Armenian president visits Artashat archeological site, Shengavit culture reserve

Archeological excavations have been conducted in Artashat since 1970s.Armenia's President Serzh Sargsyan visited the archeological site on Wednesday.Zhores Khachatryan has been head of the archeological expedition since 1990s. Archeological excavations have been conducted in the territory of ancient Artashat since 2003. The archeologists discovered a large hall with wall paintings."Trdat I, after returning to Armenia from Rome, constructed a new temple with marble blocks in Artashat. The excavations also revealed a public bath with ten rooms," Khachatryan said.The Armenian leader also visited the Shengavit culture reserve, which is part of the Erebuni culture museum.Hakob Simonyan, Director of the Research Center for Historical and Cultural Heritage, noted that this year's most significant discovery is a building composed of a shrine and an extension."Shengavit has not so far had an important detail typical of a city. Now, however, we can say with confidence that the probability of this settlement having once been a city has considerably increased," Simonyan said.The archeological dating made in the U.S. showed the temple was built in the 27th century before Christ.Vladimir Chagharyan, Director of the Shengavit culture reserve, noted that the excavations revealed serious archeological finds. "This is a unique culture, but we can now see only 30 to 40 per cent of the original. Further excavations require serious funding," he said.   Read more... (221 words)

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