Product Code Database
Hayk (, ), also known as Hayk Nahapet (Հայկ Նահապետ, , ), is the legendary patriarch and founder of the Armenians. He is a central figure in Armenian mythology and national identity, and is traditionally regarded as the eponymous ancestor from whom the Armenian people, the "Hay", derive their name. His tale is recounted in the History of Armenia attributed to the 5th-century historian Movses Khorenatsi, as well as in the Primary History attributed to Sebeos. Additional fragments of his legend survive in other medieval sources and continue to be echoed in Armenian oral tradition and epic poetry.
According to legend, Hayk was a mighty archer and chieftain who defied the tyranny of the Babylonian ruler Bel. After leading his people out of captivity, he established their freedom by slaying Bel in the legendary Battle of Hayots Dzor around 2492 BC, near Lake Van in the Armenian Highlands. This foundational battle, in which Hayk is said to have struck Bel with a powerful arrow, symbolized both the spiritual triumph of justice over despotism and the birth of the Armenian nation.
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).
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 (Nebrovt') who first ruled the entire world as king." The Georgian Chronicle
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 kingdom (Western Armenia), when Sargon II mentions a king of part of Armenia who bore the (Armenian-Indo-Iranian) name Bagatadi (which, like the Greek-based "Theodore" and the Hebrew-based "Jonathan," means "god-given").Lukenbill, Dave (1927). Ancient Records of Assyria and Babylonia. The University of Chicago Press, p. 28.
In Movses Khorenatsi's account (which he claims to have learned from Mar Abas Catina's writings), Hayk, son of Togarmah, had a child named Aramaneak while he was living in Babylon. After the arrogant Titans Bel made himself king over all, Hayk emigrated to the region near Mount Ararat with his extended family, servants, followers and about 300 warriors and founded a village called Haykashen.Movses Khorenatsi, History of Armenia. Ed. by G. Sargsyan. Yerevan: Hayastan, 1997, pp. 83, 286. 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 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, 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 Eruandunik ("The Valley of the Armenians") History 1.11; a district to the southeast of Lake Van, see Hubschmann, AON, p. 343 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.
Some scholars link this period to the rise of the Trialeti-Vanadzor culture, a Middle Bronze Age civilization in the Armenian Highlands associated with rich burial mounds, advanced metallurgy, and wheeled transport. Genetic and archaeological evidence suggests close ties with Indo-European steppe cultures such as the Yamnaya culture, especially through paternal haplogroups like R1b-Z2103, found in both ancient and modern Armenian DNA. Together, these findings situate the Hayk legend within a broader historical context of Bronze Age demographic patterns, cultural consolidation, and the emergence of early Armenian identity.
|
|
