Oldest Horse Sacrifice in Near East Discovered in Armenia

YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 1, ARMENPRESS: The oldest horse sacrifice in the Asian Near East was discovered August 31 in Armenia. Hakob Simonyan, director of RA culture ministry-affiliated scientific-research center for historical-cultural heritage, told Armenpress that there is a big Armenian tomb field in the territory, called Naver, which is adjacent to Parpi village.

The skull, vertebras and chest bones of the horse with their right anatomic positions were found in that territory. The discovery dates back to the 26-24th centuries B.C. ‘It is a great discovery of an exclusive historical value. The findings came to prove the opinion, according to which Armenia was one of the oldest centers of domesticating and using of animals for military purposes,’ he said. Sacrifice is an Indo-European ritual. The old Aryans considered it an important event, which was given in case priests and kings died.

The excavations, which began 2009, are expected to go on. Hakob Simonyan says they expect new valuable findings.