Armenian is an Indo-European language, meaning it is genetically related to languages such as Hittite, Sanskrit, Avestan, Greek, Latin, Gothic, English, and Slavic.

Armenian language

Armenia is an ethnically homogeneous country, in which Armenian is the official language and is spoken as a first language by the majority of its population. As of today, Russian is still, by far, the best known foreign language among the Armenian population….

The largest Armenian populations today exist in Russia, the United States, France, Georgia, Iran, Germany, Ukraine, Lebanon, Brazil, and Syria. With the exceptions of Iran and the former Soviet states, the present-day Armenian diaspora was formed mainly as a result of the Armenian genocide.

Although some remain in Turkey, more than three million Armenians live in the republic; large numbers also live in Georgia as well as other areas of the Caucasus and the Middle East.

Hayk is also the name of the Orion constellation in the Armenian translation of the Bible.

Armenia

Armenians in the Middle East are mostly concentrated in Iran, Lebanon, Cyprus, Syria, Jordan and Jerusalem, although well-established communities exist in Iraq, Egypt, Turkey and other countries of the area including, of course, Armenia itself.

Armenians’ relationship to world populations More specifically, Armenians are close to (1) Spaniards, Italians, and Romanians from Europe; (2) Lebanese, Jews, Druze, and Cypriots from the Near East; and (3) Georgians and Abkhazians from the Caucasus (Figure 2b).

Armenian Catholic Church, an Eastern-rite member of the Roman Catholic church. The Armenians embraced Christianity about ad 300 and were the first people to do so as a nation.

Lamb, eggplant, and bread (lavash) are basic features of Armenian cuisine. Armenians traditionally prefer cracked wheat (bulgur) to maize and rice. The flavor of the food often relies on the quality and freshness of the ingredients rather than on excessive use of spices.

7 Armenian traditions and customs you have to experience

• Burn Baby, burn…
• Salty biscuits.
• Palm Sunday Tsaghkazard.
• Getting drenched at Vardavar.
• The Blessing of the Grapes.
• Family is important to the Armenians.
• Any excuse for a dance.

Armenian cuisine is as ancient as the history of Armenia, and a combination of different tastes and aromas. Closely related to Eastern Mediterranean cuisine, various spices, vegetables, fish, and fruits combine to present unique dishes. Armenia is also famous for its wine, brandy and vodka.

There, first comes the New Year, then comes Christmas. New Year’s Eve kicks off two weeks of holidays during which Armenians celebrate Christ’s Nativity, his Baptism and the Epiphany. From December 31 to January 13, Armenian families visit family and friends, exchange gifts, and come together to drink and feast.

In Armenian Happy/Merry Christmas is Shnorhavor Amanor yev Surb Tznund (Շնորհավոր Ամանոր և Սուրբ Ծնունդ) (which means ‘Congratulations for the Holy Birth’).

People bring Christmas fire from churches to their homes, believing it will bless their families and bring success. To celebrate Christmas woman usually cook rice with raisins, fish, ghapama (traditional Armenian dish made of pumpkin) and gata with a coin in it.

In parts of the Eastern Church, January 6 continued for some time as a composite feast that included the Nativity of Jesus: though Constantinople adopted December 25 to commemorate Jesus’ birth in the fourth century, in other parts the Nativity of Jesus continued to be celebrated on January 6, a date later devoted …

Building a backstory. Later tellings of the story identified the magi by name and identified their lands of origin: Melchior hailed from Persia, Gaspar (also called “Caspar” or “Jaspar”) from India, and Balthazar from Arabia.

Herod

Herod had planned to make the Magi tell him of the whereabouts of the Christ child. When he heard of the Magi’s change in course, he grew angry and tried to kill the infant messiah by killing all the young children in the area, an event known as the Massacre of the Innocents.

The Gospel of Mark (6:3) and the Gospel of Matthew (13:55–56) mention James, Joseph/Joses, Judas/Jude and Simon as brothers of Jesus, the son of Mary. That the brothers were children of both Mary and Joseph was held by some in the early centuries.

As an Edomite Herod was open to challenge from someone claiming to be the heir of King David, and the central theme of Matthew 1 is Jesus’ Davidic status. Moreover, Herod was renowned for his paranoia, killing several of his own sons who threatened him.