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Re: How do Armenian feel about Mount Ararat?
The Universal Mountain (Ararat) is usually presented in three parts:
on its summit dwell the gods, beneath it dwell the forces of evil, and in the middle of it (that is on earth) lives mankind. Greater Ararat (Masis) in ancient Armenian literature is known as "the mountain on which the sun strolls", and "the highest mountain in the universe" under which dwell evil forces. This shows that in the earliest beliefs of the Armenians Greater Ararat (Masis) was presented as the holy mountain that preserved the system of the universe after creation.
It is apparent from a riddle dating to the 12th - 14th centuries preserved and recorded by Hovhannes Tsortsoretzi that Masis (Greater Ararat) was understood in the Armenian world-view as the Universal Mountain.
"As defined by the great Creator
it is a pyramid and the foundation of the world,
the place of the house built by God
on which human feet may not tread
(answer - Masis)"
In this sense, the report by the European traveler William Rubruk (13th cent.) is quite valuable. According to this report, among the Armenians it was forbidden to climb Mt. Ararat- Masis.
When he asked why, it was forbidden, the Armenians answered:
"Masis is the mother of the world"....
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This is an excerpt from the book "The Sacred Higlands: Armenia in the Spiritual Geography of the Ancient Near East" by Artak Movsisyan.
Originally posted by Haykakan
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on its summit dwell the gods, beneath it dwell the forces of evil, and in the middle of it (that is on earth) lives mankind. Greater Ararat (Masis) in ancient Armenian literature is known as "the mountain on which the sun strolls", and "the highest mountain in the universe" under which dwell evil forces. This shows that in the earliest beliefs of the Armenians Greater Ararat (Masis) was presented as the holy mountain that preserved the system of the universe after creation.
It is apparent from a riddle dating to the 12th - 14th centuries preserved and recorded by Hovhannes Tsortsoretzi that Masis (Greater Ararat) was understood in the Armenian world-view as the Universal Mountain.
"As defined by the great Creator
it is a pyramid and the foundation of the world,
the place of the house built by God
on which human feet may not tread
(answer - Masis)"
In this sense, the report by the European traveler William Rubruk (13th cent.) is quite valuable. According to this report, among the Armenians it was forbidden to climb Mt. Ararat- Masis.
When he asked why, it was forbidden, the Armenians answered:
"Masis is the mother of the world"....
--------------------------------------------------------------------
This is an excerpt from the book "The Sacred Higlands: Armenia in the Spiritual Geography of the Ancient Near East" by Artak Movsisyan.
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