Arrata, Sumerians, Shamballa, the Turkish "Sun Language Theory" and the Scythians

[North Pole]

Hello, everyone.

We began discussing all these topics in the The Rise of the Russian Empire: Russo-Armenian Relations thread which deals with geopolitical topics and therefore is not the proper place to discuss Arrata and Sumerians in it, so let's continue our discussion here.

[North Pole]

Re: Arrata, Sumerians, Shamballa, the Turkish "Sun Language Theory" and the Scythians

OK.....

The whole thing started with the question about the Turkish "Sun Language Theory". What is Turkish "Sun Language Theory"?

Here's a quote from Wiki:

The Sun Language Theory (Turkish: Güneş Dil Teorisi) was a linguistic theory proposing that all human languages are descendants of one Central Asian primal language. The theory further proposed that the only language remaining more or less the same as this primal language is Turkish. According to the theory, the Central Asian worshippers, who wanted to salute the omnipotence of the sun and its life-giving qualities, had done so by transforming their meaningless blabbering into a coherent set of ritual utterings, and languages were born, hence the name.
The hypothesis was started with the works by the French scientist Hilaire de Baranton entitled "L'Origine des Langues, des Religions et des Peuples", that all languages originated from hieroglyphs and cuneiform used by Sumerians and the paper of Austrian linguist Dr. Hermann F. Kvergić of Vienna entitled "La psychologie de quelques elements des langues Turques" ["the psychology of some elements of the Turkic Languages"].
Once these works came to the attention of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, he introduced the Sun Language Theory into Turkish political and educational circles in 1935, at the high point of attempts to 'cleanse' the Turkish language of foreign influences. It fell into final oblivion in the 1950s.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sun_Language_Theory

Armenian explains this subject in greater details:

The fairytale in question is loosely based on a vague theory proposed by a couple of western scholars over a hundred years ago. The very root of the problem here is the issue dealing with the origins of Sumerians, known to be the first advanced civilization on earth. Over a hundred years ago the Sumerian language was wrongly speculated to be Turanian in nature due to certain aspect of the language. This speculation has been debunked by modern linguistics. Modern linguists and historians now claim that the Sumerians spoke a language unlike any other. However, some modern scholars also claim that the origin of the language in question may have been Caucasian (from the Caucasus).

Note that some Armenologists claim that Sumerians were proto-Armenians, or Armenid/Caucasian in origin. Although we don't yet know where they came from prior to their sudden appearance in Mesopotamia, it is known that Sumarians had extensive cultural and economic connections with the Armenian Highlands to their north (Asia Minor - Anatolia/Caucasus).

Interestingly, Sumarians worshiped a twin peaked mountain they called Mashu: http://rbedrosian.com/Memyth.htm

Armenians call the world famous twin peaked holy mountain of Ararat - Massis.

Linguistically and by connotation, Massis is Mashu.

What's more, there are many dozens of words in the Armenian vocabulary that have their roots in the Sumerian language. What's more, based on Sumerian epics, it is known that Sumer had close relations with a northern region known as Arrata, a mystical place that was known for its metallurgy and astronomy/theology. Because ancient Armenia was also known to be a center of metallurgy and astronomy, many Armenian scholars have equated the location Arrata with Armenia. What's more, the name "Arrata" suggest a primordial reference to the biblical name Ararat.

Incidentally, the term/name "Ar" is ubiquitous in the Armenian Highlands. The root is found in names of localities, rivers, mountains and proper names (male and female). In essence, we Armenians are the nation of Ar, Ar-men-ia. Ar is also the root for the Armenian sun Arev/Arek and our supreme creator God Aramazd, or his primordial representation Ara.

Just to put Armenia's ancient heritage in a better perspective:

Karahunj Armenia's "Stonehenge":

http://www.carahunge.am/history.html

http://www.tacentral.com/karahundj/karahundj1.asp

Metsamor, Armenia's ancient city known for metallurgy, astronomy and theology: http://www.tacentral.com/history/metsamor.htm

ON ANCIENT ASTRONOMY IN ARMENIA: http://www.iatp.am/resource/science/...w/pars-eng.htm

Open-Air Temple City of Agarak: http://www.archaeoexpeditions.com/Armenia.htm

Armenia's ancient history: http://www.tacentral.com/history.asp#

Erebuni: http://www.tacentral.com/erebuni/index.asp#1

The art of writing: http://www.tacentral.com/manuscripts.../writing2.html

Anatolia and the Caucasus, 8000–2000 b.c.: http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/ht/02/waa/ht02waa.htm



There are no "facts" in the Sun Language Theory, it's all based on conjecture, speculation and false premises; such as the notion that Sumarians were of Turanian origin. I have not yet seen or heard any non-Turkish scholar take it seriously. I would even say that most Turks don't believe in that bullxxxx either. Please familiarize yourself with serious theories based on modern linguistics, archeology and anthropology.

In the opinion of many Armenian and non-Armenian scholars alike, one of the earliest centers of human civilization (if not the earliest) and the Indo-European (Aryan) homeland was located in Asia Minor (Anatolia/southern Caucasus) also known historically as the Armenian Highlands.

This is perhaps the oldest town ever unearthed, Catal Huyuk (Anatolia): http://www.focusmm.com/civcty/cathyk00.htm

Etruscans, known to be the first advanced civilization in Europe, were also from Asia Minor: http://www.huntfor.com/arthistory/ancient/etruscan.htm

Incidentally, Basques are thought to be from the Caucasus region as well.

This is what some Christian fundamentalists are promoting: http://www.accuracyingenesis.com/ararat.html#urartu

Mount Ararat is considered to be the cultural/spiritual navel of the earth.

These theories are not based on false information, mere speculations and/or conjecture - they are based on modern linguistics, biblical tradition, regional folklore, anthropology and archeology.

The Early History of Indo-European Languages: http://www.geocities.com/Paris/LeftB...onicle120.html

The Armenian Gods: http://www.tacentral.com/mythology.asp?story_no=2

Prehistoric Sites in Northern Armenia: http://antiquity.ac.uk/ProjGall/dolukhanov/

THE BEGINNINGS OF METALLURGY: http://www.geocities.com/komblege/ansch1.htm

I can post a lot more information about the ancient legacy of Asia Minor and the Caucasus to make the case that the aforementioned region in question was the epicenter of human civilization and where the Caucasian (white) race first evolved or was created.

As a matter of fact, I can do better than that!

I can take the Sun Language Theory and replace the word Turkish with Armenian, the word Turanian with Armenid and the location Central Asia with Asia Minor - and I would have a "theory" that I can actually support scientifically.



Turks claim that Scythians were Turanians as well. However, in reality, Scythians were a highly advanced and a very warlike central Asian Iranic/Aryan tribe that got to dominate much of the Caucasus and southeastern Europe. Much of eastern Europe's ancient heritage/culture is derived from Aryan Scythians and to a lesser extent Cimmerians. Much of the population in and around the northern Caucasus/southern Russia have Scythian blood in their vains. There are also a lot of similarities between Scythians and British peoples, Celts in particular.

I have done a lot of research regarding these types of topics. If interested, we can discuss it in another thread. Let's keep this thread geopolitical. Please.

Thank you.

[North Pole]

Re: Arrata, Sumerians, Shamballa, the Turkish "Sun Language Theory" and the Scythians

Then there was a question from Eric:

I tried to search what Shamballa means, and didnt get much what it is, could you please explain the meaning.
P.s I remember one in Armenia there was some psychic from Los Angeles and she said that she wants to move to Armenia because the territory around Mount Ararat is a gate to another universe, are these topics relevant and could you please comment on it.

Thanks

Eric, what I am about to tell you is a LEGEND.

I do not believe100% in that legend, but there are some facts that "prove" or support that myth.
So, according to the Buddhist tradition Shamballa is a world inside our planet with its population, rivers, enimals and even with its own sun.
There was/is a belief that Earth is actually hollow inside, and that there is an entrance to that world at the North and South poles, and also somewhere in Tibet.

However, number of researchers suggested that the entrance could also be somewhere in the Caucus mountains. The word Arrata (= Ararat = Armenia), sounds like the word Agartha, but what's interesting here is that Agartha is another name for Shamballa. Does it mean that there is an entrance to Agartha/Shamballa in Armenia too?

Eric, you said that someone you know "wants to move to Armenia because the territory around Mount Ararat is a gate to another universe". Well, since no one (according to the official record) actually saw the world of Shamballa, it was also suggested that the entrance to Shamballa/Agartha is not the entrance to the hollow Earth but to another dimension.

To those who are not familiar with these subjects the whole idea of Shamballa sure sounds like ridiculous nonsense. Well, it sure does, but remember that some 500 years ago we were told that Earth was flat.
The skeptics must also remember that the story of Pompei was a legend too, until the city was discovered.

Here are two pictures to give you an idea how Shamballa/Agartha might look like:

http://www.geocities.com/a_star_thing/Hollow_Earth.jpg

http://infinity.usanethosting.com/Heart.Of.God/HollowEarth/HollowEarth_model.gif

Also Northpole, you should take a look at www.armenianhighland.com It is the best site on Armenian history, chronicling 12,000 years of Aryan and Armenian history.

Let's open up a new thread to discuss this, cause it seems many members have an interest in Aryan history, culture, and esoteric studies in general.

Thank you, Armanen.

[Armenian]

Re: Arrata, Sumerians, Shamballa, the Turkish "Sun Language Theory" and the Scythians

Does this information come from the Zecharia Sitchin books?

No, I have read it in several scholarly publications. The ones that I own are by Samuel Noah Kramer and Jean Bottero.

Did the Sumerians come from Nibiru?

OK, now I see what you are getting at. I would love to believe in such mysteries. However, these types of theories are pure conjecture, oftentimes based upon literal interpretations of ancient mythology.

The word Arrata sounds very close to Agartha.

I see you are into eastern/Aryan mythology and mysticism.

However, in my opinion- Arrata sounds a lot like Ararat.

Considering the linguistic similarities and the similar meanings of the respective words, it's obvious that the two terms are related. Could Agartha be somehow connected to Arrata/Ararat as well? Perhaps, much of the ancient world remains a deep mystery to modern man.

Can Armenia be THE place where entrance to Shamballa is located?

Armenia, more specifically the vicinity around Mount Ararat, is considered by some mystics/cultists to be the spiritual navel of the earth where humanity was either created, evolved or descended. From Sumerian mythology to Hebrew mythology the Armenian Highlands were thought to be the dwelling places of gods and goddesses and the very location where mankind first emerged. Mount Ararat, specifically, was revered by ancient man as the earthly gate to a spiritual dimension. It is no wonder that Hebrew text regarding Paradise and the re-population of the world after the Great Flood refer to this specific geographical region.

Some of this topic is covered by an excellent publication called Armenian Folk Art, Culture and Identity: http://www.amazon.com/Armenian-Folk-.../dp/0253337046

I have a copy of the book it's an excellent source of information. Too bad none of its contents exist online.

This is also an excellent publication regarding the Armenia, Sumer and Aryans;

Armenia, Subartu, and Sumer - The Indo-European Homeland and Ancient Mesopotamia: http://www.abrilbooks.com/Books/1668.html

[Armenian]

Re: Arrata, Sumerians, Shamballa, the Turkish "Sun Language Theory" and the Scythians

Some information about the Armenian Highlands and Sumer:

*********************

Ararat, the Cradle of Civilization?

The Sumerians, an ancient peoples and one of the first civilizations in the world called Ararat, Arrata. In their great epic poems of Gilgamesh and Arrata, they tell of the land of their ancestors, the Arratans in the Highlands of Armenia. The Sumerians also in the epic poems describe the Great Flood and the rebirth of life after the terrible deluge that fell from the Highlands of Armenia unto the lands of Mesopotamia and the Fertile Crescent. The Sumerians had a very close connection with the ancestral Land of Ararat and considered it as their ancestral homeland (many historians and archaeologists are convinced that the Sumerians initially lived in Northern Mesopotamia and Armenian Highland).The Greeks believed that the people who first worked with bronze and iron came from the same area, they called them Khaldi.

"The great majority of the cultivated plants of the world trace their origin to Asia. Out of 640 important cultivated plants, about 500 originated in Southern Asia. In Asia alone we have established five of the principle regions of cultivated plants.... The fifth region of origin in Asia is the Southwestern Asiatic centre and includes Asia Minor, Trans-Caucasia, Iran and Western Turkmenistan. This region is remarkable, first of all, for its richness in numbers of species of wheat resistant to different diseases...There is no doubt that Armenia is the chief home of cultivated wheat. Asia Minor and Trans-Caucasia gave origin to rye which is represented here by a great number of varieties and species....

Our studies show definitely that Asia is not only the home of the majority of modern cultivated plants, but also of our chief domesticated animals such as the cow, the yak, the buffalo, sheep, goat, horse, and pig...The chief home of the cow and other cattle, the Oriental type of horse, the goat and the sheep is specifically Iran....

As the result of a brilliant work of Dr. Sinskaya, the discovery was recently made that the home of alfalfa, the world's most important forage crop, is located in Trans-Caucasia and Iran....

From all these definitely established facts the importance of Asia as the primary home of the greatest majority of cultivated plants and domesticated animals is quite clear."

The above quotes from the book by Vavilov, N. , "Asia: Source of Species" in Asia, February 1937, p. 113, indicate a long held belief by many that cradle of civilization was in the hills of Armenia. Also the location of the Garden of Eden and the location of the flood and the landing place of the Ark of Noah! More recent studies conducted by Melinda A Zeder and Brian Hesse (Science 287 (2000) 2254-57) place the initial domestication of goats to the Zargos Mountains at about 10,000 years ago. And Manfred Heun's (Science 278 (1997) 1312-14) studies indicate that large scale wheat cultivation began from 8,000 to 9,000 years ago near the Karacadag Mountains. Both areas are very near where the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers come close together.

"The cradle of agriculture generally has been placed in the Jordan Valley of the southern Levant (today's Israel and Jordan). But work by Simcha Lev-Yadun of Israel's Agricultural Research Organization and colleagues suggest the first farms may have been farther north, between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers in what is today northeastern Turkey and northern Syria. Wild progenitors of the main Neolithic founder crops (einkorn wheat, emmer wheat, barley, lentil, pea, chickpea, bitter vetch, and flax) are found together only in this small core area of the Fertile Crescent.

Lev-Yadun reports that wild chickpea especially is extremely rare, yet it was a staple crop of Neolithic life 10,000 years ago. Agriculture, therefore, probably began in an area where chickpea is native. Archaeological evidence shows that the earliest known farming settlements of the Fertile Crescent were in this core area. Also, the limited genetic variability of these crops implies that they were domesticated only once — rather than by several different cultures at roughly the same time. Evidence of domesticated crops in the core area dates to about 10,000 years ago, while the earliest signs of farming elsewhere are about 9,300 years ago.

Neolithic sites discovered in the core area indicate that a society with plenty of food thrived there. In sites such as Cayonu, Novali Cori, and Gobekli Tepe, impressive architecture, images, and artifacts have been found. Settlement sites are also larger in this area than many others of the same time in other parts of the Fertile Crescent. ..."

The emphasized areas of the above quote are indicators that this part of the Fertile Crescent was settled and developed first, consistent with the Genesis record.

Source: http://www.accuracyingenesis.com/ararat.html#urartu

[Armenian]

Re: Arrata, Sumerians, Shamballa, the Turkish "Sun Language Theory" and the Scythians

Middle Eastern Mythology

Aratta

[19] Aratta was a city, city-state, or country with which Sumerians had close trade and religious ties in the third millennium B.C. Its location is not known. Of four general sites suggested for Aratta, two are located in eastern Asia Minor: the Van-Urmia area and the Ayrarat district of historical Armenia. The Anshan-Hamadan area of western Iran was the choice of S. Cohen who translated one of four sources to mention Aratta, Enmerkar and the Lord of Aratta. However, since the publication of that work (1973), several of the criteria he used for locating Aratta have been challenged (78).

Aratta, apparently, was under the special protection of the Sun god's daughter, Inanna, the goddess of love and war. In "Enmerkar and the Lord of Aratta", the goddess and/or her statue were taken from Aratta to the Sumerian city of Uruk by the ruler of Uruk, Enmerkar. Now believing himself to have the goddess' protection, the Sumerian king challenged the lord of Aratta. Enmerkar ordered him to send to Sumer precious metals, precious stones, building materials and the craftsmen to transform them into shrines (79). The lord of Aratta is willing to provide the materials if Enmerkar will send him large amounts of barley. When the barley arrives in Aratta, its lord unexpectedly refuses to fulfill his part of the agreement. After ten years, Enmerkar again sends his herald to Aratta. This time, the lord of Aratta challenges Enmerkar to select one of his champions to fight in single combat with one of Aratta's champions. Enmerkar accepts. Because his response was lengthy and his herald was "heavy of mouth", Enmerkar inscribed his message on [20] clay tablets and sent them to Aratta with his herald. The poet implies that this was the beginning of writing (80). However, at this point the famine, which apparently had been plaguing Aratta, lifts and Aratta's ruler takes courage, believing Inanna had not really abandoned him. Although the ending is fragmentary, Aratta eventually seems to provide the materials and craftsmen.

In a second Sumerian myth, "Enmerkar and Ensuhkeshdana", the lord of Aratta demands the submission of Enmerkar, king of Uruk, and the return of the goddess Inanna to her home in Aratta. Enmerkar refuses and demands Aratta's submission. The lord of Aratta consults with his advisors who urge him to capitulate, which he angrily refuses to do. Then his priest comes forward and boasts that he will subdue Uruk and other territories through magic. The lord of Aratta delightedly rewards the priest and sends him to Uruk. But the priest is assassinated there; and the lord of Aratta submits to Uruk (81).

Aratta is mentioned again in a third, briefer story known as "Lugulbanda and Enmerkar". In this myth, Enmerkar of Uruk is under military attack from the Martu people. Enmerkar desperately sends his messenger, Lugulbanda, to Aratta to the goddess Inanna, here called his sister. Inanna's response is unclear (82). However, it appears that Aratta again supplied Enmerkar with metals, precious stones, and craftsmen; and there is a suggestion that the materials were transported to Uruk by river (83). Finally, Aratta appears in a fourth myth, "Lugulbanda and Mount Hurum". Enmerkar and his army are traveling to Aratta to make it a vassal state. En route they stop at Mount Hurum where Lugulbanda becomes ill and "dies". His comrades place his body on Mount Hurum, [21] intending to retrieve it after their war in Aratta. However, Lugulbanda was not really dead. After praying to the sun, moon, and the star Venus, he emerges from his trance and wanders the highlands. Unfortunately, the ending of this story is lost (84).

The four myths outlined above portray Aratta as a wealthy and militarily powerful state with which Sumer had relations from very early times. It was located some distance from Sumer and protected by its forbidding mountains, but it was not so distant as to prevent trade relations. Aratta had building materials, precious stones, metals and craftsmen skilled in their transformation. Aratta also had primacy with regard to the religion of the mother goddess, Inanna, who resided in Aratta, was the patron of that state, and was taken or lured south to Sumerian cities. Uruk and Aratta also were in contest for military superiority--each demanding the submission of the other. The method of transporting the "stones of the mountain" from Aratta to Uruk and of transporting grain from Uruk to Aratta seems consistent with such trade historically between the Armenian highlands and areas to its south, namely, by boat from Aratta south, and by pack animal from Uruk north. If Aratta is indeed located in eastern Asia Minor, the general implication of the Aratta cycle of myths is that Aratta played a seminal role in the development of religion in Sumer, as well as in the construction of its cult structures; and that trade and diplomacy between the two states was of such importance that writing was developed specifically for them.

Source: http://rbedrosian.com/Memyth.htm

Middle Eastern Mythology

Mount Mashu

[16] To the Sumerians, Mashu was a sacred mountain. Its name means "twin" in Akkadian, and thus was it portrayed on Babylonian cylinder seals --a twin-peaked mountain, described by poets as both the seat of the gods, and the underworld (60). References or allusions to Mt.Mashu are found in three episodes of the Gilgamesh cycle which date between the third and second millennia B.C.

Mashu was located in a forest in the "land of the Living", where the names of the famous are written(61). It is alluded to in the episode "Gilgamesh and Humbaba". In this story, Gilgamesh and his friend, Enkidu, travel to the Cedar (or Pine) Forest which is ruled over by a demonic monster named Humbaba. While their motives for going to the Forest included gaining renown, it is also clear that they wanted the timber it contained. Humbaba, who had been appointed by the god Enlil to guard the Forest, is depicted as a one-eyed giant with the powers of a storm and breath of fire, perhaps the personification of a volcano (62). It is only with the help of another god, and a magically forged weapon that Gilgamesh triumphs over Humbaba. But before his battle, Gilgamesh and Enkidu gaze in awe at the mountain called "the mountain of cedars, the dwelling-place of the gods and the throne of Ishtar"(63). They climb onto the mountain, sacrifice cereals to it, and, in response, the mountain sends them puzzling dreams about their futures (64). When they begin to fell trees, Humbaba senses their presence and, enraged, fixes his eye of death on the pair. [17] Although Gilgamesh finally defeats the monster, Enkidu eventually weakens and dies from Humbaba's gaze and curse (65). In addition to its reputation as the "land of the Living", this forest is also a way to the underworld or the other world. For right after killing Humbaba, Gilgamesh continues in the forest and "uncovered the sacred dwelling of the Anunaki"--old gods who, like the Greek Titans, had been banished to the underworld (66). Furthermore, Gilgamesh seems to go into a death-like trance here (67); and in the same general region, the goddess Ishtar, whom Gilgamesh spurned, threatened to break in the doors of hell and bring up the dead to eat with the living (68).

Mashu is mentioned directly in the episode "Gilgamesh and the Search for Everlasting Life". This story unfolds after the death of Gilgamesh's friend, Enkidu, a wrenching experience which makes Gilgamesh face his own mortality and go searching for eternal life. It is en route to Utnapishtim, the one mortal to achieve immortality, that Gilgamesh comes to Mashu "the great mountain, which guards the rising and setting sun. Its twin peaks are as high as the wall of heaven and its roots reach down to the underworld. At its gate the Scorpions stand guard, half man and half dragon; their glory is terrifying; their stare strikes death into men, their shining halo sweeps the mountains that guard the rising sun"(69). Gilgamesh is able to convince the Scorpion-people to open the gate and let him enter the long tunnel through the mountains. Eventually Gilgamesh emerges from the tunnel into a fantastic Garden of the gods, whose trees bear glittering xxxels instead of fruit (70).

In the view of several scholars, Mashu is also the mountain mentioned in the story that Utnapishtim told Gilgamesh. [18] Utnapishtim, sometimes called the "Sumerian Noah", told Gilgamesh how the gods had become angered with humanity and decided on the Flood as one means to exterminate it. A sympathetic god warned Utnapishtim and told him to build a boat and board it with his family, relatives, craftsmen, and the seed of all living creatures (71). After six days of tempest and flood, Utnapishtim's boat grounded on a mountain. He released a dove and a swallow, both of which returned to him. Then he released a raven which did not return; Utnapishtim and his family came down from the mountain. When the disgruntled gods are finally reconciled with the re-emergence of humanity, Utnapishtim and his wife are taken by the god Enlil to live in the blessed place where Gilgamesh found him "in the distance, at the mouth of the rivers"(72).

In his classic study, Armenia in the Bible, father Vahan Inglizian compared the above myths with the Biblical accounts of the Garden of Eden (Gen. 2) and the Flood (Gen.7-8), both of which he sited in eastern Asia Minor (73). Accepting Lehmann-Haupt's equation of the tunnel through Mashu with the naturally occuring subterannean Tigris tunnel near Bylkalein, Inglizian suggested that Mashu should be sought in the Armenian Taurus mountain range, south of Lake Van (74). It is in this same southern area, rather than at Mt. Ararat, that many scholars, including Inglizian, place the mountain of Noah (Gen. 8.4)(75). Inglizian suggested that the phrase "at the mouth of the rivers" describing the blessed land where Utnapishtim lived, should be understood to mean "at the sources of the [Tigris and Euphrates] rivers"(76). This heavenly Dilmun of Mesopotamian mythology was later identified with Bahrain on the Persian Gulf (77).

Source: http://rbedrosian.com/Memyth.htm

[Armenian]

Re: Arrata, Sumerians, Shamballa, the Turkish "Sun Language Theory" and the Scythians

Armenia’s Cradle of Civilization

Armenia’s ‘Fertile Crescent’ was located in two places: at the headwaters of the Euphrates and Tigris, and along the Arax River, its tributaries a series of liquid ribs along a central Ararat spine. Within the Ararat Valley lies a smaller crescent of land, still bearing the marks of vast marshlands and forests that once covered the entire valley floor. As you wander through this area, you can spot sudden eruptions of the terrain, hills that seem to appear from nowhere. They do not ‘fit’ the contour of the land. These are the remains of the first urban civilization to leave its imprint on the ancient Armenian world: they are the sentinels of the Metsamor Kingdom, the ‘Cradle of Armenian Civilization’. The oldest settlement found in Armenia is a 90,000 BC Stone Age settlement in suburban Yerevan. From then through the Paleolithic period, proof of human settlement is scattered between cave dwellings and stone inscriptions on the Geghama Lehr. Suddenly, at the end of the Mesolithic period, a complex web of cities and fortified settlements appeared throughout the Ararat valley, only handfuls of which have been excavated. But enough have been uncovered to show a startlingly developed culture that rivaled the Mesopotamian urban cities, and in the area of astronomy, led the way.

Between 7000 and 4000 BC, this series of cities appeared at evenly placed spots in this crescent, all of them built around the metal industry. The inhabitants were the first known to forge copper and bronze; and are the first recorded to successfully smelt iron. The metal ore mined in this area was among of the purest in the world, and the natives shaped their culture around it. They believed the technique for forging metal was given to them from the heavens, and their temples combined metal idols with sophisticated stone observatories that charted the night sky. The first recorded astronomers, they were the earliest to create a calendar that divided the year into 12 segments of time, among the first to devise the compass, and to envision the shape of the world as round. The successful smelting of bronze (along with gold, silver and magnesium) and the mining of precious gems transformed an agrarian civilization into to an urban one. The first signs of fortified cities are traced to this era, beginning with the excavation at Metsamor (a thriving trade culture by 5,000 BC, and with many more strata to be uncovered, conjectured to be as old as 10,000 BC in its first incarnation). Other 5th millennium cities include Dari Blur (Armavir), Aratashen Blur, AdaBlur and Teghut. In the 4th millennium BC the cyclopic walls of Lechashen had been erected by Lake Sevan, while in the Ararat valley cities at Shengavit, Aigevan and Aigeshat were established.

By 3000 BC a large kingdom was established around Metsamor with additional cities at MokhraBlur Jerahovit, Lejapi Blur, Kosh and Voski Blur (Voski means “golden” in Armenian). Shengavit is distinct among the cities in Armenia for its use of round shaped dwellings made from river stones and mud brick. The artifacts found at Shengavit (ca. 5000-3000 BC) include black-varnished, red and gray pottery, in geometric patterns similar to those used in the Minoan culture. The culture had distinctive religious beliefs revolving around the sun and planets, reflected in burial artifacts found at the sites. Ancestral Armenians developed a trading culture at a very early time. To do that, they needed to understand and create a system of navigation. Longitude, latitude, distance and direction had to be calculated for any trip farther than across a few mountains. Artifacts uncovered at Metsamor come from as far-flung cultures as those in Central Asia, Mesopotamia, the Black Sea and the Mediterranean. Others include navigational tools, inscribed in stone and accurately mapping the night sky. In Sissian, an astral observatory built from stone shows an incredibly sophisticated knowledge of the universe way before the Babylonians—which used to be thought the first astronomers—had built their first city.

Rapid development and unification through trading between the tribes in the Armenian plateau created a rich and prosperous culture that was to last for more than 5000 years. The metal based cultures that sprung up on the Armenian plateau were neighbors with Sumeria, Elam, and the first empire Akkad. They had mapped the constellations before the great pyramids were built, while Greece wasn’t even a thought, and the first dynasty in China was about 2000 years away.

The Rise of Astronomy in Armenia

By the Copper-Bronze Age (5000 - 2000 BC), pictograms at Metsamor and the Geghama Lehr record ever more sophisticated celestial iconography, including the signs of the zodiac. Two observatories found in Armenia show a developed awareness of astronomy at least by 2800 BC, and possibly as early as the 5th millennium BC. Using astronomy, Ancestral Armenians developed a calendar based on 365 days, one of the first compasses, and were able to envision the shape of the world as round. The appearance of the signs of the zodiac in Armenia occurred before the Hittite and Babylonian kingdoms, which were heretofore credited with developing astronomy. Conclusive dating is still being fought over, but two astral observatories in Armenia vie for the position of birthplace of the zodiac constellations. At Metsamor (ca. 5000 BC), there is a series of stone platforms which were reported in 1967 to be part of an astronomical instrument dating to 2800 BC, about the time historians think the naming of the zodiac was completed. The observatory at Metsamor is oriented towards the star Sirius, the brightest in the northern sky. The Metsamorians are figured to have calculated the beginning of the New Year with the appearance of Sirius in the rays of the dawning sun at the spring solstice. Numerous carvings show the locations of stars in the night sky, and one is a compass pointed due East. Other inscriptions include the signs for Aries, Leo, Capricorn and Taurus.

Karahundj

A Second Observatory in southern Armenia lies near the town of Sissian. Initial studies suggested a 3rd millennium BC date for the site and noted a number of sighting holes bored into large stones placed at the site. The holes point to the locations where solar and lunar phases could be tracked during they year, as well as stars and constellations. Later investigations led to a conjectured dating of the oldest stone telescope at the site to around 4200 BC, when the star Capella was ascendant in the region. If true, this would make it the oldest astral observatory in the world. Located close to the village of Karahundj, which in Armenian is a direct translation of the English word Stonehenge, the stones are becoming the focus of increasing interest, suggesting a link between Ancestral Armenian exploration of the heavens with the naming of the zodiac and the numerous henges in Europe. England's Stonehenge is dated ca. 2200-1800 BC. Both observatories in Armenia predate the English henge, Karahundj perhaps predating them as much as 2000 years. For perspective, the people living in the Metsamor Kingdom were neighbors with the oldest civilization Sumeria, the first important trade city Elam, and the first empire Akkad. They inhabited the Armenian Plateau before the great pyramids, Greece wasn’t even a thought, and the first dynasty in China was about 2000 years away. At the same time Metsamor was flourishing, the Minoans were beginning to create their culture on Crete, and the Old Kingdom in Egypt had just brought together the lower and upper kingdoms into one unified country.

Metal and Iron

Of course both are metal, but speaking poetically, we are thinking of the difference between soft metals and the hard stuff. Both liquids, the difference is in the way they freeze. Sometime between 3000 and 2000 BC, a new metal was forged for the first time, and its use would change everything about making weapons and building empires. We’re talking iron here, the thing that we buy Rustoleum to protect, but which the ancients worshipped and coveted. Iron is a plentiful resource; most areas of the world can extract it. Pure strains occur in abundance in the Armenian Plateau, just as pure strains of gold, copper, tin, mercury, manganese and silver were extracted by the Metsamor culture and developed into a large industry. Since metal foundries forging copper, brass and bronze go back to 5000 BC in Armenia; they would be pretty good places for research and development. The difference between bronze and iron is like the difference between a Bic lighter and a blowtorch. With iron shields, helmets and weapons, soldiers lasted a lot longer in battle against arrows and spears. Those who had iron weapons pretty much made bronze and copper useless except as decorator items. And iron was a protected monopoly. At first restricted to large vessels and cooking utensils, the military applications soon became apparent, then coveted, the metal valued more than precious gems or gold. If not by bribery, they learned the secret through agents sent to ferret the secret out. If not by spying, then by war. When was iron first smelted? No one can say for sure, but the smelting of iron--like bronze--was engineered by the people living in this part of the world, the technique slowly migrating outwards to surrounding territories. Now, while the Hittites (which came on the scene along with the Babylonians and Assyrians about 1800 BC) are credited with being among the first, and it wasn’t until 1350 BC that the Egyptians were able to process it themselves, excavations in Armenia show the first smelting of iron as early as 3000 BC.

Metsamor reached its zenith in the Mid Bronze Age, when it encompassed more than 200 hectares (about 500 acres). At the center of trade between Asia and the budding cultures in the West, the mineral mines and metal forges in the Metsamor kingdom were the focus of constant warfare with neighboring city-states, and by the end of the 3rd millennium, with the growing empires in Mesopotamia. The Metsamor culture thrived through the Bronze and early Iron Age, when it was integrated into the Urartu Empire (ca. 7th c. BC). The city of Metsamor continued under the Persians, Greeks, Romans, Byzantines and Ottomans until the 18th century, when it was abandoned. 6700 years of continuous inhabitation, and counting—not a bad record.

The Second Wave

Close to the Mesopotamian cultures, ancestral Armenian tribes developed a series of city-states by the 3rd millennium BC, with federations formed and reformed between them for most of the Bronze Age period. The territory was described as a rich land between the rivers, with their head at the “mountains of the gods” (described as “Arartu”). This description comes from the oldest story known, Gilgamesh (ca. 5th millennium BC). To earn that kind of praise, a land would have to be very rich indeed. 2000-1800 BC cuneiform note migrating peoples from the outside who lived with the original tribes. These peoples would have been the migrating Indo-Europeans (including the Hittites), for cuneiform used such expressions as “we came, we conquered and we captured” as their calling cards.

The combination of migrating Indo-Europeans with native cultures was bound to create more than a little cross-fertilization of people and ideas, and within the next 1000 years several regional kingdoms using an Indo-European language emerged. By the 2nd millennium, trading between the tribes on the Armenian plateau led to a loose federation led by the Nairi, which were based around Southern Lake Van. The Nairi were recorded as early as 2000 BC on Assyrian cuneiform as the people from the “land between the rivers,” holding about 60 tribes and 100 cities. The Nairi were one tribe among many, but their name became synonymous with that for the entire region. From what we know of the tribes, their customs and traditions were similar to others found in Mesopotamia, and they mixed Semitic or Ugaritic origins with their earlier Indo-European genetic and cultural roots. Among the tribes in Nairi was one called Urartu.

Also around 2000 BC, a second wave of Indo-European migration began, this time coming full circle back to the Armenian plateau. Thousands of years of development created distinct dialects and physical attributes, which further influenced the “mother tribes” in Armenia. Among them were the Hittites, which entered the region of Asia Minor around 2000 BC. There is a clay tablet written by the Hittites about 2000 BC (discovered in an excavation of the Hittite capital Hatusas--or Boghazkeui-- in N. Central Turkey), which first mentions a tribe of people called Haius, and said they were from the country of Haiassa-Aza. This was a predominant tribe in the region, vassals of the Hittite kingdom, and said to be a distinct Indo-European tribe that introduced its language and customs to neighboring tribes. The Haius were often in rebellion with the Hittites, and they were influential in spreading their culture eastwards, to the peoples on the Armenian plateau.

In addition, the architectural and cultural influences of the Hittites were filtered into the region through Haiassa-Aza. Another movement of Indo-Europeans is recorded in the 12th c BC. It is about Thraco-Phrygian tribes (called “foreign settlers”) who were pushed out of Thrace and Phrygia by “the people of the Sea” around 1200 BC (there’s Troy again!), and who moved through the Euphrates into the Armenian Plateau. These tribes lived with Armenian Ancestors and other tribes and formed a hybrid culture which is the beginning of an extant Armenian identity, including an Indo-European language and Aryan features (tall with blonde-hair and blue-eyes) among the people. First inhabiting the land immediately East of the Trojan kingdom in Asia Minor, the Thraco-Phrygians settled on the Western edges of the Armenian plateau and intermingled with the Haiassa-Aza, further developing Indo-European language, culture and physical features.

[...]

Source: http://www.tacentral.com/history.asp#

[North Pole]

Re: Arrata, Sumerians, Shamballa, the Turkish "Sun Language Theory" and the Scythians

Armenian, where are you?

--------------------

Officially, the Scythians were Iranians. Correct?

Well, if the Scythians were Persian tribes than they had to look like the Iranians. Correct?
But in 2006 a mummy of a Scythian was discovered in Mongolia. (In Mongolia!)
The dead man had light blond hair.

Here's a report about it from the Turkish Daily News:

Archaeologists find 2,500-year-old mummy in Mongolia, tattoos and all

Monday, August 28, 2006

An international group of archaeologists has unearthed a well-preserved, 2,500-year-old mummy frozen in the snowcapped mountains of Mongolia complete with blond hair, tattoos and a felt hat.
The president of the German Archaeological Institute, Hermann Parzinger, hailed the "fabulous find" at a press conference to present the 28-member team's discovery in Berlin.

The Scythian warrior was found in June at a height of 2,600 meters (8,500 feet) in the Altay Mountains in an intact burial mound or kurgan.
Parzinger said the tomb was practically untouched when the team discovered it.

"We just had to sweep away some dust and could begin," he said.
Researchers said the most striking feature about the man was his light blond hair, which Parzinger acknowledged may have yellowed after his death.
The man, who was apparently well-off, was cloaked in a beaver-skin coat with sable trim and sheep's wool lining that was in remarkably good condition, and still intact skin on his upper body revealed tattoos.

READ MORE -- http://www.turkishdailynews.com.tr/a...?enewsid=52602

The same story from BBC - http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/5283320.stm

[ArmSurvival]

Re: Arrata, Sumerians, Shamballa, the Turkish "Sun Language Theory" and the Scythians

Officially, the Scythians were Iranians. Correct?

Well, if the Scythians were Persian tribes than they had to look like the Iranians. Correct?
But in 2006 a mummy of a Scythian was discovered in Mongolia. (In Mongolia!)
The dead man had light blond hair.

Blonde hair is not uncommon among Iranians. In fact in those times it was even more common. Visit certain parts of Iran today and you'll see a lot of people with blonde hair and/or blue eyes.

[Armanen]

Re: Arrata, Sumerians, Shamballa, the Turkish "Sun Language Theory" and the Scythians

What is more amazing is the native Ainu people of Japan.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ainu_people

Also in America's Pacific Northwest a skeleton was found dating to around 8000 BC, turned out the man was Caucasian!


And let's not confuse Persian with Iranian or Iranic. Persians are an Iranic people, and have been the largest and most dominat branch for some time, therefore Iran has often been associated with them more than the other Iranic peoples.