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ABOUT THE WORDS «PAGAN» AND «IDOLATER»

In the Haykian teaching, Man is the result of the material and biological history of the Universe, one who possesses the Creator’s qualities – consciousness, ideas – and who creates values.
Since time immemorial Man has been shaping: building, sculpting, depicting – embodying his conceptions, his values, his high moral standards, his perception of beauty…

Man creates art and, reciprocally, art shapes Man: it educates and forges his worldview.
Art, like language, is a means of communication, with its symbols and its expressive means.
And the most ancient images, the sculptures fashioned from various materials – forged or hammered – were the transmitters of ideas, the educators of generations: through the figures of the Deities they sowed the striving for perfection and expressed the harmony of strength, beauty and goodness…

After the spread of Christianity, the denial, the rejection, the negation and the repudiation of the culture of the preceding period continued from century to century, and to this day many hold mistaken notions about Armenian national culture, even though the holidays and rites that continue to be observed are rooted precisely in the national worldview.

Below we present a short explanation of the words «HETANOS» (PAGAN), «KURK» (IDOL) AND «KRAPASHT» (IDOLATER), as interpreted by the Kurm (pagan priest) Mihr Haykazuni.

ABOUT THE WORDS «PAGAN» AND «IDOLATER»

Language is not only a means of communication, but also a mode of thinking, a worldview. Accordingly, when examining the writings of manuscript codices, one takes into account the era, the author, the language of the original, the whole completed utterance, the entire content…

Many words travel a «long road» through the centuries: the world changes, and under the influence of «historical processes» words too sometimes undergo a shift of meaning.
They lose their initial significance, undergo a change of value, are reinterpreted…

It is therefore necessary to know the etymology of the word in question, its most ancient meaning – its textual usage in the primary sources, its medieval reinterpretation, its later shift of meaning.

Among such words are «hetanos» (pagan), «kurk» (idol) and «krapasht» (idolater).

The initial meaning of these words, so frequently used in modern Armenian, differs sharply from the present-day religious – Christian – «negative», discrediting perception.

Etymologically, the word «hetanos» derives from the Greek «ethnos» (ἔθνος) – «people», «nation», «tribe» (in Latin «ethnicus» – «pagan», «heathen»).

It is this word «ethnos» that underlies many modern scholarly terms designating a historically formed human group with shared cultural, linguistic or identity features. In Syriac it occurs in the forms «htnos / hetnos / hetanos».

From the same root as the word «ethnos» is formed the adjective «ethnikos» ἐθνικός, meaning «national», «belonging to the people»; later, in Christian literature, it takes on the meaning «non-Hebrew», «non-Christian» – «of another religion» – often with a strongly negative sense: «impure», «abominable».

In the Greek translation of the books of the Old Testament – the «Septuagint», made in the 3rd-2nd centuries before the Roman era in the city of Alexandria in Egypt, and from which the Classical Armenian (Grabar) translation was later made – the word «ethnos» is used to designate the other nations apart from the people of Israel, in the sense of «foreigner», as a person belonging to another nation: as the equivalent of the Hebrew word «goy», which at the outset meant precisely «nation», in the general sense of «any nation», but which was thereafter used as an expression of insult and dishonour, with a disdainful, sharply contemptuous shade of meaning.

That is to say: those who call the Haykian teaching – which glorifies Creation, Wisdom and Light, and one’s own Ancestors – «pagan» and «heathen» are defiling, reviling, debasing and dishonouring the Armenian’s sanctities, Armenianness, the Armenian’s identity…

In the case of the words «kurk» (idol) and «krapasht» (idolater) too, a change in the significance and meaning of the word came about through historical circumstances. At their root lies «kurn, kur», in the sense of «compact, dense, hard, firm, solid», and the verb «krel»: to strengthen, to hammer, to cast – and figuratively to forge, to fashion, to create.

«Kur – the root of krel (to forge) and kran (hammer): as in «forged, beaten, cast and trodden, compact, thronged, dense, firm, steadfast, exceedingly hard, enduring: …(«Turn not aside from the royal solid (kur) highway»).

In the most ancient times, the sculptures and statues of stone, of wood, or cast from metal – forged and hammered – were the symbols of the presence of the Deities, of the remembrance of their Creator’s power, of the «embodiment» of their qualities and virtues.

After the spread of Christianity, as an expression of its worldview, the former beliefs and the teachings differing from Christianity were rejected, were regarded negatively, and were presented as the symbol of «error», «evil», «immorality», «darkness and delusion». Hence those cast, forged and hammered sculptures, as well as the images made of wood or of stone, were branded «idolatry» – and yet to this day, within Christianity itself, those very same sculptures and images and the frescoes have been used with even greater display, as an accessible «illustrated history» of Christian themes for the unknowing, which recounted the religious «stories» to illiterate believers who could not read, and conveyed to them the content of the «religious writings»…

Faithful to the teaching of his Ancestors, the Armenian strove always to hold fast to the luminous ideas of Sun-worship, and continued his national holidays and rites, in defiance of the religion imposed with great violence through foreigners.

He consciously rejected the appellation «pagan» bestowed by another nation – an appellation which denied, condemned and devalued what was national: the Haykian teaching, the road leading towards Knowledge and Light, towards Higher consciousness. It denied national identity, deemed the national culture of the Armenians «darkness», «error», «vulgar» and «evil», and did away with the memory of the Armenian Forefathers and with the songs and the tales that immortalized their deeds of valour…

Let us be conscious and dignified Haykazunis, holding high the Haykian system of values and our national identity. Notwithstanding a usage that has continued from century to century, let us not tolerate the humiliating labels «pagan» and «heathen» applied to the highly valuable culture the Armenian has created, nor the ideological struggle waged against Light and Knowledge, imposed ever since the 4th century…

ARMENIA AGAINST ROME
(PART 6)

«Just as in the works of Shakespeare, in Rome we seek ourselves, the mirror of our own being. And perhaps that is why it so bewitches everyone»… (Avetis Aharonyan)

Standing in Rome before the column of Marcus Aurelius, Avetis Aharonyan set down his reflections, the last part of which we present below at last.

The beginning is in the preceding publications…

6.
DOES HISTORY REPEAT ITSELF?
This is an old and grievous question, and always with differing answers, according to the conditions of place and of time.
This wretched history repeats itself to the degree that the human creature who fashions it repeats himself as a social factor – with his blind passions, with his emotions, with his instincts now destructive and now constructive, now with the riches of his soul and now captive to the fury of his accursed matter.
Destructive and unbridled whirlwinds and tempests and so many merciless collapses follow one upon another, as do radiant, exquisite dawns – out of the eternally storm-tossed bosom of one and the same nature.

I do not know about other times, but with this past war it seems that before our stunned gaze the events accomplished two thousand years ago came to be told over again, so that the new generations, rebellious after the torpor of the centuries, might live through the whole shudder of life and of human destiny.

Indeed, the first clash between Armenia and Rome and, in general, the development of the mutual relations of East and West in those times is a disheartening reminder of the political and economic interrelations between the great imperialist states of our own day and the small nations that strive for independence.
Let us set aside the question of history repeating itself; but after seeing all that we saw and lived through, how can we not say, with sorrow and soul-wearing bitterness, that two thousand years of high civilization, borne upon the wings of the wondrous doctrine of the «Great Crucified One», have apparently not at all sufficed to cleanse humanity of the density of its original sin, of the pestilential outbursts of its animal nature (atavism), which, like the flood tide and the ebb of the human sea, rise and fall in torrents of blood, and menstruate.

Put today’s great states in the place of Rome – with their covetous ambitions, their perfidious and conspiratorial politics, their plundering, predatory manner of acting, with all their military perfection and capability – against backward or simply less numerous peoples, and the picture will be complete.
Certainly, twenty centuries and more before this, the name «Rome» and «Roman» thundered throughout the whole East, as in modern times the name «Europe» and «European». In the old days in the East, by «Roman» men understood not only force, might and invincible military capacities, but also philosophy, letters, the high arts – in a word, civilization, and above all law and justice, which lent so much allure and grandeur to this wondrous empire risen in the distant West.

The same was true, before the great war, of the name of the European for the peoples of the East, to which was always bound not only the notion of good breeding, of cultivated taste, of intelligence and of military might, but also something else that is hard to define: that mysterious, magical meaning of Europe which, even before its appearance, already morally subdued and ruled Asia from one end to the other.
This hard-to-define, vague, almost mysterious quality of the European – as of the Roman in antiquity – is the notion of human perfection: a new and more excellent apprehension of high morality, of freedom, of right and of justice.
Just as in our own days the civilized West, in consequence of this world war, spread out before the East its complete spiritual and moral bankruptcy concealed beneath an outward veneer, in just the same way civilized Rome, together with the superiority of its force, displayed in Asia Minor a squalid pettiness and a conspiratorial politics unworthy of a great empire, a dishonourable trampling of justice and of right, the devastation and the violence visited upon defeated nations and cities – often in their most merciless forms.

Just as in our times the East knelt before Europe, before the European, from afar, without even coming into close contact, so too in antiquity Armenia and Asia Minor worshipped the civilization of the West. Certainly, by an unforced impulse they turned their gaze towards Rome – until they saw and tasted, together with its might, its boundless mercilessness and its trampling and contempt towards the so-called «barbarian nations».
And just as today, by a wretched coincidence, Armenia lived through most profoundly all the bitterness, all the injustice, all the intrigue and perfidy of that fateful encounter.
And in that time, as now, Armenia received from the West the most treacherous blow, and beheld from close at hand, with loathing, the morality of the rulers of the great empire.

The nations saw with pain and astonishment that Rome’s much-vaunted law and its expression were one thing for the Roman and something different for themselves.
And it seems that the Armenian nation, already in the days of Tigranes the Great and his immediate successors, saw the very same disillusionments that we see – we, the living generations – through the baseness of the Allied powers.
And yet twenty centuries have passed since that time…

Is there a curse upon this West, that it has remained always unjust, squalid and perfidious, even towards those nations which cast themselves open-heartedly towards the West and its civilization, and whose only shortcoming is that they are not savage and are «exceedingly few» in number?
I speak of Armenia. The unthinkable conspiratorial fraud and baseness committed against us has still not received its full elucidation.
We saw what brilliant possibilities Rome annihilated in the East – and particularly in the Armenian world – by dismantling our state, created by wise and solid Armenian efforts. Thanks to an upright and mighty Armenia, how many later catastrophes, how many miseries would have vanished, and from how many devastations and massacres would Armenia and Asia Minor have been spared!
How many barbarians of Central Asia would have been buried in their sandy deserts, and the fury and the onrush of how many bloodthirsty world-conquerors would have been shattered upon the granite of our mountains; and the Balkans, Hellas and the West in general would not have seen the abominable domination of the Turkic-Mongol hordes, who for whole centuries thrust back every possibility of civilization in those flourishing lands.
It is not in vain that from the Caspian Sea to the Mediterranean the shoots still rise with difficulty to this day, that the annihilated forests are still only now putting forth new tendrils, and that the mother soil still groans from the blows dealt it by the yatagans.
The devastation of Armenia – like a divine vengeance – became the devastation of the whole East. And in the 15th century Byzantium met exactly the same fate as Armenia, with its marvellously built capitals.

I have said that the whole measure and depth of the Allies’ intrigue and baseness against Armenia has still not been fully brought to light.
By the turn of history and of fortune, Armenia became the vanguard of the civilization of the West, and the guardian and the leader of the Aryan spirit and of the Aryan peoples in Asia Minor.
Armenia – this little Europe of the East, a kind of advanced sentinel of the West – was unexpectedly abandoned to its fate at the very hour when it stood most in need of help.
To leave the solitary and far-flung sentinel without relief, without help, against enemies storming in from all four sides: that is the sign of the spirit of modern times and the greatest crime of the states that call themselves civilized.

There are injustices that bear within them the germ of a terrible requital.
Rome and Byzantium destroyed Armenia, only to feel in their own turn the weight of the barbarians’ heels.
Will it remain, then, without a terrible requital – this most recent enmity and crime committed against Armenia?
The future history of the world will tell.
For now, what we see is the death of trust and of faith towards Europe and the European. The whole East has already been shaken; and there are millions who grind their teeth and shake their fists at the civilized world. On the Russian steppes there has risen the fearsome Demos, which lays waste and annihilates all those things for the sake of which the Allies supposedly waged this past unthinkable war and these massacres. The gigantic fraud has been laid bare; no one is deceived any longer.
The blood of Armenia cries out for justice…

… But I am in the new Rome, standing beneath the column of Marcus Aurelius, and I am stirring the ashes of the old, old memories of my native world: Armenia!, Armenia!, thou forever unforgotten, thou forever sacrificed and ever just, let me believe once more in thy destiny.

(The End)

HAYKAR
Or:
HACHAR – “A type of stone, originating from the land of the Armenians”…

The Armenian Highlands, famous for their therapeutic mineral waters, have also played a crucial role in the history of mining, metal extraction, and metallurgy, thanks to their vast natural resources.
Due to the presence of rich ore deposits, metal tools were already in use here as early as the 5th–4th millennia BCE. Ancient specimens have been uncovered on the shores of Lake Van, in the Angegh Tun province, in the Ararat Plain, and along the shores of Lake Urmia…
By the 3rd millennium BCE, Armenian Mesopotamia, Rshtunik, Julamerk, and Sasun served as the “metal storehouse” of the ancient Near East. Later, in the 2nd millennium BCE, they held a dominant position in metal extraction and exchange.
Excavations in Lchashen, Metsamor, Karmir Blur, and the regions surrounding Lake Van, the Erzinka Plain, and other sites within the Armenian Highlands provide evidence of an advanced metalworking tradition.

From ancient times, both Armenian and foreign historians have documented the wealth of Armenia’s mines and the exceptional quality of its valuable minerals.
Movses Khorenatsi, in his History of Armenia (Book I, 23), praises the Ancestors and glorifies the great Tigran, emphasizing how he expanded the “treasury” of gold and silver (“He multiplied the treasures of gold and silver…”).

The Roman writer, naturalist, philosopher, and military commander Pliny the Elder, in his 1st-century work Natural History, while discussing pigments and the minerals used to create them, mentions Armenia’s mines (“Mines of Armenia”) and the superior materials they produced.

Lapis lazuli, with its mesmerizing, unfading deep blue, has been referenced in written sources since ancient times, including in the Epic of Gilgamesh. Traded from Egypt and Mesopotamia, it eventually reached Armenia, where it was surrounded by myths attributing mystical powers to it.
At the site of Ebla, an important Hurrian cultural center about 60 km south of Aleppo, archaeologists discovered 25 kilograms of lapis lazuli.
This precious stone was crafted using raw materials imported from Armenia.

For over 6,000 years, the famed Lapis Lazuli, known as the Blue Stone, has been valued as a symbol of protection, courage, success, and victory. It was believed to ward off evil and serve as a link to divine wisdom, enhancing spiritual awareness and enlightenment.

Theophrastus (371 BCE – 288 BCE), a notable Greek philosopher, naturalist, botanist, and alchemist, and a disciple of Aristotle, mentions Armenian stones in his writings on minerals, noting their use in seals and various applications. He also refers to a special “earth” from Cilicia, which, when boiled, became sticky and was used to protect grapevines from pests.

Theophrastus calls the famous Lapis Lazuli the “Stone of Armenia” or “Lapis Armenis”, also known as “Arménium” or “Haykian Stone.”

This name persisted throughout the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, with the mineral often called “The Blue of the Mountains.”
In 1824, geologist François Sulpice Beudant named it “Azurite,” based on its deep blue color.

In medicine, the “Haykian Clay” (“Kav Haykian”), was known to Galen as “Haykian Earth.”
Various Armenian earths—some blue, golden, or reddish-yellow—were widely prized since antiquity.

Pliny the Elder mentions natural resources from Armenia, including palegues (Book 33, §15) and describes the finest Chrysocolla—with gold-bearing veins—as originating from Armenia (Book 34, §5).

In Book 35, he refers to Arménium (Azurite), writing:
“Armenia exports the material that carries its name. It resembles Chrysocolla, with the best variety being the one closest to it in deep blue hue…
In medicine, it is used mainly for hair treatment, particularly for eyelashes (bol d’Arménie).”

Since antiquity, crystalline bodies, composed of varied chemical elements such as copper, oxygen, and others, have intertwined to form new materials that accompany humanity.

One such crystalline mineral, copper arsenate (pghndzarjasp), known for its deep lazurite-blue hue, has been used extensively despite its high toxicity.
Apart from being crafted into talismans and jewelry, Haykar also served as a pigment.
Several colorless and colored stones and powders found applications in medicine, mirrors, and other fields—some of which are recorded in ancient Armenian dictionaries…

“Hachar—a type of stone originating from the land of the Armenians,” note medieval medical texts (New Dictionary of the Haykazian Language).

“Haykar—a variety of khazhak stone, bluish and soft, resembling gojasm.” (Arménite, Pierre d’Arménie – Armenite, Armenian Stone).

“Gojasm—a precious deep blue, opaque stone with golden veins; there also exists a yellow variety.” (Ligourion).

“Lajvard—an exquisite blue pigment extracted from gojasm.”

“Lajvard—a precious blue stone, classified among the flint family, once used to produce lajvard or lazurite pigment (Lapis lazulite).” (S. Malkhasyants, Armenian Explanatory Dictionary).

“The Tale of the Hamaspyur Blossom” or “Concerning the Flower”

Fairy tales serve as a magnificent reflection of national thought—often originating from ancient myths and passed down orally through generations, whether as magical (fantasy) or realistic stories…

Rich in symbols and allegory, these age-old tales, which have accumulated wisdom over millennia, also preserve traces of various customs and traditions.

The fairy tales passed down from time immemorial offer a vivid portrayal of human thought.

Within them, we also find numerous ritual scenes, such as references to the mystical power of pearls and coral, mentions of the magical properties of different stones and flowers, and detailed descriptions of them (as we referenced in Beads from Shamir’s Sea)…
Interestingly, modern scientific studies confirm that certain natural stones can have either beneficial or harmful effects on the human body.

The concept of Fire obtained through sunlight—generated by friction with flint and concentrated using a mirror to harness the Sun’s rays—held deep significance in our ancestors’ worldview, symbolizing the connection between the Celestial and Earthly Fires…

And these ideas echo through fairy tales as well.

In the enchanting folktales beloved by our ancestors, there is even mention of a wondrous flower called Hamaspjur.

In S. Malkhasian’s Armenian Explanatory Dictionary, it is described as follows:

“It has twelve branches, each bearing a flower of a different color; it restores sight to blind eyes, and its fragrance provides strength.”

In the Armenian Dialect Dictionary (Yerevan, 2001), its equivalent in the Van dialect is given as Khambek…

At the Matenadaran in Yerevan, among thousands of ancient manuscripts, nine unique manuscripts preserve an ancient legend about the miraculous Hamaspjur flower, titled The Story of the Hamaspjur Flower or On the Flower (also known as Hamaspran)…

Reflecting on research into these manuscripts decades ago, S. Avdalbegyan wrote:

“This tale recounts the miracles attributed to this flower.”

The conversation states:
“If you bring it to your ear, you will hear and understand all human languages, as well as the voices of animals, beasts, and birds. If you bring it to your eyes, you will see all living beings. If you bring it to your nose, you will perceive the sweet fragrance of the heavens. If you bring it to your tongue, you will speak in all languages and dialects, share wisdom, and teach knowledge. If you bring it to your fingers, you will master all crafts… And many other great and mighty miracles are attributed to the flower.”

Another version quoted by S. Avdalbegyan, in Mkhitar Gosh’s 26th fable, tells of the selection of the king of plants. While the flower’s previous abilities are not emphasized, additional qualities are listed:

“After much debate—some claiming the lily, others the achrizan, and many favoring the hamaspjur—it was ultimately decided that hamaspjur was the most worthy… for it holds dominion over all things and, above all, has great healing powers, curing the sick, sharpening vision, enabling one to walk on water, and granting wisdom to the ignorant.”

In the 17th-century poem Hymn to Flowers, David Saladzortsi writes:

“The little serpent king, white as snow,
Follows Hamaspjur and draws strength from its fragrance.”

This “serpent king” derives its power from the king of flowers, while its own strength lies in its deadly gaze.

According to legend, during Alexander the Great’s siege of an Asian city, the serpent king killed 300 of his soldiers simply by staring at them from a crack in the fortress wall (Bazmavep, Venice, 1850).

An episode of the manifestation of the power of guardian-animals, touched upon in the previous post…

Hamaspjur (Hamaspram) is also mentioned by Ghevond Alishan in his book Ancient Faith or the Pagan Religion of the Armenians.

Turning to the plant “Penna, which turns a person to the love of holiness,” as presented according to ancient traditions by “the twelfth-century fabulist Mkhitar Gosh vardapet,” he mentions a canon encountered in medieval medical books and books of omens — similar to the rites and prayers performed from the Mashtots — written concerning the manner of gathering the penuan: with the recitation of prayers, with the cross, the Gospel, incense, a candle, and so forth. Let us quote:

“Along with the Loshtak and the Phenuna, we Armenians have also had a third wondrous and sacred flower, one not well known but which appears to be natively Armenian: it is the one called hamaspyur or hamaspram.”

According to the aforementioned vardapet, and according to his namesake and near-contemporary, the great physician Mkhitar Heratsi, the hamaspyur “has a single root and puts forth 12 branches, and each has a flower of a different color, blue and purple, lily, and it is adorned with every other hue.”

The hamaspyur blooms in summer, but in order to find it “one must seek the flower at night, for at night it appears more radiant to the eyes of those who seek it.”

“We leave it to botany to describe the flower’s colors and its other properties, to determine its habitat and of what genus of plant it is — probably among those called Lychnis, and especially Lych. Orientalis, which at the beginning of the last century was observed and described by the celebrated French botanist Tournefort.”

The history of this flower of the carnation family, the Hamaspyur (Hamaspram), has also been examined in detail by Tamar Hayrapetyan in her admirable study Archetypal Conjunctions in Armenian Magical Folk Tales, from which here is a brief quotation (p. 79):

“According to manuscript evidence, Anania Shirakatsi personally took part in the searches for rare species of medicinal plants — the hamaspyur, for example.

The signs of the flower (the hamaspyur) are these. It has one root; and it puts forth 12 branches; and each has a flower of a different color, blue and purple and lily, and others, with which the Hamaspyur is adorned in every hue.”

The medieval account is also of value from the standpoint of applied medicine.

According to Alishan, “Hamaspram, Hamaspran, Hamaspyur, though compounded of different words,” are one and the same hamaspyur flower, and it must not be confused with other fragrant flowers…

Pliny the Elder, in his Natural History, attests that Armenia and Media were in antiquity the homeland of a number of valuable resin-bearing plants, among them the celebrated upan (Laserpitium), whose healing properties were highly prized in Rome.

Upan and Hamaspyur, once revered as plants of life, were relentlessly exported from Armenia for centuries, only to vanish completely from the Armenian landscape.

The Tree of Life, known as the Tree of the World, finds its embodiment in Hamaspyur, a flower that, according to Mkhitar Gosh, frees humankind from death, bestows wisdom, grants strength, and endows one with the power to walk on water.

The sacred beauty of Hamaspyur has been celebrated in the verses of Armenian poets and minstrels (David Saladzoretzi, Minas Tokhattsi):

There exists the Hamaspyur, the flower of flowers, a bloom of a thousand hues.
It grants light to the blind, if the Lord so wills for mankind.
With twelve roots it stands, blossoming once every twelve years.
Each stem bears a flower of a different color, and angels revel in its sweet scent.
The King Serpent reigns over it, white as the driven snow,
Chasing after Hamaspyur, drawing power from its fragrance…

Hamaspyur blooms in unreachable heights—upon the Mountain of Love, at the springhead of Makphut, on Mount Darun, Mount Bardu, within the gorges of Maseats, and in the mountains of Surmaru and Tsoghkert village.

Both Hamaspyur “Melamin” and the “Navruz” balsam are watched over by the Shahmar serpent (For the legend of the King Serpent drawing strength from the Hamaspyur, see manuscript no. 1495, fol. 152).

The same tale is echoed in Saladzoretzi’s hymn and in “Praise of Flowers” (G. Srvanztian).

The balsam flower Hamaspyur is intertwined with the cosmic tree in Armenian thought—akin to how the twelve months of the year mirror the twelve parts of the human body, or how a tree rising from the primordial sea in mythology mirrors Hamaspyur blooming in a mountain gorge, while the sacrificial bird or serpent at the tree’s base reflects the Shahmar serpent.

In mythology, whenever disorder touches the world or the human soul, it is seen as the work of chaotic forces disrupting cosmic harmony—forces that sacred rituals and incantations seek to repel.

“The healing power of Loshtak, Hamaspyur, and Penna (Paeonia officinalis, the ‘Crucifix Wood’), derived from their natural plant hormones, led to their veneration as sacred medicinal plants in ancient Armenia. This reverence has echoed through Armenian folklore and ethnography,” writes Tamar Hayrapetyan in her work “Healing Rituals and Biophysical Indicators in Armenian Folk Tales.”

Tumanyan, with keen insight, saw these ancient tales, steeped in ‘eternal symbols,’ as ‘chasms—deep, infinite, and boundless’… To me, they are also ‘A Garden of Fragrance.’

P.S. According to the “Dictionary of Toponyms of Armenia and Adjacent Regions”, the Hamaspyur flower, blooming once every twelve years, was a treasured gem of the Drunk Mountains in Upper Basen. David Salnadzortsi, a poet from Salnadzor village in the Motkan district of Bitlis Province, extolled it in his “Praise of Flowers”:

“The wondrous Hamaspyur blooms but once in twelve years.”

Today, among a select few, the “Flower of Life”, believed to restore youth, is Astragalus—a rare bloom in yellow and violet hues.

Wishing you days filled with the scent of flowers…

HAZARASHEN
also known as
“The Beam Passing Through the Skylight…”

Ancient creation myths highlight the triumph of Light over Darkness.

In discussing theories on the formation of the Universe and Life, Eznik of Kolb (5th century), in Refutation of the Sects, critiques the Epicurean idea of a “Self-Existing, Self-Sustaining World.” He illustrates the concept of creation by describing how dust particles in the air become visible when a ray of light passes through an opening.

(338) The Epicureans believe that the world exists by itself, like dust floating in the air when a beam of light shines through an opening, making the particles visible. They claim that the first elements were indivisible and eternal, and that through their condensation, the world formed—without God and without any guiding force shaping it.

Since ancient times, homes and religious structures throughout the Armenian Highlands have used natural sources of illumination, known as Loysijots or Lusantsuyts—roof openings (yerdik). Depending on the season, these were covered from the outside with waterproof layers of vegetation and soil, while in temples, a long pole-controlled shutter was used to regulate them from within.

One of the most remarkable examples is the Hazarašen, a wooden structure built from thousands of beams, with concentric polygonal frames of short logs that gradually taper toward the yerdik.

More than just a source of light and ventilation, the yerdik symbolized “the household, its members, the family, the hearth, and its smoke.”

Armenian chroniclers (Eznik, Agathangelos, Buzand…) and later historians estimated population sizes based on the number of roof openings, a method known as smoke-counting. As Buzand recorded: “Twenty thousand Armenian households.”

The domed roofs of traditional Armenian homes, originating in ancient times, were built on wooden frameworks in two main styles.

The first style, simpler in design, consisted of log frames placed parallel to the walls and gradually narrowing toward the roof opening (yerdik), with rough wooden planks filling the gaps between them.
This type was commonly found in regions with abundant construction wood, such as northeastern Armenia, the Chorokh Valley, and the villages of Karabakh.
It had various names, including Kondatsatsk, Soghomatsatsk, Soghomashen, and more frequently Gharnavush, Gharnaghush, among others.

The second style had a more complex polygonal structure, made of concentric frames of short beams or logs that gradually shrank toward the yerdik.
This method was used in regions with little timber, heavy snowfall, and frequent rains, particularly in Upper Armenia. It was widely known as Hazarašen or Hazarašenk.
The term was most commonly used in Kars, Bayazet, Bulankh, Basen, Mush, Alashkert, Sebastia, Bayburt, Derjan, Sasun, Leninakan, Akhalkalaki, Akhaltsikhe, and surrounding areas.

Additionally, in some places, Hazarašen was called Dastatsatsk (in villages of Ghukasyan and Leninakan), Soghomak’ash (in Yeghegnadzor, Lori, and Shabin-Karahisar), Soghomak’agh (in Alaverdi), and in other regions as Syurmak’ash, Shushatsatsk, and more.

These terms were often used interchangeably for different roofing styles, mainly due to frequent population movements and resettlements.

Still, the most widely recognized and authentic name that has endured is Hazarašen, derived from the fact that its roof was built using “thousands” of wooden pieces. (As cited in S. V. Vardanyan’s study, “Hazarašen and Its Significance in Armenian Architecture”).

From ancient Armenian temples, where the sunlight illuminating the deity’s sculpture held great significance, to the earliest Glkhatun dwellings with central openings (yerdik) and hearths, to medieval palaces and modern structures, Hazarašen has, for thousands of years, drawn our gaze upward—toward the Unfading Light…

At the Sardarapat Ethnographic Museum

“Trndez – Witness the strength of the rising smoke,
Plant a single seed, gather a thousand in return…”

Trndez: The Festival of Fire and Renewal

Trndez is a festival symbolizing fire, a sacred and life-giving flame that warms the Earth and its people. According to Kurm Harut Arakelyan, following the Armenian Haykian Sacred Calendar, Trndez is celebrated on the Hrant day of the Hrotic month (February 15). The festival is marked by special rituals meant to assist the transition from winter to spring.

Like Barekendan, which is observed around the same time, Trndez is associated with the rebirth of nature. It is a celebration of prosperity, hoping for a successful and fruitful new agricultural year. The rituals performed are believed to ensure fertility and abundance.

Because humans are deeply connected to nature and the cosmos, this festival was also a time to celebrate love, new marriages, and the promise of future generations.

“The festival fire is brought by the Kurms from the eternal flame burning in the temple. They light the fire and empower it with magic through sacred rituals. At the end of the festival, people take the fire home to light their hearths, ovens, or in modern times, candles,” explains Kurm Harut Arakelyan.

How Trndez Was Celebrated in Kharberd (From “Hushamatyan”)

“In February, bonfires are lit in the evening on the rooftops of Armenian homes in Kharberd, Hüsenig, and Mezire. Large piles of branches burn for hours, as boys and girls dance and sing around the fire. Some jump over the flames.

In rural villages, the festival—called Melet—is celebrated in a grand manner.
First, an evening church service takes place. Then, with candles lit, villagers head toward their neighborhoods to ignite the bonfires.

In some villages, the fire is only lit in the churchyard. In Barjanj (Bergenj/Akçakiraz), the largest donor of the day has the honor of setting the bonfire ablaze.

After the fire is lit, people return home with burning candles, and the celebrations continue on their rooftops. Families light smaller fires, singing and dancing late into the night. Dried branches (tsrdeni) are often used as fuel.

Young men eagerly participate in gathering firewood for the festival.

Even the ashes of the bonfire are believed to have protective powers. Villagers scatter them over rooftops to keep snakes and scorpions away during the summer. The ashes are also spread in barns, henhouses, fields, and vineyards, as people believe Melet (Trndez) brings fertility and prosperity.

In Datem village, Garib Shahbazian mentions that newly married men must follow the tradition carefully.
They are required to bring firewood and place it at the church entrance.
If they fail to do so, the evil spirit Shvot might punish them by taking away their young wives.”

Blessings, Fire, and Songs

As the bonfires burn, people express their wishes:

“May our hens lay eggs, may our cows give milk, may our brides bear children…”

Songs celebrating love and marriage have been sung during Trndez for generations:

“Girl, your name is Vardanush,
You are beautiful, your kiss is sweet,
What harm is there in a kiss?
It will neither fade nor grow old…”

“Oh Gurgen, Gurgen, you talked too much,
But you did not say what was needed.
To love is foolish,
But to hold back is worse.”

“Oh, girl Vardanush,
I will carry your burden,
I will carve the stones,
And I will keep you happy.”

“Love is for those who cherish it,
And wine is for those who drink it sweetly…”

“The Looting of the Century: The Dispossession of the Armenians in the Ottoman Empire”

For centuries, Armenians have fought for their independence, the restoration of their statehood, the liberation of Armenia from the rule of the Ottoman and Russian Empires, and the unification of the Armenian people within the Armenian Highlands, their ancestral homeland, to rebuild a strong and sovereign nation.

Following the Russo-Turkish War of 1877-1878, the “Armenian Question” became an integral part of the “Eastern Question.” To rid itself of this issue, the Ottoman Empire implemented various measures—systematically weakening and destroying Armenians economically and materially, subjecting them to massacres and extermination.
Yet, despite repeated violence, plunder, and the confiscation of Armenian lands and wealth, Armenians held a prominent place in the Ottoman Empire’s economy.

Until the early 20th century, numerous Armenian and foreign sources documented the economic strength of Armenians.

In a memorandum submitted to the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs on June 12, 1917, by Poghos Nubar Pasha, head of the Armenian National Delegation, it was stated that Armenians controlled 60% of imported trade, 40% of exported trade, and more than 80% of domestic trade.
In the six Armenian vilayets (Erzurum, Van, Bitlis, Diyarbakir, Kharpert, and Sivas), Armenians dominated 69-86% of commerce, industry, and various crafts.
All Armenian schools were under the full care of their communities, constituting more than 80% of the country’s total number of schools.

In a 16 October 1920 article in the New York-based newspaper “Call of Armenia” (“Kotsnak Hayastani”), titled “The Situation in Bursa”, noted that before 1915, 40 out of 50 silk production enterprises in Bursa and its surroundings were owned by Armenians.
Other Armenian and foreign sources reveal that in Erzurum, two-thirds of the city’s 3,000 shops belonged to Armenians, or, as M. Vrochenko wrote in 1835:
“The wealthiest merchants in the inner cities of Asia Minor are Armenians.”

One of the rare studies on the material losses suffered by Armenians due to the 1915 Genocide is Anahit Astoyan’s “The Looting of the Century: The Dispossession of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire, 1914-1923,” published in Yerevan in 2013.
This work, of exceptional significance, compiles irrefutable historical facts, archival documents, testimonies from Armenian, Turkish, and foreign sources, and press reports, reaffirming the systematic looting and expropriation of Armenian property by the Turkish authorities and others.

Here are a few excerpts from the book:

“Among the Christian subjects of the Ottoman Empire, Armenians stood out due to their numbers, resilience, and abilities, occupying a leading position. They controlled key sectors of the empire’s economy—crafts, trade, and industry—and were among its primary taxpayers.
Yet, Armenians became victims of Ottoman authorities and the Muslim population.
Through persecution and massacres, the Ottoman rulers succeeded in weakening the Armenian people, while the Muslim population, exploiting the situation, continued to exterminate Armenians by fire and sword, seizing their wealth.”
(From the book “Militarism” by Italian historian and writer Guglielmo Ferrero).

“British diplomat Pearce considered one of the main reasons behind the Hamidian massacres to be the fact that Armenians had managed to concentrate significant economic power in their hands and had played a pioneering role in the empire’s economic development.”

On October 31, 1915, from Constantinople, the Italian Commissioner for the Protection of Italian Nationals in Turkey, Talayan, sent a telegram to Italy’s Foreign Minister, Sonnino:
“The confiscated property of the deported Armenians is being handed over to the emptied state treasury, but more often, it simply enriches Turkish officials’ personal wealth.”

Johannes Lepsius summarized the situation bluntly:
“A robbery of this scale, unmatched in history, could only take place under Turkish rule.”

In another work, he noted:
“The deported Armenians had no choice but to leave behind everything—their homes, land, livestock, household and farming tools. The deportation was, in reality, the systematic seizure of Armenian wealth.”

U.S. Ambassador Henry Morgenthau described it even more starkly:
“The true aim of the deportations was plunder and destruction; it was a new method of extermination. When the Ottoman authorities ordered these deportations, they knew they were signing the death warrant of an entire people. They understood it fully and did not even try to deny it in our discussions.”

Fridtjof Nansen, in his book The Betrayed People, wrote about the Armenians’ financial losses:
“The Turkish authorities not only displaced and massacred entire populations of desperate people but also stole all their assets, worth billions.”

The material losses suffered by Armenians during the 1915-1923 Armenian Genocide at the hands of the Turkish government were so vast that their full extent is almost impossible to calculate. The challenge is even greater because the precise value of Western Armenian wealth before the genocide remains unknown.

One account from Karin (Erzurum) illustrates the scale of the looting:
*”Only during the deportations did the staggering wealth of the Armenians of Karin become evident, shocking everyone. If even a fraction of this wealth had been used for self-defense, it could have changed the fate of Armenians in the region. The forced deportations merely exposed these hidden and often denied fortunes.

Tens of thousands of sacks filled with valuables were stored in the Surp Asdvadzadzin Church, American institutions, and even in the homes of Turks once considered friends. Thousands of ox-carts carried away the essentials and precious belongings of Karin’s Armenians, along with vast amounts of gold—hidden on family members or within household items.

This gold and property were plundered and distributed across the region, from Karin to Baberd, Erzincan, Kemakh, Akn, Arabkir, Malatya, Adıyaman, Urfa, Suruç, and all the way to Aleppo—traded, stolen, and handed over to Turks and Kurds as bribes or ransoms.

As a result, hundreds of Armenian women, girls, and even some men and boys were able to escape and reach Urfa, Suruç, Aleppo, and Mosul. They were able to flee death and reached the armistice of 1918 as eyewitnesses to the atrocities—the systematic genocide committed with official approval by the Turkish government, using criminal police forces, bloodthirsty Turkish and Kurdish militias, and violent mobs.”*

“Armenian wealth was seized not only by the Turkish government and local Turkish, Kurdish, and Circassian populations but also by foreign interests. Reports in the Armenian press following the Mudros Armistice confirm this.”

Today, as the world faces critical political decisions, recognizing the Armenian Genocide and seeking reparations—including compensation for victims’ descendants and the Armenian nation—demands the preparation of a legal case against the Republic of Turkey, the successor to the Ottoman Empire, to restore rightful Armenian lands and property.

«“The Wild Rose Embodies My Land”
or
“Spring Will Arrive in Armenian, Your Centuries Will Arrive in Armenian”…»

On this day, April 14, 1914, the Armenian poet Hamo Sahyan was born—a poet who glorified his homeland, his birthplace with its “dewy lips,” and sang the “Song of the Cliffs.”

Deeply rooted in the culture of our ancestors, with an unshaken and pure spirit, this great Armenian poet has left us verses we often recall…

The singer who fought for the “Nairian Green Poplar,” the symbol of our historical homeland—the Land of Nairi—wrote:

You sway with grace in your emerald robes,
Shading the path of my childhood’s green fields.
Your call rings clear and loud
In the deep gorges of my heart,
O my far, far Nairian green poplar!

Ah, you burn like a bonfire,
A blaze of green flame!
From afar, I embrace you
With the longing fire of my heart.
You fill the fields with your familiar rustling,
O my far, far Nairian green poplar!

My skylark-child plays in your shade,
Singing your praise
With lips like a budding rose.
Bless his life, cradle him like a sleepless father,
O my far, far Nairian green poplar!

I am a singer of fire and steel;
I desire nothing but your love.
With a life as green as yours,
I have fought for you.
I shall die, so long as you may whisper free through the ages,
O my far, far Nairian green poplar…

“The wild rose is the symbol of my country.

…It asks for nothing. Even in drought, it bears good fruit.
It blooms multiple times—greens, whitens, yellows, reddens…
Humble, giving, yet covered in thorns.

A foreigner should recognize me by the wild rose bush, clinging to the rock.
It has the richest scent, the most vibrant color, the sweetest fruit.
Its roots run deep, strong, and firm—just try to uproot it…

The wild rose does not know how healing it is, how beautiful, how essential.
It does not know—and could never know—that it is Armenian,
That it carries the spirit of our people, so deeply characteristic of our nation.

It is we who must know this and show it to the world.

The wild rose holds the same worth as Tumanyan’s rock…

Through the essence of the wild rose, we must come to understand ourselves.”

These are the words of Hamo Sahyan (from Susanna Babajanyan’s Facebook page)…

“I am the eyes and ears of Mother Nature,
The consciousness of her embodied form.”

Thus, Sahyan described himself…

In one of his letters, Paruyr Sevak called Sahyan “one of the finest versifiers of our poetry.”

Here stands the proof…

«Our language»

…«From the reed pipe, smoke ascended,From the reed pipe, fire blazed,And out of the flames emerged a golden-haired young boy.»…

With the genius insight of Khorenatsi, the few lines of the hymn “The Birth of Vahagn” carry within them an extraordinary depth of ancient philosophical thought.

Flame and Smoke, Sacred Fire (Sun, Light), revered as life-sustaining forces and sources of vitality by our ancestors, were also personified in the chief deity of the pantheon—Thunderer, Lightning Bearer (known as Teshub or Tork, the God of Thunder and Lightning akin to Zeus and Jupiter, later evolving into Aramazd, Mihr, and Vahagn).

Through the currents of millennia, these beliefs, though slightly colored by time, have endured, reappearing during festivals and sacred rituals…

Even today, the blessing “May your hearth be prosperous,” often heard in traditional households, resonates with us. It conveys the timeless message to “keep the hearth’s flame alive,” passed as a sacred duty to future generations.

The Land of Nairi (Mitanni, later evolving into Urartu or Biainili, with territorial changes), referred to in cuneiform as the “Land of Fire,” still reflects the glow of its fiery temples. This can be seen today in rituals of candle-lighting, Chragaluyts (lamp-lighting ceremonies), and torches ignited on special occasions.

Although slightly altered, the essence remains…

What was once the Celestial Fire of ancient reverence is now symbolized by the “Lantern,” which inspired this reflection.

The ceremonial torch lit from the “Lantern” during the Pan-Armenian Games reaches back to antiquity, to Mount Olympus, the site of the legendary Olympic Games.

Prometheus, the son of Iapetus and forefather of Armenians, as well as a descendant of the Giants, stole Fire from Olympus and brought it to mankind—a source of divine wisdom and enlightenment.

For this, he was condemned, bound to a rock.

Thus, the quest for knowledge is a path born of toil and suffering.

By bestowing the Sun’s fire upon mortals, Prometheus enabled the development of many disciplines—metallurgy, architecture, astronomy… (In Sumerian mythology, it was Enki who spread Light, Wisdom, and Magic through Oannes, a mythical amphibian figure).

The sacred Eternal Fire of ancient temples was symbolically “harnessed” from the Sun using a parabolic mirror (skaphia).

Athletes would then carry torches lit from this celestial fire from Hestia’s sacred hearth to the games, paying homage to the Old Gods.

In homage to these ancient traditions, torch-lighting ceremonies are sometimes performed by white-robed “priestesses.”

As the great Varuzhan once sang, “…Through the reed pipe, Light arose…”

Below: A refined seven-branched lamp from Metsamor, bearing the weight of 4-5 millennia of history.

(Photo credit: Gevorg Nazaryan.)

The Byzantine Sources – About Armenia and Armenians

Over the centuries, numerous enemy invasions into Hayk brought about profound changes, shattering the political stability of the powerful Armenian World, diminishing Armenia’s dominant role, and weakening the strength of its noble houses.

The Roman-Persian treaty of 387 AD resulted in significant changes to the borders of the Kingdom of Greater Armenia.

“Procopius of Caesarea stands as one of the most prominent historians of Byzantium. He was born either at the end of the 5th century or the beginning of the 6th century in Caesarea, Palestine.”
… “Procopius lived during the era of Emperor Justinian, a time regarded as both one of the brightest and darkest chapters in Byzantine history. When Justinian ascended the throne in 527, he was determined to restore the ancient borders of the Roman Empire and revive its former glory. For this reason, his long reign saw continuous wars—against the Persians in the East, the Goths in the West, and the Vandals in Libya,” writes Hrach Bartikyan, who translated and published Procopius’s works concerning Armenia and the Armenians (Foreign Sources on Armenia and the Armenians, Vol. 5, Yerevan, 1967).

Here are selected excerpts from this work…

“…Corruption had reached staggering levels. It was possible to buy one’s way into the highest political and military offices, as well as the most exalted positions within the clergy.”
“…Even the judiciary, an institution meant to safeguard justice, had succumbed to corruption. Through bribes, one could even gain access to the royal guard.

Procopius of Caesarea, in his Secret History, laments bitterly that the royal guard—once composed solely of individuals selected for their exceptional military and physical abilities, a guard that historically admitted only Armenians—had, under Justinian’s reign, become open to anyone who could pay. Even slaves could join if they had the means. These flaws in the Byzantine state extended to Byzantine-controlled Armenia as well.

Historical documents reveal that corruption was rampant in First Armenia, Second Armenia, and Greater Armenia. Popular discontent against Justinian’s regime often manifested through the rise of various sects, which proliferated across the empire during this period.”

“…Justinian’s reign was a calamity for the Armenian people. It delivered the final blow to the remnants of Armenian independence, particularly the hereditary satrapies in southern Armenia, and sought to dismantle the Armenians’ ancient rights.”

“Within the Roman army, there was a commander of Persian-Armenian descent named Artavan. A long-time deserter, he had joined Roman-controlled Armenia voluntarily but in an extraordinary way—by slaughtering 120 capable Persian soldiers. This act was seen as proof of his loyalty to the Romans.

Artavan approached the Roman commander Valerian and requested 50 soldiers from his forces. His request was granted, and he proceeded toward a fortress in Persarmenia (Persian Armenia).

The Persian garrison, numbering 120 men, welcomed Artavan and his soldiers into the fortress, unaware of his betrayal of the Persian state and his plans to rebel. Artavan killed the entire garrison, seized the fortress’s immense wealth, and returned to Valerian and the Roman army.

This act cemented his reputation as a reliable ally to the Romans, and he participated in their subsequent campaigns. During one notable battle, Artavan, accompanied by two Roman soldiers, ventured into the enemy ranks.

A group of enemies approached, but Artavan immediately struck, using his spear to kill one of the fiercest and most powerful Persian warriors, unseating him and ending his life. A nearby barbarian retaliated, striking Artavan on the head with a sword, though the wound was not fatal.

One of Artavan’s companions, of Gothic origin, managed to strike the barbarian on his left side as he raised his weapon against Artavan, killing him. Terrified, the remaining thousand enemy soldiers retreated, awaiting the arrival of Khoryanes, who was advancing with the remaining Persian and Alan forces and soon joined them.”

Nerses the Armenian – Byzantine General

An excerpt from Procopius (On the Wars, Book 8, Chapter 31):

“…The armies were aligned for battle as follows: both forces stood face-to-face, forming a front line as wide and deep as possible. On the Roman left flank, near a hill, Narses and John commanded, leading the finest Roman fighters… On the right flank were Valerian, John Fagas, and Dagistheus, overseeing the remainder of the Roman forces…

In the center of the line, Narses placed the Lombards, Heruls, and other barbarian troops. He instructed them to dismount and form an infantry unit to prevent them from fleeing immediately in case of cowardice or betrayal during the battle.

…For a while, neither side made a move; both armies waited patiently for the other to attack first.

Eventually, from the Gothic forces, a man named Cocas, famed for his courage, rode his horse forward, stopping in front of the Roman army to issue a challenge for single combat. This Cocas had once been a Roman soldier but had defected to Totilas.

Without hesitation, one of Narses’ spear-bearers, an Armenian named Anzalas, mounted his horse and rode out to confront him.

Cocas struck first, aiming his lance at Anzalas’ abdomen. However, Anzalas quickly maneuvered his horse to the side, rendering Cocas’ charge ineffective. Taking advantage of his position, Anzalas drove his lance into Cocas’ left side.

Cocas fell lifeless from his horse to the ground. The Roman forces erupted in a triumphant cheer…”

To be continued.