While this is unlikely to be my last ever post on Armenia, it is the one that I hope summarizes my experiences in that enchanting country. At barely 4 million (in-country; the diaspora is much larger) it is a small nation enslaved practically through history, scrappily fighting, surviving and even thriving. The only comparable people I can think of are the Jews. The Assyrians, also a Biblical people, are all but extinct - and these are the great warriors who once sacked Babylon and held court in Nineveh.
Since the advent of Islam, Armenia has had one master after another - Arab, Turkic, Persian, sometimes all at once; and do not forget the Russians. Today's Armenia only exists since 1992!!. Despite all this - or perhaps because of all this - the folklore here is so amazing and powerful it is striking. Tales, no doubt some true, some not, have been passed down for long. And the fact that they have had their own alphabet make this less tenuous than an oral tradition, I suppose. So it is with a pinch of salt that I suggest you take the following episodes.
Was Stalin Georgian? No. According to Armenians, he was born of an Armenian father, a rich merchant living in Georgia, to his domestic help. Not wanting to acknowledge his progeny, the biological dad arranged for her to be married off to some Georgian sod. Hence Josef's abiding hatred of Armenia. (Separately, do not forget that Lenin was one-quarter Mongolian. Really. His grandmother was apparently from Kalmykia, a dream destination of mine). Makes you wonder - how scarred must he psyche be to even claim as its own one of the most notorious sociopaths in history?
Where was Noah's Ark? In historical Armenia, currently Turkey, lies Mount Ararat.
Where was the world's first university? Armenia. I forget the details, but knowing of Taxila and Nalanda, I could not help but shake my head indulgently.
Where is the original Stonehenge? Armenia, in Karahunj (apparently "kara" means stone). I went to the desolate pile of stones, looking like giant misshapen turds of the gods. Not exactly breathtaking, but weird, quirky and curiosity inducing. Whether it was the world's first observatory, or even if it was an observatory - who knows.
What was the world's first Christian country? Armenia. This is true. However, the convoluted story includes feuding dynasties, exiles, secrecy and incarceration of the man who would eventually convert the Armenian king. It is said that the king had gone mad and accepted Christianity which cured him. I am surprised nobody has ever considered that he took up Christianity because he was mad... but of course I am Heretic with a capital H.
Who gave the world apricots? Armenia. This may be true, but several parts of Central Asia, and even China claim the fruit.
What's the world's best / original cognac? Armenian. Apparently Winston Churchill swore by it. It is not cheap stuff, but I would have bought a bottle if not for the fucking no-liquid rule.
Whose is the face carved on the Echmiadzin cathedral? That of an Iranian shah, whose forces turned back without sacking the edifice because his face was carved on it. Speaking of which, Armenians love (relatively speaking) their Persian masters, compared to the Turkish ones. How interesting these twists of history are.
Is the Armenian language related to Georgian? No. It is special and has no known relatives (which I find exceptionally hard to believe).
Folklore is amazing. Take the home town of my driver, Lori, up north. Legend has it that a Georgian king gifted it to a childless Armenian merchant thinking it would revert to him once the merchant died. The canny merchant willed it to Armenia. And he made his fortune trading with / in... Madras, in southern India! Which is the same place that enriched a certain Elihu Yale (no connection to Armenia), who endowed much of his fortune to the eponymous institution in Cambridge, MA.
Lest we mock too much - as with the Jews under various non-Jewish regimes, the Armenian were skilled tradesmen, craftsmen, scholars, bureucrats and much more, dispersed far and wide across the globe and making themselves useful, even valuable, just about everywhere. And do not forget famous Armenians like Cher and Agassi. Ahem.
What an amazing culture, and how it has withstood time. I suppose part of that is a dose of semi-myths to keep the collective soul nourished and healthy.
To Armenia!
No comments:
Post a Comment