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Artsruni Dynasty
The Artsruni ( hy, Արծրունի; also transliterated as Ardzruni) were an ancient noble (princely) family of Armenia. Background and history The Artsruni's claimed descent from Sennacherib, King of Assyria (705 BC–681 BC). Although it mirrors the Bagratuni claim of Davidic descent and the Mamikonian claim of descent from the royal Han Dynasty, it is usually interpreted as a piece of genealogical mythology. The origin of this claim is attributed to Moses of Chorene according to whom Sennacherib's sons fled to Armenia after murdering him and founded the clans of the Artsruni and Gnuni. Chorene in turn was in all likelihood inspired by Biblical tradition: According to the genealogist and historian Cyril Toumanoff, as well as historian M. Chahin, the Artsruni family were an offshoot of the earlier Orontids, Professor James Russell proposed the idea that the Artsrunis derived their name from the Urartian word ''artsibini'' (eagle) which survived in Armenian as ' ...
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Orontid Dynasty
The Orontid dynasty, also known as the Eruandids or Eruandunis, ruled the Satrapy of Armenia until 330 BC and the Kingdom of Armenia from 321 BC to 200 BC. The Orontids ruled first as client kings or satraps of the Achaemenid Empire and after the collapse of the Achaemenid Empire established an independent kingdom. Later, a branch of the Orontids ruled as kings of Sophene and Commagene. They are the first of the three royal dynasties that successively ruled the antiquity-era Kingdom of Armenia (321 BC–428 AD). Historical background Some historians state that the Orontids were of Iranian origin, and suggest that it held dynastic familial linkages to the ruling Achaemenid dynasty. Throughout their existence, the Orontids stressed their lineage from the Achaemenids in order to strengthen their political legitimacy. Other historians state the Orontids were of Armenian origin, while according to Razmik Panossian, the Orontids probably had marriage links to the rulers of Persia ...
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Mazdaism
Zoroastrianism is an Iranian religion and one of the world's oldest organized faiths, based on the teachings of the Iranian-speaking prophet Zoroaster. It has a dualistic cosmology of good and evil within the framework of a monotheistic ontology and an eschatology which predicts the ultimate conquest of evil by good. Zoroastrianism exalts an uncreated and benevolent deity of wisdom known as ''Ahura Mazda'' () as its supreme being. Historically, the unique features of Zoroastrianism, such as its monotheism, messianism, belief in free will and judgement after death, conception of heaven, hell, angels, and demons, among other concepts, may have influenced other religious and philosophical systems, including the Abrahamic religions and Gnosticism, Northern Buddhism, and Greek philosophy. With possible roots dating back to the 2nd millennium BCE, Zoroastrianism enters recorded history around the middle of the 6th century BCE. It served as the state religion of the ancient Iran ...
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Persian Empire
The Achaemenid Empire or Achaemenian Empire (; peo, 𐎧𐏁𐏂, , ), also called the First Persian Empire, was an ancient Iranian empire founded by Cyrus the Great in 550 BC. Based in Western Asia, it was contemporarily the largest empire in history, spanning a total of from the Balkans and Egypt in the west to Central Asia and the Indus Valley in the east. Around the 7th century BC, the region of Persis in the southwestern portion of the Iranian plateau was settled by the Persians. From Persis, Cyrus rose and defeated the Median Empire as well as Lydia and the Neo-Babylonian Empire, marking the formal establishment of a new imperial polity under the Achaemenid dynasty. In the modern era, the Achaemenid Empire has been recognized for its imposition of a successful model of centralized, bureaucratic administration; its multicultural policy; building complex infrastructure, such as road systems and an organized postal system; the use of official languages across it ...
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Merujan Artsruni
Meruzhan Artsruni ( hy, Մերուժան Արծրունի ''Meružan Arcruni'', also spelled ''Merujan'', ''Ardzruni'', ''Artzruni'', ''Artsrouni''; died 371 or 380/1) was a 4th-century ''nakharar'' (Armenian feudal lord) from the Artsruni family. When the Persian king Shapur II invaded Armenia in the 360s, Meruzhan, his brother-in-law Vahan Mamikonian, and several other Armenian lords renounced Christianity for Zoroastrianism and defected to Persia. Meruzhan helped Shapur's army capture Tigranocerta and raid the districts of Arzanene, Ingilene, Mzur in Upper Armenia, Sophene and Acilisene, where they captured Ani-Kamakh and desecrated the graves of the Armenian Arsacid kings. The Armenian king Arshak II fled west to Asia Minor, while ''sparapet'' (generalissimo) Vasak Mamikonian was left to defend the central province of Ayrarat alone. Arsaces and Vasak would later be captured by Shapur by deception; Vasak was put to death and Arsaces committed suicide or was executed in Anhush ...
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Lake Van
Lake Van ( tr, Van Gölü; hy, Վանա լիճ, translit=Vana lič̣; ku, Gola Wanê) is the largest lake in Turkey. It lies in the far east of Turkey, in the provinces of Van and Bitlis in the Armenian highlands. It is a saline soda lake, receiving water from many small streams that descend from the surrounding mountains. It is one of the world's few endorheic lakes (a lake having no outlet) of size greater than and has 38% of the country's surface water (including rivers). A volcanic eruption blocked its original outlet in prehistoric times. It is situated at above sea level. Despite the high altitude and winter highs below , high salinity usually prevents it from freezing; the shallow northern section can freeze, but rarely. Hydrology and chemistry Lake Van is across at its widest point. It averages deep. Its greatest known depth is . The surface lies above sea level and the shore length is . It covers and contains (has volume of) . The western portion of the ...
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Başkale
Başkale ( ku, Elbak, hy, Ադամակերտ, translit=Adamakert) is a town and district located in south-eastern Turkey in Van Province. There is one municipality in the Başkale district, the town centre, which was established in 1937. The neighbourhoods of the town of Başkale are: Tepebaşı, Yeni mahalle, Camii-Kebir, Samandöken, Cevkan, Kale, Hafıziye, Tarım, and Yakınyol. In the local elections of March 2019 Erkan Acar from the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) was elected mayor. Geography Başkale is situated west of the Turkey-Iran border. of the national border is on the east and north-east of the Başkale district. Başkale shares district borders with Yüksekova district of Hakkari Province to the south, Saray and Özalp districts of Van Province to the north, and Gürpınar district of Van Province to the west. Başkale is situated 2460 metres above sea level, in the valley of the Great Zab River (Zapsuyu), and the town stands on the eastern slope of the ...
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Sophene
Sophene ( hy, Ծոփք, translit=Tsopkʻ, grc, Σωφηνή, translit=Sōphēnē or hy, Չորրորդ Հայք, lit=Fourth Armenia) was a province of the ancient kingdom of Armenia, located in the south-west of the kingdom, and of the Roman Empire. The region lies in what is now southeastern Turkey. The region that was to become Sophene was part of the kingdom of Ararat (Urartu) in the 8th-7th centuries BC. After unifying the region with his kingdom in the early 8th century BC, king Argishtis I of Urartu resettled many of its inhabitants in his newly built city of Erebuni (modern day Armenian capital Yerevan). Around 600 BC, Sophene became part of the newly emerged ancient Armenian Kingdom of the Orontids. This dynasty acted as satraps of Armenia first under the Median Empire, later under the Achaemenid Empire. After Alexander the Great's campaigns in 330s BC and the subsequent collapse of the Achaemenid Empire, Sophene remained part of the newly independent kingdom ...
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Tigranes The Great
Tigranes II, more commonly known as Tigranes the Great ( hy, Տիգրան Մեծ, ''Tigran Mets''; grc, Τιγράνης ὁ Μέγας ''Tigránes ho Mégas''; la, Tigranes Magnus) (140 – 55 BC) was King of Armenia under whom the country became, for a short time, the strongest state to Rome's east. He was a member of the Artaxiad Royal House. Under his reign, the Armenian kingdom expanded beyond its traditional boundaries, allowing Tigranes to claim the title Great King, and involving Armenia in many battles against opponents such as the Parthian and Seleucid empires, and the Roman Republic. Early years In approximately 120 BC, the Parthian king Mithridates II () invaded Armenia and made its king Artavasdes I acknowledge Parthian suzerainty. Artavasdes I was forced to give the Parthians Tigranes, who was either his son or nephew, as a hostage. Tigranes lived in the Parthian court at Ctesiphon, where he was schooled in Parthian culture. Tigranes remained a ...
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Armenian Language
Armenian ( classical: , reformed: , , ) is an Indo-European language and an independent branch of that family of languages. It is the official language of Armenia. Historically spoken in the Armenian Highlands, today Armenian is widely spoken throughout the Armenian diaspora. Armenian is written in its own writing system, the Armenian alphabet, introduced in 405 AD by the priest Mesrop Mashtots. The total number of Armenian speakers worldwide is estimated between 5 and 7 million. History Classification and origins Armenian is an independent branch of the Indo-European languages. It is of interest to linguists for its distinctive phonological changes within that family. Armenian exhibits more satemization than centumization, although it is not classified as belonging to either of these subgroups. Some linguists tentatively conclude that Armenian, Greek (and Phrygian) and Indo-Iranian were dialectally close to each other;''Handbook of Formal Languages'' (1997p. 6 wit ...
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Urartian Language
Urartian or Vannic is an extinct Hurro-Urartian languages, Hurro-Urartian language which was spoken by the inhabitants of the ancient kingdom of Urartu (''Biaini'' or ''Biainili'' in Urartian), which was centered on the region around Lake Van and had its capital, Tushpa, near the site of the modern town of Van, Turkey, Van in the Armenian highlands (now in the Eastern Anatolia Region, Eastern Anatolia region of Turkey). Its past prevalence is unknown. While some believe it was probably dominant around Lake Van and in the areas along the upper Great Zab, Zab valley, others believe it was spoken by a relatively small population who comprised a ruling class. First attested in the 9th century BCE, Urartian ceased to be written after the fall of the Urartian state in 585 BCE and presumably became extinct due to the fall of Urartu. It must have had long contact with, and been gradually totally replaced by, an early form of Proto-Armenian language, Armenian, although it is only in the 5t ...
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