Armenia
ARMENIA
A large country of Asia, having Media on the east, Cappadocia on the west, Colchis and Iberia on the north, Mesopotamia on the south, and the Euphrates and Syria on the southwest. It is an elevated tableland, with a cool and salubrious climate. Lying between the Caucasus and the Taurus range, with Mount Ararat towering in its central province, it gives rise to three notable rivers, the Euphrates, Tigris, and Araxes. It is only named in Scripture as the place of refuge of two Assyrian parricides, 2Ki 19:37 . The modern Armenian Church resembles strongly the Greek Church, and is sadly debased and corrupt. See ARARAT, MINNI, and TOGARMAH.
Fuente: American Tract Society Bible Dictionary
Armenia
Republic in eastern Asia Minor covering 11,945 square miles. There is some uncertainty as to the introduction of Christianity into Armenia, some historians connecting the Apostles Bartholomew and Thaddeus with its evangelization. This honor, however, is generally attributed to Saint Gregory the Illuminator, who, in the third century, converted King Tiridates and many of his subjects, thus making Armenia the first Christian state. Hospitals and charitable institutions were founded about 365 and the Bible translated into Armenian in the 5th century . The first signs of heresy appeared in the 6th century with Gnosticism and Paulicianism, and later Nestorianism and Monophysitism became widespread. This latter gained a great hold among the Armenians who rejected the Council of Chalcedon, which condemned it and adopted the Monophysite doctrine of a single nature in Christ, thereby breaking away from the papal allegiance and establishing a separate church, called the Gregorian, after Gregory the Illuminator. Some of them, however, accepted the Council of Chalcedon in 593, and thus divided the church. Numerous efforts at reconciliation with Rome have been attempted but the Church has remained split into two factions, the greater number of Armenians belonging to the Gregorian or non-Uniat Church while the members of the Uniat Church, mainly scattered outside Armenia, acknowledge the pope as their head, retaining their own rite. See also:
World Fact Book
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New Catholic Dictionary
Fuente: New Catholic Dictionary
Armenia
A mountainous region of Western Asia occupying a somewhat indefinite area to the southeast of the Black Sea. Although the name “Armenia” occurs twice in the Vulgate, the regular biblical designation of the country is “Ararat”, a name which is doubtless identical with the “Urartu” of the cuneiform inscriptions. Not being delimited by permanent natural boundaries, the territory covered by Armenia has varied at different epochs of the world’s history, and even as early as the time of the ancient Romans there was recognized a Lesser as well as a Greater Armenia, the former embracing a portion of Asia Minor. Politically Armenia has been partitioned between Turkey, Iran, and (formerly) the Soviet Union, the largest share being possessed by Turkey. The country comprises a total area of about 120,000 square miles and consists in the main of an elevated plateau traversed by several mountain ranges which run parallel to the Caucasian mountains on the north. A few of the principal peaks, the most noted of which is Ararat, the “holy mount”, rise above the line of perpetual snow. Among the important rivers that take their rise in Armenia are the Euphrates, the Tigris, and the Araxes. There are many lakes, chief among which are Lake Sevanga and Lake Van. The latter is seventy miles in length and about twenty-eight in breadth, and is probably the “Upper Sea of the Nairi” mentioned in the cuneiform inscriptions. The climate is severe, including the extremes of heat and cold. There are practically but two seasons, summer and winter, the latter lasting from October to May, and the transition from one to the other is abrupt. The peculiarities of the climate, among which may be noted a considerable degree of humidity, are due in part to the proximity of the Black Sea, partly to the high elevation of the region, most of the inhabited localities being from 5,000 to 8,000 feet above the sea level. Scarcely any trees are to be found on the Armenian mountains, but those planted in the inhabited localities thrive well. Grapes are successfully cultivated in the valleys and around Lake Van. Wheat, barley, hemp, cotton, and tobacco are also raised. Pre-eminent among the domestic animals are the horse and buffalo. The mountainous tracts yield excellent pasturage, and in consequence, the rearing of live stock is more extensively carried on than agriculture. On account of the various subjugations of the country, the inhabitants of Armenia belong to different races. The native Armenians and Kurds form each about a quarter of the entire population; the Turkish and Turcoman elements constitute the major part of the remaining half. Greeks, Jews, and Gypsies are scattered throughout the country. The Armenians themselves, most of whom live outside of Armenia, are a commercial people par excellence.
I. ANCIENT POLITICAL CONSTITUTION
The name Armenia appears for the first time in the cuneiform inscriptions of Darius Hystaspis. Much obscurity obtains as to the derivation of the word. Some would refer it back to the Vannic word Armani-lis, a stela, while others would connect it with Arman, a district lying to the south of Lake Van. Armenia is the name given to a mountainous strip of land situated in the southwestern portion of Asia. One one side it touches the Black Sea, on the other the Caspian, while on the north and on the south it is enclosed respectively by the Caucasus and the Taurus Mountains. Within its confines is the celebrated Lake Van. In shape it much resembles a quadrangle. As far as is known, the earliest inhabitants of Armenia were a white race, whose capital, Dhuspa, stood on the site of the present city of Van. An Aryan race replaced it and it is from this latter stock that the modern Armenians have sprung. They style their ancestors the Haïk and make allusion to their country as Haísdan. They claim that the father of their race, Haïk was the son of Thogorma, whom in Genesis we find to the third son of Gomer. This belief has given rise to many beautiful legends. Be this as it may, it was about the end of the seventh or the beginning of the sixth century B.C. that this new race took possession of the country. In number and social condition it was superior to its predecessor, but this new people also was subject to the Medes and the Persians. With the victory of Alexander the Great over the Persians in 328 B.C. Armenia fell into Greek hands. The Seleucidae of Syria, under whose control the land soon passed, allowed it the choice of its rulers. When in 190 B.C. the Romans over threw Antiochus the Great, Artaxias and Zariadris, who were then ruling the land, declared themselves kings, the former in Armenia proper, the latter in Sophene. Thus began the national dynasty of the Arsacides, which became famous under Tigranes the First. Later the Romans and the Parthians made a plaything of the country, which soon chose as its ruler Tiridates, the brother of the Parthian king. When the Arsacides lost the Persian throne to the Sassanides (A.D. 226) Armenia declared itself against the new house and there ensued a bloody combat between the two countries, which lasted for several centuries.
II. CONVERSION TO CHRISTIANITY
The nature and characteristics of the paganism which preceded Christianity in Armenia are practically unknown to us. Attempts have been made to identify its gods with those of Greece, but all we know are the names and the sanctuaries of its pagan deities.
Obscurity likewise shrouds the beginnings of Christianity in the country. Native historians of a rather late period would have us believe that several of the Apostles preached in Armenia, and that some of them, as St. Bartholomew and St. Thaddeus, died there. A popular legend ascribes to the latter the evangelization of the land. Although the very ancient writers of the country, such as Korioun, Agathangelus, etc., do not even mention the name of Thaddeus, yet the legend, which apparently came at a late period from a Greek source, has so prevailed that even today the head of the Armenian Church claims to be occupying the “throne of St. Thaddeus.” Although legendary, this tradition witnesses that Christianity at a rather early date passed from Syria over into Armenia.
The letter of Meruzan to Dionysius of Alexandria (A.D. 248-265) confirms us in the belief that Christianity had already penetrated into Armenia before the time of St. Gregory the Illuminator. However, it is around St. Gregory that the story of Christianity’s growth in Armenia centres; for in him Armenia had its apostle. Born of the royal stock of the Arsacides, and brought in early infancy to Cæsarea of Cappadocia because of a Persian persecution of the Armenians, he was there instructed in the Christian Faith. About 261 he returned to Armenia and after much persecution brought the king and a large number of the people over to Christianity. Consecrated Metropolitan of Armenia (according to Cardinal Hergenroether) in 302, by Leontius, Archbishop of Cæsarea, he took up his residence at Achtichat. Under his influence the Faith began to spread throughout the land. Priests from the Greek Empire aided him in the work of conversion. When Christianity had gained a good headway in the country, the metropolitan turned his attention to the organization of the Church. The national language replaced the Syriac in the liturgy. To win over the converted pagan priests more fully, he chose from their sons, after educating them, the occupants of a dozen episcopal sees created by himself. Thus the high dignities were given to the sacerdotal families, which retained them for some time. The office of catholicos or patriarch was for a considerable period confined to the family of St. Gregory. A beautiful legend, lacking, however, a historic basis, tells of a trip by him to Rome. His missionaries went as far north as Georgia and Albania.
In 311 Maximinus began war on the struggling Church of Armenia, but met with many repulses. About this time St. Gregory passed away, having spent the last years of his life in solitude. After his death we find the progress of the infant Church stayed by internal dissensions. At the time apostates were numerous and, in their eagerness to subjugate the country, the Persians lent every encouragement to perversion. Meanwhile, successors filled the office of metropolitan once held by St. Gregory. His youngest son, Aristaces, took the post of his father and was present at the Council of Nicaea. In 363 and 872 the Armenian episcopate took an active part in the affairs of the Christian world. St. Basil of Cessarea visited a great part of Armenia and corrected many abuses. Led on by his example, the Catholicos Nerses in the Synod of Achtichat (c. 365), the first authentic Armenian synod, laid the foundations of the first hospitals and other charitable institutions for the country. He gave an impetus to monastic life and promulgated numerous laws on marriage and the observance of fasts. These reforms, showing a Greek influence, arrayed against the catholicos the king and the nobles, and thus we meet the first recorded instance of that spirit of national independence and intolerance of foreign influence which is so important a factor in the history of the Armenian Church. An anti-catholicos was appointed by the king, and soon Nerses died a violent death. Then a fierce anti-religious reaction set in. State endowments were in part withdrawn, numbers of the clergy fell away, and charitable institutions were allowed to crumble to ruins. Pagan practices came into use everywhere and the Christianity of but a few years before seemed to have died out. The vacant see of the catholicos was filled by the king, and the coveted position went to Housik, of the family of the Aghbianos, rival to that of St. Gregory. St. Basil clamoured for the rights of his Cæsarean see, but, though supported by the older clergy of Armenia, his claims were not allowed, and the consecration of the Armenian catholicos was thus lost forever to the Church of Cæsarea.
The religious autonomy of the Armenian Church was begun thus. Shortly after this event occurred the death of Manuel the Mamikonian, which was the signal for Rome and Persia to divide Armenia between them. Of the country, which both had lost and reconquered, and were now parceling out (387) four-fifths went to Persia. As a consequence, persecution was immediately raised against the Christian Church, and the Christians were forced to take to the mountains. The man of the hour for the Christian cause was the catholicos, Isaac the Great, the son of Nerses. About him rallied all parties. Even during his exile the people remained attached to him. Beneath his care the Armenian Church flourished in spite of difficulties, ecclesiastical discipline was enforced, and the intellectual standard of the people raised. His death in 439 was a great loss to the cause of Christianity in Armenia. The Persian masters continued to leave no stone unturned to stifle Christianity and to replace it by Parseeism. The Armenians, however, remained constant in the face of persecution. Another foe attacked them, and that was heresy. Gnosticism in the second century and Paulicianism in the sixth and seventh centuries had adherents among the Armenians, but the chief heresies to be mentioned in this connection are Nestorianism and Monophysitism. The works of Theodore of Mopsuestia and Diodorus of Tarsus, which were filled with Nestorian ideas, were translated into Armenian, and through them endeavours were made to disseminate the teachings of Nestorius. Rabulas of Edessa and Acacius warned the bishops against these writings. A synod was held and two priests were dispatched to Constantinople to ask of Proclus what was the right position in the matter. In reply came the famous “Document for the Armenians” which was held in high honour by the Armenian ecclesiastical authorities, and which exerted a powerful influence on their theology. Henceforth the Armenians were bitter opponents of Nestorianism. But where Nestorianism failed, Monophysitism succeeded. The Council of Chalcedon, which condemned that error, was held while the Armenians were fighting against the Persians’ endeavour to crush out Christianity. As soon as they heard of the council and of the action it had taken, opposition arose against it, and the charge of the Monophysites that Chalcedon had but renewed the Nestorian error was readily believed. Monophysitism was accepted, and the decrees of Chalcedon rejected. The attitude of the Armenians in this entire matter was dictated not so much by a love of orthodoxy as by the desire of promoting the welfare of their country; for, by receiving Monophysitism, they hoped that Greek favour would be gained and Persian domination more easily thrown off. Writings were published in Armenia against Chalcedon and appeals were urged for a return to Apostolic doctrine. The Catholicos Papken in the Synod of Vagharchapat (491) solemnly condemned in the presence of the Armenian, Iberian, and Albanian bishops the Council of Chalcedon. Within half a century, this condemnation was reaffirmed by the two Councils of Tvin, the second of which was held in 552, and fixed 11 July 552, as the beginning of the Armenian era. The Greeks, having returned to orthodoxy, tried several times to lead back the Armenians also from Monophysitism. In 571 the Catholicos John went with part of his clergy to Constantinople, where he died, after making an act of fidelity to orthodoxy. This incident had no effect on Armenia. When in 591 the Greek emperor Maurice, having taken most of Armenia from the Persians, invited the Catholicus Moses I, to convoke at Constantinople the bishops and nobles of Armenia, his request met with a refusal, Then the emperor had the Armenian bishops in the Roman territory assemble and recognize the Council of Chalcedon. He chose for the office of patriarch a bishop named John, with residence at Avan. Thus in 593 the Armenian Church found itself divided into two sections. Soon after the Iberians fell away, with their Catholicos Kiouron at their head, rejecting Monophysitism and the authority of the Armenian patriarch. For a time the Albanians also declared themselves independent, but soon came back. When Heraclius had conquered the country and thus deprived the Persians of their control for the second time (629), he obtained from the Catholicos Ezr the condemnation of Nestorius and all heretics, without any mention being made of Chalcedon. The union with the Greeks thus effected lasted during the lifetime of Heraclius. But in the Synod of Tvin (645) Chalcedon was again condemned. Meanwhile, the Arabs had attacked the country, which fell, an easy victim, before them, and so Armenia, which once had its own rulers and was at other times under Persian and Byzantine control, passed into the power of the Caliphs.
III. LITERATURE, EARLY, MEDIEVAL AND MODERN
Of the literature of pagan Armenia only few fragments have come down to us. The foundation of what we know as Armenian literature must therefore be sought in Christian times. Very rich in itself, Christian Armenian literature dates from the invention of the national alphabet by Mesrob. In these first years of the fifth century were composed some of the apocryphal works which, like the Discourses attributed to St. Gregory and the History of Armenia said to have come from Agathangelus, are asserted to be the works of these and other well-known men. Connected with early Armenian literature are the names of such illustrious persons as Isaac the Great and Mesrob, by whom an impetus was given to the literature of the country. They translated the Bible from a Syriac version and revised their translation by means of the Septuagint of the Hexapla, and the Greek text of the New Testament. There followed various other translations which for the most part are of great importance, since the originals of many have been lost. Of these we may mention the “Homilies” of St. John Chrysostom, two works of Philo on “Providence”, together with some of his Biblical commentaries, the “Chronicle” of Eusebius, and the works of St. Ephrem. This early period of Armenian literature also produced original compositions. Eznik of Kolb wrote a “Refutation of the Sects”, and Koroun the “History of the Life of St. Mesrob and of the Beginnings of Armenian Literature”. These men, both of whom were disciples of Mesrob, bring to an end what may be called the golden age of Armenian literature.
The medieval period opens with comparative sterility. The first name of importance is met with in the eighth century, that of John Otznetzi, surnamed the “Philosopher”. A “Discourse against the Paulicians”, a “Synodal Discourse”, and a collection of the canons of the councils and the Fathers anterior to his day, are the principal works of his now extant. About the same time appeared the translations of the works of several of the Fathers. particularly of Sts. Gregory of Nyssa and Cyril of Alexandria, from the pen of Stephen, Bishop of Siounik. It was two centuries later that the celebrated “History of Armenia” by the Catholicos John VI came forth, covering the period from the origin of the nation to the year A.D. 925. A contemporary of his, Annine of Mok, an abbot and the most celebrated theologian of the time, composed a treatise against the Thondrakians, a sect imbued with Manicheism. The name of Chosrov, Bishop of Andzevatsentz, is honoured because of his interesting commentaries on the Breviary and Mass-Prayers. Gregory of Narek, his son, is the Armenian Pindar from whose pen came elegies, odes, panegyrics, and homilies. Stephen Asoghtk, whose “Universal History” reaches down to A.D. 1004, and Gregory Magistros, whose long poem on the Old and New Testaments displays much application, are the last writers worthy of mention in this period.
The modern period of Armenian literature can well be dated from the renaissance of letters among the Armenians in the twelfth century. The Catholicos Nerses surnamed the Gracious, is the most brilliant author in the beginning of this period. Besides his poetic works, such as the “Elegy on the Taking of Edessa”, there are prose works including a “Pastoral Letter”, a “Synodal Discourse”, and his “Letters”. This age gave us also a commentary on St. Luke and one on the Catholic Epistles. Of note, too, is the Synodal Discourse of Nerses of Lampron, Archbishop of Tarsus, delivered at the Council of Hromcla in 1179, which is anti-Monophysite in tone. The thirteenth century gave birth to Vartan the Great, whose talents were those of a poet, an exegete, and a theologian, and whose “Universal History” is extensive in the field it covers. Gregory of Datev in the next century composed his “Question Book”, which is a fiery polemic against the Catholics. The sixteenth century saw Armenia in the hands of Persia, and a check was for the time put on literature. However, in scattering the Armenians to all parts of Europe; the Persian invasion had its good effects. They established printing shops in Venice and Rome, and in the following century (the seventeenth) in Lemberg, Milan, Paris, and elsewhere. Old works were republished and new ones given forth. The Mechitarists of Venice have been the leaders in this movement; but their publications, although numerous, have been often uncritical. Their brothers, the Mechitarists of Vienna, have been likewise active in this work and it is to their society that Balgy and Catergian belong, two well-known writers on Armenian topics. Russia, Constantinople and Etchmiadzin are the other centres of Armenian literary efforts and the last-named place is especially worthy of note, imbued as it is today with German scientific methods and taste. Looking back over the field of Armenian literature, we note a trait the national character displayed in the bent Armenians have had for singing the glories of their land in history and chronicles. Translations have ever been an important part of Armenian literature. Again, the standpoint is religious, and even history seems to have been written rather for its doctrines than for the facts themselves. A last feature is that the golden age came early and with the passing of centuries the Armenian writers grew fewer and fewer.
IV. THE CRUSADES
Although the native dynasty of the Bagratides to which the Arabs gave the royal crown of Armemia, was founded under favourable circumstances, yet the feudal system by gradually weakening the country, brought about its ruin. Thus internally enfeebled, Armeniaproved an easy victim for the Seldjukid Turks under Alp-Arian in the latter half of the eleventh century. To escape death or servitude at the hands of those who had assassinated his relative, Kakig II, King of Ani, an Armenian named Roupen with some of his countrymen went into the gorges of the Taurus Mountains and then into Tarsus of Cilicia. Here the Byzantine governor of the place gave them shelter. Soon after the members of the first Crusade appeared in Asia Minor. Hostile as they were to the Turks, and unfriendly to the Greeks, these Armenian refuges joined forces with the crusaders. Valiantly they fought with the Christians of Europe, and for their reward, when Antioch had been taken (1097), Constantine, the son of Roupen, received from the crusaders the title of baron. Within a century, the heirs of Roupen were further rewarded by the grant of a kingdom known as Cilicia or Lesser Armenia, to be held as a vassal government of the Holy See and of Germany. This kept them in touch with the cruaders. No doubt the Armenians aided in some of the other crusades. This kingdom lasted till 1375, when the Mamelukes of Egypt destroyed it.
V. TO THE END OF THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY
The establishment of the Kingdom of Lesser Armenia created more frequent relations between the Armenians and the Holy See. On the occasion of the crowning of King Leo II, the union of the union of the Armenian Church with Rome was proclaimed under Catholicos Gregory VI. Only southern Armenia was affected by this. In 1251 however there took place at Sis at the order of Pope Innocent IV a council of Armenians to witness to their belief in the procession of the Holy Ghost. In strange contrast we find James I refusing to send representatives to the Council of Lyons. Yet, when Pope Boniface VIII began his pontificate, Catholicos Gregory VII sent to him an expression of filial attachment. A little latter (1307) a council was held by the Armenians in which the old error of Monophysitism was repudiated, and two natures acknowledged in Christ. The bonds of union which united Rome and Armenia during this period gave way more or less after the fall of Lesser Annarea in 1375. Harassed from without by the Turks, and weakened by the internal strifes that divided it into so many independent patriarchates, Armenia had after that date but spasmodic relations with Rome. Which of the patriarchs during this period remained united to the West is hard to determine. Yet, even in the darkest days, there were always some Armenians who remained attached to Rome. The Dominican missionaries in founding houses in Armenian territory were instrumental in the training of native missionaries called the “United Brothers”, whose sole aim was to procure union with Rome. Their founder, John of Kerni, went too far in his zeal, so that Pope Benedict XII was forced to have the Armenians assemble in council in 1342 and repudiate the errors ascribed to these monks. These cries of unorthodoxy did much to estrange Armenia from the West. The Fathers of the Council of Basle (1433) asked the catholicos to attend, but the invitation was not accepted. However, in the Council of Florence (1439) Armenia was represented and here a last attempt was made to bring about reunion. It was at the behest of Eugenius IV that Catholicos Constantine V had dispatched his delegates. The decree “Exsultate Deo”, which was to affect the union, was published in 1439, containing among other things the Nicene Creed, the definitions of Chalcedon, and the Letter of Pope Leo I. Meanwhile Constantine died. A few years later a rent occurred in the Armenian Church which gave a setback to the plan of union. Armenia was divided into two large jurisdictions, that of Sis in Cilicia and that of Etchmiadsin in Greater Armenia, each with its own catholicos. The latter of the two patriarchates was looked upon as devoted to the cause of union with Rome. Its Catholicos, Stephanos V, paid a visit to the Eternal City, and in 1680 Aghob IV, just before his death, made a profession of Catholic faith, an example followed by many of his successors. Some of the patriarchs of Sis were friendly to Rome, such as Gregory IX, while others were hostile.
VI. CATHOLIC MISSIONS IN THE NINETEENTH CENTURY
The action of Count Ferriol, minister of Louis XIV at Stamboul (1689-1709), in carrying off to Paris the Armenian Patriarch of Constantinople, who evinced strong anti-Catholic tendencies served to bring persecution upon the Armenian Catholics in the Turkish Empire, which lasted till 1830. The declaration of religious liberty at that time caused the Catholic missions in Armenia to become more energetic than ever before. In 1838, Eugène Boré, still a layman, founded at Tabriz and Ispahan two schools for Armenians, which the French Lazarists have since, conducted. Within twenty years this order had three other missions. The barefooted Carmelites with Bagdad as their centre are labouring for the Armenians in that city and Bassorah. Since 1856 the French Dominicans have been active in the provinces of Mossoul, Bitlis, and Van. The Capuchins are also represented in this field and are working with Diarbekir as their headquarters. Lesser Armenia is a field cultivated chiefly by Jesuit missionaries, and, unlike the rest, their efforts are confined to the Armenians. The Oblate Sisters of the Assumption and the Sisters of St. Joseph from Lyons are effectively aiding them in their work, in which some 31 Fathers and Brothers are engaged.
When we come to statistics, we find that most Armenians belong to the Gregorian or non-Catholic Church of Constantinople. There is a small Catholic and Protestant minority. Of the Catholic Armenians, the greater part are under the patriarch, whose full title is “the Patriarch of Cilicia of the Armenians”, and whose residence is at Constantinople. Under his jurisdiction are 3 other Armenian archbishops, 12 bishops, 1 being at Alexandria in Egypt, 9 patriarchal vicars, one of whom resides at Jerusalem. In Rome there is a titular bishop for the Armenians, whose chief function is that of ordaining. The Armenian patriarch is assisted in the work of tending to the flock by a vicar who is a titular archbishop, by an ecclesiastical council composed of 12 priests, by a civil council and by two other councils, one of which is for the national hospital. Directly under his charge are 3 large churches, that of St. Gregory the Illuminator at Leghorn, those of St. Blaise and St. Nicholas in Rome, the 2 seminaries of Zmar and Rome, and finally the 16 churches and the 16 schools of Constantinople. In the Armenian Archbishopric of Lemberg there are about 5,000 faithful, the greater part being in Galicia, the rest in Bukowina. The religious orders among the Armenians are of but comparatively recent origin and are not very prosperous. The Mechitarists of Venice, the most flourishing, have but 60 priests and some lay-brothers. Among the women the Armenian Sisters of the Immaculate Conception have flourishing schools at Constantinople and Angora.
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JAMES F. DRISCOLL Transcribed by Carl H. Horst
The Catholic Encyclopedia, Volume ICopyright © 1907 by Robert Appleton CompanyOnline Edition Copyright © 2003 by K. KnightNihil Obstat, March 1, 1907. Remy Lafort, S.T.D., CensorImprimatur. +John Cardinal Farley, Archbishop of New York
Fuente: Catholic Encyclopedia
Armenia
(), a country of Western Asia, is not mentioned in the original language of Scripture under that name (on the Harmonah of Amo 4:3, see Rosenmuller, in loc.), though it occurs in the English version (2Ki 19:37), where our translators have very unnecessarily substituted it for Ararat (comp. marginal reading); but is supposed to be alluded to in the three following Hebrew designations, which seem to refer either to the country as a whole, or to particular districts. SEE ASIA.
1. ARARAT, , the land upon (or over) the mountains of which the ark rested at the Deluge (Gen 8:4; comp. Josephus, Ant. i, 3, 5); whither the sons of Sennacherib fled after murdering their father (2Ki 19:37; Isa 37:38); and one of the ” kingdoms” summoned, along with Minni and Ashkenaz, to arm against Babylon (Jer 51:27). That there was a province of Ararad in ancient Armenia we have the testimony of the native historian, Moses of Chorene (Hist. Armen. ed. Whiston, Lond. 1736, p. 361). It lay in the centre of the kingdom, was divided into twenty circles, and, being the principal province, was commonly the residence of the kings or governors. SEE ARARAT.
2. MINNI, , is mentioned in Jer 51:27, along with Ararat and Ashkenaz, as a kingdom called to arm itself against Babylon. The name is by some taken for a contraction of ” Armenia,” and the Chald. in the text in Jeremiah has Hurminli (). There appears a trace of the name Minni in a passage quoted by Josephus (Ant. i, 3, 6) from Nicolas of Damascus, where it is said that “there is a great mountain in Armenia, beyond the Minyas (), called Baris, upon which it is reported that many who fled at the time of the Deludre were saved; and that one who was carried in an ark came on shore upon the top of it; and that the remains of the timber were a great while preserved. This might be the man about whom Moses, the legislator of the Jews, wrote.” Saint-Martin (Memoires sur l’Armenie, i, 249), has the not very probable conjecture that the word ” Minni” may refer to the Manavazians, a distinguished Armenian tribe, descended from Manavaz, a son of Haik, the capital of whose country was Manavazagerd, now Melazgerd. It contains the root of the name Armenia according to the generally received derivation, Har-Minni, “the mountains of Minni.” It is worthy of notice that the spot where Xenophon ascertains that the name of the country through which he was passing was Armenia, coincides with the position here assigned to Minni (Xen. An. 4:5; Ainsworth, Track of 10,000, p. 177). In Psa 45:8, where it is said, “out of the ivory palaces whereby they made thee glad,” the Hebrew word rendered ” whereby” is minni (), and hence some (e.g. Rosenmuller, in loc.) take it for the proper name, and would translate ” palaces of Armenia,” but the interpretation is forced and incongruous (Gesenius, Thes. Heb. p. 799). SEE MINNI.
3. TOGARAH, , in some MSS. TORGAMAH, and found with great variety of orthography in the Sept. and Josephus. In the ethnographic table in the tenth chapter of Genesis (Gen 10:3; comp. 1Ch 1:6) Togarmah is introduced as the youngest son of Gomer (son of Japhet), who is supposed to have given name to the Cimmerians on the north coast of the Euxine Sea, his other sons being Ashkenaz and Riphath, both progenitors of northern tribes, among whom also it is natural to seek for the posterity of Togarmah. The prophet Ezekiel (Eze 38:6) also classes along with Gomer ” the house of Togarmah and the sides of the north” (in the Eng. Vers. “of the north quarters”), whereas also at Eze 27:14, it is placed beside Meshech and Tubal, probably the tribes of the Moschi and Tibareni in the Caucasus. Now, though Josephus and Jerome find Toglrmah in Phrygia, Bochart in Cappadocia, the Chaldee and the Jewish rabbins in Germany, etc., yet a comparison of the above passages leads to the conclusion that it is rather to be sought for in Armenia, and this is the opinion of Eusebius, Theodoret, and others of the fathers. It is strikingly confirmed by the traditions of that and the neighboring countries. According to Moses of Chorene (Hist. Arm. ed. Whiston, i, 8, p. 24), and also King Wachtang’s History of Georgia (in Klaproth’s Travels in the Caucasus, ii, 64), the Armenians, Georgians, Lesghians, Mingrelians, and Caucasians are all descended from one common progenitor, called Thargamos, a son of Awanaii, son of Japhet, son of Noah (comp. Eusebius, Chronicles ii, 12). After the dispersion at Babel he settled near Ararat, but his posterity spread abroad between the Caspian and Euxine seas. A similar account is found in a Georgian chronicle, quoted by another German traveller, Guldenstedt, which states that Targamos was the father of eight sons, the eldest of whom was Aos, the ancestor of the Armenians. They still call themselves “the house of Thorgom,” the very phrase used by Ezekiel, the corresponding Syriac word for “house” denoting “land or district” (see Wahl, Gesch. der Morgenl. Spr. u. Lit. p. 72). From the house or province of Togarmah the market of Tyre was supplied with horses and mules (Eze 27:14); and Armenia, we know, was famed of old for its breed of horses; The Satrap of Armenia sent yearly to the Persian court 20,000 foals for the feast of Mithras (Strabo, 11:13, 9; Xenoph. Anabas. 4:5,24; Herod. 7:40). SEE TOGARMAH.
The of the Greeks (sometimes aspirated, , comp. Xen. Anab. 4:6, 34) is the Arminzya or Irminiya of the Arabs, the Ermenistan of the Persians. Moses of Chorene (Hist. Arm. p. 35) derives ,the name from Aram (q.v.), a son of Shem, who also gave name to Aramaea or Syria; Hartmann (Aufklar. i, 34) draws it from Armenagh, the second of the native princes; but the most probable etymology is that of Bochart (Phaleg, i, 3), viz., that it was originally , Har-Minni or Mount Minni, i.e. the Highland of Minyas, or, according to Wahl (Asien, i, 807), the Heavenly Mountain (i.e. Ararat), for mino in Zend, and yrno, myny, in Parsee, signify “heaven, heavenly.” In the country itself the name Armenia is unknown; the people are called Haik (Rosenmiller, Alterth. I, i, 267 sq.), and the country Ha-yotz-zor, toe Valley of the Haiks-from Haik, the fifth descendant of Noah by Japhet, in the traditionary genealogy of the country (comp. Ritter’s Erdkunde, ii, 714).
The boundaries of Armenia (lat. 37-42) may be described (Strabo, 11:526) generally as the southern range of the Caucasus on the north, and the Moschian branch of the Taurus on the south; but in all directions, and especially to the east and west, the limits have been very fluctuating (Rennell, Geogr. Herod. i, 369). It forms an elevated table-land, whence the rivers Euphrates, Tigris, Araxes, and Acampsis pour down their waters in different directions, the first two to the Persian Gulf, the last two respectively to the Caspian and Euxine seas. It may be termed the nucleus of the mountain system of Western Asia: from the centre of the plateau rise two lofty chains of mountains, which run from east to west, converging toward the Caspian Sea, but parallel to each other toward the west, the most northerly named by ancient geographers the Abus Mountains, and culminating in Mount Ararat; the other named the Niphates Mountains. Westward these ranges may be traced in AntiTaurus and Taurus, while in the opposite direction they are continued in the Caspius Mountains. These ranges (with the exception of the gigantic Ararat) are of moderate height, the plateau gradually sinking toward the plains of Iran on the east, and those of Asia Minor on the west. The climate is generally cold (Xen. Anab. 4:4, 8), but salubrious, the degree of severity varying with the altitude of different localities, the valleys being sufficiently warm to ripen the grape. The country abounds in romantic forest and mountain scenery, and rich pasture-land, especially in the districts which border upon Persia (Herod. i, 194; 7:40; Xen. Anab. 4:5. 24; Strabo, 10:528, 558, 587; Eze 27:14; Chardin, Voyages, ii, 158; Tournefort, Reisen, iii, 179 sq.). The latter supported vast numbers of mules and horses, on which the wealth of the country chiefly depended; and hence Strabo (xi, 529) tells us that the horses were held in as high estimation as the celebrated Nissean breed. The inhabitants were keen traders in ancient as in modern times. Ancient writers notice, also, the wealth of Armenia in metals and precious stones (Herod. i, 194; Pliny, 37:23). The great rivers Euphrates and Tigris both take their rise in this region, as also the Araxes, and the Kur or Cyrus. Armenia is commonly divided into Greater and Lesser (Lucan. ii, 638), the line of separation being the Euphrates (comp. Ptolem. v, 7 and 13); but the former constitutes by far the larger portion (Strabo, 11:532), and, indeed, the other is often regarded as pertaining rather to Asia Minor. (See, generally, Strabo, 11:526 sq.; Pliny, 6:9; Mannert, V, ii, 181 sq.; Ritter, Erdkunde, 10:285 sq.)
There was anciently a kingdom of Armenia, with its metropolis Artaxata: it was sometimes an independent state, but most commonly tributary to some more powerful neighbor. Indeed, at no period was the whole of this region ever comprised under one government, but Assyria, Media, Syria, and Cappadocia shared the dominion or allegiance of some portion of it, just as it is now divided among the Persians, Russians, Turks, and Kurds; for there is no doubt that that part of Kurdistan which includes the elevated basins of the lakes of Van and Oormiah anciently belonged to Armenia. The unfortunate German traveller Schulz (who was murdered by a Kurdish chief) discovered in 1827, near the former lake, the ruins of a very ancient town, which he supposed to be that which is called by Armenian historians Shamiramakert (i.e. the town of Semiramis), because believed to have been built by the famous Assyrian queen. The ruins are covered with inscriptions in the arrow-headed character; in one of them Saint-Martin thought he deciphered the words Khshearsha, son of Dareioush (Xerxes, son of Darius). In later times Armenia was the border-country where the Romans and Parthians fruitlessly strove for the mastery; and since then it has been the frequent battle-field of the neighboring states. During the recent wars between Russia rid Turkey, large bodies of native Armenians have emigrated into the Russian dominions, so that their number in what is termed Turkish Armenia is now considerably reduced. By the treaty of Turkomanshi (21st Feb. 1828), Persia ceded to Russia the Khanats of Erivan and Naktclevan. The boundary-line (drawn from the Turkish dominions) passes over the Little Ararat; the line of separation between Persian and Turkish Armenia also begins at Ararat; so that this famous mountain is now the central boundary-stone of these three empires. (See, generally, Smith’s Dict. of Class. Geogr. s.v.; Penny Cyclopedia, s.v.; M’Culloch’s Geogr. Dict. s.v.)
The slight acquaintance which the Hebrew writers had of this country was probably derived from the Phoenicians. There are signs of their knowledge having been progressive. Isaiah, in his prophecies regarding Babylon, speaks of the hosts as coming from the ” mountains” (Isa 13:4), while Jeremiah, in connection with the same subject, uses the specific names Ararat and Minni (Jer 51:27). Ezekiel, who was apparently better acquainted with the country, uses a name which was familiar to its own inhabitants, Togarmah. Whether the use of the term Ararat in Isa 37:38, belongs to the period in which the prophet himself lived, is a question which cannot be here discussed. In the prophetical passages to which we have referred, it will be noticed that Armenia is spoken of rather in reference to its geographical position as one of the extreme northern nations with which the Jews were acquainted than for any more definite purpose.-Smith.
Christianity was first established in Armenia in the fourth century; the Armenian Church (q.v.) has a close affinity to the Greek Church in its forms and polity; it is described by the American missionaries who are settled in the country as in a state of great corruption and debasement. The total number of the Armenian nation throughout the world is supposed not to exceed 2,000,000. Their favorite pursuit is commerce, and their merchants are found in all parts of the East.
A list of early works on Armenia may be found in Walch, Bibl. Theol. iii, 353 sq. For a further account of the HISTORY of Armenia (New Englander, Oct. 1863), see Moses Chorensis, Historia Armen. lib. iii (Armen. edid. Lat. vert. notisque illustr. W. et G. Whistonii, Lond. 1736); Chamich, History of Armenia (translated from the Armenian original by M. J. Ardall, Calcutta, 1827); History of Vartan, translated by Neumann; see also Langlois, Numismatique de l’Armenie (Par. 1858); Andrisdogues de Lasdivera, Histoire d’Armenie (Par. 1864). On its TOPOGRAPHY, see St.-Martin, Memoire sur l’ A rmenie; Colonel Chesney, Euphrates Erpedition, i; Kinneir, Memoirs of the Persian Empire, also Travels in Armenia; Morier, Travels in Persia, i; Ker Porter, Travels; Smith and Dwight’s Researches in Armenia (Bost. 1833); Southgate, Tour through Armenia (N. Y. 1840); Curzon, Residence at Erzeroum (Lond. 1854), and vols. iii, 6:x of the Jour. of the Lond. Geog. Soc. containing the explorations of Monteith, Ainsworth, and others. On the RELIGION of the nation, see Giov. de Serpos, Compendio storia della nazione Armena (Ven. 1786); Kurze histor. Darstellung d. gegenw. Zustandes d. armen. Volkes (Petersb. and Berl. 1831). SEE EDEN.
Fuente: Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature
Armenia
high land, occurs only in Authorized Version, 2 Kings 19:37; in Revised Version, “Ararat,” which is the Hebrew word. A country in western Asia lying between the Caspian and the Black Sea. Here the ark of Noah rested after the Deluge (Gen. 8:4). It is for the most part high table-land, and is watered by the Aras, the Kur, the Euphrates, and the Tigris. Ararat was properly the name of a part of ancient Armenia. Three provinces of Armenia are mentioned in Jer. 51:27, Ararat, Minni, and Ashchenaz. Some, however, think Minni a contraction for Armenia. (See ARARAT
Fuente: Easton’s Bible Dictionary
Armenia
(See ARARAT.) The name in Hebrew, translated Armenia from (Har-Mini), “the mountains of Minni” equatzs to Minyas, in the upper valley of the Murad-su branch of the Euphrates. Togarmah is the name of the race, the Armenians referring their own origin to Thorgomass or Tiorgarmah. In Eze 27:14 its trading in “carriage horses, riding horses and mules” (so the Heb.), for which Armenia is still famous, as well as for the keenness of its traffickers, is mentioned.
Fuente: Fausset’s Bible Dictionary
Armenia
ARMENIA.See Ararat.
Fuente: Hastings’ Dictionary of the Bible
Armenia
ar-meni-a:
I.Geography
II.Ancient History
1.Turanian Armenians
Their Religion
2.Aryan Armenians: History to 114 ad
Literature
I. Geography
, ‘ararat (Sumerian Ar, region, plus ar high, plus tu, mountain, plus high mountainous region): in Assyrian, Urtu, Urartu, Urastu: in AEgyp, Ermenen (= Region of the Minni) Wiener, Origin of the Pentateuch, Armina, Armaniya (, Armena): in Hecataeus of Miletus, circa 520 bc, the people are (Gen 8:4; 2Ki 19:37; Isa 37:38; Jer 51:27). Throughout the Bible, this is a country, not a mountain. Armenia Major was bounded on the North by the River Cyrus (Kour), Iberia, Colchis, and the Moschici Mts.; on the West by Asia Minor and the Euphrates; on the South by Mesopotamia and Assyria; on the East by the Caspian and Media. (Armenia Minor lay between the Euphrates and the Halys.) Ararat was originally the name of the central district. Most of Armenia is between 8,000 and 3,000 feet above sea-level, and slopes toward Euphrates, Cyrus, and the Gaspian. Mt. Massis (generally called Greater Ararat) is 16,969 ft. and Lesser Ararat, 12,840 ft. Both are of igneous origin, as is Aragds (A’la Gz), 13,436 ft. Sulphur springs and earthquakes still attest volcanic activity. The largest rivers are the Euphrates, Tigris and Araxes. The latter, swift and famed for violent floods, joins the Cyrus, which falls into the Caspian. The lakes Van, Urmi and Sevan are veritable inland seas. The many mountain chains, impassable torrents and large streams divide the country into districts far less accessible from one another than from foreign lands. Hence, invasions are easy and national union difficult. This has sadly affected the history of Armenia. Xenophon (Anab. iv.5) describes the people as living in houses partly underground, such as are still found. Each village was ruled by its chief according to ancient customary laws. He well describes the severity of the winters. In summer the climate in some places is like that of Italy or Spain. Much of Armenia is extremely fertile, producing large herds of horses and cattle, abundant crops of cereals, olives and fruit. It is rich in minerals, and is probably the home of the rose and the vine.
Literature
Minas Gaphamatzean; Garagashean; Palasanean; Entir Hatouadsner, I; Rawlinson, Seven Anc. Monarchies; Strabo; Xenophon; Petermann, Mittheilungen for 1871; Bryce, Transcaucasia and Ararat.
II. Ancient History
1. Turanian Armenians
The country is first mentioned in Gen 8:4 as the land upon (some one of) the mountains of which Noah’s Ark rested. (According to Jewish tradition this was one of the Kurdish mountains.) It is next spoken of by Sargon I of Agad, circa 3800 bc, as among his conquests. In early Babylonian legends Armenia figures as an almost unknown land far to the North, full of high mountains and dense forests, containing the entrance to the Lower World (Mad Nu-ga, Land of No Return). On its borders stood Mt. Nisir where the gods dwelt and Sit-napistim’s ship stopped. This Mountain of the World was the present Jabal Judi, South of Lake Van. Next came Egyptian influence. Thothmes III, in his twenty-third year (circa 1458 bc), after a great victory over the Rutennu or Ludennu (Mesopotamians and Lydians), received the submission of the chiefs of Ermenen and others. It is remarkable that the name by which the land is still known to foreigners (Armenians call it Haiastan) should occur so early. In his thirty-third year, Thothmes III mentions the people of Ermenen as paying tribute when he held his court at Nineveh, and says that in their land heaven rests upon its four pillars. In Seti I’s Hall of Columns at Karnak we see the people of Ermenen felling trees in order to open a way through their forests for that king’s armies. Rameses II in his twenty-first year, in war with Kheta-sira, king of the Hittites, probably subdued Armenia (compare Tacitus Ann. ii.60). Many places conquered by Rameses III, and mentioned in the Medinet Habu lists, were probably in Armenia. The Assyrian king Uras-Pal-acur (circa 1190-1170 bc) made a raid into Armenia, and mentions the central district (Urartu proper, near Lake Van), the land of the Manna (Minni, Jer 51:27), Nahri (the Rivers), Ashguza (Ashkenaz, ib), etc. Another invader was Tiglath-pileser I (circa 1110-1090 bc). Asshut-nacir-pal in 883 bc advanced to Urartu. A little later he mentions as articles of Armenian tribute chariots, horses, mules, silver, gold, plates of copper, oxen, sheep, wine, variegated cloths, linen garments. Again and again he carried fire and sword through the country, but it constantly revolted. Under Shalmaneser II (860-825 bc) and afterward for centuries wars continued. By uniting and forming powerful kingdoms (of which the principal was Biainash around Lake Van) the Armenians resisted. Finally in 606 bc they took part in the destruction of Nineveh, and in that of Babylon later. Shalmaneser II tells of the wickerwork coracles on Lake Van. The Balawt bronzes depict Armenians dressed like the Hittites (to whom they were sometimes subject) in tunics and snow-shoes with turned-up and pointed ends, wearing helmets, swords, spears and small round shields. Sayce compares their faces in form to the Negro type. Possibly they were Mongolians.
The founder of the kingdom of Biainash was Sardurish I, about 840 bc, who built as his capital Tushpash, now Van. He ruled most of Armenia, defending it against the Assyrians, and apparently, inflicting a check on Shalmaneser II in 833 bc. He introduced the cuneiform characters, and his inscriptions are in Assyrian. His son Ishpuinish adapted the Assyrian syllabary to his own tongue, which bears a slight resemblance to Georgian in some points. The next king, Menuash, has left inscriptions almost all over Armenia, telling of his victories over the Hittites, etc. The kingdom of Biainash reached its acme under the great monarch Argishtish I, who succeeded in defending his country against Shalmaneser III (783-772 bc). But in his son’s reign Tiglath-pileser IV (748-727 bc: Pul) crushed the Armenians to the dust in a great battle near Commagene in 743. Pul failed to capture Van in 737, but he ravaged the country far and wide. Rusash I, at the head of an Armenian confederacy, began a great struggle in 716 with Sargon (722-705), who in 714 captured Van with Rusash’s family. After 5 months’ wandering Rusash committed suicide. His brother Argishtish II to some degree recovered independence. His successor Erimenash gave an asylum to Adrammelech and Sharezer (Assur-sar-usur) in 680 (2Ki 19:37; Isa 37:38) after the murder of their father Sennacherib. Invading Assyria in the same year, they were defeated by Esar-haddon I. Armenia from the Cyrus River to the South of Lake Van was ravaged by the Kimmerians (679-677). Rusash II (circa 660-645) and his son Sandurish III (the latter circa 640 or soon after) submitted to Ashurbanipal (668-626). Nebuchadnezzar (604-561) boasts of reaching Van in his conquests, though the Armenians had probably their share in the destruction of Nineveh in 606. Jer (Jer 51:27) mentioned the kingdoms of Ararat, Minni and Ashkenaz about 595, and said they would help in the overthrow of Babylon (in 538). Cyrus had therefore probably subdued or won them over after capturing Ekbatana (549). After this the Turanians gradually gave place in Armenia to the Aryan Armenians of later times.
Their Religion
The supreme god of the Turanian Armenians was Haldish, who was father of all the rest. They were styled children of mighty Haldish. He, with Teishbash, god of the atmosphere, and Ardinish, the Sun-god, formed the company of the mighty gods. Auish, god of water; Ayash, god of the earth; Shelardish, the Moon-god; Sardish, the Year-god; and 42 other gods are mentioned. Sari was a goddess, probably corresponding to Ishtar. Adoration was offered to the spirits of the dead also. Somewhat strangely, some of the divine names we have mentioned remind one of certain Aryan (Greek and Old Pers) words, however this may be accounted for.
Literature
Valdemar Schmidt, Assyriens og AEgyptens Gamle Historie; Maspero, Dawn of Civilization; Rawlinson, West. Asiat. Inscrs; Keilinschriftliche Bibliothek (Schrader, editor); Airarat, 1883; Sayce in Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society, new series, XIV; Records of the Past; Hastings, End of Religion and Ethics, I.
2. Aryan Armenians: History to 114 Ad
The ancestors of the present Armenians (who call themselves Haik’h, i.e. Pati-s, Lords) may have settled in the country in the 8th century bc, when Sargon mentions a king of part of Armenia who bore the Aryan name Bagadatti (= Theodore). They came from Phrygia (Herod. vii.73), used the Phrygian dress and armor (Dion. of Halicarnassus; Eudoxius; Herod.) and spoke the same language (Herod. i.171). In the Bible they are called the House of Togarmah (Gen 10:3; 1Ch 1:6; Eze 27:14; Eze 38:6) and Ashkenaz (Gen 10:3; 1Ch 1:6; Jer 51:27; the Assyrian Ashguza), as by their own writers of later times. Xenophon in the Cyropedia mentions a Median conquest of Armenia, Strabo their Median attire; yet Armenian girls could not understand Xenophon’s Persian interpreter (Anab. iv.5). Three of the four Armenians mentioned by Darius have Aryan names. The Armenians joined the Median noble Fravartish in his revolt against Darius I (519 bc). Much of the consequent fighting took place in Armenia, which was with difficulty subdued (517). It formed part of Darius’ thirteenth Nome, and afterward two satrapies (apparently Armenia Major and Minor). The government (of Armenia Major) was made hereditary in the family of Vidarna (Hydarnes) for helping to put down Fravartish. Xenophon’s interesting description of the country and people and the severity of its winters is well known. Herodotus tells of Armenians in skin and wicker-work coracles bringing wine, etc., to Babylon. Xenophon says they and the Chaldeans traded with India. Strabo mentions their caravan trade across central Asia. The satrap of Armenia had to present 20,000 young horses annually to the king of Persia at the great annual festival of Mithra. A large body of Armenian soldiers served in Xerxes’ invasion of Greece. At the battle of Arbela (331 bc), 40,000 of their infantry and 7,000 cavalry took part. Armenia then became a portion of Alexander’s empire, and later of that of Seleucus (301 bc), under a native satrap, Artavasdes. Armenia revolted after Antiochus’ defeat at Magnesia (190 bc), and the Romans encouraged the two satraps to declare themselves kings. Artaxias, king of Armenia Major, used Hannibal’s aid in fortifying his capital Artaxata (189 bc). Artaxias was overthrown by Antiochus Epiphanes in 165, but was restored on swearing allegiance. Civil confusion ensued. The nobles called in the Parthians under Mithridates I (150 bc), who became master of the whole Persian empire. He made his brother Valarsaces king of Armenia. Thus the Arsacide dynasty was established in that country and lasted till the fall of the Parthian empire (226 ad), the Armenian kings very generally recognizing the Parthian monarchs as their suzerains. The greatest Armenian king was Tigranes I. (96-55 bc), a warrior who raised Armenia for a time to the foremost position in Asia. He humbled the Parthians, joined Mithridates VI in war with Rome, ruled Syria for over 14 years, built near Mardin as his capital Tigranocerta, and assumed the Assyrio-Persian title of King of Kings. Lucullus defeated Tigranes and destroyed Tigranocerta in 69 bc. Tigranes surrendered to Pompey near Artaxata (66 bc), paid 6,000 talents, and retained only Armenia. Under him Greek art and literature flourished in the country. Armenia as a subjectally of Rome became a buffer state between the Roman and Parthian empires. Tigranes’ son and successor Artevasdes joined in the Parthian invasion of Syria after Crassus’ overthrow at Sinnaca 53 bc. He treacherously caused great loss to Antony’s army in 36 bc. Antony carried him in chains to Egypt, where Cleopatra put him to death in 32 bc. After this, Armenia long remained subject to the Romans whenever not strong enough to join the Parthians, suffering much from intrigues and the jealousy of both powers. There is no proof of the later Armenian story that Armenia was subject to Abgarus, king of Edessa, in our Lord’s time, and that the gospel was preached there by Thaddaeus, though the latter point is possible. In 66 ad, Tiridates, elder brother of the Parthian king Vologeses, having defeated the Romans under Paetus and established himself on the throne of Armenia, went by land to Rome and received investiture from Nero. Peace between Rome and Parthia ensued, and Armenia remained closely united to Parthia till Trajan’s expedition in 114 ad.
Literature
Spiegel, Altpers. Keilinschriften; Herodotus; Xenophon; Arrian; Tacitus; Velleius Patroculus; Livy; Polybius; Ammianus Marcellinus.
Fuente: International Standard Bible Encyclopedia
Armenia
Armenia, a country of Western Asia, is not mentioned in Scripture under that name, but is supposed to be alluded to in the three following Hebrew designations, which seem to refer either to the country as a whole, or to particular districts.
I.Ararat, the land upon (or over) the mountains of which the ark rested at the Deluge (Gen 8:4); whither the sons of Sennacherib fled after murdering their father (2Ki 19:37; Isa 37:38); and one of the ‘kingdoms’ summoned, along with Minni and Ashkenaz, to arm against Babylon (Jer 51:27).
II.Minni is mentioned in Jer 51:27, along with Ararat and Ashkenaz, as a kingdom called to arm itself against Babylon. The name is by some taken for a contraction of ‘Armenia.’
III.Thogarmah, mentioned by the prophet Eze 27:14; Eze 38:6.
The boundaries of Armenia may be described generally as the southern range of the Caucasus on the north, and a branch of the Taurus on the south. It forms an elevated table-land, whence rise mountains which (with the exception of the gigantic Ararat) are of moderate height. The climate is generally cold, but salubrious. The country abounds in romantic forest and mountain scenery, and rich pasture-land, especially in the districts which border upon Persia. Ancient writers notice the wealth of Armenia in metals and precious stones. The great rivers Euphrates and Tigris both take their rise in this region, as also the Araxes, and the Kur or Cyrus. Armenia is commonly divided into Greater and Lesser, the line of separation being the Euphrates; but the former constitutes by far the larger portion, and indeed the other is often regarded as pertaining rather to Asia Minor. There was anciently a kingdom of Armenia, with its metropolis Artaxata: it was sometimes an independent state, but most commonly tributary to some more powerful neighbor. Indeed at no period was the whole of this region ever comprised under one government, but Assyria, Media, Syria, and Cappadocia shared the dominion or allegiance of some portion of it, just as it is now divided among the Persians, Russians, Turks, and Kurds. In later times Armenia was the border-country where the Romans and Parthians fruitlessly strove for the mastery; and since then it has been the frequent battle-field of the neighboring states. Towards the end of the last war between Russia and Turkey, large bodies of native Armenians emigrated into the Russian dominions, so that their number in what is termed Turkish Armenia is now considerably reduced. By the treaty of Turkomanshee (21st Feb. 1828) Persia ceded to Russia the Khanats of Erivan and Nakhshivan. The boundary-line (drawn from the Turkish dominions) passes over the Little Ararat; the line of separation between Persian and Turkish Armenia also begins at Ararat: so that this famous mountain is now the central boundary-stone of these three empires.
Christianity was first established in Armenia in the fourth century; the Armenian Church has a close affinity to the Greek Church in its forms and polity; it is described by the American missionaries who are settled in the country as in a state of great corruption and debasement. The total number of the Armenian nation throughout the world is supposed not to exceed 2,000,000. Their favorite pursuit is commerce, and their merchants are found in all parts of the East.
The Armenian or Haikan language, notwithstanding the great antiquity of the nation to which it belongs, possesses no literary documents prior to the fifth century of the Christian era. The translation of the Bible, begun by Miesrob in the year 410, is the earliest monument of the language that has come down to us. The dialect in which this version is written, and in which it is still publicly read in their churches, is called the old Armenian. The dialect now in usethe modern Armenianin which they preach and carry on the intercourse of daily life, not only departs from the elder form by dialectual changes in the native elements of the language itself, but also by the great intermixture of Persian and Turkish words which has resulted from the conquest and subjection of the country. It is, perhaps, this diversity of the ancient and modern idioms which has given rise to the many conflicting opinions that exist as to the relation in which the Armenian stands to other languages. As to form, it is said to be rough and full of consonants; to possess ten cases in the nouna number which is only exceeded by the Finnish; to have no dual; to have no mode of denoting gender in the noun by change of form; to bear a remarkable resemblance to Greek in the use of the participle, and in the whole syntactical structure; and to have adopted the Arabian system of meter.
Fuente: Popular Cyclopedia Biblical Literature
Armenia
[Arme’nia]
This name occurs in the A.V. in 2Ki 19:37; Isa 37:38, as the place to which two sons of Sennacherib fled after killing their father; but in both these passages the Hebrew word is Ararat. Armenia occurs in the LXX in the passage in Isaiah. Armenia lies west of the Caspian Sea, and extends northward of 38 N. lat. It is now partly in the Russian and partly in the Turkish empires.
Fuente: Concise Bible Dictionary
Armenia
A region in Western Asia
2Ki 19:37; Jer 51:27
Assassins of Sennacherib take refuge in
Isa 37:38
Fuente: Nave’s Topical Bible
Armenia
Armenia (ar-m’ni-), mountains of Minni (?) The English name for a country called Ararat in the Hebrew, 2Ki 19:37; Isa 37:38, A. V., but the R. V. has Ararat in both of these places; hence “Armenia” does not occur in the Revised English Version. Armenia is in western Asia, between the Caspian and the Black Seas, and the Caucasus and Taurus ranges of mountains. Three districts, probably included in Armenia, are mentioned in the BibleArarat, Minni and Ashchenaz, and Togarmah. 1. Ararat was a central region near the range of mountains of the same name. 2. Minni and Ashchenaz, Jer 51:27, districts in the upper valley of a branch of the Euphrates. 3. Togarmah, Eze 27:14; Eze 38:6, was apparently the name by which the most, or perhaps the whole, of the land was known to the Hebrews. The present number of Armenians is estimated to be from 2,500,000 to 3,000,000, of whom about 1,000,000 live in Armenia. Its chief modern towns are Erzeroum, Erivan, and Van. See Ararat.
Fuente: People’s Dictionary of the Bible
Armenia
Arme’nia. (land of Aram). Armenia is nowhere mentioned under that name in the original Hebrew, though it occurs in the English version, 2Ki 19:37, for Ararat.
Description. — Armenia is that lofty plateau whence the rivers Euphrates, Tigris, Araxes and Acampsis pour down their waters in different directions; the first two to the Persian Gulf, the last two respectively to the Caspian and Euxine seas. It may be termed the nucleus of the mountain system of western Asia. From the centre of the plateau rise two lofty chains of mountains, which run from east to west.
Divisions. — Three districts are mentioned in the Bible.
(1) Ararat is mentioned as the place whither the sons of Sennacherib fled. Isa 37:38. It was the central district, surrounding the mountain of that name.
(2) Minni only occurs in Jer 51:27. It is probably identical with the district Minyas, in the upper valley of the Murad-su branch of the Euphrates.
(3) Togarmah is noticed in two passages of Eze 27:14; Eze 38:6 both of which are in favor of its identity with Armenia.
Present condition. — The Armenians, numbering about two millions, are nominally Christians. About half of them live in Armenia. Their favorite pursuit is commerce. The country is divided, as to government, between Russia, Turkey and Persia. — Editor.
Fuente: Smith’s Bible Dictionary
ARMENIA
a country east of Asia Minor
2Ki19:37; Isa 37:38; Jer 51:27
–SEE Ararat, ARARAT
Fuente: Thompson Chain-Reference Bible
Armenia
a considerable country of Asia, having Colchis and Iberia on the north, Media on the east, Mesopotamia on the south, Pontus and Cappadocia on the west, and the Euphrates and Syria on the south-west. Armenia is often confounded with Aramaea, the land of Aram or Syria; but they are totally different. Armenia, which is separated from Aram by Mount Taurus, was so denominated from Ar-Men, the mountainous country of Meni or Minni, the people of which country are mentioned under this name by Jeremiah, when summoning the nations against Babylon.
The people of this country have in all ages maintained a great similarity of character, partly commercial and partly pastoral. They have, in fact, in the northern parts of the Asiatic continent, been what the Cushites and Ishmaelites were in the south, tenders of cattle, living on the produce of their flocks and herds, and carriers of merchandize between the neighbouring nations; a part living at home with their flocks, and a part travelling as merchants and dealers into distant countries. In the flourishing times of Tyre, the Armenians, according to Eze 27:14, brought horses and mules to the markets of that city; and, according to Herodotus, they had a considerable trade in wine, which they sent down the Euphrates to Babylon, &c. At the present day, the Armenians are the principal traders of the east; and are to be found in the capacity of merchants or commercial agents all over Asia, a patient, frugal, industrious, and honest people, whose known character for these virtues has withstood the tyranny and extortions of the wretched governments under which they chiefly live.
The religion of the Armenians is a corrupt Christianity of the sect of Eutyches; that is, they own but one nature in Jesus Christ. Their rites partake of those of the Greek and Latin churches, but they reject the idolatries of both. It is indeed a remarkable instance of the firmness of this people, that while the surrounding nations submitted to the religion as well as the arms of the Turks, they have preserved the purity of their ancient faith, such as it is, to the present day. It cannot be supposed but that the Turks used every effort to impose on the conquered Armenians the doctrines of the Koran. More tolerant, indeed, than the Saracens, liberty of conscience was still not to be purchased of them but by great sacrifices, which for three centuries the Armenians have patiently endured, and exhibit to the world an honourable and solitary instance of a successful national opposition of Christianity to Mohammedanism.