T  H  E      B  E  G  I  N  N  I  N  G
 

I TRULY BELIEVE THAT BY UNDERSTANDING OUR PAST
-- OUR HUMAN HERITAGE --
WE WILL UNDERSTAND OURSELVES AND  --  O  U  R    D  E  S  T  I  N  Y.
KNOWLEDGE. VIRTUE. ENLIGHTENMENT.
-- G. NAZARYAN

T H E   G E N I U S   O F  THE  B R I L L I A N T   P H I L O S O P H E R
I DEDICATE MY WORK TO THE NOBLE VISION AND THE GREAT WORK OF
PLATO AND THE GREAT IDEALIST FREE THINKERS
AND TO ALL PERENNIALIST TEACHERS OF MANKIND

WHO DEDICATED THEIR LIVES TO THE ETERNAL QUEST OF EXCELLENCE
 

THE PROVIDENCE OF HEAVEN AND
T  H  E   V  I  R  T  U  E   O  F   M  A  N
 

"...There will be no end to the troubles of states,
or of Humanity itself, till Philosophers become kings
in this world, or till those we now call kings and
rulers really and truly become Philosophers, and
political power and Philosophy
thus come into the same hands..."

--  P L A T O,   T H E   R E P U B L I C

 T        H        E               V        I        S        I        O        N

Written by Gevork Nazaryan

... Seven years have passed since the day of the official inauguration of AH AEC in the Spring of  '97...

The Idea of the phenomenon that was to become The Armenian Enlightenment Chronicle [WWW -- E N C Y C L O P E D I A   A R M E N I C A] was born in late '96. The Urge on my part came about as a result of the rather dismal situation of scattered historical materials relating to Armenia and Armenian people during those early years of the World Wide Web [the Internet as it became known was opened to the general public in 1994]. To this end, I felt that a cohesive and comprehensive Work was much needed in order to fill the prevalent vacuum on the newly launched Internet. I decided to dedicate virtually all of my time and energy to the creation of a historic super site -- one which would properly present all of the greatness and glory of the ancient Armenian Civilization -- including all of the triumphs and tragedies of this ancient and essentially noble people. I wrote all of the chapters of The Armenian Enlightenment Chronicle in the universal Spirit of personal -- as well as collective -- learning, knowledge, creativity, progress and growth. I dedicated myself to seeing that the accumulated debris of ages is removed...so that the Diamond...can shine in all its true brilliance...Initially, this task seemed enormous that would require a team of knowledgeable persons who would research, write, type, scan, illustrate and design hundreds of pages that would soon become known in the public spectrum as Armenian Highland The Armenian Enlightenment Chronicle or  AH AEC for short. I decided to maintain several cornerstone principles in building our Virtual-Spiritual Online Temple. The Enlightenment Chronicle and all of the subsequent projects undertaken by us would have to remain on a solid NON-PROFIT Platform. If we had deviated from this firm Principle and introduced the materialistic "market" element the Work would have lost all of its power... We would had to "adjust" to "market demands" and similar for a lack of better description petty bourgeois notions. And that would have made all of the sacrifice from my time and energy absolutely zero. I would have never felt the same gratitude from the great folks from all over Mother Earth who encouraged me with their kind words and letters and my work is for them, it is not for me or "the market" -- it has, is and always will be for real people with real feelings. Not the faceless, soulless, rootless consumer zombies of "the market." And if I had pursued the path of the "money tree" instead of -- the Tree of Life and Knowledge -- everything would have been in vain and I could never have lived with myself...

EVERYTHING GOES, EVERYTHING RETURNS,
ETERNALLY ROLLS THE WHEEL OF BEING É
SPIRALING IS THE PATH OF ETERNITY.
-- FRIEDRICH W. NIETZSCHE
[...NOT A HAP COINCIDENCE THAT FWN
USED THIS SACRED LETTER
TO DESCRIBE ETERNITY...]
 

A         N         A         H         I         T
 THE LUNAR [PARALLEL OF GREEK APHRODITE AND ROMAN VENUS]
PATRON GODDESS [I N A N N A OF ARATTA] OF LOVE, BEAUTY AND FERTILITY
ONE OF THE IMPORTANT SYMBOLS USED EXTENSIVELY
ON THE PAGES OF AH AEC IN VERSIONS 1.1 [1997-98] AND 2.3 [1999-04]
 

'...HISTORY IS THE SHIP CARRYING
LIVING MEMORIES TO THE FUTURE...'
-- STEPHEN SPENDER
 

...After initial assessment, few good friends noted that this painstaking and monumental task required at least half a dozen scholars from diverse disciplines that were simultaneously technophiles [or at minimum computer-literate] and my powers alone would not be enough to complete the Great Work. However -- Providence had only destined myself and Sarkis -- my next of kin -- to accomplish this highly ambitious Herculean effort that would take us, with intervals, seven years to complete... We were determined to ride the powerful wave of the new WWW technological Revolution. New revolutionary, involutionary and overall Evolutionary approaches included  incorporating elements of innovative graphic design [most importantly based on the eternal universal principles of integration and harmony]. Sarkis knew all there was to know about  illustration, design, technical and analytical calculations and planning of the set out goals of creating a Site with images and powerful symbols that were traditional and at the same time contemporary -- thus as any true Great Work becoming SPIRITUAL ART and Transcending Time in-and-of-itself becoming -- Timeless.