Ancient Aryans in Yerevan (Armenia)

Republic of Armenia is doing a great job for the archealogy of the ancient Iranian/Aryan civilizations.

http://www.armenianhistory.info/origins.htm

There is nothing said about Aryan origins.

Originally posted by YusakuJon3 It seems like the  Armenians had more to do with the ancient Mesopotamians, Iranians and Romans than to do with the prehistoric Aryan migrations.  There might've been some indirect influence by the Aryans through the proximity of the migration routes, but it sounds more like early Christendom had the greater influence on Armenian history in the legends of their early conversion in the wake of Jesus's crucifixion and ascent.  I'm actually curious to see if there's more on the pre-Christian history of the area such as the origins of that ancient kingdom of Uartu which was a neighboring power to that of the Hittites and Assyrians.

the ancient Iranians were Aryans

medes are aryans, assyrians are not, and i dont know about the urartians.

aryans are the people who belong to the indo iranian group.

indo european and indo iranian are the same thing. they are two different names for the same group.

people now use indo iranian more.

Indo-Iranian and Indo-European are not the same.  Indo-Iranian is a sub-group within Indo-European.  Indo-European encompasses all related languages divided up into more than 10-odd subfamilies.  Four/five of these subfamilies are not extinct, namely Illyrian, Thracian, "Central Balkanic", Anatolian, and Tocharian.  The ones that remain are Celtic, Germanic, Romance, Balto-Slavic, Albanian (we don't know whether to see an Illyrian or Thracian [Dacian] background), Greek, Armenian, and Indo-Iranian.

I think Aryan includes all of the civilizations in the near East, not just Iran/Persia. I have read somewhere that Assyrians were also Aryans, as well as the Medes and the Urartians.

The Assyrians were Semitic-speaking and the Urartians were Hurrian-speaking peoples.  "Aryan" really historically only meant those peoples which actually used the name to describe themselves, and these peoples were all Indo-Iranic speaking peoples such as the Medes, Persians, Avestans (East Iranians), and northern Indians, although the Indians used it in a more or less religious sense.  Armenians, speaking a language not in the Indo-Iranian subfamily, fall outside its historic use.

Originally posted by Sharrukin "Aryan" really historically only meant those peoples which actually used the name to describe themselves, and these peoples were all Indo-Iranic speaking peoples such as the Medes, Persians, Avestans (East Iranians), and northern Indians, although the Indians used it in a more or less religious sense.  Armenians, speaking a language not in the Indo-Iranian subfamily, fall outside its historic use.

    You're right about their language. As for their culture, I've been to a museum in Armenia which shows a heavy Aryan influence on ancient Armenian culture. Many artifacts such as head sculptures were decorated with many swastikas. I consider ancient Armenians as being part of an Aryan culture, or at least bearing many resemblences to them due to influence. Maybe you can expand on this issue.

Originally posted by YusakuJon3 There might've been some indirect influence by the Aryans through the proximity of the migration routes, but it sounds more like early Christendom had the greater influence on Armenian history in the legends of their early conversion in the wake of Jesus's crucifixion and ascent.

     Once the Armenians accepted Christianity around 301, it became the dominant religion in no time. Before the birth of Jesus, however, there were many religions which were dominant in the area. The Urartians had their own pantheon (it bore much resemblence to the pantheons in other countries at the time, maybe Sharrukin can expand), but the chief god in the Urartian pantheon was named Khaldi, and the Urartians even built a city as their designated religious center at Musasir (near Lake Urmia).

     When the Persians took over in 550 B.C., many aspects of their religion were introduced to Armenia. The chief god in the Armenian pantheon at this time was Aramazd, which was the Armenian version of the Persian Ahura Mazda. The Armenian god Vahagn (god of wind and weather) was derived from the Persian god Verethragna. Mihr (the Armenian sun god) is similar to the Persian god Mithra. Elements of Greek religions were even present, as the Armenians had gods equivilent to those in the Greek pantheon, such as Anahit (Aphrodite), and they even built their temples in the Greek style in the 4th century B.C. until even after Christ was born. The only Pagan Greek-style temple that still stands in Armenia was built in the first century A.D.

     Before the Urartians, who knows how many religions were present in the region. Skeletal remains and stone tools found in ancient Armenia have been dated between 1 to 2 million years old. This region is very underrated in terms of its early history.


Edited by ArmenianSurvival