Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible (1898)
AKMAGED'DON (mount of Megiddo), a name used figuratively in Rev 16:16, and suggested by the great battle-field noted in the Old Testament and now known as the Plain of Esdraelon. ), a name in the English version for a country called Ararat in the Hebrew. 2 Kgs 19:37 Isa 37:38. Armenia is in western Asia, between the Caspian and the Black Seas, and the Caucasus and Taurus ranges of mountains. Physical Features.
— It is chiefly an elevated plateau, about 7000 feet above the level of the sea, the highest peak being Ararat, the lower portions of the plateau being broken by valleys and glens, including the fertile valleys of the Euphrates and Tigris rivers. It is watered by four large streams, the Aras, the Kur, the Euphrates, and the Tigris, and also by numerous lakes, one of the largest, the salt Lake Van, being over 5400 feet above the sea. Its three mountain-ranges abound in volcanic rocks, in lead, copper, iron, silver, rock-salt, and mineral springs.
The climate is cold in the highlands, while the heat of summer is intense in the valleys. History. — Three districts probably included in Armenia are mentioned in the Bible, Ararat, Minni and Ashchenaz. and Togarmah. (1) Ararat was a central region near the range of mountains of the same name. (2 ) Minni and Aschenaz, Jer 51:27, districts in the upper valley of a branch of the Euphrates. (3) Togarmah, Eze 27:14; Eze 38:6, was apparently the name by which the most, or perhaps the whole, of the land was known to the Hebrews. c.
2200, The land soon became tributary to Assyria, and so continued until the eighth century b. c. c. 34; since then alternately overrun by Romans, Persians, Greeks, Kurds, and Turks, and divided between Russia, Turkey, and Persia. The people have long been nominally Christian. Religious persecution and war have driven great numbers of Armenians from their native land into Asia Minor and Europe. The present number of Armenians is estimated to be from 2,500,000 to 3,000,000, of whom about 1,000,000 live in Armenia. Its chief modern towns are Erzeroum, Erivan, and Van. See Assyria.
Schaff's Bible Dictionary
AKMAGED'DON (mount of Megiddo), a name used figuratively in Rev 16:16, and suggested by the great battle-field noted in the Old Testament and now known as the Plain of Esdraelon.