The Madenataran. The Pride of the Armenian Nation…

Dec 5th, 2010
“… Mesrob Mashdots, under impossible conditions did the only thing possible, the only seemingly simple and common thing, which would save the nation from destruction, which would unite the nation and which would arm her against all dangers and ensure her perseverance against all odds. He invented the Armenian alphabet, the Armenian script which would prove to be mightier than all the weapons and means the Armenian nation could muster… What he had invented actually were not mere letters of the alphabet, but were the salvation of an entire nation and country… That is the reason that our nation, who has existed centuries before the invention of the alphabet, celebrates the invention of the alphabet as the anniversary of her second rebirth…”

Every time that one visits the Madenataran(Madenataran of Manuscripts), one reiterates how true are Kecork Emin’s words and the importance and place of the Armenian language and alphabet in world culture becomes obvious.



Every person who visits Armenia, whether he is an Armenian or not, feels obliged to visit the Madenataran, which has become one of our national treasures and which is housed in the marvellous building rising from the slopes of one of the beautiful hills of Yerevan at the northern end of Mashdots avenue. The Madenataran building is the work of architect Mark Krikorian. Work on the building had started in 1945 and completed in 1957. In front of the building one finds the statues of our middle age giants of literature, arts and sciences, such as Movses khorenatsi, Toros Roslin, Krikor Datevatsi, Anania Shiragatsi, Mkhitar kosh aand Frig and below them on the little square of Mesrob Mashdots and Gorun.

The Madenataran is one of the oldest and richest sanctuaries of manuscripts in the world.



The core of the Madenataran’s collection of manuscript is the collection of manuscripts of the Armenian catholicosate, which after being located in different venues for centuries had returned to its original location of St. Echmiadzin in 1441. More than 17000 manuscript are kept in the Madenataran, comprising of complete manuscripts, parts of manuscript, parchment manuscripts from the 5th and 6th centuries, foreign language books, hand-written books and others. The oldest manuscript of the Madenataran which has been fully conserved is the 8th century “Vehamor Avedaran”. Note worthy are the book-giant “Msho Djarendir” which is the largest Armenian manuscript weighing 28 kilograms and the 1434 church calendar weighing a mere 29 grams.

The Armenian manuscripts are rich in miniature drawings, whose colours are so vivid that it is hard to believe they were painted centuries ago and not a few years back. The paints were expertly made of natural ingredients and because of that they have not lost their initial shine and vividness. For example, red was made from a small insect which could be abundantly found on the plains of Ararad. This red paint was exported to different countries and it is still known to painters today as garmin red.



Parallel to the scientific work done there, the Madenataran is actively engaged in the collection of ancient manuscripts. Noteworthy are the names of some of the larger contributors to her collection, such as Haroutioun Hazarian, from New York, who has donated 397 Armenian and foreign language manuscript, Rafael Margossian, from Paris, who has bequeathed 37 manuscripts, Varoujan Salatian, from Damascus, who has donated more than 150 manuscript, Arshag Dikranian, from Los Angeles, Garbis Cherpashian and Kevork Pakerdjian, from Paris, and a host of other benefactors. 95 year old Dadjad Margossian from the gharghoun village of Nor Chougha in Iran, donated to the Madenataran a manuscript copied in the Nareg monastry in 1069 from a 5th century bible written by Mesrob Mashdots himself. This year, the secretary of the Diocesan Council of Cairo and member od the Armenian Relief Society Mr. Souren Baghramian donated to the Madenataran part of his collection of newspapers, manuscripts, documents and old books numbering some 169 works. The Madenataran has bought a large number of manuscripts during the years as well.

Apart from Armenian manuscripts and books, the Madenataran has a large collection of items in Arabic, Persian, Greek, Assyrian, Latin, Ethiopian, Indian, Japanese and other languages. In this institute of cultural heritage a lot of foreign language manuscripts have been saved from extinction because their Armenian translations were kept and are now stored in the Madenataran.

Dear compatriots, visit the official site of the Madenataran at http://www.matenadaran.am

Ruzanna Avakian

Yerevan

Ruzanna Avakian