About Azix cave

The oldest cave in Azerbaijan inhabited by people is Azykh Cave.  This cave is one of the most ancient
human habitats in the world. Azykh Cave is located near Fuzuli town of Garabagh.

In 1960, an expedition led by Azerbaijani archaeologist Mammadali Huseynov discovered Azykh Cave
and started to unveil it.  It became clear that it was the habitat of the oldest human beings of the world
(they were called Azykhantrops).

In 1968, as a result of long-lasting excavations in Azykh Cave by M.Huseynov, the low jaw bone of a
human related to the Neanderthal type was found.  The examination carried out on the find proved that
it had at least 350-400 thousand year history.

Bones related to bear, lion,

rhino, deer, horse, boar and
other wild animals were also
found in the cave. 

Traces of a bonfire and stone

instruments were also found
in the cave. These
instruments are dated 1 to
1.5 million years.  According
to specialists, the jaw bone
found in Azykh Cave is the
forth in the world by its age. 
Archaeological finds of this
kind related to earlier
periods had been discovered
in Tanzania, Kenya and
France.  It is sufficient to prove that Azerbaijan has its own significant place among the territories where
the most ancient humans had lived.

Azykh Cave covers 800 square kilometres of area.  Azykh Cave draws attention by the fact that it is the
biggest of the caves so far found in the Caucasus. 

The Azerbaijani territory, in which this cave - where once the oldest human beings of the world lived - is
located, has been under Armenian occupation since 1993, and there is no information about the cave’s
further condition. 
The Ancient Kingdom of Albania
In 252/3 Albania, along with Iberia and Armenia, was conquered and annexed by
the Sasanian king Shapur I (r. 240–270). Albania retained its monarchy, although the king had no
real power and most civil, religious, and military authority lay with the
Sasanian marzban ("margrave") of the territory. In 297 the Treaty of Nisibis stipulated the
reestablishment of the Roman protectorate over Iberia, but Albania remained an integral part of the
Sasanian Empire.[1] In the middle of the 4th century the king of Albania, Urnayr, arrived in Armenia
and was baptized by Gregory the Illuminator, but Christianity spread in Albania slowly, and the
Albanian king remained loyal to the Sasanians. After the partition of Armenia between Byzantium
and Iran (387), Albania with Sasanian help was able to seize from Armenia the entire right bank of
the river Kura up to the river Araxes, including Artsakh and Utik.[1]
The Sasanian king Yazdegerd II passed an edict requiring all the Christians in his empire to convert
to Mazdaism, fearing that Christians might ally with Roman Empire, which had recently adopted
Christianity. This led to rebellion of Albanians, along with Armenians and Iberians. However, the
Albanian king Vache, a relative of Yazdegerd II, converted to the official religion of the Sassanian
empire, but quickly reverted to Christianity. In the middle of the 5th century by the order of the
Sasanian king Peroz I Vache built in Utik the city initially called Perozabad, and later Partaw
and Barda, and made it the capital of Albania.[3] The seat of the Albanian Catholicos was also
transferred to Partaw,[4] as well as the marzban.[1] After the death of Vache, Albania remained without
a king for thirty years. The Sasanian Balash reestablished the Albanian monarchy by making
Vachagan, son of Yazdegerd and brother of the previous king Vache, the king of Albania.
By the end of the 5th century, the ancient ruling dynasty of Albania was replaced by princes of
the Parthian Mihranid family, who claimed descent from the Sasanians. They assumed the title of
"Arranshah" (i.e. shah of Arran, Iranian name of Albania). [5] The ruling dynasty was named after its
founder Mihran, who was a distant relative of the Sasanians. [6] The Mihranid dynasty survived under
Muslim suzerainty until 821-2.[7]
In the late 6th – early 7th centuries AD the territory of Albania became an arena of wars between
Sassanian Iran, Byzantium and Khazar kaganate, the latter two very often acting as allies. During
the Third Perso-Turkic War, the Khazars invaded Albania, and their leader Ziebel declared himself
lord of Albania, levying a tax on merchants and the fishermen of the Kura and Araxes rivers, which
was "in accordance with the land survey of the kingdom of Persia". The Albanian kings retained their
rule by paying tribute to the regional powers.[8] Albania was later conquered by the Arabs during
the Islamic conquest of Persia.

Albanian Churches and Monasteries

After Urnayr's death, the Caucasian Albanians requested that St. Gregory's grandson, St. Gregoris,
lead their church.St. Gregoris had been ordained bishop of Caucasian Albania and Iberia at age 15
and traveled through those lands preaching Christianity. He built Caucasian Albania's third known
church in the city of Tsri, in Utiķ. During his stay in the land of the Maskout in northeast Caucasian
Albania, St. Gregoris was attacked by an angry mob of idol worshipers, tied to a horse and
dismembered. His remains were buried near the Amaras Monastery (presently in the Martuni
Province of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic) built by his grandfather in the canton of Haband in
Artsakh.

In probably the early 5th century, a local bishop by the name of Jeremy translated the Holy Bible into
the language of the Caucasian Albanians, i.e. the Old Udi language. The earliest extant excerpts of
translations of parts of the Bible into Old Udi come from the 7th century, and were based mostly
upon Armenian translations. These translations were commissioned probably by King Javanshir.
The reign of the greatest Javansjir
The Albanian ruler, Javanshir ably defended his country against the ferocious attacks of its opportunistic
and expansionist neighbors such as the empires of Byzantine, Sasanids, Arab Caliphate and Khazar
Khanate. Despite the military dominance of these powers over Albania, he had been able to maintain
and uphold the independence of his country due to his farsighted, sagacious vision as well as immense
aptitude and valor as a warrior. At the beginning of our era, Azerbaijan faced one of the most turbulent
periods of its history. It was occupied by the Sassanids Empire of Iran in the 3rd century and by the Arab
Caliphate in the 7th century AD. The occupation by Iran and Arabia brought a large number of migrants
from the interior of those two countries who were settled in Azerbaijan. These migrants were settled in
militarily important strategic locations as well as on the highly productive lands of the country. They
were given countless privileges. These foreigners started to pursue a policy of assimilation and
extermination of the native population of Azerbaijan. However, despite the cruelties and excesses
committed by the Iranians and Arab occupiers for a period of more than 600 years, the old Azerbaijani
traditions of the state governance system could not be eradicated. Despite the insufferable agonies at
the hands of exploitive regimes and ensuing tough conditions, the integration and amalgamation of the
people into one united association continued in Azerbaijan. Nonetheless, the strategies worked out by
the occupying powers to wipe out the native population by way of assimilation and absorption
backfired. In reality, the fact that the people of Azerbaijan remained under the rule of those empires for
a very long period of time in an integrated and undivided form actually resulted in establishment of the
interregional links within the entire country which eventually led to the expansion of internal trade.
Growth of internal trade accelerated the ethnic, political and cultural unification between the northern,
southern, eastern and western regions of Azerbaijan. In fact, the prolonged common struggle for
independence against the aggressive Iranian and Arab forces brought the Turkic and non-Turkic
inhabitants of Azerbaijan closer to each other and helped them intermingle with each other. This, in
turn expedited the process of unification and coalescence of the diverse ethnic groups into a single
united nation