A History of Armenia-Part I
Armenians are a civilized people, who were subjected to persecution and genocide and so they took refuge in Syria. History has recorded that the Syrians welcomed the survivors, and they became part of its national fabric. But their origins go back to the historical land of Armenia in the Armenian plateau to the sixth millennium BC.
It is part of the history of the region and the world.
Historical Armenia extends from the west of the headwaters of the Euphrates River to the Caspian Sea and Iran, and from the Caucasus mountain range to the Armenian Taurus mountain range on the northern borders of Iraq. Mount Ararat, on which Noah’s Ark landed, is considered one of the most important mountains of Armenia, in addition to Mount Arakadze and the Armenian Taurus Mountains.
Armenia is linked to the total cultural, religious and economic heritage of the peoples of the region. Historically, Armenia was known in the blogs of King Sargon of Akkad and his grandson Naram Sen in the third millennium BC as Armani or Arman, which is the first name for Armenia.
Armenians converted to Christianity with the arrival of missionaries and saints. And after the invention of the Armenian alphabet in the year four hundred and six AD, the Bible was translated into Armenian .
On the economic level, the Armenian people were famous for various types of metal industries such as weapons, gold, silver and wooden jewelry, as well as the manufacture of glass, faience and crystal, as well as the textile industry, embroidery, silk, rugs, leather and fur products. And they had brave military leaders who deserved medals of courage in addition to scientists who invented jet planes and missile launchers and built factories for planes, tanks, field cannons and tankers.
On the economic level, the Armenian people were famous for various types of metal industries such as weapons, gold, silver and wooden jewelry, as well as the manufacture of glass, faience and crystal, as well as the textile industry, embroidery, silk, rugs, leather and fur products. And they had brave military leaders who deserved medals of courage in addition to scientists who invented jet planes and missile launchers and built factories for planes, tanks, field cannons and tankers.
And if history records the stories of peoples in their difficult struggles, the development of their lives, their cooperation and their acquaintance, then it is natural for the Armenians to have good economic and cultural relations with the Arabs.
The Armenians appeared in Palestine and the neighboring regions, especially Syria and the eastern Mediterranean coast, during the conquests of the Armenian Emperor Dickran the Great in the first century BC, when he encouraged the migration of Armenians from the motherland to both Syria and Palestine for political, commercial and economic purposes. He also worked on the emigration of thousands of Palestinians to Armenia. Since that period, the spread of Armenians in the Arab countries began. Their migrations to neighboring countries continued after the collapse of the great kingdom of Dickran, and religious and cultural centers were established for them there.
The Armenians appeared in Palestine and the neighboring regions, especially Syria and the eastern Mediterranean coast, during the conquests of the Armenian Emperor Dickran the Great in the first century BC, when he encouraged the migration of Armenians from the motherland to both Syria and Palestine for political, commercial and economic purposes. He also worked on the emigration of thousands of Palestinians to Armenia. Since that period, the spread of Armenians in the Arab countries began. Their migrations to neighboring countries continued after the collapse of the great kingdom of Dickran, and religious and cultural centers were established for them there.
As for the history of the relationship between the Armenians and the Ottoman Empire, it began in the year fourteen five hundred and one thousand AD, when the Ottomans, led by Sultan Selim I, seized Armenia, after defeating the Safavid Persians in the Battle of the Galdiran Plain. This date is considered black for the Armenians. The Turks took advantage of them for being educated and being excellent artisans, and taxed them too much. And relations between the Armenians and the Turks began to get worse little by little, so many Armenians were forced to flee from the oppression of the Turks to the neighboring countries, and a large number of them settled in Syria, where they found safety and worked in delicate crafts and industries, and numbers of them moved to Egypt, Jordan, Palestine and Lebanon.
During the nineteenth century, the conditions of the Armenians improved and they became the most organized, richest and educated sect of the Ottoman Empire, and the elite of the Armenians lived in the capital of the Ottoman Empire, the city of Istanbul, where they were distinguished by great wealth and had great economic influence within the state.
Reem Haddad
Editor – in – Chief