Haig Nahabed (Patriarch) (2107-2027 B.C.) Also spelled "Hayg" 

By Gevork Nazaryan

ne of the greatest folk epics in Armenian History is the Epic of Haig, forefather and establisher of the first Armenian kingdom in third millenium B.C. The Father of Armenian History, Movses Khorenatsi (Moses of Khorene), wrote the epic from the oral tradition of the troubadours in the Fifth Century AD. The epic story tells us of Haig, the chieftain of the tribe of Armens (Arymins) one of the most powerful, organized and biggest of the Armenian tribes in Armenian Highland and as well as Northern Mesopotamia (Armenian Mesopotamia).

Haig organizes Armens and as well as the other kinfolk tribes against the invading forces of Semitic Bel (Baal) of Babylon attacking from Mesopotamia into the Land of Ararat. As the Great Armenian Calendar (Armenian Traditional Date or Calendar of Vahagn) tells us it was August 11 in the year 2492 BC (according to our Gregorian count) in a battle that takes place near the shores of sacred Lake Van, Haig fires a triple headed broad arrow from his long bow into the chest of Bel of Babylon. The ample arrow splits the breastplate of Bel, who falls to the ground and dies on the spot, being hit by the powerful force of the impact. The "unorganized horde" as the Father of History calls the army of Bel, flees in the face of the death of their leader. Thus Armenia successfully holds her freedom by crushing the foreign invasion from the South.

Haig calls on his kinsmen to unite into one single nation and kingdom in order to defend and to continue cultivate, improve and enrich the ancestral homeland. Haig establishes a town - Haigashen which becomes the nucleus of the united Armenians. Haig also places his sons in charge of strategically important areas of Armenia to guard and prevent any further hostilities from Mesopotamia or elsewhere.