MONUMENTS

III-II millennia BC

The dragon stone was discovered in 1936 by the Amberd archaeological expedition in Aragats, on the left bank of the Arkhashan River, near the road leading from Byurakan to the meteorological station. In 1967, it was moved to Yerevan and installed in a vertical position in the park near the House of Scientists of the Institute of Physics of the RA NAS.

It is a rectangular monument made of gray basalt (length: 5.06 m). On both wide fronts, the skin of a sacrificed bull (with head and front legs) is depicted, from which jets of water descend.

Unique, characteristic to the Armenian Highlands and made of a single piece of basalt, stone statues called dragons were placed near the sources of natural and artificial pools and springs, symbolizing the unbridled forces of the elements, the awakening of nature, fertility and abundance. Dragon statues were also placed in tombs.
The earliest examples of dragon statues have a fish-like body, a large head, relief eyes, fangs and fins. The head and fur of a sacrificed bull with stylized horns are also often depicted on the stone. Jets of water flow from the bulls' mouths, which emphasizes the connection of dragons with the fertile power of water. To date, several dozen dragon tombs have been discovered in the Geghama Mountains, on the northeastern shore of Lake Sevan, on the southern slope of Aragats, in Javakhk on the shore of Lake Parvana and in the Khram River basin, in Syunik, and in other parts of the Armenian Highlands.