Armenia

Armenia is a historical region located in Upper Mesopotamia and eastern Anatolia, intertwined with the geography of Kurdish history in ancient and late antique sources. Sources often mention this geography along with neighboring regions and highlight it as a central framework for understanding early Kurdish history.

Historical Framework and Sources

To comprehensively understand ancient Kurdish history, it is stated that the historical geography of Armenia, along with Mardia, Media, Kardukhia (Corduene, Korduk/Korçeyk, and Beth Qardu), and Adiabene, should also be taken into consideration; as this geography concerns the Kurds both historically and socio-culturally (Vol. 1, p. 20).

Armenia holds great importance in the writing of pre-Islamic Kurdish history, especially through Armenian sources. The historiography of the Armenians, who produced their first written works in the fourth century AD, developed in parallel with the Sasanian period, and these sources have risen to an indispensable position for early Kurdish historiography (Vol. 1, p. 22).

In Greek and Roman Sources

Greek and Roman sources frequently mention Armenia along with its surrounding peoples and regions. Strabo mentions the Amardi (Mards) living on the borders of the Media and Armenia mountains, along with tribes such as the Gelae, Cadusii, Vitii, and Anariake (Vol. 1, p. 31). Plutarch refers to the relationship between Armenia and Gordyene and provides details about the burial ceremony held upon the death of the Gordyene king (Vol. 1, p. 32); furthermore, in Lucullus' account, it is mentioned that in Tigranes' army, which crossed the Murat River (Arsania) and fought the Roman army, Mardian archers were deployed alongside Iberian spearmen (Vol. 1, p. 33). According to Tacitus, the Roman general Corbulo captured some regions in Armenia, primarily Artaxata, in 59 AD, and the Mardi tribe controlled some areas in Armenia (Vol. 1, p. 48).

The region was a constant scene of the struggle for dominance between the Roman and Persian empires. Eutropius recounts that Traianus, in 114 AD, took Armenia and brought many regions of Mesopotamia, along with Corduene, Mardia, and Media (Lat. Mardos, Medos), under Roman rule (Vol. 1, p. 50). Pliny mentions two tribes, the Menobardi and Mosechini, living in the valleys adjacent to Armenia, between Adiabene and Armenia (Vol. 1, p. 47). In a treaty, it is recorded that the fortress of Zintha was accepted as the border between Media and Armenia (Vol. 1, p. 40). Zosimus recounts that within the framework of the peace made by Jovian with Shapur II, Rome consented to the Persians possessing a large part of Armenia (Vol. 1, p. 37). In the account based on Theophylact Simocatta, it is understood that the inhabitants of the geographies of Arzanene, Corduene, and Armenia were caught between the two empires (Vol. 1, p. 41); another account states that in 569 AD, the Persian marzban managed to control all of Armenia with an army of thirty thousand men and expelled the Romans from this region (Vol. 1, p. 56).

Sasanian Period and Armenian Sources

The region's place in Sasanian political classification can also be traced in sources. In Kerdir's inscription, Armenia is shown among the geographies outside Iran (anērān), while Adiabene is mentioned as part of Iran (Vol. 1, p. 68). From Armenian sources, Agathangelos focuses on Armenia's transition to Christianity in the fourth century through the efforts of King Trdat (Vol. 1, p. 73). P'awstos Buzand writes that the people of Korduk, Kordik, and Korçeyk allied with the Armenians and fought against the Persians, and recounts that a battle took place in the geography of the Niphates (Npat) mountains between Rome and Armenia in the fourth century AD (Vol. 1, p. 75).