The great Armenian historian from the 5th century, Movses Khorenatsi, who is known as the Armenian Herodotus, describes the arrival of Hayk and his people in Armenia as follows: "He built a village that came to be known as Haykashen (The Building of Hayk). In the middle of this plain and at the foot of the mountain which had a wide base there were already a people who lived there. These people submitted themselves to the rule of the new hero."
The Armenian historians dated the arrival of Hayk and his people to Armenia around 2200 B.C. and listed a number of generations of Armenian tribal fathers and subsequent kings who descended from Hayk and who ruled from 2200 to 880 B.C. However, this great antiquity is most likely to be legendary myth that present historical science rejects.. People, when it comes to individuals, like to think of themselves as being much older than they really are. In reality Armenian history, as the latest historical science proves, is quite beautiful on its own and contains so many ancient facts that one can easily exclude imaginary myth from it.
The arrival of the Indo-European people, led by Hayk, to Armenia most likely happened sometime during the 8th and 7th centuries B.C. These Indo-European Armenians conquered the land and forced their language upon the native people. It is because of this that the Armenian language is regarded as Indo-European. . The Armenians came, shortly after their arrival in the Armenian highland, to dominate the upper and military classes of the local tribal society, while the native people of Urartu had to settle with becoming members of the lower class. Despite this fact, the two peoples blended and became the forefathers of the presentday Armenians.
According to De Morgan: "These newly settled Armenians would live with an imperturbable will in their newly conquered country for centuries and defend it with their inborn courage, language and their customs up until the present day, while almost every other people, whom the Armenians came to make acquaintance with during their childhood, disappeared slowly in history." 63
To conclude presentday Armenians would appear to be a blend of the immigrant Indo-European Armenians and the original native population of Armenia, and one can place them among those nations whose background, even if their origins are not entirely known, can be traced to ancient times.
The close proximity of Assyria and the recurring wars between them resulted in the immigration of Assyrians and Chaldeans into Armenia, who settled down in the south of the country and assimilated into the Armenian people. The southern Armenians have always proved to be excellent and competent soldiers (exactly as their Assyrian cousins were ) and the results of their heroism have filled some of the most glorious pages in the history of the Armenian nation. Their last great deed was the defence of the city of Van during the genocide in the early part of the 20th century AD. They were also great artists, whose military and architectural works, roads and buildings can still be seen today.
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