THE ORIGIN OF THE ARMENIANS--THE INTRODUCTION OF CHRISTIANITY INTO ARMENIA--DECLINE and GRAND REVIVAL.

“God shall enlarge Japhet and he shall dwell in the tents of Shem, and Canaan shall be his servant.”

For the interpretation of this blessing of Noah’s to his eldest son, and of how it may or may not have met with its fulfilment, I shall leave to theologians to discuss, and only record it here as a quotation from Genesis. Beyond the story of his connection with the flood, and this blessing with which his father blessed him, and the genealogy of his sons, we read nothing more in Genesis, of Japhet, this mighty father of the Caucasian race.

The genealogy in Genesis runs thus:

“The sons of Japhet, Gomer and Magog and Madai, and Javan, and Tubal, and Meschech, and Tiras.

“And the sons of Gomer: Ashkenaz and Riphath and Togarmah.

“And the sons of Javan; Elishah and Tarshish, Kittim and Dodamin.

“By these were the isles of the Gentiles divided in their lands; every one after his tongue, after their families, in their nations.”

Only the names of the three sons of Gomer, and the four sons of Javan are given in Genesis, and by these we are told were the isles of the Gentiles divided. So much for Genesis.

Later history records that these Gentiles spread themselves over part of that stretch of terra firma which now goes by the name of Europe, developing their own families, and their own nations, and originating their own tongues, and also they spread themselves over other parts of the surface of the globe, populating where they could, ruling where they could.

But through the roll of centuries which lost themselves into the flight of thousand years, one branch of the sons of Japhet kept themselves on the land where Noah planted his vineyard, and round the base of that mountain from whence his descendants began to spread and people the earth.

Tradition has woven a romance round the names of towns and villages in Armenia. “No aighee” (Noah’s vineyard) is the name of a village supposed to be the place where the patriarch planted his vine; and “Nakhitchvan”[15] meaning (first descent) where Noah is supposed to have descended from the ark; also “Mairand” meaning (mother is there) where Noah’s wife is supposed to be buried; and “Erivan”[16] meaning (that which can be seen) supposed to be the land in the distance which could be seen when Noah descended from the ark.

Armenian history begins with Haik, the first chief or king of the tribe: he was third in descent from Japhet, and fourth in descent from Noah, and his genealogy is given thus: Haik the son of Togarmah, the son of Gomer, the son of Japhet, the son of Noah.

“They of the house of Togarmah traded in thy fairs with horses and horsemen and mules” is the designation given by Ezekiel, 27th chapter 14th verse of the merchants of Armenia trading with Tyrus.

Haik revolting from Belus, the Nimrod of Genesis, the son of Cush and grandson of Ham, retraced his footsteps from the plains of Shinar, where he with others had tried to build the tower whose top should reach into heaven, and with his followers and children settled himself round the base of Ararat.

Perhaps a nascent fire of patriotism was burning in Haik’s heart as he retraced his steps to the land of his father’s or grandfather’s childhood: perhaps owing to the circumstances under which he was placed, he had not the alternative of another choice.

We read in Armenian history that Belus sent the following message to Haik:

“Why didst thou go to that cold country? Were it not better for thee to have moderated thy pride, and submissively dwelt on my territory in any part thou wished.”

To which Haik replied:

“It is better to die bravely than to bow down in fear to that presumptuous man who would be worshipped as a god.”

Whatever causes may have influenced Haik, his choice of country was geographically most unfortunate for the race he founded, and it may truly be said that owing to its geographical conditions affording facilities for the march of conquerors, to have been instrumental in bringing about the overwhelming and unequalled adversities that through weary centuries have followed like a grim fate the footsteps of his descendants.

No geographical position on the surface of the globe could have been more unfortunate, hemmed round by larger territories, with no natural defences or boundaries, and no outlet to the sea, except the lake of the Caspian on the one side, and the lake of the Black Sea on the other, that land on which Haik chose to found a country and a nation, has been soaked with the blood and the tears of this branch of the sons of Japhet.

The animosity between Haik and Belus continued, and later, according to Armenian historians, Belus was slain in battle by an arrow from the bow of Haik.

We read the following record of Belus in Genesis: “he began to be a mighty one in the earth.” “He was a mighty hunter before the Lord: wherefore it is said, Even as Nimrod the mighty hunter before the Lord.”

In Armenian history, Haik is depicted as a man of powerful physique and gigantic stature; no man of his time being able to bend his bow or shoot his arrow. Moses of Chorene, the chief of Armenian historians, quoting from the learned Syrian Mar Abbas, writes of him thus:

“He was graceful and well built, curly haired, pleasing in appearance, and strong armed, and it might be remembered that among the heroes of his time he was the most remarkable of all.”

However that may be, Armenian history awards to Haik the proud distinction of having overcome and slain Belus, the mighty hunter Nimrod.

The people who retraced their steps from the plains of Shinar, and settled round the base of Ararat called themselves “Hai” after their chief, and they named their country “Haiyastan,” and these names still continue to be used in the Armenian, or “HaiyÉrane” as the Armenians call their own language.

I will pass over the periods when the son and grandson of Haik ruled over Armenia, and only mention that the mountain known to the world as Ararat was called by the Hai “Masis” after their king Amasia and great-grandson of Haik. To this day, Armenian peasants and others dwelling round Ararat, call the mountain “Masis.” I remember in my childhood having seen an Armenian periodical entitled “Masis,” which showed that the name had been steadily kept up.

I will again pass over the periods ruled by the successors of Amasia, and relate the story of King Aram, who ended his brilliant reign in B.C. 1796 after ruling over Armenia fifty-eight years.

He was a great and powerful prince, and extended his dominions, and grew to be so mighty in battle that the neighbouring nations called his country Aramia and the people were called Aramians, such names as Armenia or Armenians being no doubt later corruptions.

The first victory of Aram was over Neuchar king of Media, whom he took prisoner and put to death, and made a large part of the country of the defeated prince tributary to his own. The second victory of Aram was over Barsham king of Babylon, whom also he took prisoner and put to death. The next victory was over the king of Cappadocia; the army of the Cappadocians was pursued to the very shores of the Mediterranean, and the whole of Cappadocia fell into the hands of Aram B.C. 1796. Also Ninus king of Assyria, at one time an eager enemy, awed by the victories of Aram, sought to cultivate his friendship.

No doubt if the volumes and scripts of paper or parchment of the famous Alexandrian library, which burned for six months as fuel in the four thousand baths of the city, had escaped that most atrocious act of vandalism, and been preserved instead, vast treasures of knowledge now lost to us concerning the ancient kingdoms of Western Asia might be known in our day; and also when the tide of Islam victory rolled over the kingdom of Armenia, how much of the story and history of the people was lost and destroyed along with the destruction of their independence it would be difficult now to calculate or assert, but in taking up link by link of whatever knowledge has been left to us, there seems to be grounds for supposing that the “AramÆans” designated by foreign writers as “a people of Semitic race, language and religion, coming from Northern Arabia and settling in the region between the western boundaries of Babylonia and the highlands of Western Asia” were no other than the Hai who under their King Aram had spread their conquests and their kingdom into Mesopotamia and even to the shores of the Mediterranean.

Herodotus also rather corroborates this conjecture when he includes Northern Mesopotamia, together with the mountainous country of Ararat, under the name of Armenia, and in writing of the Armenian boats that brought merchandise to Babylon, he remarks that they were constructed in Armenia, in the parts above Assyria.

ArchÆological researches have laid the claim that the modern Armenians are the descendants of the old Hittites; the modern Armenian being supposed to be the survival of the ancient Hittite tongue, and it is asserted almost everything that is known in the Hittite language is Old Armenian in form: but who these Hittites were, or whence they came neither historian nor archÆologist have been able definitely to ascertain. In the Armenian version of the Bible, we find the name “Kethosi” used for the Hittite who were known to the Assyrians and Egyptians as “Ketha,” but this can have no important bearing since the Bible was translated into the Armenian language from the Greek in the fifth century of the Christian era, and the Armenian scribe no doubt simply translated what he found in the Greek.

According, however, to all known history the Hittites were a warlike and conquering race and ranked among the foremost of the nations of Western Asia. The modern historian has come to the following conclusion concerning them: “Their primitive home is thought to have been in that part of Armenia where the Euphrates, the Halys, and Lycus approach nearest to one another; and it is even asserted that the modern Armenians are descendants of the old Hittites. From this point they began their career of conquests, probably under the leadership of some able and vigorous chief, whose ambition overleaped his native boundaries. One conquest led to another. Their leaders acquired great armies, and subdued many nations, until the Hittites became one of the most powerful peoples of ancient times, and their kings were able successfully to defy even Egypt, at that time the strongest nation on the globe.”

This description accords with Armenian history; the Hai being known from time immemorial as a warlike race, and extending their territory by conquests, until, as I have narrated, under the leadership of Aram their kingdom spread from the mountains of Upper Armenia to the shores of the Mediterranean and into northern Mesopotamia, which proves that almost all of Asia Minor was conquered by them, and according also to Armenian history the language of the Hai was introduced into Cappadocia by King Aram.[17]

Allowing, however, for the many obscurities of Armenian history, confusion comes in, when historians or archÆologists ascribe a Mongolian ancestry to the Hittites, whereas Armenian history holds its unquestionable ground firmly and decidedly on the Japhetian ancestry; and the peculiar physiognomy of the Armenians; the oval contour of face, the distinctive, prominent nose, large eye, and well marked arch of eyebrow do not show any traces of Mongolian ancestry. It follows therefore that if the Armenians are the descendants of the Hittites, then the Hittites were not of Mongolian ancestry. If the Hittites were the Hai, the name must have undergone corruption during the course of centuries and it is reasonable to suppose that they shared the fate of all conquerors, and after a period of power, were driven back from the shores of the Mediterranean to their own native home.

Aram was succeeded by his son Ara, a prince of such singular and surpassing beauty that he was surnamed “Ara the Beautiful.” The famous Semiramis, wife of Ninus king of Assyria, attracted by his great personal beauty offered him her affections and her throne after the death of her husband, but her proffers of love were scornfully rejected by Ara, who according to the story related of his own love was passionately attached to his queen Nuvard. The proud Semiramis, scorned, enraged and mortified, declared war against Ara and entered his country with her armies; a battle was fought in which Ara leading his army was slain, although Semiramis had given special instructions to her troops to be careful of his life and bring him to her a living prisoner.

The death of Ara was evidently a grief to Semiramis, for she established his son Kardos on his father’s throne. She also built a town and fortress on the shores of Lake Aghthamar, now called Van, the battlefield on which the beautiful Ara pursued by her fatal love lost his life. The town and fortress were named “Semiramakert” meaning “built by Semiramis.”

The name of the highest mountain in Armenia which the people of the country called “Masis” came to be known as Ararat, it is supposed to be derived from the Armenian words “Ara-i-jard” meaning “the defeat of Ara” or “the undoing of Ara.” If this version is correct, the name is likely to have been used in derision by the Assyrians. According to another version the name of Ara was converted into Ararat, and the country called after him. Thus we read in the account of the flood given in Genesis:

“And the ark rested in the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month, upon the mountains of Ararat.”

In the Armenian version of the bible, we read “on the twenty-seventh day of the month,” but likewise as in English “upon the mountains of Ararat.” This is not surprising since the designation “thaghavoroothune Araratian” meaning “the kingdom of Ararat” is in use in the Armenian language.

I have alluded to the reigns of Aram and Ara to show how the Hai have come to be called Armenians and how their country has come to be named Armenia; also whence the name, Ararat; and as I purport here only to treat of the origin of the Armenians, I shall now pass on to the no less interesting period of their history: THE INTRODUCTION OF CHRISTIANITY.

When that great event bearing the message “on earth peace, goodwill toward men” celebrated throughout the Christian world as the divine birth, took place in the city of Bethlehem; Abgar the son of Arsham reigned in Armenia.

That country was now broken in strength, the severe blows dealt on the one side by the Roman Empire, and the incessant warfare of the Persian on the other, had greatly curtailed her former independence and power; the talons of the Roman Eagles were already felt in her vitals, and the king of Armenia subsisted under the favor of the Roman Emperor, whilst it became necessary for him to cultivate the friendship of his powerful neighbour, the king of Persia.

Whilst in Persian territory, whither he had gone to settle the dispute that had arisen on the death of the Persian monarch between his sons, Abgar had contracted a severe disease, evidently leprosy.

The wonderful cures and miracles of Christ were reported to him by the representatives he had sent to the Roman General Marinus in Jerusalem. These representatives had gone to refute the charges brought against him by King Herod, and to propitiate the Roman Power; they came back to tell what they had witnessed in Jerusalem, of the singular wisdom and wondrous works of a marvellous man named Jesus, who was of Nazareth, but whom his own followers persisted in calling the Son of God.

The story relates that Abgar was deeply impressed by what he heard, and expressed his own belief that man could not do such wondrous works as were related of this Jesus the Nazarene. Thereupon the King sent messengers to Jerusalem with a letter to Jesus. What a touch of human nature is here displayed; the king is suffering from a loathsome disease, the medical skill of his country and of neighbouring countries has been exhausted, all in vain; the royal heart is stricken as well as the royal body, for his disease is so loathsome, that although he is king, his subjects would rather shun than approach him; he hears of this wonderful man Jesus, his representatives have come back from Jerusalem to tell him that “he cleanseth the lepers.” Hasten to him, said the king, take unto him my greetings, carry my messages and my letter and bring him unto me that I might honor him and if so be that he may heal me.

The messengers of Abgar were headed by Anany the Greek scribe of the king and they are supposed to be present in the procession of Christ’s entry into Jerusalem. The twentieth and twenty-first verses of the Gospel of St. John are adduced by Armenian historians as corroborative testimony:

“And there were certain Greeks among them that came up to worship at the feast;

“The same came therefore to Philip, which was of Bethsaida of Galilee, and desired him, saying, Sir, we would see Jesus.”

Anany and his companions are supposed to be the “certain Greeks” who came to Philip asking to see Jesus. And here I have to explain that the letters of the Armenian alphabet were invented by St. Mesrope in the beginning of the fifth century of the christian era; previous to the time of Mesrope there were no special Armenian letters, and as this invention was hailed as a signal national boon we have to conclude that there was no written Armenian language previous to the fifth century. One thing however must be certain, that this letter carried by the king’s Greek scribe, the leader of the messengers, must originally have been written in Greek. This letter has already been translated from the Armenian into English; the translation reads thus:

“Abgar the son of Arsham, Prince of Armenia, sends to Thee, Saviour and Benefactor, Jesus, who didst perform miracles in Jerusalem, greeting.

“I have heard of Thee, and of the cures wrought by Thee without herbs or medicines; for it is reported that Thou restoreth the blind and maketh the lame walk, cleanseth the lepers, casteth out devils and unclean spirits, and healeth those that are tormented of diseases of long continuance, and that Thou also raiseth the dead:—hearing all this of Thee I was fully persuaded that Thou art the very God come down from heaven to do such miracles, or that Thou art the Son of God and so performeth them; wherefore I write to Thee to entreat Thee to take the trouble to come to me and cure my disease. Besides, I hear that the Jews murmur against Thee and want to torture Thee. I have a small and beautiful city—sufficient for us both.”

The story goes on to relate that among the messengers was an artist by the name of John who had been commissioned by the king to bring back a portrait of Christ; the artist however failed in his efforts to portray the divine features, whereupon Christ gave him a veil which he had laid to his face and on which his features had become imprinted, to carry back to his master.

We are also told that the apostle Thomas was commanded by Christ to write a reply to Abgar. The reply has also been translated into English and the translation reads thus:

“Blessed is he who believes in Me without seeing Me, for it is written of Me that they that see Me shall not believe, and they that have not seen Me shall believe and be saved. As concerning the request that I should come to thee, it becomes Me to fulfil all things for which I was sent, and when I have fulfilled those then I shall ascend to Him that sent me; but after my Ascension I will send one of my disciples, who shall cure thee of thy disease and give life to thee and to all those that are with thee.”

Two stories are given of the cure of Abgar. According to one version he was healed on receiving the veil, according to the other, the apostle Thaddeus on coming to Armenia laid his hands on the king and cured him.

This story of the veil has been treated by certain scholars as a legend, especially as the Roman church has also got a somewhat similar story. We are of course not in a position to vouch for its truth or incorrectness, but it seems to me if all the miracles of Christ as related in the gospels are to be credited, this one also can be regarded as one out of many. If according to the gospel story water was turned into wine at the marriage feast in Cana, what is there incredible about the imprint of the divine features on a veil; and if the gospels assure us of the healing of many lepers there can be nothing astonishing in the healing of the king of Armenia.

I was however much interested when I came across the following passage in the history of the “Spread of Islam”:

“To the east they advanced to the banks and sources of the Euphrates and Tigris; the long disputed barrier of Rome and Persia was forever confounded; the walls of Edessa and Amida, of Dara and Nisibis, which had resisted the arms and engines of Sapor or Nushirvan, were levelled in the dust; and the holy city of Abgarus might vainly produce the epistle or the image of Christ to an unbelieving conqueror.”

“The long disputed barrier of Rome and Persia” which was “forever confounded” was of course Armenia; and “the holy city of Abgarus” the historian evidently had in his mind must have been Edessa, whither Abgar had removed his seat of government. To Armenians, however, Edessa has never been “the holy city,” if they had a holy city, they would prefer to name Ani, the city of a thousand churches, or on account of its peculiar associations Etchmiatzin the ecclesiastical metropolis.

It was in Anno Domini 34 that the apostles Thaddeus and Bartholomew went to Armenia, where they were warmly welcomed and received with great reverence and respect by the King, who accepted the christian faith at once, himself and the royal household being baptised by the apostle Thaddeus.

Thaddeus and Bartholomew continued their preaching in Armenia, converting and baptising the people; churches were raised up, bishops consecrated, and the christian religion established in the country.

It might have been a matter of wonder to us why Saint Paul did not address an epistle to the Armenians as he addressed to other nations; but I think the 20th verse of the 15th chapter of his epistle to the Romans clearly explains the reason why there was not an epistle written to the Armenians also:

“Yea, so have I strived to preach the Gospel, not where Christ was named, lest I should build upon another man’s foundation.”

Clearly then no epistle was written to the Armenians because Christ was already named among them, and Paul did not wish to build upon the foundation of Thaddeus and Bartholomew who had laid the foundation of Christianity in Armenia at a time when Paul himself was persecuting Christians. Thaddeus and Bartholomew left behind no epistles, and we have only Armenian history for the record of the work they did in Armenia.

Abgar died soon after his baptism and conversion, and was succeeded by his son Anany who tried to revive the old religion, which was something similar to the worship of the Greeks and Romans. The people of the country however had in large part accepted Christianity, and the revival of the old religion was consequently met with disfavour, but before their discontent had time to assume active tendencies Anany met his death by an accident; the people thereupon immediately invited Abgar’s nephew Sanatrook to occupy the throne, taking a pledge from him that he would not interfere with their religion. The pledge was readily given by Sanatrook, but once secure on the throne he proved a cruel and merciless despot: the remaining sons of Abgar were killed, and his daughters and widow Helena banished, but the crowning act of the tyrant’s wickedness and infamy was the martyrdom of the apostles Thaddeus and Bartholomew. Thus Christianity continued its struggles in Armenia, persecuted and declining, but still enduring.

About Anno Domini 260 the king reigning in Armenia by the name of Terdat, persecuted Christianity. He had regained his throne through the support of the Roman Army, and to celebrate his accession he offered thanksgiving and sacrifice in the temple of the goddess Anahid, which was no other than the goddess Diana of the Romans, but the fathers of the Armenian church in their christian zeal have reversed the name of the goddess, made a topsy-turvy of it, calling her Anahid, and so the name has remained in the Armenian language to this day.

This occasion of the king’s worship and thanksgiving in the temple of Diana, marked the beginning of the persecution of Gregory, afterwards known as Gregory the Illuminator and the patron saint of Armenia. The childhood of Gregory had been shadowed by a parent’s guilt: his father Anak having treacherously assassinated the then reigning king Khosrov the Great, the whole family was exterminated, only two sons escaping death, one of them, Gregory, was secretly removed by his nurse to Caesaria, and kept in concealment, until in the course of years the father’s crime having been forgotten, all danger for the life of the son was supposed to have passed away.

Gregory’s christian faith however now became the cause of his misfortunes; the king called upon Gregory to assist in the worship in the temple of Diana, but he firmly refused and boldly avowed his christianity, which so incensed the king that he ordered frightful tortures to be inflicted upon him, but as the tortures had no effect and Gregory remained firm to his faith, the king ordered him to be thrown into a dry well. The story goes on to relate that Gregory lived for fifteen years in this dry well, food and drink being conveyed to him secretly by a woman, herself a christian. On this spot is built the famous monastery of “Khorvirap” meaning “deep well.”

A beautiful Roman maiden by the name of RhipsimÈ fleeing from the addresses of the Emperor Diocletian sought refuge in Armenia; she was accompanied by a friend, a woman of maturer years of the name of Caiana, and some other christian maidens, all fleeing from persecution in Rome.

RhipsimÈ’s rare beauty had captivated the Roman emperor, and she had sought to escape from his passion by flight, but a crueller fate awaited her in Armenia, for king Terdat in his turn smitten by the exquisite beauty of her face offered to make her his queen, and her refusal to accept his throne and his love so exasperated the king that he ordered her beautiful head to be cut off. Thus RhipsimÈ with Caiana and their young companions were cruelly martyred. RhipsimÈ and Caiana were later beatified as saints in the Armenian church.

The king however did not escape the Nemesis of his diabolical crime, the memory of the beautiful RhipsimÈ haunted him; remorse took the place of the ferocious anger that had doomed his hapless victim to her cruel death and the king lost his reason. The king having become incapacitated, Gregory was released from his underground prison by the king’s sister Khosrovidookt, and as the malady of the king was mental, remorse for his own crime having overturned his reason, it became the peculiar office of Gregory to minister to the king, and by his spiritual ministrations to effect the restoration of the royal mind.

Terdat recovered his reason and as a broken-hearted penitent accepted the religion of Gregory and the beautiful RhipsimÈ.

Gregory now freely preached Christianity in Armenia. It was a grand Revival; the temples of Anahid were turned into the churches of Christ, and the whole nation accepted Christianity, which became the established religion in the country.[18] The name of Gregory has been handed down to posterity as Soorb Gregore Loosavoritch (Saint Gregory the Illuminator). “Illuminator” is the generally accepted English translation of the Armenian term “Loosavoritch,” but it is true nevertheless that neither the term “Illuminator” nor “Enlightener” suitably conveys the definition of its meaning; sometimes modes of expression are so difficult to translate from one language into another, and it can be said that the term “Illuminator” is used for want of a better word in English. The Armenians call their religion “loois havat;” the word “loois” means “light” and “havat” means “faith” or “religion,” but if I translated the two words as “enlightened faith” or “enlightened religion” the translation would not suitably convey the meaning of the original.

The cathedral of Etchmiatzin is identified with Gregory; its name “Etchmiatzin” means in the Armenian language “the only begotten is descended,” and the story attached to it is, that in a vision Christ appeared to Gregory descended in light; Gregory built his church on the spot where the vision had appeared to him, giving it the name of “Etchmiatzin” (only begotten descended). The cathedral also gives its name to the town Etchmiatzin, the ecclesiastical metropolis of Armenia.

Since the time of Gregory, Christianity has been the national religion of the Armenians, and they have clung to their christian faith through unremitting persecutions and martyrdoms such as no other christian people have been called upon to endure.

The cathedral of Etchmiatzin built by Gregory still stands to-day; it has constantly been repaired and rebuilt in some part or other, until perhaps little of the original building may be left, but it still claims to be the church built by the patron saint of Armenia. I shall here quote a passage from “Historical Sketch of the Armenian Church,” written by an Armenian priest:

“Owing to political circumstances the Armenian Patriarchate had at times to be transferred to metropolises and to other principal towns of Armenia. In the year A.D. 452 it was removed to Dwin, in 993 to Ani, in 1114 to RÔmklah, and in 1294 to Sis. The Kingdom of Cilicia becoming extinct, and, we having no more a kingdom and no longer a capital town, it was natural and proper to re-transfer the See to its own original place, as the entire nation unanimously desired it. Accordingly, in the year 1441, it was decided by an ecclesiastical meeting that the seat of the Catholicus should return to Holy Etchmiatzin, where to this day has been preserved the proper unbroken succession from our Apostles and from our holy Father, St. Gregory the Illuminator.”

I read the other day in one of the foreign papers published in Japan, the following piece of news:

“An Armenian Church pronounced by experts to date from the second century of the Christian era, has been discovered in a fair state of preservation in the neighbourhood of Bash-Aparnah.”

Perhaps the excavations in Armenia which Professor Marr is now conducting might lead to throwing more light on Armenian history.

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