#religious myth

• Artiurti — An archaic and phonetically corrupted designation, originating in old Orthodox polemical texts, used to distort the Armenian word 'Araciavorat' (the genitive plural of Araciavorc), which designates the pre-Lenten fast established in Armenia by Saint Gregory the Illuminator. Due to dogmatic and calendar differences, folk tradition created a myth claiming the term referred to a supposed holy dog worshiped by Armenians, historically serving as an ethnic nickname.