Armenia in Biblical Times

One of the world's oldest civilizations, Armenia once included Mount Ararat, which biblical tradition identifies as the mountain that Noah's ark rested on after the flood. It was the first country in the world to officially embrace Christianity as its religion (c. A.D. 300).

Byzantine Empire

In 591, the Byzantine Emperor Maurice defeated the Persians and recovered much of the remaining territory of Armenia into the empire. The conquest was completed by the Emperor Heraclius, himself ethnically Armenian, in 629.

Armenian laguage newspaper

The Takvim-i Vekayi, which was first published in 1831, was known as the first Ottoman newspaper, was also published in five languages other than Ottoman Turkish. These five other languages were Arabic, Armenian, Farsi, French and Greek. This original Ottoman newspaper carried both official as well as other announcements and continued on in a slightly different capacity later.

Armenia and Christanity

In 301 AD, Armenia became the first nation to adopt Christianity as a state religion, establishing a church that still exists independently of both the Catholic and the Eastern Orthodox churches. During its later political eclipses, Armenia depended on the church to preserve and protect its unique identity. From around 1100 to 1350, the focus of Armenian nationalism moved south, as the Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia, which had close ties to European Crusader states, flourished in southeastern Asia Minor until conquered by Muslim states.