ARMENIA: PRE-MONOTHEISTIC MYTHOLOGIES OF A SACRED LAND AND THEIR CURRENT SHAPES
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.46991/AFA/2026.22.1.139Keywords:
pantheism, monotheism, Mazdaizm, Alevizm, Armenia, Dersim, transcultural beliefsAbstract
In this historical study, with a particular focus on religious history, I compare the lasting effects of original, pre-monotheistic elements of belief in the Armenian Highlands, especially among the Indo-European peoples of the Armenians and Kurds. Little is known about pre-Christian Armenian mythology and religious beliefs, which were apparently highly syncretistic and shaped by the veneration of nature and its elements. Being of Indo-European origin, they were later strongly influenced by Mazdaism (e.g., the deities’ beliefs of Aramazd, Mit(h)ra/Mihr, and Anahit) and Assyrian traditions. Urartian, Mesopotamian, and Greek deities were also adopted. Monotheism first reached the Armenian settlement area from Iran in the form of Zoroastrianism (Zarathustrianism), or Mazdaism (also Parsism). This religion, which is named after its founder Zarathustra is based on very ancient Indo-Iranian traditions and lore, originating between 1800 and 600 BCE. Its origins are disputed. It spread from around the 7th to the 4th century BCE in the Iranian cultural area (from eastern Asia Minor and Mesopotamia to Persia and Central Asia).
Downloads
References
Açıkyıldız, B. (2009). The sanctuary of Shaykh Adī at Lalish: Centre of pilgrimage of the Yezidis. Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, 72, 301–333. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0041977X09000536
Aksoy, G. (2006). Dersim Alevi Kürt mitolojisi: Raa Haq’da dinsel figürler [Dersim Alevi Kurdish mythology: Religious figures in Raa Haq]. Komal Yayınları.
Aksoy, G. (2012). Dersim: Alevilik, Ermenilik, Kürtlük [Dersim: Alevism, Armenianness, Kurdishness]. Dipnot Yayınları.
Arakelova, V. (2020). A note on tree worship in the Zaza folk beliefs. Iran and the Caucasus, 24(4), 404–407. https://doi.org/10.1163/1573384X-20200406
Baran, S. (2020). From fairytale character to lost goddess: The archetypal representation of stepmother within Kurdish folklore. In A. Korangy (Ed.), Kurdish art and identity: Verbal art, self-definition and recent history (pp. 82–93). De Gruyter. https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110599626-004
Bauer, W. (1988). Griechisch-deutsches Wörterbuch zu den Schriften des Neuen Testaments und der frühchristlichen Literatur [Greek-German dictionary of the writings of the New Testament and early Christian literature]. Walter de Gruyter.
Bozyel, S. (2023, July 8). The serpent symbolism in the Yazidi religion and traditions and the snake in Yerevan. Hevsel Times.
Conybeare, F. C. (1901). Review of Ararat und Masis: Studien zur armenischen Altertumskunde und Litteratur, by F. Murad. The Academy and Literature, 59(1502), 335–337.
Deniz, D. (2023). Shamaran (Shahmaran): The lost goddess of Kurdistan. In S. Reger, M. J. Neitz, D. Mitten, & D. Clunie (Eds.), Maternal thinking: Gifts, mothers’ bodies, and earth (pp. 103–119). Women and Myth Press.
Dinç, P. (2025). Dersim: A century of state-led destruction and resistance. In P. Dinç & O. S. Hüler (Eds.), The Republic of Turkey and its unresolved issues: 100 years and beyond (pp. 53–68). Springer Nature. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-96-1583-4_4
Evangelische Kirche in Deutschland. (n.d.). Paradies – Basiswissen Glauben.
Gesenius, W. (2013). Hebräisches und aramäisches Handwörterbuch über das Alte Testament [Hebrew and Aramaic lexicon of the Old Testament]. Springer-Verlag. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-25680-6
Gündoğan, K. (2023). Alevileş(tiril)miş Ermeniler; Dersimli Ermeniler-2: “Biz İsa’ya tabiyiz, Ali’ye mecburuz” [Alevized Armenians; Armenians of Dersim-2: “We follow Jesus, we are obliged to Ali”]. Ayrıntı Yayınları.
Halajian, G. (1960). Dersimi azgagrakan nyutʿer [Ethnographic materials of Dersim] (Part V, fols. 596ff.) [Typescript]. Gevorg Halaǰyan Archives, Armenian Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography.
Halajian, G. (1973). Dersimi hayerě [The Armenians of Dersim]. In Hay azgagrut’yun ev banahyusut’yun [Armenian ethnography and folklore] (Vol. 5). Armenian SSR Academy of Sciences.
Halsberghe, G. H. (1972). The cult of Sol Invictus. Brill.
Hansen, H. H. (1961). The Kurdish woman’s life: Field research in a Muslim society. Nationalmuseet.
Hofmann, T. (1997) Annäherung an Armenien: Geschichte und Gegenwart. München: C.H. Beck.
Hofmann, T.; Koutcharian, G. (1983) Die Nachtigall Tausendtriller: Armenische Volksmärchen. Berlin: Edition Orient.
Hübschmann, H. (1969) Die altarmenischen Ortsnamen. Amsterdam: Oriental Press.
Hübschmann, H. (1897) Armenische Grammatik. Leipzig: Breitkopf & Härtel.
Ishkol-Kerovpian, K. (1986) Mythologie der vorchristlichen Armenier. In H. W. Haussig (Ed.), Wörterbuch der Mythologie (I. Abteilung: Die alten Kulturvölker, Bd. IV: Kaukasische Völker). Stuttgart: Klett-Verlag.
Keetman, J. (2016) Zur Schreibung des Wortes idigna. “Tigris” und der möglichen Bedeutung “Reiherfluss”. Bibliotheca Orientalis, Band 73, pp. 7–11.
Logan, P. (1980) The Holy Wells of Ireland. Dufour: Gerrards, Cross.
Martirosyan, H. (2009) Armenian mawr ‘mud, marsh’ and its hydronymical value. Aramazd: Armenian Journal of Near Eastern Studies, 4 (1), pp. 73–85.
Martirosyan, H. (2014) Origins and historical development of the Armenian language. Leiden: Brill.
Mustafa, H. (2023, June 26) Sacred Trees in Kurdish Culture & Mythology. The Kurdish Center for Studies.
Nicolaus, P. (2011) The serpent symbolism in the Yezidi religious tradition and the snake in Yerevan. Iran and the Caucasus, 15(1-2), pp. 49-72. https://doi.org/10.1163/157338411x12870596615359
Omer, H. (2022, March 24) Çekdaran ‘Dara Mirazan’ li Mabata ya Efrînê birîn [Gunmen cut down the ‘Dara Mirazan’ in Mabata of Afrin].
Öztürk, Ö. (2005) Karadeniz ansiklopedik sözlük (Vol. 1). İstanbul: Heyamola Yayıncılık.
Petrosyan, A. (2002) The Indo-European and ancient Near Eastern sources of the Armenian epic. Washington, D.C.: Institute for the Study of Man.
Pfeiffer, H. (2006) Eden. In M. Bauks, K. Koenen, & S. Alkier (Eds.), Das wissenschaftliche Bibellexikon im Internet (WiBiLex). Stuttgart Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft.
Richter, S. G. (1997) The ascension psalms of Heraclides: Studies on the ascension of the soul and the mass for the souls of the Manichaeans (Languages and Cultures of the Christian Orient, Vol. 1). Wiesbaden: Reichert Verlag.
Russell, J. R. (1987) Zoroastrianism in Armenia. Harvard University Press.
Russell, J. R. (1986) Armenia and Iran III; Armenian religion. In E. Yarshater (Ed.), Encyclopædia Iranica (Vol. II, Fasc. 4, pp. 438–444). London and New York: Routledge & Kegan Paul.
Schmitt, R. (2014) Wörterbuch der altpersischen Königsinschriften. Wiesbaden: Reichert.
Stockholm Center for Freedom. (2021, August 26). Turkish-backed militias cut down nearly 1.5 mln trees in Afrin: Report.
Sources of Data
Visit to Lalesh, holy site of the Yazidis in Iraq. Photo report
“The Birth of Munzur – Sacred River, Contested Landscape,” Rocks, Water, and Fire: Sacred Landscapes of the Alevis of Dersim (Accessed June 26, 2025).
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2026 Tessa Hofmann
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
