Aramus ( hy, Արամուս) is a village in the

Kotayk Province Kotayk ( hy, Կոտայք, ), is a province ('' marz'') of Armenia. It is located at the central part of the country. Its capital is Hrazdan and the largest city is Abovyan. It is named after the Kotayk canton of the historic Ayrarat province ...

Armenia Armenia (), , group=pron officially the Republic of Armenia,, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of Western Asia.The UNbr>classification of world regions places Armenia in Western Asia; the CIA World Factbook , , and ''Ox ...

. Its located at 43 km of the Getar river and 25 km of the armenian capital,

Yerevan Yerevan ( , , hy, Երևան , sometimes spelled Erevan) is the capital and largest city of Armenia and one of the world's List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest continuously inhabited cities. Situated along the Hrazdan River, Y ...

Etymology

The name of the village came from a myth during the ancient times of the kingdom of Armenia. Through this era, an Armenian hero called Ara Geghetsik (translated as "Ara the Handsome") fought a battle in the village's area against the mythical Assyrian queen

Semiramis ''Samīrāmīs'', hy, Շամիրամ ''Šamiram'') was the semi-legendary Lydian- Babylonian wife of Onnes and Ninus, who succeeded the latter to the throne of Assyria, according to Movses Khorenatsi. Legends narrated by Diodorus Siculus, who dre ...

. During the battle, Ara Geghetsik was wounded in the shoulder. Because of that wound, the place was called ''Aram's shoulder (in armenian "Aramy Usy")'' and then, after linguistics evolutions of centuries, the name changed to Aramus.

Topography and Climate

The village of Aramus is part of the

of the historic Ayrarat province of

Greater Armenia Greater Armenia ( hy, Մեծ Հայք, translit=Mets Hayk) is the name given to the Armenian state that emerged on the Armenian Highlands during the reign of King Artaxias I at the turn of the 2nd century BC. The term was used to refer princi ...

. Nowadays, it is a part of the Kotayk region, 25 km away from the city of Yerevan. Its at east of the Yerevan-San highway. The nearest city is

Abovyan Abovyan or Abovian ( hy, Աբովյան), is a town and urban municipal community in Armenia within the Kotayk Province. It is located northeast of Yerevan and southeast of the province centre Hrazdan. As of the 2011 census, the population of ...

. Aramus is located on the Kotayk volcanic plateau, at 1420 meters above sea level. The Geghama volcanic plateau rises in the eastern part of Aramus, and the

Hatis Hatis ( hy, Հատիս), formerly known as Kyankyan, is a village in the Kotayk Province of Armenia. The village is populated by mostly Armenians with Kurds being a minority (about 8%). See also *Kotayk Province Kotayk ( hy, Կոտայք, ...

volcanic massif rises in the northeast . The area is dominated by mountain-steppe landscapes, covered with slippery soils. Atmospheric precipitation are about 500 mm in yearly average. All climate seasons happens in the region through the year. The entrails of the village are rich in volcanic building stones with basalt and tuff.

History and Archeological site

The surroundings of Aramus stand out with archeological and historical-architectural monuments. Many complexes are considered built from the first millennium to the Middle Ages. The huge fortress-settlement of "Nokhut Tapay" in the area of Aramus village stands out among them, The excavations of the castle started in the 1980s with the efforts of the archeological expedition of

Yerevan State University Yerevan State University (YSU; hy, Երևանի Պետական Համալսարան, ԵՊՀ, ''Yerevani Petakan Hamalsaran''), also simply University of Yerevan, is the oldest continuously operating public university in Armenia. Founded in 1919 ...

. The process of archeological survey in the area stopped due to the 1988's Spitak earthquake and the

dissolution of the USSR The dissolution of the Soviet Union, also negatively connoted as rus, Разва́л Сове́тского Сою́за, r=Razvál Sovétskogo Soyúza, ''Ruining of the Soviet Union''. was the process of internal disintegration within the Sov ...

. Regular excavations continued from 2004 in the northern part of the eastern outskirts of the castle. Before the end of the century, an excavation site with an area of about 250 square meters was made. Continuing the excavations, the expedition aimed to clarify the stages of construction of the castle, to clarify the chronological problems, the stratigraphic realities, etc. The north tower, the first wall built near the eastern entrance of the citadel, was cleaned. Especially, The remnants of the fence found in the opening. Most likely, this wall dates back to the pre-Urartian period and is characterized as a remnant of a Cyclops fortress inhabited from the

Bronze Age The Bronze Age is a historic period, lasting approximately from 3300 BC to 1200 BC, characterized by the use of bronze, the presence of writing in some areas, and other early features of urban civilization. The Bronze Age is the second pri ...

. The latter refers to: During the reign of Van, it joins the remains of a powerful tower in the eastern part of the citadel. This wall, with its structural peculiarity, repeats similar buildings of the Kingdom. Studies have shown that the last wall surrounding the citadel is a post-

Urartian Urartian or Vannic is an extinct 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, ...

system that existed in the early Middle Ages. Thus, Aramus fortress has three main chronological stages: pre-Urartian, Urartian and post-Urartian.

Economy and Population

The population is engaged in cattle breeding, cultivation of grain, tobacco and vegetables. The changes of Aramus population have been continuous since the last surveys.

References

* * Populated places in Kotayk Province {{Kotayk-geo-stub