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   The Deputy Director of the Historical and Cultural Heritage Research Center of RA Ministry of Culture, archaeologist Hakob Simonyan spoke about the excavations and discoveries at Karmir Blur (Red Hill) site, precisely The Graveyard of Teishebaini.  

Hakob Simonyan presented that the systematic excavations at Karmir Blur began in 2015 – 2016. According to him, the excavation conditions were very difficult regarding the deadline terms and the nature of the excavating process, as it is one of world’s most important monuments, The Graveyard of Teishebaini. As a result of the excavations, 281 tombs were found, which is considered to be a very interesting and diverse set of phenomena. The superdense burials found there are similar to the modern urban rules: on each 6 km a tomb with its ground structure was found.       
Simonyan mentioned that in contrast to Erebuni, where the inhabitants originally came from Tsopk, the residents of Teishebaini were locals. “The whole cultural layer that was revealed including the burying ritual, allows us to assure that the scenario is as the following: in the 7th century, the priority region of the Kingdom of Van (Urartu) was the Ararat valley; where the viceroy's residence was found. It occupies a 40 hectares and is considered one of the best-studied monuments of the World Empire”, – said the archaeologist.          
He also detailed the important information resulted from the excavations of Karmir Blur, which includes the following issues: Who lived in that city? Who were they? What beliefs did they have? What were the rituals of burying the dead? How were they dressed? What type of ornaments they were wearing? What illnesses did they have? The dental studies even reveal the sorts of food that the people consumed. Moreover, a huge arsenal of weapons was found.   
“All this gave us an enormous amount of anthropological information, and now by using the modern techniques, with the help of the DNA and other laboratory studies, it is possible to find out the genetics of the population of Teishebaini. By making a comparison between this DNA data and the genetics of the population of the Armenian Highlands, on the other hand, we can finally reveal the identity of those people”, – said H. Simonyan.       
The excavations of Karmir Blur allowed us to expose evidences of a reinforced civilization. “The burials we found were not only of adults, it also included of children and newborn babies. Thanks to these exposures, we can confirm that these indicators of civilization that were common only in ancient Rome existed in Karmir Blur many centuries ago. Furthermore, the special love of children, which is something that defines us, the Armenians nowadays, also existed in ancient times”, – He emphasized.   
The archaeologist also added that the discoveries in Karmir Blur are considered stunning findings, because in the last stage of the excavations a tomb of a senior person was unexpectedly opened, with a total 40 km, which was full of sacrificed animal bones and funeral offerings. There was also a huge monument of a phallus made of a tufa stone. By studying the findings, archaeologists clearly confirm that such enormous sacrifices could have been done only for a person of an extreme importance and of social prominence. As additional evidences, a carved-bronze ox head and an aquiline scepter were also found in the same place. The latest is considered to be the highest symbol of the authority specific to the Hittite kings.      
At the end, Simonyan mentioned that those findings of extreme importance are completely stored in dedicated storage rooms; as the most valuable of them are kept in fireproof safes.  
A as conclusion of his remarks, he clearly stated that it is time to begin the work of establishing a museum in Karmir Blur, to become these unique discoveries the property of the people as well.
 
 

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