"Grandpa Peter" used to love to tell the story of an Armenian friend from Marash who would always greet him with the words, "I don't say hello to that sun up there, but I say hello to you!"
Marash Girl wonders if that was an expression left from ancient days when Armenians worshipped the sun and folks would greet the sun with "Բարեւ"! Even the greeting 'Parev' (hello in Western Armenian) appears to be a coming together of the two words good (pari) sun (arev) . . .
Interesting, especially in light (no pun intended) of the fact that sun worship characterized all the ancient cultures of the near east, typically interwoven with sexual rites, and human sacrifice. Armenians were plucked from the embers of a false religion, a morbidity, that still nfects most of the near east.
ReplyDelete