Nairi

Nairi (Armenian: Նայիրի in TAO or Նաիրի in RAO) was the Assyrian name (KUR.KUR Na-i-ri, also Na-'i-ru) for a Proto-Armenian (Hurrian-speaking) tribe in the Armenian Highlands, roughly corresponding to the modern Van and Hakkâri provinces of modern Turkey. The word is also used to describe the tribes who lived there, whose ethnic identity is uncertain. Nairi has sometimes been equated with Nihriya, known from Mesopotamian, Hittite, and Urartean sources. However, its co-occurrence with Nihriya within a single text may argue against this.

During the Bronze Age collapse (13th to 12th centuries BC), the Nairi tribes were considered a force strong enough to contend with both Assyria and Hatti. The Battle of Nihriya, the culminating point of the hostilities between Hittites and Assyrians for control over the remnants of the former empire of Mitanni, took place there, c. 1230 BC. Nairi was incorporated into Urartu during the 10th century BC.

Geography and history

Nairi (Armenian usages)

During the late 19th century rise of nationalism under the Ottoman Empire, the word "Nairi" or "Nayiri" (Armenian: Նայիրի in TAO or Նաիրի in RAO) came to be used as a synonym for Armenia among Armenians who came to see the Nairi (see also Mitanni, better known to Armenians as Aram-Naharin), a people located in the wider area of the Armenian Highlands during the Late Bronze Age, as their remote ancestors.

In 1916, Vahan Terian published a collection of poems entitled Land of Nairi (Armenian: Yerkir Nairi), in which he used Nairi in place of Armenia. Likewise in 1923, Yeghishe Charents wrote a satirical novella entitled Land of Nairi, using Nairi as a synonym for Armenia. Another writer, Hayastan Yeghiazarian, used Nairi Zarian as his pen-name, replacing his first name, Hayastan (the Armenian word for Armenia since the Late Middle Ages) with Nairi.

As a proper name

Nairi is used by Armenians as a first name for both boys and girls, as well as a name for a variety of products and businesses ranging from restaurants to movie theaters, magazines to publishing houses, hotels to cognac, and even computers. In the United States, especially in areas where there are large Armenian diaspora communities, many businesses, including beauty-salons, bakeries, and grocery stores bear the name Nairi. A famous example of this would be the "Nairi" brand of Armenian brandy produced by the Yerevan Brandy Company.

Nairi (computer)

The first Nairi (Armenian: Նաիրի, Russian: Наири) computer was developed and launched into production in 1964, at the Yerevan Research Institute of Mathematical Machines (Yerevan, Armenia). In 1965, a modified version called Nairi-M, and in 1967 versions called Nairi-S and Nairi-2, were developed. Nairi-3 and Nairi-3-1, which used integrated hybrid chips, were developed in 1970. These computers were used for a wide class of tasks in a variety of areas, including engineering and the economy.

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