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IS EASTERN ANATOLIA THE
HOMELAND OF ARMENIANS?
Even Armenian historians disagree
on this question. Let us examine some of their contradictory
theories while looking into Anatolian history.
1.The Biblical Noah
Theory. According to this idea, the Armenians descended from
Hayk, great-great grandson of the Biblical patriarch Noah.
Since Noah's Arc is supposed to have come to rest on Mount
Ararat, the advocates of this idea conclude that eastern Anatolia
must have been the original Armenian homeland, adding that
Hayk lived some four hundred years and expanded his dominion
as far as Babylon. This claim is based entirely on fables,
not on any scientific evidence, and is not worthy of further
consideration. The historian Auguste Carriere summarily dismisses
it stating that "it depends entirely on information provided
by some Armenian historians, most of which was made up.”
2.The Urartu Theory.
Some Armenians claim that they were the people of Urartu,
which existed in eastern Anatolia starting about 3000 B.C.
until it was defeated and destroyed by the Medes, with its
territory being contested for some time by Lydia and the Medes
until it finally fell under the influence of the latter. This
claim has no basis in fact. No form of the name Armenian is
found in any inscription in Anatolia dating from that period,
nor was there any similarity at all between the Armenian language
and that of Urartu, the former being a member of the Satem
group oflndo European languages, while the latter was similar
to the Ural-Altaic languages. Nor were there any similarities
between their cultures. The most recent archaeological finds
in the area of Erzurum support these conclusions very clearly.
There is, therefore, absolutely no evidence at all to support
the claim that the people of Urartu were Armenian.
3.The Thracian-Phrygian Theory.
The theory most favoured by Armenian historians claims that
they descended from a Thracian-Phrygian group, that originated
in the Balkan Peninsula and by the pressure oflllyrians migrated
to eastern Anatolia in the sixth century B.C. This theory
is based on the fact that the name Armenian was mentioned
for the first time in the Behistan inscription of the Mede
(Persian) Emperor Darius from the year 521 B.C., "I defeated
the Armenians." If accepted, of course, this view effectively
contradicts and disproves the Noah and Urartu theories.
(1) CARRIERE, Auguste, Moise
de Khoren et la Genealogie Patriarcale, Paris, 1896
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