Zorats Karer near Sisian.

Zorats Karer (Zorac‘ K‘arer, Zorac Qarer, Zorakarer, Zorakar Armenian: Զորաց Քարեր), also known as Angelakot or Karahunj (K‘arahunǰ, Qarahunj, Karahundj, Քարահունջ), is a megalithic structure near the city of Sisian in the Syunik province of Armenia. see History of Armenia (Moses of Chorene for the historiographical work The Armenian Highland shows traces of settlement from the Neolithic era Hayasa-Azzi or Azzi-Hayasa was a confederation formed between the Kingdoms of Hayasa located South of Trabzon and Azzi, located North of Nairi ( Armenian: Նայիրի in TAO or Նաիրի in RAO) is the Assyrian word rivers, given from the 13th to 10th centuries BC ( Urartu ( Assyrian: Urarṭu Urartian: Biainili Ուրարտու was an Iron Age kingdom in Eastern Anatolia ( Transcaucasia) rising The Kingdom of Armenia (or Greater Armenia) was an independent kingdom from 190 BC to AD 387 and a client state of the Roman and Persian empires until The Orontid Dynasty (in Armenian: Երվանդունիների հարստություն was the first known Armenian dynasty The Kingdom of Sophene (Ծոփքի Թագավորութուն was an ancient Armenian kingdom The Artaxiad Dynasty ruled Armenia from 189 BC until their overthrow by the Romans in AD 12. The Kingdom of Commagene (Βασίλειον τῆς Kομμαγηνής Կոմմագենէի Թագավորութուն was an ancient Armenian kingdom of the Hellenistic The Arsacid Dynasty (Arshakuni Dynasty ruled the Kingdom of Armenia from 54 to 428 The medieval history of Armenia (Միջնադարյան Հայաստան covers the history of Armenia during the Middle Ages. Marzpanate period (Մարզպանական Հայաստան refers to the period in Armenian history after the fall of the Arshakuni Dynasty of Armenia Byzantine Armenia is the name given to the Armenian part of the Byzantine Empire. The Arab conquest of Armenia was a part of the Muslim conquests which began after the death of Muhammad. The Bagratuni Kingdom of Armenia (Բագրատունիների Թագավորություն also known as Bagratid Armenia, was an independent state established by Vaspurakan (also transliterated as Vasbouragan in Western Armenian; Վասպուրական meaning the "noble land" or "land of princes" was first a province The Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia (also known as Little Armenia, Kingdom of Lesser Armenia, Cilician Kingdom; Classical Armenian: Կիլիկիոյ The term Zakarid Armenia (Զաքարյան Հայաստան is used to describe territories of Armenia given to the Zakarid-Mxargrzeli princes as a Fief Persian Armenia corresponds to the Armenian territory controlled by Persia throughout history The Ottoman rule of Armenia or Ottoman Armenia begins with the initial accession of Mehmed II, and the Ottoman support to initiate the Armenian Russian Armenia ( Armenian: Ռուսական Հայաստան is the period of Armenia's history under Russian rule beginning from 1829 when Eastern Armenia The Hamidian massacres, also referred to as the Armenian Massacres of 1894-1896, refers to the massacring of Armenians by the Ottoman Empire, with estimates of the The Democratic Republic of Armenia ( DRA; Armenian: Դեմոկրատական Հայաստանի Հանրապետություն Demokratakan Hayastani Hanrapetutyun The Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic (Հայկական ՍովետականՍոցիալիստական Հանրապետություն Haykakan Sovetakan Sotsialistakan Hanrapetutyun see History of Armenia (Moses of Chorene for the historiographical work The military history of Armenia encompasses a period of several thousand years as the Armenian people have existed as a nation since the Early Bronze Age. Earliest 6000-4000 BC Neolithic cultures of the South Caucasus, such as the Shulaveri-Shomu culture. The Armenian language (hy հայերեն լեզու hajɛɹɛn lɛzu —, conventional short form) is an Indo-European language spoken by the Armenian For the town southwest of Sisian formerly also called Sisian see Hatsavan Syunik. Syunik may refer to Syunik Province Syunik (village Syunik (historic region Armenia (Հայաստան transliterated: Hayastan,) officially the Republic of Armenia (Հայաստանի Հանրապետություն Hayastani

History

According to scientist’s findings, a temple consisting of 40 stones built in honor of the Armenians’ main God, Ari, meaning the Sun, is situated in the central part of Carahunge. The Armenians (Հայեր Hayer) are a Nation and Ethnic group originating in the Caucasus and in the Armenian Highlands A large Besides the temple, it had a large and developed observatory, and also a university that makes up the temple’s wings. The structure surrounds a Bronze Age cemetery set on a natural elevation. The site was in use from the Middle Bronze Age into the Iron Age (2nd to 1st millennia BC), and contains some extraordinary chamber tombs. A chamber tomb is a Tomb for Burial used in many different Cultures In the case of individual burials the chamber is thought to signify a higher status A wall of rocks and loam was built, of which only the vertical rocks remain standing. In the Hellenistic and Roman period, the site was probably used as a fortified place of refuge.

The site has some notability in archaeoastronomy, where it is interpreted as an "ancient observatory". Archaeoastronomy (also spelled archeoastronomy) is the study of how peoples in the past "have understood the phenomena in the sky how they used phenomena Armenian physicist and archaeoastronomy enthusiast Paris Herouni dates it to the 6th millennium BC. Paris M Herouni is an Armenian professor and scientist in the fields of radio-physics radio-engineering and radio-astronomy

A similar structure is found at Metsamor. The site of Metsamor castle, near the Armenian town of Metsamor has been populated from the 5th millennium BC until the 18th century AD

See also

• Stonehenge
• Arbor Low
• Avebury
• Callanish
• Circular ditches
• Cromlech
• Dolmen
• Megaliths
• Gungywamp
• Harrespil
• List of megalithic monuments in Cork
• Photographic list of stone circles
• Long Meg and Her Daughters
• Menhir
• Mitchell's Fold
• Neolithic
• Petroforms
• Stone circle (Iron Age)
• Trilithon

References

• 2000 Survey in Southern Armenia, Institut für Vorderasiatische Archäologie, University of Munich. Stonehenge is a Prehistoric Monument located in the English county of Wiltshire, about west of Amesbury and north of Salisbury Arbor Low is a Neolithic Henge monument in the Peak District, Derbyshire, England. Avebury is the site of a large Henge and several Stone circles in the English county of Wiltshire surrounding the village of Avebury Callanish, to give its English approximation( Scottish Gaelic: Calanais) is a village (township on the West Side of the Isle of Lewis, in the About 150 arrangements of prehistoric circular ditches are known to archaeologists spread over Germany, Austria and Slovakia and the Czech Republic Cromlech is a Brythonic word ( Breton / Welsh) used to describe Prehistoric Megalithic structures where crom means "bent" A dolmen (also known as cromlech, anta, Hünengrab, Hunebed, Goindol, quoit, and portal dolmen) is a type of Gungywamp is an archaeological site in Groton Connecticut, United States, consisting of artifacts dating from 2000 - 770 BC Harrespil is the Basque name that can be translated by " Stone circle " given to small Megalithic monuments which abounds on mountains of the List of megalithic monuments in Cork Ardgroom Beenalaght Bohonagh Carrigagulla A stone circle is defined as a circular space delimited by an uneven number of purposely erected Standing stones. Long Meg and Her Daughters, also known as Maughanby Circle is the name of a Bronze Age Stone circle near Penrith in the English county A menhir is a large upright Standing stone. Menhirs may be found singly as Monoliths or as part of a group of similar stones Mitchell's Fold (sometimes called Medgel's Fold is a Bronze Age Stone circle in South-West Shropshire, located on dry heathland at the south-west end of The Neolithic (from Greek νεολιθικός — neolithikos from νέος neos, "new" + λίθος lithos Petroforms, also known as boulder outlines or boulder mosaics are human-made shapes and patterns of rocks on the open ground The Stone Circles of the Iron Age (ca 500 BC - ca 400 AD were a characteristic burial custom of southern Scandinavia especially on Gotland and in Götaland A trilithon (or trilith) is a structure consisting of two large vertical stones (posts supporting a third stone set horizontally across the top (lintel The Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich (Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München also known as LMU, is a University in Munich and with more

External links

• Armenian History - contains detailed info
• armeniainfo.am
• Karahundj - Armenia's Stonehenge
• Karahunj at ArmeniaPedia
• Zorats Karer - ancient astrological observatory