MONUMENTS

III-II millennia BC

State index: 1.1.9

This dragon stone (Arm. վիշապաքար [vishapakar]) was discovered in 1936 by the Amberd archaeological expedition in Mount Aragats, on the left bank of the Arkhashan River, near the road leading to the meteorological station from Byurakan. In 1967 it was moved to Yerevan and placed in a vertical position in the park near the House of Scientists of the RA NAS Physics Institute.

It is a rectangular obelisk made of gray basalt (length: 5.06 m, width at the top: 1.25 m, at the bottom: 0.52 m). On the two transverse fronts the skin of a sacrificed bull is depicted (with head and forelegs) from which streams of water descend.

These unique, characteristic only to the Armenian Highlands and made of solid basalt stone statues called dragons (or vishap) were placed near the sources of natural and artificial pools and springs, symbolizing the unrestrained forces of the elements, the awakening of nature, fertility and abundance. Dragon stones were also placed in tombs.

Early examples of dragon-monuments have a fish-like body, large head, relief eyes, gills and fins. Dragon monuments frequently feature depictions of sacrificial bull heads with stylized horns and adorned with bull skin. Jets of water flow from the mouths of the bulls, emphasizing the dragons' association with the fruitful power of water. To date, dozens of dragon stones have been found in the Gegham 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 basin of the Khram River, in Syunik and in other parts of the Armenian Highlands.

“Scientific Research Center of Historical and Cultural Heritage” SNCO

Yerevan Municipality