The history and art of Armenia

"In the east of Asia Minor, between the Transcaucasian depression in the north, and the plain of Upper Mesopotamia in the south, the Armenian plateau lies on an area of about 380,000km2, on which centralised state was established at the beginning of the first millennium BC. Around 860-840 BC, a certain Arame, the king of Biainili, the region that is today's Lake Van, and a contemporary of the Assyrian queen Samurammat - the legendary Semiramis - achieved independence for his kingdom which had until then been a tributary of the Assyrians. His descendants succeeded in unifying the whole Armenian plateau, which then became the state know as Urartu, perhaps a vocalisation of the name of the famous mountain, Ararat.

From the 9th to the 7th century BC, the Urartians grew into a brilliant civilization, based on the irrigation of the land, arboriculture, cereals and vineyards.

The remains of the fortress of Erebuni, founded in 782 BC by King Argishti, the son of Menua, as well as the royal citadels of Argishtikhinili and Teishebaini, have been found in the north-east of the kingdom of Urartu, near present-day Yerevan.

This powerful defence system collapsed abruptly at the end of the 7th century BC, under attack from the Scythians, Indo-European peoples who had come from the north, and who eventually left after having plundered the country and caused the demise of the kingdom of Urartu.

Between around the 7th and 2nd centuries BC, other Indo-European populations gradually settled on the Armenian plateau and took control of the entire region, assimilating the former Urartians.

The name Armnina or Arminiya appeared for the first time around 520 BC in the Behistun inscription where the Great King of Persia, Darius, listed the tributary peoples of his empire.

In the early 3rd century BC, after the Alexandrian conquests which ruined Achaemenid Persian empire, the satrap, Orontes (Eruand), established himself up as an independent sovereign. The kingdom of Armenia reached its peak during the next century thanks to the Artaxiad monarchs who completed the linguistic unity of the kingdom, built the capital of Artashat, invented the calendar and established field boundaries.

During the first century BC the Artaxiad Tigranes II conquered a huge empire, but he was finally defeated by Pompey in 66 BC. Armenia remained an autonomous state, entirely free to determine its internal policies, but subject to alliance with Rome, and later, the Byzantine Empire. This set up continued until the end of 4th century AD. In the first century AD, under the reign of Nero, the Parthians imposed on the Romans the appointment of a king of Armenia, called Tiridates.

It was a compromise which was to ensure the benevolence towards the country of its two powerful neighbours, Rome and Persia. Unfortunately this equilibrium was shattered in the year 224 by the rise of the Sasanian dynasty in Iran. They claimed that were imposing the true Zoroaster, with consanguineous marriages, the cult of fire, the systematic hunting of animals of the darkness, snakes, ants and frogs, and the requirement of countless obscure rituals.

These are circumstances in which King Tiridates IV of Armenia converted to Christianity towards the beginning of the 4th century, making Armenia the first Christian state in the world.

Since 390, however, the Romans who had been unable to hold out against the Sasanians, agreed to a division of Armenia placing the greater part of the country under Persian control. In the year 450, the Great King Yazdegerd tried to force all his subjects to adopt the religion of Zoroaster. The Armenians, who had been Christian for more than a hundred and fifty years, revolted against this edict. In the year 451, under the leadership of Vardan Mamikonian against the must larger and more powerfully armed Persians, they suffered colossal defeat at the Battle of Avarayr. All of Vardan's companions, who died in the battle, were canonized and are still celebrated in the Armenian Church as “Saint Vardanank"". As Armenia was, however, far from being pacified after the battle, the Persians had to abandon their project and the Armenian Church became the guarantor of national independence.

Upon the Arab conquest at the beginning of the 7th century, in one swoop, the Armenians were rid of both their enemies: the Sasanian empire collapsed and Byzantium lost control of all the eastern provinces. In 661, the chief of the Armenian nobility, Theodore Rstuni, signed an agreement with the Arabs which, in return for a fairly modest tribute, assured him almost complete independence.

The 7th century thus became the golden age of Armenian architecture. It was during this time that the most prestigious sanctuaries were built, for example, near the metropolis of Etchmiadzin, the churches of Gayane and Hripsime, as well as the extraordinary circular church of Zvartnots, dedicated to the angels of heaven who appeared to Saint Gregory.

In the 8th century, however, the Arabs took a new stance towards their domination. The Caliphate demanded increasingly heavy taxes in cash, substituted direct administration for autonomy, and even undertook a policy of colonisation. After the nobility had staged many bloody revolts, the Bagrationis succeeded in regaining the Kingdom of Armenia at the end of the 9th century. They built their capital Ani which was taken by the Seljuk Turks in 1064.

In the second half of the 12th century and in the 13th century, while the north part of Armenia was gradually reconquered from the Seljuks, the Zakarid princes, Zakare and Ivane, vassals of the crown of Georgia, regained their domains and under Georgian suzerainty, acquired almost monarchic power. To the south, in Cilicia, where Armenian princes had been established since the 11th century, Prince Leo, taking advantage of the arrival of the Crusaders in the East, succeeded in having himself recognized by both the Pope and the Emperor of Germany as King of Cilicia.

The greatest masterpieces in the art of the miniature were produced in Cilician Armenia, in particular thanks to painter T’oros Roslin, stimulated by the influences of Byzantium and the West, while maintaining the originality of national tradition. The prosperity of the kingdom was, however, conditional upon the success of the Crusades, which would soon falter, and military and matrimonial alliances with Europeans. In 1375, the last king of Cilician Armenia, Leo V of Lusignan, related to the Lusignans of Anjou and Cyprus, was overthrown and taken to Cairo in captivity. He was freed thanks to the generosity of Saint Louis, he died in France in 1393 and was buried in the royal basilica of Saint Denis.

The 15th and 16th centuries were among the darkest periods in Armenian history, mainly after the fall of Constantinople in 1453, when the Ottoman Turks took over Anatolia. In 1639, the Ottoman Empire and the Safavid Iranians negotiated peace and ended the constant wars and plundering on Armenian territory over the previous two centuries.

Soon the financial success of Armenian merchants who, since the beginning of the 16th century, from Tibet to Northern Europe, through Russia, Iran, the Ottoman Empire, the Indian Ocean or the Mediterranean, had been importing silk, spices and other products from the East, ensuring that from 1511, they printed books in their national language in Venice, created the setting for a cultural awakening and the reconstruction of the churches and main monasteries.

The influence of the clergy was also a decisive factor. Abbot Mekhitar of Sebaste, first in Constantinople, then on the island of Morea, and finally in 1717 on the island of San Lorenzo in Venice, founded a Benedictine congregation whose task was to collect and study ancient manuscripts, to publish the most famous works of classical Armenian literature, to compile the grammar guidelines, dictionaries and history books required for the study of this literature, to translate into Armenian all modern books and to educate the young elite in colleges. The famous English poet, Lord Byron, even came to study Armenian in San Lorenzo.

Architecture and painting are of overwhelming importance in traditional Armenian art. Built in the volcanic stone of Armenia, tuff, which is both light and suitable for carving, the churches of Armenia blend harmoniously into the landscape. They are known for their harmonious dimensions, the pleasant colours of their façades, and their elegantly unadorned sculpted décor. Very often they are topped by a dome in accordance with the vision of Saint Gregory the Illuminator, when he commissioned the building of the mother church of Etchmiadzin, meaning ""Descent of the Only Son"", on the spot that Christ indicated to him near the royal city of Vagharsapat. Inside, the walls are usually bare. Despite some brilliant exceptions found in all periods, there are no frescoes as with Greek and Georgian churches, but simply carved crosses (khachkar), inscriptions and votive offerings from the faithful. Visitors are generally surprised by the contrast that the architect was able to create between the external appearance and the interior plan of the building."