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Haykian and Proto-Haykian calendars ; Navasard festival ; Armenian calendar ; Archeoastronomy
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A fundamental discovery made by the late astrophysicist and calendrical scholar Grigor Hambardzum Brutyan in the field of deciphering ancient Armenian calendars is briefly presented. Prior to his work, it was known that the Armenian calendar, inherited from the patriarch Hayk, consisted of a year composed of twelve 30-day months and five additional days known as “Avelyats” (“added” days). Through a detailed analysis of diverse ancient sources, he succeeded in demonstrating that an even older calendar had existed before it — a system which he termed the “Proto-Haykian” calendar. This discovery was later confirmed through the study of a material artifact dating to the 3rd millennium BCE — a polished clay vessel bearing impressed ornamental motifs. The “Proto-Haykian” calendar consisted of ten months of 30 days each, together with an additional transitional period of approximately 65–70 days that lay outside the principal calendrical cycle. In both calendrical systems, the principal annual festival was Navasard. It began with the heliacal rising of the venerated star, occurring seven days before the summer solstice — on June 14 in the modern calendar. The Proto-Haykian calendar was established in the 9th millennium BCE on the basis of the heliacal rising of Spica, the brightest star of the constellation Virgo, and was associated with the emergence of cereal cultivation. In contrast, the principal star of the Haykian calendar was Betelgeuse. In the Proto-Haykian system, the year commenced with the festival of Navasard, whereas during the supplementary period lying outside the formal structure of the year, the venerated star remained below the horizon and was therefore invisible in the night sky. In everyday social life, these days constituted a period associated with certain prohibitions and restrictions derived from mythological conceptions. In both the Proto-Haykian and Haykian calendars, the position of the principal festival, Navasard, remained fixed. The beginning of the year was likewise fixed in the former system, whereas in the latter it had already become movable․