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Hayk (, ), also known as Hayk Nahapet (, , ), is the legendary patriarch and founder of the Armenian nation. His story is told in the ''
History of Armenia The history of Armenia covers the topics related to the history of the Armenia, Republic of Armenia, as well as the Armenians, Armenian people, the Armenian language, and the regions of Eurasia historically and Armenian Highlands, geographica ...
'' attributed to the Armenian historian Movses Khorenatsi and in the ''Primary History'' traditionally attributed to Sebeos. Fragments of the legend of Hayk are also preserved in the works of other authors, as well as in Armenian folk tradition.


Etymology

The name of the patriarch, ''Hayk'' (), is not exactly homophonous with the Armenian name for "Armenia," ''Haykʻ'' (). In
Classical Armenian Classical Armenian (, , ; meaning "literary anguage; also Old Armenian or Liturgical Armenian) is the oldest attested form of the Armenian language. It was first written down at the beginning of the 5th century, and most Armenian literature fro ...
, ''Haykʻ'' is the nominative plural of ''hay'' ( հայ), the Armenian word for "Armenian." While Robert W. Thomson considers the etymology of ''Haykʻ'' (Հայք) from ''Hayk'' (Հայկ) to be impossible, other scholars consider the connection between the two to be obvious and derive ''Hayk'' from ''hay''/''Haykʻ'' via the suffix ''-ik''. Martirosyan, Hrach (2010). ''Etymological Dictionary of the Armenian Inherited Lexicon'' (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 8), Leiden, Boston: Brill, p. 383. Armen Petrosyan proposes a possible connection between the name Hayk and the
Proto-Indo-European Proto-Indo-European (PIE) is the reconstructed common ancestor of the Indo-European language family. No direct record of Proto-Indo-European exists; its proposed features have been derived by linguistic reconstruction from documented Indo-Euro ...
''*poti-'' "master, lord, master of the house, husband." Armenian historiography of the
Soviet The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...
era connected ''Hayk'' and ''hay'' with Hayasa, a people mentioned in Hittite inscriptions. Some authors derive ''Hayk'' and ''hay'' from Khaldi/Ḫaldi, the chief god of the Urartian pantheon, and also identify Hayk with the Urartian deity. The Armenian word ''haykakan'' (, 'that which pertains to Armenians') derives from the name ''Hayk''. Additionally, the poetic names for the Armenian nation, ''Haykazun'' (հայկազուն) or ''Haykazn'' (հայկազն, consisting of ''Hayk'' and ''azn'' 'generation, nation, tribe'), also derive from Hayk (''Haykazn''/''Haykaz'' later became a masculine given name among Armenians).


Genealogy

Integrating the Armenian tradition into
biblical The Bible is a collection of religious texts that are central to Christianity and Judaism, and esteemed in other Abrahamic religions such as Islam. The Bible is an anthology (a compilation of texts of a variety of forms) biblical languages ...
tradition, Movses Khorenatsi describes Hayk as a descendant of
Noah Noah (; , also Noach) appears as the last of the Antediluvian Patriarchs (Bible), patriarchs in the traditions of Abrahamic religions. His story appears in the Hebrew Bible (Book of Genesis, chapters 5–9), the Quran and Baháʼí literature, ...
through the latter's son Japheth: "Yapheth begat Gamer
omer Omer may refer to: __NOTOC__ * Omer (unit), an ancient unit of measure used in the era of the ancient Temple in Jerusalem * The Counting of the Omer (''sefirat ha'omer''), a 49 day period in the Jewish calendar People * A variant spelling of the g ...
Gamer begat T‘iras; T‘iras begat T‘orgom ogarmah T‘orgom begat Hayk." Hayk's descendants through his son Aramaneak (Aramanyak) are listed as follows: "Aramaneak begat Aramayis; Aramayis begat Amasya; Amasya begat Gełam
egham Egham ( ) is a town in the Borough of Runnymede in Surrey, England, approximately west of central London. First settled in the Bronze Age, the town was under the control of Chertsey Abbey for much of the Middle Ages. In 1215, Magna Carta was ...
Gełam begat Harmay arma Harmay begat Aram; Aram begat Ara the Handsome." Hayk's other sons, according to Moses, were Khoṛ and Manavaz. Moses also gives the names of numerous other descendants of Hayk (s, "of Hayk's lineage," also known as the Haykids), such as Sisak, Skayordi, Paruyr, and Vahe, some of which he identifies as kings of Armenia. In reference to Hayk's descent from Torgom/Togarmah, medieval Armenian sources sometimes referred to Armenia as ''T‘orgoma tun'' ("House of Torgom") and to Armenians as ''T‘orgomyan azg'' ("the people of Torgom").Movsisyan A.
“The origin and formation of the Armenian nation,”
Institute of Armenian Studies of Yerevan State University, ''www.armin.am''.
The connection between Hayk and the descendants of Noah was created by Christian authors following the Christianization of Armenia in order to connect Armenians to the biblical narrative of human history.dated by Mikayel Chamchian; Razmik Panossian, ''The Armenians: From Kings And Priests to Merchants And Commissars'', Columbia University Press (2006), , pp. 51, 106. In the Georgian history attributed to Juansher, Hayk is likewise identified as the son of Torgom/Togarmah and described as "prince of the seven brothers and stood in service to the giant
Nimrod Nimrod is a Hebrew Bible, biblical figure mentioned in the Book of Genesis and Books of Chronicles, the Books of Chronicles. The son of Cush (Bible), Cush and therefore the great-grandson of Noah, Nimrod was described as a king in the land of Sh ...
(Nebrovt') who first ruled the entire world as king." One of Hayk's most famous scions, Aram (whose name Moses purports to be the origin of the name ''Armenia''), settled in Eastern Armenia from the
Mitanni Mitanni (–1260 BC), earlier called Ḫabigalbat in old Babylonian texts, ; Hanigalbat or Hani-Rabbat in Assyrian records, or in Ancient Egypt, Egyptian texts, was a Hurrian language, Hurrian-speaking state in northern Syria (region), Syria an ...
kingdom ( Western Armenia), when Sargon II mentions a king of part of Armenia who bore 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 around the ...
- Indo-Iranian) name Bagatadi (which, like the Greek-based "Theodore" and the Hebrew-based "Jonathan," means "god-given").


Legend

According to the accounts of Movses Khorenatsi and the anonymous ''Primary History'', Hayk fought against and killed the tyrannical Babylonian king Bel ( Belos, Belus). Depending on the mythological tradition, Belus can refer to a symbolic Babylonian/Akkadian god of war or mythical founder of Babylon. Moses identifies Bel with the biblical
Nimrod Nimrod is a Hebrew Bible, biblical figure mentioned in the Book of Genesis and Books of Chronicles, the Books of Chronicles. The son of Cush (Bible), Cush and therefore the great-grandson of Noah, Nimrod was described as a king in the land of Sh ...
and gives a list of his ancestors and successors, drawing from the Bible and Abydenus via Eusebius's works. In Movses Khorenatsi's account (which he claims to have learned from Mar Abas Catina's writings), Hayk, son of Torgom, had a child named Aramaneak while he was living in
Babylon Babylon ( ) was an ancient city located on the lower Euphrates river in southern Mesopotamia, within modern-day Hillah, Iraq, about south of modern-day Baghdad. Babylon functioned as the main cultural and political centre of the Akkadian-s ...
. After the arrogant Titanid Bel made himself king over all, Hayk emigrated to the region near
Mount Ararat Mount Ararat, also known as Masis or Mount Ağrı, is a snow-capped and dormant compound volcano in Eastern Turkey, easternmost Turkey. It consists of two major volcanic cones: Greater Ararat and Little Ararat. Greater Ararat is the highest p ...
with his extended family, servants, followers and about 300 warriors and founded a village called ''Haykashen''. On the way he had left a detachment in another settlement with his grandson Kadmos. Bel sent one of his sons to entreat him to return, but Hayk refused. Bel decided to march against him with a massive force, but Hayk was warned ahead of time by Kadmos of his pending approach. He assembled his own army along the shore of
Lake Van Lake Van (; ; ) is the largest lake in Turkey. It lies in the Eastern Anatolia Region of Turkey in the provinces of Van Province, Van and Bitlis Province, Bitlis, in the Armenian highlands. It is a Salt lake, saline Soda lake, soda lake, receiv ...
and told them that they must defeat and kill Bel, or die trying to do so, rather than become his slaves. Moses writes that the armies of Hayk and Bel clashed near Lake Van "in a plain between very high mountains." King Bel was initially in the
vanguard The vanguard (sometimes abbreviated to van and also called the advance guard) is the leading part of an advancing military formation. It has a number of functions, including seeking out the enemy and securing ground in advance of the main force. ...
, but seeing that the outcome of the battle was uncertain, he withdrew to a hill to await the arrival of the rest of his army. Seeing this, Hayk slew Bel with a nearly impossible shot using his long bow, sending the king's forces into disarray. Hayk named the hill where Bel fell with his warriors ''Gerezmankʻ'', meaning "tombs". He embalmed the corpse of Bel and ordered it to be taken to Hark‘ where it was to be buried in a high place in the view of the wives and sons of the king. Soon after, Hayk established the fortress or settlement (''dastakert'') of Haykʻ or Haykaberd at the site of the battle, which, Movses Khorenatsi says, is why the district is called Hayotsʻ Dzor ("The Valley of the Armenians") and the country of the Armenians is called ''Hayk‘''. The 18th- and 19th-century scholars Ghevont Alishan and Mikayel Chamchian, using different methods, calculated the date of the mythical battle (also known as the ''Dyutsaznamart'', , "Battle of the Giants") between Hayk and Bel to have been August 11, 2492 BCE or 2107 BCE, respectively.


Comparative mythology

Armen Petrosyan describes Hayk as "a complex epic figure that combines the characteristics of the god creator, the father and patriarch of gods, the thunder god, and the war god" that derives from Indo-European archetypes and influenced by Near Eastern mythology. Hayk is a culture hero and an
etiological Etiology (; alternatively spelled aetiology or ætiology) is the study of causation or origination. The word is derived from the Greek word ''()'', meaning "giving a reason for" (). More completely, etiology is the study of the causes, origin ...
founding figure, like Asshur for the
Assyria Assyria (Neo-Assyrian cuneiform: , ''māt Aššur'') was a major ancient Mesopotamian civilization that existed as a city-state from the 21st century BC to the 14th century BC and eventually expanded into an empire from the 14th century BC t ...
ns, for example. The figure slain by Hayk's arrow is variously given as Bel or
Nimrod Nimrod is a Hebrew Bible, biblical figure mentioned in the Book of Genesis and Books of Chronicles, the Books of Chronicles. The son of Cush (Bible), Cush and therefore the great-grandson of Noah, Nimrod was described as a king in the land of Sh ...
. ''Hayk'' is also the name of the constellation Orion in the Armenian translation of the Bible. Hayk's flight from Babylon and his eventual defeat of Bel has been compared to
Zeus Zeus (, ) is the chief deity of the List of Greek deities, Greek pantheon. He is a sky father, sky and thunder god in ancient Greek religion and Greek mythology, mythology, who rules as king of the gods on Mount Olympus. Zeus is the child ...
's escape to the Caucasus and eventual defeat of the Titans. Petrosyan considers the Indian deity
Rudra Rudra (/ ɾud̪ɾə/; ) is a Rigvedic deity associated with Shiva, the wind or storms, Vayu, medicine, and the hunt. One translation of the name is 'the roarer'. In the ''Rigveda'', Rudra is praised as the "mightiest of the mighty". Rudra ...
to be the most similar mythological figure to Hayk. Both are associated with the constellation Orion, both have descendants or followers of the same name (''Hays'' and '' Rudras'') and both are archers that kill their enemy with an arrow.


See also

* Hayko * Aram (given name) * Belus (Assyrian) *
Nimrod Nimrod is a Hebrew Bible, biblical figure mentioned in the Book of Genesis and Books of Chronicles, the Books of Chronicles. The son of Cush (Bible), Cush and therefore the great-grandson of Noah, Nimrod was described as a king in the land of Sh ...
*
Armenian mythology Armenian mythology originated in ancient Proto-Indo-European religion, Indo-European traditions, specifically Proto-Armenian, and gradually incorporated Hurrian religion, Hurro-Urartian religion, Urartian, Ancient Mesopotamian religion, Mesop ...
* Hayasa-Azzi *
Armens The name ''Armenia'' entered English via Latin, from Ancient Greek . The Armenian language, Armenian endonym for the Armenian people and country is (pl. ) and , respectively. The exact Etymology, etymologies of the names of Armenia are unknow ...
* Sisak (eponym) * Mahabali


References


Notes


Citations


Bibliography

* * * {{Legendary progenitors Ancient Armenian people Japheth Armenian mythology Nimrod Legendary progenitors Mount Ararat