What kind of travelogue is this? Talking about a place, the authors haven't seen?!
Let me first say a few words about this monstrous statement, because when I write after my travels, I hardly finish what I want to report about my travels before the next one starts. And I just realized by chance that I hadn't seen a place in Armenia that would have been important to me. I was traveling with a group at the time, and I had no idea that the Yazidis were represented in Armenia with such a large number and a large temple. I've always placed the Yazidis in Kurdistan. But this shows once again what it's like with places you haven't managed to see. This is at least an indication that one should visit a place again. But let's get to why I had and still have a special interest in this specific temple in Armenia.
Armenia was the first kingdom to adopt Christianity as its state religion, in 301 AD. Interestingly, it had its own scripture, and the Gospel was translated into Armenian very early on. This was unusual, as it took quite a long time for this to happen in the rest of the Christian world. And the translation was very important for Germany, for example. The Latin Bible (Vulgate) was translated into German by Martin Luther (and later Huldrych Zwingli into Swiss German), which thereby standardized high German. But let's stay with Armenia. Armenia experienced a conflict between Christianity and with influences from the Greek and Syrian cultures. There was the temple in Garni, which I haven't written about yet, but of which I have already posted a photograph; the picture here is from this blog post [1]. This temple was dedicated to Mithras. It is believed that Nero founded the temple; more concerning Mithras below. Today a reasonable number of Yazidis are found in Armenia, and this faith traces its roots back to Zoroastrianism, but also has elements from Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Perhaps this is why the Yazidis are so persecuted in Iraq, where most Yazidis live. They live in parts of Iraq, Syria, Turkey, and Iran, with small numbers living in Armenia and Georgia. In the town of Aknalich (west of Yerevan) there is the Ziarat or Ziyarat temple ("Pilgrimage Temple"), which is the first Yazidi temple in Armenia. It literally means "Pilgrimage Temple." And then there is the world's largest Yazidi temple dedicated to the angel Melek Taus and the Seven Angels of Yazidi theology (Quba Mêrê Dîwanê temple) [2].
Let me first say a few words about this monstrous statement, because when I write after my travels, I hardly finish what I want to report about my travels before the next one starts. And I just realized by chance that I hadn't seen a place in Armenia that would have been important to me. I was traveling with a group at the time, and I had no idea that the Yazidis were represented in Armenia with such a large number and a large temple. I've always placed the Yazidis in Kurdistan. But this shows once again what it's like with places you haven't managed to see. This is at least an indication that one should visit a place again. But let's get to why I had and still have a special interest in this specific temple in Armenia.
Armenia was the first kingdom to adopt Christianity as its state religion, in 301 AD. Interestingly, it had its own scripture, and the Gospel was translated into Armenian very early on. This was unusual, as it took quite a long time for this to happen in the rest of the Christian world. And the translation was very important for Germany, for example. The Latin Bible (Vulgate) was translated into German by Martin Luther (and later Huldrych Zwingli into Swiss German), which thereby standardized high German. But let's stay with Armenia. Armenia experienced a conflict between Christianity and with influences from the Greek and Syrian cultures. There was the temple in Garni, which I haven't written about yet, but of which I have already posted a photograph; the picture here is from this blog post [1]. This temple was dedicated to Mithras. It is believed that Nero founded the temple; more concerning Mithras below. Today a reasonable number of Yazidis are found in Armenia, and this faith traces its roots back to Zoroastrianism, but also has elements from Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Perhaps this is why the Yazidis are so persecuted in Iraq, where most Yazidis live. They live in parts of Iraq, Syria, Turkey, and Iran, with small numbers living in Armenia and Georgia. In the town of Aknalich (west of Yerevan) there is the Ziarat or Ziyarat temple ("Pilgrimage Temple"), which is the first Yazidi temple in Armenia. It literally means "Pilgrimage Temple." And then there is the world's largest Yazidi temple dedicated to the angel Melek Taus and the Seven Angels of Yazidi theology (Quba Mêrê Dîwanê temple) [2].
It's a shame, because from Yerevan to Aknalich it's only about 30 km, as far as from Cologne to Brühl, where my parents liked to take the tram when they were older, or from Boston to Salem, the distance is similarly far or close.
Most translations of the Bible tell of Mount Ararat, where Noah's Ark landed after the Flood [3]. One translation has "mountains of Armenia," but that is the exception. However, the translation from Aramaic (Peshitta Holy Bible Translated) states: "And the ark came to rest in the seventh month, in the seventeenth of the month, on the mountains of Qardu—Kurdish." This, however, refers to Mount Judi, and that is in Turkey [4]. "The identification of biblical Ararat with Mount Judi as the landing site of the ark persisted in Syriac and Armenian tradition throughout Late Antiquity." The mountain lies approximately halfway between Van and Mosul in the middle of Kurdistan. The Yazidis, however, are a religious group who speak Kurdish. [5]
Let's return to Mithraism, also known as the Mithraic Mysteries or the Cult of Mithras, which has its roots in Zoroastrianism but was a new religion centered around the god Mithras. This religion was popular in the Roman Empire from the 1st to 4th centuries, especially in the imperial army. [6]
The Yazidis also have elements of Zoroastrianism, but just as Zoroastrians are not fire worshippers, Yazidis are not sun worshippers. They worship God (monotheism!) facing the sun. Further elements of Judaism, the Church of the East, and Islam can be found. [7] The mythology is non-Islamic, but the religious terminology shows an influence from Sufism. [8] And before I go further into Sufism, there is a Sufi center here in the Eifel region two villages away [9], we should take a break here.
It's a shame that my trip through Armenia didn't even briefly touch on Aknalich, but I hope I'll have another chance to visit this place. There's a saying in German: "Knapp daneben ist auch vorbei!" [A miss is as good as a mile!]
Most translations of the Bible tell of Mount Ararat, where Noah's Ark landed after the Flood [3]. One translation has "mountains of Armenia," but that is the exception. However, the translation from Aramaic (Peshitta Holy Bible Translated) states: "And the ark came to rest in the seventh month, in the seventeenth of the month, on the mountains of Qardu—Kurdish." This, however, refers to Mount Judi, and that is in Turkey [4]. "The identification of biblical Ararat with Mount Judi as the landing site of the ark persisted in Syriac and Armenian tradition throughout Late Antiquity." The mountain lies approximately halfway between Van and Mosul in the middle of Kurdistan. The Yazidis, however, are a religious group who speak Kurdish. [5]
Let's return to Mithraism, also known as the Mithraic Mysteries or the Cult of Mithras, which has its roots in Zoroastrianism but was a new religion centered around the god Mithras. This religion was popular in the Roman Empire from the 1st to 4th centuries, especially in the imperial army. [6]
The Yazidis also have elements of Zoroastrianism, but just as Zoroastrians are not fire worshippers, Yazidis are not sun worshippers. They worship God (monotheism!) facing the sun. Further elements of Judaism, the Church of the East, and Islam can be found. [7] The mythology is non-Islamic, but the religious terminology shows an influence from Sufism. [8] And before I go further into Sufism, there is a Sufi center here in the Eifel region two villages away [9], we should take a break here.
It's a shame that my trip through Armenia didn't even briefly touch on Aknalich, but I hope I'll have another chance to visit this place. There's a saying in German: "Knapp daneben ist auch vorbei!" [A miss is as good as a mile!]
Links and Annotations:
[1] Medea, Jason and the Argonauts in Georgia
https://rheumatologe.blogspot.com/2024/12/medea-jason-and-argonauts-in-georgia.html
[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Yazidi_holy_places
[3] https://biblehub.com/genesis/8-4.htm
[4] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Judi
[5] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yazidis
[6] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mithraism
[7] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yazidism
[8] https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sufismus / https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sufismus
[9] What's going on with the Ottoman hostel in Sötenich (Eifel)?
https://rheumatologe.blogspot.com/2025/07/was-ist-los-mit-der-osmanischen.html
.
[1] Medea, Jason and the Argonauts in Georgia
https://rheumatologe.blogspot.com/2024/12/medea-jason-and-argonauts-in-georgia.html
[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Yazidi_holy_places
[3] https://biblehub.com/genesis/8-4.htm
[4] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Judi
[5] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yazidis
[6] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mithraism
[7] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yazidism
[8] https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sufismus / https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sufismus
[9] What's going on with the Ottoman hostel in Sötenich (Eifel)?
https://rheumatologe.blogspot.com/2025/07/was-ist-los-mit-der-osmanischen.html
.
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