for he had received messages from Tigran and Mithridates which informed him that the Romans were casting greedy eyes upon his empire, too. Lucullus had in fact been contemplating an attack upon the Parthians, but his army was not just then in condition to undertake a campaign. He broke camp around the end of spring, to cross the mountains separating the valley of the Tigris from the plain of Mush, and arrived in Armenia at the right season, when the wheat was not yet ripened.

Tigran's army, reinforced by Mithridates, had taken strong positions on hills, while the cavalry, commanded by the King himself, endeavored to cut the Roman's supply line. Lucullus, at the head of his legions, ascending the valley of Arzania, marched towards Artashat (Artaxata). This ancient capital of Armenia contained much wealth, including the remainder of King Tigran's treasury.

Indecisive battle

Tigran, maneuvering to draw the Romans away, marched along the opposite bank of the river, menacing the enemy's rear. The armies met in battle in September, 68. The Median cavalry and Iberian lancers at first seemed invincible, but when Roman infantry forded the river and attacked them, they took to flight. While these fugitives were being pursued by the Roman horsemen, Tigran attacked the legions, and Mithridates harassed them from the rear. For a moment the Romans were in real peril, but Lucullus, plunging desperately with his cavalry into Tigran's own regiment, threw Mithridates into confusion. The armies drew apart after both had suffered heavy losses, but the result was indecisive, and the allies were able to execute an orderly retreat and occupy new positions in force.

Lucullus retires from Armenia

Artashat was still far out of reach of the Romans, and the Armenian summer was near its end. After the Roman army had marched a few stages, its advance was halted by a sudden cold wave and heavy snowfall. This, climaxing his failure to crush Tigran during several months of campaigning, discouraged Lucullus. He abandoned the project of reducing Artashat, and moved back towards the South, consoling himself with the capture of the city of Nissibin, in Mygdonia, whose governor was Guras, Tigran's brother. During the eight years of this campaign, with no decisive victory, the Roman army appeared to have become a mere convoy for the loot which Lucullus took from cities, temples and palaces for his own private gain, and which made him a wealthy man and a noted gourmand for the rest of his days.

As Lucullus withdrew into Mesopotamia, Tigran and Mithridates returned to their countries. The King of Pontus even fought an engagement against a lieutenant of Lucullus and killed 7,000 of his troops. The allies took the offensive soon after this, again invading Cappadocia and driving the Romans out of Pontus. Tigran eventually became the master of all the provinces north of the Tigris River. So the Romans lost all the gains of recent years; the great victories of Lucullus vanished like a dream.

Tigran in his old age had the misfortune of seeing his home broken up by domestic dissensions. Although the children which Cleopatra gave him were impatient to reign, none of them did. Zareh, who was the first to revolt, together with several other malcontents, lost his life in battle.

Enemy aided by Tigran's son

Rome could maintain her Asiatic possessions only by continuing the mortal struggle to crush Tigran and Mithridates. Pompey, who succeeded Lucullus in 66 B.C., was now at the head of considerable forces in Cilicia. After spending the winter in that country, he marched against Mithridates. The King of Pontus had been struggling hard to win an alliance with the Parthians, but the emissaries of Pompey forestalled him and succeeded in concluding a pact with Phraates. As for the younger Tigran, Pompey offered to Phraates, his father-in‑law, aid in undertaking a powerful diversion in his favor in Armenia. While Pompey, at the very first encounter, put Mithridates to flight, Phraates and young Tigran penetrated into Armenia, compelling the old king to retire to the mountains; but they lost much time and drained their strength in a siege of Artashat, which offered a stiff resistance. Phraates, lest a longer absence augment domestic troubles, finally returned to his country. The younger Tigran was defeated by his father and fled to the Roman camp.

Tigran II surrenders

Pompey set out towards Artashat with his army, but was still fifteen miles away when the heralds of old Tigran appeared, followed by the King himself. He had come humbly to ask for peace. At the gate of the camp, a lictor helped him to alight from his horse. When he saw Pompey, he removed his diadem, and was about to prostrate himself before the Roman general, but the latter prevented him, made him sit by his side, and consented to a peace, on condition that Tigran renounce his acquisitions in Syria and Asia Minor, and pay 6,000 talents indemnity and recognize young Tigran as the King of Sophene.

The aged, weary monarch accepted these terms, promising to the Roman troops a gratuity of fifty drachmas per soldier, one thousand per centurion, and one talent to each tribune. But his son, who had hoped to occupy the throne of Armenia, could not conceal his discontent. He carried on secret intrigues with the Parthians which were presently discovered, and he was put in chains by Pompey. This was a violation of such international law as prevailed then, and was a humiliation inflicted upon the King of the Parthians. Phraates sought the liberation of his son-in‑law but in vain; young Tigran, his wife and children were sent to Rome to be paraded in the triumph of Pompey. The peace granted by Pompey obliterated all the conquests of Tigran the Great, and reduced Armenia's terrain once more to her ancient borders.

There were a number of reasons for Armenia's greatness being so short-lived. She was surrounded by an agglomeration of peoples whom she could not assimilate until she could overcome the powerful Roman and Parthian influences upon them. Also, Armenia herself was disrupted by internal strifes, the result of her feudal form of government. This explains to some degree why the attempt of Tigran the Great had been unique in his country's history, and why he, notwithstanding his mistakes and defeats, represents a brilliant page in the story of Armenia.

Garegin Njdeh

Njdeh - Great Armenian Hero

(Armenian: Գարեգին Նժդեհ, real name Garegin Ter-Harutiunian, 1 January 1886 - late 1955) was an Armenian statesman, military, and political thinker, native of Nakhichevan. A member of the Dashnak party, he was involved in revolutionary activities in Armenia, Bulgaria and Russia.

In 1912, together with General Andranik Ozanian he formed an Armenian battalion to fight against the Turks in the Balkan war. Later, moving back to Armenia, Njdeh commanded different military units. He played a key role in organizing the defense of Karakilis (today Vanadzor) in 1918. A convinced Anti-Bolshevik, he led the defense of Zangezur in 1921.

Following the declaration of independence of Zangezur from the Soviet Armenia, he was proclaimed Prime-Minister and Minister of Defense. He fled Armenia after the triumph of Bolsheviks, and was involved in patriotic activities in Iran, Bulgaria and USA.

A controversial figure, he was expelled from the Dashnak party. A staunch Anti-Communist, he came to collaborate with Nazi Germans during WWII. He was arrested in Sofia, Bulgaria in 1944 and sent to Moscow, then to Yerevan, then to Vladimir, where he died in prison.

Quotes from Garegin Njdeh

“Armenia! He who did not know how to die for you in your hour of
need and who will not want to die for you tomorrow – is not your
son, is not an Armenian!”

“Nations that are unwilling to defend their own interests condemn
themselves to death.”

“To struggle in defense of what is right is not a calamity but a blessing.”

“Why did I fight against the Soviet Army?! Because they invaded my country alongside with the Turks.”

“Anti Dashnak is the amputated hand of the Armenian by which the enemy gives the Armenian a slap in the face.”

Armenian paganism

Garni - Armenian pagan temple

To the periods which we have outlined belongs the literature of Armenia preceding the introduction of Christianity. Of this literature the remains that have come down to us consist of legends, songs, and fragments of epics. Of the epics we have some records and summaries, chiefly found in the History of Moses of Khorene (5th century A.D.), who has also preserved some of the heroic songs in their original form. These epics relate the history of Armenian ancestral and mythical heroes, to whom are ascribed the foundation and development of the Armenian nation. In them we see Armenian ideals of the earliest times. As these ideals are closely interwoven with the religious beliefs of the pre-Christian period, let us now cast a glance at Armenian Paganism.

It is said by ancient Armenian historians that the Armenians were originally worshippers of the One True God, but they, like all other nations, deserted Him and took up with various religions. Sun-worship was one of these; Zoroastrianism also had its turn; in due course, the Greeks introduced their own deities; even India succeeded in making its influence felt. Strabo has it that the Armenians, during the period of the Arsacid dynasty, were of the same religion as the Parthians. It appears that the Armenians fused together Zoroastrianism and the polytheism of Greece and other nations, thus combining eastern and western religion. One result of this fusion was that though the Zoroastrians made no visible representation of their God, the temples of Armenia were full of images, brought from Mesopotamia, Asia Minor, and Greece.

The principal god of Armenia was Aramazd, whom the Armenians called "the Architect of the Universe, Creator of Heaven and Earth." He was also the father of the other gods. The Armenians annually celebrated the festival of this god on the 1st day of Navasard, when they sacrificed white animals of various kinds--goats, horses, mules, with whose blood they filled goblets of gold and silver. The most prominent sanctuaries of Aramazd were in the ancient city of Ani in Daranali, the burial-place of the Armenian kings, as well as in the village of Bagavan in Bagravand.

Aramazd had an attendant incorporeal spirit, named Tir or Grogh ("writer"), whom he sent to earth to watch men and record in a book their good and evil deeds. After death, human souls were conducted by Tir to Aramazd, who opened the book at each soul's record, in accordance with which he assigned a reward or punishment. In a village near Vargharshapat there was a temple of this god, where the priests interpreted dreams after consulting his oracle. The influence of Tir was great in Armenia, for he was a personification of hope and fear. There are traces of the cult of this god in the Armenian language. It is still usual to hear, used as a curse, the expression, "May Grogh take you!" The son of Aramazd was Mihr, Fire. He guided the heroes in battle and conferred wreaths on the victors. The word mehian ("temple") is derived from Mihr; also some Christian names. One of the months in the ancient Armenian calendar (Mehekan) was named after him. His commemoration-day was celebrated with great splendour at the beginning of spring. Fires were kindled in the open market-place in his honour, and a lantern lighted from one of these fires was kept burning in his temple throughout the year. This custom of kindling fires in the spring is still observed in some parts of Armenia.'

Although the Persians and the Armenians were both worshippers of Mihr, the conceptions and observances of the two nations differed. The Armenian sacred fire was invisible, but the Persian was material and was kept up in all the temples. For this reason the Armenians called the Persians fire-worshippers. But the Armenians had also a visible fire-god, who, although material, was intangible--the sun--to which many temples were dedicated and after which one of the months (Areg) was named.

Long after the introduction of Christianity, there was a sect of sun-worshippers existent in Armenia, who were called "Children of the Sun." A small remnant of them is still supposed to be found, dwelling between the Tigris and the Euphrates. Traces of sun-worship are also evident in the Armenian language and in the Armenian literature of Christian times. Some sayings and phrases are still in use which contain references to sun-worship, such as the expression of endearment, "Let me die for your sun!" and the oath, "Let the sun of my son be witness."

One of the most famous Armenian goddesses was Anahit, who answered to the Greek Artemis and the Roman Diana. She was a " pure and spotless goddess," and, as a daughter of Aramazd, was "mother of chastity, as well as the benefactress of the whole human race; "through her the Armenian land exists, from her it draws its life; she is the glory of our nation and its protectress and for her the ancient Armenians felt intense love and adoration.

Many images and shrines were dedicated to her under the names of  the Golden Mother, the Being of Golden Birth, etc. Every summer there was a festival in her honour. On that day, a dove and a rose were offered to her golden image, whence the day was called Vardavar, which means "the flaming of the Rose." On the introduction of Christianity, the temple of Anahit was destroyed and her festival became the Feast of the Transfiguration of Christ; it falls in the last days of the year according to the ancient Armenian calendar; but the name "Vardavar" still remains and doves are still set flying on that day. This is also the Armenian "water-day," during which the people amuse themselves throwing water at each other.

Anahit was sought also in cases of great sickness.

The sister of Anahit was Astghik, the goddess of beauty, a personification of the moon, corresponding to the Phoenician and Sidonian Astarte. Strange to say, the Persians had no goddess of beauty, but the bright sky of Armenia, its numerous valleys, the torrents running down from snow-capped mountains, the lakes, the cultivated fields and meadows tended to strengthen the sense of beauty, and, therefore, Armenia had a goddess of beauty, who was not to be found in the pantheon of the neighbouring country.

The Armenians assigned Astghik a husband worthy of her. He was Vahagn, deified on account of his valour. In ancient songs, he is credited with a miraculous birth. The fires of heaven and earth, and the sea crimson in the light of dawn, travailed to bring him into being. As we shall see later, Moses of Khorene has preserved portions of these songs. Vahagn was called Vishapakagh (Uprooter of dragons), as he cleared the Armenian land of monsters and saved it from evil influences. His exploits were known not only in Armenia, but in the abode of the gods. Having stolen corn from the barns of King Barsham of Assyria, he ran away and tried to hide himself in heaven. From the ears he dropped arose the Milky Way, which is called in Armenia the Track of the Corn-stealer.

The third daughter of Aramazd was Nané or Nooné. She was the goddess of contrivance. It was believed by the Armenians that contrivance was a necessary power for a woman, because, in the management of the household, she had to make big things out of small ones, and circumstances were already against her on account of the vicissitudes which Armenia was constantly undergoing.

Sandaramet, the wife of Aramazd, was an invisible goddess and a personification of the earth. Aramazd sent rain upon her, which brought forth the vegetation on the earth. She came to be a synonym of Hades and was very frequently referred to as such in theological books and in the hymnary of the Christian Church.

Besides these gods of their own, the Armenians also adopted alien divinities. When Tigranes brought a number of Phoenicians to Armenia as prisoners, they brought with them their god Ammon, from whose name comes the word Ammonor, "the day of Ammon"--the New Year. Assyrian, Arab, and other emigrations also led to the introduction of foreign deities. An Armenian king, when he brought home captives, also introduced the gods of those captives, whose images were placed in the temples beside those of the native gods that they most closely resembled. Even Indian fugitives brought the brother-gods, Demetr and Gisanes, whose images were not like those of the other gods of Armenia, for the images of the gods of Armenia are, as a rule, small, whereas these were very tall, with long black hair and black faces. There was also a great immigration of Jews into Armenia, and this influenced the Armenians in the direction of monotheism. Besides the principal gods, there were also secondary ones. These were spirits, corresponding to angels, who acted as guardians to different classes of natural objects:--Kadjk, who occupied the mountains; Parik, who presided over flocks; and many others.

Water was honoured in Armenia as a masculine principle. According to Tacitus (Annals, vi. 37) the Armenians offered horses as sacrifices to the Euphrates, and divined by its waves and foam. Sacred cities were built around the river Araxes and its tributaries. Even now there are many sacred springs with healing powers, and the people always feel a certain veneration towards waters in motion.

There were gods who lived in the waters and destroyed harmful monsters of the deep. There was also a god who breathed out a mysterious atmosphere which destroyed malignant creatures. One wonders whether this is a foreshadowing of the fear of microbes. All the gods of this class were friendly to agriculturists.

There were also "Haurot-Maurot," the name of a flower (hyacinthus racemosus Dodonei) first mentioned by Agathangelos. The Arabs incorporated them in the Quran (ii. 96) as two angels sent down to live in Babel in human circumstances.

Alk, who dwelt in the waters, was a very harmful devil. He used to live in the corners of houses and stables, and in damp places. He had eyes of fire, nails of copper, teeth of iron, and the jaws of a wild boar. He carried a sword of iron in his hand and was a bitter enemy to pregnant women, near whom he sat at the time their child was born.

There were nymphs, who were guardians of women. They wandered through gardens and amid streams, but were invisible. They attended weddings and frequented bathrooms and the women's quarters in general. These nymphs and spirits were innumerable.

Every woman was supposed to have a guardian nymph. The nymphs were supposed by some to be immortal and endowed with perpetual youth; others described them as mortal though they never grew old. There was also a group of male spirits who were regarded by some as mortal, by others as immortal. They wandered with the nymphs through forests, gardens, and other open places. They were imagined as very tall, with features like those of men; some were half-man and half-animal. Some were called Parik, "dancers"; others Hushka parik, "dancers to a melody in a minor key."

In some places, even now, a belief in these nymphs (or fairies) survives. Many stories are told of their beauty, their marvellous dancing, and their wondrous music. They are never called by the name of "nymphs," but are spoken of by the people of the country as "our betters." Still in some parts of Armenia, in May and October, a festival is held annually in honour of them, generally by the women in the Public Baths. They assemble early in the morning and remain till late at night, dancing, eating, and bathing.

Before the people thought of building temples, they worshipped their gods in forests and on mountains. One of these forests was the Forest of Sos. According to tradition the son of Ara the Beautiful, Anushavan, who devoted himself to the worship of this sacred place, was called, after the forest, Sos. The priests derived oracles from the rustling of the leaves in this holy wood.

Besides temples, which were numerous in Armenia, there were, all over the country, altars and shrines, as well as images and pictures.

To sum up, the pre-Christian religion of Armenia was at first a kind of nature-worship, which developed into polytheism. There were two elements in Armenian religion, the native and the foreign.

Besides nature-worship, there was a recognition, among the Armenians, of the Good and Evil Spirit, but predominance was given to the former. It is curious that, in the Armenian pantheon, there is no god of evil, and Armenian epic heroes are always described as fighting against evil spirits.

CHRIST AND ABGARUS

From the History of Armenia,
by
MOSES OF KHORENE

ABGAR the son of Arsham began to reign in the twentieth year of the reign of Arshavr King of Persia. This Abgar was called the Great Man because of his exceeding meekness and wisdom. In the third year of his reign the whole of Armenia fell under the jurisdiction of Rome. . . . Therefore the Romans sent commissioners unto the land of Armenia who brought the image of Cæsar and placed it in all the temples.

At this time was born our Saviour Jesus Christ, the Son of God.

And there was a dispute between Abgar and Herod. For Herod commanded that his image also should be placed in the temples of Armenia, with that of Cæsar; to which Abgar not acceding, the anger of Herod was kindled against him. And he sent his brother's son with a great army against him. And Abgar met and fought him; and he was slain in the battle and his army fled.

Soon after these things Augustus died, and Tiberius reigned over the Roman Empire; and Germanicus sent messengers from Rome unto Arshavr and Abgar concerning the battle in which Herod's brother's son was slain. Whereupon Abgar was displeased, and thought to prepare for revolt and war. Then did he build the city of Edessa wherein to keep the hosts of Armenia, and removed thither his court from Mdzpin, with all his idols: Nebog, Bel, Batnikol, and Tarata; also with the Royal Palace he removed the books of the schools belonging to the temples.

But strife had arisen between his kinsmen of the reigning house of Persia, and Abgar collected his armies and went to reconcile and pacify them. And having settled their disputes he returned home; not sound in his body, but tormented with a painful disease.

At that time Marinus was governor over Phoenicia, Palestine, Assyria, and Mesopotamia. And Abgarus sent two of his notables unto him to show him the treaty of peace between Arshavr and his brother (for the Romans suspected that he had been to Persia to collect armies against them). And Marinus received them with peace and great honour, sending word unto Abgarus, "Fear nothing, only hasten to raise all the taxes."

And on their return the messengers went up to Jerusalem to see our Saviour Christ, having heard of His wonderful deeds.

And when they had seen Him with their own eyes they returned and told Abgar; at which the king marvelled, and believed Him to be the very Son of God. And because His body was tormented with a painful disease contracted in the land of Persia seven years before, and he was not able to find any cure by men, he sent unto Him a letter asking Him to come and heal him of his disease.

The Letter of Abgarus to our Saviour Jesus Christ.

"Abgarus, a prince of the world, unto Jesus, the Saviour and Benefactor, Who hast appeared in the City of Jerusalem, greetings.

"I have heard of Thee and of the healings wrought by Thy hands, without drugs and without roots; for it is said that Thou givest sight to the blind, Thou makest the lame to walk, and Thou cleansest the lepers; Thou curest those who have been long tormented by diseases, and raisest even the dead. And when I heard all this concerning Thee I thought that either Thou art God come down from Heaven that workest these things, or the Son of God. I have written unto Thee that Thou shouldest trouble Thyself to come unto me, and heal me of my disease. I have heard also that the Jews murmur against Thee, and think to torture Thee. My city is a small one, but it is beautiful, and it is sufficient for us twain."

And taking the letter they found Him in Jerusalem. And unto this the gospel beareth witness, saying: "There were some amongst the heathen that came up to Him." But our Saviour did not undertake to come at the time when they called Him, but made Abgarus worthy of a letter thus.

The Answer to the Letter of Abgarus, written at the command of our Saviour by the Apostle Thomas.

"Blessed is he who believeth on Me though he hath not seen Me. For it is written concerning Me thus: 'They that have seen Me believed not on Me, but they that have not seen Me shall believe and live.' And concerning that which thou hast written unto Me to come down unto thee, it is needful that I fulfil all that for which I was sent; and when I have fulfilled it I will ascend unto Him that sent Me. And after My ascension I will send one of My disciples, who shall heal thee of thy disease, and give Life unto thee and unto all them that are with thee."

This letter did Anan the messenger bring unto Abgarus, with the Image of the Saviour, which remaineth in the city of Edessa until this day.

Pantheon of Armenian pagan gods and goddess

Armenian pagan gods

Aramazd - Master of all Armenian gods, the father of all gods and goddess, the creator of heaven and earth. He called "Great and courage Aramazd". Aramazd was the source of earth’s fertility, making it fruitful and bountiful. The celebration in his honor was called Am'nor, or New Year, which was celebrated on March 21 in the old Armenian calendar (also the Spring equinox). Aramazd's main sanctuary was located in Ani Kamakhym, one of the cult centers of Ancient Armenia. The  treasures and tribal mausoleums of Armenian Arshaguni (Arshakuni) kings were there, too.

Anahit - The daughter or wife of Aramazd. Anahit was the most loved and honored Armenian goddess. She was  mother-goddess. Anahit was sculptured with the child on her hands` with specific hair style of
Armenians mothers or women and was called "Great Lady Anahit". Ancient Armenians believed that Armenian world was existing by Anahit's will. Anahit was the cult of maternity and fertility. Anahit-worships were established in Eriza avan (region) and in Armavir, Artashat and Ashtishat cities . A mountain in Sophene district was known as Anahit's throne (Athor Anahta).

Vahagn - The third god of Armenian Pantheon. Vahagn was the god of thunder and lightning. Vahagn's main  sanctuary was located in Ashtishat city of Taron "world"  (region of Armenia). Also he was a god of war. Armenian kings and warlords before going to war asking him to support them.

Astghik - The goddess of love, beauty and water. She was the wife or lover of Vahagn, the god of thunder and lightning. Her temple  in Astishat was called "the room of Vahagn", where Astghik met with his lover - Vahagn. She was sculptured without clothes, as beautiful young woman during swimming. The celebration in her honor occurred in mid June and was called Vardevar. It is still celebrated in Armenia by pouring water on each other.

Nane - The daughter of Aramazd. The goddess of war. Her cult was closely connected with Anahit's cult. And it was not a randomness that her tample was located in Ekegyac region (gavar), near with Anahit's temple. Now Armenians usually call their grandmother "Nane" (Nan) which means that Nane was an influential goddess in Ancient Armenians spiritual life.

Mihr - The god of sun and heaven light. He was the son of Aramazd, the brother of Anahit and Nane. His main worship was located in Bagaharich. The pagan temple of Garni was Mihr's worship.

Tir - The god of wisdom, science and studies, also an interpreter of dreams. Tir was secretary of Aramazd. Tir's temple was located near Artashat and  was called "Aramazds grchi divan" or "Mehyan for studying sciences".

Amanor and Vanatur (probably it was the same god with various names) -  Amanor was the god of Armenians new year and lord of the new yield. The celebration in his honor occurred in the end of Junly and was called Navasard (new year). His main worship was located in Bagavan city. If Amanor was the god of new year and new yield, Vanatur was the god of hospitality and bountiful hosts.

Tsovinar - The goddess of water, sea and rain. She was a fire creature, who forced the rain and hail to fall from the heavens with her fury.

Spandaramet or Sandaramet - The god of underground. He was the god of dead people's kingdom or hell.

Aralezs - The oldest gods in the Armenian pantheon, Aralezs were  gods in the form of dogs, whose powers included the ability to resurrect the dead by licking wounds clean.

Barshamin or Barshimnia -  This was one of the idols transported by Tigran from Mesopotamia into Armenia, and housed in the village of Thordan, in Daranaghi. The brilliantly white idol was made of ivory and crystal, wrought with silver.  The name Barshamin is derived from the Phoenician Ba-ala-shamin, in Aramaic form, meaning "lord of heavens," like the Bel of the Babylonians.

A Son's Word to his Flowering Fatherland

Present day Armenia

Till yesterday
You were a dream, you were a tale,
You were for me a fair fairy lost in the fog,

Till yesterday
You were poem and history,
Only a cold and a fixed map hung from the wall.

Today you are
Already a breathing being, concrete body,
You are grieving sun and soil now within my palms, 

Today you are
Massis which shines within my eyes
With the blue and also glorious Lake Of Sevan.

Today I stand with my firm feet upon your soil, 
Where for endless millenniums my brave fathers have
Sowed light and faith and immortal letters even
And have founded the monuments of their spirits.

Today I stand facing the tomb of Saint Mashdots,
Also David's sublime statue,
Apovian is looking at me,
With eyes in which "Armenia's Wound" has been frozen...

Today I watch
From Puragan the ageless stars
Of the glowing mother city of Yerevan.

Today I hear
The hammers of unceasing work,
I feel today the excitement of our whole world.

Hagop Norashkharian (1923-1985)

Antranig

General Antranik Ozanian

It was him, who, on the marble edges of my Dream, tonight,
Standing invincibly like a rock,
Immersing his fiery head of a rebel into the stars,
And arming his hand with the swords of hatred,
Like a brother, marvelous for his love of saving the land,
Whose soul bleeds when a brother becomes a foreigner,
Spoke to me, and his words one after another, and phrase by phrase,
Were solemn and sweet and true and revengeful and virile...
"It is me, O son of feebleness and immobility, 
Who has come from afar with perturbing noises,
To finally shake your dreamy and indifferent and inactive and selfish and feeble
Youthful body and your being and your soul,
With the strike of my arm and the uproar of my swords,
For the compelling hours of the fights...
Listen to my voice, which in these decisive days
Of our race, is the terrible tumult of our vengeance and our blood,
And merge with our mighty crowd, join our company, become a brother, 
If there is still in your soul any spark of freedom left alive,
If your arms still have the courage to strike the enemies,
If your heart even once became wounded from the death of our motherland,
If from the suffering of your race and from the nightmare of the massacre of innocents
Within you rose the forests of hatred and rage...
If you will still be able to embrace a purpose in your life,
If your eyes still have not been blinded by these useless tears...
If you changed your prayers to roars of Hatred,
If you still feel your race's militant blood from the sun
Being inflamed in your veins and head,
If still from Aram's, Dikran's, Ardashes' and Vartan's
Victorious strength there was a breath left in you,
Then from the heroic steps in front of your dreamer's stares
A way of self-devotion, revenge and freedom is opened,
Stand up then, become a brother to my squads and a storm with them,
Because, know that in these days of sacrifice, rebellion and hope,
It is the basest of all baseness for all of us to give up our souls in bed..."
Suddenly the squads went far through the fires of sunrise,
And the iron ring of their volunteer's conscious and decisive steps
Was like the ring of countless chisels crushing marbles...
While the detached heads of the enemies were burning like torches
On the tops of the swords which they raised over their shoulders...
At that moment, kneeling on the ground with envy and passion,
I kissed with awe the trace of their heroic steps...

Siamanto (1878-1915)

The Jewish Religion - Its Influence Today

Under Talmudic "law" other forms of murder are also permissible:

·  Binding up your neighbor so that he dies of starvation. Just bind up the neighbor before it is hot or cold enough to kill him and all is well — you are guiltless of what follows. (See Exhibit 85)

·  Binding up your neighbor so that he dies of sunstroke. (See Exhibit 85)

·  Binding up your neighbor so that he dies of cold. (See Exhibit 85)

·  Binding up your neighbor so that a lion may kill him. (See Exhibit 85) He could not have fought the lion anyway, so, it is acceptable, says the Talmud.

·  Letting mosquitoes bite your neighbor to death. As for the mosquitoes, they come and go, so, since the ones which bit him when you tied the victim go away and others end his life, you are pure and blameless (See Exhibit 85)

·  Throwing your neighbor into a pit and leaving him to die there. (See Exhibit 86)

·  Killing your neighbor with arrow wounds. (See Exhibit 86) Shooting the neighbor with an arrow is acceptable, since if there is balsam for sale somewhere, he presumably could have sent for some and thus have been cured instead of dying. (See Exhibit 86)

You can also drown your neighbor and yet be "guiltless" of his death! Remember to follow Talmudic law, however, and cause the water to travel a little distance before it drowns the neighbor — then you are guiltless of his death! (See Exhibit 87)

Read the whole book written by Elizabeth Dilling in the link below.

The Jewish Religion - Its Influence Today Pdf

Quotes from the Holy Bible – King James Version

Psalm 27:1 The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? the LORD is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?

Proverbs 16:25 There is a way that seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.

Romans 8:35,38-39 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?
For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Mark 13:13 And ye shall be hated of all men for my name's sake: but he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.

1 John 2:22 Who is a liar but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist, that denieth the Father and the Son.

John 3:16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

Isaiah 7:14 Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.

James 4:4 Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God.

Colossians 3:13 Forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any: even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye.

Romans 16:17-18 Now I beseech you, brethren, mark them which cause divisions and offences contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned; and avoid them.
For they that are such serve not our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly; and by good words and fair speeches deceive the hearts of the simple.

Exodus 15:2 The LORD is my strength and song, and he is become my salvation: he is my God, and I will prepare him an habitation; my father's God, and I will exalt him.

Psalm 71:8 Let my mouth be filled with thy praise and with thy honour all the day.

Mark 8:38 Whosoever therefore shall be ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation; of him also shall the Son of man be ashamed, when he cometh in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.

Luke 12:2-3 For there is nothing covered, that shall not be revealed; neither hid, that shall not be known. Therefore whatsoever ye have spoken in darkness shall be heard in the light; and that which ye have spoken in the ear in closets shall be proclaimed upon the housetops.

Isaiah 9:6 For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.

Psalm 51:1-2 Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy lovingkindness: according unto the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions. Wash me throughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin.

Thessalonians 3:16 Now the Lord of peace himself give you peace always by all means. The Lord be with you all.

Psalm 119:169 Let my cry come near before thee, O LORD: give me understanding according to thy word.

Romans 2:1 Therefore thou art inexcusable, O man, whosoever thou art that judgest: for wherein thou judgest another, thou condemnest thyself; for thou that judgest doest the same things.

Revelation 3:19 As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent.

James 1:12 Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him.

1 John 4:7 Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God.

Colossians 3:12 Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering;

Matthew 6:9-13 After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.

Operation Nemesis



Operation Nemesis was the code-name for a covert operation in 1920s to assasinate the Turkish masterminds of the Armenian Genocide. The secret operation was headed by Armen Garo, Aaron Sachaklian and Shahan Natalie.

After the end of World War I, the Ottoman military tribunal condemned to death the principal Young Turk leaders responsible for planning and execution of the Armenian Genocide. However at the conclusion of the trials the condemned were freed. They fled to European capitals living under assumed names. In the early 1920s, the Armenian Revolutionary Federation (ARF) at their 9th World Congress held in Yerevan approved a secret resolution called The Special Mission (Haduk Gordz) to punish the main perpetrators of the Armenian Genocide. Between 1920-1922 the perpetrators were located and felled by the Armenian avengers.

Operation Nemesis - The Armenian Avengers PDF

The Armenian Massacre and Its Avengers PDF

80 YEARS TOO LATE PDF



To My People

Armenian Brandy Dedicated To Paruyr Sevak

I always look back at your past with surprise
At your past which is full of torture and also pride.

How did you ever cut such a long road
When that road was full of crowds
And the skies also full of clouds?

How did you manage that you, like a bee,
Extract nectar out of poison,
And out of bitterness honey you even squeeze?

Your fear of being an emigrant has turned into a nightingale
And changed your injury, and your very deep pains, into a song to sing.

When floods have passed by abusing you
How did you manage with your spadeful spring water
To keep the mill down deep in the valley working
Giving a new life to your beaten field,
And also to your tortured orchards, a beauty?

How did you manage to rise, after falling a thousand times?
How did you manage to survive , after dying a thousand times?

What miracle made you not to be extinguished as others before had done,
Those that were great and also were big fires,
While you, yourself, were a burning fire.

Within the terrifying darkness of the night
You were such a flame and such a fire !
It was burning at the cold stone bookstand
Giving fire to the peasant’s cottage that was cold,
That kept burning within the dark eyes of your daughters,
Turning the veins of your sons into blood.

It was a chimney in peaceful times — a peaceful chimney.
It was a tandour fire, a chimney smoke,
A large candle, and a torch, too!

But it was an immense flame of vengeance within an immense battle
And a fire-game announcing a triumph!

The flame never went off,
Which through long centuries kept on burning.
It was indeed a fiery flame that was never put off by foreign winds.

Instead it kept reviving and unlike other destructive fires,
It never continued spreading.

Baruyr Sevag (1924-1971)

MY ARMENIA - Documentary

MY ARMENIA  documental film. The film attempts to show  what Armenia was in the historical past and what it is today. Basic episodes in the history  of Armenia are presented,  interpreted within the four elements of nature:  water, fire, earth and air.   It presents the ancient history, culture, religion, monasteries and  churches of Armenia.  From Noah’s Ark, the observatories of the Cyclopean era,  the  pagan temples and  Christian monuments to the most recent pages of our history. directed by Artak Avetyan director of photography David Rozenke edited by Karen Melkumyan produced by Fr. Nerseh Khalatyan year: 2009 duration: 97 min

Enjoy the full movie

From Ararat to Zion

The colorful mosaic of Christian pilgrimages to the Holy Land has been shaped over two thousand years. Pilgrims have brought their stories with them, and left their memories with the land.

Here the documentary filmmakers have given us a view of some essential passages in these stories, to reveal the precious identities which the stories preserve. They follow the paths taken by Armenian pilgrims as they travel between to focal points of history – from the Mount Ararat to Zion, from A to Z.

For the filmmakers themselves, the process of making this film became a pilgrimage they will remember throughout their lives. They personally experiences the perils of the journeys made so long ago by pilgrims who called themselves “those who witnessed death.”

The documentary communicates the spirit of pilgrimage which has nurtured and sustained the sanctuaries and monasteries of the Holy Land over the centuries. At the cost of immeasurable sacrifices and immense exertions, pilgrims have come to the Holy Shrines to witness the earthly presence of God.

The viewer sees the Holy Shrines through the pilgrims’ eyes. Though they may have been put on display many times before, these special places emerge anew in the film, revealing their otherworldly essence and life-transforming power.

The film shows such striking scenes as the Holy Sepulcher by night, the colorful spectacles of Easter in Jerusalem, the Ceremony of Holy Light, Mount Sinai in Egypt, the Monasteries of the Judean Desert, the summit of Mount Ararat.

The documentary is woven together to make an impact at every level, through the exceptional narration of Aidan Quinn, the beautiful music of Lisa Gerrard, and the striking visuals and personal reflections.

Enjoy the full movie

They Fell

Justice March 2011

They fell that year, they vanished from the earth,
Never knowing the cause, or what laws they’d offended,
The women fell as well, and the babies they tendered,
Left to die, left to cry, all condemned by their birth.
They fell like rain, across the thirsty land,
In their heart they were slain, in their God still believing,
All their pity and pain, in that season of grieving,
All in vain, all in vain, just for one helping hand.

For no one heard their prayers, in a world bent on pleasure,
From other peoples care, they simply closed their eyes,
They create a lot of sound, in jazz and right time measure,
The trumpets screamed till dawn, to drown the children’s cries.
They fell like leaves, its people, in its prime,
Simple man, kindly man, and not one knew his crime,
They became in an hour, like the small desert flower,
Soon covered by the silent wind, in sands of time.
They fell that year, before a cruel foe,
They had little to give, but their lives, and their passion,
And their longing to live, in their way, in their fashion,
So their harvest could thrive, and their children could grow.

They fell like flies, their eyes still full of sound,
Like a dove in its flight, in the path of a rifle,
That holds on with its might, as if death were a trifle,
And to bring to an end, a life barely begun.
And I am of that race, who died in unknown places,
Who perished in their pride, whose blood in rivers ran,
In agony and fright, with courage on their faces
They went into the night, that waits for every man.

They fell like tears, and never knew what for,
In that summer of strife, of massacre and war,
Their only crime was life, their only guilt was fear,
The children of Armenia, nothing less nothing more.

Charles Aznavour

Is New Age Religions Anti Christian?

United Religions Initiative

The Lie of the Serpent is the second part of the controversial Megiddo series, which next focuses on the highly influential New Age movement. But is the New Age really new? Or does it represent the ancient doctrine taught by the serpent to Eve in the Garden of Eden? The answer will startle and amaze you as you learn the influence of the serpent's teaching through the spiritual explosion of occult activity in the 19th and 20th centuries.

Some of the greatest and most recognized people of the modern era (including Charles Darwin, Thomas Edison, Adolf Hitler and Hillary Clinton) have been influenced by the movement that has re-awakened mankind's communication with the spirit realm, and re-shaped the Western view of God and His relationship to mankind. What are the implications of this "paradigm shift" that seeks to introduce a new global consciousness? Will this new consciousness really bring mankind into the dawning of a golden era? Or the awakening of another dark age?

Full of highly detailed research and exhaustive documentation, Megiddo II challenges even the most skeptical viewer to consider the consequence of the global awakening taking place before our very eyes.

Join speakers Dave Hunt, Caryl Matrisciana, Dr. Kent Hovind, Pastor Joe Schimmel, and Dr. Stan Monteith who expose the movement that seeks to unite mankind in a one-world religion through the United Nations.

Global adherents claim to await a "universal Christ" to lead the world. What happens to those who will not follow this world leader? And are there sinister warnings against those who refuse to be "initiated" into the New Age?

Enjoy the full movie!

I Should Like To See

Dark Forces Of The World

“I should like to see any power of the world destroy this race,
this small tribe of unimportant people, whose wars have all
been fought and lost, whose structures have crumbled, literature
is unread, music is unheard, and prayers are no more answered.
Go ahead, destroy Armenia . See if you can do it. Send them into
the desert without bread or water. Burn their homes and churches.
Then see if they will not laugh, sing and pray again. For when two
of them meet anywhere in the world, see if they will not create a
New Armenia.

William Saroyan (1908-1981)

Sons Of Sassoun (1975)

Osman Empire. Beginning of 20th century. End of Sultan Hamid empire, a bloody dictator, who destroyed 200000 armenians during his reign. Sons of Sassoun brings to life the issues that the Armenian freedom fighters "Fedayis" had to deal with for decades prior to and even after the Armenian holocaust of 1915.

Starring Manuel, Lana Wood and Peter Lorre Jr


Language: Western Armenian. Subtitle: English. Running time: 105 minutes.  

Enjoy the full movie.

Traveler Of The Eternity

Famous Armenians

If I were a musician and composer I should dedicate to Armenia and its people a majestic mass or symphony for orchestra, choir and soloists.

A deep voice --- the voice of the Armenian people --- would narrate its story and that of the country, to the accompaniment of the orchestra, performing in the spirit and idiom of the centuries-old melodies of the Armenian people. On the other hand, apart from interpreting and embellishing that story, the songs of the choir would ask questions in elderly, juvenile, feminine and childish voices in an effort to grasp the meaning of the uttered words.

A way-worn, storm-tossed yet seasoned and strong-willed traveller is bending his steps in our direction from the depth of centuries, along war-torn paths, through fire and swords. As he comes nearer to us, his bearing becomes more erect, and his look --- smarter and more defiant. Massacre and exile, plunder and fire, wail and moan have given way to the rumble of peaceful life and labor, and the monuments and buildings, songs and laughter keep growing in number and proportion on this desolate and lifeless path.

“WHO ARE YOU, TRAVELLER? ” would ask him the voice of an old man from the choir.

But the traveller would not answer him right away that he is Armenia and the Armenian people.
Such a prompt answer would sound unbefitting to the son of a country and people boasting multi centennial history.

He would pause to scrutinize the old man, hearken to the mellowed sounds of the orchestra and the choir before making his answer:
“I am the one whose suffering is measured by dozens of centuries but the span of his life --- only by scores of years…”

“The one who, having succumbed to countless wars and slaughters, is only now relishing the delight and sweetness of life.”

“I am that corn-field which has for ages been trampled under the hoofs of riders and has been scorched by fire and drought,
and only today a handful of it has come down to yield a bumper crop.”

“I am that unbending tenacious grape vine whose roots go deep into Armani, Hayassa and Nairi, while it fruits and leaves are refreshed by the dew of today and ripened by the radiant sun of tomorrow…”

“I am life itself, immortality…”

“I am the one who has experienced death all the time, yet has never yielded to it…”

“What could the number less assassins do to me? All in all they knew how to kill, but I was initiated into the divine mystery of surviving and enduring.”

“Their weapons were the spear and the yataghan; mine were the hammer and the pen… And what could the most splintering spear do in the face of the hammer, or the sharpest yataghan --- vis-à-vis the pen…”

“Not withstanding their multitude, my butcheries were getting tired of slaying and ruining, whereas my creative and constructive impulse was gaining in momentum with every passing day, every passing hour…”

…These would be the words uttered by the deep voice which, though sounding familiar to the ears of its auditors, would fail to place the traveler, and a youthful voice would ask him again:

“WHICH IS YOUR HOME COUNTRY, TRAVELER?”

But the traveler would not tell him right away that his home country is Armenia; that would sound unbefitting to the son of a country and people boasting a multi centennial history.

He would eye the youth who had asked him the question and give ear to the troubled sounds of the orchestra and the choir before making his answer:

“My home country is the one that lies at the foot of biblical Mount Ararat, on the spot of the mythical paradise where life has been a hell for ages…”

“It is the land where war and calamity have been imported for chiliads of years --- orphans and refugees have been exported; crime and black deeds have been imported --- light and genius have been exported; barbarity and violence have been imported and aspiration to freedom has been exported…”

“The land abounding in stone where, however, only Jesus had a stone-built house and that land could not often place a tomb stone on the greaves of the most beloved of his sons…”

“My home country is the one where rivers have for ages tossed their manes against the rocks and have gone wild and grown turbid from idleness, leaving the nearby soils lie fallow, only now turning light and green…”

“The country whose land has for ages been watered by bitter sweat is only now yielding its ages-old hoarded sweet crop…?

“The land born of the sword and fire of the reed pipe, which has for centuries suffered from the evil blaze of wars, is only now warming up from the lambent fire of factories and furnaces…”

“That land of old parchments and books which has for ages resisted, with its courageous regiment of thirty-six letters, the threats of all its enemies that have spared no pains for its assimilation and elimination…”

“The land whose song, initially tucked away high in the mountains, is now spreading far and wide like a crane son hovering above alien shores.”

“These would be the words uttered by the deep voice, telling its life story to the accompaniment of violins, trumpets and rums, and the choir-mob listening to the narration would muse: “Could this be Armenia, the Armenian people?”

But as the conclusion is not final, a remake voice would ask again:

“WHERE DO YOU COME FROM, TRAVELER?”

But the traveler would not answer right away where he came from, nor would he speak of the ordeals on his centuries old path. That would sound unbefitting to the son of a country and people boasting a multi centennial history. He would smile, bob his head and fix his gaze on the woman who asked the question, and would pronounce under the solemn strains of the orchestra and the choir:
I’m coming from the land of Armani, recorded in the annals of world history in the oldest Akkadian inscriptions as early as five thousand years ago…I’m coming from the land of Hayassa, one of the world’s ancient cradles of the human race, that ordered me: “Call yourself Hay.”

“I’m coming from Lake Sevan, where I was catching for the royal feasts of King Arguishti the regal fish stained, from the very outset, with the blood of my race…”
“I’m coming from Tigranakert where I set on a firm basis the throne of my state, washed by three seas. I’m coming from Artashat --- “The Carthage of the Armenians” --- where once I placed on the stage the severed head of the arrogant general Marcus Crassus…”
“I’m coming from Echmiadzin where my only begotten son, Mesrop Mashtots, also descended to write for the first time on this land the word ARMENIA in Armenian characters…”
“I’m coming from Ayarayr where, although my light cavalry was trampled under the heavy Persian elephants, yet tyrant Hazkert retreated to his land, startled by my unswerving resolve for survival and endurance…”
“I’m coming from the high mountains of Sassoon where, despaired of king and God, I put my trust in tale and miracle as I drew the sword of shepherd David and drove out countless troops of Msra-Melik.”
“I’ve been to so many parts of the world and am coming from so many lands… From Artashat to Tigranakert and from Vagharshapat to Dvin and Ani. For ages I have fought for my liberation from the Romans and the Persians, the Byzantines and the Arabs, the Seljuk's and the Mongols, the Tatars and the Turks in the name of my homeland, reduced to a handful, in the name of the subsistence of the left-over of my people…”
“I’m coming from metropolitan Ani --- in captivity and ruins --- now regenerating in the monumental memorials of New Yerevan…”
“I’m coming from desirable Cilicia, laved by the waves of the blue sea, where my last hope for independence was, alas! Consigned to the tomb…”
“I’m coming from the high inaccessible mountains of Syunik where I kept the ashes of my statehood aglow on the crossroads of stormy winds. I’m coming from the fort of sardar where the Armenian sword and the Russian cannon fraternized…”
“I’m coming from the towns and villages rescued from Persian tax extortionist from the towns and villages groaning under Sultan’s yoke, where every Zeytoun is an explosion and every Sassoon --- an outburst of wrath…”
“I’m coming from Der-Zor, from Meshkeneh and Ras-ul-Ayn where I withstood trial and tribulation, where my back was broken but I set it right again; I was slain but resurrected once more…”
“I’m coming from Moush, from Mount Andok and the orchards of Van, from Urfa and Shabin-Darahissar, Hajn and Moussa-Ler, where I was up in arms defending the honor of my native home but later, alas! I took the wanderer’s staff and roamed worldwide…”
“I’m coming from Sardarapat which became a new Avarayr to me and where, though blood-drenched, I stemmed the stormy onward march of the Turkish butcherers and snatched a tiny land in my own home country for a handful of my orphans and refugees…”
“I’m coming from the mines of Ghapan and Alaverdi, from the station of Alekpol and the orchards of Yerevan where I rose up in the name of the Revolution, in the name of a new life…”

“I’m coming from the gorge of the Hrazdan where the electric heart of Armenia beat for the first time; I’m coming from the bank of Shirak canal whose tiny waters irrigated the well-spring of my renascence…”

“I’m coming from the slopes of Aragats where I bridled the blue racer of cosmic rays. I’m coming from Byurakan where I converse with the distant planets and stars…”

“I’m coming from time-honored yet new Yerevan, which is my reborn Tigranakert, Artashat, Dvin, Ani and Sis, all in one, now turned into a holy shrine for all Armenians scattered worldwide…”
…And the choir-mob would listen to all this in prideful surprise…
“AFTER ALL WHO IS THIS STRANGE TRAVELER?”
Would muse the choir before a cheerful childish voice rang out:

"DON’T YOU HAVE A NAME? WHAT IS YOUR NAME, TRAVELER?”
But the traveler would not utter his name at once; he would not say that he is Armenia and the Armenian people. Such a prompt answer would sound unbefitting to the son of a country and people boasting a multi centennial history… He would fix his searching gaze on the child who asked the question, would hearken to the rattling sound of trumpets and violins, drums and cymbals, reminding one of his life story, and would reply pride fully:

“My name?.. Can I have one when I lived in all the ages, in all parts of the world as plebeian and prince, fanatic and sectarian, commander and mason, architect and narrator, limner and scribe?..”

“Hayk is my name. I’m stalwart Hayk who quit the fertile soil and the paradise, preferring to live in hell and on barren rocks, to live free from the yoke of Bel, the tyrant…”

“It was I who bequeathed my freedom-loving spirit to my people, baptizing this land and the people by my name: Hayk, Hay, Hayastan…”

“Ara is my name… I am the Spirit and God of Arousal and spring, of dying and regenerating nature --- the symbol of my ever-dying yet ever-reviving people…”

“I’m Tigran the Great! The mightiest sword of Armenian land whose blighted destiny proved, alas! Seven times as strong as my sword…”

“I’m Mesrop Mashtots… My home country is torn asunder between perfidious Byzantium and imperious Persia. And neither the sword of Tigran the Great nor the cross and lamp of Gregory the Illuminator could save our land until we engraved our name on it in the letters of mother tongue…”

“I’m bequeathing to you thirty-six letters and a staunch people and country that will know no death as long as it spells those letters…”

“I’m Vartan, courageous commander Vartan. It was I who opposed death by death; my own death won over the death of m people and it turned into song and take in the grateful heart of the Armenian people…”

“I’m Khorenatsi. It was I who channeled the sluggish river, meandering through the venerable history of the Armenians into its bed, so that it should flow everlastingly and narrate unendingly the great exploits of our small people…”

“I’m David the Invincible, the first Armenian philosopher who talked and argued in Armenian with Aristotle and Porphyry as he laid the foundation stone of Armenian philosophy…”

“I’m Ananya Shirakatsi. It was I who showed my people the world map and the location of Armenia on it…”

“My name is Trdat (Tiritdates), Manvel and Hovnan… I’m the architect and builder of stone-made Armenian landmarks and monuments…”

“Could my Garny and Zvartnots, Akhatamar and Tekor, no matter how solid-structured, stand erect when the land of the Armenians was in the clutches of calamities?.. However, even in ruins, they betoken our lapidarian signature and seal on this earth, defying annihilation and bondage…”

“I’m David of Sassoun, stepping out of the tale, yet more real than the most authentic heroes of Armenian history… And the people looked to me when their patience wore thin, and with the single bound of my horse Koorkik Jalalyi jumped down from the ninth century over the heights of Sassoun to the gates of New Yerevan…”

“I’m Sembat, sectarian Sembat of Zarehavan. When Free God turned simply into religion and faith --- into the church, it was I who dared to raise the sword against the cross that had once become the crucifix of the Armenian plebeian…”

“It was I who sent the caldron of holy chrism rushing down the height rock of Tatev in such roaring thunder that it echoes resounded from the fortress of Tsurea to Bulgaria and reverberated in the cell of Martin Luther…”

“I’M Narekatsi, the giant volcano of poesy erupted from the mountains of Armenia whose rumble has been shaking the ages…”

“I measured the highest point of the sky and the deepest abyss of the human soul before I realized that man created God ant not vice versa, though I was apprehensive of God’s might…”

“My name is Frick. It was I who wrote the ‘Complaint’ not only about Him, but also about the world sanctified by Him which is peopled with lords and servants, plebeians and patricians…”

“The readers moved by stealth from one monastery to another to read my ‘Complaint’, and of scribes, awe-filled, copied its lines in the margins of the “Selected Homilies…”

“I’m Galdzak, thrown into the dungeon at the bank of the river Azat, who cut the rock of slavery with his pick of Liberty to build the miraculous monastery of Gueghard…”

“My tear-swollen soul was heavier with pain and sorrow than the rocks of Gueghard…”

“I’m the cluster of lay songs that brightened the somber sky of the middle Ages…”

"It was I who sang the green tree of life, instead of the crucifix and the fragrance of spring flowers in lieu of incense, and well as feasting and merry-making on the grass in lieu of the censer’s smoke…”

“I’m Mekhitar Heratsi, the physician… It was I who toured the Armenian hamlets and boroughs, lying in rack and ruin, to battle the plague reaping human lives…”

“It was I who wrote the book ‘Consolation to Fever’
The contents of which were intended to give solace to the physicians and restore the health of sick men…”
“I’m that young and old scribe who, in the candlelight of the dark monastic cell, copied in clear legible letters the manuscripts and memorandum books telling of my hard times…”
“ ‘My hand will go but my letter will stay’, I said seeking solace in my dismal days. And though my hand turned into ashes my writing outlived the ages to reach the Matenadaran of New Yerevan…”

“I’m Toros Roslin, Tseroun Tsaghkogh, Sarkis Pitsak and that anonymous Armenian miniaturist who ranged the steeps and vales to assemble bit by bit the cochineal of the Armenian soil and the golden hue of its wheat, the blues of the Armenian sky and the greens of its valleys, pouring all this into his paints that were bound to strike the posterior generations with adoring wonder…”

“Take a close look at our paintings of Christ and the Holy Virgin; they portray the visages of our victims murdered in modern times, and our unspoken affections…”

“I’m Nerses Shnorhali whose heart, stricken with the grief of Ani, bemoaned the fall of Yedessia in recurrent Arabic rhyme and, alas! In ever-recurrent Armenian suffering…”

“I’m Nahapet Kouchak who spelled out in Armenian his pathetic chant about the white-breasted Armenian bride and his exiled sweetheart… My ‘Hayrens’ were four lines in all --- a quatrain… Yet this single quatrain of ‘Hayren’ harbored the unplaced exile while my ‘Antouny’ afforded shelter to the homeless…”

“I’m Israel Ori who took the insurgent spirit of Gharabagh to Petersburg; I’m Hovsep Emin who, in the name of salvation of Armenia, replaced the cross by the sword in the hand of the Armenian…”
“I’m Sayat-Nova. I had a perfect command of four languages; Armenian, Georgian, Persian and Turkish and…one more --- the undying idiom of song that secured my existence for benefit of posterity…”

“Abovian is my surname and Khachatour --- my first name… It was I who saw from the summit of Massis the dark of my country and the light of salvation dawning from the North. I made the wounds of Armenia into a song and disappeared traceless in the eventide for my intrepid race of Aghassi to stay in existence…”

"I’m Mikael Nalbandian… The only true religion worthy of professing is Liberty for the sake of which I suffered and for which i was murdered…”

“I’m Raffi… The combatant and prophet of the liberation of my Armenian brethren groaning under Sultan’s yoke… The ‘Sparks’ that I sowed kindled the blazing fire of the national-liberation struggle which, alas! Was put out in the gushing blood of the genocide…”

“I’m Komitas --- the eternal bell ringer of the church of Armenian songs… It was I who cleaned up the ever trickling stream of the Armenian song of its foreign mud and turbidity and made its pure gurgle heard all over the world…”

“I’m Daniel Varouzhan and Siamanto. It was I who sang the Armenians’ ‘Heathen Songs’ and ‘The song of the Bread’, the horrors of the genocide of the Armenians and the handul of ashes of the native home, and though I was put to the sword by the Turkish butcherers still I heard, before my death, the, Red News’ reaching my land and people…’

“I’m general Andranik --- my hard-pressed people’s revengeful spirit, now soaring high like an eagle over the mountains of Armenia… Though I quit my native
Land, embittered and broken-hearted, yet I left behind my sword of which even the glitter strikes terror in the hearts of my foes…”

“I’m Stephan Shahumian… It was I who illuminated Baku and Transcaucasia with the torch of the October Revolution, hearing before my death in the desert of Akcha-Kuyma the gurgle of the canals of new Armenia…”

“I’m Toumanian, the singer of the heaven-reaching mountains of Loree and the bottomless sorrow-laden abyss of the Armenians… It was not I who wrote… The mountains and gorges used my hand to write about distress and faith of the Armenians. It was the Armenian people that wrote with my hand about he age long forayed caravan trailing inexhaustible treasures across the gulf of centuries…”

“I’m Vahan Terian --- the singer of the great city, the singer of the great city, the singer of autumn and sorrow. The path of my life and my song were like the autumn alley bestrewn with fallen leaves --- a melancholy alley which, however, took me to Dawn to glorify the red, blood-hued banner of October…”

“I’m Charents, the storm-breathing Narekatsi of the Revolution. It was I who glorified “The Maddene Mobs” struggling for the October Revolution, hunting in their footsteps for the radio-signals of the forthcoming spacecraft…”

“I’m Alexander Tamanian --- the happiest architect who lived in a country where the entire nation was inflamed with the fervors of construction… It was I who, on a happy day, designed New Yerevan --- the centuries-old dream of my creative people --- the like of which we’ve never had…”

“I’m Isahakian… I loved my native land, but it turned into an unhappy motherland to me; beautiful as its mountains and gorges were, its sons were victimized in a vast blood-bath. …Therefore I joined Abu-Lala Mahari’s caravan to roam at large in foreign lands before the revival bells of Armenia called me back home, and I found eternal place in my homeland…”

“I’m Martiros Sarian… The reds and the gold's, the violets and the greens, amassed bit by bit by the medieval limners, reached me… It was I who charted the particular site and inviolable frontiers of Armenia on the world map of painting…”

“I’m Vahram Papazian…What countless stages of the world have acclaimed my Othello! And numberless Desdemona's have fluttered in my arms! …But on all those stages I pined for OUR TOWN and mercilessly “smothered” many foreign-born Desdemona's, longing to embrace the Armenian Desdemona on the Armenian Stage.”

“I’m the astronomer Victor Hambartsumian… Small is the land of the Armenians, yet its borders extend from Byurakan as far as the stars, and the distant galaxies and constellations thou me…”

“I’m Marshal Baghramian and Admiral Issakov whom the water-free stones of Armenia have brought into this world. In the infernal days of the genocide, when our people was drenched in blood, who lent a helping hand to it? And again, a short time ago, in the days of the Great Patriotic War? Did we, the Armenian sons of the great family of peoples, not save the European nations and races crucified on the crooked cross?”

“I’m Aram Khachaturian… Making the plain and fair melodies of my people into mighty symphonies I sound them far and wide, telling the world the story of the rebirth of my age-honored land…”
“I’m that peasant who has been growing the vine that shapes the fate of my people and is the same age, and the wine squeezed from it is as bitter as our ordeals of past days and as sweet as our faith in the unborn Tomorrow…”

“I’m that young Armenian worker and specialist whose skillful hands have made the super-precise instruments now available in the remotest parts of the world and ascending the stars and the moon…”

“I’m that wandering refugee who has built and lost his house in all parts of the world and, at the foot of Ararat, is now setting up his home that will stand erect forever…”

“I’m the Armenian of the Diaspora whose harrowing experience taught him the mystery of surviving and abiding Armenian; who is the refugee of today but tomorrow --- the citizen of new Armenia…”

“I’m that scientist who is harnessing the electron, squeezing light from the atom and extracting fine silk threads from the coarse Armenian stones…”
“I’m that young, dashing poet who has committed to paper his first verses dedicated to Armenia…”
“I’m that pupil who has now come into possession, across the gulf of sixteen centuries, of the letters shaped by Mesrop Mashtots…”

“I’m the child that has just come into the world in one of the maternity homes of Yerevan; who, unaware as yet of what has been acquired before him, is now the successor and inheritor of the that wealth…”

Such will be the utterance of the deep yet inspirited voice, which will in turn enthuse everyone; and emboldened by its words, the orchestra will sound growingly resonant…

And when all ask him with one accord

“BUT WHO ARE YOU, TRAVELER, IN THE LONG RUN?”

He will say, now in a voice fortified by the martyrdom of forty centuries,
“I am Armenia; I am the Armenian people that, having persisted for countless ages in solitude in the midst of wolves, now lives in the harmonious family of fraternal peoples.”

“I am the traveler to eternity who, having arrived from the depth of centuries, is heading for the centuries to come, whose onward march will know no end as long as even a single Armenian lives on this globe, under this eternal sun…”

Gevorg Emin (1918-1998)