Min'ni. (division). Jer_51:27.
Already noticed as a portion of Armenia. See Armenia.
Source:
Smith’s Bible Dictionary
Armenia
Arme'nia. (land of Aram). Armenia is nowhere mentioned under that name in
the original Hebrew, though it occurs in the English version, 2Ki_19:37, for Ararat.
Description. -- Armenia is that lofty plateau whence the rivers Euphrates, Tigris,
Araxes and Acampsis pour down their waters in different directions; the first
two to the Persian Gulf, the last two respectively to the Caspian and Euxine
seas. It may be termed the nucleus of the mountain system of western
Asia. From the centre of the plateau rise two lofty chains of mountains, which
run from east to west.
Divisions. -- Three districts are mentioned in the Bible.
(1) Ararat is mentioned as the place whither the sons of
Sennacherib fled. Isa_37:38. It was the
central district, surrounding the mountain of that name.
(2) Minni only occurs in Jer_51:27.
It is probably identical with the district Minyas, in the upper valley of the Murad-su
branch of the Euphrates.
(3) Togarmah is noticed in two passages of Eze_27:14; Eze_38:6
both of which are in favor of its identity with Armenia.
Present condition. -- The Armenians, numbering about two millions, are nominally
Christians. About half of them live in Armenia. Their favorite pursuit is
commerce. The country is divided, as to government, between Russia, Turkey and
Persia. -- Editor.
Source:
Smith’s Bible Dictionary
Minni
min´ī (מנּי, minnī): A kingdom mentioned in Jer_51:27, along with Ararat and Ashkenaz, as
assailants of Babylon. It is identified with the Minnai of the Assyrian
inscriptions, in close relation with, or part of, Armenia.
Source:
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia
Armenia
ar-mē´ni-a:
I. Geography
II. Ancient History
1. Turanian Armenians
Their Religion
2. Aryan Armenians: History to
114 ad
Literature
I. Geography
אררט׃, 'ărārāṭ (Sumerian Ar,
“region,” plus ar “high,” plus ṭu, “mountain,” plus “high
mountainous region”): in Assyrian, Urṭu, Urarṭu, Urasṭu:
in AEgyp, Ermenen (= “Region of the Minni”) Wiener, Origin of the
Pentateuch, Armina, Armaniya (Ἀρμενία,
Armenía): in Hecataeus of Miletus, circa 520 bc, the people are Ἀρμένιοι
(Gen_8:4; 2Ki_19:37;
Isa_37:38; Jer_51:27).
Throughout the Bible, this is a country, not a mountain. Armenia Major
was bounded on the North by the River Cyrus (Kour), Iberia, Colchis, and the
Moschici Mts.; on the West by Asia Minor and the Euphrates; on the South by
Mesopotamia and Assyria; on the East by the Caspian and Media. (Armenia Minor
lay between the Euphrates and the Halys.) Ararat was originally the name of the
central district. Most of Armenia is between 8,000 and 3,000 feet above
sea-level, and slopes toward Euphrates, Cyrus, and the Gaspian. Mt. Massis
(generally called Greater Ararat) is 16,969 ft. and Lesser Ararat, 12,840 ft.
Both are of igneous origin, as is Aragds (A'la Göz), 13,436 ft. Sulphur springs
and earthquakes still attest volcanic activity. The largest rivers are the
Euphrates, Tigris and Araxes. The latter, swift and famed for violent floods,
joins the Cyrus, which falls into the Caspian. The lakes Van, Urmi and Sevan
are veritable inland seas. The many mountain chains, impassable torrents and
large streams divide the country into districts far less accessible from one
another than from foreign lands. Hence, invasions are easy and national union
difficult. This has sadly affected the history of Armenia. Xenophon (Anab.
iv.5) describes the people as living in houses partly underground, such as are
still found. Each village was ruled by its chief according to ancient customary
laws. He well describes the severity of the winters. In summer the climate in
some places is like that of Italy or Spain. Much of Armenia is extremely
fertile, producing large herds of horses and cattle, abundant crops of cereals,
olives and fruit. It is rich in minerals, and is probably the home of the rose
and the vine.
Literature
Minas Gaphamatzean; Garagashean; Palasanean; Ĕntir
Ḥatouadsner, I; Rawlinson, Seven Anc. Monarchies; Strabo;
Xenophon; Petermann, Mittheilungen for 1871; Bryce, Transcaucasia and
Ararat.
II. Ancient History
1. Turanian Armenians
The country is first
mentioned in Gen_8:4 as the land
upon (some one of) the mountains of which Noah's Ark rested. (According to
Jewish tradition this was one of the Kurdish mountains.) It is next spoken of
by Sargon I of Agadé̄, circa 3800 bc, as among his conquests. In
early Babylonian legends Armenia figures as an almost unknown land far to the
North, full of high mountains and dense forests, containing the entrance to the
Lower World (Mād Nū-gā, “Land of No Return”).
On its borders stood Mt. Nisir where the gods dwelt and Ṣit-napistim's
“ship” stopped. This “Mountain of the World” was the present Jabal Judi, South
of Lake Van. Next came Egyptian influence. Thothmes III, in his twenty-third
year (circa 1458 bc), after a great victory over the Rutennu or Ludennu
(Mesopotamians and Lydians), received the submission of the “chiefs of Ermenen”
and others. It is remarkable that the name by which the land is still known to
foreigners (Armenians call it Ḥaiāstān) should occur
so early. In his thirty-third year, Thothmes III mentions the people of Ermenen
as paying tribute when he held his court at Nineveh, and says that in their
land “heaven rests upon its four pillars.” In Seti I's Hall of Columns at
Karnak we see the people of Ermenen felling trees in order to open a way
through their forests for that king's armies. Rameses II in his twenty-first
year, in war with Kheta-sira, king of the Hittites, probably subdued Armenia
(compare Tacitus Ann. ii.60). Many places conquered by Rameses III, and
mentioned in the Medinet Habu lists, were probably in Armenia. The Assyrian
king Uras-Pal-acur (circa 1190-1170 bc) made a raid into Armenia, and mentions
the central district (Urarṭu proper, near Lake Van), the land of
the Manna (Minni, Jer_51:27), Nahri
(“the Rivers”), Ashguza (Ashkenaz, ib), etc. Another invader was
Tiglath-pileser I (circa 1110-1090 bc). Asshut-nacir-pal in 883 bc advanced to Urarṭu.
A little later he mentions as articles of Armenian tribute chariots, horses,
mules, silver, gold, plates of copper, oxen, sheep, wine, variegated cloths,
linen garments. Again and again he carried fire and sword through the country,
but it constantly revolted. Under Shalmaneser II (860-825 bc) and afterward for
centuries wars continued. By uniting and forming powerful kingdoms (of which
the principal was Biainash around Lake Van) the Armenians resisted. Finally in
606 bc they took part in the destruction of Nineveh, and in that of Babylon
later. Shalmaneser II tells of the wickerwork coracles on Lake Van. The Balawât
bronzes depict Armenians dressed like the Hittites (to whom they were sometimes
subject) in tunics and snow-shoes with turned-up and pointed ends, wearing
helmets, swords, spears and small round shields. Sayce compares their faces in
form to the Negro type. Possibly they were Mongolians.
The founder of the kingdom
of Biainash was Sardurish I, about 840 bc, who built as his capital Tushpash,
now Van. He ruled most of Armenia, defending it against the Assyrians, and
apparently, inflicting a check on Shalmaneser II in 833 bc. He introduced the
cuneiform characters, and his inscriptions are in Assyrian. His son Ishpuinish
adapted the Assyrian syllabary to his own tongue, which bears a slight
resemblance to Georgian in some points. The next king, Menuash, has left
inscriptions almost all over Armenia, telling of his victories over the
Hittites, etc. The kingdom of Biainash reached its acme under the great monarch
Argishtish I, who succeeded in defending his country against Shalmaneser III
(783-772 bc). But in his son's reign Tiglath-pileser IV (748-727 bc: Pul)
crushed the Armenians to the dust in a great battle near Commagene in 743. Pul
failed to capture Van in 737, but he ravaged the country far and wide. Rusash
I, at the head of an Armenian confederacy, began a great struggle in 716 with
Sargon (722-705), who in 714 captured Van with Rusash's family. After 5 months'
wandering Rusash committed suicide. His brother Argishtish II to some degree
recovered independence. His successor Erimenash gave an asylum to Adrammelech
and Sharezer (Assur-sar-uṣur) in 680 (2Ki_19:37; Isa_37:38)
after the murder of their father Sennacherib. Invading Assyria in the same
year, they were defeated by Esar-haddon I. Armenia from the Cyrus River to the
South of Lake Van was ravaged by the Kimmerians (679-677). Rusash II (circa
660-645) and his son Sandurish III (the latter circa 640 or soon after)
submitted to Ashurbanipal (668-626). Nebuchadnezzar (604-561) boasts of
reaching Van in his conquests, though the Armenians had probably their share in
the destruction of Nineveh in 606. Jer (Jer_51:27)
mentioned the kingdoms of Ararat, Minni and Ashkenaz about 595, and said they
would help in the overthrow of Babylon (in 538). Cyrus had therefore probably
subdued or won them over after capturing Ekbatana (549). After this the
Turanians gradually gave place in Armenia to the Aryan Armenians of later
times.
Their Religion
The supreme god of the Turanian Armenians was Ḥaldish,
who was father of all the rest. They were styled “children of mighty Ḥaldish.”
He, with Teishbash, god of the atmosphere, and Ardinish, the Sun-god, formed
“the company of the mighty gods.” Auish, god of water; Ayash, god of the earth;
Shelardish, the Moon-god; Sardish, the Year-god; and 42 other gods are
mentioned. Sari was a goddess, probably corresponding to Ishtar. Adoration was
offered to the spirits of the dead also. Somewhat strangely, some of the divine
names we have mentioned remind one of certain Aryan (Greek and Old Pers) words,
however this may be accounted for.
Literature
Valdemar Schmidt, Assyriens og AEgyptens Gamle
Historie; Maspero, Dawn of Civilization; Rawlinson, West. Asiat.
Inscrs; Keilinschriftliche Bibliothek (Schrader, editor); Airarat,
1883; Sayce in Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society, new series, XIV; Records
of the Past; Hastings, End of Religion and Ethics, I.
2.
Aryan Armenians: History to 114 Ad
The ancestors of the present Armenians (who call
themselves Ḥaik'h, i.e. Pati-s, “Lords”) may have
settled in the country in the 8th century bc, when Sargon mentions a king of
part of Armenia who bore the Aryan name Bagadatti (= Theodore). They came from
Phrygia (Herod. vii.73), used the Phrygian dress and armor (Dion. of
Halicarnassus; Eudoxius; Herod.) and spoke the same language (Herod. i.171). In
the Bible they are called the “House of Togarmah” (Gen_10:3;
1Ch_1:6; Eze_27:14;
Eze_38:6) and “Ashkenaz” (Gen_10:3; 1Ch_1:6;
Jer_51:27; the Assyrian Ashguza), as by
their own writers of later times. Xenophon in the Cyropedia mentions a
Median conquest of Armenia, Strabo their Median attire; yet Armenian girls
could not understand Xenophon's Persian interpreter (Anab. iv.5). Three
of the four Armenians mentioned by Darius have Aryan names. The Armenians
joined the Median noble Fravartish in his revolt against Darius I (519 bc).
Much of the consequent fighting took place in Armenia, which was with
difficulty subdued (517). It formed part of Darius' thirteenth Nome, and
afterward two satrapies (apparently Armenia Major and Minor). The government
(of Armenia Major) was made hereditary in the family of Vidarna (Hydarnes) for
helping to put down Fravartish. Xenophon's interesting description of the
country and people and the severity of its winters is well known. Herodotus
tells of Armenians in skin and wicker-work coracles bringing wine, etc., to
Babylon. Xenophon says they and the Chaldeans traded with India. Strabo
mentions their caravan trade across central Asia. The satrap of Armenia had to
present 20,000 young horses annually to the king of Persia at the great annual
festival of Mithra. A large body of Armenian soldiers served in Xerxes'
invasion of Greece. At the battle of Arbela (331 bc), 40,000 of their infantry
and 7,000 cavalry took part. Armenia then became a portion of Alexander's
empire, and later of that of Seleucus (301 bc), under a native satrap,
Artavasdes. Armenia revolted after Antiochus' defeat at Magnesia (190 bc), and
the Romans encouraged the two satraps to declare themselves kings. Artaxias,
king of Armenia Major, used Hannibal's aid in fortifying his capital Artaxata
(189 bc). Artaxias was overthrown by Antiochus Epiphanes in 165, but was
restored on swearing allegiance. Civil confusion ensued. The nobles called in
the Parthians under Mithridates I (150 bc), who became master of the whole
Persian empire. He made his brother Valarsaces king of Armenia. Thus the
Arsacide dynasty was established in that country and lasted till the fall of
the Parthian empire (226 ad), the Armenian kings very generally recognizing the
Parthian monarchs as their suzerains. The greatest Armenian king was Tigranes
I. (96-55 bc), a warrior who raised Armenia for a time to the foremost position
in Asia. He humbled the Parthians, joined Mithridates VI in war with Rome,
ruled Syria for over 14 years, built near Mardin as his capital Tigranocerta,
and assumed the Assyrio-Persian title of “King of Kings.” Lucullus defeated
Tigranes and destroyed Tigranocerta in 69 bc. Tigranes surrendered to Pompey
near Artaxata (66 bc), paid 6,000 talents, and retained only Armenia. Under him
Greek art and literature flourished in the country. Armenia as a subjectally of
Rome became a “buffer state” between the Roman and Parthian empires. Tigranes'
son and successor Artevasdēs joined in the Parthian invasion of
Syria after Crassus' overthrow at Sinnaca 53 bc. He treacherously caused great
loss to Antony's army in 36 bc. Antony carried him in chains to Egypt, where
Cleopatra put him to death in 32 bc. After this, Armenia long remained subject
to the Romans whenever not strong enough to join the Parthians, suffering much
from intrigues and the jealousy of both powers. There is no proof of the later
Armenian story that Armenia was subject to Abgarus, king of Edessa, in our
Lord's time, and that the gospel was preached there by Thaddaeus, though the
latter point is possible. In 66 ad, Tiridates, elder brother of the Parthian
king Vologēsēs, having defeated the Romans under Paetus and
established himself on the throne of Armenia, went by land to Rome and received
investiture from Nero. Peace between Rome and Parthia ensued, and Armenia
remained closely united to Parthia till Trajan's expedition in 114 ad.
Literature
Spiegel, Altpers. Keilinschriften;
Herodotus; Xenophon; Arrian; Tacitus; Velleius Patroculus; Livy; Polybius;
Ammianus Marcellinus.
Source:
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia
Minni
Only in Jer_51:27, as the name
of a province in Armenia, which was at this time under the Median kings.
Armenia is regarded by some as = Har-minni i.e., the mountainous country of
Minni. (See ARMENIA.)
Source:
Easton’s Bible Dictionary
Armenia
High land, occurs only in Authorized Version, 2Ki_19:37; in Revised Version, “Ararat,” which is the Hebrew
word. A country in western Asia lying between the Caspian and the Black Sea.
Here the ark of Noah rested after the Deluge (Gen_8:4).
It is for the most part high table-land, and is watered by the Aras, the Kur,
the Euphrates, and the Tigris. Ararat was properly the name of a part of
ancient Armenia. Three provinces of Armenia are mentioned in Jer_51:27, Ararat, Minni, and Ashchenaz. Some,
however, think Minni a contraction for Armenia. (See ARARAT.)
Source:
Easton’s Bible Dictionary