Full resolution (JPEG) - On this page / på denna sida - X. Chapters in the history of Armenia
<< prev. page << föreg. sida << >> nästa sida >> next page >>
Below is the raw OCR text
from the above scanned image.
Do you see an error? Proofread the page now!
Här nedan syns maskintolkade texten från faksimilbilden ovan.
Ser du något fel? Korrekturläs sidan nu!
This page has never been proofread. / Denna sida har aldrig korrekturlästs.
CHAPTERS IN THE HISTORY OF ARMENIA 235
by the attacks of the Indo-European tribes on the north and
east, the Armenians, possibly with remnants of related peoples,
the Treres (from Thrace), and the Cimmerians, migrated into
their country and partially displaced them—the Khaldians
retiring into the mountains—or intermarried with them, at
the same time introducing their own language. When
Xenophon crossed Armenia with the " ten thousand "
(401 8.c.) there were still warlike tribes of Khaldians, whom
he wrongly calls Chaldeans (xaÅScuoi), in the mountain tracts
on the frontier of Armenia.1 He describes them as being
independent and bellicose, evidently more warlike than the
Armenians. Probably remnants of them survived for a long
time in various border districts.2
When the Armenians came to Urartu they may have been
predominantly herdsmen (cf. p. 177), whereas the Khaldians
were farmers and gardeners with a highly developed technique
of irrigation. The subsequent civilization of the Armenians
would thus become a combination of the two modes of
livelihood. Wc may infer that they were farmers as well as
herdsmen in the time of Herodotus from the fact that he
states (1, 194) that round boats made of willow covered with
hides were used in the country. In these boats they trans
ported wine, sedge, and other produce down the river to
Babylon, where the cargo was sold. The largest of these
vessels could carry cargoes weighing up to 5,000 talents,
i.e. 130 tons. Strabo (XI, 14, 4) says that Armenia has fertile
valleys, such as the plain of the Araxes and others, where there
is a superabundance of corn and agricultural produce ;
moreover, horses are bred largely, there are gold and other
mines, and the people are wealthy (XI, 14, 9-10).
The Armenians called themselves Hai’ (plural Hatktf), and
their country Haiots Jerkir, afterwards Iranianized to Hai
astan (the place or country of the Ha/s). In the parts near
Lake Van the nåme was pronounced Khai. Its origin is
uncertain. Jensen would derive it from the nåme Hatly
applied to the Hittites, as "t " between two vowTels is dropped
1 Anabasis, iv, 3 ; Cyropædia, iii, 1, 34 ; iii, 2, 7-10 ; iii, 2, 17-26.
s Lehmann-Haupt, op. eit., vol. ii, pp. 710, 715 ff., 722. Lynch, Armenia,
vol. ii, p. 68 f., 1 9 01.
<< prev. page << föreg. sida << >> nästa sida >> next page >>
