(Note: I had translated this some time ago. Enjoy!
And remember what we had been talking about under
the topic of "Video" in Genocide.)
Sevak had delivered this in a speech at the
Writers' Union in the 60's)
ԹՐԻ ԴԷՄ ԳՐԻՉ
ՄԱՇՏՈՑԻ ՀՐԱՇՔԸ
THE SWORD v THE PEN
(The Miracle of Mashtotz)
Լաւ սկիզբը գործի կէսն է Այս ծանոթ խոսքի ճշմարտութեան կշիռը ոչ մի տեղ թերեւս այնպէս չես զկում ինչպէս Մաշտոցի մասին գրելիս
"A good start is half the job",- the weight of
this familiar saying
has never been felt so keenly as it applies when
writing about Mashtotz.
How does one begin?
Perhaps- "start/beginning" is the keyword. is
It is true, Armenians have existed many
centuries before Mashtotz.
It is true, that they had governments and
philology, they knew how to
erect monuments, build temples, extract wine, they
knew about
metallurgy, they attended theaters and enjoyed
dove fingered dancers,
those who "sang with their hands".
Imagination and real pictures are not always
synonymous. Imagination
is the domain of children while adults can only
picture things.
Mashtotz came to revolutionize our way of
picturing, the picture of
our very being, of our reality.
Children are born, they sprout teeth and they
learn to walk, they
begin to talk and develop a sense of judgment, but
those first 3 to 4
years might as well be something outside their
lives, they remember very
little if any of those early years. Based on that
we can assert that the
actual birth of a child is not the day they first
see the light of day,
as parents would like to celebrate, it would be
more correct if parents
were to celebrate the day when their child begins
to remember them.
While we measure man's life in years , people
measure their lives in
centuries. In that sense our pre-Mashtotz life has
been virtually lost
with "no memory". And it was Mashtotz that came to
become our memory,
the memory of our very existence, our memory about
ourselves.
This is not an exaggeration, it is merely a
conclusion of 16
centuries of our life, a summary of our meandering
existence since
Mashtotz.
Who was Mashtotz in reality?
The Armenian Church which ever since we lost
of our statehood had
virtually been our sole embodiment of national
identity, it has been for
many centuries celebrating the Feast of the Holy
Translators. Therefor
Mashtotz has been appreciated for all those
centuries albeit as the
chief translator of the Bible. Our historians
have not failed to make
that their central theme in regards to Mesrop. As
any student would
know- Mashtotz is the creator of our letters.
Many peoples, before us and after, have
invented their own alphabets
and have translated the Bible too. And just as
well, in the case of all
those peoples, the invention of their own writing
has been as
significant as the translation of the Bible.
But for us...?
Of all the other inventors of alphabets the
world has recognized
Mashtotz as unique. Here is what Markward, the
famous German orientalist
had to say;
"When we consider the circumstances under
which Mashtotz and Sahak
awakened the Armenian people's ecclesiastical and
national
consciousness, and we compare this with the likes
of the Danish Pepinos
Frank, who gave the German people their gift of
language, only then we
will notice that Pepinos, along with his comrade
in arms Wingfried, will
come up as dwarves compared to Mesrop and Sahak".
This was uttered by a German who, one would
like to believe, is free
of our msiguided national pride and vainglory. The
German scientist was
acting no more than a mere scribe (ù³ñïáõÕ³ñ )
who, as a scientist was
viewing the matter solely from a position of our
"to be or not to be".
This is why, today looking back from this high
point of 16
centuries, Mashtotz seems to us as; "first and
foremost a huge
politician" who, with his "bloodless" victories
can very easily be
compared to and surpasses our most glorious and
victorious
commanders'(ëå³ñ³å»ï)
triumphs.
Yes! Mashtotz, may be the discoverer of our
letters and the founder
of our scripture, before he was the founder, he
was our greatest
politician.
Would it perhaps be an exaggeration if we say
that Armenians have
not shown great talent in the area of politics?
Furthermore, our ancient
as well as recent history has proven this time and
again with
unobliterable proofs and incorrigiible mistakes.
We have used the term
"right", ³ç(as in direction), a word from
which we have derived
hundreds of other word forms, yet it is plenty
evident that our
ancestors were operating from the vantage of the
"left (Ó³Ë)hand".
Consider words like "dzakhordutyun" (failure),
"dzakhaverutyun"
(awkwardness/clumsiness), "dzakhakoghmyan" (the
left) and
"dzakhoghakutyun" (total failure). Indeed, the
history of our political
acumen would have been pitiful if not for one or
two victories. Let us
be fair and add here that the word "great" as
applied to those
victories would be meager if those victories were
not so fateful, fate
shaping and decisive.
"àñï»Õ Ñ³óª ³ÛÝï»Õ ϳó" (Where bread, there we
stop). No doubt that
bankrupt philosophy is a legacy of another
culture, it seems we feel
obligated to emulate the "ó÷³é³Ï³Ý
Ññ»³", "the wandering Jew", that
unenviable fate. Many centuries before the latter
quotation there was
another adage, a wisdom coined by the same Jew
much before that
miserable label. That was "àã ÙdzÛÝ
ѳóÇí Ï»óó¿ Ù³ñ¹.."("Man does not
live by bread alone"). "Not by bread alone...",
not by the body but also
by the spirit, i.e "the word"*. Thus, land and
might are not the only
guarantees of a peopl's survival. Three are other
factors which are in
no way less decisiveí×é³Ï³Ý. The Babylonians and the Assyrians, the
Chaldeans and Hattis did not suffer the Jews' fate
of losing their land
and homeland. They perished on their very own
lands, because just as
man, so do people, not only they live by the
"bread" but also by the
"word"(µ³ÝÇõ).
And indeed, just like in ancient times, also
today, conquerors
don't, can't assimilate their neighbors by force
but by
general/universalizing ideas and styles that of
world conquests spread.
If the Roman and Greek pantheons were
different, separate from ours,
if only in nomenclature, that difference was
virtually absent when
compared to the Armenian-Persian pantheons. And,
doubtless, Trdat III
was wise enough, so as not to be swallowed by that
pan-heathenistic
reality surrounded himself with "thorns". Thorns
as in the "crown of
thorns" of Jesus. His Christian successors were
not any more foolish or
any less seers of the future, who, after two
centuries understood that
the new "general" and "universalizing"
Christianity had similarly turned
into an equally great threat, just as that during
our heathen times.
It is impossible to lag behind the lifestyle
and the mindset of
mankind. Sooner or later all peoples will have to
keep step with the
rest. Christianity could not help but spread and
reign over our
Homeland. But Christianity, just as all other
disciplines, was not a
cloak without a lining³ëï³é. Christianity had
its lining as well,
which was Romanization or Byzatization. The
argument over "one" or "two"
natures of Christ, if He was "man" or "God", one
or both was nothing but
an excuse for Rome and Byzantium to assert
themselves and hold on to
their territories. That is when the word
"imperialism" was created. The
heavenly kingdom of Christ was used to create and
consolidate worldly
"empires". The crucifix(of Christ) ** was dragged
from country to
country not to be hoisted on the domes of houses
of prayer, but to
crucify those lands' independence and (national)
identity. It was
impossible to elude that cross, specially for
Armenia, since the god of
geography had been abandoned and our Homeland had
become the crossroads
armchest (caisson/ ·³ÛÇëáÝ)
to vanquish the thick and heavy Persian
cudgel/club
Ù³Ï³Ý by
creating a huge cross.
Trdat understood that very well, in order not
to be swallowed by
powerful neighbors every small nation had to
emphasize their difference.
He used Christianity to counter heathenism. Yet,
Christianity was fast
becoming a universal order as well. Turning back
to our previous faith
was not an option, considering that even the
Persians, a couple
centuries after, also abandoned their native faith
for Islam. So, how do
we still emphasize that "difference" without which
we would have not
been. A few centuries after Trdat's death our
ancestors found the answer
to that dilemma, they devised a way to "how" to
assert our difference
once again. This can be deemed one of our best
political victories.
Today, all those endeavors may sound
ridiculously laughable. When we
consider all those "universal councils" and the
creeds emanating from
them it all seems so odd. The humble birth of that
Jesus the Nazarene,
and the circumstances surrounding it have become
earth shattering storms
to rock the very foundations of the so called
civilized world. Was the
one born of Maryam God or man? Were godliness and
humanness intertwined
in Jesus' person or were they separate entities?
Subsequently, was He a
monophysite(ÙdzµÝ³Ï ) or
diphysite (»ñϳµÝ³Ï )? Today
this argument may
sound ridiculously unbelievable. This humble son
of a carpenter from
Nazareth and his equally humble fishermen
disciples were being used to
create and consolidate big empires.
Scholastic minds are ezpending blood and
life for those poor
generations, those generations who were the
contemporary of those times
when all those arguments were being debated.
Following generations,
while laughing about those days, are enjoying the
fruits of those
difficult times. There are times when nothing is
easier than to kill
(a)man, specially when huge states are doing it.
Mankind is living just
such days. The empty and bankrupt debate about
Jesus' nature was being
brewed with thousands of human lives and was
reaping the blood of many
others. Many small nations' fate of being or not
hung on Jesus' one or
two natures. It determined if many peoples were to
be or not to be.
There are times when a simple "yes" or "no"
can mean life or death,
even if it may seem like heroism. During those
days our "yes" or "no"
had an enormous meaning, whether we would be or
not be. Our ancestors
said "no". And today that meaningless "Council of
Chalcedon" has and
that "monophysite" have become one of our
history's most meaningful
captions...
That internationally significant event was
happening a mere 10 to 11
eleven years after Mesrop's demise, during the
year 451 AD. A very
familiar date. A time when ours were waging a war
of life or death at
Avarayr, perhaps oblivious to the fact that at
that very moment, when
they were preparing for that battle at Avarayar,
in a sector of modern
Polis known as Kad@ Keoy, which was known as as
Chalcedon then, we were
spared the participation in yet another war. Ours
people could not
participate in that "war". They were busy at
Avarayr. We did not win at
Avarayr, yet we did not lose either. Avarayr was a
victory, a victory
with a big V. Persia was forced to call back its
forces from Armenia and
recall Zardousht back home. We remained
Christians.
But ours could not evade the battle at
Chalcedon, where they would
not win as well, yet they were not defeated
either, it was a victory and
a victory with yet another big V.
Rome took back her crooked cross and would call
us "Christian
Armenians"... Of course today this wording is
purely religious, but
during those days to be known as "Christian
Armenians" was our ancestors
way to be distinguished us as unique in a sea of
alikes. They practiced
the art of "agreeing" with "disagreement". With
that univarsalist
uniqueness they were armed to combat
Zoroaatrianism as well as Islam
further down, just as by that same token they
resisted the
Hellono-Byzantian all-equalizing and dangerous
current.
I promised not to comment. I lied. I could not
resist. It has been said
that "a prophet is not welcome in his own
village", that prophets are
not prophets until after their death. We did not
listen to Paruyr, he
was from our own village, we did not heed, he was
still alive, not yet
sanctified/canonized. What is our excuse now?
For a moment it may seem like all this has no
relevance to the main
subject-Mashtotz, specially the Battle of Avarayr
and the Council at
Chalcedon which happened some decade after his
death. But by nature, not
only Mesrop is relevant in those instances, he may
as well be a
participant in those bloody or bloodless battles,
as the case may be.
The Battle of Avarayr, did not, if you will,
happen in 451 at the
banks of Tghmout River but it actually happened
about fifty years ago in
those caves and caverns of the region of Goght
where Mashtotz, according
to his disciples "was burdened with grave worries
and deep thoughts as
to how to find a solution to that puzzle". How to
help his "brothers and
compatriots" when he took it it upon himself to
tend to his "entire
(Armenian) world and people". How to liberate
them.
Let us not forget that Vardan Mamikonian,
grandson of Sakak Partev
was one of the first pupils of Mashtotz. He was
one of those very few
who learned the Mesropian letters and could recite
the "Ayb-Ben-Gim.."
Were Vardan not from a house of commanders he
would surely end up as one
of those scribe-poets whom we know as the first
"translators", not
unlike some of his classmates-Hovsep
Vayotzdzoretzi, Ghevond Yeretz,
Eznik, Koryun and others. Many of the Vardanank
were also pupils of
Mashtotz, the reason why many of the Vardanank
were first Mashtotzians,
major and minor pupils of Mesrop. And, aside from
that, to be able to
repel the Persian elephants of war and battling
the mighty Median forces
they had to know how to repel that Persian "bad
cult". For that reason,
before waging war against the enemy at the banks
of Tghmout they had to
learn to wage war as in "ºÕÍ
²Õ³Ý¹áó" (Curse of the Cults), whose
original author was Mesrop himself, later to be
aired by his pupil
Eznik...
In other words, to resist the Zoroastrian one
had to be a
non-Zoroastrian. Yet, were things so in Armenia
before the times of
Mashtotz...?
It had been more than a hundred years since
Christianity was
declared the official religion of the country.
Every vestige of the
previous civilization, every temple and every
heathen altar was
destroyed, and instead churches were cropping up,
even if unplastered
and wooden. But that cross, even before it was
thrust into the skies was
first being used to stab the peoples' hearts.
Contrary to the teachings
of humility and tolerance Christianity was being
spread with overt
oppression, volunteerism was preached while force
was used, with the
cliches of "thou shalt not kill" rivers of blood
flooded the
countryside, and those who were spared were
expelled.
The people had a tough time adjusting to this
new lifestyle. After
centuries of polytheism they were now condemned to
worship ONE god.
Where Anahit, Astghik and Nane resided, where
Aramazt, Vahakn, Mihr and
Tir commanded respect that Hebrew had installed
his mother's image. In
hearths where the flames would reach the heavens
now there would be a
puny flickering candle. Yesterday's visible and
solid gods, cast in gold
or sculpted in granite were now replaced by that
non-being who not only
was invisible but also unintelligible...
And indeed, that alien religion had also
brought with it an alien
tongue, liturgy and rites were now being recited
in Greek or Assyrian.
The only tongue that that yesterday's illiterate
people possessed was
now taken away from them, their hymns and prayers,
their sayings and
legends were robbed and now instead a newfangled,
unintelligible idea,
and in an alien tongue, no less!
An unbearable condition prevailed, man was
robbed of his centuries
old faith, and there was nothing to replace it.
Only words. Only
unintelligible words. Everything old and sacred
was destroyed, and
nothing was built to replace them, if even so,
only in talk which was
also unintelligible. It was not possible to
benefit from the old and
from the new- it was impossible, because there
really was not a "new",
and what was, was incomprehensible. Ancient songs
and music were
prohibited, old games and amusements as well. And
after all this, even
weeping was prohibited, "mourning songs" were
taboo. Weeping and sobbing
were rewarded with severe punishment...
This is not enough to draw a picture of those
days, not even an
skeletal sketch...
Christianity, that was being spread as
pan-humanistic, anti-national
teaching, even as early as that had already shown
its true colors as an
establisher of classes and national realities.
Having spread first in
the Roman Empire and from there on, it turned into
a new and powerful
tool in the strengthening and deepening of the
Byzantine Empire.
They were preaching equality and brotherhood
while at the same all
that glory, all that ethos, all those songs and
language was being ceded
to the mighty. Under the guise of monotheism the
new religion was
seizing and chaining man, who, by nature was
accustomed to variety, just
like nature itself to which man was a part. Even
this was not enough. In
reality, that one and only God was keeping to
itself the Byzantian....
the only pureblooded.
A universal and only God was being promoted
while, in fact, that law
was being used as a forcible suggestion in the
hands of the Byzantian.
The faith that claimed to spread new light and
new hope had reached
an impasse of controversy of word against work, it
had reached at such
and acute junction that it was impossible to undo
the stitch that held
it.
But those stitches were already being cut and
would continue so.
"World Councils" that were being convened to
soften those
controversies and to blunt those sharp edges were
in fact asserting the
ruination of them.. This way Constantinople was
being severed from Rome,
Alexandria was being taken away from Alexandria,
Antioch from Antioch,
Kesaria from Kesaria, Hayastan from Hayastan and
Vrastan... Rome
accepted Christianity to first try and patch
together her tattered
apricot (purple)mantle and to cover that mantle
with the Papal sash. And
now she herself was tearing that sash apart while
the bearers of the
purple could not hurry fast enough to do the
patching.
And they hurried.
Western Armenia was finally united with
Byzantium, the dissection of
Armenia became an eternal reality that would last
a long time. Armenian
statehood not only received a temporary wound but
was stricken with an
incurable disease of the spinal column, a disease
that would only be
followed by death.
The average politician could not but
understand that what had
happened to Western Armenia could soon happen the
Eastern Armenia, total
colonization. Eastern Armenia in fact was not
really an independent
kingdom but a quasi-colony of Persia. The lords of
Armenia in fact were
nothing but playthings in the hands of higher
authorities. This was the
reality in its actuality so that the local lords
would only worry about
their throne, their pillow and their chair. Just
so they would not lose
favor with their overlords. To only keep their
throne, their pillow and
their chair, and if at all possible to reach for
higher office, higher
pillow and higher chair. Of course it will be a
grave injustice if we
did not add that these were totally insensitive,
that they did not
realize that under those chairs a "bottomless pit
was soon to open". And
it would not be fair to to blame them as to why
they so worried about
their thrones and chairs. In the final analysis
they were not guilty,
because due to cruel events, that were not only
inevitable were also in
spite of their good will, and this had taken us
down a one way path with
no exit.
The country could not even expect salvation
from the spiritual
lords. Not to forget that these spiritual leaders,
as collaborators were
as guilty in the destruction of the country
earlier that century.
These latter were the ones who ruined our
faith and culture, the
life and order of yesteryears. Everything was
toppled, turned upside
down, so that it would be rebuilt in the new
manner. Yet it remained in
ruins, upside down. Something had to be done. But
what? And How?
V
[This installment contains segments from the
authors poem "Yev Ayr
Mi, Mashtotz Anoun"(And A Man Named Mashtotz).]
Something had to be done. But what? And How?
They were all asking, there was no answer.
And at that fateful time someone was born,
someone whom our
historians describe in a amazingly simple terms;
"ºõ ³Ûñ ÙǪ سßïáó ³ÝáõÝ..."
This man, born in Taron's Hatzek village did
not come to augment the
burgeoning ranks of the questioners. He came to
find the answer.
Where did he come from? How? By what miracle
was he born? This yet
another puzzle. The answer was not given then and
it has not been
answered even now 1600 years later. How, by
miracle was he born?
"Nrantz dznound@ misht el tvoum e anspaseli...
Their birth has always seemed unexpected
An even later, for many centuries they still amaze
us
But those are always born to life for one reason
only,
That we have waited so for their arrival.
They are born only for their parents'
helplessness,
So they turn into new and bigger might.
They are born of what would be an ingenious toil,
So they will turn into the genius.
They are born to show the world,
That the end sometimes will into a beginning.
They are born to show the world,
That there's no miracle
But there is need.
They are born to show the world,
That there only charm begins,
Where exhausted is every means..."
Thus was born "Ayr Mi, Mashtotz Anoun"...
In that darkness of of our heathen world, in a
terminal yearning for
our independence, in the suspenseful midnight of a
dark tomorrow, he
whispered; "Yeghitzi Luys"
"Yev yeghev luys".
The answer to that torturous question had been
found, it was very
simple, because it was unique.
Armenia could not rebuild its unity with brute
force or with muscle
power, neither could it regain its independence.
What's more, Mashtotz
would live the last days of his life in total
absence of statehood. Toil
and struggle were not sufficient to fight against
alien tongues,
specially when those bear the stamp of
officialdom. People survive not
only by the land but also by the tongue. Sometimes
more so by the
tongue.
To counter the terribly imbalanced and mighty
foe, not to become
prey to the ravenous enemy there remains only one
weapon; "ֳݳã»É
½ÇÙ³ëïáõÃÛáõÝ »õ ½Ëñ³ï, ÇÙ³Ý³É ½µ³Ýë ѳÝ׳ñáÛ", to
combat physical force
with spiritual fortitude, against the fearsome
arm- mighty mind, against
universalism-identity, against "divide and rule"
µ³Å³Ý»³ª ½Ç ïÇñ»ëó»ë
- "ͳÝÇñ ½ù»½" (Know thyself)...
This is the only way to answer the question-
"Who was Mashtotz"?
Mashtotz was that man who came to answer our
peoples' ages old
question; "To be ot not to be?" And his answer
was;"To be!"
Our fatherland was halved already, our
ancestral and centuries old
land was put asunder. That crack would constantly
get deeper and wider,
it would turn into an abyss subjecting our people
to an unbearably
futile condition. We neede a man who would look in
both the yes at once.
Mashtotz was that man, who
Was not born of a mother,
He materialized of that rift suddenly,
So he would fill that crack all by himself.
And yes, indeed he filled that crack,
Our divided lands, once again he filled
He was the one who brought together
And united them... as if in one mind.
And ever since then
And until today
That union still stays unwavered...
Our statehood was already taken from us,
reerecting it was next to
impossible, and it would remain so many many
years. Our fathers' throne
had seen a terrible fall, rebuilding it was not
feasible. So Mashtotz
was that man who...
Was not born of a mother,
He was of that of that rift in a miracle,
So that ruin would stand up again.
And that ruin indeed came alive, in place of
our destroyed state a
new state was born, a spiritual state, instead of
wasted houses of our
kingdom he started a new kingly dynasty...
Not on those lands taken from us,
Not on that divided fatherland,
But on our undivided!
On our indivisible
But in our souls that cannot be robbed.
And that kingly house became unending. All of
our subsequent
intellectual kings, from Khorenatzi up until
Narekatzi, From Narekatzi
until Abovyan and Raffi, and from them until
Varouzhan and Charents, all
of them with no exception, and each of them..
Without any doubt would
Be born of that same house,
>From that same race
And with great honor and with glory bear
That same patrinym,
Mesrop Mashtotzyank...
According to that beautiful legend of ours,
after his father' s
death Artavazd, King Artashes exclaimed;
"²õ»ñ³Ï³óë áõÙ± ó·³õáñ»Ùª".
(Whom shall I rule over these ruins?) Whether
Armenia was indeed
destroyed during Artavazd times is a subject for
debate. But it is a
fact that in Mashtotz days Armenian was indeed
ruined both in material
and spirit. Hence those words would become Mesrop
more than Artavazd.
We also know that Artavazd, rather than
rebuild his kingdom, he
chose immortality in the valleys of Masis, while
all the while flirting
with the idea of destroying the entire world, a
wish that only the
mallets of the iron mongers would prevent. We also
know that Mashtotz,
only Mashtotz became that iron monger to mend our
land together. First
he rebuilt our ruins, repaired the destroyed, for
that reason he became
immortal in reality and not in legend...
It was Mashtotz who replaced our ruined faith
with new a creed, a
faith that became a belt around around our waist
rather than a cloak on
our backs. In place of our the windblown old
culture he began a new
culture that would give us world class
masterpieces, just as the sight
of Zvartnotz and the spirit of Narekatzi. It would
give Shirakatzi and
his bare eyes and Hambatzoumian with his
telescope. From the ear of
Komitas to the baton of Khachaturian, from the
fingers of Toros Roslin
to the brush of Martiros Saryan, from the Sayat
Nova's dialect to
Charents' lyre, from Ani that would be reborn as
Yerevan...
It was he who built on the ruins of our
unwritten writings- our
scripture and our poetry, in place of the silenced
singers of Goght he
gave us our magnificent spiritual music, instead
of our pagan ignorance
he spread the legendary tablecloth of knowledge on
which cloth we would
relish the food given to us by those from
Khorenatzi to David the
Invincible, from Tatevatzi to Gosh, from Alishan
to Nalbandian, from
Abeghyan to Ajaryan, to Orbeli and Alikhanyan...
It was he who, once again rescued our language
from that unenviable
state, just like the poor relative would look in a
rich cousin's house.
Only by the translation of the Bible our language
lived its glorious
feast, showing that we were capable to completely
and fully express
ourselves not only in matters of the spirit but
also to write history,
law, public rhetoric, poetry, botany and zoology,
imaginary and romantic
literature, divining and prophesy.
Only by the translation of the Bible, which
later would be dubbed
"the mother of all translations" not by us but by
others, or the "queen
of translations. The Armenian language that member
of the Indo-European
family, as if that poor relative in a cousin's
palace would suddenly
attain a position only fit for kings, find that
throne again, and earn
its well deserved pillow, so that no one would
again dare to steal it
from us, now even our aryan and conceited
neighbors. And sitting on that
pillow we would also sit among the world's most
celebrated scholars,
Those who would leave their mark on our "guest
book" and sign with their
luminous monograms, the likes of Schroeder,
Hubschmanm, Coniber,
Meillet, Markward and Marr...
In place of quantity- arm,
Instead of numbers- flight,
Ink instead of blood,
Instead of sword- pen
And in place of a closet A closet of books
(Matenadaran)
Without that self recognition and security,
without that hope and
that faith, without that new weapon that is called
a "pen", we could
have no Avarayr, no Chalcedon, just as one cannot
fight when half
asleep, or give an answer without thinking.
And this why Mashtotz is the true author and
organizer of both of
our fateful victories, not only for the discovery
of out letters to
which Avarayr was only a sequel but also the
council at Dvin where a
esounding "no" was composed towards Chalcedon.
Here is why Mesrop is our
biggest and incomparable politician...
Only from a perspective of such height and
looking up at that
altitude one can appreciate what a huge giant we
are talking about, a
person that we customarily call the discoverer of
our writing.
Mashtotz was, without any doubt, an expert
linguist, he was an
unequaled researcher and by that virtue and expert
of our tongue and
every detail of it.
Mesrop was also a great musician. This is not
a poetic statement. It
has been recorded in history; " ݳË
êáõñµÝ Æë³Ñ³Ï (ê³Ñ³Ï ä³ñûõ) »õ
ëáõñµÝ Ø»ëñáíå ³ë³óÇÝ ½áõÃÝ »Õ³Ý³Ï³õáñ Ó³ÛÝëÝ »õ
»ñÏáõ Ó³ÛÝ ëï»ÕÇë... »õ
ëáõñµ Ø»ëñáíåª ½Ï³ñ·Ý ²å³ß˳ñáõÃÛ³Ý":
(First St Sahak and St Mesrop
recited in eight tones ....).
Even without this historical record the
musical talent of Mashtotz
is beyond reproach. Without an acute musical ear,
without a fine sense
of hearing Mesrop could have never distinguished
the slightest nuances
of our language, specially our consonants, one
needs not only a keen
sense of hearing but also a trained musical one to
distinguish between
our consonants which at times, to an untrained ear
might as well be a
cacophony. Even now one needs a high degree of
musical sense to
distinguish the fine line between a ÌòÒ»õÖâæ. Sometimes foreign
scholars who are musically trained seem to be more
aware of these
nuances.
Yes, Mashtotz was a great linguist and a
musicologist. Without those
talents it would be have been impossible for him
to invent our letters,
an alphabet that about which , 1500 years
after,even the great French
linguist Meillet wrote; "The order of the Armenian
alphabet is a
masterpiece. The pronunciations of the letters
have been devised so
meticulously that it gave the Armenian language a
new means of
expression, the fact that those premises set by
Mashtotz are still
totally intact is only proof of their perfection,
we have had no need to
alter, amend or improve it since its inception.
This is in itself is
proof of perfection".
Indeed, only a genius could, at the end of the
4-th century reach
such degree of perfection. But it was not the
linguist in Mashtotz that
sought the politician in him. On the contrary, it
was the politician
that applied his political genius and used that
talent in the linguist's
art, that was the only way out, the way that could
only be devised by a
great politician. This is not a guess or a theory,
his indefatiguable
search and eventual discovery of our alphabet is
proof for that.
If Mashtotz had merely minded his business as
a creator of letters,
like many other inventors, unlike those others
Mesrop did not merely
borrow and conveniently copy other peoples'
scripts, he composed and
invented a letter for each of our sounds, to do
otherwise would only be
imperfect and unsatisfactory. Many other inventors
did just that. Most
of Slavic script is nothing more than a variation
of Greek and Latin
letters, sometime modified according to need. What
was lacking in the
Greek alphabet these Slavic "inventors" borrowed
form other sources,
even as far as Hebrew and Armenian.
If Mashtotz' intention and style were these he
could have easily
borrowed from our neighbors far and near since he
was an expert in most
of those tongues, he had easy access to the Greek,
the Assyrian and the
Persian scripts. He could have easily adopted one
of those and to
complete the missing sounds he could have
complemented that from another
source. He chose a totally different route.
Mashtotz the politician was
well aware that a relatively small nation,
sandwiched between two or
more huge empires could only survive and preserve
its unique identity
only by asserting its difference and not by
capitalizing on the obvious
similarities.
By virtue of being a serious and investigative
scientist he even saw
the value and the political implications of
choosing the Greek(western)
custom of writing from left to right rather than
the eastern, (Assyrian
and Persian) right ot left. This was later proven
to be of even greater
value when many other cultures would eventually
reverse their direction
and adopt a left to right orientation. Mindful of
the many defects that
he had observed in many peoples' scripts Mashtotz
made sure, loosely
based on the Greek model that we also have symbols
for our vowels, a
feature that was blaringly absent in the Persian
and other Semitic
scripts. By the same token he chose separate
letters rather than
attached ones as in some of the Semitic. In other
words Mesrop the
politician selected the best features of all those
available and devised
the perfect system not only to suit our needs
while at the same time
avoiding the mistakes and the errors that others
had fallen for. The
reason Mashtotz invented letters for every sound
and every nuance was to
avoid the Babelian cacophony that he had observed
in some of the others.
Defects such as using the same symbol to sound in
several different ways
depending on context or position in a word, or
even the same sound being
represented by various symbols in different
positions. With all that
scientific expertise and the mind of a keen
politician Mesrop invented a
system that was deemed perfect and without defect
then as it still is
today. Yet, this is not his main accomplishment.
Mashtotz' ultimate goal
was not to give his people a temporary and a stop
gap system but he
devised it for centuries to come, a system that
was to be uniquely
Armenian while at the same time meet all his
people's needs. Even if he
had to borrow, so to speak, he modified the
symbols in such a manner,
made it so different form the original that even
the keenest eye may not
trace it's origin at first sight. He did not
compliment his system with
other people's symbols for letters that the Greek
was inadequate, he
composed totally new shapes and new symbols. He
simply invented letters.
Avoiding similarities, emphasizing
differences. These were the
virtues that Mashtotz used to give us our unique
yet perfect system.
Thus he invented an alphabet, a unique system,
totally and wholly
Armenian that was not only distinct from its
contemporaries but which
has not yet been upstaged till now now.
Mashtotz worked with such singlemindedness
that we have not yet
totally comprehended even today. It boggles one's
mind to realize that
Mashtotz not only invented and devised the letters
themselves but also
gave usa complete set of punctuation marks, this
in itself sets him and
his creation apart from all other systems and
their inventors. Mashtotz
was and has been the one and only, there has not
been any like him since
or will there ever be. Nobody, no matter how bold
has yet dared or even
felt the need to modify his creation.
This is why Mesrop aside from being a
consummate scientist and
inventor is also a great politician.
Turning into our first teacher and the
principal of our first school
he did not forget to open other schools and teach
other students as
well. The Georgians and and Alwans were not spared
his graces either.
Along and after establishing our scriptoria he saw
to it that our close
neighbors have theirs' too. And the Georgian was
one such that produced
masterpieces.
With his enlightenment of the Tranascaucasus
Mashtotz he reversed
the trend of "divide and rule"(µ³Å³ÝÇñ, áñ ïÇñ»ë) and instead replaced
it with that definitive answer;"approach so the
may not rule"(Ù»ñÓ»óÇñ,
áñ ãïÇñ»Ý) the truth of which is evident daily
with the age old history
of all brotherly nations...
And now the people that he so tenderly bore
and gave life to, a
people that was not only born once but many times,
have come to
celebrate his 1600-th anniversary with great pride
and immense
gratitude, and who
Was born so we also do,
He who was, so we also be
And he became immortal
So we also be...
Hence it is not unusual that we celebrate his
birth, his birth has
been celebrated every year in one way or another.
It is a novelty, and a
big novelty that this feast is not being
celebrated in a church, not
according to a church calendar but with the the
decision and blessing of
the state, not only by the toll of bells or
songful prayer but with
scientific speeches and patriotic choruses, not
from the altar of a
church but in public halls and auditoriums.
This gala is by our people for the people who
are spread across the
globe, yet despite that haphazard distribution has
and is keeping its
identity, its shape, its spiritual culture and its
classical tongue. All
this thanks to that greatest of Armenians whom we
are celebrating today.
This feast is even more festive because it is
being celebrated by a
people that lives on its ancient as well as new
homeland, under the
watchful of the twin peaks, flooded by the
glimmering ripples of Sevan,
in the shadow of its Bibliotheque and inflamed
with the fire of its
National Academy.
This feast is being celebrated by that great
country, with its
multilingual and multiple nations, to which we
join our National Code of
Arms on which is branded Mesrop's hand.
Mesrop had seen a thousand novelties and
renewals but this one is
new and it is a great renewal.
And today, this reawakened people of ours is
celebrating the jubilee
of its greatest son, knowing fully well by doing
so it is in fact
celebrating its very own jubilee, remembering not
only its scripture and
its artistic, scientific and linguistic freedom
but a celebration of its
very independence and its age old dream of
statehood and its
uncompromised faith of being and perseverance.
This people understands too well that this
anniversary of its
greatest son, is a Beginning as well as a
Continuation, a reality that
has no end as long as this language of ours has
and still does resonate
from the mouths of our children with that eternal
song of ours, the
"Ay-Ben-Gim".
This is why we ask;
Is it necessary to, in his name
A university or a street be named on the globe
somewhere,
When by that name a people has renamed itself...
NATION!
Who in order to live has died a million deaths,
But never with that intent to die
It has ever lived, not even a day...
***
This post has been edited by Arpa: Nov 11 2003, 11:26 PM
Edited by Arpa, 02 September 2005 - 10:01 AM.