Abstract
In this historical study, with a particular focus on religious history, I compare the lasting effects of original, pre-monotheistic elements of belief in the Armenian Highlands, especially among the Indo-European peoples of the Armenians and Kurds. Little is known about pre-Christian Armenian mythology and religious beliefs, which were apparently highly syncretistic and shaped by the veneration of nature and its elements. Being of Indo-European origin, they were later strongly influenced by Mazdaism (e.g., the deities’ beliefs of Aramazd, Mit(h)ra/Mihr, and Anahit) and Assyrian traditions. Urartian, Mesopotamian, and Greek deities were also adopted. Monotheism first reached the Armenian settlement area from Iran in the form of Zoroastrianism (Zarathustrianism), or Mazdaism (also Parsism). This religion, which is named after its founder Zarathustra is based on very ancient Indo-Iranian traditions and lore, originating between 1800 and 600 BCE. Its origins are disputed. It spread from around the 7th to the 4th century BCE in the Iranian cultural area (from eastern Asia Minor and Mesopotamia to Persia and Central Asia).