Armenian History Unified Exam cheat sheet

Neolithic and Chalcolithic settlements in the Armenian Highland include Shengavit and the Areni-1 cave, where the world's oldest known leather shoe (c. 3500 BCE) and a winery were found.

The Kura-Araxes (Early Transcaucasian) culture, c. 3400–2000 BCE, spread pottery and metalworking across the Armenian Highland and eastern Anatolia.

The Hayasa-Azzi confederation appears in Hittite records (14th–13th centuries BCE) in the upper Euphrates region.

Urartu (Biainili to its own speakers, Ararat/Urartu to Assyrians) flourished c. 860–590 BCE, centered on Lake Van; its kings included Sarduri I, Menua, Argishti I, and Rusa II.

Urartian statecraft is documented by rock inscriptions in cuneiform, notably the Erebuni foundation inscription of Argishti I (782 BCE), which names the site of modern Yerevan.

Urartu fell around 590 BCE, likely through Median and Scythian pressure; the later Orontid (Yervanduni) dynasty claimed continuity in the region.

The ethnogenesis of Armenians is explained by the Armeno-Phrygian hypothesis (arrival from the Balkans via Phrygia) and by continuity/indigenous models; most scholars accept a layered, multi-component process.

The name 'Armenia' first appears in the Behistun inscription of Darius I (c. 521 BCE) as Armina, and 'Hay' (the endonym) is linked to the Hayasa-Azzi tradition.

Armenia was a satrapy of the Achaemenid Empire; the Behistun inscription lists Armina among Darius I's subject lands, and Armenian contingents fought at Thermopylae and Gaugamela.

After Alexander the Great, the Orontid (Yervanduni) rulers governed Sophene and Greater Armenia as a buffer between the Seleucids and later powers.

Artaxias I (Artashes I, r. c. 189–160 BCE) founded the Artaxiad dynasty after the Seleucid defeat at Magnesia and expanded Greater Armenia.

Tigranes II 'the Great' (r. c. 95–55 BCE) built an empire from the Caspian to the Mediterranean and founded Tigranocerta as a new capital.

Tigranes was defeated by Lucullus at Tigranocerta (69 BCE) and submitted to Pompey (66 BCE), becoming a Roman ally; this marks the start of Rome's long role in Armenian politics.

The Battle of Rhandeia (62 CE) and the Treaty of Rhandeia (63 CE) established the Arsacid (Parthian) dynasty on the Armenian throne with Roman consent, formalized under Tiridates I.

Armenia's position between Rome and Parthia (later Sasanian Persia) produced recurring warfare, including Trajan's annexation (114 CE) and Hadrian's withdrawal.

Hellenistic cultural influence is visible in the temple of Garni (1st century CE) and in coinage and city foundations of the Artaxiad era.

The Arsacid (Arshakuni) dynasty ruled Armenia from 52/66 CE until 428 CE, when the last king was deposed and the country partitioned.

Tiridates III (Trdat) adopted Christianity around 301 CE, traditionally through the preaching of Gregory the Illuminator; Armenia is often called the first state to adopt Christianity officially.

The Council of Etchmiadzin (491) and later the Council of Dvin (506) affirmed Armenian rejection of the Christology of the Council of Chalcedon (451), shaping the Armenian Apostolic Church's miaphysite position.

Mesrop Mashtots created the Armenian alphabet in 405 CE, enabling translation of the Bible and a golden age of literature; the first sentence written is traditionally attributed to the Book of Proverbs.

The Battle of Avarayr (451) saw Vardan Mamikonian lead an Armenian uprising against Sasanian forced conversion to Zoroastrianism; the Armenian Church commemorates it as Vardanants.

The Treaty of Nvarsak (484) restored Armenian religious autonomy and noble privileges under Sasanian rule.

The 5th-century historian Movses Khorenatsi and the 'Golden Age' writers (Koryun, Yeghishe, Ghazar Parpetsi) shaped Armenian historiography and national memory.

The Arab conquest in the 7th century made Armenia a province of the caliphate; the Bagratid and Mamikonian houses led resistance and eventually regained autonomy.

Ashot I 'the Great' (r. 885–890) was crowned 'King of the Armenians' with Abbasid and Byzantine recognition, founding the Bagratid kingdom centered on Ani.

Ani became the capital in 961 under Ashot III; its cathedral (built 989–1001 by architect Trdat) was among the largest churches of its era.

The Bagratid kingdom fragmented into several kingdoms, including Vaspurakan (Artsruni), Syunik, and Kars (Vanand), weakening resistance to Byzantium.

Byzantine annexation of Ani in 1045 and the Battle of Manzikert (1071) opened Anatolia to Seljuk Turkic settlement.

Ruben I founded the Rubenid principality in Cilicia around 1080; Leo II was crowned king in 1198/1199 under the aegis of the Holy Roman Empire and the papacy.

The Cilician Armenian Kingdom prospered as a trading crossroads, with the port of Ayas (Lajazzo) linking East–West commerce; it fell to the Mamluks in 1375.

The Armenian Church and nobility in Cilicia engaged in prolonged negotiations over union with the Roman Church (e.g., the Councils of Sis), which largely failed.

The Kingdom of Cilician Armenia produced the chronicles of Smbat Sparapet and the legal code of Mkhitar Gosh, which influenced later Armenian law.

The Peace of Amasya (1555) and the Treaty of Zuhab (1639) divided Armenia between the Ottoman and Safavid (later Persian) empires.

The 'millet' system granted the Armenian Patriarchate of Constantinople religious authority over Ottoman Armenians from the 15th century onward.

The Treaty of Berlin (1878), Article 61, obligated the Ottoman state to carry out reforms in the Armenian provinces, internationalizing the 'Armenian Question'.

Massacres of Armenians occurred under Sultan Abdul Hamid II in 1894–1896, killing an estimated 100,000–300,000 people.

The Adana massacres of 1909 killed tens of thousands of Armenians in Cilicia.

The Armenian Genocide (1915–1917) was carried out by the Committee of Union and Progress government; the night of 24 April 1915, when Armenian intellectuals were arrested in Constantinople, is commemorated as Genocide Remembrance Day.

Deportation convoys to the Syrian desert (Deir ez-Zor) and mass killings destroyed much of the Ottoman Armenian population; many survivors fled to Russian Armenia, the Middle East, Europe, and the Americas.

The term 'genocide' was coined by Raphael Lemkin with reference to the Armenian case, and the Armenian Genocide is recognized as such by many states and the UN Sub-Commission (1985).

The First Republic of Armenia was declared on 28 May 1918, following the Battle of Sardarabad (May 1918) that halted the Ottoman advance.

Its capital was Yerevan; the republic's leadership included Hovhannes Kajaznuni as first prime minister and Alexander Khatisian.

The Treaty of Batum (June 1918) imposed severe territorial losses on the First Republic; later the Treaty of Sèvres (1920) recognized a large Armenian state, but it was never implemented.

In late 1920 the Red Army entered Armenia; the First Republic fell and the Armenian SSR was proclaimed (2 December 1920).

The Treaty of Kars (1921) between Turkey and Soviet Russia fixed the current Turkey–Armenia border, ceding Kars and Ardahan to Turkey.

Under Soviet rule Armenia became a Soviet Socialist Republic (part of the Transcaucasian SFSR until 1936, then a union republic); it industrialized but suffered purges and religious repression.

The Armenian diaspora grew through genocide survivors and later emigration, forming communities in France, the United States, Lebanon, and elsewhere, organized around churches, parties, and benevolent associations.

The 1988 Spitak earthquake and the Nagorno-Karabakh movement marked the late Soviet period; the 1988 'Miatsum' demonstrations demanded unification with Karabakh.

Armenia declared independence from the USSR on 23 September 1991, following a referendum; Levon Ter-Petrosyan became the first president.

The 1991 Alma-Ata Protocol and Armenia's admission to the UN (1992) and the CIS shaped its early foreign policy.

The First Nagorno-Karabakh War (1991–1994) ended with a ceasefire (Bishkek Protocol, 1994) that left Armenian forces in control of Karabakh and surrounding districts.

The 1995 constitution established a strong presidential system; a 2015 referendum shifted Armenia toward a parliamentary system, effective 2018.

The 2018 'Velvet Revolution' brought Nikol Pashinyan to power; he became prime minister after parliamentary elections.

The 2020 Second Nagorno-Karabakh War ended with a Russian-brokered ceasefire (9 November 2020); Armenia ceded control of several districts around Karabakh.

In 2023 Azerbaijan took control of Nagorno-Karabakh, prompting the exodus of nearly the entire Armenian population of the region to Armenia.

Armenia is a member of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) and the Eurasian Economic Union, while also pursuing ties with the EU and the United States.

Armenian is an independent branch of the Indo-European language family; its alphabet of 36 (later 38/39) letters was created by Mesrop Mashtots in 405 CE.

Classical Armenian (Grabar) is the liturgical and literary language; Modern Armenian has Eastern (Armenia, Iran) and Western (diaspora) standard forms.

The Armenian Apostolic Church is an Oriental Orthodox (miaphysite) church headed by the Catholicos of All Armenians, based at Etchmiadzin.

The Armenian liturgy is attributed to St. Gregory the Illuminator and the Divine Liturgy of St. Basil; the Badarak is the central Eucharistic service.

Armenian architecture is characterized by tuff stone construction, conical domes, and khachkars (cross-stones), with masterpieces at Haghpat, Sanahin, and Geghard (UNESCO-listed).

The Armenian epic 'Sasna Tsrer' (David of Sassoun) and the medieval poetry of Sayat-Nova and Narekatsi are central to the literary canon.

Armenian historiography begins with Movses Khorenatsi's 'History of Armenia' and includes Agathangelos, Faustus of Byzantium, and Sebeos.

The Armenian Genocide memorial at Tsitsernakaberd (Yerevan, 1967) and the Armenian Genocide Museum-Institute anchor commemorative culture.

Armenian music includes the sharakan (hymns) of the church and the ashugh tradition of troubadours; the duduk is a UNESCO-recognized instrument.

Armenian cuisine features lavash (UNESCO-listed), dolma, and harissa, with regional variation between Eastern and Western traditions.

Armenian manuscript illumination flourished in scriptoria such as Gladzor and Tatev, with the Matenadaran in Yerevan holding a major collection.

The Armenian diaspora maintains cultural institutions such as the Armenian General Benevolent Union (AGBU) and the Armenian Relief Society.

Urartian religion centered on the god Haldi, with major temples and inscriptions at Musasir and Van; Urartian metalwork and hydraulic engineering (canals) were advanced.

The Orontid dynasty's origins are debated, with some scholars linking it to the Achaemenid satrapal system and others to local Armenian nobility.

The Armenian Highland was a metallurgical center in the Bronze Age, exporting metals and obsidian across the Near East.

The name 'Hay' is traditionally derived from Hayk, the legendary patriarch, while 'Armenia' derives from the Armen tribe or the region's name in Persian and Greek sources.

The Urartian language was neither Indo-European nor Semitic; it is related to Hurrian, and its decipherment relied on bilingual and Assyrian parallels.

The Armenian ethnogenesis model most widely accepted combines indigenous Highland populations with incoming Indo-European speakers, producing the Armenian language by the early 1st millennium BCE.

The Achaemenid satrapy of Armenia paid tribute and supplied troops; Aramaic served as the administrative language, influencing Armenian script and vocabulary.

The Artaxiad capital Artaxata (Artashat) was founded c. 176 BCE on the Araks River and later became a major Roman–Parthian diplomatic site.

Tigranes II's alliance with Mithridates VI of Pontus drew Rome into the Mithridatic Wars and led to Armenia's defeat and client status.

The Roman emperor Nero crowned Tiridates I in Rome (66 CE), a symbolic settlement that recognized Arsacid rule in Armenia.

The Arsacid dynasty's Armenian branch maintained Iranian cultural and noble ties while balancing Roman influence.

Roman–Sasanian rivalry over Armenia continued into the 4th century, with the Peace of Nisibis (298) and later treaties shaping the frontier.

The Armenian Church's autocephaly developed through its own catholicosate, with the see eventually moving to Etchmiadzin (from Dvin) in the 15th century.

The 5th-century 'History of Vardan and the Armenian War' by Yeghishe narrates the Avarayr uprising and its aftermath.

The Armenian calendar begins in 552 CE, tied to the fixed date of the Nativity and the ecclesiastical reforms of the period.

The Arab period saw the office of the ostikan (governor) in Armenia and periodic Armenian revolts, including the 703 and 850s uprisings.

The Battle of Bagrevand (775) weakened the Mamikonian house and reshaped noble politics, paving the way for Bagratid ascendancy.

The Council of Shahapivan (444) and other early councils regulated church discipline and canon law in Arsacid Armenia.

The Bagratid capital moved from Kars to Ani in 961; Ani's 'city of 1001 churches' reputation reflects its dense religious architecture.

The Seljuk victory at Manzikert (1071) and subsequent raids shattered Bagratid and other Armenian kingdoms, prompting migrations toward Cilicia and the Caucasus.

The Rubenid and Hethumid houses ruled Cilician Armenia; the Hethumids pursued a pro-Mongol and pro-Frankish policy.

The Cilician kingdom's army and nobility adopted Frankish titles and customs, and intermarriage with Crusader families was common.

The Mamluks under the Burji dynasty captured Sis in 1375, ending the Cilician kingdom; the last king, Leo V, died in exile in Paris.

The Armenian Church in Cilicia engaged in union councils (1270s–1340s) that produced internal schisms and the rise of the 'Grigor of Tathev' reform movement.

Safavid and later Qajar rule over eastern Armenia centered on the khanate of Erivan, with a Persian-appointed khan governing the region.

The Treaty of Turkmenchay (1828) ceded the Erivan and Nakhchivan khanates to Russia, bringing eastern Armenia into the Russian Empire.

The Ottoman Land Code and tax systems placed heavy burdens on Armenian peasants, contributing to rural unrest and emigration.

Armenian national awakening in the 19th century produced political parties: the Dashnaktsutyun (1890), Hunchak (1887), and Armenakan (1885).

The 1915 deportation law (Tehcir Kanunu) provided the legal framework for forced relocation and property confiscation.

The Armenian Genocide is commemorated on 24 April, and the term 'Medz Yeghern' (Great Crime) is used in Armenian memory.

The First Republic's parliament, the Khorhurd, and its government faced war, famine, and refugee crises; the republic's territory was contested by Turkey and Azerbaijan.

The 1920 Treaty of Alexandropol (Gyumri) between Armenia and the Ottoman government imposed harsh terms before Sovietization.

Soviet Armenia's borders were fixed by the 1921 Treaty of Moscow and Treaty of Kars, leaving Nagorno-Karabakh as an autonomous oblast within Azerbaijan.

Soviet-era Armenia saw forced collectivization, the 1930s purges, and later industrial growth in chemicals, machinery, and electronics.

The Armenian diaspora includes a large post-1991 emigration wave, with remittances and diaspora organizations influencing Armenian politics.

The 1988 Karabakh Committee, led by figures such as Levon Ter-Petrosyan, mobilized the independence movement.

Armenia's 1995 constitution created a strong presidency; the 2005 amendments and 2015 referendum altered the balance toward parliamentarism.

The 1999 parliament shooting killed Prime Minister Vazgen Sargsyan and Speaker Karen Demirchyan, destabilizing politics.

The 2008 post-election unrest led to a state of emergency and the imprisonment of opposition figures.

The 2018 Velvet Revolution resulted in the resignation of Serzh Sargsyan and the election of Nikol Pashinyan as prime minister.

Armenia's foreign policy balances CSTO and EAEU membership with EU association and US partnership; border demarcation with Azerbaijan remains contested.

The 2023 exodus of Nagorno-Karabakh Armenians created a humanitarian crisis and reshaped Armenia's security posture.

The Armenian Church's liturgical calendar includes the Feast of the Transfiguration (Vardavar) and the Exaltation of the Cross (Khachverats).

Armenian scriptoria and universities such as Gladzor (13th–14th centuries) and Tatev produced illuminated manuscripts and scholarship.

Armenian historiography includes the 18th-century Mekhitarist order's scholarly work and the 19th-century national historians.

The Armenian Genocide scholarship includes the work of historians and the collection of survivor testimony at the Armenian Genocide Museum-Institute.