Mount Ararat with the historic Khor Virap monastery visible at center-left

Mythology

Astghik was the Armenian goddess of love, beauty, and water, associated in pre-Christian sources with the city of Artashat. She fulfills functions paralleling both the Iranian Anahita and the Hellenistic Aphrodite. Her cult left a trace in the Vardavar water-festival, which preserves the water-blessing symbolism central to her mythology.

Astghik was the Armenian goddess of love, beauty, and water, associated in pre-Christian sources with the city of Artashat. She fulfills functions paralleling both the Iranian Anahita and the Hellenistic Aphrodite. Her cult left a trace in the Vardavar water-festival, which preserves the water-blessing symbolism central to her mythology.

629Mythology