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Kingdom of Armenia (antiquity)

Armenia, also the Kingdom of Greater Armenia,[6] or simply Greater Armenia or Armenia Major (Armenian: Մեծ Հայք Mets Hayk;[7] Latin: Armenia Maior) sometimes referred to as the Armenian Empire, was a kingdom in the Ancient Near East which existed from 331 BC to 428 AD. Its history is divided into the successive reigns of three royal dynasties: Orontid (331 BC–200 BC),[8][9] Artaxiad (189 BC–12 AD)[10][11][12] and Arsacid (52–428).[13]

This article is about the Kingdom of Armenia during classical antiquity. For a list of other Armenian Kingdoms, see Kingdom of Armenia (disambiguation).

Armenia
Մեծ Հայք

Satrapy, Kingdom, Empire, Province

Armavir (331–210 BC)
Yervandashat (210–176 BC)
Artashat (176–77 BC; 69–120 AD)
Tigranocerta (77 BC–69 AD)
Vagharshapat (120–330)
Dvin (336–428)

Armenian (spoken native language)[1]
Greek
Aramaic[2]
Iranian languages (Parthian and Middle Persian)

Monarchy

 

Orontes III

Artaxias IV

Antiquity, Middle Ages

c. 533 BC

331 BC

63 AD

301 AD

387 AD

428 AD

900,000 km2 (350,000 sq mi)

311,000 km2 (120,000 sq mi)

10,000,000

4,000,000

Taghand

The root of the kingdom lies in one of the satrapies of the Achaemenid Empire of Persia called Armenia (Satrapy of Armenia), which was formed from the territory of the Kingdom of Ararat (860 BC–590 BC) after it was conquered by the Median Empire in 590 BC. The satrapy became a kingdom in 321 BC during the reign of the Orontid dynasty after the conquest of Persia by Alexander the Great, which was then incorporated as one of the Hellenistic kingdoms of the Seleucid Empire.


Under the Seleucid Empire (312–63 BC), the Armenian throne was divided in two—Greater Armenia (state) and Sophene—both of which passed to members of the Artaxiad dynasty in 189 BC. During the Roman Republic's eastern expansion, the Kingdom of Armenia, under Tigranes the Great, reached its peak, from 83 to 69 BC, after it reincorporated Sophene and conquered the remaining territories of the falling Seleucid Empire, effectively ending its existence and raising Armenia into an empire for a brief period, until it was itself conquered by Rome in 69 BC. The remaining Artaxiad kings ruled as clients of Rome until they were overthrown in 12 AD due to their possible allegiance to Rome's main rival in the region, Parthia.


During the Roman–Parthian Wars, the Arsacid dynasty of Armenia was founded when Tiridates I, a member of the Parthian Arsacid dynasty, was proclaimed King of Armenia in 52. Throughout most of its history during this period, Armenia was heavily contested between Rome and Parthia, and the Armenian nobility was divided among pro-Roman, pro-Parthian or neutral factions. From 114 to 118, Armenia briefly became a province of the Roman Empire under Emperor Trajan. The Kingdom of Armenia often served as a client state or vassal at the frontier of the two large empires and their successors, the Byzantine and Sassanid empires. In 301, Tiridates III proclaimed Christianity as the state religion of Armenia, making the Armenian kingdom the first state in history to embrace Christianity officially.


In 387, Armenia was partitioned into Byzantine Armenia and Persian Armenia. The last Arsacid king of Armenia was deposed in 428, ending independent Armenian statehood until the emergence of Bagratid Armenia in the 9th century.

– Cognate of the Iranian Ahura Mazda (or Ormazd). Head of the pantheon, identified with Zeus in the interpretatio graeca.

Aramazd

and/or Vanatur – God of the Armenian new year, Navasard, at the end of July. His temple was located in Diyadin.

Amanor

– Cognate of the Iranian Anahita. The goddess of fertility and birth, and daughter or wife of Aramazd, Anahit is identified with Artemis and Aphrodite. Temples dedicated to Anahit were established in Armavir, Artashat, Ashtishat.

Anahit

the Beautiful – a dying-and-rising god slain in a war against Semiramis.

Ara

– Cognate of the Semitic Ishtar. Fertility goddess and consort of Vahagn, sharing a temple with him at Derik. The holiday of Vardavar was originally in honor of Astghik.

Astghik

– God of sky and weather, probably derived from the Semitic god Baal Shamin.

Barsamin

– Legendary forefather of the Armenian people, archer, and slayer of the Titan Bel.

Hayk

– Cognate with the Persian Mithra. God of the sun and light, son of Aramazd, the brother of Anahit and Nane. His center of worship was located in Bagaharich, and the temple of Garni was dedicated to him.

Mihr

– Possible cognate of the Sumerian Nanaya. Daughter of Aramazd, war and motherhood goddess. Her cult was related to Anahit, both of their temples located near each other in Gavar.

Nane

or Tiur – God of wisdom, culture, science and studies, he also was an interpreter of dreams. He was the messenger of the gods and was associated with Apollo. Tir's temple was located near Artashat.

Tir

– Also called Nar, she was the goddess of rain, sea and water, though she was actually a fiery being who forced rain to fall.

Tsovinar

– Cognate of the Iranian Verethragna. The storm god and herculean dragon slayer. Derik housed the central temple to Vahagn.

Vahagn

– The ancient town sits upon an escarpment overlooking the junction of the Arax River and Akhurian River. According to Movses Kaghankatvatsi, Orontes IV founded Yervandashat to replace Armavir as his capital after Armavir had been left dry by a shift of the Arax. The archaeological site has not been subject of major research, but fortifications and some remains of palaces have been uncovered. Ancient Yervandashat was destroyed by the army of the Persian King Shapur II in the 360s.

Yervandashat

(Artaxata) – King Artashes I founded Artashat in 185 BC in the region of Ostan within the historical province of Ayrarat, at the point where the Araks river was joined by the Metsamor river during the ancient era, near the heights of Khor Virap. The story of the foundation is given by the Armenian historian Movses Khorenatsi of the 5th century: "Artashes traveled to the location of the confluence of the Eraskh and Metsamor [rivers] and taking a liking to the position of the hills (adjacent to Mount Ararat), he chose it as the location of his new city, naming it after himself."[28] According to the accounts given by Greek historians Plutarch and Strabo, Artashat is said to have been chosen and developed on the advice of the Carthaginian general Hannibal. The city's strategic position in the Araks valley on the Silk Road soon made Artashat a centre of bustling economic activity and thriving international trade, linking Persia and Mesopotamia with the Caucasus and Asia Minor. Its economic wealth can be gauged in the numerous bathhouses, markets, workshops, and administrative buildings that sprang up during the reign of Artashes I. The city had its own treasury and customs. The amphitheatre of Artashat was built during the reign of king Artavasdes II (55–34 BC). The remains of the huge walls surrounding the city built by King Artashes I can still be found in the area. After losing its status as a capital, Artashat gradually lost its significance.

Artashat

was founded by the Armenian emperor Tigranes the Great in the 1st century BC. Tigranakert was founded as the new capital of the Armenian Empire in order to be in a more central position within the boundaries of the expanding empire. Its population was 120,000 and it also had many temples and an amphitheater.

Tigranakert

– In the first half of the 1st century, during the reign of the Armenian Arshakuni king Vologases I (Vagharsh I) (117–144), the old town of Vardgesavan was renovated and renamed Vagharshapat, which still persists as the official appellation of the city. The original name, as preserved by Byzantine historian Procopius (Persian Wars), was Valashabad—"Valash/Balash city" named after king Balash/Valash/Valarsh of Armenia. The name evolved into its later form by the shift in the medial L into a Gh, which is common in Armenian language. Khorenatsi mentions that the town of Vardges was totally rebuilt and fenced by Vagharsh I, eventually becoming known as Norakaghak ('New City') or Vagharshapat. The city served as a capital for the Arshakuni Kingdom of Armenia between 120 and 330 AD and remained the country's most important city until the end of the 4th century. When Christianity became the state religion of Armenia, Vagharshapat was eventually called Ejmiatsin (or Etchmiadzin), after the name of the Mother Cathedral. Starting in 301, the city became the spiritual centre of the Armenian nation, home to the Armenian Catholicosate, one of the oldest religious organizations in the world. Vagharshapat was home to one of the oldest schools established by Saint Mashtots and the home of the first manuscripts library in Armenia founded in 480 AD. Starting in the 6th century, the city slowly lost its importance—especially after the transfer of the seat of the Catholicosate to Dvin in 452—until the foundation of the Bagratid Kingdom of Armenia in 885. After the fall of the Bagratid dynasty in 1045, the city gradually became an insignificant place until 1441, when the seat of the Armenian Catholicosate was transferred from the Cilician town of Sis back to Etchmiadzin.

Vagharshapat

– The ancient city of Dvin was built by Khosrov III the Small in 335 on the site of an ancient settlement and fortress from the 3rd millennium BC. Since then the city had been used as the primary residence of the Armenian kings of the Arshakuni dynasty. Dvin had a population of about 100,000 citizens of various professions including arts and crafts, trade, fishing, etc. After the fall of the Armenian Kingdom in 428, Dvin became the residence of Sassanid-appointed marzpans (governors), Byzantine kouropalates and later Umayyad and Abbasid-appointed ostikans (governors), all of whom were of senior nakharar stock. In 640 Dvin was the center of the emirate of Armenia.

Dvin

(not part of the Kingdom of Armenia)[29]

Lesser Armenia

[33][34][35]

Armenian Mesopotamia

World in 323 BC

World in 323 BC

World in 200 BC

World in 200 BC

World in 100 BC

World in 100 BC

Orontid Armenia

Orontid Armenia

Armenian Empire under Tigranes the Great

Armenian Empire under Tigranes the Great

Arshakuni Armenia in 150 AD

Arshakuni Armenia in 150 AD

Persian Armenia

Persian Armenia

Byzantine Armenia

Byzantine Armenia

Media related to Kingdom of Armenia at Wikimedia Commons