At the beginning of the 1960’s a group of young archeologists and geologists unearthed a large quantity of remains forged from a variety of metals while excavating a site along the banks of the Metzamor River in the area of the Taronik village in the Armavir Marz.

The excavations continued apace and it became clear that what had been discovered were the remains of a royal seat in the Ararat Plain. A well-preserved copper foundry dating back to the 4th century B.C. was also uncovered on the site. The scientists found evidence that the area had been inhabited as early as the third millennium B.C. During the years of excavation a large quantity of household items, and utensils, work tools, decorative pieces and crypts were uncovered. So much so, that the need to open a museum was felt. Indeed, in 1970 the Metzamor historical-archeological museum named in honor of Koryun Mkrtchyan, the leader of the archeological dig party, was opened to the public.

This museum doesn’t show up on most organized tourist itineraries even though it houses a collection of over 27,000 artifacts. The name of the ancient royal city that was unearthed isn’t known. Azat Harutyunyan, The Director of the Museum, still hopes that one day an inscription will be discovered revealing the name of the city despite the fact that excavation work was halted in 2006. The city has temporarily been named Metzamor, after the neighboring river.

Director Harutyunyan states, “Only a tiny piece of the site has been excavated. The lifetime of one geologist isn’t enough to investigate this location. There are still many ancient ‘treasures’ to be discovered by many others.”

It turns out that Metzamor was an ancient metallurgical center for smelting and reprocessing. The entire foundry complex has been well preserved - the furnaces and smelter built in the cliff walls. Two types of foundries were uncovered; one lined with brick and the other made from clay. Fragments of tin, copper, zinc, phosphorus and mercury were unearthed from the soil layers. There were no mining operations in the city. The reason that a foundry was built here was because of the river flowing close by. Next to the foundries a pile of white bricks was found. By analyzing the composition of these bricks geologists pieced together that they were man-made and used in the metal forging process.

Museum employee Ashot Hakobyan explains that, “Given that the heat produced from burning wood wasn’t sufficient to forge metals, people started to combine bits of animal bone and clay to raise the temperature. Bricks were forged from the filtered paste after dissolving the solution in water. These bricks, due to their high concentration of phosphorus and lime, produced a sufficient temperature when burned for the forging of metals.”

Excavations at the burial site located one-half kilometer to the northeast of the city’s citadel unearthed a large number of stone crypts ringed with red paving-stones. The city’s leaders were buried here and a variety of animals and even servants and slaves were sacrificed in their honor. Some of the more interesting artifacts unearthed in the crypts include glaze-painted clay vessels and wooden decorative boxes inlaid with gold, silver and semi-precious stones.

Mr. Hakobyan relates that, “Along with the deceased chief or high priest they would bury the skulls of decapitated individuals, who were their servants in life. On the right side of the crypt they would bury the nobleman, alongside of which would be placed the skulls of the servants.”

The most notable of artifacts uncovered is an agate weight stone in the shape of a frog from the era of Babylonian ruler Ulam Vuranish (16th century BC). The inscription on the frog attests to the fact that it was used as a weighing stone. The actual weight of the stone, 1 “sikgh” is etched on the frog’s stomach. (This 1 unit of Babylonian weight roughly equals 8.5 grams). The stone, having lost its significance as a weight, was used as a talisman. This is probably the reason why a small hole to thread a piece of string was made in the stone.

Another golden artifact of the museum is a seal of cornelian with Egyptian hieroglyphs owned by the Babylonian ruler Kurigalz (15th century BC). The cylindrical seal, dipped in either melted wax or some other colorful material, was then rolled on the piece of paper, leaving an impression of the seal’s design - the high priest serving wine or nectar to the king.

These findings attest to the fact that Metzamor, since ancient times, was located at the crossroads of commerce in the Ararat Plain, linking Asia with the North Caucasus. Unearthed pitchers still held traces of wine, water and wheat. Museum employee Hakobyan notes that, “We know the specific contents of the pitchers. For example, clay pitchers designed to store wheat had etchings of wheat chaffs and snakes. The snakes were designed to ward off rodents. On the water pitchers were carvings of deer and goats, symbols tied to water worship rites. Naturally, wine vessels possessed carvings of grapevines.”

The Armenians of Metzamor also made beads out of sardonyx stone. Mr. Hakobyan explains that, “The colors and shine of these beads has been wonderfully preserved after so many millennia of being buried under the soil. You would think they had just been bought at the Vernisage Market. As far as I know, similar type beads are now worn by women but back then it were the men who wore them, not only as symbols of beauty but of richness as well. They also possessed magical, healing and protective properties as well. 

Vahram and Hakob Mkrtchyan, the sons of Metzamor Museum founder Koryun Mkrtchyan, also assist with various museum matters. Their financial assistance went towards repairing the roof, installing air conditioners and modernizing the museum’s water system. According to the Museum’s Director, the only thing left to be repaired is the road leading to the museum.

On the occasion of the 80th anniversary of Koryun Mkrtchyan’s birthday his sons unveiled a memorial carving set in the museum’s wall.

Only 1,000 of the museum’s 27,000 artifacts are presently on display. The rest are stored away out of sight.