Legendary History
Further information: History of Armenia (Moses of Chorene)The legendary founder of Armenia was Hayk, a chieftain who called on his kinsmen to unite into a single nation, thus forming Armenia. Ararat was the mountain around which was centered Urartu and subsequent kingdoms, and is still considered sacred by the Armenians.
The original Armenian name for the country was Hayq, later Hayastan, translated as the land of Hayk, and consisting of the name Haik and the Iranian suffix '-stan' (land). According to legend, Haik was a great-great-grandson of Noah (son of Togarmah, who was a son of Gomer, a son of Noah's son, Yafet), and according to tradition, a forefather of all Armenians. Mount Ararat, a sacred mountain for the Armenian people, rising in the center of the Armenian Highland as its highest peak, is traditionally considered the landing place of Noah's Ark.
Read more about this topic: History Of Armenia
Famous quotes containing the words legendary and/or history:
“Is it the old, legendary monster of my fathers time? Or am I supposed to have whipped one up, as a housewife whips up an omelette?”
—Willis Cooper, and Rowland V. Lee. Wolf von Frankenstein (Basil Rathbone)
“Tell me of the height of the mountains of the moon, or of the diameter of space, and I may believe you, but of the secret history of the Almighty, and I shall pronounce thee mad.”
—Henry David Thoreau (18171862)