Temples and monasteries in Armenia

As I mentioned in a couple of earlier posts, my wife recently went on a work trip to Armenia. While she spent most of her time talking astronomy with fellow scientists, she did get to go on a few excursions. Two took her to old houses of worship. The Hellenic scene you see above is a view of an ancient Mithraeum, a temple to Mithras, who was an eastern deity whose worship was open only to men, especially soldiers.

Since Mithraic rites were secret, not much is known about their beliefs, but there are many similarities between Mithraism and Christianity, such as Mithras being born on December 25 to a virgin, and having died and resurrected for humanity's salvation. Mithraists also practiced baptism and communal meals. The similarities were so numerous that early Christian writers claimed the older religion was invented by the Devil as a cheap imitation of Christianity to subvert their faith!

Christianity eventually won out in Armenia in the early fourth century AD. Soon monasteries and churches were cropping up everywhere. This is one of them.

More Images from Armenia

As I mentioned in a previous post, my wife recently went to an astronomy conference in Armenia. A big part of any trip is trying new food. She liked these decorated breads. Some of them were baked with nuts in them.

 

Jump the cut for more Armenian tastiness!

Images of Armenia

Soviet-style observatory. It looks like a science fiction cover from the 1970s!

Last month my better half presented a paper at an astronomy conference in Armenia. I was super jealous because it's a a country I've always wanted to visit. Located on the Silk Route, it was a powerful kingdom in various eras, punctuated by periods of foreign rule. Most recently it was a Soviet republic, and now is independent once again.

She was pretty busy being an astronomer so she didn't take as many photographs as she'd have liked to, but here are some of them. More to come!

The observatory with the sunset and moon in the background.