Haik

See also Haik, Ethiopia for the African town.

Haik is the legendary establisher of the first Armenian nation. His story is told in an epic, taken down from oral tradition by Moses of Khorene in the Fifth Century AD. In the epic, Haik is a chieftain of the Armens, an Armenian tribe, and leads them against the invading forces of Bel of Babylon. On August 11, 2492 BC, in a battle near Lake Van, Haik kills Bel, and calls on his kinsmen to unite into a single nation. He establishes the town of Haikashen which becomes the centre of the later Armenian Kingdoms.

Some historians think Haik was a real Armenic leader of the third millennium BC; others believe he is a purely mythical figure.