World Oldest Shoe Found in Armenia

In the late 2008 and early 2009 the world became aware of discovery of the most ancient human brain in Armenia (see detailed report here). Now Armenia has another surprise - the most ancient shoe ever discovered has been kept in a cave in Southern Armenia for more than 5500 years.

 
You are welcome to read more about this here:

• Walking History: Scientists find “world’s oldest leather shoe” in Armenia - Psalm Tours
• Armenian cave yields what may be world's oldest leather shoe - CNN
• 'Oldest leather shoe' discovered - BBC

Armenia Leading the Top 10 List of Emerging Faith-based Destinations

Kevin J. Wright, president of the World Religious Travel Association, has just published an article with Leisure Group Travel on Top 10 Emerging Destinations in Faith-based Tourism:

1. Armenia
2. Colombia
3. Lebanon
4. Syria
5. India
6. Cyprus
7. Palestine
8. Ethiopia
9. Poland
10. Canada (Quebec)

 In his note about Armenia Kevin rights:

"Armenia, in the Caucasus region of Southwestern Asia, is the embodiment of what it means to be an emerging faith-based destination. The country is off the radar of the average North American traveler, yet it possesses some of the most enviable religious travel attributes of any place on earth".

"Armenia is featured in the first book of the Bible and it’s where you can view Mt. Ararat, the site where Noah’s Ark landed, according to Genesis 8:4. In addition, Armenia has the distinction of being the first country to adopt the Christian faith (301 A.D.) and being evangelized by two of Jesus’ apostles (Bartholomew and Thaddeus). Ancient monasteries are among its top attractions".

"Armenia serves not only as an ideal pilgrimage destination, but also offers a multitude of travel experiences for people of faith, including mission trips, volunteer vacations and cultural/ historic touring. Armenia has recently begun reaching out to the faith-based travel marketplace. As such, it’s only a matter of time until Armenia is properly catalogued as one of  the leading countries for religious travel" (Read the full article here).

Explore Biblical Armenia - The Land of Noah

The World Religious Travel Association (WRTA) published a video presentation of Armenia in its Youtube page.

As for the description of the video you can read the following:

"Come and discover Armenia...the Land of Noah and the First Christian Country. The president of the World Religious Travel Association, Kevin J. Wright, invites you on a scenic journey through this remarkable land of the Bible. You'll be inspired and ready to pack your bags for Armenia!"

So you are welcome to watch the video below:

Why Armenians Celebrate Christmas on January 6

"Armenian Christmas," as it is popularly called, is a culmination of celebrations of events related to Christ's Incarnation. Theophany or Epiphany (or Astvadz-a-haytnootyoon in Armenian) means "revelation of God," which is the central theme of the Christmas Season in the Armenian Church.

The major events that are celebrated during the Armenian Christmas season are the Nativity of Christ in Bethlehem and His Baptism in the River Jordan. The day of this major feast in the Armenian Church is January 6th. At the end of the solemn Christmas Divine Liturgy, a ceremony called "Blessing of Water" is held in the Church to commemorate Christ's Baptism.

It is frequently asked as to why Armenians do not celebrate Christmas on December 25th with the rest of the world. Obviously, the exact date of Christ's birth has not been historically established - it is neither recorded in the Gospels. However, historically, all Christian churches celebrated Christ's birth on January 6th until the fourth century.

According to Roman Catholic sources, the date was changed from January 6th to December 25th in order to override a pagan feast dedicated to the birth of the Sun, which was celebrated on December 25th. At the time Christians used to continue their observance of these pagan festivities. In order to undermine this pagan practice, the church hierarchy designated December 25th as the official date of Christmas and January 6th as the feast of Epiphany.

However, Armenia was not affected by this change for the reason that there were no such pagan practices in Armenia, on that date, and the fact that the Armenian Church independent from the Roman Church. Remaining faithful to their Church traditions, Armenians continue to celebrate Christmas on January 6th until today.


Source: oriental_orthodoxy@yahoogroups.com

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