Armenian Paganism 

The content of this summary is a variation of a prededing aticle titled Armenian Religion located above in the Asian ethnic religion section. Armenian mythology originated in ancient Indo-European traditions. The pantheon of Armenian gods, initially worshipped by Proto-Armenians, inherited their essential elements from the religious beliefs and mythologies of the Proto-Indo-Europeans and peoples of the Armenian highlands. Historians distinguish a significant body of Indo-European language words which were used in Armenian pagan rites. The oldest cults are believed to have worshipped a creator called Ar (or possibly Ara), embodied as the sun (Arev or Areg). The ancient Armenians called themselves "children of the sun". Also among the most ancient types of Indo-European-derived worship are the cults of eagles, lions, and of the sky. After the establishment of Iranian dominance in Armenia in the 1st millennium BCE, Zoroastrianism was a major influence on Armenian religion. Until the late Parthian period, the Armenian lands practiced a syncretic form of Mazdaism which mixed Iranian religious concepts with traditional Armenian beliefs. For example, the supreme god of the Armenian pantheon, Vanatur, was later replaced by Aramazd (the Parthian form of Ahura Mazda). However, the Armenian version of Aramazd preserved many native Armenian aspects. Similarly, the traditional Armenian goddess of fertility, Nar, was replaced by Anahit, which may derived from Persian Anahita, even though the Armenian goddess was distinct from her Iranian counterpart. The pantheon of pre-Christian Armenia changed over the centuries. Originally native Armenian in nature, the pantheon became modified through Hurro-Urartian, Semitic, Iranian, and Greek influences. One common motif included in most, if not all pagan Armenian pantheons was belief in a ruling triad of supreme gods, usually comprising a chief creator god, his thunder god son, and a mother goddess. Gods derived from Proto-Indo-European religion, and believed to be native to Armenia include Areg (or Arev or Ar, god of the Sun, comparable with Mesopotamian Utu), Astłik, (linguistically derived from the Mesopotamian goddess Inanna and identified with Venus, a fertility goddess and consort of Vahagn, a warrior god), Ayg (goddess of the dawn), Angeł (meaning the unseen, god of the underworld), Tork Angegh (meaning Given by Angeł, great-grandson of Hayk and a monstrous and ugly hero who threw massive boulders to sink enemy ships in the Black Sea), Amanor (meaning the bearer of new fruits, the god of the new year who may have been identical to Vanatur), Vanatur (which either means the Lord of Van or giving asylum, the god of hospitality who may have been identical to Amanor), Nvard (consort of Ara,  and comparable to Inanna, or Ishtar, ancient Mesopotamian goddess of love, war, and fertility), Tsovinar (meaning Nar of the Sea, goddess of waters and the ocean), and Andndayin (the Abyssal Serpent that lived in the black waters that surrounded the world tree).