Urartu

In anciemt   times  espcially   during  the Urartu dinesty reign(IX-VII B.C.)   inhabitants or Armenian region were   busy     with   agriculture .

Archaelogical  digs of  the  Red  Hill(  Urartu  Theyshebain   fortress)  give  us essential material on the nature  Uratu’s  inhabitants’  food. According to  academician M. G. Tumanyan in thise  days   their  agriculture  was  on  quite  high level.during the  digs   huge     shelters were    discovered   full of   corn,   which  proves that more than   2,5  thousand years   ago   in Armenian region    a  number  of  high-cultivated   corn was  produced,  some    them  beibg   cultivated   up   to now. However,  the  main two   types of corn were   general  and Italian.

In 1948   some  remains of   bread    were    found   together   with   other    food.  This   bread   was  oral    with a hole in the  central  part. In the  Red  Hill   apart  from the   above mentioned  fod  little rye was    found   mixed  with   corn.Perhaps in  those   ancient  times  as  well  as   nowadays  people   used    much more   corn    rather than   rye.

 S. Yashvil mentions  that  “Armenians  of   Yerevan regin  mainly   used   bread   made  of  high-quality  corn”.   

   The main type of  food  among Armenians  is  the  so-called “ lavash”. It is made of   flour, hot watter and   salt. The  dough is put  ina  hot place to  get  ready. Then it is divided  into    small   balls   and  opened into  oval-like   sheets  about  2-3 mm.Lavash is   baked  in ovens which you can find only in Armenia.In every   village houses  were  built   with a  hole  in the  central   part.  This  served   as    an oven  which  was  made of  fire-resistent loam. It   was   wide  in te   upper part  and  narrow in the  lower part.

The   shape  of the oven   and the  process of  lavash baking   has  preserved  throughout history..the  main  reason is that lavash  has  a  number of  characteristic  features  such   as  high    calory content, long preservation  date, and    also it is quite   easy  to  digest.

 Nowadays   bread  plays   an important   role  in  Armenians’routine life. It  is not   accidental, that all   Armenians   say   “ to  eat    bread”  instead  of   saying  to have  breakfast,  dinner or   supper.

 In   many regions of Armenia an interesting   tradition  is preserved. In    autumn   a  great   amount   of  lavash  is baked   for 3-4  months.  It  is   dried, piled  and  kept. Before  eating it is   scattered   with  water   to make    soft.