The Sacred Highlands: Armenia in the Spiritual Geography of the Ancient Near East” – Yerevan
National Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Armenia Institute of Oriental Studies Artak Movsisyan THE SACRED HIGHLANDS Armenia in the Spiritual Geography of the Ancient Near East YEREVAN UNIVERSITY PUBLISHERS YEREVAN – 2004 This book is being published by order of the National Academy of Sciences RA, Institute of Oriental Studies This publication has been supported by a subvention from the “SPURK-DIASPORA” Organization (Los Angeles, USA) MOVSISYAN A., “The Sacred Highlands: Armenia in the Spiritual Geography of the Ancient Near East” – Yerevan. Yerevan University Publishers, 2004, 76 pages. Cover design – Sumerian seal impression (3rd mill. BC) and a Biblical Map published by Philip Buache in 1783, covering the first era of human history (Eden, the earthy Paradise is marked on the map in Armenia, to the southwest of Mount Ararat). 0503020913 M ------------------ - 2004 704(02)-2004 ISBN 5 - 8084 - 0586 - 6 © Movsisyan, A., 2004 INTRODUCTION The disciples asked Jesus: “Tell us, what will be our end”? Jesus said, “Have you discovered the beginning that you seek the end? For where the beginning is, there too will the end be”. Gospel of Thomas (apocryphal) Just as in the life of an individual, a nation, after overcoming crisis, pauses to take stock, to consolidate, to reconsider its past and to chart its future. The millennia-old questions become paramount: “who am I, where am I from, where am I going”? During the past century, the Armenian people have overcome the most long-lasting and gravest crisis of its history, the loss of its statehood. After centuries of continuous struggle and being subjected to genocide, the Armenian nation has regained its independence.
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