Vishaps were discovered a very long time ago and are considered well studied. But not so long ago, archaeologists during excavations discovered numerous burials of vishaps. And today this riddle has not yet been solved, it is not clear to anyone for what purpose the vishap stones were buried in the ground.
And the first vishap was found in Armenia as early as the 1st millennium BC. e. It was a vishap in the shape of a fish, and was found in Imirzek.
The word "vishap" itself was borrowed from the Persian language, and in Persian mythology there were such evil dragons who were the keepers of water and were called vishaps.
And then Armenia was called very poetically - "the country of Nairi", the country of rivers. And on the territory of Armenia there have always been many waterfalls, lakes and rivers. Well, such stone statues were often installed near reservoirs and springs.
Sometimes vishaps reached 5 meters in height.
These stones come in different shapes: they have the shape of fish, the skins of a bull, there are vishaps with images of cranes or storks, sometimes they are also found with an image of a snake.
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In modern Armenian the word "vishap" - վիշապ - means "dragon". According to mythological concepts in Armenia, vishaps live in the sky, in large lakes, or on the tops of mountains, and, during a thunderstorm, celestial vishaps go down, and vishaps of mountains and lakes rise into the sky. A large vishap can swallow the Sun, which causes solar eclipses.
According to the Armenian folk epic, vishaps seize water sources and force girls to sacrifice to themselves, but they enter into a duel with them and they are defeated by national heroes. Vishap is also mentioned in Armenian fairy tales.
Today, on the territory of modern Armenia, near Lake Sevan, you can also see a mountain called Mount Vishapa.
Here, nearby, there is also Lake Vishapalich. There are also steles in Armenia called vishapakarer, which is translated into Russian as “vishapa stones”. And local residents (if desired) will tell you a lot of mysterious legends and stories about Sevan monsters.
According to one of these legends, Vishap was worshiped in a drought: it was believed that the Serpent (Dragon), dragging its long tail along the ground, indicated a place where canals could be dug.
According to another legend, it was believed that it was the vishap that blocked access to life-giving moisture and that water could only be obtained by killing this dragon. And his main rival in Armenia was the God of the Storm, who was called Vahagn here.
Later, with the adoption of Christianity, they began to call him Saint Gevorg (George). Yes, yes, we call him George the Victorious, who also kills the evil Serpent.
If you have been to Armenia, then you have never met such vishaps in the parks of Yerevan, they were transported here from the Geghama Mountains.
Armenia is called the land of stones, and, as you can see, it is no coincidence that here every stone is a witness to history, which the Armenian masters managed to turn into a unique architectural element.