Edward Sargsyan

NOAH`S BOOK

The epos, which was considered lost for 1500 years, is discovered



The father of the Armenian historiography, Movses Khorenatsy, in his book ,,The History of Armenia,, which was written in the fifth century, quoted Olimpiodoros, the Greek chronicle from Alexandria, as an authority, wrote " There was a book about Ksisutrios and his sons, and it had been told there that way round: When Ksisutrios had drifted to Armenia and met the land, one of his sons whose name was Sam went towards North-Waste to see the world...".
Then ,retelling the certain excerpts of the lost book, Movses Khorenatsy testified how the old people often had sung the subject of the book, accompanying it with dances and music.
Let's mention, that Ksisutrios was one of the names of the hero of the world flood.
Not only the historical original source which has 1500 years antiquity testifies that there was a separate book about Noah. According to the Armenian stories, long ago, when Bible was not been written yet, "Noah's Book" had been Armenians` sacred book. Stories were silent about the circumstances of disappearance of the book and what had happened to it.
The famous biblical story concerning Noah and the world flood is not unique. The first epic story about "the first Noah" were left by Shumers in the third century B. C. After that, the story of the world flood and the arc was retold by different folks variously during hundreds of centuries. There are Babel, old Indian, Jewish, Greek, Asian variants of the legend. Even the inhabitants of Northern and Southern America, Australia and Indonesia have the epic stories about the world flood. Every folk commented the world disaster uniquely and named their for father of "Noah" in their own way. Armenia is in the center of the epic story of the flood. According to Bible, the escape of mankind, during the flood, took place on the Ararat mountain, which is in Armenia. The Armenians are sure that the Ark is on Ararat up to the present and they adore the mountain.
The picture of the Ararat mountain, with Noah's Ark on its peak, decorates the state Emblem of Republic of Armenia. The Armenians consider themselves Noah's those heirs, who stayed in the neighbourood of the Ararat mountain, where they live up to present. (The Ararat mountain is in the territory of Turkey, on the Armenian - Turkish border, because of the present civil circumstances.)
Did the Armenians have their own for - biblical variant of the epos about the flood? The folk, which has been living for thousand years on the land, where Noah's Ark had come in, had to have his own variant of the epic legend. Movses Khorenatsy wrote about the fact of existence of the book about Noah and his sons and the Armenian stories confirmed it.
It becomes clear, that the Armenian folk passed the book from generation to generation for thousand years. The Armenians name it "Noah's Book" or "The Story of Noah's Ark".

The wide passages of "Noah's Book" surviving by several chroniclers, the constant reiteration of written stories, the organic one by one continuation of the separate passages of the story, as well as the great volume of the subject testify the fact, that "Noah's Book" is the wide epos dedicated to the Flood.
Obviously, the epos was rhymed initially. That is testified by Movses Khorenatsi, who provided the information about presenting the epos with the help of songs, and by present chroniclers, who tell about the rhythmical style of story-telling of separate passages of the epos and its melodious fragments.
Unfortunately, it have passed four thousand years since the date of birth of that epos and its poetical form couldn't be preserved.
The time of creation of the epos is based on the fact that the Armenian's forerunner Haik, which is presented in the last fragment of the epos, lived approximately four thousand and a half years ago, according to Khorenatsy.The work's concerning the registration and the restoration of the epos lasted nearly twenty years.
The epos about Noah and the Flood is devided in four parts. It is told in the name of Emerod bird. The subject of the epos is the following:

The God's mother Nerine gives birth to the first Gods and Goddesses. God Asatur or Khardi creates the space and the first human being on his mother's advice.
Four centuries of mankind passed. They are the Golden, the Silver, the Copper and the Cast- iron. The people of each following century become worse than their forerunners. Emberold bird proves the fact of people's degeneracy at the end of the Cast-iron century: "Cold has become silver, silver has become copper, copper has become cast- iron and a human being has become mean". The first part of the epos ends in these words.

The second part of the epos begins with the description of the biggest sin of mankind. In the night, a woman cleans her child's behind backside with bread and throws it in sky. It touches the face of the creator god Khardi - Asatur. Two the biggest sins of mankind happened: disrespect of bread and God. Angry Khardi decides to exterminate mankind.
Two unrealized attempts of mankind's extermination take place.
Khardi - Asatur decides to exterminate mankind with the help of a flood. Tsovinar goddess, Asatur`s sister and the sovereign of waters gets angry with her brother's meaningless decision.
Khardi invites a meeting, keeping it a secret from his sister, where he announces the intention to exterminate mankind with the help of a flood.
One of gods informs Noah the decision security, in Noah's dream. Then searches, for finding the primary oak, which was necessary for building a ship, begin. The old woodcutter cuts the tree with magic ritual. The tree stays in oil two years.
Three masters build the ship. Blind men guard it day and night.
The Flood begins. this passage of epos is fill of numerous dramatic and tragic events. Noah's Ark drifts on the surface of water and while approaching the mountains of Armenia it as a human being prays to receive. The mountains refuse it and point at the biggest of the mountains Ararat. And Noah's Ark moors there.
Gods` anger, regarding Khardi - Asatur`s savage deed, is moving and their sincere joy, when they receive the news about Noah's escape is also sincere.
Noah lives on Ararat peak seven year and he sends an animal with the goal to get the information about the water level. Noah's wife, Noahem, falls ill and dies on the peak of Ararat.
Noah's caravan begins to come down Ararat. The first snow comes. The first apricot tree blossoms on Ararat. Noah blesses the apricot tree and continues his descent. The second part of epos ends.

The third part of the epos is familiar to our folk under the name " Noah`s Year ". It includes Noah's life since his descent from Ararat till his death.
Ordeals don't come to their close with the Flood: Khardi - Asatur changes the rescued people into savages often their descent from Ararat. The savage mankind lives in the slopes of Ararat two hundred years. Khardi - Asatur visits the savages two centuries later. He sees the leader of the human herd in front of it. He was a mighty old man with white beard. Weak gleams of human thought could be seen in his eyes. Noah stops and looks at khardi. His eyes were streaming with tears. And Khardi says: "You are crying, it means that you are becoming a human being".
Khardi returns their intellect, considering that ordeals were enough. They being to make the first clothes and shoes. Quite new life begins on the land, thoroughly changed after the Flood. New life is full of discoveries and inventions, because Khardi returned the rescued peopl`s intellect, but took their memory completely in order they remember nothing from their old and desecrated life.
The struggle with marshes, left by the Flood, where death was hiding, begins then the war with dragon snakes of the Ararat mountain follows. They were those snakes, which had come out of the ground with black water during the Flood and become of gigantic sizes, eating the dead people brains. The eagle attracts our attention during the battles against the snakes.
They discover fire again. Noah catches the fairy, which has come down the sky and tries to marry her. The fairy refuses him. Noah marries again and has children. Noah's son, Habet marries too. His wife is the girl, who has come down the Lightstar.
The play of Noah's four daughters reeds gives birth to four the most significant winds.
Khardi visits the earth once more and tries people's devotion about bread. The new mankind passes the test.
The sky suggest people the use of salt. The snake presents the seed of a water - melon.
The passage, which describes the cultivation of vine and the invention of it, is detailed and wonderful. Noah is the main person here, as everywhere. A donkey helps him.
Noah discovers the first iron on the Ararat mountain slope. It has the origin of the earth, so it is meteorite. Then Noah finds a golden mine in the bowels of the Ararat mountain. They make their first ornaments of the Ararat mountain gold and they order not to make the mine deeper in order not to give Black water the opportunity to come up and drown the world.
The discord of Noah's sons begins. A part of them go away. From the neighbourhood of the Ararat mountain with the goal to look for the best lands and Noah's daughter Astkhik becomes the goddess of Beauty.
A part of Noah's sons attacks the father and tries to take the Ararat mountain neighbourhood after returning.
Noah, repulses the attacks making a shield and a mace of iron. The new and significant thing, the cast - iron mace appears.
At the end of Noah's Year, the light of a star lifts Noah to the sky. Noah's Year and the third part of the epos end.

The forth part of the epos is called "Cast - iron mace". After death Noah bequeaths his well - known mace to his son, Habet, who stayed with him in the Ararat mountain neighborhood and tells to pass it from generation to generation as the sign of power. The Epsom of Noah and the Flood ends in the cast - iron mace.


Content






It is necessary to publish the epos in two books. The first book includes the restored appearance of the epos, the second part consists of the written passages and variants of the epos, as well as the interpretation of scientific principles of the restoration of the epos. The whole volume of the book will be 400 - 500 pages.

"Noah's book" will take the worthy place in the world's culture among the number of Shumers " Gigamesh ",Karelo - Finnish " Kalevala " and other eposes.

It is necessary to publish the epos in English, so that it can become available for the world folks.

The fact of the restoration of the Flood epos evoked great interest of scientists of Armenia and wide social circle. Wide articles were published in the influential newspapers of the republic. The passages are presented from the articles, published in the state official newspaper " Republic of Armenia " and " The Voice of Armenia " independent newspaper.
"...The preservation of the epos about the Flood for future descendants, which exists in oral folk work more than five thousand years already Is the reality today.
The scientist from Yerevan, Edward Sargsyan, who devoted many years to that difficult work, has finished the preparation of the manuscript, which has 3 thousand pages, for the publication. It is told about Noah and his sons in details in that manuscript. For example, in Bible there is only one page about the Food".
" Republic of Armenia " 17. 10. 96.
"...But the most surprising and from the point of view of science significant thing is that Edward Sargsyan collected many passages of oral Armenian legends about Gilgamesh- the hero of the babel epos, where it is told about the great flood. In one those passages it is told that the babel king Gilgamesh was the offshoot of Noah's the youngest son and that he lived in " the far away country ". By the way, " Gilgamesh " is interpreted in Armenian in the above mentioned fragment as " Gel - gomesh " ( wolf - buffalo " - it means brave as a wolf and strong as a buffalo. More that, according to our Armenian version, Gilgamesh died and didn't leave progeny. There is a subject for science to work on, to follow the " ways " along which the hero of the babel epos moved in the Armenian. It is also necessary to solve this mystery because our archaeologists has recently discovered the cuneiform evidence about Gilgamesh during excavations in ancient Armavir.
It is necessary to do everything in order to make the Armenian epos the property of the world culture ".
"The Voice of Armenia" , 5.11.96.


The author's biography

He is forty - seven years old, the doctor of chemical science.
He is the founder of speleology ( the science, which investigates caves ) in Armenia. He is the author of numerous scientific discoveries, books and articles in different sciences. He was given the title of laureate of the Youth prize of Armenia He is one of the famous mountaineers of Armenia. He climbed the Ararat mountain.


The author`s address

Dr. Edward Sargsyan
ap. 27, bl. 7/2, Toumanyan q., Avan
Yerevan 375101, Republic Armenia
Fax: (3742 ) 151 - 048, Tel: (3742 ) 625 - 446
E-mail: hayknet@arminco.com