Tweet
Armenian youth launch active campaign to return Goddess Anahit's statue
16:39 - 07.03.12
Over 20,000 young people from Armenia and the Diaspora launched a
petition earlier this year to return the bronze-gilded statue of
Goddess Anahit to its historical homeland.
A crowd of young people gathered on Wednesday outside the British
Embassy in Yerevan, carrying the signatures and a written address to
the British authorities. Minister of Education Armen Ashotyan and
President of the Armenian Youth Foundation Karen Avagyan submitted the
documents to the Embassy officials.
It is noteworthy that the campaign date, which coincides with the eve
of Women's International Day, was not selected randomly. Speaking to
the crowd, Avagyan revealed that symbolic link between the two events.
`We cannot renounce Anahit,' Minister Ashotyan said, admitting that he
had numerously raised the issues at meetings with his British
colleagues both as an official and a politician, and as a citizen of
Armenia.
The petition was launched in one of the social networking sites upon
the initiative of Ashotyan. Earlier, the minister raised the issue on
his Facebook profile. The British Ambassador responded to his appeal,
not ruling out the possibility that the sculpture might be brought to
Armenia for a temporary showcase.
The fragments of the Goddess' statue were discovered in Western
Armenia in the late 19th century. They were subsequently taken to
England and have been ever since kept at the British Museum.
Anahit was the pagan goddess of fertility and healing, wisdom and
water in Armenian mythology. In early periods she was the goddess of
war. By the 5th century BC she was the main deity in Armenia along
with Aramazd.
Tert.am
16:39 - 07.03.12
Over 20,000 young people from Armenia and the Diaspora launched a
petition earlier this year to return the bronze-gilded statue of
Goddess Anahit to its historical homeland.
A crowd of young people gathered on Wednesday outside the British
Embassy in Yerevan, carrying the signatures and a written address to
the British authorities. Minister of Education Armen Ashotyan and
President of the Armenian Youth Foundation Karen Avagyan submitted the
documents to the Embassy officials.
It is noteworthy that the campaign date, which coincides with the eve
of Women's International Day, was not selected randomly. Speaking to
the crowd, Avagyan revealed that symbolic link between the two events.
`We cannot renounce Anahit,' Minister Ashotyan said, admitting that he
had numerously raised the issues at meetings with his British
colleagues both as an official and a politician, and as a citizen of
Armenia.
The petition was launched in one of the social networking sites upon
the initiative of Ashotyan. Earlier, the minister raised the issue on
his Facebook profile. The British Ambassador responded to his appeal,
not ruling out the possibility that the sculpture might be brought to
Armenia for a temporary showcase.
The fragments of the Goddess' statue were discovered in Western
Armenia in the late 19th century. They were subsequently taken to
England and have been ever since kept at the British Museum.
Anahit was the pagan goddess of fertility and healing, wisdom and
water in Armenian mythology. In early periods she was the goddess of
war. By the 5th century BC she was the main deity in Armenia along
with Aramazd.
Tert.am