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«FROM THE MEMORIES OF MY LIFE» (H. ACHARYAN)
Part D

When in Zeytun in 1895 the freedom-loving sons of Armenia rose in revolt and, besieged — resisted bravely for months on end — without food and ammunition…

Again a few pages from the memoirs of Hrachya Acharyan — below…

THE ZEYTUN UPRISING

During the massacres of the Turkish Armenians Zeytun rose against the Turkish government. The news of the fighting was reported day by day by the telegraph agency and published in Paris. At first things went well, suddenly they worsened, and one day the telegram reported that Zeytun was besieged by the Turks, and that the Zeytunians were in need of outside help.
This news greatly moved us: a group of young men prepared to leave for Zeytun. I too joined them and wanted to set out for Zeytun.

Naive youths! Where were we to go? Zeytun is not on the seashore, so that on getting off the ship we could enter it at once. From the seashore to Zeytun, over the tops of mountains, there is an enormous and difficult road. How were we to cross that road, who was to guide us, where were we to find the means of money? Would the Turks not notice us, foreigners? Nobody asked all this. Before leaving I spoke with Meillet and said that I was going to Zeytun to fight. He praised my idea, he said:

— You are doing very well, every man is obliged to serve his nation and to come to its help in hard days. But would it not be better if you waited a few more days, saw the course of events and then left?

— There is need of immediate help,- I said.
— And if the government suppresses the uprising before you arrive?…
— It cannot suppress it.
— Why can it not suppress it?
— Because above all it has no money to feed its army.
— It will find it: for a government finding money is very easy.

We waited a couple of days and suddenly a new telegram came:

«The Zeytunians have seized the kaymakamate and have taken under their rule the surroundings for a day’s journey all around».

We rejoiced and felt that the Zeytunians had no need of us for the time being.

At that time the Hunchak party was conducting propaganda and collecting money in favour of Zeytun.

I do not know whether it was the head of the government himself and editor of «Hunchak», Avetis Nazarbekyants (from Tabriz), who came to Paris in person, or his representative. They convened a general meeting in Paris: all of us Armenians were present. The chairman delivered an impressive speech and proposed to start a collection on the spot.
I, in an utterly poor condition, in need of a morsel of bread, seized a moment and, catching the senior of our students outside, donated my 20 francs kept for dire need, asking that my name never be given. When after a short break the meeting continued, the senior stood up and announced:
«One of our student comrades, who has no bread to eat, donated 20 francs on condition that his name never be revealed: take example from him». Everyone was looking at my face, because there was no student more needy than me.

Months passed. The Zeytun uprising ended successfully. Through the intervention of the Powers the Turkish government made peace with Zeytun, making various concessions. One of the concessions was that the leaders of the Zeytun uprising (6 people) should leave freely for Europe.

Indeed, a short time later they came to Paris. A large meeting was convened, at which the leader of the Zeytun uprising, Aghasi, spoke. He was from Hajin, his real name was Karapet Tur-Sargsyan (number 35), with whom I had been a classmate from class B to the end.

He was a very poor boy: his father was a coffee maker and at the end of Finjanjilar street had so small a shop that only he himself could fit in it: when I went to see him, I had to stand on the pavement.

So poor was Karapet that he did not even have a shirt to wear, and one day the physics teacher, the Frenchman Blanchon, was not ashamed to throw his poverty in his face and said:
— Shame on you, you do not even have a shirt to wear.

And indeed, he wore his jacket directly on his body. From class D he entered revolutionary activity. Rifles were being transported from Europe to the Homeland. One day Karapet showed me one of those rifles: outwardly it was an umbrella, but very heavy: it could be opened and held under the sun or the rain, but at the same time inside it was a rifle. Another time he showed me a walking stick, which, however, when pulled by the handle, became a bayonet or a sword. After graduating from the Getronagan he had left for Cilicia and had put himself at the head of the Zeytun uprising.

At length he told of the events of Zeytun, whose last episode was the following touching incident.

After the long siege and battles Zeytun no longer had either bread to eat or gunpowder to fight with: no one knew anything about it. It was necessary to get word to Patriarch Izmirlian and to report the true state of affairs. But all the roads were closed, it was impossible to pass through the ring of the Turkish army. A «woman of loose morals» undertakes to accomplish this task. She enters the Turkish army and, singing, dancing, amusing herself with the soldiers, breaks through the army and passes, reaches Marash and from there telegraphs Izmirlian. The Patriarch at once applies to the ambassadors and brings the work of peace to success.

The chairman of the meeting was Chopanyan.

He asked Aghasi: «What was that woman’s name?» «Mariam»,– said Aghasi. Chopanyan proposed that the meeting stand up and applaud her. Aghasi wrote an extensive history of Zeytun, which Chopanyan translated into French and published in Paris.

Aghasi went to America. Later I heard that he, remaining dissatisfied with revolutionary activity, had gone into trade and had acquired a paper factory. In a private conversation Aghasi told me that during its whole uprising Zeytun did not receive a single kopek of help from outside: the whole sum collected went into the personal accounts of the editor of «Hunchak». His wife (Maro) was so «patriotic» that she had not given even one holey stocking of hers to the nation.
My unfortunate 20 francs too had gone into Maro’s pocket.

A GREAT DEMONSTRATION IN PARIS

The Armenian massacres, the Cretan uprising and the Greek war made a great stir in Europe.
The French Chamber of Deputies delivered stirring speeches, liberal newspapers continually wrote articles against the Turkish government. Students held noisy demonstrations and at last a great demonstration was organized, the like of which I had neither seen before nor saw again.
Notices were posted everywhere and everyone was invited to take part in the demonstration on such and such a day. The meeting place was the square in front of the Panthéon. The demonstrators numbered 150.000 people.
I too was in the first row. The leader of the demonstrators was a Polish student, who, bareheaded, umbrella in hand, issuing orders right and left, was leading the crowd. Right on his left side I was standing. The crowd of 150.000 went down from the Boulevard Saint-Michel. In front of all the windows and balconies the people, filled with enthusiasm, were cheering.

Singing and with loud shouts we went down to the Boulevard Saint-Germain. Here, at the point where the boulevards cross, mounted soldiers were standing (in great numbers), who watched us smiling.
No one touched us. We passed on. Suddenly behind us the attack took place. When half of our army had passed, the cavalry regiment attacked the crowd from the right side, broke through it and split it apart.

Thus the 150.000 had turned into 75.000. They applied the same method a few more times, whereby the number of our group was greatly reduced. On the Boulevard Sébastopol the police arrested 8 people from the first row, about whom the newspapers had written: «parmi lesquels un Arménien – among whom an Armenian».
That Armenian was I.
They took us to the police station. It was rather cold, the policemen had lit a fire, and we too, gathered round the fire with them, were warming ourselves. All the policemen were talking with us like old friends, not a single bitter allusion to the demonstration. I asked what they were going to do with us. «What are we going to do, we shall wait until midnight, after which we shall let you go».
Before the demonstration, the state had announced that it would punish the demonstrators severely, and if any foreign subject was found among them — it would expel him from the country.
Midnight came: they wished us a good journey. Later I learned that the number of demonstrators, continually shrinking, had come down to 30; they went to the Turkish embassy, sang, shouted, stoned the windows and went away.

JAURÈS’S SPEECH

The students, having rented a large hall, had organized a large meeting there. At first a lady spoke at length in French…
…After the lady the eminent national figure Minas Cheraz went up onto the stage, who also spoke in French and began to tell of the massacres to which the Armenians had fallen victim in various cities.

The hall, that spacious hall, was full from end to end of a select crowd.
The students had specially invited all the deputies, literary figures, renowned scholars and so on. At the very back — sitting on the amphitheatre were we — the students.
In one of the first rows of the audience someone suddenly said in a loud voice:
«All that is a lie».
Cheraz was shaken, stammered, said in fright:
«I have gathered all that information from English sources».
The students made an uproar.
Behind me stood Artashes Neturyan — one of the pupils of the Getronagan, a class below me, a handsome, tall boy.
At once he leapt from his place and, stretching out his long stork-like legs, jumping over our heads, reached the first row.
Below, the students sitting beside this young man had climbed on his back, and to protect himself he had hung his head down.
Neturyan arrived and from the front gave a strong kick to his nose and mouth.
In accordance with French law, they called in the policeman standing by the door and announced that this young man was disturbing our meeting: the policemen took him and led him away.

When Cheraz began to stammer… Jaurès leapt from his place like a lion and with his thunderous voice began such a speech that the whole audience greeted it with jubilant applause.

He said:

• That information is not merely gathered from English telegrams, but is known to the whole world: the Turks have always massacred the Christian peoples, and now too they are massacring the Armenians.
  Let all of us Europeans protest unanimously and demand from our governments — to curb at last these violences of the Turks.
  How magnificent Jaurès’s speech was…
  …The meeting ended and we dispersed.
  Some time later at the university I saw a young man, with whom, having become acquainted, I was talking. Suddenly I noticed that his nose was crooked.
• What happened to your nose?- I asked.
• These Armenians of yours did it, – he said,- during Cheraz’s speech, when I remarked that that information was not true, your Armenians attacked me, and one of them broke my nose with a kick.
• What nationality are you?- I asked.
• Swedish.
• What are you saying, the Swedes are an honest people. What reason did you have to stand up and speak against the Armenians?
• I knew nothing. That day I had gone on business to the Turkish embassy: there they said that Cheraz and Jaurès were going to speak about the Armenians, but, they said, their information about the Armenian massacres was not true. And I too expressed my opinion at the meeting.
• You have got the punishment you deserved, another time you will not commit such foolishness.

«FROM THE MEMORIES OF MY LIFE» (H. ACHARYAN)
Part C

Though with extremely scant material means — yet with a firm spirit and steadfastness, with inexhaustible creative energy, Hrachya Acharyan was a scholar. After receiving his primary education in his birthplace — Constantinople, he reached Paris — following at the university the courses of comparative grammar, Zend, Arabic, Sanskrit, Pahlavi, and cuneiform.

In a period cruel for the Armenian nation — in those nightmarish years of the Hamidian massacres, H. Acharyan deepened his knowledge day by day. In 1898 — having completed the courses of the Sorbonne, he leaves Paris for Germany — to attend the lectures of Hübschmann in Strasbourg.
Returning to the homeland — he devotedly enriches his extensive works of Armenian studies — in Shushi, in Tabriz, in Karin — at the Sanasaryan school, in Nor-Nakhijevan, in Yerevan, alongside his pedagogical activity.

Again some small fragments from H. Acharyan’s book «From the memories of my life» — below.

FINAL EXAMINATIONS

In the month of June of the year 1893 our final examinations began.
It was the day of victory of our struggle: they exempted us from the examination in the sciences, against which we had struggled. Unfortunately two of those who had struggled had left — without enjoying the laurels of their struggle. There remained I and the pitiful Barnabas. To justify my last adjective, let me tell the following.
— Barnabas asked me: «How do you distinguish the words «or» and «zor»»:
I answered — «Or is nominative, zor — accusative»: «How do you understand that one is nominative and the other — accusative»:

The examinations took place in the Caucasian manner; that is — a list of questions had been drawn up, and we drew lots.

The examinations were open to the public, and anyone could be present and ask the pupils any question he wished.
I will not describe all my examinations one by one, but a few important ones.

First — the Armenian language (Grabar).
Present, besides Karagash and Mostichyan, were a group of outside guests, of whom I remember Father Gabriel Menevishyan, a member of the Vienna congregation, who was sitting right beside Karagash, and Misak Kochunyan (Kasim), who was known as the translator of the «Narek».

When I presented myself, they proposed that I draw a lot, but I refused — saying:

— Ask whatever you wish, I am ready to answer.

Everyone was pleased at this boldness of mine. Menevishyan took the floor and said:

— What opinion have you about Khorenatsi?

At that time the question of Khorenatsi’s date was sharply posed. The Vienna congregation was generally hostile to Khorenatsi, considering him a deceitful historian. So too, as we know, judged Karagash. To defend Khorenatsi was considered conservatism.

I took a middle position, and said that, although our teacher Karagash is entirely opposed to the traditional history, yet to reject everything at once and to subject Khorenatsi to cavilling — is premature.

— What is he saying,- asked Karagash, whose ears had become rather hard of hearing from old age.

Menevishyan, laughing, informed Karagash in a loud voice:

— Your pupil is speaking against you.

— Let him speak, let him speak,- said Karagash,- Vardan is a good boy.

Kochunyan, who was sitting beside me, took the floor. He took out of his pocket a small-format «Narek» and, opening a page, proposed that I read and translate it. Seeing that the book was the Narek, I refused to read it, saying:
— Our teacher Karagash Efendi has forbidden us to read non-Golden-Age books; if he permits — I shall read it.
— What is he saying,- asked Karagash again.
Menevishyan again reported what I had said and said that I would await his order.
Karagash gave permission.
I began to read the Narek with a pure pronunciation and a sensitive intonation, and when I was about to translate, Kochunyan took the Narek from my hand — saying:
— To read with such beautiful pronunciation is enough to show that you have understood well; there is no need to translate.
Thus ended my Armenian examination; perhaps Kochunyan too had difficulty understanding the Narek and wanted to come out of it with honour.

THE LAZ LANGUAGE

Below our seaside house in Sariyer there was a large hall (in Turkish — khovush), where a group of Laz fishermen lived. They caught the fish called tuna (palamut ), cut it up in thick pieces and salted it in small barrels. This was one of the export goods of Constantinople.

The Laz are a Caucasian people, closely related to the Georgians. They have a separate language — Laz. When the Russians took Batumi, the whole Laz people emigrated to Turkey. A part had also come to Constantinople.

When I compiled the dictionary of roots, I decided to put beside each root its original form, if there is one. Thus, beside the word «patker» — Persian pejker, beside the word «episkopos» — Greek episcopos and so forth. But many words remained without comparison. Since the Laz are a Caucasian people, I thought that they might have some words corresponding to Armenian.

But the Laz are an indecent people; it was not possible to establish closeness with them. I found an old Laz, named Mehmed. Emigrated from Batumi — he sat on the seashore selling fruit. I went to him and, greeting him, began to converse (in the Turkish language). Grapes were set out before him. I asked what they call this in Laz. He answered — «ghurjeni». I immediately thought that this is our word «hagharj» (of course such an etymology is not acceptable, but I was not yet versed in the laws. Such comparisons some make even to this day, and N. Marr always made them): Near the grapes there was an unripe cluster; I asked what you call this.
— Zhuri.
About this word there was no longer any doubt that it is our word «zhur».
— What do you do with that zhur?
— We squeeze it and pour it over the dolma.
— What do you call that juice?
— Katsákhuri.

I had asked three words, all three turned out to be Armenian. I resolved to learn Laz, so as to collect the remaining words too.

I took the Handy Dictionary and every evening went to him, took a chair from the coffee house, ordered a coffee for each of us and, asking words for a few hours, recorded them in my notebook.

After the dictionary, my appetite was whetted and I decided to learn the grammar too.

How difficult it was to study grammar with an illiterate man.
I give one example – I ask how they say «to die». I knew that illiterate people have no notion of the word, one must speak in a whole sentence. He in turn asked: «Who died?». So as to have mentioned someone, I said:
— «Ali died»:
— «What are you saying, I saw Ali yesterday; when did he die?»:
— «I said something false»:
— «What need is there to speak falsely, speaking falsely is a bad thing»:

That is how it went the whole time…

…The grammar was harder than the dictionary; how to ask about cases from a man who does not know cases?
Continually, day after day, I learned by heart the words I had written down: …

…One evening I told the Laz that tomorrow I would speak Laz with him. Indeed — I learned the grammatical rules too and the next day began to speak with my teacher in short sentences. The man was astonished and said:
«Now you know Laz better than I do»:
To make the book more complete I took down a few songs, as well as — a face-to-face conversation. One evening the Laz turned to me and said: «The Turkish police are pursuing you; what business does he have, sitting every evening and conversing with a Laz? Is he perhaps instilling revolutionary ideas? Look, he said, – when the Laz make friends with someone, they remain friends for ever. Do not come to me any more, flee, if you can, they are pursuing you»:
I went away and never saw my Laz teacher again.

The example of Laz shows well how great a role chance plays in our life. If the Laz had not lived below our house, whence would I have formed an idea of the Laz language? And if Mehmed agha had not sold grapes but sold apples, whence would I have known the words «ghurjeni, zhuri and katsákhuri», which served as the stimulus to learn that language? Do you think that I found many other words resembling Armenian? Never at all, those first three words amazingly turned out to be the first and the last. Of the hundreds of words I asked — I barely found 10 words, the most beautiful of which is — omisura = msur.

Let us continue the game of chance.
When in the year 1894 I went to Karin, we took the pupils of the Sanasaryan school for the summer to the place called Artadzor, where for a whole month we spent the nights under tents. There too the watchman was a Laz and, delighted at my «Laz scholarship», he became good friends with me.

On beautiful nights, under the light of the moon, he taught me a few Laz songs, which I also included in my collection.
When I went to Paris, I presented all the material to my teacher Meillet.
The Laz language had no literature; nor had it been studied, so Meillet examined my work with pleasure and, as a notable scientific novelty, presented it to the Linguistic Society of Paris.
I too had the honour of being elected a member of the same Society and my book was published in its entirety in the Society’s collection, giving me too, as a reward, 50 copies of the same book (offprints).

«FROM THE MEMORIES OF MY LIFE» (H. ACHARYAN)
Part A

With his scholarly activity of nearly half a century, the Armenian linguist, academician of the Academy of Sciences of Armenia Hrachya Acharyan excavated the treasury of the Armenian language and left to the generations the fruits of his prolific work in Grabar, linguistics, comparative grammar, dialectology, etymology and other fields.

Born in 1876 in the Samatia quarter of Constantinople, in a craftsman’s family, H. Acharyan received his primary education in his birthplace — at the Kedronakan school. In 1895 the paths of higher education brought him to France — to the Sorbonne University of Paris, from where he returned to the homeland — to continue his fruitful scholarly and pedagogical activity in various cities…
In the memoirs he left at the sunset of his life, the distinguished Armenologist gives valuable information about numerous Armenian and foreign intellectuals and public figures.

«As a head and as a heart — I foretold a great future for that called pupil of the Kedronakan… he has everything to advance, to grow great… for he is a poet too. And contrary to the saying — instead of the word it is the writing that will fly and come to us». (Yeghia Temirchipashyan — about H. Acharyan)

Some passages from H. Acharyan’s book «From the memories of my life» — below…

MY COURSE OF STUDY

Many times I have thought about what was the reason that I entered this profession. That is the same as if we asked why some choose this and some that profession. Is the inclination innate, or does it arise from various conditions?

I think that conditions have a very great influence, as will appear from the following lines.

My mother was entirely illiterate. So too was my elder sister, who until her death did not recognize even the letter A. My father was semi-literate, but very hard-working and eager to learn. Two small anecdotes will show the degree of his literacy.

One day, coming to the school, my father asks the trustees: «How is my son doing in his studies?». They answer: «Your son is very studious». My father says: «A pity, instead of being studious, if he were working — it would be better».

Another time I bring home the school marks I had received. With us at that time the pupil’s mark was written in words and not in figures. On my sheet, against the subjects, were put several «excellent», «best» and one «good». My father — reading that sheet, remarked to me: «Why do you have only one «good», the others are «best»»:
I was afraid of exactly the opposite, because «good» was lower than «best», while he, it was astonishing, thought the opposite.
I said: «Father, «best» is higher than «good»»:
–«Whom are you trying to fool, «lavaguyn» — that is, merely having the colour, guyn, of lav, good».
I explained at length, but he was not convinced and only outside, asking in the coffee house, did he learn with astonishment that «best» is higher than «good»»:

«… My mother had had a cousin, the son of her paternal uncle, who was a priest and for that time was considered a learned man. He had died, and one of his books had fallen to my mother as an inheritance. It was a small-format «History of the Armenians», printed in Venice. I do not remember the author’s name and the year of printing, but I remember the outward appearance of the book well.
My father — loving the History of the Armenians exceedingly, continually made me read it not only during rest, but also during work.
In his shop, which at one time was in our garden, or when he worked sitting at the table in the room, I too, sitting opposite him, read that book. When the book ended, he made me read it again. And so on and on.
So that I can say that I read that book several dozen times. At the end of the book was placed the list of the names of all the patriarchs and kings of the Armenians — from Hayk to Levon VI. I had read it so much that to this day I know that whole list by heart and can repeat it like a machine.

Thus was born in me an inextinguishable love for the history of the Armenians, which later passed to general history.
I had read the history of every nation that I had been able to obtain. Every book in whose heading «History» was written always had an attractive charm for me, and I read it with great love — even if it were «History of birds».

My father had bought for me the French dictionary of Larousse .
In the second part of that book, as is known, we find a large list of names; there are marked the names, dates and lives of the kings of various countries, in the alphabetical order of the dictionary. I, a pitiful naive child, turning all those names into a regular list by countries and by chronology — had compiled a work. And for me the greatest pleasure was to read, for example — the chronological series of the kings of France; and so — of other countries. As if those countries did not have their own history book or manual.

Thus, then, in my childhood, having as my guide that little volume of the History of the Armenians, I had created in myself a love for Armenian and general history. It was that love which turned from history towards the languages of nations; in other words — from history I passed to linguistics.

For language too I had no guide. At the end of our street there was a Greek grocer; I asked him to give me the Greek alphabet; I learned all the letters and at that young age of mine read Greek freely.
A few streets away there was a Jewish pedlar, from whom we sometimes made purchases. The pedlar was a venerable and kind old man with a white beard. Spectacles on his eyes, head bent over the books, and according to their custom — always rocking, he read. I asked him too to give me the Hebrew alphabet, with their names and values. He wrote the 22 letters on a sheet, and I, learning quickly, read Hebrew too.

In our school as a foreign language, besides Turkish, we learned French. But there were schools where instead of French they taught English. Such was the school of the Nor quarter of Samatia, where our neighbour’s son — Yervand — was a pupil. On Sundays he came to our house and, sitting on the threshold of the door, studied English with me»…

«I had not yet passed on to German and other languages. I learned Grabar very well and wondered, as I still wonder to this day, why others have so much difficulty learning Grabar»…

To be continued…

In the photo — the parents of Hrachya Acharyan

«WHICH IS THE GLORY OF OUR NATION AND ITS LIFE-GIVER»…

The natural philosophers of the ancient world trained their senses to decipher the hidden mysteries of the universe, sharpened their ears «to distinguish from one another the sounds of atomic motions», to understand their meaning… And they glorified the power of the ray of the Sun, sang the praise of the one who bestows light, plenty and well-being on the Earth, blessed the Life born under the influence of its warmth and through the interaction of the other elements of Nature.

In the deeply mysterious past the wise Kurms spoke and communicated with Nature, and also «made speak» splendid Nature and the boundless Universe.
The ancient truths today enlighten mankind anew.
And the age-old feasts and rites, with the interpretations of the Kurms of the Haykian Brotherhood, rise again in their true meaning — each with its own particularities.

Man is a harmonious particle of Nature.
By the instinct of self-preservation he is inclined to secure his existence — avoiding all that threatens his life. Naturally, he prefers to develop his strength and well-being — as the guarantee of health and of the best living conditions.

Being a rational being — since time immemorial Man has tried to find explanations for interpreting the phenomena taking place in the world surrounding him.
The changes arising in the Universe, in Nature, as a result of the combination and decomposition of substances, the origin of Life, he tried to explain with natural, rational, logical foundations.
To see, to study, to know, to comprehend the essence of phenomena and the cause-and-effect connection of their changes and, in that chain, the place and role of Man — as virtuous, creating, producing good things…
The age-old rites and feasts are the manifestation of the unity and interconnectedness of Man and Nature; they sing the praise of the eternal cycles of Nature, and consequently of the perpetuation of Life.

The newly arriving, green-adorned, verdant spring announces the renewal — the restoration anew — of Nature wondrously blossoming «with new-budding plants and flowers».
The «verdure-bearing roots, plants, herbs» of the newly clad — newly sprouting, newly blossoming earth shoot up again, the seeds germinate, blossom — turn green and herald the coming fruitfulness of the soil — its flowering and prosperity.

«The many-coloured plants have turned green with life»,- the joyful glad tidings resound and are passed on from generation to generation…

Photo by: Arle

Strengthened by the wisdom of the Haykazuns, our Ancestors — «Men of hidden mind and deep thought», developed various means of bequeathing the Haykian value system to their generations.
«As treasures hidden away» they continued to immortalize «the guardian of the Armenian nation and of mankind», «the Spotless and Immaculate Goddess Anahit, who is the Glory and Life-giver of the land of the Armenians» — patroness of fertilization, of procreation, of agriculture, of animals and vegetation, of the Waters, and at the same time also patroness of War and of Armenian statehood.

The TEMPLE OF ANAHIT in Pteria

(photo — by Charles Texier , 1882)

Under the patronage of «the Great Lady» — Dits-Mother Anahit, during the feasts, the Kurms, the kings with their retinues, the many thousands of pilgrims stretching from various places of the world of the Armenians towards the sacred places of worship took part in the enthusiastic festivities around the richly treasured Anahitian temples…

According to the interpretation of the Kurms of the Haykian Brotherhood — under the patronage of Golden-mother — Gold-born and Gold-cast Dits-Mother Anahit are celebrated —

1. the feast of Motherhood — on the day of Anahit of the month of Areg (on April 8),
2. the feast of Mother Nature — on the day of Lusnak of the month of Ahekan (on May 13),
3. the Blessing of the Grapes — on the day of Astghik of the month of Sahmi (on August 24),
4. the Blessing of the Bread — on the day of Anahit of the month of Sahmi (on September 5):

«AS TREASURES HIDDEN AWAY» — today too in the heart of the present capital of the Armenians — in the mother-city Yerevan — in her image of defender of Armenian statehood, from a wondrous height, sword in hand, «MOTHER ARMENIA» watches over her children — with the majesty of DITS-MOTHER ANAHIT.

As the Goddess who ensures yield, abundant fruitfulness and well-being — holding in her hands the good things bestowed by the Armenian soil, she rises sublime in various places of the world of Armenia — for the glorification and for the perpetuation of the Haykian generation…

P.S. For the choice photos of the colourful flowers of the Armenian fields, of the wonderful high relief symbolizing the image of Dits-Mother Anahit and of K. Nurijanyan’s sculpture located in Dilijan, great thanks to the gifted author — Arle.

AS AN EVER-BURNING LIGHT

The Haykean teaching is a priceless treasury — an ever-burning Light, by which for millennia the Haykazuns have been educated, with the system of values fashioned by their Forefathers.
Aspiring to perfection, having as an example the Gods who symbolize the highest human virtues, the noble-minded and brave sons of Hayk followed and to this day follow the Wisdom of their Ancestors, keeping in everything and everywhere «the canonical measure», «sobriety».
The source that grants joy to the spirit and health to the body is the balance of the person, which begets and nourishes the ever-wakeful and calm mind, sound thinking, vigilance and justness.

To the food necessary for a person’s healthy life and vital activity, naturally, special attention has been paid from time immemorial.
The Haykean teaching attaches importance to a right diet based on plant food. Plants, grains, fruits and vegetables ripened by the warmth of the Sun, by their beneficial effect, contribute to the regular activity of a person’s body and mind.
The Haykazun Kurms have urged the Arevordis to feed on vegetation that has absorbed the life-giving light of the Sun’s rays. And today too their descendants remind us of that precept, stressing the importance of purifying the body by fasting, as well as of clearing the mind by meditation, of keeping the peace of the spirit undisturbed.

Turning to the period of Fast that follows the feast of Trndez, celebrated on the day of Hrant of the month of Hrotits in the Haykean calendar, Kurm Harut Arakelyan, a representative of the priestly order of the Haykean Brotherhood, stresses the necessity of a strict limitation of foodstuffs, of abstaining from animal food —
in order to greet the Armenian New Year-Easter at the spring equinox, on the day of Areg of the month of Areg (on 21 March), with a purified, renewed spirit and body.

Presenting the book «Raw-Eating» (Vegetarianism) of «the Enlightened Haykazun, Arshavir Ter-Hovhannisyan, born in Iran», in which the author treats of ancient wisdom, he writes:
«And may it be that our Creator’s Life-giving Light become a source of life in the hearts of all Pious Haykazuns»…

«The ancient sages had a developed system for communing with the spiritual biosphere, which developed, revealed the sense-organ of the human mind» (ATERHOV – Arshavir Ter-Hovhannisyan, 1898-1990).

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 nitre (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 – See the face of the smoke,
Sow one pood, reap a thousand…”

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.”

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.