Armenians - what are they? Main features

In world history, civilizations changed, whole nations and languages appeared and disappeared without a trace. Most of the modern nations and nationalities were formed after the first millennium of our era. However, along with the Persians, Jews, Greeks, there is still another ancient original people, whose representatives found the construction of the Egyptian pyramids, the birth of Christianity and many other legendary events of ancient times. Armenians - what are they? What is their difference from the neighboring Caucasian peoples and what is their contribution to world history and culture?

The appearance of Armenians

Like any people whose origins go back to the past, the history of the appearance of Armenians is closely intertwined with myths and legends, and sometimes it is the oral legends transmitted over millennia that give clearer and clearer answers than the numerous scientific hypotheses.

According to folk legends, the ancient king of Ike was the founder of the Armenian statehood and actually of the Armenian people. In the distant third millennium BC, along with his army, he came to the shores of Lake Van. August 11, 2107 BC. E. A battle took place between the ancestors of modern Armenians and the troops of the Sumerian king Utuhengala, in which Hayk won. This day is considered the starting point of the national calendar and is a national holiday. The name of the king also gave the name to the people (the self-name of Armenians is hai).

Historians prefer to operate with more boring and fuzzy reasoning, in which there is much uncertainty about the origin of such a people as Armenians. What kind of race they have is also the subject of disputes between different researchers.

The fact is that on the territory of the Armenian uplands in the first millennium BC. E. There was a state with a highly developed civilization - Urartu. Representatives of this Khurarty people mingled with the local population, gradually adopted the language, and a nation such as Armenians was formed. What they became for two millennia, with what they had to face - a separate drama.

History of the fight for identity

Each nation faces in its history with a foreign invasion, with attempts to change the very essence of the nation. The whole history of Armenians is the struggle against numerous invaders. Persians, Greeks, Arabs, Turks - they all left their mark on the history of Armenians. However, the ancient people with their own writing, language and stable tribal connections were not so easy to assimilate, dissolve among foreign settlers. All this was resisted by Armenians. Religion is what they have, what neighbors - these issues also become a subject for friction.

In response, several measures were taken on the forced eviction of this people to the territory of Iran, Turkey, genocide was committed. As a result, mass migration of Armenians throughout the world has become a result of which the national diasporas are very large and one of the most closely-knit communities in the world.

In the XVIII century, for example, the resettlement of Caucasians to the banks of the Don, where the city of Nakhichevan-on-Don was founded, was carried out. Hence the large number of Armenians in the south of Russia.

Religion

Unlike many other peoples, it is possible to determine exactly in which year the Armenians adopted Christianity. The National Church is one of the oldest in the world and has gained independence for a long time. Folk tradition clearly gives and the names of the first preachers young at that time of faith - Thaddeus and Bartholomew. In 301 King Trdat III finally decided on Christianity as the state religion.

Many people are often lost in answering the question about what kind of faith the Armenians have. To what current should they be attributed - Catholics, Orthodox? In fact, in the middle of the fourth century AD, a decision was taken to independently elect clergymen and priests. Soon the Armenian Apostolic Church finally separated from Byzantine and became completely autonomous. The Council of Chalcedon of 451 years determined the basic dogmas of the local church, which in some issues differed significantly from the norms of neighboring Eastern Orthodox churches.

Language

Language determines the age of the people, allocates it among other ethnic groups. The Armenian language began its formation in the middle of the first millennium BC. E. On the territory of Urartu. The outward conquerors of the Khurarty assimilated with the local population and adopted its dialect as a base. Armenian is considered one of the most ancient languages of the Indo-European family. It is in the Indo-European family that the languages of practically all the peoples of modern Europe, India, and Iran are included.

Some researchers even propose a bold hypothesis that it was the ancient Armenian dialect that became the most Indo-European language, from which modern English, French, Russian, Persian and other languages of a significant part of today's population of the world came out.

Writing

It is difficult to preserve the language, culture, national identity, without preserving the information in an unchanged form. Own writing is another answer to the question of Armenians - what they are.

The first rudiments of its own alphabet appeared even before the beginning of our era. The priests of the Armenian churches invented their own cryptography, on which they created their sacred books. However, after the establishment of Christianity, all the written monuments of ancient Armenia were destroyed as pagan. Christianity also played a major role in the emergence of the national alphabet.

After the Armenian Apostolic Church gained independence, the question arose of translating the Bible and other sacred books into its own language. It was decided to create own recording facilities. In 405-406, the educator Mesrop Mashtots developed the Armenian alphabet. From the printing press the first book on the Armenian chart was published in 1512 in Venice.

Culture

The culture of the proud people goes back to the 1st millennium BC. E. Even after the loss of independence, Armenians preserved their originality and high level of development of art and science. After the restoration of the independent Armenian kingdom in the 9th century, a kind of cultural renaissance began.

The invention of own writing has become a powerful impetus to the emergence of literary works. In the 8th-10th centuries a majestic epic "David Sasunsky" was written about the struggle against Armenians against the Arab conquerors. What they have created literary monuments - the subject of a separate extensive conversation.

The music of the peoples of the Caucasus is a rich topic for discussion. A special variety stands out Armenian. The original people have original musical instruments. The music of the duduk was even included in UNESCO's lists as one of the intangible objects of the cultural heritage of mankind.

However, from the traditional elements of culture, it is best for ordinary people to know Armenian cuisine. Thin cakes - lavash, dairy products - matsun, tan. No self-respecting Armenian family will sit at a table on which there is no bottle of wine, often home-made.

Black History Pages

Any original people, fiercely resisting absorption and assimilation, becomes the strongest object for the hatred of the invaders. The territory of Western and Eastern Armenia, divided between Persians and Turks, was repeatedly subjected to ethnic cleansing. The most famous is the Armenian Genocide, which was never in history.

During the First World War, the Turks organized the most real extermination of Armenians living in the territory of Western Armenia, then part of Turkey. Those who survived the massacre were forcibly evicted to barren deserts and doomed to destruction.

As a result of this unprecedented barbaric act, between 1.5 and 2 million people died. A terrible tragedy is one of the factors that further unites the Armenians of the whole world with a sense of involvement in the events of those years.

The dishonesty of the Turkish authorities lies in the fact that they are still refusing to recognize the obvious facts of intentional extermination of people on a national basis, referring to the inevitable loss of wartime. The fear of losing face by admitting guilt and now prevails over the sense of conscience and shame of Turkish politicians.

The Armenians. What are they today?

As it is often joked now, Armenia is not a country, but an office, as the majority of the nation's representatives live outside the mountainous republic. Many people were scattered around the world as a result of wars of conquest and invasions into the country. Together with the Jewish Diasporas, Armenian diasporas are the most united and united in many countries of the world - the USA, France, Germany, Russia, Lebanon.

Armenia itself regained its independence not so long ago, together with the collapse of the USSR. This process was accompanied by a bloody war in Nagorno-Karabakh, which Armenians call Artsakh. By the will of politicians who cut the borders of the Transcaucasian republics, the territory with the predominant Armenian population turned out to be part of Azerbaijan.

During the collapse of the Soviet empire, the Karabakh Armenians demanded a legal right to independently determine their fate. This resulted in an armed struggle and the subsequent war between Armenia and Azerbaijan. Despite the support of Turkey and some other powers, the overwhelming superiority in numbers, the Azerbaijani army suffered a crushing defeat and abandoned the disputed territories.

Armenians live in Russia for many years, especially many in the south of the country. During this time, they ceased to be foreigners in the eyes of local residents and became part of the cultural community.