Khaghaghutyun
(corrected spelling, thanks to a dear reader!)
'Peace'
in Armenian
The Armenian Flag at the Genocide Memorial,
Yerevan, Armenia
I have just spent several hours learning all about the country of Armenia.
I love history!
Armenia is one of the countries that have checked out my blog.
Yippee!
An Armenian woman in traditional dress circa 1800's
This learning expedition started when I looked at my list of languages, and how to say 'Peace' in different countries.
I wanted to say 'Peace' in a language from one of the countries that visit my blog. That's 90 countries since I checked yesterday!
Whoohooo
:0)
If only someone from each country would leave a comment!
That would be truly cool.
Even MORE cool if each sent a picture of their country!!
HINT HINT HINT
And yeah, you Americans, send me a picture of where you live too!
To me this is what the internet is all about.
People connecting with people all over the globe.
Dancing in traditional Armenian costumes
I was going to try and write this blog in the colors of the Armenian flag, but red seems too much like yelling,
and the orange doesn't really show up to read easily,
which leaves me with bright blue.
So I guess we will do this funky color.
:0)
Armenian Dance costumes,
Today is all about Armenia.
I learned things I had no idea of!
(and a few I did know!)
Mount Ararat (Turkey) with the Khor Virap Monastery in front.
Armenia is a land locked and earthquake ridden country
set in rugged mountains.
I guess I never realized that Mount Ararat is adjacent to Armenia.
I thought it was in Turkey, kind of vaguely....
Mount Ararat is part of the Armenian Plateaus, and can be seen,
of course, from Armenia.
Mount Ararat, seen from the Armenian side, http://www.telegraph.co.uk/
For those of you who may not know, Mount Ararat is the mountain where traditional belief makes it the final resting place of the Biblical Noah's Ark.
Mrav mountain range seen from Gandzasar, Armenia
There is a large Cathedral and monastery in Gandzasar.
The foundations of the Cathedral St. Hovhannes Mkrtich (St. John the Baptist)were laid in 1216. It was completed in 1238 AD.
First records about the Gandzasar Monastery go back to the 10th century where an assembly was called in 949 AD to resolve disputes about the holy Trinity.
That's really old.
See it from the United States of America's viewpoint, it's ancient!
(Being as we are such a 'young' country of only 250 years or so).
A chorus sung in Gandzasar's Cathedral of St. John the Baptist
during a liturgical ceremony.
Interesting note:
In 301 AD, Armenia became the first Christian nation.
Today, it's official religion is 'Armenian Apostolic'.
The Gavit (or narthex) of the Gandszasar Monastery.
Gandzasar is translated as "Treasured Mountain".
The centerpiece is the Walled Abbey and the
Cathedral St. Hovhannes Mkrtich.
The Armenians believe that the Cathedral contains,
or contained in the past, a key Christian relic:
the head of St. John the Baptist.
It is also believed that there are several other body parts of well known saints either laid to rest there currently, or at one time in the past.
One of the relics is said to be the right arm of a saint.
Northern main entrance to the gavit Gandzasar
Hmmmm...I'm not really into that.
No disrespect meant to those who are. It's just that as far back as the Old Testament G-d tells us that no other graven image or god should be worshipped.
I think a person's head or arm falls into that category.
It is interesting history, however!
The Cathedral and Monastery have been sacked several times, most notably the Mongol hordes at the beginning of the 13th century, and again in the late 18th century when it was looted by Turkic gangs.
Most recently it was attacked in 1992 by Azerbaijanis.
There's LOTS of info on the Azerbaijan mass genocide program against the Armenians.
I think I just was not aware about the Huge-ness of it.
an Armenia woman who identified herself as Udin, vintage photo
Well, there's lots more great historical stuff.
Has to be with a country as old as this one!
Here are just a few more Armenia Facts -
Population: 3 million
Area: 11,484 square miles
Language: Armenian, Russian
Capital: Yerevan, with a population of 1,079,000 (1/3)
Life expectancy: 72
Currency: Dram
LITERARY: 99%
The front and back of a greeting card
traditional Armenian dress
There's lots more fun stuff, but I have a splitting headache,
and have been putting this together for more than 3 days,
so it's time to post!
As a country that has seen so little of it,
for so long,
I say
Khanaghutyun
Much of my information I gleaned from
- National Geographic Atlas of the World 8th edition
see you soon!
inkspired
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'Peace' in Armenian is Khaghaghutyun