Aragats ( Arm. Արագած ), previously also Turkic. Alagez [3] is an isolated mountain range in the west of Armenia , the fourth highest in the Armenian Highlands and the highest in modern Armenia. The height of the mountain is 4090 meters (4095, according to the Smithsonian Institution ). The length of the mountain range from east to west is up to 40 km, from north to south - up to 35 km. The slopes in their lower part are covered by forest, above - by meadows [4] .
| Aragats | |
|---|---|
| arm Արագած | |
 Aragats, view from the east, peaks are visible from left to right: South, West, East, North. | |
| Specifications | |
| Volcano shape | Stratovolcano |
| Education period | Holocene |
| Last eruption | is unknown |
| Highest point | |
| Absolute height | 4090 (4095) [1] [2] m |
| Relative height | 2143 m |
| Location | |
| A country |
|
| Region | Aragatsotn region |
| Mountain system | Armenian highlands |
| Ridge or array | |
As stated in the "Soviet Military Encyclopedia", the peak of Aragats served as a guide for the troops operating in the Kars - Gyumri (Alexandropol) - Yerevan region [4] .
Content
Title
Aragats is an ancient Armenian name, also known in the forms Arakac , Arcadez . The etymology of the name is not known for certain - perhaps it comes from the name of the Urartian king Argishti I (786–764 BC), the founder of Yerevan ( Erebuni ) and Armavir ( Argishtihinili ), at which the borders of Urartu reached this mountain [5] . Tradition connects the origin of the oronim with the name of the patriarch of Armenians - Aray.
In the Turkic [1] name of Mount Alageoz, there are ala - “motley” and gueuz - literally “eye”, in toponyms “source, stream” or “pass, low place in the crest of mountains, saddle” (Murzaev, 1984), meanings, for the highest point of Transcaucasia are not the most suitable. But the local term Alagez , fixed in the north of Azerbaijan , “land with white spots” (Yuzbashev, Nuriev, 1984), characterizes Alagez well with its small glaciers [6] .
Geology
It has 4 peaks, the highest - the north (4090 m), the height of the west - 4007 m, east - 3916 m, south - 3879 m. It is a cone with a perimeter of up to 200 km. Between the peaks is a volcanic crater with a depth of 350 m and a width of 2.5 km. On one of the slopes of the mountain system at an altitude of 3190 m, there is Lake Kari [7] .
Aragats is a stratovolcano . It began to form in the era of the Pliocene and Pleistocene . Previously, it was believed that volcanic activity took place right up to the modern period , but recent argon dating of the studied morphological material showed that the volcano erupted for the last time during the Middle and Late Pleistocene . According to the Armenian volcanologist Karakhanyan, the youngest cones of the volcano, which are located in its lower part, formed 3 thousand years ago [8] . It is composed mainly of andesites and dacites . 13 km of frozen lava flows are directed west and southwest.
Numerous rivers flow down the slopes of Aragats - Gekharot , Amberd, Narishd, Mantash, Gekhadzor, Tsakhkaovit, etc. (spring, rain and snow food). On Aragats and at its foot there are many lakes - Kari , Amberd, Lesing, etc. [9]
The modern glaciation of Aragats is described in the works of M.O. Davoyan .
Tourism
The Byurakan Astrophysical Observatory is located on the southeastern slope, and the Mantash Reservoir on the northwestern slope. On the slope of the mountain at an altitude of 2140 meters is Amberd Castle.
In Erivani, Alagez stuck in front of my eyes like "hello" and "goodbye." I saw how the snowy crown thawed from day to day, as in good weather, especially in the mornings, his crooked crunches crunched with dry croutons. The approaches to Alagez are not tiring, and it costs nothing to ride him, despite 14,000 feet. Lava is enclosed in earthen tumors, on which you go, like clockwork.
- Osip Mandelstam . “Travel to Armenia”
Exploring the slopes of Aragats, you can find many ancient settlements and shrines, but so far it has not yet been practically explored.
Legends
- About Gregory the Illuminator
Many legends and legends about the period of the adoption of Christianity are connected with Mount Aragats, according to which St. Gregory the Illuminator ascended to the summit of Aragats to perform prayers, while at night he was lit by an unquenchable lamp hanging directly from heaven. According to legend, even now this lamp shines at night, but only the initiates can see it [10] .
- About Aragats and Ararat
According to legend, Mount Aragats was the sister of Mount Ararat . Once the sisters in love, quarreled. In vain tried to reconcile them Mount Marutasar ; angry, she cursed them according to him Masis and Aragats were to be separated forever and never see each other again and they were forever separated [11] .
See also
- Kari
- Volcanoes of Armenia
- Mountains of Armenia
Notes
- ↑ 1 2 Aragats // Great Soviet Encyclopedia : [in 30 vol.] / Ch. ed. A.M. Prokhorov . - 3rd ed. - M .: Soviet Encyclopedia, 1969-1978.
- ↑ Aragats : [ eng. ] // Global Volcanism Program . - Smithsonian Institution , 2012 .-- 25 July.
- ↑ Superanskaya A.V. Dictionary of geographical names. - M.: AST-PRESS BOOK, 2013 .-- 208 p. - S. 13: Alagez [now Aragats] (Arm.).
- ↑ 1 2 Article “Alagez” in the Soviet Military Encyclopedia , 1932, vol. 1, p. 387
Alagez (Armenians. Aragats), an isolated mountain range in the Soviet Socialist Republic of Armenia to the north-west. from the city of Erivan. The length of A. from east to west is up to 40 km, from north to south - up to 35 km. The slopes below are covered by forest, above - by meadows. A. Vershin A., reaching 4095 m, bypassed the communication lines. It served as a guide for the troops operating in the Kars-Leninakan-Erivan region.
- ↑ Robert H. Hewsem ““ The Primary History of Armenia “: An Examination of the Validity of an Immemorially Transmitted Historical Tradition”, from History in Africa Vol. 2 (1975), Cambridge University Press, p. 93:Original textArmais. He is not known to any outside source but there is a possibility that his name cloaks that of Argisti, one of the two most important Urartian monarchs, and thus that it should be read as * Argais, an easy spelling error to make in the Armenian script. Argisti I (ca. 786-764 or ca. 780-754 BC) was the founder of the city of Argishtihinili, later called Armavir, and Armais is credited in the Primary History with being the founder and eponym of this same city. Since Argisti was the first Urartian king to reach Mt. Aragadz on the northern edge of the Ararat plain, it is not unlikely that this mountain was named after him as well. According to Pseudo-Moses Aragadz, however, was named after Armenak which could mean that Armenak / Armais / * Argais / Argisti were one and the same individual.
- ↑ Pospelov E. M. Geographical Names of the World: Toponymic Dictionary: Over 5,000 Units / Ed. ed. R. A. Ageeva. - M .: Russian dictionaries, 1998 .-- S. 160. - 372 p. - ISBN 5-89216-029-7 .
- ↑ ArmStat GEOGRAPHIC CHARACTERISTIC OF THE REPUBLIC OF ARMENIA
- ↑ Volcanodiscovery.com
- ↑ Mount Aragats
- ↑ “Voice of Armenia” newspaper, article “ Aragats - the roof of Armenia (inaccessible link) . Archived July 14, 2011. “. September 11, 2010.
- ↑ M.A. Isalabdulaev. Mythology of the peoples of the Caucasus (Inaccessible link - history ) .
Links
- Aragats : [ eng. ] // Global Volcanism Program . - Smithsonian Institution .
- Volcano Live - John Search
- Peakbagger.com
- Peakware.com
- Mountain-Forecast.com
- Climbing Aragats