This title calls for lots of research, but it all fits together so well. Matenadaran (Մատենադարան) is ancient Armenian for library or repository of manuscripts. It is a central archive in Yerevan, Armenia. I was able to visit it on this trip and I was very fascinated. This library dates back to the holdings of the Armenian Apostolic Church in Echmiadzin. It was expropriated in 1920 and all manuscripts were transferred to Moscow, but in 1939 the collection was brought to Armenia, but now to Yerevan. The current building was built between 1945 and 1957 in neo-Armenian style. The warehouse is carved into the rock to be safe from atomic bombs, but today it suffers from water ingress.
In front of the building stands a statue of Mesrop Mashtots; he is a saint who invented the Armenian alphabet. The Matenadaran is actually called the “Mesrop Mashtots Institute of Ancient Manuscripts” (Armenian: Մեսրոպ Մաշտոցի անվան հին ձեռագրերի ինստիտուտ). Its collection has been included in the register of the UNESCO Memory of the World program in 1997 [1].
Mesrop Mashtots (Armenian: Մեսրոպ Մաշտոց) was, among other things, theologian, linguist and composer [2]. He lived from 362-440. He is venerated as a saint in the Armenian Apostolic Church. He is particularly known for developing the Armenian alphabet, which dates back to 405.
Why was a separate alphabet necessary? It was explained to me on the trip that other letters had already been used to spread pagan/satanic contents. In the German alphabet there are 26 basic letters, three umlauts and the sharp s, written ß, which is actually a ligature of ss, but is now often written ss or sz. In total there are 30 letters. The English alphabet consists of 26 letters. The Armenian alphabet (Armenian: Հայոց գրեր) today has 39 letters, with և ev being a ligature [3], but like the German ß is counted as a letter. The English sh is rendered as sch in German, but other languages just have a letter for this sound (same applies to th). The further back in time we go, the more ligatures we can find. Therefore, the number 39 should not confuse us too much. The script looks elegant, but subjectively it seems to me to be insufficiently discriminatory, i.e. some letters look very similar to others. This is very subjective and does not do justice to the Armenians' attitude to their script. For Armenians, the Armenian alphabet is part of their national identity.
What does the Armenian language belong to? I would have thought it belonged to the Persian language area, because there are points of contact in history, but that is wrong. The Armenian language (endonym: հայերեն [hayeren]) is the only member of a separate branch of the Indo-European languages [4]. It is estimated that there are 5-7 million speakers worldwide. There are a number of loan words from ancient languages such as Hittite or especially Luwian, which I dealt with six months ago in a biblical context [5].
Now let us enter the museum. We had a tour with an elderly lady (certainly over 80 years old) who explained the exhibits to us with great enthusiasm and knowledge. She had a wooden stick with which she pointed to the objects. That reminded me of two things. I had a tour in North Korea where a pointer was used, namely a telescopic pointer (similar to what car antennas used to look like). Then I remembered that I had a telescopic pointer myself when we still gave lectures with an overhead projector and not presentations with a projector (which is called beamer in German by the way).
The Echmiadzin Gospel Book is particularly beautifully designed and dates from the year 989. You can find out more about it on Wikipedia or directly in an article in the museum [6]. Also interesting is a large-format Bible that had to be cut in half and was saved by two women on the run, but could only be put back together decades later, or rather, one half is on display and the other is kept in the storeroom under a constant climate. They are changed every six months. The manuscripts are kept behind glass and attempts are made to prevent them from drying out or becoming too damp (which could lead to mold). Thyme plays a major role in preventig both. There are also other linguistic monuments, such as palm leaf manuscripts from Sri Lanka or early Chinese prints. Incidentally, Armenians began printing on paper much earlier than Western Europe. I would have liked to have stayed there longer, but I hope I will have another opportunity to do so later. In the mean time I'll pay a virtual visit every now and then and you could do so, too [7].
Links and Annotations:
[1] https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matenadaran and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matenadaran
[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mesrop_Mashtots
[3] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Armenian_alphabet
[4] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Armenian_language
[5] Paulus und Barnabas in Lystra https://rheumatologe.blogspot.com/2024/02/paulus-und-barnabas-in-lystra.html
[6] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Echmiadzin_Gospels and „The Etchmiadzin Gospel Is An Ancient Exhibit Of The Matenadaran With A Thousand-Year History“ https://matenadaran.am/en/2024/06/25/the-etchmiadzin-gospel-is-an-ancient-exhibit-of-the-matenadaran-with-a-thousand-year-history/
[7] https://matenadaran3d.am/ and I just looked at this: https://my.matterport.com/show/?m=PuKQibNfPsd&ss=162&sr=-.62%2C-.05&tag=KL3cYIa09X2&pin-pos=-4.52%2C1.17%2C-11.26
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