ARMENIA (ar-me'ni-a ), (the Greek form of Ararat), a country of Western Asia ; is not men tioned in Scripture under that name, but is sup posed to be alluded to in the three following Hebrew designations, which seem to refer either to the country as a whole, or to particular districts.
1. Names. (1) Ararat, the land upon or over) the mountains of which the ark rested at the Deluge (Gen. viii :4) : whither the sons of Sen nacherib fled after murdering their father (2 Kings xix :37; Is. xxxvii :38), and one of the 'kingdoms' summoned, along with Minni and Ash kenaz, to arm against Babylon ( Jer. :27). That there was a province of Ararad in ancient Ar menia, we have the testimony of the native his torian, Moses of Chorene. It lay in the center of the kingdom, was divided into twenty circles, and, being the principal province, was commonly the residence of the kings or governors. For other particulars respecting it, and the celebrated moun tain which in modern times bears its name, see ARARAT.
(2) Minni is mentioned in Jer. ii :27, along with Ararat and Ashkenaz, as a kingdom called to arm . itself against Babylon. The name is by some taken for a contraction of 'Armenia,' and the Chald. in the text in Jeremiah has Hurmini. In Ps. xlv :8, where it is said 'out of the ivory palaces whereby they made thee glad,' the Hebrew word rendered 'whereby' is minni, and hence some take it for the proper name, and would translate 'pal aces of Armenia,' but the interpretation is forced and incongruous.
(3) Thogarmah, in some MSS. Thorgamah, and found with great variety of orthography in the Septuagint and Josephus. In the ethnographic table in the tenth chapter of Genesis (ver. 3; Comp. 1 Chron. i :6) Thogarmah is introduced as the youngest son of Gomer (son of Japheth), who is supposed to have given name to the Cimmerians on the north coast of the Euxine Sea, his other sons being Ashkenaz and Riphat. both progenitors of northern tribes, among whom also it is natural to seek for the posterity of Thogarmah. The pro phet Ezekiel (xxxviii :6) also classes along with Gomer 'the house of Thogarmah and the sides of the north' (in the Eng. Vers. 'of the north quarters'), where, as also at Ezek. xxvii :14, it is placed beside Meshech and Tubal, probably the tribes of the Moschi and Tibareni in the Caucasus. According to Moses of Chorene (Whiston's edi tion, H8, p. 24), and also King Wachtang's His tory of Georgia (in l'ilaproth's Travels in the Caucasus, vol. ii, p. 64), the Armenians, Georgians, Lesghians, Mingrelians, and Caucasians are all descended from one common progenitor, called Thargamos, a son of Awanan, son of Japheth, son of Noah (Comp. Eusebius, Chron. :12). After the dispersion at Babel he settled near Ararat, but his posterity spread abroad between the Caspian and Euxine seas. (Togarmah in A. V.) 2. Boundaries. The boundaries of Armenia may be described generally as the southern range of the Caucasus on the north, and a branch of the Taurus on the south ; but in all directions, and especially to the east and west, the limits have been very fluctuating. It forms an elevated table land, whence rise mountains which, with the ex ception of the gigantic Ararat, are of moderate height, the plateau gradualb sinking towards the plains of Iran on the east and those of Asia Minor on the west.
3. Climate. The climate is generally cold, but salubrious. The country abounds in roman tic forest and mountain scenery, and rich pasture land, especially in the districts which border upon Persia. Ancient writers notice the wealth of Ar menia in metals and precious stones. The great rivers Euphrates and Tigris both take their rise in this region, as also the Araxes and the Kur or Cyrus.
4. Greater and Lesser, Armenia is com monly divided into Greater and Lesser, the line of separation being the Euphrates ; but the former constitutes by far the larger portion, and indeed the other is often regarded as pertaining rather to Asia Minor. There was anciently a kingdom of Armenia, with its metropolis Artaxata ; it was sometimes an independent state, but most com monly tributary to some more powerful neighbor. Indeed, at no period was the whole of this region ever comprised under one government, but As syria, Media, Syria and Cappadocia shared the dominion or allegiance of some portion of it, just as it is now divided among the Persians, Russians, Turks and Kurds, for there is no doubt that the part of Kurdistan which includes the elevated basins of the lakes of Van and Oortniah anciently belonged to Armenia.
Schulz discovered in 1827, near the former lake, the ruins of a very ancient town, which he sup posed to be that which is called by Armenian historians Shantiranzakert (i. e., the town of Se miramis), because believed to have been built by the famous Assyrian queen, The ruins are cov ered with inscriptions in the arrow-headed char acter; in one of them Saint Martin thought he deciphered the words Klishearsha son of Dare ialtsh (Xerxes son of Darius).
5. Later Times. In later times Armenia was the border-country where the Romans and Par thians fruitlessly strove for the mastery, and since then it has been the frequent battle-field of the neighboring states. Toward the end of the last war between Russia and Turkey. large bodies of native Armenians emigrated into the Russian dominions, so that their number in what is termed Turkish Armenia is now considerably reduced. By the treaty of Turkomanshee (2tst Feb., t828) Persia ceded to Russia the Khanats of Erivan and Nakh shivan. The boundary line, drawn from the Turkish dominions passes over the Little Ararat ; the line of separation between Persian and Turk ish Armenia also begins at Ararat, so that this famous mountain is now the central stone of these three empires.
Christianity was first established in Armenia in the fourth century ; the Armenian church has a close affinity to the Greek church in its forms an° polity. N. M.
Religious persecution and war have driven great numbers of Armenians from their native land into Asia Minor and Europe. The present number of Armenians is estimated to be from 2,500,000 to 3,000,000, of whom about 1,000,000 live in Armenia. its chief modern towns are Erzeroum, Erivan and Van. 'See ASSYRIA.)