Upstream of the Azat River in the area of the Geghard Monastery, on the slopes of Mount Ararat, stone statues were found depicting ancient mythological creatures. They are popularly called dragon stones or vishaps.
In 1909, N. Ya. Marr and Ya. I. Smirnov, while carrying out archaeological excavations in Garni in Armenia, heard from local residents about stone vishaps lying high in the mountains on summer camps. Scientists went to the mountains of the Geghama ridge and really discovered megalithic stone statues on a high-mountain roaming, which the Armenians called Vishapner, and the local Kurds called Azhdaha-yurt.
Most of the megaliths were fish-shaped. The largest one reached 4.75 meters with a width of about half a meter. All vishaps were thrown to the ground, some of them had to be dug up. By 1910, 27 identical visups were found at the sites of the Geghama ridge. Soon, similar sculptures were found in southern Georgia and eastern Turkey, as well as in other regions of Armenia, in particular, near Lake Sevan, at the foot of Mount Aragats.
All discovered vishaps were carved from solid stone - basalt. The height of the visups ranges from three to five meters. Some of them are fish-shaped, more often a catfish - there are eyes, scales, tail and gills. There are vishaps in the form of a sitting bull, whose head rests between the front legs - probably sacrificed.
Vishap - a dragon with a bull's head. Photos from the site: bestiary.us
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Sometimes only the skin of an animal (bull or ram) is depicted, stretched out on stakes. Some vishaps contain relief images of streams of water (sometimes pouring out of the mouths of bulls), long-legged birds and snakes.
Scientists associate vishaps with ancient cults of fertility and water, since almost all of them were found near mountain springs or with the remains of ancient irrigation structures. Initially, vishaps were deities or spirits of water. Over time, the image of vishaps has undergone changes and has become associated with evil spirits, dragons, while retaining the original connection with water. In modern Armenian, the word "vishap" means "dragon".
The exact age of megaliths is difficult to determine due to the absence of ancient settlements and organic remains near them, which can be subjected to radiocarbon analysis. Initially, scientists assumed that the origin of the vishaps dates back to the 1st millennium AD, so the vishap discovered in Azhdaha-yurt contained an image of a cross and an Armenian inscription dated to the 13th century AD. However, in 1963, a vishap was discovered with an earlier Urartian cuneiform, which allows the vishaps to be dated to the 1st – 2nd millennium BC. e.
An interesting fact is that, according to the stories of local residents, vishaps were tombstones on the graves of ancient Oghuz (giants). However, the archaeological expedition did not find the remains of the cemeteries, but traces of water channels were found.