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Theorigin of the Armenians is a topic concerned with the emergence of theArmenian people and the country calledArmenia. The earliest universally accepted reference to the people and the country dates back to the 6th century BCBehistun Inscription, followed by severalGreek fragments and books.[1] The earliest known reference to ageopolitical entity where Armenians originated from is dated to the 13th century BC asUruatri inOld Assyrian.[2]Historians andArmenologists have speculated about the earlier origin of the Armenian people, but no consensus has been achieved as of yet. Genetic studies show that Armenian people areindigenous tohistorical Armenia,[3] showing little to no signs ofadmixture since around the 13th century BC.[4]
Recent studies have shown that Armenians areindigenous to theArmenian Highlands and form a distinctgenetic isolate in the region.[5] Analyses ofmitochondrialancient DNA of skeletons fromArmenia spanning 7,800 years, includingDNA fromNeolithic,Bronze Age,Urartian,classical andmedieval Armenian skeletons,[6] have revealed that modern Armenians have the leastgenetic distance to them compared to neighboring peoples such asTurks andAzerbaijani Turks, but followed closely byGeorgians. Armenians are also one of the genetic isolates of theNear East. There are signs of considerablegenetic admixture in Armenians between3000 BC and 2000 BC but they subside to insignificant levels since 1200 BC, remaining stable until today.
In a study published in 2017,[6] the completemitochondrial genomes of 52 ancient skeletons from present-dayArmenia spanning 7,800 years were analyzed and combined with 206 mitochondrial genomes of modern Armenians and previously published data of seven neighboring populations (482 people).
| Period | Samples |
|---|---|
| Neolithic | 3 |
| Chalcolithic | 1 |
| Kura–Araxes | 6 |
| Trialeti–Vanadzor | 5 |
| Lchashen–Metsamor | 29 |
| Urartu | 4 |
| Classical /Medieval | 4 |
| Modern | 211 |
Coalescence-based analyses suggest that the population size in theregion rapidly increased after theLast Glacial Maximum around 18,000 years ago. During theBronze andIron ages, many complex societies emerged from distinctive cultures such asKura–Araxes,Trialeti–Vanadzor, Sevan–Artsakh,Karmir Berd,Karmir Vank', Lchashen–Metsamor, andUrartian. No changes in the female gene pool could be documented, supporting acultural diffusion model in the region (the spread of cultural items—such as ideas, styles, religions, technologies, languages—between individuals, whether within a single culture or from one culture to another).
The study sampled 44 ancient human skeletons according to establishedaDNA guidelines from a total of 19 archaeological sites in Armenia and Artsakh. Based on contextual dating of artifacts, their ages are estimated to be between 300 and 7,800 years old, which covers seven well-defined cultural transitions.
The study shows that modern Armenians have the lowestgenetic distance between the ancient individuals in this dataset—followed closely byGeorgians—compared to other populations such asTurks,Persians, andAzerbaijanis.
According to a study published in 2015,[7] in which a genome-wide variation in 173 Armenians was analyzed and compared to 78 other worldwide populations, Armenians form a distinct genetic cluster linking theNear East,Europe, and theCaucasus.
The genetic landscape in the Near East had more affinity toNeolithic Europe than the present populations do. Armenians seem to share a similar affinity to thoseNeolithic farmers as do other genetic isolates in the Near East, such asGreek Cypriots,Mizrahi Jews, andMiddle Eastern Christian communities. Twenty-nine percent (29%) of Armenian ancestry seems to originate from an ancestral population that is best represented by Neolithic Europeans. This suggests that they may derive from a people who inhabited the Near East during theNeolithic expansion of Near Eastern farmers into Europe beginning around 8,000 years ago.
An earlier study from 2011[8] has also shown a prevalence of Neolithic paternalchromosomes associated with the Agricultural Revolution. Collectively, they constitute 77% of the observed paternal lineages in the Armenian Plateau – 58% inSason and an average of 84% inArarat Valley,Gardman andLake Van.
Bronze Age demographic processes had a major impact on the genetics of populations in the Armenian Highlands. Armenians appear to originate from a mixture of diverse populations occurring from3000 BC to2000 BC. This period coincides with theKura-Araxes culture, the appearance ofHittites inAnatolia,major population migrations after thedomestication of the horse, and the appearance ofchariots. It also coincides with the legendaryfoundation of the Armenian nation in 2492 BC. According to theA genetic atlas of human admixture history published by Hellenthal et al. in 2014, admixture is not inferred or is uncertain.[9]
Up until recently, it was hypothesized that the Armenian people migrated from theBalkans into the Armenian Highlands, based on a passage byHerodotus in the 5th century BC claiming a kinship between Armenians andPhrygians. However, the results of a 2020 study on Armenian genetics "strongly reject" this long-standing narrative, and shows that Armenians are genetically distinct from the ancient populations of the Balkans.[10]
As was concluded in earlier studies, the 2020 study reaffirms the pattern of genetic affinity between modern Armenians and the ancient inhabitants of the Armenian Highlands since theChalcolithic. It reveals a "strikingly high" level of regional genetic continuity for over 6,000 years with only one detectable input from a mysteriousSardinian-like people during or just after the middle to late Bronze Age. Modern Sardinians, having the highest genetic affinity to early European farmers who migrated into Europe fromAnatolia and introduced farming around 8,000 years ago,[11] have 38–44% of ancestry from anIranian,Steppe, andNorth-African-related source. However, no detectable signs of input from sources similar to Anatolian farmers or Iranians were detected that may have altered thegene pool of the population of the Armenian Highlands. The input plausibly came by northwards migrations from the Middle East rather than the isolated island ofSardinia, but no conclusions have been made about the identity of the migrating peoples as of yet, nor whether the cause was cultural or climatic.
Starting from around1200 BC, during theLate Bronze Age collapse, around the time when theNairi tribal confederation andUrartu begin appearing in historical records, signs of admixture decrease to insignificant levels until today. It seems that widespread destruction and abandonment of major cities and trade routes caused the Armenians' isolation from their surroundings, and their adoption of a distinct culture and identity early on in their history genetically isolated them from major admixture throughout the following millennia.
Recent genetic and linguistic research has suggested that Armenian, along with Greek and Albanian, are connected to theYamnaya culture of thePontic–Caspian steppe andCaucasus, whereas all other existent branches of Indo-European were mediated throughCorded Ware culture.[12]
The Near East's genetic landscape appears to have been continuously changing since the Bronze Age. There is asub-Saharan African gene flow around 850 years ago inSyrians,Palestinians, andJordanians consistent with previous reports of recent gene flow from Africans toLevantine populations after theArab expansions. There is also anEast Asian ancestry inTurks from admixture occurring around 800 years ago coinciding with the arrival of theSeljuk Turks to Anatolia from their homelands near theAral sea. The introduction of these populations doesn't seem to have affected Armenians significantly. Around 500 years ago, agenetic structure within the population appears to have developed, which coincides with a period when the Armenian people were divided between theOttoman Empire and thesuccessive Iranian empires.
| Y-DNA (male) | mtDNA (female) |
|---|---|
| R1b1 | H |
| J2 | U |
| G | J |
| J1 | HV |
| E1b1b1 | T |
| T | K |
| I2 | N |
| L | I |
| R1a | X |
| Q1 | W |
| R2a | R |
| F | V |
| A | F |
| C |
Armenia and the Armenians were attested multiple times at the end of theIron Age and the onset ofClassical Antiquity.
Armenians (as "Hai") were possibly mentioned in the 10th century BCHieroglyphic Luwian inscriptions fromCarchemish.[15][16]
The earliest record of what can unambiguously be identified asArmenian dates back to thetrilingual Behistun Inscription,[17] authored sometime afterc. 522 BC, in reference to acountry and the people associated with it. The following table breaks down the attestation in the three languages it was written in:
| Old Persian | Elamite[18] | Babylonian Akkadian | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Country | People | Country | People | Country | People | |
| Cuneiform | 𐎠𐎼𐎷𐎡𐎴 | 𐎠𐎼𐎷𐎡𐎴𐎹 | ||||
| Transliteration | a-r-mi-i-n(a) | a-r-mi-i-n-y(a) | ḫar-mi-nu-ia | ḫar-mi-nu-ia-ip | KURú-ra-áš-ṭu | LUú-ra-áš-ṭa-a-a |
| Translation | Armenia | Armenians | Armenia | Armenians | Urartu | Urartians |
The inscriptions chronicleDarius the Great's battles and conquests during the firstPersian Empire. Multiple Armenian people were mentioned in them:[19]
In the Babylonian Akkadian version, these people are referred to asUrartians.[25]
The earliest known attestation in theGreek language is from a fragment attributed to Greek historian Hecataeus of Miletus,[citation needed] which in some sources is dated to prior to the Behistun Inscription. In it, he mentions theChalybes people inPontus, past theThermōdōn River, with Armenians as their southern neighbors:[26][27]
Χάλυβες, περὶ τὸν Πόντον ἔθνος ἐπὶ τῷ Θερμώδοντι, περὶ ὧν Εὔδοξος ἐν πρώτῳ ... Καὶ Χάλυβοι παρ ̓ Ἑκαταίῳ· «Χαλύβοισι πρὸς νότονἈρμένιοι δμουρέουσι.»
— Hecataeus of Miletus (c. 525–500 BC), Fragmenta historicorum Graecorum ...: Apollodori Bibliotheca cum fragmentis, Volume 1, p. 13, no. 195
Xerxes I was king of Achaemenid Persia following the reign of his father, Darius the Great who authored the Behistun Inscription. Xerxes authored an inscription in theAchaemenid province of Armenia sometime between 486 and 465 BC, located in modern-dayVan, Turkey. The inscription is also written three languages – in Old Persian, Elamite, and in the Babylonian dialect of Akkadian – and is the last known encounter of the nameUrartu/Urashtu in reference to the Armenia.[28]
Herodotus mentions the Armenian people multiple times in his bookThe Histories:
Next to theCilicians, are theArmenians, another people rich in flocks, and after theArmenians, theMatieni, […]
— Herodotus,The Histories, Book 5, Chapter 49 (c. 440 BC)
Herodotus also lists the ethnic groups in the Persian army, and claims that Armenians are settlers fromPhrygia. However, this is an etiological tag added by theethnographer responsible for the list who felt an obligation to explain where each of the ethnic groups came from – the ancient Armenians themselves seem to have no knowledge of their ancestors' migration from Phrygia.[29]
The Phrygian equipment was very similar to thePaphlagonian, with only a small difference. As theMacedonians say, thesePhrygians were calledBriges as long as they dwelt in Europe, where they were neighbors of the Macedonians; but when they changed their home to Asia, they changed their name also and were called Phrygians. TheArmenians, who are settlers fromPhrygia, were armed like the Phrygians. Both these together had as their commander Artochmes, who had married a daughter of Darius.
— Herodotus,The Histories, Book 7, Chapter 73 (c. 440 BC)
This passage has often been cited to explain the origin of the Armenians and the introduction of theProto-Armenian language into the South Caucasus region. However, the latest studies in linguistics show that the Armenian language is as close toIndo-Iranian as it is toGraeco-Phrygian.[30][31][32] Additionally, archaeological research does not indicate a movement of people from Europe into Armenia, nor do the latest studies in genetics,[7][6] with the latest study rejecting the narrative altogether.[10]
In his book aboutCyrus, the firstEmperor of Persia, Xenophon writes about a conversation between Cyrus and the King of Armenia regarding a past war between Armenians and theMedes led byAstyages (events prior to the ones mentioned in the Behistun Inscriptions):[33][34]
When everything was in order, he began his examination: "King ofArmenia," said he, "I advise you in the first place in this trial to tell the truth, that you may be guiltless of that offence which is hated more cordially than any other. For let me assure you that being caught in a barefaced lie stands most seriously in the way of a man's receiving any mercy. In the next place," said he, "your children and your wives here and also theArmenians present are cognizant of everything that you have done; and if they hear you telling anything else than the facts, they will think that you are actually condemning your own self to suffer the extreme penalty, if ever I discover the truth."
"Well, Cyrus," said he, "ask what you will, and be assured that I will tell the truth, let happen what will as a result of it."
"Tell me then," said the other, "did you ever have a war with Astyages, my mother's father, and with the rest of the Medes?"
"Yes," he answered, "I did."
"And when you were conquered by him, did you agree to pay tribute and to join his army, wherever he should command you to go, and to own no forts?"
"Those are the facts."
— Xenophon,Cyropaedia, book 3, chapter 1, sections 9–10 (c. 370 BC)
In reference to a time ancient to him, Strabo mentions Armenia facing Syria (Ancient Greek forAssyria[35][36][37][38]) and ruling the whole of Asia (probably meaningWestern Asia) until its authority was diminished by the time ofAstyages of theMedian Empire (r. 585–550 BC) at the hand ofCyrus of the Persian Empire (r. 559–530 BC), after which it maintained its "ancient dignity":[39]
In ancient timesGreater Armenia ruled the whole of Asia, after it broke up the empire of the Syrians, but later, in the time of Astyages, it was deprived of that great authority by Cyrus and the Persians, although it continued to preserve much of its ancient dignity; and Ecbatana was winter residence for the Persian kings, and likewise for the Macedonians who, after overthrowing the Persians, occupied Syria; and still today it affords the kings of the Parthians the same advantages and security.
— Strabo,Geographica, Book 11, chapter 13, section 5 (between c. 20 BC–23 AD)
Historians andArmenologists have attempted to explain the origin of the Armenian people, but nothing conclusive has been discovered as of yet. The current consensus is that the Armenian people emerged as the result of amalgamation between the various peoples who inhabited the mountainous region known in theIron Age by various forms of the name Urartu (a.k.a.,Uruatri,Urashtu, andArarat).[40] The process of amalgamation is presumed to have been accelerated by the formation ofUrartu and completed in succeeding Armenian realms.[41][42][43][44]
Academics have also considered theetymological roots of thestemsArmen- andHay-, from which derive the modernexonym and endonym of Armenia and Armenians, in order to propose candidates for groups (i.e., Proto-Armenians) who may have contributed to the Armenianethnogenesis. These propositions are purely speculative and are largely based on geographic proximity, similarity between names, linguistics, and extrapolations made from known historical events of the time.
The following cultures, peoples andpolities have all been suggested to have contributed to theethnogenesis of the Armenian people.[45][46][47][48]
There is evidence ofNeolithic,Chalcolithic, andBronze Age cultures in lands historically and presently inhabited by Armenian people, dating to about 4000 BC. Archaeological surveys in 2010 and 2011 at theAreni-1 cave complex have resulted in the discovery ofthe world's earliest known leather shoe, skirt, andwine-producing facility.
From 2200 BC to 1600 BC, theTrialeti–Vanadzor culture flourished in Armenia, southern Georgia, and northeastern Turkey. It has been speculated that this was an Indo-European culture.[49][50][51] and that it could have been Proto-Armenian-speaking.[52] Other possibly related cultures were spread throughout the Armenia Highlands during this time, namely in theAragats andLake Sevan regions.
Early 20th-century scholars suggested that the name "Armenia" may have possibly been recorded for the first time on an inscription which mentionsArmani (or Armânum) together withIbla, from territories conquered byNaram-Sin (2300 BC) identified with anAkkadian colony in the current region ofDiyarbekir; however, the precise locations of both Armani and Ibla are unclear. Some modern researchers have placed Armani (Armi) in the general area of modernSamsat,[53] and have suggested it was populated, at least partially, by an earlyIndo-European-speaking people.[54] Today, theModern Assyrians (who traditionally speakNeo-Aramaic, notAkkadian) refer to the Armenians by the name Armani.[55]Thutmose III ofEgypt, in the 33rd year of his reign (1446 BCE), mentioned as the people of "Ermenen", claiming that in their land "heaven rests upon its four pillars".[56] Armenia is possibly connected toMannaea, which may be identical to the region of Minni mentioned inThe Bible. However, what all these attestations refer to cannot be determined with certainty.
Hittite inscriptions deciphered in the 1920s by theSwiss scholarEmil Forrer testify to the existence of a mountain country, the Hayasa and/or the Azzi, lying aroundLake Van. Several prominent authorities agree in placing Azzi to the north ofIshuwa. Others see Hayasa and Azzi as identical.
Records of the time betweenTelipinu andTudhaliya III are sketchy. The Hittites seem to have abandoned their capital atHattusa and moved toSapinuwa under one of the earlierTudhaliya kings. In the early 14th century BC, Sapinuwa was burned as well.Hattusili III records at this time that the Azzi had "madeSamuha its frontier." The modern Georgian termsomekhi 'Armenian' may ultimately derive from Samuha.
One of the common theories for the introduction of the Armenian language into the Armenian Highlands, originating from Herodotus' claim that Armenians were Phrygian settlers, is that it had arrived viaPhrygians and/or a related peoples known as the Mushki, asPaleo-Balkan-speaking settlers retroactively namedArmeno-Phrygians, who had already settled in the western parts of the region prior to the establishment of Urartu,[57][58][59] and became the ruling elite under theMedian Empire, followed by the Achaemenid Empire.[60] According toIgor Diakonoff, the Mushki were aThraco-Phrygian group who carried theirProto-Armenian language from theBalkans acrossAsia Minor, mixing withHurrians (andUrartians) andLuwians along the way.[61] Diakonoff theorized that the root of the name Mushki was "Mush" (or perhaps "Mus," "Mos," or "Mosh") with the addition of the Armenian plural suffix-k'.[62]Armen Petrosyan clarifies this, suggesting that-ki was aProto-Armenian form of theClassical Armenian-k' and etymologizes "Mush" as meaning "worker" or "agriculturalist."[63]
However, despite Diakonoff's claims, the connection between the Mushki and Armenian languages is unknown and some modern scholars have rejected a direct linguistic relationship if the Mushki were Thracians or Phrygians.[64][65][66][67] Additionally, genetic research does not support significant admixture into the Armenian nation after 1200 BCE, making the Mushki, if they indeed migrated from a Balkan or western Anatolian homeland during or after theBronze Age Collapse, unlikely candidates for the Proto-Armenians.[68][69] However, as others have placed (at least the Eastern) Mushki homeland in the Armenian Highlands and South Caucasus region, it is possible that at least some of the Mushki were Armenian-speakers or speakers of a closely related language.[70]
It has been speculated that the Mushki (and their allies, the Urumu) were connected to the spread of the so-called Transcaucasian ceramic ware, which appeared as far west as modernElazig, Turkey in the late second millennium BCE.[71] This ceramic ware is believed to have been developed in theSouth Caucasus region, possibly by theTrialeti-Vanadzor culture originally, which suggests an eastern homeland for the Mushki.[72][73][74]
Pliny in the 1st century AD mentions theMoscheni in southern Armenia ("Armenia" at the time stretching south and west to the Mediterranean, bordering on Cappadocia). InByzantine historiography, Moschoi was a name equivalent to or considered as the ancestors of "Cappadocians" (Eusebius) with their capital at Mazaca (later Caesarea Mazaca, modernKayseri). According to Armenian tradition, the city of Mazaca was founded by and named after Mishak (Misak, Moshok), a cousin and general of the legendary patriarchAram.[75] Scholars have proposed a connection between the name Mishak and Mushki.[76][77]
The Armenian region ofMoks and the city ofMush, Turkey may derive their names from the Mushki.[78][79]
According to ProfessorJames R. Russell ofHarvard University, the Georgian designation for ArmeniansSomekhi, preserves the old name of the Mushki. However, there are other theories regarding the origins of this exonym as well.[citation needed]
Urartu (a.k.a.Ararat,Urashtu) is the geographic name used during the Iron Age for the region that would later be known as the Armenian Highlands. The polity that emerged in the region as a confederation of tribes was the Kingdom of Van, which was centered around Lake Van in modern-day Turkey. The kingdom rose to power in the mid-9th century BC, but went into gradual decline and was eventually conquered by theIranianMedes in the early 6th century BC.[80] Thegeopolitical region would re-emerge asArmenia shortly after. Being heirs to the Urartian realm, the earliest identifiable ancestors of theArmenians are the peoples of Urartu.[41][42][43][44]
The Urartian confederation united the disparate peoples of the highlands, which began a process of intermingling of the peoples and cultures (including possibly Armenian tribes) and languages (potentially including proto-Armenian) within the highlands. This intermixing would ultimately culminate in the emergence of the Armenians as the dominant polity and culture of the Armenian Highlands, and as the direct successors and inheritors of the Urartian domain.[41][42][43][44]
According to historian M. Chahin:[81]
Urartian history is part of Armenian history, in the same sense that the history of the ancient Britons is part of English history, and that of the Gauls is part of French history. Armenians can legitimately claim, through Urartu, an historical continuity of some 4000 years; their history is among those of the most ancient peoples in the world.
Scholars have found a number of probable Armenian deities, personal names, and toponyms mentioned within Urartian texts, suggesting that perhaps Urartu was at least partially composed of Armenian populations.[82] These include the name of the first king of Urartu,Arame, and that of his second capital,Arzashkun.[83]
According to the Armenian tradition, the Medes helped the Armenians establish theOrontid (Yervanduni) dynasty. This would indicate two scenarios—either Media subsequently conquered Urartu, bringing about its subsequent demise, or Urartu maintained its independence and power, going through a mere dynastic change, as a local Armenian dynasty or dynasties (theHaykazunis and/or the Orontids) overthrew the ruling family with the help of the Median army. Ancient sources support the latter version:Xenophon, for example, states that Armenia, ruled by an Orontid king, was not conquered until the reign of Median kingAstyages (585–550 BC) – long after Median invasion of the late 7th century BC.[84] Similarly, Strabo (1st century BC – 1st century AD) wrote that "[i]n ancient times Greater Armenia ruled the whole of Asia, after it broke up the empire of the Syrians, but later, in the time of Astyages, it was deprived of that great authority [...]."[85]
Medieval Armenian chronicles corroborate the Greek and Hebrew sources. In particular, Movses Khorenatsi writes that the Armenian king Skayordi Haykazuni was a political foe of Assyria during the reign ofSennacherib (705-681 BCE), which would have been contemporaneous with the rule ofArgishti II. Skayordi's son,Paruyr Haykazuni (also known as Paruyr Skayordi), helpedCyaxares and his allies conquer Assyria, for which Cyaxares recognized him as the king of Armenia. According to Khorenatsi, Media conquered Armenia only much later—under Astyages.[86] It is possible that the last Urartian king, Rusa IV, had connections to the future incoming Armenian Orontids dynasty.[citation needed]
With the region reunified again under Armenia, the disparate peoples of the region mixed and became more homogenous and a unified sense of identity developed, and the Armenian language became the predominant language.
Armenologist Armen Petrosyan proposed that the powerfulEtiuni confederation, located in what is now the territory of northeastern Turkey and Armenia, may have been the name the Urartians used to refer to Armenian-speaking tribes. According to both Urartian and Assyrian records, the Etiuni were hostile to Urartian rule. Etiuni toponyms and tribal names such as Uduri, Uelikuni, Išteluani, Abiliani, and Lusa, the river name Ildaruni, the goddess Aniqu, and personal names Diasuni, Murini, Qapurini, Nidini, and Ṣinalbi may have Armenian etymologies.[87][88][89][90]
The written language that the kingdom's political elite used is referred to asUrartian, which appears in cuneiform inscriptions inArmenia and eastern Turkey. It is unknown what language was spoken by the peoples of Urartu at the time of the existence of the kingdom of Van, but there is linguistic evidence of contact between theproto-Armenian language and the Urartian language at an early date (sometime between the 3rd—2nd millennium BC), occurring prior to the formation of Urartu as a kingdom.[91][92][93][41][94]
The presence of a population who spokeproto-Armenian in Urartu prior to its demise is subject to speculation, but theexistence of Urartian words in the Armenian language suggestsearly contact between the two languages and long periods ofbilingualism.[95][96] It is generally assumed that proto-Armenian speakers enteredAnatolia around 1200 BC,[97][98] during theBronze Age Collapse, which was three to four centuries before the emergence of the Kingdom of Urartu. Regardless, the Urartian confederation united the disparate peoples of the highlands, which began a process of intermingling of the peoples and cultures (probably including Armenian tribes) and languages (probably including Proto-Armenian) within the highlands. This intermixing would ultimately culminate in the emergence of the Armenian language as the dominant language within the region.[81]However, recent genetic research suggests that the Armenian ethnogenesis was completed by 1200 BCE, making the arrival of an Armenian-speaking population as late as theBronze Age Collapse unlikely.[68][69]Modern genetic studies show that Armenian diversity can be explained by several mixtures of Eurasian populations that occurred between ~3000 and ~2000 BCE, a period characterized by major population migrations after the domestication of the horse, appearance of the chariot, and the rise of advanced civilizations in the Near East. However, genetic signals of population mixture cease after ~1200 BCE when Bronze Age civilizations in the Eastern Mediterranean world suddenly and violently collapsed.
An alternate theory suggests that Armenians were tribes indigenous to the northern shores of Lake Van or Urartu's northern periphery (possibly as theHayasans,Etiuni, and/orDiauehi, all of whom are known only from references left by neighboring peoples such Hittites, Urartians and Assyrians).[99] While the Urartian language was used by the royal elite, the population they ruled may have been multi-lingual, and some of these peoples would have spoken Armenian.
An addition to this theory, supported by the official historiography of Armenia and experts in Assyrian and Urartian studies such as Igor M. Diakonoff,Giorgi Melikishvili, Mikhail Nikolsky, and Ivan Mestchaninov, suggests that Urartian was solely the formal written language of the state, while its inhabitants, including the royal family, spoke Armenian.This theory primarily hinges on the fact that the Urartian language used in the cuneiform inscriptions were very repetitive and scant in vocabulary (having as little as 350–400 roots). Furthermore, over 250 years of usage, it shows no development, which is taken to indicate that the language had ceased to be spoken before the time of the inscriptions or was used only for official purposes.[better source needed]
A complimentary theory, suggested by Tamaz V. Gamkrelidze and Ivanov in 1984, places theProto-Indo-European homeland (the location whereIndo-European would have emerged from) in theArmenian Highlands (see:Armenian hypothesis), which would entail the presence of proto-Armenians in the area during the entire lifetime of the Urartian state.[100] The Armenian hypothesis supports the theory that the Urartian language was not spoken, but simply written, and postulates that the Armenian language as anin situ development of a 3rd millennium BCProto-Indo-European language.[100]
The Orontid dynasty, also known by their native nameEruandid orYervanduni, was a hereditaryArmenian[101] dynasty and the rulers of thesuccessor state to theIron Age kingdom ofUrartu (Ararat).[102][103][104] The Orontids established their supremacy over Armenia around the time of theScythian andMedian invasion in the 6th century BC.
Members of the Orontid dynasty ruled Armenia intermittently during the period spanning the 6th century BC to at least the 2nd century BC, first as client kings orsatraps of theMedian andAchaemenid empires who established an independent kingdom after the collapse of the Achaemenid empire, and later as kings ofSophene andCommagene who eventually succumbed to theRoman Empire. The Orontids are the first of the three royal dynasties that successively ruled theancient Kingdom of Armenia (321 BC–428 AD).
Little is known about the origins of the Orontid dynasty.[104][105][106] Some historians believe that the Orontid kings were ofArmenian orUrartian origin.[104][107][106] In addition, historians believe the dynasty may have hadIranian origin through a possible relation to theAchaemenids, either through marriage or blood.[104][108]
The name Orontes is the Hellenized form of a masculine name ofIranian origin;ԵրուանդEruand inOld Armenian.[citation needed] The name is only attested in Greek (Gr.:Ὀρόντης). ItsAvestan connection isAuruuant (brave, hero) andMiddle PersianArwand (Modern Persian اروند Arvand).[citation needed] Some have suggested a continuity with theHittite nameArnuwanda. Various Greek transcriptions of the name in Classical sources are spelled as Orontes, Aruandes or Ardoates. The presence of this dynasty is attested from at least 400 BC, and it can be shown to have ruled originally fromArmavir and subsequentlyYervandashat. Armavir is called the "first capital of the Orontid dynasty" — a fewGreek language inscriptions have been found, but the penetration ofHellenistic culture in Armavir seems to have been limited.[109]
The precise date of the foundation of the Orontid dynasty is debated by scholars to this day but there is a consensus that it occurred after the destruction ofUrartu by theScythians and theMedes around 612 BC.
The earliest religious beliefs of Armenians are believed to have been a blend ofIndo-European,Mesopotamian, and nativeAnatolian beliefs. Native gods and goddesses worshiped included Ar (Arev, Areg), Angegh,Astghik, Ayg, Vanatur, and others.
During Median and Persian domination, Iranian religious influences began to mix with native Armenian beliefs, leading to the worship of new, syncretic deities such asMihr,Aramazd,Vahagn, andAnahit.
Christianity spread into the country as early as AD 40.Tiridates III of Armenia (238–314) made Christianity thestate religion in 301,[110][111] partly, in defiance of theSasanian Empire, it seems,[112] becoming the first officially Christian state, ten years before theRoman Empire granted Christianity an official toleration underGalerius. Prior to this, during the latter part of the Parthian period, Armenia was a predominantlyZoroastrian country.[112]
The earliest references to Armenia were made by Hecataus of Miletus (c. 525 BC), Darius the Great in his celebrated inscriptions at Behistun (c. 520 BC), Herodotus (c. 450 BC), Xenophone (c. 400 BC), Strabo (c. 45 BC) and later classical writers.
Uruatri and Nairi in the Second Millennium B.C. And it is in fact from Assyrian documents of the 13th century B.C. that we gain our first definite information about the peoples of the Armenian highlands.
The lands of theArmenians were for millennia located inEastern Anatolia, on theArmenian Highlands, and into theCaucasus Mountain range. First mentioned almost contemporaneously by a Greek and Persian source in the 6th century BC, modern DNA studies have shown that the people themselves had already been in place for many millennia. Those people the world know as Armenians call themselvesHay andtheir countryHayots' ashkharh–the land of the Armenians, today known as Hayastan. Their language,Hayeren (Armenian) constitutes a separate and unique branch of theIndo-European linguistic family tree. A spoken language untilChristianity became the state religion in 314 AD,a unique alphabet was created for it in 407, both for the propagation of the new faith and to avoid assimilation into thePersian literary world.
{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)Our tests suggest that Armenians had no significant mixture with other populations in their recent history and have thus been genetically isolated since the end of the Bronze Age, 3000 years ago.
To shed light on the maternal genetic history of the region, we analyzed the complete mitochondrial genomes of 52 ancient skeletons from present-day Armenia and Artsakh spanning 7,800 years and combined this dataset with 206 mitochondrial genomes of modern Armenians. We also included previously published data of seven neighboring populations (n = 482). Coalescence-based analyses suggest that the population size in this region rapidly increased after the Last Glacial Maximum ca. 18 kya. We find that the lowest genetic distance in this dataset is between modern Armenians and the ancient individuals, as also reflected in both network analyses and discriminant analysis of principal components.
[...]
A total of 19 archaeological sites are represented, covering large parts of Armenia as well as Artsakh (Figure 1), and estimated to be between 300–7800 years old based on contextual dating of artifacts. This time span is accompanied by at least seven well-defined cultural transitions: Neolithic, Chalcolithic, Kura-Araxes, Trialeti-Vanadzor 2, Lchashen-Metsamor, Urartian and Armenian Classical/Medieval (Figure 1).
We show that Armenians have indeed remained unadmixed through the Neolithic and at least until the first part of the Bronze Age, and fail to find any support for historical suggestions by Herodotus of an input from the Balkans. However, we do detect a genetic input of Sardinian-like ancestry during or just after the Middle-Late Bronze Age. A similar input at approximately the same time was detected in East Africa, suggesting large-scale movement both North and South of the Middle East. Whether such large-scale population movement was a result of climatic or cultural changes is unclear, as well as the true source of gene flow remains an open question that needs to be addressed in future ancient DNA studies. [...] We focused on solving a long-standing puzzle regarding Armenians' genetic roots. Although the Balkan hypothesis has long been considered the most plausible narrative on the origin of Armenians, our results strongly reject it, showing that modern Armenians are genetically distinct from both the ancient and present-day populations from the Balkans. On the contrary, we confirmed the pattern of genetic affinity between the modern and ancient inhabitants of the Armenian Highland since the Chalcolithic, which was initially identified in previous studies. [...] Sardinians have the highest affinity to early European farmers [...]
Farming was first introduced to Europe in the mid-seventh millennium BC, and was associated with migrants from Anatolia who settled in the southeast before spreading throughout Europe.
[…] This time the insurgence was led by a certain Arakha, the son of Haldita, […]. In the Old Persian and Elamite versions of the Behistun text he is called an Armenian, while in the Akkadian version he is referred to as an Urartian.
The nameUrashtu (a variant for Urartu) is encountered for the last time in the inscriptions of Xerxes (486–465). In the trilingual texts of Darius (522–486) the Old Persian word which corresponds to the AkkadianUrashtu isArmina.
The Persian Army List in Herodotus (7.73) has the Armenians and Phrygians brigaded together, under the command of Artochmes, and identifies the Armenians asapoikoi of the Phrygians. That, however, is an aetiological tag: the ethnographer responsible for the list felt an obligation to explain where each of the variousethnē he mentioned had come from. Unlike Herodotos and his source, the ancient Armenians seem to have had no knowledge of their ancestors' migration from Phrygia
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link){{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)They are believed to have emerged in historic Armenia after centuries of culture fusion among various native and migrating peoples, perhaps extending as far back as to the Hurrians, Hittites, Phrygians, ...
The real heirs of the Urartians, however, were neither the Scythians nor Medes but the Armenians.
However, the most easily identifiable ancestors of the later Armenian nation are the Urartians.
Even for now, however, it seems difficult to deny that the Armenians had contact, at an early date, with a Hurro-Urartian people.
Armenian presence in their historical seats should then be sought at some time before c 600 BC; ... Armenian phonology, for instance, appears to have been greatly affected by Urartian, which may suggest a long period of bilingualism.
[...] The Armenian homeland is the plains of Mount Ararat stretching from the Caucasian mountain range in the east to the Euphrates River in the west. The nation itself is the result of a fusion of various tribes of Indo-Europeans who returned to Anatolia around 1200 B.C., merged with the [...]
Nor is it possible to deny that some of the isoglosses shared by Greek and Armenian strongly suggest that speakers of these languages lived in contiguity for a [...] is now generally acknowledged that about 1200 B. C. the ancestors of the Armenians moved out of the Balkans into Anatolia [...] A migration of proto-Armenians into Anatolia at the time of the dissolution of the Hittite empire undoubtedly fits neatly [...]