The Matenadaran ( hy, Մատենադարան), officially the Mesrop Mashtots Institute of Ancient Manuscripts, is a museum, repository of
manuscript
A manuscript (abbreviated MS for singular and MSS for plural) was, traditionally, any document written by hand – or, once practical typewriters became available, typewritten – as opposed to mechanically printed or reproduced in ...
s, and a research institute in
Yerevan
Yerevan ( , , hy, Երևան , sometimes spelled Erevan) is the capital and largest city of Armenia and one of the world's oldest continuously inhabited cities. Situated along the Hrazdan River, Yerevan is the administrative, cultural, and i ...
,
Armenia
Armenia (), , group=pron officially the Republic of Armenia,, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of Western Asia.The UNbr>classification of world regions places Armenia in Western Asia; the CIA World Factbook , , and ' ...
. It is the world's largest repository of
Armenian
Armenian may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to Armenia, a country in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia
* Armenians, the national people of Armenia, or people of Armenian descent
** Armenian Diaspora, Armenian communities across the ...
manuscripts.
It was established in 1959 on the basis of the nationalized collection of the
Armenian Church
Armenian may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to Armenia, a country in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia
* Armenians, the national people of Armenia, or people of Armenian descent
** Armenian Diaspora, Armenian communities across the ...
, formerly held at
Etchmiadzin. Its collection has gradually expanded since its establishment, mostly from individual donations. One of the most prominent landmarks of Yerevan, it is named after
Mesrop Mashtots Mesrob or Mesrop ( hy, Մեսրոպ) is an Armenian given name.
Mesrob / Mesrop may refer to:
* Mesrop Mashtots, also Saint Mesrop, Armenian monk, theologian and linguist. Inventor of the Armenian alphabet
** Mesrop Mashtots Institute of Ancient M ...
, the inventor of the
Armenian alphabet
The Armenian alphabet ( hy, Հայոց գրեր, ' or , ') is an alphabetic writing system used to write Armenian. It was developed around 405 AD by Mesrop Mashtots, an Armenian linguist and ecclesiastical leader. The system originally had ...
, whose statue stands in front of the building.
Name
The word մատենադարան, ''matenadaran'' is a
compound
Compound may refer to:
Architecture and built environments
* Compound (enclosure), a cluster of buildings having a shared purpose, usually inside a fence or wall
** Compound (fortification), a version of the above fortified with defensive struc ...
composed of
մատեան, ''matean'' ("book" or "
parchment
Parchment is a writing material made from specially prepared untanned skins of animals—primarily sheep, calves, and goats. It has been used as a writing medium for over two millennia. Vellum is a finer quality parchment made from the skins o ...
") and դարան, ''daran'' ("repository"). According to
Hrachia Acharian
Hrachia Acharian ( hy, Հրաչեայ Աճառեան, reformed spelling: Հրաչյա Աճառյան ; 8 March 1876 – 16 April 1953) was an Armenian linguist, lexicographer, etymologist, and philologist.
An Istanbul Armenian, Acharian stu ...
both words are of
Middle Persian
Middle Persian or Pahlavi, also known by its endonym Pārsīk or Pārsīg () in its later form, is a Western Middle Iranian language which became the literary language of the Sasanian Empire. For some time after the Sasanian collapse, Middle ...
(Pahlavi) origin. Though it is sometimes translated as "
scriptorium
Scriptorium (), literally "a place for writing", is commonly used to refer to a room in medieval European monasteries devoted to the writing, copying and illuminating of manuscripts commonly handled by monastic scribes.
However, lay scribes an ...
" in English, a more accurate translation is "repository or library of manuscripts." In medieval Armenia, the term ''matenadaran'' was used in the sense of a library as all books were manuscripts.
Some Armenian manuscript repositories around the world are still known as ''matenadaran'', such as the ones at the
Mekhitarist
, image =
, image_size =
, caption =
, abbreviation = C.A.M.
, nickname = Mechitarists
, established =
, founder = Abbot Mekhitar of Sebaste, C.A.M.
, foundin ...
monastery in
San Lazzaro, Venice and the
Armenian Patriarchate of Constantinople, and the Vatche and Tamar Manoukian Manuscript Depository at the
Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin. To distinguish it from others, it is often referred to as the Matenadaran of Yerevan, the Yerevan Matenadaran
or Mashtots Matenadaran.
History
Historic predecessors
The earliest mention of a manuscript repository in Armenia was recorded in the writings of the fifth century historian
Ghazar Parpetsi
Ghazar Parpetsi ( hy, Ղազար Փարպեցի, translit=Łazar P῾arpec῾i) was a 5th to 6th century Armenian chronicler and historian. He had close ties with the powerful Mamikonian noble family and is most prominent for writing a history of ...
, who noted the existence of such a repository at the
Etchmiadzin catholicosate in
Vagharshapat
Vagharshapat ( hy, Վաղարշապատ ) is the 4th-largest city in Armenia and the most populous municipal community of Armavir Province, located about west of the capital Yerevan, and north of the closed Turkish-Armenian border. It is com ...
, where
Greek
Greek may refer to:
Greece
Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe:
*Greeks, an ethnic group.
*Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family.
**Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...
and
Armenian language
Armenian ( classical: , reformed: , , ) is an Indo-European language and an independent branch of that family of languages. It is the official language of Armenia. Historically spoken in the Armenian Highlands, today Armenian is widely spoken th ...
texts were kept. Sources remain silent on the fate of the Etchmiadzin ''matenadaran'' until the 15th century, when the catholicosate returned from
Sis in
Cilicia
Cilicia (); el, Κιλικία, ''Kilikía''; Middle Persian: ''klkyʾy'' (''Klikiyā''); Parthian: ''kylkyʾ'' (''Kilikiyā''); tr, Kilikya). is a geographical region in southern Anatolia in Turkey, extending inland from the northeastern coa ...
.
Manuscript repositories existed at major monasteries in medieval Armenia, such as at
Haghpat
Haghpat ( hy, Հաղպատ) is a village in the Lori Province of Armenia, located near the city of Alaverdi and the state border with Georgia.
It is notable for Haghpat Monastery, a religious complex founded in the 10th century and included in t ...
(
Haghpat matenadaran),
Sanahin
Sanahin () is a village in the northern province of Lori in Armenia, now considered part of the city of Alaverdi (a cable car connects it with Alaverdi). The village is notable for its Sanahin Monastery complex, founded in the 10th century an ...
,
Saghmosavank,
Tatev
The Tatev Monastery ( hy, Տաթևի վանք, Tat'evi vank') is a 9th-century Armenian Apostolic monastery located on a large basalt plateau near the village of Tatev in the Syunik Province in southeastern Armenia. The term "Tatev" usually refe ...
,
Geghard
Geghard ( hy, Գեղարդ, meaning "spear") is a medieval monastery in the Kotayk province of Armenia, being partially carved out of the adjacent mountain, surrounded by cliffs. It is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site with enhanced protec ...
,
Kecharis,
Hromkla, and
Bardzraberd.
In some cases, monastic complexes have separate structures as manuscript repositories. Sometimes manuscripts would be transferred to caves to avoid destruction by foreign invaders.
Thousands of manuscripts in Armenia were destroyed over the course of the tenth to fifteenth centuries during the Turkic and Mongol invasions. According to the medieval Armenian historian
Stepanos Orbelian
Stepanos Orbelian ( hy, Ստեփանոս Օրբելեան, originally spelled hy, Ստեփաննոս, translit=Stepʻannos, label=none; – 1303) was a thirteenth-century Armenian historian and the metropolitan bishop of the province of Sy ...
, the
Seljuk Turks
The Seljuk dynasty, or Seljukids ( ; fa, سلجوقیان ''Saljuqian'', alternatively spelled as Seljuqs or Saljuqs), also known as Seljuk Turks, Seljuk Turkomans "The defeat in August 1071 of the Byzantine emperor Romanos Diogenes
by the Turk ...
were responsible for the burning of over 10,000 Armenian manuscripts in
Baghaberd in 1170.
Modern Matenadaran
As a result of Armenia being a constant battleground between two major powers, the Matenadaran in Etchmiadzin was pillaged several times, the last of which took place in 1804, during the
Russo-Persian War.
Eastern Armenia's annexation by the
Russian Empire
The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. ...
in the early 19th century provided a more stable climate for the preservation of the remaining manuscripts.
Whereas in 1828 the curators of the Matenadaran catalogued a collection of only 1,809 manuscripts, in 1863 the collection had increased to 2,340 manuscripts, and in 1892 to 3,338 manuscripts.
Prior to
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
, in 1914, the collected had reached 4,660 manuscripts.
The collection was sent to Moscow for safekeeping since Etchmiadzin was close to the war zone.
Thousands of Armenian manuscripts were destroyed during the
genocide
Genocide is the intentional destruction of a people—usually defined as an ethnic, national, racial, or religious group—in whole or in part. Raphael Lemkin coined the term in 1944, combining the Greek word (, "race, people") with the Lat ...
in the Ottoman Empire.
On December 17, 1920, just two weeks after the demise of the
First Republic of Armenia and
Sovietization of Armenia, the new Bolshevik government of Armenia issued a decree
nationalizing all cultural and educational institutions in Armenia.
The issue, signed by Minister of Education
Ashot Hovhannisyan, declared the manuscript repository of Etchmiadzin the "property of the working peoples of Armenia."
It was put under the supervision of
Levon Lisitsian, an art historian and the newly appointed commissar of all cultural and educational institutions of Etchmiadzin.
In March 1922 the manuscripts from Etchmiadzin that had been sent to Moscow during
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
were ordered to be returned to Armenia by
Alexander Miasnikian.
1,730 manuscripts were added to the original 4,660 manuscripts held at Etchmiadzin once they returned to Armenia.
In 1939 the entire collection of manuscripts of Etchmiadzin were transferred to the State Public Library in Yerevan (what later became the
National Library of Armenia) by the decision of the Soviet Armenian government.
In the same year there were 9,382 cataloged manuscripts at the Matenadaran.
On March 3, 1959, the Council of Ministers of Soviet Armenian officially established the Matenadaran as an "institute of scientific research with special departments of scientific preservation, study, translation and publication of manuscripts" in a new building.
It was named after Mesrop Mashtots, the creator of the
Armenian alphabet
The Armenian alphabet ( hy, Հայոց գրեր, ' or , ') is an alphabetic writing system used to write Armenian. It was developed around 405 AD by Mesrop Mashtots, an Armenian linguist and ecclesiastical leader. The system originally had ...
, in 1962.
Architecture
Old building
The Matenadaran is located at the foot of a small hill on the northern edge of
Mashtots Avenue, the widest road in central Yerevan. The building has been variously described as monumental, imposing,
and stern.
Herbert Lottman called it "solemn and solid-looking."
Soviet travel writer Nikolai Mikhailov noted that "In its dimensions and architecture it is a palace." The building is listed as a national monument by the government of Armenia.
It was built in gray
basalt
Basalt (; ) is an aphanitic (fine-grained) extrusive igneous rock formed from the rapid cooling of low-viscosity lava rich in magnesium and iron (mafic lava) exposed at or very near the surface of a rocky planet or moon. More than 90 ...
from 1945 to 1958, however, construction was put on hold from 1947 to 1953 due to unavailability of skilled laborers. Designed by Yerevan's chief architect
Mark Grigorian, it is influenced by medieval
Armenian architecture
Armenian architecture comprises architectural works with an aesthetic or historical connection to the Armenian people. It is difficult to situate this architectural style within precise geographical or chronological limits, but many of its monume ...
.
According to
Murad Hasratyan, the façade of the Matenadaran is influenced by the 11th century
Holy Apostles (Arakelots) church of
Ani
Ani ( hy, Անի; grc-gre, Ἄνιον, ''Ánion''; la, Abnicum; tr, Ani) is a ruined medieval Armenian city now situated in Turkey's province of Kars, next to the closed border with Armenia.
Between 961 and 1045, it was the capital of the ...
, the grand capital of
Bagratid Armenia
The Bagratid Kingdom of Armenia, also known as Bagratid Armenia ( xcl, Բագրատունեաց Հայաստան, or , , 'kingdom of the Bagratunis'), was an independent Armenian state established by Ashot I Bagratuni of the Bagratuni dynasty ...
. However, Grigorian noted that the facade design (an entrance in the middle with two decorative
niches on the two sides) has ancient roots, appearing at the
ancient Egyptian
Temple of Edfu
The Temple of Edfu is an Egyptian temple located on the west bank of the Nile in Edfu, Upper Egypt. The city was known in the Hellenistic period in grc-koi, Ἀπόλλωνος πόλις and in Latin as ''Apollonopolis Magna'', after the chief g ...
, and then at the Holy Apostles church and the
Baronial Palace of Ani. Grigorian designed the
entrance hall
The Entrance Hall (also called the Grand Foyer) is the primary and formal entrance to the White House, the official residence of the president of the United States. The room is rectilinear in shape and measures approximately 31 by 44 feet. ...
in line with the ''
gavit'' (
narthex
The narthex is an architectural element typical of early Christian and Byzantine basilicas and churches consisting of the entrance or lobby area, located at the west end of the nave, opposite the church's main altar. Traditionally the narthex ...
) of
Sanahin Monastery
Sanahin Monastery is an Armenian monastery founded in the 10th century in the Lori Province of Armenia, recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
The name Sanahin literally translates from Armenian as 'this one is older than that one', presumabl ...
. The building was renovated in 2012.
A 1960 mural by
Van Khachatur (Vanik Khachatrian) depicting the
Battle of Avarayr
The Battle of Avarayr ( hy, Ավարայրի ճակատամարտ ''Avarayri čakatamart'') was fought on 2 June 451 on the Avarayr Plain in Vaspurakan between a Christian Armenian army under Vardan Mamikonian and Sassanid Persia. It is conside ...
is located in the entrance hall.
Three
mural
A mural is any piece of graphic artwork that is painted or applied directly to a wall, ceiling or other permanent substrate. Mural techniques include fresco, mosaic, graffiti and marouflage.
Word mural in art
The word ''mural'' is a Spani ...
s created by Khachatur in 1959 that depict three periods of Armenian history:
Urartu
Urartu (; Assyrian: ',Eberhard Schrader, ''The Cuneiform inscriptions and the Old Testament'' (1885), p. 65. Babylonian: ''Urashtu'', he, אֲרָרָט ''Ararat'') is a geographical region and Iron Age kingdom also known as the Kingdom of V ...
,
Hellenism, and the Middle Ages—surround the steps leading to the main exhibition hall.
A large
ivory
Ivory is a hard, white material from the tusks (traditionally from elephants) and teeth of animals, that consists mainly of dentine, one of the physical structures of teeth and tusks. The chemical structure of the teeth and tusks of mammals i ...
medallion with a diameter of 2 meters depicting the portrait of
Vladimir Lenin
Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov. ( 1870 – 21 January 1924), better known as Vladimir Lenin,. was a Russian revolutionary, politician, and political theorist. He served as the first and founding head of government of Soviet Russia from 1917 to 1 ...
by
Sergey Merkurov was previously hung in the lecture hall. The building has a total floor area of . In the 1970s American archivist
Patricia Kennedy Grimsted noted that Matenadaran is one of the few places in Soviet Armenia with
air conditioning
Air conditioning, often abbreviated as A/C or AC, is the process of removing heat from an enclosed space to achieve a more comfortable interior environment (sometimes referred to as 'comfort cooling') and in some cases also strictly controlling ...
.
From 1963 to 1967, the statues of historical Armenian scholars,
Toros Roslin
Toros Roslin (, ); –1270) was the most prominent Armenian manuscript illuminator in the High Middle Ages.Parry, 399 Roslin introduced a wider range of narrative in his iconography based on his knowledge of western European art while contin ...
,
Grigor Tatevatsi,
Anania Shirakatsi,
Movses Khorenatsi
Movses Khorenatsi (ca. 410–490s AD; hy, Մովսէս Խորենացի, , also written as ''Movses Xorenac‘i'' and Moses of Khoren, Moses of Chorene, and Moses Chorenensis in Latin sources) was a prominent Armenian historian from the late a ...
,
Mkhitar Gosh
Mkhitar Gosh ( hy, Մխիթար Գոշ; 1130–1213) or Mkhitar the Thinbearded was an Armenian scholar, writer, public figure, thinker, and priest. He was one of the representatives of the Armenian Renaissance.
Biography
He was born in the city ...
and
Frik, were erected on the left and right wings of the building's exterior. They each represent one field:
manuscript illumination, philosophy,
cosmology
Cosmology () is a branch of physics and metaphysics dealing with the nature of the universe. The term ''cosmology'' was first used in English in 1656 in Thomas Blount's ''Glossographia'', and in 1731 taken up in Latin by German philosopher ...
, history, jurisprudence, and poetry, respectively. The statues of
Mesrop Mashtots Mesrob or Mesrop ( hy, Մեսրոպ) is an Armenian given name.
Mesrob / Mesrop may refer to:
* Mesrop Mashtots, also Saint Mesrop, Armenian monk, theologian and linguist. Inventor of the Armenian alphabet
** Mesrop Mashtots Institute of Ancient M ...
and his disciple
Koryun
Koriun ( hy, Կորիւն, reformed spelling: Կորյուն; also transliterated as ''Koriwn'', ''Koryun'') was the earliest Armenian-language author. Writing in the fifth century, his ''Life of Mashtots'' contains many details about the evangel ...
(1962) are located below the terrace where the main building stands.
Since the 1970s an open-air exhibition is located near the entrance of the building. On display there are ''
khachkars'' from the 13th-17th centuries, a tombstone from the
Noratus cemetery
Noratus cemetery, also spelled Noraduz, ( hy, Նորատուսի գերեզմանատուն) is a medieval cemetery with many early khachkars located in the village of Noratus, Gegharkunik Province near Gavar and Lake Sevan, 90 km north of Y ...
, a ''
vishap
The Vishap (Վիշապ) is a dragon in Armenian mythology closely associated with water, similar to the Leviathan. It is usually depicted as a winged snake or with a combination of elements from different animals.
Mount Ararat was the main home o ...
'' dated 2nd-1st millennia BC, a door from
Teishebaini
Teishebaini (also Teshebani, modern Karmir Blur ( hy, Կարմիր Բլուր) referring more to the hill that the fortress is located upon) was the capital of the Transcaucasian provinces of the ancient kingdom of Urartu. It is located near the ...
(Karmir Blur), a
Urartian archaeological site.
New building
The new building of the Matenadaran was designed by
Arthur Meschian, an architect better known as a musician, to house the increasing number of manuscripts.
A five-story building, it is three times larger than the old one.
It is equipped with a
high-tech laboratory, where manuscripts are preserved, restored and digitized.
Meschian noted that he designed the new building in a way to not compete with the old one, but instead be a continuation of it.
It was initially planned to be constructed in the late 1980s, but was not realized because of the
1988 Armenian earthquake
The 1988 Armenian earthquake, also known as the Spitak earthquake ( hy, Սպիտակի երկրաշարժ, ), occurred on December 7 at with a surface wave magnitude of 6.8 and a maximum MSK intensity of X (''Devastating''). The shock occurre ...
, the
First Nagorno-Karabakh War and the economic crisis that ensued.
Financed by Moscow-based Armenian businessman Sergei Hambartsumian (US$10 million) and Maxim Hakobian, director of the
Zangezur Copper and Molybdenum Combine (US$4 million), it was built from May 2009 to September 2011.
It was inaugurated on September 20, 2011 on the eve of celebrations of the 20th anniversary of Armenia's independence in attendance of President
Serzh Sargsyan
Serzh Azati Sargsyan ( hy, Սերժ Ազատի Սարգսյան, ; born 30 June 1954)[Of ...](_blank)
, Catholicoi
Karekin II
Catholicos Karekin II ( hy, Գարեգին Բ, also spelled Garegin; born 21 August 1951) is the current Catholicos of All Armenians, the supreme head of the Armenian Apostolic Church. In 2013 he was unanimously elected the Oriental Orthodox he ...
of Etchmiadzin and
Aram I
Aram I ( hy, Արամ Ա. Քեշիշեան; born Bedros Keshishian 8 March 1947), has been the head of the Catholicosate of the Great House of Cilicia since 1995 and he resides in Antelias, Lebanon.
Bibliography
Aram I has written the followin ...
of Cilicia, Artsakh President
Bako Sahakyan, and others.
Collection
Currently, the Matenadaran contains a total of some 23,000
manuscript
A manuscript (abbreviated MS for singular and MSS for plural) was, traditionally, any document written by hand – or, once practical typewriters became available, typewritten – as opposed to mechanically printed or reproduced in ...
s and
scrolls—including fragments.
It is, by far, the single largest collection of Armenian manuscripts in the world. Furthermore, over 500,000 documents such as imperial and decrees of
catholicoi, various documents related to
Armenian studies
Armenian studies or Armenology ( hy, հայագիտություն, ) is a field of humanities covering Armenian history, language and culture. The emergence of modern Armenian studies is associated with the foundation of the Catholic Mechitarist ...
, and archival periodicals.
The manuscripts cover a wide array of subjects: religious and
theological
Theology is the systematic study of the nature of the divine and, more broadly, of religious belief. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of analyzing the s ...
works (
Gospel
Gospel originally meant the Christian message (" the gospel"), but in the 2nd century it came to be used also for the books in which the message was set out. In this sense a gospel can be defined as a loose-knit, episodic narrative of the words a ...
s,
Bible
The Bible (from Koine Greek , , 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptures that are held to be sacred in Christianity, Judaism, Samaritanism, and many other religions. The Bible is an anthologya compilation of texts ...
s, lectionaries,
psalters,
hymnal
A hymnal or hymnary is a collection of hymns, usually in the form of a book, called a hymnbook (or hymn book). Hymnals are used in congregational singing. A hymnal may contain only hymn texts (normal for most hymnals for most centuries of Chr ...
s,
homilies
A homily (from Greek ὁμιλία, ''homilía'') is a commentary that follows a reading of scripture, giving the "public explanation of a sacred doctrine" or text. The works of Origen and John Chrysostom (known as Paschal Homily) are considered ex ...
, and liturgical books), texts on history, mathematics, geography, astronomy, cosmology, philosophy, jurisprudence, medicine, alchemy, astrology, music, grammar, rhetoric, philology, pedagogy, collections of poetry, literary texts, and translations from
Greek
Greek may refer to:
Greece
Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe:
*Greeks, an ethnic group.
*Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family.
**Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...
and
Syriac Syriac may refer to:
*Syriac language, an ancient dialect of Middle Aramaic
*Sureth, one of the modern dialects of Syriac spoken in the Nineveh Plains region
* Syriac alphabet
** Syriac (Unicode block)
** Syriac Supplement
* Neo-Aramaic languages a ...
.
The writings of classical and medieval historians
Movses Khorenatsi
Movses Khorenatsi (ca. 410–490s AD; hy, Մովսէս Խորենացի, , also written as ''Movses Xorenac‘i'' and Moses of Khoren, Moses of Chorene, and Moses Chorenensis in Latin sources) was a prominent Armenian historian from the late a ...
,
Yeghishe and
Koryun
Koriun ( hy, Կորիւն, reformed spelling: Կորյուն; also transliterated as ''Koriwn'', ''Koryun'') was the earliest Armenian-language author. Writing in the fifth century, his ''Life of Mashtots'' contains many details about the evangel ...
are preserved here, as are the legal, philosophical and theological writings of other notable Armenian figures. The preserved writings of
Grigor Narekatsi and
Nerses Shnorhali at the Matenadaran form the cornerstone of medieval Armenian literature.
The manuscripts previously held at
Etchmiadzin constitute the core of the Matenadaran collection. The rest came from the
Lazarev Institute of Oriental Languages
The Lazarev Institute of Oriental Languages, ( hy, Լազարևի արևելյան լեզուների ինստիտուտ) established in 1815, was a school specializing in orientalism, with a particular focus on that of Armenia, and was the princi ...
in Moscow, the
Nersisian Seminary and the Armenian Ethnographic Society, both in Tbilisi, and the
Yerevan Museum of Literature.
When it was established as a distinct institution in 1959, the Matenadaran had around 10,000 Armenian manuscripts and 4,000 fragments (partial volumes or isolated pages) dating as early as the 5th century.
At the time there were some one thousand manuscripts in other languages, such as Persian, Syriac, Arabic, Greek, Georgian, Russian, Hebrew, Hindi,
Tamil, Latin, Ethiopian (
Amharic), and other languages.
Some originals, written in other languages, have been saved only in their Armenian translations.
There has been steady growth in the number of manuscripts preserved at the Matenadaran, mostly from gifts from private individuals from the
Armenian diaspora
The Armenian diaspora refers to the communities of Armenians outside Armenia and other locations where Armenians are considered an indigenous population. Since antiquity, Armenians have established communities in many regions throughout the world. ...
.
In 1972 there were already 12,960 Armenian manuscripts and nearly two thousand manuscripts in other languages.
Among the major donors of the Matenadaran include Harutiun Hazarian from New York (397 manuscripts), Varouzhan Salatian from Damascus (150 manuscripts), Rafael Markossian from Paris (37 manuscripts).
Rouben Galichian
Rouben Galichian ( hy, Ռուբեն Գալչյան) (born 1938, Tabriz) is an independent London-based scholar and researcher specializing in historical maps of Armenia and the South Caucasus region.
Rouben Galichian has published many books and ...
from London has donated old maps. In 1969 Tachat Markossian, 95, from the village of
Gharghan
Gharghan ( fa, غرغن, also Romanized as Gharghen) is a village in Varzaq-e Jonubi Rural District, in the Central District of Faridan County, Isfahan Province, Iran
Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also call ...
, near
Isfahan, in central Iran, donated a 1069 manuscript to the Matenadaran. Written at
Narekavank monastery, it is a copy of a Gospel written by Mashtots.
Notable manuscripts
Among the most significant manuscripts of the Matenadaran are the
Lazarian Gospel (9th century), the
Echmiadzin Gospel (10th century) and the
Mughni Gospel (11th century).
The first, so called because it was brought from the
Lazarian Institute, is from 887 and is one of the Matenadaran's oldest complete volumes. The Echmiadzin Gospel, dated 989, has a 6th-century, probably Byzantine, carved ivory cover.
The
Cilician illuminated manuscripts by
Toros Roslin
Toros Roslin (, ); –1270) was the most prominent Armenian manuscript illuminator in the High Middle Ages.Parry, 399 Roslin introduced a wider range of narrative in his iconography based on his knowledge of western European art while contin ...
(13th century) and
Sargis Pitsak (14th century), two prominent masters, are also held with high esteem.
Three manuscripts are allowed to leave the Matenadaran on a regular basis. The first is the Vehamor Gospel, donated to the Matenadaran by Catholicos
Vazgen I
Vazgen I also Vazken I of Bucharest, (), born Levon Garabed Baljian ( hy, Լևոն Կարապետ Աբրահամի Պալճյան; September 20, 1908 – August 18, 1994) was the Catholicos of All Armenians between 1955 and 1994, for a total of 3 ...
in 1975. It probably dates to the 7th century and is, thus, the oldest complete extant Armenian manuscript. The name refers to the mother of the Catholicos (''vehamayr''), to whose memory Vazgen I dedicated the manuscript. Since
Levon Ter-Petrosyan in 1991, all president of Armenia have given their oath on this book.
The other two, the Shurishkani Gospel (1498,
Vaspurakan
Vaspurakan (, Western Armenian pronunciation: ''Vasbouragan'') was the eighth province of the ancient kingdom of Armenia, which later became an independent kingdom during the Middle Ages, centered on Lake Van. Located in what is now southeaster ...
) and the Shukhonts' Gospel (1669) are taken to the churches of
Mughni and
Oshakan
Oshakan ( hy, Օշական) is a major village in the Aragatsotn Province of Armenia located 8 kilometers southwest from Ashtarak. It is well known to historians and pilgrims of the Armenian Apostolic Church as the site of the grave of Mesrop Mas ...
every year to be venerated.
Other items
Besides manuscripts, the Matenadaran holds a copy of the ''
Urbatagirk'', the first published Armenian book (1512, Venice) and all issues of the first Armenian magazine ''
Azdarar
''Azdarar'' ( hy, Ազդարար) (pronounced Aztarar in Western Armenian) was the first Armenian language newspaper ever published. It was established on October 16, 1794, in the city of Madras (now Chennai) in India by Father Harutyun Shmavony ...
'' ("Herald"), published in Madras, India from 1794 to 1796.
The first map printed in Armenian—in Amsterdam in 1695—is also kept at the Matenadaran.
Artsakh branch at Gandzasar
A
branch
A branch, sometimes called a ramus in botany, is a woody structural member connected to the central trunk of a tree (or sometimes a shrub). Large branches are known as boughs and small branches are known as twigs. The term ''twig'' usually ...
of the Matenadaran was established next to the monastery of
Gandzasar in the
Republic of Artsakh
Artsakh, officially the Republic of Artsakh () or the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic (),, is a breakaway state in the South Caucasus whose territory is internationally recognised as part of Azerbaijan. Artsakh controls a part of the former ...
(Nagorno-Karabakh) in 2015.
Publications
Catalogs
The first complete catalog of the Matenadaran manuscripts («Ցուցակ ձեռագրաց») was published in two volumes in 1965 and 1970 with a supplementary volume in 2007. These three volumes listed 11,100 manuscripts kept at the Matenadaran with short descriptions. Since 1984, a more detailed catalog has been published, titled ''The Main List of Armenian Manuscripts'' («Մայր ցուցակ հայերէն ձեռագրաց»). As of 2019, ten volumes have been published.
''Banber Matenadarani''
The Matenadaran publishes the scholarly journal ''Banber Matenadarani'' (Բանբեր Մատենադարանի, "Herald of the Matenadaran") since 1941. The articles are usually devoted to the manuscripts and editions of texts contained in the collection. The journal has been praised for its high quality of scholarship.
Significance and recognition
The Matenadaran collection was inscribed by the
UNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...
into the
Memory of the World Register
Memory is the faculty of the mind by which data or information is encoded, stored, and retrieved when needed. It is the retention of information over time for the purpose of influencing future action. If past events could not be remembered ...
in 1997, recognizing it as a valuable collection of international significance. American diplomat
John Brady Kiesling described the Matenadaran as a "world-class museum."
Anthropologist
Levon Abrahamian argues that the Matenadaran has become a sanctuary and temple for Armenians, where manuscripts are treated not only with scientific respect, but also adoration. Armenian President
Serzh Sargsyan
Serzh Azati Sargsyan ( hy, Սերժ Ազատի Սարգսյան, ; born 30 June 1954)[Of ...](_blank)
stated in 2011: "Today, the Matenadaran is a national treasure which has become the greatest citadel of the Armenian identity."
Asoghik Karapetyan, director of Museums and Archives of the
Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin, called the Matenadaran one of the holiest sites of Armenian identity, along with
Mount Ararat
Mount Ararat or , ''Ararat''; or is a snow-capped and dormant compound volcano in the extreme east of Turkey. It consists of two major volcanic cones: Greater Ararat and Little Ararat. Greater Ararat is the highest peak in Turkey and th ...
and
Etchmiadzin.
Thomas de Waal notes that alongside several other institutions (e.g. the
Opera
Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a libr ...
,
National Gallery
The National Gallery is an art museum in Trafalgar Square in the City of Westminster, in Central London, England. Founded in 1824, it houses a collection of over 2,300 paintings dating from the mid-13th century to 1900. The current Director ...
) the Matenadaran was central in the Soviet efforts to make Yerevan a "repository of Armenian myths and hopes." Abrahamian argues that the secular Matenadaran continued the traditions of the monastery museums within an
atheist state
State atheism is the incorporation of positive atheism or non-theism into political regimes. It may also refer to large-scale secularization attempts by governments. It is a form of religion-state relationship that is usually ideologically l ...
. According to Nora Dudwick, in the Soviet period, the Matenadaran "symbolized the central values of Armenian culture
nd signifiedto Armenians the high level of culture and learning their ancestors achieved as early as the fifth century."
Karen Demirchyan, the Soviet Armenian leader, wrote in a 1984 book that "For the first time there was no need to save Armenian books and manuscripts from destruction by endless wanderings, for they are preserved in the temple of priceless creations of the people's mind and talent, the Yerevan Matenadaran."
The Communist Party's official newspaper, ''
Pravda
''Pravda'' ( rus, Правда, p=ˈpravdə, a=Ru-правда.ogg, "Truth") is a Russian broadsheet newspaper, and was the official newspaper of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, when it was one of the most influential papers in the ...
'', wrote in 1989 that no educated Soviet citizen can "imagine spiritual life without the capital's
Tretyakov Gallery
The State Tretyakov Gallery (russian: Государственная Третьяковская Галерея, ''Gosudarstvennaya Tretyâkovskaya Galereya''; abbreviated ГТГ, ''GTG'') is an art gallery in Moscow, Russia, which is considered th ...
, the
Leningrad Hermitage
The State Hermitage Museum ( rus, Государственный Эрмитаж, r=Gosudarstvennyj Ermitaž, p=ɡəsʊˈdarstvʲɪn(ː)ɨj ɪrmʲɪˈtaʂ, links=no) is a museum of art and culture in Saint Petersburg, Russia. It is the largest ...
, and the Yerevan Matenadaran." In 1990 the Soviet Union issued a 5 ruble
commemorative coin
Commemorative coins are coins issued to commemorate some particular event or issue with a distinct design with reference to the occasion on which they were issued. Many coins of this category serve as collectors items only, although some countries ...
depicting the Matenadaran.
Visitors
The Matenadaran has become one of the landmarks and major touristic attractions of Yerevan since its establishment.
In 2016 it received some 89,000 visitors,
and around 132,600 in 2019.
Many foreign dignitaries have visited the Matenadaran, including
Leonid Brezhnev
Leonid Ilyich Brezhnev; uk, links= no, Леонід Ілліч Брежнєв, . (19 December 1906– 10 November 1982) was a Soviet politician who served as General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union between 1964 and ...
(1970),
Indira Gandhi (1976),
Charles, Prince of Wales
Charles III (Charles Philip Arthur George; born 14 November 1948) is King of the United Kingdom and the 14 other Commonwealth realms. He was the longest-serving heir apparent and Prince of Wales and, at age 73, became the oldest person to a ...
(2013),
Vladimir Putin
Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin; (born 7 October 1952) is a Russian politician and former intelligence officer who holds the office of president of Russia. Putin has served continuously as president or prime minister since 1999: as prime min ...
(2001),
Sirindhorn (2018),
Boris Tadić
Boris Tadić ( sr-cyr, Борис Тадић, ; born 15 January 1958) is a Serbian politician who served as the president of Serbia from 2004 to 2012.
Born in Sarajevo, he graduated from the University of Belgrade with a degree in psycholo ...
(2009),
Sergio Mattarella
Sergio Mattarella (; born 23 July 1941) is an Italian politician, jurist, academic and lawyer who has served as the president of Italy since 2015.
A Christian leftist politician, Mattarella was a leading member of the Christian Democracy par ...
,
José Manuel Barroso (2012),
Bronisław Komorowski
Bronisław Maria Komorowski (; born 4 June 1952) is a Polish politician and historian who served as President of Poland from 2010 to 2015.
Komorowski served as Minister of Defence from 2000 to 2001. As Marshal of the Sejm, Komorowski exercis ...
,
Heinz Fischer
Heinz Fischer Order of Prince Henry, GColIH Order of Merit of the Italian Republic, OMRI Royal Order of the Seraphim, RSerafO Military Order of Saint James of the Sword, GCollSE (; born 9 October 1938) is a former Austrian politician. He took off ...
,
Valdis Zatlers
Valdis Zatlers (born 22 March 1955) is a Latvian politician and former physician who served as the seventh president of Latvia from 2007 to 2011. He won the Latvian presidential election of 31 May 2007. He became President of Latvia on 8 July 2 ...
,
Rumen Radev, and others.
Notable staff
Directors
*
Gevorg Abov (1940–1952)
*
Levon Khachikian (1954–1982)
*
Sen Arevshatyan (1982–2007)
*
Hrachya Tamrazyan (2007–2016)
*
Vahan Ter-Ghevondyan (2018–)
Notable researchers
*
Gevorg Emin, poet. He worked briefly at the Matenadaran in the 1940s.
*
Rafael Ishkhanyan, linguist, political activist and MP. He worked at the Matenadaran from 1961 to 1963.
*
Nouneh Sarkissian
Nouneh SarkissianHer surname is also rendered as Sargsyan. (Armenian language, Armenian: , born 1954) is the wife of Armenian President Armen Sarksyan and is the former First Lady of Armenia.
Education
Nouneh Sarkissian graduated from the Departm ...
, First Lady of Armenia (2018–2022). She worked at the Matenadaran in the 1980s.
*
Levon Ter-Petrosyan, the first president of Armenia (1991–98). He worked at the Matenadaran from 1978 to 1991. He was initially a junior researcher, but became a senior researcher in 1985.
*
Asatur Mnatsakanian, philologist and historian. He worked at the Matenadaran from 1940 until his death in 1983.
References
;Notes
;Citations
Bibliography
*
*
*
Further reading
*
*
*
External links
Official websiteAbout Matenadaran
{{authority control
Armenian culture
Manuscripts
Museums in Yerevan
Library buildings completed in 1957
Literary museums in Armenia
Libraries in Armenia