{"id":53810,"date":"2020-03-27T16:32:49","date_gmt":"2020-03-27T12:32:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.armgeo.am\/armenian-lavash\/"},"modified":"2020-12-01T13:24:44","modified_gmt":"2020-12-01T09:24:44","slug":"armenian-lavash","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.armgeo.am\/en\/armenian-lavash\/","title":{"rendered":"Armenian bread \/ Lavash"},"content":{"rendered":"

Bread in the life of Armenians<\/span><\/h3>\n

Bread has been a faithful companion of Armenians for centuries. In the Armenian Highland<\/a><\/span>, bread was baked as early as 3-2 centuries BC. During excavations, huge stocks of wheat and barley dating from the 4th and 3rd millennia were discovered. Archaeologists claim that from ancient times in the territory of the Armenian Highland people have been engaged in agriculture and the domestication of wheat. From this, it becomes clear that Armenians grew these grains for making flour, and then for baking bread and Armenian lavash. Armenians stored grain in various barns, warehouses, jugs and in underground pits designed specifically for grains.<\/p>\n

\"Armenian<\/a>

Armenian women grind wheat with manual millstone<\/p><\/div>\n

After harvesting the grain, the villagers were in no hurry to take it to the mill. In ancient times, the first crop was always taken to the church and blessed. Only after that the villager could collect his harvest, take it to the mill, grind it and then bake bread. However, the crop was delivered to consecration not just by gathering it in a bunch. Before taking them to consecration, people made khachburs. Ears of the wheat were given the appearance of a cross, a symbol of eternity or the tree of life. The tree of life itself is a symbol of fertility, the beginning of life and longevity.<\/p>\n

\"Khachbur\"<\/a>

Khachbur \/ Photo: Cultural and educational center “Kean”<\/p><\/div>\n

To understand the importance of bread in the life of Armenians, you can just pay attention to the phrase they use to describe eating: \u201cTo eat bread.\u201d And, of course, many phrases originated from here: \u201ca man with bread\u201d (hospitable), \u201clet there always be bread in your house\u201d, \u201cif you want to know a man, you need to break bread with him\u201d…Armenians greeted each other with bread and salt, shared bread together.<\/p>\n

The importance of bread is evident even in the Armenian epic when David repeats \u201cBread, wine, Almighty Lord!\u201d, thus gaining strength before the battle.<\/p>\n

Armenians have created many types of bread: lavash, matnakash, bagharj, unleavened bread and so on.<\/p>\n\n