Timeline of Armenian History to Be Constructed

Officials of the Ararat Home of Los Angeles are transforming a winding, tree-shaded sidewalk at the 10-acre retirement home and cultural center in Mission Hills into an etched timeline spanning 5,000 years of Armenian history.

The $30,000 timeline, framed by red, blue and orange tiles representing the colors of the Armenian flag, will document Armenian history from the Bronze Age to the present. It will stretch for 350 feet and contain 168 entries and graphics commemorating religious events, battles, scientific discoveries and other achievements when it is completed in June, officials said.

On a recent morning, amateur historian Hagop Arshagouni, who conceived and designed the project, and other officials of the Ararat Home watched as workers used a high-powered machine to etch the timeline in the concrete.

“You know that Copernicus said the sun is the center of the universe in the 16th century? Well, Anania of Shirag had proposed the same thing in 610, 1,000 years earlier,” said Arshagouni, pointing out the entry.

For Arshagouni and the other Ararat officials, one date on the timeline stood out from the others. AD 301 marks the year when the Armenian state became the first in the world to adopt Christianity, Arshagouni said.

The Ararat Home was founded in 1949 as a retirement home for Armenians. The Mission Hills complex, built five years ago, includes a 99-bed nursing facility, a chapel, a ballroom and a museum. An additional 99-bed nursing facility is under construction and scheduled to open in September.

Robert Shamlian, an Ararat Home trustee, said the center will encourage local Armenian students to visit and learn about their heritage from residents of the facility.

“We want to make sure that our elderly always have young people around them and this will help us to do that,” Shamlian said.