The Journal of Indo-European Studies
Monograph Series

The Problem of Armenian Origins:
Myth, History, Hypotheses

Monograph No. 66   By Armen Y. Petrosyan
Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography,
National Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Armenia


Armen Petrosyan, a member of the Institute of Archaeology and Ethnology of the National Academy of Sciences of Armenia, examines the complicated amalgam of linguistic, archaeological, mythological and historical evidence that bears on the origins of the Armenian people.  Petrosyan surveys and deconstructs the foundation myths of both the Armenian people and their neighbors. This done, he examines the written evidence of the various peoples who occupied the Armenian highlands, and discusses the conflicting evidence for a traditional center in the Ayrarat region while the main cult centers appear to have been in Upper Armenia. He also locates the Armenians in the overall network of ethnic and linguistic entities that flourished in the multi-ethnic Urartian empire. Finally the author surveys and assesses the large variety of solutions that have been offered to solve the problem of Armenian origins.

INTRODUCTION: Common origin; Homeland; Biological succession; Cultural succession; Linguistic succession.  TRADITIONS ON THE ORIGIN OF ARMENIA: The Armenian tradition; Mythology; Ethnography; Linguistics; History; The tradition of the “Pre-Armenian Population”; Traditions of other peoples on the origin of the Armenians.  THE EARLIEST TRIBAL AND STATE FORMATIONS OF THE ARMENIAN HIGHLANDS AND THE PROBLEM OF THEIR SUCCESSION: Countries of the Armenian Highlands; The problem of the historical succession of ancient countries; Upper Armenia; Ayrarat; Van-Vaspurakan; Relations between the two centers; The Urartian Empire.  THE ETHNO-LINGUISTIC SITUATION OF THE ARMENIAN HIGHLANDS IN THE 2ND-1ST MILLENNIA BC: Semitic languages; Hattic and Kaskaean languages; Hurro-Urartian languages; Indo-Iranian (Aryan) languages; Anatolian languages; Connections with the Balkans and western Asia Minor; The ethnic origin of the elite of Urartu; The Earliest Armenians in the Armenian Highlands; Words; Toponyms; Anthroponyms.  HYPOTHESES CONCERNING THE IDENTIFICATION OF THE EARLIEST ARMENIANS: The Proto-Indo-European homeland and the Armenian language; The traditional Balkanic hypothesis; The Arimoi hypothesis; The Ḫatti hypothesis; The Ḫayasa hypothesis; The Etiuni hypothesis; Toponyms; Anthroponyms; Theonym; The relationship of the different hypotheses; The subjective factors.  ABBREVIATIONS.  BIBLIOGRAPHY.  INDEX.


ISBN 978-0-9845353-6-1
ISBN 978-0-9845353-5-4

2018, Pages 232
Hardcover: $102.00
Paperback: $78.00

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