Ayrarat () was the central province of the ancient kingdom Armenia, located in the plain of the upper

Aras River , az, Araz, fa, ارس, tr, Aras The Aras (also known as the Araks, Arax, Araxes, or Araz) is a river in the Caucasus. It rises in eastern Turkey and flows along the borders between Turkey and Armenia, between Turkey and the Nakhchivan excl ...

. Most of the historical capitals of Armenia were located in this province, including Armavir, Yervandashat, Artashat,

Vagharshapat Vagharshapat ( hy, Վաղարշապատ ) is the 4th-largest city in Armenia and the most populous municipal community of Armavir Province, located about west of the capital Yerevan, and north of the closed Turkish-Armenian border. It is com ...

, Dvin, Bagaran,

Shirakavan Shirakavan ( hy, Շիրակաւան); founded as Yerazgavors and later Yerazgavork, was a medieval Armenian city and one of the 13 historic capitals of Armenia, serving as a capital city between 890 and 929 during the Bagratid Kingdom of Armenia. ...

, Kars and

Ani Ani ( hy, Անի; grc-gre, Ἄνιον, ''Ánion''; la, Abnicum; tr, Ani) is a ruined medieval Armenian city now situated in Turkey's province of Kars, next to the closed border with Armenia. Between 961 and 1045, it was the capital of the ...

(the current capital of

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 ' ...

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

, is also located on the territory of historical Ayrarat). It is believed that the name ''Ayrarat'' is the

Armenian Armenian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Armenia, a country in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia * Armenians, the national people of Armenia, or people of Armenian descent ** Armenian Diaspora, Armenian communities across the ...

equivalent of the toponym ''

Urartu Urartu (; Assyrian: ',Eberhard Schrader, ''The Cuneiform inscriptions and the Old Testament'' (1885), p. 65. Babylonian: ''Urashtu'', he, אֲרָרָט ''Ararat'') is a geographical region and Iron Age kingdom also known as the Kingdom of V ...

'' ( hy, Արարատ, Ararat). It seems to have corresponded geographically with the territory of the

Etiuni Etiuni ( hy, Էթիունի, other names Etiuḫi, Etiu, Etio) was the name of an early Iron Age tribal confederation in northern parts of Aras (river), Araxes rivers, roughly corresponding to the subsequent Ayrarat Province of the Kingdom of Arme ...

tribal confederation, mentioned in Urartian sources.Armen Petrosyan (2007). "Towards the Origins of the Armenian People: The Problem of Identification of the Proto-Armenians: A Critical Review (in English)". Journal for the Society of Armenian Studies. p. 50

/ref>

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The seventh-century ''

Ashkharhatsuyts ''Ashkharatsuyts'' or ''Ašxarhac′oyc′'' (Աշխարհացոյց (traditional); Աշխարհացույց ( reformed)), often translated as ''Geography'' in English sources, is an early Medieval Armenian illustrated book by Anania Shirakatsi. ...

'' attributed to

Anania Shirakatsi Anania Shirakatsi ( hy, Անանիա Շիրակացի, ''Anania Širakac’i'', anglicized: Ananias of Shirak) was a 7th-century Armenian polymath and natural philosopher, author of extant works covering mathematics, astronomy, geography, chronol ...

depicts Ayrarat as a very large province with 22 districts, but this is probably based on the new administrative divisions created after the Byzantine-Persian partition of Armenia in 591. * Shirak *

Aragatsotn Aragatsotn ( hy, Արագածոտն, ) is a province ('' marz'') of Armenia. It is located in the western part of the country. The capital and largest city of the province is the town of Ashtarak. The Statistical Committee of Armenia reported i ...

*Nig *Varazhnunik *Vostan Hayots *

Vanand Vanand () is the area of historic Armenia that roughly corresponds to the Kars Province of present-day Turkey. Named after the Armenian family of Vanandi, it was a principality of the Kingdom of Armenia and a later province of the Democratic ...

*Masyats-Votn *Kogovit * Basean *

Bagrevand Bagrevand (also spelled Bagrewand) was a region of Armenia. The Old Iranian etymology of the name is disputed. It is either derived from ''*bāγa.raivanta'' ("rhubarb garden") or ''baga-raēvanta-'', which either means "the rich giver" ( Mith ...

*Chakatk *Abeghyan *Havnunik *Arshanunik *Tsaghkotn *Arats *Urtsadzor *Vostan Dvna * Kotayk *Mazaz

References

Bibliography

* * Provinces of the Kingdom of Armenia (antiquity) History of Ağrı Province History of Kars Province {{Armenia-hist-stub

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See also

References

Bibliography