Month: February 2025

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.

Hamaspjur is also mentioned by Ghevond Alishan in his book Ancient Faith or the Pagan Religion of the Armenians, linking it to medieval healing traditions and spiritual rituals.

Medieval texts describe Hamaspjur as:

“A flower with a single root and twelve branches, each bearing a different colored bloom—blue, crimson, lily, and others—adorned with every hue.”

Said to bloom in summer, “it appears most radiant to those who seek it in the darkness.”

Pliny the Elder also noted Armenia as home to rare medicinal plants, including the highly prized Opopanax, revered in ancient Rome for its healing properties.

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, dated 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 Heist 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.

A 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 survived the massacres and later testified 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»