Pagan-era phallic stele still holds its reputation in Armenian village

In the cemetery surrounding the Shoghagavank historical-architectural monument in the village of Dzoragyugh, Martuni Municipality, Gegharkunik Province, a pagan-era phallic stele has been preserved next to medieval carved khachkars (cross-stones).

As 63-year-old Dzoragyugh resident Hakob Hakobyan told Armenpress, women from the area and other places who were unable to conceive would come and sit on the stele in hopes of becoming pregnant.

Locals call the pre-Christian-era sculpture “Portakar.”

“This Portakar has not lost its significance even today. I have heard from elders that infertile women used to visit this place very often and sit on the Portakar, which is a carving of a male genital organ. They would mostly come at night or at times when no people were around. It is possible that even today, by tradition, there are women who visit here due to infertility. In the Shoghagavank cemetery there are more than a hundred ornately carved, beautifully designed khachkar tombstones created between the 9th and 17th centuries, but among them this monument also holds a unique place. Naturally, it was carved in much earlier times, during the Armenian pagan period, and was miraculously preserved next to Christian monuments,” Hakobyan said.

The Portakar phallic sculpture in the Shoghagavank cemetery in Dzoragyugh is over 1 meter long and 40 centimeters wide. It is made of local basalt stone and lies flat on the ground. It is possible that it was originally standing upright in earlier times.

There is no mention of the Portakar phallic stone of Dzoragyugh in historical sources or in the works of archaeologists who have studied the village. It is also not registered in the list of state-protected monuments. The cult of the phallus was widespread in ancient Armenia.