Aramus, Armenia

40.24833333333344.653055555556Koordinaten: 40 ° 14 ' 54 " N, 44 ° 39 ' 11 " O

Aramus (formerly Aramonk ) is a village in the Armenian province of Kotayk, about 20 kilometers north-east of Yerevan. South of the village is the same Iron Age fortification Aramus, which is one of the largest and best preserved archaeological sites of Armenia and is a key location for exploring the Bronze and Iron Age in this region. Particularly noteworthy are the studies on the Iron Age. Continuous use of the facility and associated settlement area of 10 -4 BC prove century. Here, the juxtaposition of local (so-called Etiuni ) and Urartian culture characteristics in the material remains during the middle Iron Age can be seen.

Location

Aramus is on 1496 meters south of the city of Abovyan near the road between Yerevan and the northern shore of Lake Sevan, five kilometers north-east of Elar on a spur of Gegam Mountains.

Name

The name derives from the fabled King Aram and his - from shoulder - injured in a battle. The Armenian Arami us literally means " Aram's shoulder ." According to another tradition Aramonk was the place where the Queen Shamiram ( Semiramis ) found the body of the beautiful macaws.

Settlement mounds

The settlement mound is formed from a natural, running from east to west, elongated basalt ridge of about 50 meters high and nearly 900 meters in length, which is divided roughly in the middle by a saddle in two areas. The visible at the surface fortifications include the eastern ridge of rock as well as the offshore northern and southern slopes. The slope area between the so-called Acropolis and the so-called urban area on the north and south-facing terrace is also characterized by a Terrassierungsmauer that are an expression of intense settlement activity.

Smith and Kafadarian assume that the Urartian fortress, similar Zovinar and Horom ( Dovri ) were built in a so-called "border -style ", takes the elements of the local Iron Age building practice.

The Armenian Catholicos David I. Aramonetsi ( 728-741 ) moved its headquarters after the Arab conquest of Armenia 728 of Dvin to Aramus. In addition to a monastery here, a palace was built. Today only is the church Tsiranavor from the 6th century. It was perhaps built by the Catholicos Hovhan. In the village there are also Khachkare from the 13th - 14th Century.

History of Research

The fortress of Aramus was first published by Vanzandian in 1979. 1988 was followed by studies at the western part of the " Acropolis " by Hayk Avetissian. Since 2004 annual excavations under the direction of Hayk Avetissian by the Department of History at the State University of Yerevan and Sandra Heinsch and Walter Kuntner by the Institute for Ancient History and Ancient Near Eastern Studies, Department of Near Eastern Archaeology at the University of Innsbruck instead. The focus of the study in 2004-2008 was on the eastern castle of the plant, while in the years 2009 and 2010, the North, South and West Castle were investigated.