Cultural, Linguistic and Ethnological Interrelations In and Around Armenia

The geographical region of the Southern Caucasus, the lowlands between the Black and the Caspian Sees and the Armenian and Anatolian highlands is located on the peripheries of Europe from Asia. This region shares a common pre-history, with pre-Christian and pre-Muslim cultures and beliefs. The later periods, however, starting from the pre-Christian Iranian dominations, followed by the Arab conquest and the later campaigns of Seljuks, Mongols and Ottomans, had a heavy impact on the development of the region’s various ethnic languages and cultures. Nevertheless, many similarities can be found in the languages, cultures and religious traditions of the people living in this region. Armenia has often been a bridge between various cultures. Even though Armenians have succeeded in preserving their original language and culture through the centuries, many of their traditions and myths, their linguistic peculiarities, particularly in Armenian dialects, may be explained by an often long-lasting influence of other cultures, be it occidental (Hellenistic/Roman, later Byzantine and Medieval European) or oriental (Iranian, later Arab, Turkic, Mongolian, etc.) or even Caucasian. The Armenians have also left many traces in the languages and cultures of the Occident, Orient and the Caucasus. This volume gives an impressive approach to an interdisciplinary view of the linguistic and cultural properties which Armenians share with their neighbours.