Our last day in Armenia

Apr 302014

We begin our last day heading back to Yerevan. We are taking a slightly different route, but again, due to the state of the roads we are traveling a little over 20 MPH and the day is a very, very long one.

Our first stop is a Jewish cemetery in Yeghegis which was rediscovered in 1996 and has been excavated since 2000 by a team from the University of Jerusalem. As happens all over the world many of the stones are found in the foundations of other buildings, including some in the bridge we walked over to get to the cemetery. Some of the symbols on the gravestones like the spiral wheel, were also in use on Armenian Christian stone-crafts around that time. One of the stones dates from AD1266. It is thought that due to the style of carvings the same crafts person carved the tombstones for both the Christian and Jewish cemeteries. It is thought that the Jews settled in this area between the 14^th and 15^th centuries, possibly around the time of the Ottoman takeover.

Why the stones on the tombstones? No one really knows but here are few fun thoughts I found: 1) During times of the Temple in Jerusalem, Jewish priests became ritually impure if the came within four feet of a corpse so the rocks were a way of saying stay back. 2) Flowers, though beautiful, will eventually die. 3) The Hebrew word for pebble is tz’ror which also means bond, by placing the stone we show that we have been there and the individual’s memory continues to live on in and through us. 4) Putting stones on the grave keeps the soul down in this world or that the stones keep the demons and golems from getting into the graves.

Another stop was the Selim Caravansary, just before heading over the Selim pass (7900 ft). The Selim Caravansary, built in 1332 by Chesar Orbelain during the reign of Khan Abu Said II. is the best preserved caravansary in Armenia. Apparently its location at the pass prevented its stones from being carted off for other usages. The caravansary is made of basalt and is a long building with a single entrance, making it easily defensible against thieves.

At the entrance is a griffin. The caravansary was restored in 1956-1959, but the job was excellent and did nothing to mar the atmosphere., The caravansary is divided into a main hall with three naves. The two narrower side naves were used by the merchants and their wares and the animals were kept in the central one.

I mention the Griffin, as I have been spotting them around, and that surprised me somewhat, why I don’t know, but it did. The griffin was thought to be the king of all creatures, because he is made of up the eagle, which is the king of the birds and the lion, traditionally considered the king of the beasts. In researching the origin of the griffin, I came across the theory that the griffin possibly originated with ancient paleontological observations brought by long distance traders to Europe along the silk road, this might explain why we saw them here in Armenia.

I wanted to take a little time to discuss the architecture of Armenia. As we have been seeing, the greatest architectural achievements in Armenia are their churches, influencing certain aspects of western church architecture.

Features of this church architecture are:

· Pointed domes (possibly mimicking Mt. Ararat), mounted on vaulted ceilings on a cylindrical drum.

· The vertical emphasis, with the height often exceeding the length

· Reinforcement of that verticality with tall narrow windows

· Stone, vaulted ceilings

· Heavy use of tall structural arches, essentially needed for support of the cupola and vaulted ceilings.

What we have also witnessed is the prehistoric Armenian architecture distinctive in its circular shapes.

For my fellow travelers…We were given an interesting history of the word and origin of the basilica and I would like to set some things straight at this point.

The first basilicas had no religious function at all, they were a public area for transacting business and were a part of any developed city. The oldest known dates to 184 BC. The origin of the word basilica is from the Greek word basileus, meaning king.

This is it, our last day. I have such mixed emotions about this entire area, most of which is that it has a very, very long way to go before many people will come. The archaeology of this area is superior to anything I have ever witnessed due to the wide open, untouched areas, but neither Georgia nor Armenia are ready for tourism.

If you come, be prepared for national treasures and museums to be closed, hotels to be far less than you imagine, and food, while delicious, is repetitious and pretty carbohydrate centric. Also, shopping, there is none. I had hoped to see some local crafts in Armenia, sadly not even folk art, it is hard to believe that I could wander for 15 days and come home with absolutely nothing, a sure sign of how bad things are.

However, the countryside of Armenia is beautiful and I will leave you with photos to prove it.