Hayk Nahapet Հայկ Նահապետ | |
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 Hayk Nahapet | |
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Hayk[a] (Armenian:Հայկ,Armenian pronunciation:[hajk]), also known asHayk Nahapet (Հայկ Նահապետ,Armenian pronunciation:[hajknaha'pɛt],lit. 'Hayk the Patriarch'[1]), is the legendary patriarch and founder of theArmenian nation. His story is told in theHistory of Armenia attributed to the Armenian historianMovses Khorenatsi and in thePrimary History traditionally attributed toSebeos.[2] Fragments of the legend of Hayk are also preserved in the works of other authors, as well as in Armenian folk tradition.[3]
The name of the patriarch,Hayk (Հայկ), is not exactly homophonous with the Armenian name for "Armenia,"Haykʻ (Հայք). InClassical Armenian,Haykʻ is the nominative plural ofhay (հայ), the Armenian word for "Armenian."[2] WhileRobert W. Thomson considers the etymology ofHaykʻ (Հայք) fromHayk (Հայկ) to be impossible,[2] other scholars consider the connection between the two to be obvious and deriveHayk fromhay/Haykʻ via the suffix-ik.[4] Armen Petrosyan proposes a possible connection between the name Hayk and theProto-Indo-European*poti- "master, lord, master of the house, husband."[5] Armenian historiography of theSoviet era connectedHayk andhay withHayasa, a people mentioned inHittite inscriptions.[4][6] Some authors deriveHayk andhay fromKhaldi/Ḫaldi, the chief god of theUrartian pantheon, and also identify Hayk with the Urartian deity.[3][7]
The Armenian wordhaykakan (հայկական, 'that which pertains to Armenians') derives from the nameHayk. Additionally, the poetic names for the Armenian nation,Haykazun (հայկազուն) orHaykazn (հայկազն, consisting ofHayk andazn 'generation, nation, tribe'), also derive from Hayk (Haykazn/Haykaz later became a masculine given name among Armenians).[8]
Integrating the Armenian tradition intobiblical tradition, Movses Khorenatsi describes Hayk as a descendant ofNoah through the latter's sonJapheth: "Yapheth begatGamer [Gomer]; Gamer begatT‘iras; T‘iras begatT‘orgom [Togarmah]; T‘orgom begat Hayk."[9] Hayk's descendants through his son Aramaneak (Aramanyak) are listed as follows: "Aramaneak begat Aramayis; Aramayis begat Amasya; Amasya begat Gełam [Gegham]; Gełam begat Harmay [Harma]; Harmay begatAram; Aram begatAra the Handsome."[9] Hayk's other sons, according to Moses, were Khoṛ and Manavaz.[10] Moses also gives the names of numerous other descendants of Hayk (Haykazunis, "of Hayk's lineage," also known as the Haykids[5]), such asSisak,Skayordi,Paruyr, andVahe, some of which he identifies as kings of Armenia.[11] In reference to Hayk's descent from Torgom/Togarmah, medieval Armenian sources sometimes referred to Armenia asT‘orgoma tun ("House of Torgom") and to Armenians asT‘orgomyan azg ("the people of Torgom").[12] The connection between Hayk and the descendants of Noah was created by Christian authors following the Christianization of Armenia in order to connect Armenians to the biblical narrative of human history.[3][12][13]
In theGeorgian history attributed toJuansher, Hayk is likewise identified as the son of Torgom/Togarmah and described as "prince of the seven brothers and stood in service to the giantNimrod (Nebrovt') who first ruled the entire world as king."[14]
One of Hayk's most famous scions,Aram (whose name Moses purports to be the origin of the nameArmenia[15]), settled inEastern Armenia from theMitanni kingdom (Western Armenia), whenSargon II mentions a king of part of Armenia who bore the (Armenian-Indo-Iranian) name Bagatadi (which, like the Greek-based "Theodore" and the Hebrew-based "Jonathan," means "god-given").[16][verification needed]
Hayk was a handsome, friendly man, with curly hair, sparkling eyes, and strong arms. He was a man of giant stature, a mighty archer and fearless warrior. Hayk and his people, from the time of their forefathersNoah andJapheth, had migrated south toward the warmer lands near Babylon. In that land there ruled a wicked giant, Bel. Bel tried to impose his tyranny upon Hayk's people. But proud Hayk refused to submit to Bel. As soon as his son Aramaniak was born, Hayk rose up and led his people northward into the land ofArarad. At the foot of the mountain he built a village and gave it his name, calling Haykashen.
According to the accounts ofMovses Khorenatsi and the anonymousPrimary History, Hayk fought against and killed the tyrannical Babylonian king Bel (Belos, Belus). Depending on the mythological tradition,Belus can refer to a symbolic Babylonian/Akkadian god of war or mythical founder of Babylon.[17] Moses identifies Bel with the biblicalNimrod and gives a list of his ancestors and successors, drawing from the Bible andAbydenus viaEusebius's works.[18]
In Movses Khorenatsi's account (which he claims to have learned fromMar Abas Catina's writings), Hayk, son ofTorgom, had a child named Aramaneak while he was living inBabylon. After the arrogantTitanid Bel made himself king over all, Hayk emigrated to the region nearMount Ararat with his extended family, servants, followers and about 300 warriors and founded a village calledHaykashen.[19][20] On the way he had left a detachment in another settlement with his grandson Kadmos. Bel sent one of his sons to entreat him to return, but Hayk refused. Bel decided to march against him with a massive force, but Hayk was warned ahead of time by Kadmos of his pending approach. He assembled his own army along the shore ofLake Van and told them that they must defeat and kill Bel, or die trying to do so, rather than become his slaves.[21]
Moses writes that the armies of Hayk and Bel clashed near Lake Van "in a plain between very high mountains."[21] King Bel was initially in thevanguard, but seeing that the outcome of the battle was uncertain, he withdrew to a hill to await the arrival of the rest of his army.[21] Seeing this, Hayk slew Bel with a nearly impossible shot using his long bow, sending the king's forces into disarray.[21] Hayk named the hill where Bel fell with his warriorsGerezmankʻ, meaning "tombs".[21] He embalmed the corpse of Bel and ordered it to be taken to Hark‘ where it was to be buried in a high place in the view of the wives and sons of the king.[21] Soon after, Hayk established the fortress or settlement (dastakert) of Haykʻ orHaykaberd at the site of the battle, which, Movses Khorenatsi says, is why the district is calledHayotsʻ Dzor ("The Valley of the Armenians")[22] and the country of the Armenians is calledHayk‘.[21]
The 18th- and 19th-century scholarsGhevont Alishan andMikayel Chamchian, using different methods, calculated the date of themythical battle (also known as theDyutsaznamart,Armenian:Դյուցազնամարտ, "Battle of the Giants") between Hayk and Bel to have been August 11, 2492 BCE or 2107 BCE, respectively.[12][23]
Armen Petrosyan describes Hayk as "a complex epic figure that combines the characteristics of the god creator, the father and patriarch of gods, the thunder god, and the war god" that derives from Indo-European archetypes and influenced by Near Eastern mythology.[5] Hayk is a culture hero and anetiological founding figure, likeAsshur for theAssyrians, for example. The figure slain by Hayk's arrow is variously given asBel orNimrod.Hayk is also the name of theconstellation Orion in the Armenian translation of the Bible.[5] Hayk's flight from Babylon and his eventual defeat of Bel has been compared toZeus's escape to the Caucasus and eventual defeat of the Titans.[24] Petrosyan considers the Indian deityRudra to be the most similar mythological figure to Hayk. Both are associated with the constellation Orion, both have descendants or followers of the same name (Hays andRudras) and both are archers that kill their enemy with an arrow.[25]
{{cite encyclopedia}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)Hayk, the legendary archer, has been part of Armenian culture and history since time immemorial. He was the primary god of the most prominent group of Urartian tribes, which eventually evolved into the Armenian nation. Hayk is considered the patriarch of the Armenians, and is indeed for this reason that Armenians call themselves Hay (pronounced haï). Hayk derives from the Urartian deity Khaldi, whose divide attributes he originally assumed with the constellation Orion. The well-known epic of Hayk's fight against Bell provides substantial proof that Hayk and his people stood up against Bel and halted the unrestrained influx of Semitic peoples from the south.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)