1

Individual work
Faculty of Social Sciences
Department: Psychology
Course: 2
Subject: English
Topic: Ancient Armenian wedding
Lecturer: L. Avetyan
Student: A. Aydinyan
 2

1. In ancient times, people got married at an early age, basically the boy had to be 17 and
the girl 18.The guardianship ceremony was led by a man, because it was not a woman's
job. This process took place in the evening, so that the neighbors would not see. In the
past, the girl's parents did not give their consent during the first visit, as this would
mean that the girl has a problem. In the past, when the girl's parents they said they
would think about it, so they would give their consent a second time.
2. 2. The third meeting involved a conversation about engagement. From this moment on,
the girl is forbidden to meet the groom. The girl's mother secretly accepted the boy
from her husband on the condition that he touch the girl. Fathers, when they found out
that their daughter likes a boy, would start a fight. The engagement was followed by
the wedding ceremony, which took place at the bride's house. On that day, the groom's
family brought many gifts to the bride, and since the second half of the 20th century it
became a tradition to give a diamond ring.
3. 3. No Armenian wedding takes place without the lavash baking process, lavash was
baked in both the bride's and groom's families. The ceremony was attended by close
friends of the bride and groom, who sang and danced and sprinkled each other with
flour. The guests threw sweets, dried fruits, nuts at each other. In some regions of
Armenia, only women participated in the lavash baking ceremony. It should be noted
that the ceremony of throwing lavash on the shoulders of the newlyweds has been
preserved even today.
4. 4. The agreement between the parents of the bride and the groom should be signed
before the engagement. In some regions of Armenia, for example, Shirak and Alashkert,
this process was carried out in a rather unique way: the heads of families baked lavash.
At the same time, as a rule, the priest was also present at all this, who stood between
the two men, blessed them, after which the heads of the family pulled the end of the
wrapped lavash. This action means that from now on they will share their bread with
each other. As for bread, we know that our ancestors always treated it with great
respect.
5. 5. It should be noted that the negotiations between the two families were carried out
through a "caretaker". During these negotiations, the wedding day, the number of
guests, and how much and what kind of fabric the groom should buy to sew the bride's
dress were discussed. This tradition is called "draw". The process of sewing the bride's
dress was also celebrated with a solemn ceremony. Good tailors and close relatives
were invited to the bride's house.
6. 6. One of the important ritual preparations was the slaughtering of an ox - "immortuk",
because wedding tables are decorated with ox meat dishes. The ox was slaughtered
according to a special protocol. the first blow to the animal was given to the groom,
who was called the king during the wedding. It should be noted that it was impossible
 3

to see an ox at the wedding tables, because mostly a bull was slaughtered, because it
was considered a symbol of fertility. The sacrificial ceremony was held on Friday.
7. 7. According to tradition, the groom should also bathe. This process took place when
the young men gathered in one place, after which the groom bathed the bridegroom.
The groom and his friend were seated next to each other and water was poured over
them. According to this ritual, the groom separated from his bachelor friends and
entered a new life. The groom's friend also acted as bodyguard for the groom and the
bride, holding the sword and the wedding tree. In Kavor's house, the groom was
dressed and the tree was decorated with willow branches, which also symbolized
fertility. The tree was decorated with fruits and sweets, and a candle was placed on top.
8. 8. One of the most vivid traditional wedding ceremonies was the chicken stealing
process. According to this tradition, there should also be a "fox" at the wedding, whose
role was played by the liveliest boy from the groom's clan. The wedding fox had to steal
a chicken from the bride's family and announce the groom's arrival, after which he had
to be the first to tell the groom's mother the news of the bride's arrival. And the
gathered young people had to do everything so that the news was reported late.
9. 9. Next is the process of dressing the bride in her holiday dress. According to tradition,
the groom's relatives led by the groom came to the bride's house, and the youngest
woman, whose first child was a boy, began to dress the bride. During this time, the
gathered ladies performed songs in honor of the bride. During the dressing ceremony,
the bride's hair was braided, it is a symbol of femininity and maturity.
10. 10. The wedding ceremony was also celebrated in the church with great pomp. The
ceremony was accompanied by singing and dancing, and shots were fired in the air to
scare away evil spirits. During this time, no one was allowed to pass between the bride
and groom. In the church, the priest tied green and red braided threads around the
neck, forehead and hands of the bride and groom, fixing beeswax on the ends of the
threads. The crowning ceremony took place after 3 or 7 days. The priest himself came
to the house of the newlyweds, they knelt down and prayed. At the same time, they
took out the red and green threads, the fruits and sweets from the wedding tree.
11. 11. The wedding ceremony should be fun, therefore, according to tradition, the
groom's father and mother staged a fight, where the woman had to win. all the guests
started laughing, singing and cheering, isn't there anything more fun than a wife
defeating her husband in a fight? During this period, songs were also played about how
the daughter-in-law should beat her mother-in-law. Since the wedding was quite
serious, the ceremony was often interspersed with small humorous performances
12. 12. A luxurious table and abundant hospitality were not only the hallmarks of a
traditional Armenian wedding, but also the honor of the parents, especially the groom's
parents. Matters of hospitality were taken particularly seriously. First, adults who were
 4

great hosts were chosen so they could calculate how much of what was needed, after
which the groom's family sent the bride's family everything they needed to prepare for
the event.
13. The day before the wedding
14. The joy began on the first day of the wedding. The whole village and relatives gathered
at the bride's house and prepared festive bread lavash and gatha. Only married and
happy women should participate in the preparation. "It was believed that their
happiness would be transferred to the bride."
15. Lavash was given special attention because it symbolized fertility. On the day of the
wedding, the future mother-in-law threw lavash on their shoulders, wishing them
fertility, and gave them a spoonful of honey so that their lives would be as sweet as
honey.
16.
17. After baking lavash, they moved on to baking sweet gatha. The dough was decorated
with patterns. On the wedding day, the bride had to throw the pomegranate on the
ground. the more seeds that fell out of the fruit, the more children that woman would
have. Before the wedding ceremony, it was customary to test the strength of the
groom by offering him to break the clay jar with one blow of his hand."It was believed
that in this way the groom not only proves that he is ready to marry, but also repels evil
spirits."
18. The bride also had to break a plate at the threshold of the new house to protect herself
from the evil eye and ward off evil spirits. By the way, this tradition is still valid today.
19. Wedding dress
In ancient times, the bride's dress was not white, and the wedding ring could also be
worn on the thumb.The bride's wedding dress was made of red and green cloth. "The
bridegroom and the bride became king and queen for a day, so they had to be
impeccably dressed, the dresses had to be made of the best fabrics, and the jewelry
had to be gold or silver, depending on the social status of the family." . The red color of
the woman's dress symbolized fire, passion. The green color of men's clothes
symbolized fertility. The wedding dress was completed with a belt and an apron. The
red or purple belt was made of silk, and a golden inscription was made on it. The apron
could be of a different color, but definitely with patterns that should protect the bride
from the evil eye. Special attention was paid to the headdress, which presented a pearl
chain with gold or silver coins. The bride had to wear a lot of jewelry so that their jingle
while walking would drive away evil spirits. The wedding dress was blessed by the
priest.
The wedding celebration started early in the morning and lasted until sunset. They
followed the bride with gifts and loud music. The bride's family should not be as happy
 5

as the groom's side. The groom's relatives start dancing and rejoicing, after which the
bride's relatives come out and give them gifts, after which the guests go to the bride's
room, where the bridegroom turns the veil 7 times wishing for hope, faith. , love.
Meanwhile, one of the bride's relatives steals a pair of the bride's shoes. Cavorkin
distributes candies to the guests, after which Cavorkin gives money and takes the shoe,
and the bride's brother comes to put on the shoe, putting money in it. The bride's
brother closed the door of the house with a sword and left the new relatives only after
the groom's father, godfather or the groom himself gave money. A boy was placed on
the bride's lap so that the first child would be a boy. After this ceremony, the couple
goes to the church and receives God's blessing.
In ancient times, the bride was seated separately with other women, she had to
overcome a number of tests. For example, a broom or other object was placed on the
chair to test how attentive he was. During the wedding, they served harissa, khashlama
and pilaf, on which they put chicken. Barbecue was also one of the inseparable dishes,
which has kept its place in wedding feasts to this day. There were obligatory toasts. the
toasts started with a toast of a pair of flowers. One of the typical wedding dances was
the tamzara, during which the couple stood in the middle while others danced around
them, praising the couple. They also danced at the end of the wedding. They danced
various dances until dawn.
After the wedding, the parents gave the girl a dowry, clothes, jewelry for all occasions,
the bride's relatives took out all the gifts and showed them to the guests. The girl's
parents would see the girl after 7 days.