Rock drawings in Armenia: Illustration of humanity’s knowledge

PanARMENIAN.Net - Very often we come across weather phenomena like lightening, clouds, rain and rainbow. There are also ornaments, ideographic drawings, symbols and sings that resemble letters. Images of dragons are among the most interesting drawings.

Location

Rock paintings can be met throughout the Armenian highlands, especially in the territories around the lakes Sevan and Van, Syunik mountains, Aragats, as well as origins of the rivers Arpa and Eghegis. Petroglyphs were also found in Artsakh, Javakhk, Nakhijevan and Western Armenia. Some were discovered along the Caspian seashore, namely in the Apsheron peninsula and Gobustan reserve.

It’s noteworthy that the majority of the paintings are found at the height of 2500-3300 meters.Apparently, they were presered because of being too far from the inhabited settlements.

Subjects

Armenian petroglyphs do not reflect household activities like dining parties. They do not depict any violence either. Although images of naked people can be found, there are no erotic scenes. Apparently, the ancient artists aimed to convey the sacred sense of the objects they depicted. With maps and calendars presenting the greatest interest for science, people saw the stars as images that could be easily memorized, thus creating constellations.

Space story

At the beginning of the 20th century, European astronomers William Olcott, Edward Maunder and Camille Flammarion concluded that zodiacal constellations got their names in the surrounding of Ararat Mount.

In 1965, architect Suren Petrosyan discovered petroglyphs which served as orienter for travelers on the Vardenis mountain ridge, while astronomer Benik Tumanyan identified these images with the zodiacal constellations of Leo, Sagittarius and Scorpio, thus confirming the conclusions of European scientists.

Astronomic maps on Armenian rock paintings allow to exactly determine the timeframe of their creation. One of the most ancient petroglyphs was discovered on Vardenis mountain range. This is a rare carved astronomic map dating back to the 27-25cc BC.

Adam’s apple One of the most discussed rock paintings is Adam and Eve. It was found on Ughtasar mountain in Syunik province and illustrates the Biblical story of the Fall. However, there is no common opinion regarding this matter. Armenian rock carvings reflect the man-snake theme but scientists cannot insist that this particular drawing refers to the Biblical legend.

Besides a man, woman and snake, there are two more human figures and two more snakes carved. Scientists say it would be wrong to ignore the Biblical version but they do not suggest any other ideas.

Note

A lot of petroglyphs were found in Africa, specifically in Sahara, which was not a desert 3000-4000 years ago. Those were paintings of animals and people.

Rock carvings discovered in Italy resemble the Armenian ones. It’s supposed that the Roman civilization emerged on the basis of the Etrurian, where people who arrived from the northwest of the Armenian Highlands lived. Italian scientists date these rock paintings back to 1000 year BC.