Grace (@WillowEve)

Originally posted on facebook by Art of Armenia on August 29, 2014 - Part 1 ARAMAZD - Արամազդ ARAMAZD (Արամազդ), was the principal deity in Armenia's pre-Christian pantheon. He displaced Amanor and Vanatur at the top of the pantheon. Called the father of all the gods and goddesses, Aramazd created the heavens and the earth. The first two letters in his name, "AR", are the Armenian root for sun, light, and life. Worshiped as a sun-god, Aramazd was considered to be the source of earth’s fertility, making it fruitful and bountiful. The feast in his honor was called Amanor (Am'nor), or New Year, which according to the ancient Armenian calendar was celebrated on March 21 (also the Spring equinox). Aramazd was a syncretic deity, a combination of the autochthonous (native) Armenian legendary figure Ara and the Iranian Ahura Mazda. In the Hellenistic period, Aramazd in Armenia was compared with the Greek Zeus. The principal temple of Aramazd was in Ani (Kamakh--today in modern Turkey), a cultural and administrative center of ancient Armenia. The temple had been ruined at the end of the 3rd century AD, after the adoption of Christianity in Armenia as the state religion. The treasures and tribal mausoleums of Armenia's kings of the Arshakuni dynasty (Armenian: Արշակունի Aršakuni) who ruled the Kingdom of Armenia from 54 to 428, were there as well. Nevertheless, the Armenian deity Aramazd is by no means an exact duplicate of his Persian namesake. He possesses attributes that remind us of an older sky-god. Unlike the Ahura-Mazda of Zoroaster, Aramazd was supreme, without being exclusive. There were other gods beside him, come from everywhere and anywhere, of whom he was the father. Anahit, Nane and Mihr were regarded as his children in a peculiar sense. Aramazd is represented as the creator of heaven and earth by Agathangelos in the same manner as by Xerxes who states in one of his inscriptions: "Auramazda is a great god, greater than all gods, who has created this heaven and this earth." The Armenian Aramazd was called "great" and he must have been supreme in wisdom ('իմաստուն' (imastun), a cognate of mazdao), but he was most often characterized as ari, "manly," "brave," which is a fine Armenian reminiscence of "Arya" (Sanskrit, also ārya, "noble", "pure", "precious"). Aramazd seems to have been of a benign and peace loving disposition, like his people, for whom wisdom usually conveys the idea of an inoffensive goodness. As far as is known he was never portrayed as a warlike god, nor was his antagonism against the principle of evil as marked as that of the Avestic Ahura Mazda. Nonetheless, Aramazd no doubt stood and fought for righteousness (Armenian: արդար (ardar),"righteous" - (righteousness - արդարութիւն). Aramazd was above all the giver of prosperity and more notably of "abundance and fatness" in the land. Herein his ancient character of a sky-god comes into prominence. Ամենաբեր (Amenaber) "bringer of all (good) things", was a beloved title of Aramazd. He made the fields fertile and the gardens and the vineyards fruitful, through rain. Aramazd personified a "generous" spirit. Aramazd presided at the Navasard (New Year's ) festivities, in virtue of his being the source of all abundance. These festivities, according to the later (eleventh century) calendar, came towards the end of the summer, and beginning with the eleventh of August (Julian calendar) lasted six days; but originally the Armenian Navasard was, as its Persian prototype, celebrated in early spring. On these joyful days, Aramazd, the supremely generous and hospitable lord of Armenia, became more generous and hospitable. The meat of sacrifices offered to him were freely distributed among the poor, and the way worn traveler always found a ready welcome at the table of the rejoicing pilgrims. The temples themselves were amply provided with rooms for the entertainment of strangers. Ref: http://rbedrosian.com/ananik2b.htm https://www.facebook.com/ArtofArmenia/posts/aramazd-%D5%A1%D6%80%D5%A1%D5%B4%D5%A1%D5%A6%D5%A4-aramazd-%D5%A1%D6%80%D5%A1%D5%B4%D5%A1%D5%A6%D5%A4-was-the-principal-deity-in-armenias-pre-christia/703830836377178/ @JakeEli357