List of ancient Armeno-Phrygian peoples and tribes

This is a list of the hypothetical Armeno-Phrygian peoples and tribes. Armeno-Phrygians is the name given to the hypothetical common ancestors of both Phrygians and Armenians.

Even if Armenians are not more closely related to the Phrygians, some scholars think that there is some closer connection from common ancestors between Greeks, Phrygians and Armenians and their languages that between them and other Indo-European peoples (as the model tree of Donald Ringe and Tandy Warnow).

Regardless of their Ethnogenesis, Armenians (հայեր - Hayer or Հայք - Hayq or Hayk - Հայկ - self name in their own language) are one of the oldest ethnic groups that live until modern times, they live or lived in the Armenian Highlands and eastern Asia Minor or Anatolia, in the historical regions of Armenia, and today's Armenia for about or more than three millennia, by this standard they are clearly a native people of their land. Like many other, or even most, ethnic groups, Armenian ethnogenensis and origin was the result of a complex process and blend between older and later peoples that formed a new ethnic identity.^[1][2][3][4]

Ancestors

Map 1: Indo-European migrations as described in The Horse, the Wheel, and Language by David W. Anthony

• Proto-Indo-Europeans (Proto-Indo-European speakers)
  • Proto-Graeco-Phrygians (Proto-Graeco-Phrygian speakers)
    • Proto-Graeco-Armenians (Proto-Graeco-Armenian speakers)

Possible Direct Ancestors

Map 2: Paleo-Balkan peoples and their languages between the 5th and 1st century BC.

• Graeco-Phrygians
  • Hellenics
    • (?) Ancient Macedonians
    • Proto-Greeks
      • Ancient Greeks (esp. speakers of northern dialects)
  • (?) Paeonians / Paeones There are different views and still no agreement among scholars about the Paeonians' ethnic and linguistic kinship. Some such as Wilhelm Tomaschek and Paul Kretschmer claim that the language spoken by the Paeonians belonged to the Illyrian family, while Dimitar Dechev claims affinities with Thracian. Irwin L. Merker considers that the language spoken by the Paeonians was closely related to Greek (and ancient Macedonian if it was a distinct language from ancient Greek), a Hellenic language with "a great deal of Illyrian and Thracian influence as a result of this proximity".^[5]
    • Agrianes^[6] (also, Agriani and Agrii) (it is also claimed that this tribe was Thracian)
    • Almopians^[7] (also Almopioi)
    • Derrones^[8] (also Derroni) (it is also claimed that this tribe was Thracian)
    • Doberes^[9]
    • Laeaeans^[6] (also Laeaei and Laiai)
    • Odomantes^[10] (also Odomanti) (it is also claimed that this tribe was Thracian)^[11]
    • Paeoplae^[12]
    • Siropaiones^[13]
  • (?) Phrygians (Armeno-Phrygians? Part of the larger and older Graeco-Phrygians?)

Possible Armeno-Phrygians

Map 3: Historical Armenia, 150 BC

Map 4: The location of Ayrarat in Greater Armenia, a core Province in Ancient Armenia.

May have been part of the older and larger Graeco-Phrygians.

• Armeno-Phrygians (Bryges-Phryges-Mushki) (Armeno-Phrygian speakers)
  • Bryges (Bryges, Mygdones and Pieres) (Haemus Mons or Balkan Phrygians)
    • Bryges Proper
    • Mygdones (in Mygdonia)
    • Pieres (originally in Pieria, later in Pieris)
  • Mushki (Mysians, Phrygians and Proto-Armenians) (Asia Minor Phrygians) (they may have entered Asia Minor in the Bronze Age collapse and also migrated eastward to Eastern Anatolia (Eastern Asia Minor); Eastern Mushki may have been identical with Phrygians or related to them and they possibly blended with local populations and formed Proto-Armenians).^[14] Other scholars, such as Aram Kossian have a different view and consider a native origin for the Eastern Mushki.^[15]
    • Western Mushki (Mysians and Phrygians)
      • Mysians (Mushki) (Coastal Phrygians) (they lived in Mysia)
      • Phrygians (Inland Phrygians) (they lived in Phrygia)
    • Eastern Mushki (Moschoi / Moscheni / Meshech) (Proto-Armenians?)
      • Meskhi (a Mushki tribe that lived in Moschia or Meskheti, assimilated by the Proto-Kartvelians?) (ancestors of most of the Meskhetians)
      • Proto-Armenians (possibly descendants of an eastward Mushki according to some scholars,^[2][14] or from an early native origin, Eastern Mushki may have been a people of different origin from the Western Mushki, according to other scholars)^[15]
        • Armenians

Possible Armenian peoples or contributors to the Armenians’ ethnogenesis

• Hayasa-Azzians (in Hayasa-Azzi, roughly in later Upper Armenia) (the name “Hayasa” may have been an early form of “Hay” or "Hayots" - Armenians or Armenians')
• Nairi (a tribal confederation in the Armenian Highlands)
• Subartians / Shuprians / Armanians (in Subartu and Arme-Shupria, Arme or Armani and Shupria)

Armenians, Hurro-Urartians or Kartvelians

• Diauehi / Daiaeni (Diauekhi / Diaeni / Taochoi / Tayk / Tao / Tao-Klarjeti)

Contributors to the Armenians’ ethnogenesis (Non-Armenian in origin)

• Hurro-Urartians (peoples speakers of the Hurro-Urartian languages)
  • Hurrians
  • Hurri-Mitanni (a possibly Indo-Aryan Indo-European people was the founder or one of the founders of the Kingdom of Mitanni; they possibly spoke the Mitanni-Aryan language, which was closely related to Sanskrit; they blended with older local Hurrians)
  • Urartians (founders of the Kingdom of Urartu; Proto-Armenians may have been part of the population of this kingdom since earlier times, well before its fall at the end of the 7th century BC.)^[14][16][17]

Criticism

A number of linguists have rejected a close relationship between Armenian and Phrygian, despite saying that the two languages do share some features.^{[18][19][20][21][22]} Phrygian is now classified as a centum language more closely related to Greek than Armenian, whereas Armenian is mostly satem.^[23]

Recent research suggests that there is lack of archaeological^[24] and genetic evidence^[25] for a group from the Balkans entering eastern Asia Minor or the Armenian Highlands during or after the Bronze Age Collapse (as was suggested by Diakonoff).

See also

• Armeno-Phrygians
• Origin of the Armenians
• Armenians
• Armenian language
• Armeno-Phrygian languages
• Armenian hypothesis
• Sea peoples
• Bronze Age collapse
• Urartu
• History of Armenia
• Ancient Armenia
• List of regions of ancient Armenia

References

1. PETROSYAN, Armen. (2007). "The Problem of Identification of Proto-Armenians: A Critical Review." in Journal of the Society for the Armenian Studies (JSAS), vol. 16
2. "The Armenians according to Diakonoff, are then an amalgam of the Hurrian (and Urartians), Luvians [Luwians] and the Proto-Armenian Mushki who carried their IE [Indo-European] language eastwards across Anatolia. After arriving in its historical territory, Proto-Armenian would appear to have undergone massive influence by the languages it eventually replaced. Armenian phonology, for instance, appears to have been greatly affected by Urartian, which may suggest a long period of bilingualism." in "Armenians" in Adams, Douglas Q. (1997). Encyclopedia of Indo-European Culture. Taylor & Francis. ISBN 978-1-884964-98-5.
3. "Armenian (People) | Description, Culture, History, & Facts | Britannica". 31 July 2024.
4. "Armenia | Geography, Population, Map, Religion, & History | Britannica".
5. "The Ancient Kingdom of Paionia". Balkan Studies 6. 1965.
6. Early symbolic systems for communication in Southeast Europe, Part 2 by Lolita Nikolova, ISBN 1-84171-334-1, 2003, page 529, "eastern Paionians (Agrianians and Laeaeans)"
7. The Landmark Thucydides: A Comprehensive Guide to the Peloponnesian War by Thucydides, Robert B. Strassler, Richard Crawley, and Victor Davis Hanson, 1998, ISBN 0-684-82790-5, page 153,"... of them still live round Physcasb- and the Almopians from Almopia.
8. The Cambridge Ancient History, Martin Percival Charlesworth, ISBN 0-521-85073-8, ISBN 978-0-521-85073-5 Volume 4, Persia, Greece and the Western Mediterranean, C. 525 to 479 B.C, John Boardman, page 252, "The Paeonians were the earlier owners of some of these mines, but after their defeat in the coastal sector they maintained their independence in the mainland and coined large denominations in the upper Strymon and the Upper Axius area in the names of the Laeaei and the Derrones"
9. The Histories (Penguin Classics) by Herodotus, John M. Marincola, and Aubery de Selincourt, ISBN 0-14-044908-6, 2003, page 452, "... Then he passed through the country of the Doberes and Paeoplae (Paeonian tribes living north of Pangaeum), and continued in a ..."
10. An Inventory of Archaic and Classical Poleis: An Investigation Conducted by The Copenhagen Polis Centre for the Danish National Research Foundation by Mogens Herman Hansen and Thomas Heine Nielsen, 2005, ISBN 0-19-814099-1, page 854, ... Various tribes have occupied this part of Thrace: Bisaltians (lower Strymon valley), Odomantes (the plain to the north of the Strymon) ...
11. Thrace in the Graeco-Roman world, p. 112 but others claim that together with the Agrianes and Odomanti, at least the latter of which were with certainty Thracian, not Paeonian.
12. The Histories (Penguin Classics) by Herodotus, John M. Marincola, and Aubery de Selincourt, ISBN 0-14-044908-6, 2003, page 315, ... "was that a number of Paeonian tribes – the Siriopaeones, Paeoplae, ..."
13. The Histories (Penguin Classics) by Herodotus, John M. Marincola, and Aubery de Selincourt, ISBN 0-14-044908-6, 2003, page 315, "... was that a number of Paeonian tribes – the Siriopaeones, Paeoplae, ..."
14. I. M. Diakonoff The Problem of the Mushki Archived August 25, 2011, at the Wayback Machine in The Prehistory of the Armenian People
15. Kossian, Aram V. (1997), The Mushki Problem Reconsidered, p. 262
16. Hrach Martirosyan “Origins and historical development of the Armenian language” (p. 7-9) in Journal of Language Relationship, International Scientific Periodical, n.º10 (2013). Russian State University for the Humanities, Institute of Linguistics of the Russian Academy of Sciences.
17. Martirosyan, Hrach (2014). "Origins and Historical Development of the Armenian Language" (PDF). Leiden University: 1–23. Retrieved 5 August 2019. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
18. Bartomeu Obrador Cursach. "On the place of Phrygian among the Indo-European languages." Journal of Language Relationship. 2019. https://www.academia.edu/42660767/On_the_place_of_Phrygian_among_the_Indo_European_languages
19. Clackson, J. P. T., 2008, “Classical Armenian”, in Woodard, R. D., The Ancient Languages of Asia Minor, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 124–143
20. Martirosyan, H., 2013, “The place of Armenian in the Indo-European language family: the relationship with Greek and Indo-Iranian”, Journal of Language Relationship10, 85—13
21. Hamp, Eric P. (August 2013). "The Expansion of the Indo-European Languages: An Indo-Europeanist's Evolving View" (PDF). Sino-Platonic Papers.
22. Kim, Ronald (2018). "Greco-Armenian: The persistence of a myth". Indogermanische Forschungen. The University of British Columbia Library.
23. "On the place of Phrygian among the Indo-European languages." Journal of Language Relationship. 2019. https://www.academia.edu/42660767/On_the_place_of_Phrygian_among_the_Indo_European_languages
24. Kossian, Aram V. (1997), "The Mushki Problem Reconsidered." pp. 260-261
25. Haber, Marc; Mezzavilla, Massimo; Xue, Yali; Comas, David; Gasparini, Paolo; Zalloua, Pierre; Tyler-Smith, Chris (2015). "Genetic evidence for an origin of the Armenians from Bronze Age mixing of multiple populations". European Journal of Human Genetics. 24 (6): 931–6.