Comparative studying of Iranian and Armenian Myths focused on Mithra

Author

NAZAR Research Center

Abstract

Iran and Armenia have enjoyed widespread political, historical, and cultural relations over millennial. Armenia came under the rule of Iranian emperor since the Medes; from then they were politically, culturally, and religiously touched. The religious effect of Iranian on Armenian was sustained up to the middle third-century by Gregory the Illuminator until Armenian turned into Christianity. Considering that Iranians and Armenians are siblings and regarding the geographical proximity, it seems that the two nations were mutually interacting in different areas including religions and beliefs. Therefore, the purpose of the present research is to study the status of “Mitra” in the ancient Iranian and Armenian beliefs and to analyze the effect of Iranian Mithraism on Mithraism tendency in Armenia prior Christianity.

Keywords