THE TEMPLE OF MUSASIR
MUSASIR -- THE PROTOTYPE FOR THE CLASSICAL GREEK TEMPLES

COSMIC TREE OF LIFE THE VERY SYMBOL OF CIVILIZATION THAT SPREAD
THROUGHOUT THE WORLD FROM ARARAT-ARATTA-DILMUN-PARADISE-EDEN

By Mark A. Kalustian

And now, in the year 1986 or 2,700 years later, the author of this article has the audacity to claim that Musasir deserves the attention of the architectural world for no other reason than the preservation of the drawing of the temple by Flandin which accompanies the dissertation. Please look at the drawing and follow my line of reasoning. Here we see the oldest of the temples Ararat which, according to reliable sources, was built around 825 BC in the city of Musasir, which can be located with some certainty in the area between lakes Van and Urmia, in Historic Armenia.(4)

THE GREAT ARARATIAN TEMPLE OF MUSASIR. PROTO-TYPE OF ALL ARMENIAN
MITHRÆA [LIKE GARNI MITHRÆVM] THAT ALSO INFLUENCED ALL LATER
GRÆCO-ROMAN TEMPLES [THAT SPREAD WITH ARMENIAN MITHRAISM].
NOTE THE SPEAR OF DESTINY AT THE APEX.... [LEAF/TREE OF LIFE/AXIS MUNDI].

THE PI GATE TO THE [K]HALDEAN INNER SANCTUM

THE FLOOR PLAN OF THE MUSASIR TEMPLE
BASIS OF THE PYRAMIDAL STYLE

ARMANI MASTER BUILDERS

It depicts the pillaging of this temple erected to the warrior God Haldi by the soldiers of Sargon's army, but our concern at this moment is not in robbery but in artistry. Notice the pitched or gabled roof of either wood or stone, the vertical triangular end from eaves to ridge of roof with a high pediment. The portico or facade has six columns or piers or pilasters, if you will. The effect is definitely like a Greek temple similar to the Partheonon in Athens with which everyone is familiar. That Greek edifice was built around the year 500 BC or 425 years later than the Armenian temple of our Araratian forefathers. Up till now, no monument has been found in Mesopotamia similar to the Musasir temple except in Asia Minor. In Phrygia, during the 8th to the 5th centuries, great facades were carved on rock-cut faces representing temples for the cult of the Great Mother. These too became the prototypes for the classical Greek temples.

HUGE ARARATIAN CAULDRON MADE OUT OF BRONZE FOUND IN VETULONIA, ITALY.
THESE HUGE CAULDRONS SERVED FOR THE PREPARATION OF THE RELIGIOUS
FOOD DURING SPECIAL RITES OF CONSECRATION. 3 VISHAP [DRAGON]  HEADS
FACING OUTWARD [FROM ONE SOURCE CENTER] ON ONE SIDE
AND 3 VISHAP HEADS ON THE OTHER SIDE OF TWO WINGED DEITY SUN DISKS
[PHOENIX] THE DISKS SERVE AS ELABORATE INSET LIFTING RINGS.
ARARAT HAD A VAST NETWORK OF
SOCIO-ECONOMIC, CULTURAL AND POLITICAL CONNECTIONS
THROUGHOUT THE ANCIENT WORLD AS HAS BEEN PROVEN BY A NUMBER OF
ARTIFACTS FOUND THROUGHOUT THE ANCIENT WORLD WITH ARARATIAN
MARKINGS AND CUNEIFORMS.

ARARATIAN BRONZE CAULDRON FOUND IN REGOLINI, GALASSI TOMB, CERVETERI.
ON DISPLAY IN THE VATICAN MUSEUM, ROME.
SIX VISHAPS LOOKING INWARD POINTING TO THE
ONE [SOURCE] CENTER

REPLICA OF THE MAGICKAL CHALDEAN CAULDRON UPON THE SACRED TRIPOD
 WITH THE REKINDLED ETERNAL FLAME MADE BY ARTSRUN BERBERIAN ONE OF
THE RENOWNED ARMENIAN SILVERSMITHS WHOSE ANCESTORS HAILED
FROM TUŠPA-TOSP-VAN THE ANCIENT CAPITAL OF ARARAT...

MORE OF THE REMARKABLE CAUDLRONS FOUND THROUGHOUT
NUMEROUS CHALDEAN ORACLES.

SACRED TRIPOD UNITED WITH ONE RING. FOUR VISHAP-DRAGONS.

SACRED TRIANGLE TRIPOD FORMS WITH THE DOWNWARD BEAMS
THE SYMBOL OF MACROCOSM. HANDLES IN THE FORM OF
THE WINGED CELESTIAL TAURUS-BULL [TARON-TAURUS MT. RANGE..
TAURUBERAN PROVINCE OF GREATER ARMENIA ONE OF THE IMPORTANT
CENTERS OF THE BULL CULT]. FROM ALTINTEPE [GOLDEN HILL],
BEGINNING OF FIRST MILLENNIUM BC.

CELESTIAL BULL/HOLY COW 

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THE HUGE CAULDRON ON A SACRED TRIPOD
 FOR THE PREPARATION OF RELIGIOUS FOOD.
THE TRADITION CONTINUED IN AN UNBROKEN FASHION
BY THE HOLY APOSTOLIC CHURCH IN PREPARATION OF
THE HOLY MURION LED BY THE CATHOLICOS --
ONCE EVERY SEVEN YEARS...

THE CAPITOL BUILDING IN YOUNG UNITED STATES IN LATE PART
OF THE XVIIITH CENTURY AFTER THE WAR OF INDEPENDENCE
DESIGNED BASED ON ARMANI MITHRAIC TEMPLE TRADITION THAT
WAS THE CROWNING GLORY AND THE TRIUMPH OF THE HUMAN SPIRIT
THROUGHOUT THE ROMAN EMPIRE LED BY THE DEVOTEE EMPEROR HIMSELF AT THE
HEAD OF THE WARRIOR ARISTOCRACY, THE SENATE AND THE COLLEGIA.
THE CROWNING GLORY OF HOLY TEMPLES ARGUABLY BEING
THE PANTHEON IN ROME.

NOTE THAT THE PARTHENON HAS EIGHT SUPPORTING COLUMNS IN FRONT SINCE
ALIGNMENT IS WITHIN THE SPHERICAL DOME.

WANSTED BUILDING. THE BLUEPRINT OF THE LATTER WASHINGTON CAPITOL
3 COLUMNS ON THE RIGHT AND 3 COLUMNS ON THE LEFT
OF THE DOORWAY [SEVENTH ENTRANCE POINT] TO THE TEMPLE.
THE PARLIAMENT HOUSE OF RA AND THE MATENADARAN
IN YEREVAN ARE FOUNDED UPON THE REVERED LAYOUT.

RAISING CONSCIOUSNESS IN SYNCHRONICITY WITH THE DIVINE UNIVERSAL LIFE FORCE.

BAG-ARAN

HARMONY OF BAGARAN CHURCH [624-631]

OCTAGRAMIC [ORDER/SPIRITUAL HIEARCHY FROM CHAOS/VOID]
FLOOR PLAN OF ARMANEN TEMPLES

OCTAGONAL DOMES OF SPIRITUAL ILLUMINATION

ARMAN CONIC DOMES [MALE + FEMALE UNION SPHERE/CIRCLE AND TRIANGLE].
CONES WERE A QUINTESSENTIAL SCRYING ELEMENTS OF CHALDEAN ORACLES.
MODULE OF THE EDIFICE ORDER OF ARARTIAN TEMPLES.

FLOOR PLAN OF THE SACRED ARMENIAN MITHRÆVM.
SURAKAN, FIRST MILLENNIUM BC.
THE SACRED PATTERN. SYMBOL OF T-WINGS/PYRAMIDAL
SQUARE WITHIN A CIRCLE HAD A TRANSCENDENTAL
QUALITY [THE OLDEST LAYERS OF YEREVAN FROM FOURTH-FIFTH MILLENNIUM BC
IN THE MODERN SHENGAVIT' DISTRICT ARE ALIGNED IN CIRCLE/SQUARE
GENERAL PLAN...SO ARE A NUMBER OF SACRED SITES THROUGHOUT EUROPE].
FOR RAISING THE CONSCIOUSNESS.
THE CENTER IS THE HEART OF THE TEMPLE CONTAINING
THE ESSENCE/DIVINE SPARK/LOGOS. THE SYMBOL OF
FOUR UNITED Ts GOES BACK ALL THE WAY TO NEOLITHIC ERA
INCLUDING IN THE PICTOGRAPHS OF THE GEGHAMA MOUNTAINS.


...SACRED SUBLIME DEEPLY MEANINGFUL TIBETAN MANDALA [LIT. CYCLE]
AVALOKITESHWARA [EMANATING FROM THE PYRAMID]
AS THE DIVINE SPARK/ETERNAL FLAME
[LIKE ORIFLAMME]  WITH THE FOUR 'T' [TWO UNITED SWASTIKAS
SPINNING RIGHT AND LEFT...] OF THE EIGHTFOLD PATH
OF ENLIGHTENMENT WITH FIVE SURROUNDING LAYERS.
UPPER HANDS WITH ROSARY BEADS AND THE LOWER
HANDS IN ANJALI MUDRA [IN ARM.
IMAST IN ARM. MEANING...IMASTUN...WISE/ENLIGHTENED
MASTER/MAZDA...RUS. MUDROST WISDOM].



THE HOLY SYMBOL OF THE LUSIGNAN HOUSE
ALONG WITH THE BLASON COAT OF ARMS MADE UP OF
BARRULY OF TEN ARGENT AND AZURE...
AS DIVINE KINGS OF ARMENIA, CYPRUS AND JERUSALEM...

ARMANI CAULDRON HANDLE. SOLAR GOD-MAN
WITH WINGED [FLYING-SERPENT] DISK SYMBOLIC
OF THE STAR MEN THAT BROUGHT DIVINE KNOWLEDGE.


THE GREAT TEACHER ZOROASTER BORN IN ARMENIA CA. 1,200 BC PERSONIFIED
AND EMBODIED SO MUCH OF THE EARLIER LIGHT/ENERGY WORSHIPPING
ANCESTRAL TEACHINGS OF THE ARMIN [IRMIN] ARMANEN WISDOM SCHOOLS...

However one approaches this problem, what the Musasir monument does show is the affinity of Armenian architecture in the ninth century BC, with the architecture of Asia Minor and of Greece - an important fact, since Armenia at a later date was under Mesopotamian influence. This fact was attested to by K. J. Basmadjian's(5) the editor of Panaser and a member of the Societe Asiatique in 1903. In writing to the Society he says, "My strongest argument is the similarity of the pediment of both the Parthenon and that of the temple of Musasir. In both cases exactly the same triangle is preserved.

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MAISON CARRÉE [LIT. SQUARE HOUSE] IN NIMES, SOUTHERN FRANCE. CA. 10 AD.
VIRTUALLY IDENTICAL  MITHRÆVM AS IN GARNI. ONE OF THE DIFFERENCES
ARE THE CORINTHIAN PILLARS INSTEAD OF IONIC IN GARNI.

THE VIRGINIA CAPITOL ERECTED ACCORDING TO THE
BLUEPRINTS [EARLY OR MID 1770s] OF PRESIDENT THOMAS JEFFERSON
DRAWN BY CLÉRISSEAU WHO TOLD THE FUTURE PRESIDENT THAT
 MAISON CARRÉE MITHRÆVM IN NIMES IS ONE OF THE MOST HARMONIOUS
AND DIVINE TEMPLES OF THE ANCIENT WORLD...AND HERE IS THE INTERESTING
PART CLÉRISSEAU CHOSE NOT THE CORINTHIAN ORDER OF NIMES TEMPLE BUT THAT
OF THE IONIC OF GARNI [VIRGINIA CAPITOL MODEL WAS MADE AROUND 1785-86 BY
JEAN-PIERRE FOUQUET [1752-1829]. WITH THE LEFT AND RIGHT SPIRALING RAM HEAD'S
KHOY-AK [LIT. RAM WHEEL/EYE]...RAM A SOLAR PRINCIPLE...IS
INDIGENOUS TO ARMENIAN HIGHLAND...
AND WAS ADOPTED AS THE SYMBOL OF THE SUN GOD IN EGYPT AS
WELL AS THROUGHOUT MUCH OF NEAR EAST.

THOMAS JEFFERSON [1743-1826]

The oldest monument in the world having this triangular pediment is the temple of Musasir. Neither Assyria nor Babylonia, the two great powers which have always been in touch with the Araratians, have ever had this triangular form. From Armenia it was evidently transmitted to Phrygia and Lydia, and through these countries it was introduced to Athens, and afterwards back to Persia... the temple was probably constructed during the reign of Ishpuhini (828-784 BC), king of Ararat (Urartu in Assyrian inscriptions) , for this was the first king who marched upon Musasir and conquered it "(6).

THE EVOLUTION OF ARMAN MITHRÆVM

RECONSTRUCTION OF THE MUSASIR TEMPLE [TO ROW LEFT] AND MITHRÆVM OF
KASAX IN APARAN [TO ROW RIGHT] -- THE GRAND TEMPLES OF MITHRAS --
THE ARMENIC SUN GOD WERE BUILT BY THE SAME MASTER BUILDERS ACCORDING
TO THE SAME TRADITIONAL BLUEPRINTS THE LATTER CHRISTIAN BASILICAS
AND CHURCHES LIKE TSITSERNAKAVANK‛ AND TEKOR [MID. AND BOTTOM ROW]
WERE ALSO BUILT BY THE ARMENIAN MASTER ARCHITECTS
 WHO REMAINED TRUE TO THE TRADITIONAL SACRED PATTERNS

MITHRÆVM -- EARLY BASILICA -- DOMED CHURCH.

MITHREÆ WERE SIMPLY TRANSFORMED
INTO IDENTICAL BASILICAS AND [DOMED] CHURCHES.

HARNESSING SANCTUMS [THROUGH FUSION] OF
THE CELESTIAL AND TERRESTRIAL ENERGIES

THE BASILICAS AND CHURCHES IN THE CONTINUATION OF MITHRAIC
ARMENIAN MASTER BUILDERS WERE ERECTED UPON THE SACRED
GEOMETRY OF THE TELLURIC ENERGIES THAT FUSED ON KEY POINTS
OF THE FOUR FOLD DIVISION OF MOTHER EARTH AND THE
TRIPLE DECKER UNIVERSE.

ARMAN SACRED TEMPLES BUILT BY MASTER BUILDERS
IN ORDER TO RAISE CONSCIOUSNESS AND REACH
HARMONIOUS ONENESS WITH THE DIVINE SOURCE ESSENCE.

THE HARMONIOUS ORDER OF THE TEMPLE
TWO STATUES OF ATLANTES [CONNECTED WITH ATLANTIS] ON THE STEPS
LEADING TO THE TEMPLE AND ON THE BOTTOM OF TWO PERIPHERAL COLUMNS ON
EACH SIDE ARE SYMBOLICALLY SUSTAINING [DUAL POLARITY] THE TEMPLE.

THE TEMPLE OF APOLLO AT DELPHI. BUILT USING THE SAME SACRED ARCHITECTURE
SIX COLUMNS UPHOLDING THE PEDIMENT DELTA. EIGHT COLUMNS [HIDDEN]
ON THE SIDES OF THE ENTRY GATES TO THE HOLY SANCTUM OF
VISIONARY TRANSCENDENCE.

If further proof is needed that the temple is not an isolated instance in point, then let us glance to the other bas-relief which is plate number 114 in Volume II of Botta's monumental work. Here we also see for the first time anywhere, the Armenian kiosk or "pleasure house" on the margin of a lake. Notice the columns or pillars strongly resembling those of the Ionic order in Greek architecture (see above reconstruction model).