WORLD'S OLDEST TOWN

Cromwell Argus, Volume L, Issue 2646, 27 October 1919, Page 7

WORLD'S OLDEST TOWN

WHERE NOAH SETTLED. Till-: CITY OF NAKHICHEVAN. The oldest town in the world, the citj of Nakhichevan, at the foot of Mount Ararat, in a remote section of Transcaucasia— where. Armenian tradition tells us, Noah settled and built a village when In came forth from the Ark with his sons anJ his beasts and birds—has requested that the United States be its mandatory under the League of Nations. The plea came to the Armenian Committee for Armenian and Syrian Relief, which has established an orphanage in Nakhichevan, and was transmitted by that organisation to President Wilson. .Jailer Koolis Khan, a Tartar chieftain and the Prime Minister of Nakhichevan, addressed his request for a mandatory to “ the Imperial Representative, the Supreme President of the United States.” and thanks “ your supreme highness for the money, clothing, and grain given by the American relief workers.” The translation of Jaffcr Koolis Khan’s letter goes on to say : ‘‘ From the depths of our heart we applaud tho advance and increase of glory of the American Republic and her manifest faithfulness and sincerity in the pathway of humanity’s progress. From Almighty God we pray long life to your Supreme Excellency. We are conlident th.it in the future America, the servant of humanity, will extend to our State a guiding hand to help us.” Nakhichevan is a principality of Russian Armenia, in the government of Erivan, and 85 miles south-east of the town of Erivan. It lies at the foot of the mountain from which Noah sent forth the dove to see if the rains had abated, and its early history is shrouded in mystery. Ptolemy lefers to it as Naxuana, and various historians have referred to it as the oldest town in the world. It has been rebuilt again and again, and is now full of halfobliterated evidences of former prosperity.

The Persians razed the town in the fourth century, but it had recovered its prosperity by the end of the 10th century, when it was said to have had a population of 40,000, and to have been an importanttrade centre for commerce with Persia and Turkey. In 1064 the town was captured by Alp Arslan, the Sultan of the Seljuk Turks, and in the 13th century it fell a victim to the Mongol hordes ot Genghis Khan. From that period it declined in importance and suffered greatly in the various wars between the Persians, Armenians, and Turks. It became a part of the Russian Empire by the peace ol Tnrkmanchai in 1828, but has .always been a more or less self-governing principality. The tradition that the town was settled bv Noah goes back as far as Armenian and Persian tradition can be traced. There is a great mound of earth in the centre of the town, which pilgrims still visit as Noah’s grave, and the spot where be offered sacrifices io God after coming safely out of the Ark. Tlkj present houses of the town arc mostly quarried from ancient ruins, and there are many remains of ancient Armenian and Persian palaces. Of the palace of the princes of Atarbaijan ihere remains a gateway with a Persian inscription Hanked by two brick towers, and at a little distance from the gateway is the Tower of the Khans, richly decorated and dating from the 12th century. There are also the ruins of a large mosque. The town is on the high road to Tabriz and Teheran, and has a. considerable transit trade. Its population now is between 8.000 and 10,000. mostly ’Tartars and Armenians, who carry on gardening, make wine, and produce salt, silk, and millstones.