Togarmah

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Togarmah (Armenian: Thorgom, Թորգոմ; Georgian: Thargamos, თარგამოს) third son of Gomer, and grandson of Japheth, brother of Ashkenaz and Riphat (Gen. X.3).

In Ezekiel 38:6 the northernmost house of Togarmah will follow Gog. Through Assyrian folk etymology it became Til-Garimu, now the site of Gürün, Turkey (pronounced Gürin by Armenian, without vowel harmony).

In Ezekiel 27:14, the descendants of Togarmah are described as trading horses and mules in Tyre and elsewhere in the Levant. Here Togarmah may refer to Armenians or Cimmerians; so Strabo (xi 13§9) makes Armenia famous for breeding horses. In Ezek.xxxviii. this and Gen. x 3 imply Togarmah's connection with japhetic races, which modern reaserches confirme as to Armenia.

[edit] Geographical

Eusebius, Theodoret, and Isidorus of Seville, that he peopled Armenia. According to Fausset's Bible Dictionary Armenians represent Haik to be their founder and son of Thorgau (Moses Khoren i.4, 9-11). The Armenian connection with the Celts (Gomer, i.e. the Cimbri, Cimmerians, Crimea, Cymry), implied in Togarmah being Gomer's son, is not unlikely.

Bochart is for Cappadocia; he builds upon what is said in Ezekiel 27: 14 : "They of the house of Togarmah traded in thy fairs," that is, at Tyre, "with horses and horsemen and mules." He proves that Cappadocia was famous for its excellent horses and its asses.

He observes, also, that certain Gauls, under the conduct of Trocmus, made a settlement at Cappadocia, and were called Trocmi, or Trogmi. The opinion, says Calmet [French Benedictine monk and scholar 1672-1757 who wrote, among other things, a Dictionary of the Bible], which places Togarmah in Scythia and Turcomania, seems to stand upon the best foundation. - Watson.^[1]

Josephus and St. Jerome were of opinion, that Togarmah was the father of the Phrygians. The Phrygians, a people that overspread Asia Minor, probably migrated from Armenia, their language resembled the Armenian (Eudoxus, in Steph. Byz.on Armenia). The Phrygian was Indo-Germanic, as inscriptions prove, and resembled Greek (Plato, Cratyl).

The Imperial Dictionary makes Togarmah to mean the Turkomans who have always joined the Turks, i.e. Gog (Ezekial xxxviii, 1-6) or the king of the north (Daniel xi, 40); Samuel Bochart makes Goghasan the original form, among the Colchians, Armenians, and Chaldaens, for which the Greeks Caucasus.

The Chaldee and the talmudists are for Germany. Several moderns believe that the children of Togarmah peopled Turcomania in Tartary and Scythia.

[edit] Togarmah descendants

According to traditional Armenian and Georgian accounts, both these peoples along with several other Caucasian peoples are the descendants of Torgom. According to Moses Khorenatsi, he was "son of Tiras, son of Gomer". Furthermore, the local names for Armenia (Hayq) and Georgia (Kartli/Sakartvelo) come allegedly from sons of Thorgamas:

1. Haik (Հայք) - the legendary patriarch and founder of the Armenian nation.
2. Kartlos (ქართლოს) - the legendary patriarch and founder of the Geordian nation.
3. Bardos
4. Movakos (Movkans)
5. Lekos(Lek) - eponim of Leks
6. Heros (Herans)
7. Kavkasos (Kovkases)
8. Egros (Egers).

According to other records, Togarmah is regarded as the ancestor of the Turkic-speaking peoples. For example, in King Joseph's Reply, the Khazar monarch writes:

"You ask us also in your epistle: "Of what people, of what family, and of what tribe are you?" Know that we are descended from Japhet, through his son Togarmah. I have found in the genealogical books of my ancestors that Togarmah had ten sons. These are their names: the eldest was Ujur, the second Tauris, the third Avar, the fourth Uauz, the fifth Bizal, the sixth Tarna, the seventh Khazar, the eighth Janur, the ninth Bulgar, the tenth Sawir." (These are the mythical founders of tribes that once lived in the neighborhood of the Black and Caspian Seas).

1. Agiôr
2. Tirôsz
3. Avôr
4. Ugin
5. Bizel
6. Tarna
7. Kazar
8. Zagur
9. Balgôr
10. Szavvir (szabir).

Joszef Ben-Gorion: "Tugarma's ten clans are these:

1. Kozar
2. Pacinak
3. Aliqanosz
4. Bulgar
5. Ragbiga (Ragbina, Ranbona)
6. Turqi
7. Buz
8. Zabuk
9. Ungari
10. Tilmac (Tilmic)."
    

In Arabic records, Togorma's tribes are these:

1. Khazar
2. Badsanag
3. Asz-alân
4. Bulghar
5. Zabub
6. Fitrakh (Kotrakh?)
7. Nabir
8. Andsar (Ajhar)
9. Talmisz
10. Adzîgher.

The Arabic account also adds an 11th clan: Anszuh.

[edit] References

v • d • e Descendants of Noah in Genesis
Shem & Semitic	Elam • Ashur • Aram • Arpachshad • Lud
Ham & Hamitic	Cush • Mizraim • Phut • Canaan
Japheth & Japhetic	Gomer • Magog • Madai • Javan • Tubal • Meshech • Tiras

hu:tógármah

hy:Թորգոմ no:Togarmah ru:Торгом uk:Тоґарма