Sakhurak 6 Vishapakar

Sakhurak 6 is a bull-form vishapakar in the Geghama Mountains, historically catalogued as Azhdaha-Yurt 6. The porous basalt stone remains in its original burial-mound setting and preserves carved animal imagery and two distinctive cup marks on its polished main face.

Marr and Smirnov documented the monument during their 1909 expedition and published its photograph as plate 5a in 1931. Modern field researchers independently matched that plate to Azhdaha-Yurt 6 and recorded a stone measuring about 330 by 100 by 25 centimetres at 2,472 metres. AUA assigns it broadly to the Middle and Late Bronze Ages, from the twenty-fourth to thirteenth centuries BCE.

Its position within a stone mound connects Sakhurak 6 to a wider prehistoric mortuary landscape. Peer-reviewed researchers propose that vishap mounds were high-altitude sacred places for ritual performance, but this remains an archaeological interpretation rather than a recovered account of one specific ancient ceremony. No current pilgrimage at this exact stone was established.

View the vishap and its mound as one fragile archaeological feature. Do not climb, sit, trace, rub, chalk, wet, or move the stone; do not disturb the cup marks, surrounding rocks, or possible burial context. The historic photograph is evidence of identity, not an invitation to repeat early excavation practices.

The name vishapakar carries later dragon traditions, while archaeology studies the stone's material, imagery, mound, and landscape relationships. This profile keeps those evidence layers distinct and does not assign Sakhurak 6 to a named living religion.

Zvartnots village pasture in the Geghama Mountains, Ararat, Armenia; remote seasonal access requires local guidance

Keep the pasture quiet, leave herding routes open, and follow local custodial guidance. Avoid reenacting speculative rituals or presenting dragon and water interpretations as settled fact. Photograph people, livestock, or any present observance only with permission.

Continue through the atlas by country, tradition, site type, or a focused search that combines this place’s strongest context.

Sacred places within a half-day’s reach. Pilgrims often visit them together: walk one, stay for the other.

Geghard Monastery

Goght, Kotayk, Armenia

6.0 km away

Aghjots Vank

Garni area, Ararat, Armenia

6.6 km away

Paytasar Lisitsyan Petroglyph Group

Geghard highlands, Kotayk, Armenia

7.7 km away

Havuts Tar Monastery

Garni area, Kotayk, Armenia

9.7 km away

Sources consulted when researching this page. Independent verification by readers is welcome.

1. 01Sakhurak 6 — American University of Armenia, Armenia Hidden Gemshigh-reliability
2. 02Dragon Stones in Context: The Discovery of High-Altitude Burial Grounds with Sculpted Stelae in the Armenian Mountains — Alessandra Gilibert, Arsen Bobokhyan, and Pavol Hnilahigh-reliability
3. 03Vishaps of the Geghama Mountains: New Discoveries and Propaedeutics to a History of Research — Arsen Bobokhyan, Alessandra Gilibert, and Pavol Hnilahigh-reliability
4. 04Plate 5a: Vishap near Azhdaha-Yurt (Sakhurak 6) — Marr-Smirnov expedition; digitized by Heidelberg University Library