The Armenian; A forgotten people
In the world one lives in today, it occurs quite often to converse with people of all ages who do not know of Armenia and her proud people. Rarely does one know of the country, none the less of her mysterious and complex past. Armenia is one of the most difficult civilizations to describe and trace, because of the lack of archaeological proof and hence the many different opinions of historians, archaeologists and so forth. Even with a blurry past, the Armenian people have survived over the last three thousand years (approximately 1500 BC to present day). The Armenian people have survived through so much over these last centuries that one may wonder how they have made it alive today. Armenians have been under the power of so many empires (Urartians, Persians, Arabs, Romans, Parthians and so forth), and have survived through a genocide as a result of living in a place surrounded by neighboring countries opposing to such things as their values, religion and ways of life. The Armenian people have persisted throughout these times because of their keen sense of survival, the love for their religion and their pride and unity as Armenians. Armenians have a very blurry and uncertain past. As mentioned above, with the lack of historical,
Armenia and her people would not still exist today if it was not for their sense of survival and pride in being Armenians. Through the good times and the bad, Armenians stuck with their beliefs, values and religion. They stayed together as Armenians. They valued their religion of Christianity and followed its saying and thoughts, and stuck by them, even if it meant being killed for them. Even when their country was torn apart and ruled over by enemies, Armenians kept in mind their true goal, which was peace and a place to call their own. Armenians wanted to be recognized as Armenians and that is still a work in progress. Every day an Armenian will tell someone "I am Armenian", and it is certain one will say "Armenian? What is that?". The story will begin and one more person will know about Armenians and who they are. Who knows, maybe one day Armenians will get the acknowledgment they search for and certainly deserve. geographical and archaeological proof, it is very demanding to accurately trace Armenia's history. Though history dates the beginning of Armenians back to around 1165 BCE, Armenians have legends, who to them helped forge their beginnings, at a much earlier date. For example such pioneers would be Haig (Hayg), Armenag and Harma (2350-1700 BC). Unfortunately, since they are only legends, it befalls quite normally that historians will not take into consideration these forefathers of Armenia. It is one aspect of Armenian history which will have to continue living on with her people. Persians ruled Eastern Armenia until 1828, when it was annexed by Russia. However it was the Ottoman Turks who governed most of Armenia and its population. During the nineteenth century, Armenians suffered discrimination, heavy taxation and armed attacks from the Turks. As Christians, Armenians lacked legal recourse for injustices. In 1908, 30,000 Armenians were killed, and since killing a non-Muslim went normally unpunished, nothing was said. World War I created a wonderful opportunity for Turks to "solve the issue". In 1915, 1.5 million Armenians were slaughtered, drowned, starved, raped, buried alive, bayoneted and beheaded. This was the first genocide of the twentieth century. Most people, even today never learn about this genocide. It goes unforeseen, even though it has permanently scared Armenian culture and life forever. On May 28, 1918, the independence of the Republic of Armenia was established and from then to the present, Armenia and her people have been trying to stabilize themselves and their homeland. Many Armenians have immigrated all around the world and now Armenia is a developing and promising country. All evidence points to a western, Indo-European origin, but dating is more complex. Herodotus did not specify when Armenian settlers left their Phrygian kin, for he knew Phrygian history stretched many centuries. Dating Armenian migration is still something we have not been able to accurately date. For instance, Old Armenian cannot be derived from Phrygian. Hence, seventh century "Armenians" were not Phrygians. Even Strobo was not completely accurate with his Armenus theory, because the twelfth century Mushki are identified as proto-Armenians. That makes the theory Strobo had come up with nonsense. This makes the migration of Armenians a very confusing subject, and this is even before their actual beginning. This factor is but one of many which are uncertain to those interested in Armenian history today. Another uncertainty is the area the country once occupied. Numbers have ranged anywhere from 239,320 square miles, to as little as 108,108 square miles. These are only two of the many mysteries historians face when it comes to the history of Armenians and their country. In 331 BC, Alexander the Great of Macedonia finally, after long battle, conquered the Persians and the Armenians were now under Orontids (Greek) rule. The governing satraps of the royal Orontid Family of Armenia governed the country for some 2
Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 2688
Approximate Pages = 11 (250 words per page double spaced)
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