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Petrosyan A. Ye. Ethnogonic tradition as a source for Armenian prehistory

Armen Ye. PETROSYAN — Doctor of Philology, principal researcher at the Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography of the National Acadamy of Sciences of the Republic of Armenia, Yerevan (Armenia, Yerevan)
E-mail: alpehist@gmail.com

 

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ABSTRACT. Armenian literature has preserved the ethnogonic tradition of the Armenians (ethnogonic myth). It goes back to the popular source, although it came down to us in the works of Movses Khorenatsi (fifth century) and Sebeos (seventh century). The article considers the legend as a source for mythological, ethnographic, linguistic and historical research. The heroes of the tradition, the legendary ethnarchs-eponyms of Armenia, are obviously mythological characters. Ethnogony duplicates cosmogony, and the images of the first ethnarchs represent the epicized transformations of the ancient gods (stars, constellations, lands, tribes are called by their names, and their rivals are the gods of the southern neighbors of Armenia, e.g., Bel, Baalshamin). The great patriarchal family of the forefather Hayk (300 men and their families) reflects the structure of the patriarchal family of the earliest Armenians. In the tradition, the self-appellation of Armenians hay is derived from the name Hayk; the ethnonym coincides with the common dialectal word hay (“husband, lord, head of the family”, cf. the expression mer hayə (“our hay”) used by old women for their husbands), which obviously can be etymologized in connection with Indo- European *poti- (“husband, lord, head of the family”). The characteristics of other ethnarchs-eponoms, descendants of Hayk, also provide keys for etymologization of corresponding ethnonyms. Also, there is historicity in the tradition — the movement of the first ethnarchs in the Armenian Highlands reflects the historical movements of Armenian tribal groups (e.g., Hayk’s settlement in the Lake Van region and his elder son’s passage northwards to the Ararat valley).

 

KEYWORDS: ethnogonic tradition, prehistory of Armenia, mythological forefathers, eponyms, ethnonyms, earliest Armenians

 

УДК 398.1(=19)
DO I 10.31250/2618-8600-2019-3(5)-57-85

 

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