Gegharda lich 4

Name: Gegharda lich 4
Monument type: Stele
Region: Ararat Province
Periods: Prehistoric

Name: Gegharda lich 4

Other nomination: Tokhmakhi gyol

Monument type: Vishapakar (vishap stone, dragon stone)

Region: Ararat Province

Province / Community: Geghama mountains, Ararat (province), Goght (nearby community – in Kotayk)

Type: Bull-type

Material: Brownish-yellow, fine-grained basalt

Preservation:

Monument. Good (completely preserved: there are fractures in the front lower part, a significant part of the upper back part is broken. In Mar and Smirnov’s photo it is fallen, in A. Mkhitaryan’s 1986 photo and other photos of E. Khanzadyan, probably dating to the 1980s it is standing: later it was fallen again. It was last erected in cement in correct orientation in around 2010 by Vishap tour company).

Image. Sufficient (all the details are preserved, upper part of right leg is missing because of a fracture).

Context. Poor (the original location is not distinctly known, the landscape is not visible in Mar and Smirnov’s photos, either). In a 1971 photo it was piled with three other dragon stones (Tokhmapan Gyol 1, 2, 3) in the central part of the lake (V. Saroyan).

Size: 205x80x22 cm (in a fallen condition according to L. Barseghyan); 157x80x22 cm (standing, now).

Original location: Territory of Vishapalich.

Current location: About 500 m north-west from the original location.

Coordinates: N 40.150746°, E 44.907775° (original location in a restored, in the area of lake Ardi); N 40.152110°, E 044.903824° (current location).

Altitude: About 2700 m

Era and chronology: Middle and Late Bronze Ages, XXIV-XIII centuries BC.

Gegharda Lich 4: Enigmatic Dragon Stone of the Geghama Mountains

The moment your eyes land on Gegharda Lich 4, it commands your full attention, enveloping you in its mystical aura that seems to whisper the legends and stories that surround it.

Like other dragon stones found exclusively in the Armenian Highlands, Gegharda Lich 4 holds a place of honor in Armenian folklore, being associated with natural phenomena, water, and mountain-dwelling giants.

And this dragon stone in particular, emerges proudly as a symbol of the extraordinary strength that emanates from the Geghama Mountains and stands as a relic from a time when legends and history intertwined

Nestled in the breathtaking landscapes of the Geghama mountains, in the vicinity of Ararat province and the charming community of Goght in Kotayk, Gegharda Lich 4, also known as Tokhmakhi Gyol, stands tall at an altitude of about 2700 meters above sea level.

Dating back to the Middle and Late Bronze Ages (XXIV-XIII centuries BC), this dragon stone is carved from brownish-yellow, fine-grained basalt.

And while it may have endured the test of time with minor fractures, Gegharda Lich 4 has been meticulously preserved. Its image remains largely intact, allowing you to witness the artistry of ancient Armenia.

FACTS

❈ Gegharda Lich 4, a dragon stone in the Armenian Highlands, captivates with its mystical aura and legends.

❈ This dragon stone is steeped in Armenian folklore, linked to natural phenomena and mountain-dwelling giants.

❈ Located in the Geghama Mountains near Goght in Kotayk, it stands proudly at 2700 meters above sea level.

❈ Dating back to the Middle and Late Bronze Ages, this brownish-yellow basalt stone showcases ancient Armenian artistry.

❈ Despite minor fractures, Gegharda Lich 4 has been meticulously preserved, preserving its historical significance.

🔍 Research history

This dragon stone is not mentioned by N. Marn and Y. Smirnov in their book, but the two photos of the monument are kept in N. Mar’s archive, proving that it was discovered by the latter perhaps in 1911 (the photos are dated to 1911 and 1912). The same Q 560-25 photo is available in B. Piotrovsky’s book, testifying that the latter did not see this dragon stone, but simply took the photo from Mar’s archive. This circumstance fully corresponds to Piotrovsky’s testimony of his expedition not managing to see the dragon stones (Piotrovsky 2008, 342) in 1932 while passing through the Geghama mountains (from Tsovinar to Geghard).

🧱 Archaeological description

Immediate
Unknown. No piles of stones are visible in N. Mar and Y. Smirnov’s photographs around the monument, although they may have been.

Related
In the vicinity (where it now stands) there are cromlechs (there is a road at one of them), petroglyphs.

🪨Subsidiary usage

It was discovered in 1962 and displaced from its original position in the 1970s (Barseghyan, Archive 1), when Vishapalich was expanded, it was later placed on an adjacent hill. It has been erected recently by the Vishap tour company (in a photo by A. Mkhitaryan in 1986 (Nature of Armenia 2, 1986, back cover); it stands on the shore of the lake, which is little different than today. This was perhaps a temporary erection as the dragon fell soon. Now it is regularly visited by tourist groups.

🌍 Significance

Vishapakar is characteristic only of the Armenian highlands and is an endemic phenomenon like khachkar. It appears at an altitude of up to 3200 m from the sea level, which is an exceptional phenomenon according to the world archeology.

📜 Traditional legends

Dragonstones carry a high level of symbolic weight. Their name is related to the ancient and new voluminous and similar legends of the population of the Armenian Highlands, where dragons are elemental characters associated with natural phenomena (especially water) and their regulation. Dragons are often associated with mountain-dwelling giants. On one hand the name could have arisen as a result of the size of the statues, and an allegorical interpretation of their iconography on the other hand.

📚 Sources

Literature

Piotrovsky 1939, tab. XI; Barseghyan 1967, N 6; Mkhitaryan 1986, fig.; Sargsyan 2005, p. 109, fig. (in a fallen condition). For petroglyphs, cf. Martirosyan 1969, 193; Martirosyan, Israelian 1971, 7; Harutyunyan et al. 2005, 22, fig. 2; Avetisyan et al. 2005, 230-231, photo 25 (in a fallen condition, photo: 2003-2004, according to B. Gasparyan):
Barseghyan L.A. 1967, The “dragons” of the Geghama Mountains, Historical Journal 4, 181-188.
Harutyunyan S., Kalantaryan A., Petrosyan H., Sargsyan G., Melkonyan H., Hobosyan S., Avetisyan P., Gasparyan B. 2005, Wine in traditional Armenian culture, Yerevan, RA NAS, 305 pages.
Martirosyan H.A. 1969a, New Monuments of the Prehistoric Culture of Armenia, Historical and Philosophical Journal 3, 191-208.
Martirosyan H.A., Israelyan H.R. 1971, Petroglyphs of Geghama mountains, B. Arakelyan. (ed.), Archaeological Monuments of Armenia 6/II, Yerevan, ASSR Academy of Siences, 81 pages.
Sargsyan G. 2005, Fundamentals of conservation of historical and cultural monuments, Yerevan, “Mughni”, 122 pages.
Piotrovsky B.B. 1939, Vishaps: stone statues in the mountains of Armenia, Leningrad, Armenian Branch of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR, 40 p.

🕰️ Archive

Mar, Archive 25, fig. Q 560-19, Q 560-25 (the same picture is reprinted in Piotrovsky 1939, tab. XI); Barseghyan, Archive 1, fig. 6 (the drawing on graph paper: according to the inscription on the back, “Discovered in 1962”, which is not true); Khanzadyan, Archive 1, fig. 71, 73 (photograph in a fallen and standing condition); Saroyan, Archive 1, fig. 1, 3.
Mar, Archive 25 – Geghama Mountains, 1908-1912, 83 photographs, 21 negatives, Photo archive of the Institute of the History of Material Culture of the Russian
Academy of Sciences, fund 23 – N.Ya. Marr.
Barseghyan, Archive 1 – Barseghyan L., Personal archive materials (photos, drawings, drawings from the 1960s), preserved at the Department of Museum
Studies and Monument Studies of the Armenian State Pedagogical University named after Kh. Abovyan. Folder 1 – “Dragons”, Yerevan.
Saroyan, Archive 1 – Materials from the personal photo archive of photographer Vladimir Saroyan.

🏛️ List of Monuments

HPS, Kotayk, Geghard 9.2; PPP (Geghard 2, description, the passport was made in 2005, it is remembered in the area of the fallen burial ground, which is true: some of the
tombs have been looted. Photos in the fallen state).