CHAPTER VIII.
THE ARMENIAN CHURCH.
1. Pre-Christian Religion of Armenia. From the ancient Armenian literature, consisting of national songs, only a few quotations are left, and the earliest inscriptions on the great citadel rock of Van have not yet been satisfactorily made out. What we understand from the authorities existing is that the Armenians, before Christianity, worshiped the heavenly bodies, the sun, the moon and the stars, and the fire, like other surrounding nations. The names of many places and persons, still in use, are the various derivations of the names of these deities. The relics of those ages of heathenism, however, show that their idolatry was not of the coarser and abominable sort. So far as we know, polygamy, human sacrifice and immoral practices in worship were not introduced nor practiced among the Armenians; on the other hand, the sacredness of family life, the fidelity in marriage, the obedience to parents, national enthusiasm, attachment to the "fatherland," social habits, industry, peacefulness, hospitality, and most of all religious zeal and piety—still prevailing characteristics of the race—are traced back to those remote ages. Haig, the supposed ancestor of the nation, is described as "the eagle of the mountains of Ararat," the first hero who ever declared himself for freedom and conscience, His grandson, Aramais, who has built stores
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