Celestial Maps of Gegham Mountain: The Unique Rock Art of Armenia

In the volcanic Gegham and Vardenis Mountains of Armenia, architect Suren Petrosyan discovered unique and mysterious astrological rock art paintings.

Experts have different opinions on the creation chronology of the rock art paintings found in the basin of Lake Sevan and along the slopes of Mount Aragats. Some think these rock art paintings were created in the third to second millennium BC, others claim about the fifth to fourth millennium BC, and there are researchers who date them to 10th millennium BC. It is not surprising, since the study and chronology of rock art paintings is very difficult.

The dramatic volcanic landscape of the Gegham Mountains, Armenia (MEDIACRAT, CC BY-SA 3.0)

However, there is no doubt that these rock art paintings illustrating stellar maps have thousands of years’ history.

When you visit the mountains where these astrological paintings—some made with a natural paint made of red volcanic mineral, others carved into the rock—have been created, immediately you notice the wide skies which seem almost too close to the Earth. The starry sky is especially clear and bright, which inspires one to go back to the past and for a moment to appear beside our ancestors, and see how they saw.