The History of Matenadaran

[Guest]

The Matenadaran is one of the oldest and richest book-depositories in the world. Its collection of about 17000 manuscripts includes almost all of the areas of ancient and medieval Armenian culture and sciences - history, geography, grammar, philosophy, law, medicine, mathematics, cosmography, theory of calendar, alchemy, chemistry, translations, literature, chronology, art history, miniature, music and theatre, as well as manuscripts in Arabic, Persian, Greek, Syrian, Latin, Ethiopian, Indian, Japanese , other.

 

In this center of cultural heritage many originals, lost in their mother languages and known only by their Armenian translations, have been saved from loss. The history of the Matenadaran dates back to the creation of the Armenian alphabet in 405. It is named after the creator of the alphabet Mesrop Mashtots. This center of manuscripts has a history of centuries. The nucleus of this collection is the Echmiadzin Patriarcal Matenadaran.

 

According to the 5th century historian Ghazar Parpetsi the Echmiadzin Matenadaran existed as early as the 5th century. It got a particular importance after 1441 when the Residence of Armenian Supreme Patriarch-Catholicos removed from Sis (Cilicia) to Echmiadzin.

 

Hundreds of manuscripts started to be copied in Echmiadzin and nearby monasteries, especially in the 17th century. Little by little the Echmiadzin Matenadaran became one of the reachest manuscript depositories in the country.

 

In a colophon of 1668 it is noted that in the times of Philipos Supreme Patriarch (1633-1655) the library of the Echmiadzin monastery was enriched with numerous manuscripts. The manuscript procuring was widely practiced during the rule of Hakob Jughayetsi (1655-1680).

 

Unfortunately, during the 18th century Echmiadzin was subjected to repeated attacks of the enemies. Already at the beginning of the 19th century only a small number of the manuscripts was left from the rich collection of the Echmiadzin Matenadaran.

 

After the Eastern Armenia joined Russia in 1828, a new era started for the Echmiadzin Matenadaran. The Armenian cultural workers procured new manuscripts and put them in order with more confidence.

 

The famous specialist of manuscripts Hovhannes archbishop Shahkhatunian complied the first catalogue of manuscripts of the Echmiadzin Matenadaran, which included 312 manuscripts. Its French and Russian translations with a preface written by academician M. Brosset were published in St. Petersburg in 1840. The second and larger catalogue, which included 2340 manuscripts, was compiled by Daniel bishop Shahnazarian and is known as 'Karenian catalogue' after the name of the publisher. It was published in 1863.

 

The number of the Matenadaran manuscripts was especially increased later, when private specialists were involved in procuring, description and preservation of the manuscripts.

 

In 1892 the Matenadaran had 3158 manuscripts, in 1897 - 3338, in 1906 - 3788 and on the eve of the World War 1st (1913) - 4060 manuscripts. In 1915 the Matenadaran received 1628 manuscripts from Vaspurakan (Lim, Ktuts, Akhtamar, Varag, Van) and Tavriz.

 

On December 17, 1929, the Echmiadzin Matenadaran was decreed state property. The 4060 manuscripts which had been taken to Moscow in 1915 for safekeeping were returned in April 1922. Some more 1730 manuscripts, collected from 1915 to 1921 were added to this collection. Soon the Matenadaran received collections from the Moscow Lazarian Institute of Oriental Languages, the Tiflis Nersessian Seminary, Armenian Ethnographic Society, the Yerevan Literary Museum, etc.

 

In 1939 the Echmiadzin Matenadaran was transferred to Yerevan. To facilitate the safety and research of the manuscripts, on March 3, 1959, according to the decision of the Armenian Government, the Matenadaran was reorganized into an institute of scientific research with special departments of scientific preservation, study, translation and publication of the manuscripts. The cataloguing and description of the manuscripts and archive documents was put on a scientific basis.Thanks to hard efforts, today the Matenadaran can offer a number of catalogues, guide-books of manuscript notations and card indexes.

 

The funds of the Matenadaran are the following - the manuscript fund, the archives, the library and the press fund. To preserve the treasures of the cultural heritage and to extend their lives, the restoration and bindery departments were opened, where new methods are being worked out using the achievemenets of contemporary science and technics.

 

The scientific work of the staff became more purposeful and systematic after the reorganization of the institute. Only after 1959 the scholars of the Matenadaran have published more than 200 books, including armenological works of great scientific value. The volumes of the scientific periodical 'Banber Matenadarani' ('Herald of the Matenadaran'), are also being published.

 

In order to give the scholars a wider opportunity to study the Armenian hand-written treasures and to make this work easier, the Matenadaran can offer them the scientific description of the manuscripts. In 1965 and in 1970 the 1st and 2nd volumes of the brief catalogues of the Armenian manuscripts were published, containing detailed auxiliary lists of chronology, fragments, geographical names and forenames.

 

In 1984 the 1st volume of the Main Catalogue was published. In the course of the last decades the Matenadaran has published a great number of old Armenian literary monuments and among them the works of the ancient Armenian historians Koriun, Yeghisheh (5th century), Sebeos, Hovhan Mamikonian (7th century), Kirakos Gandzaketsi (13th century), 'History of Georgia' ('Kartlis Tskhovreba'), the Armenian translations of the Greek philosophers Theon of Alexandria (1st century), Zeno, Hermes Trismegistus (3rd century),works of the Armenian philosophers David Anhaght (5th-6th centuries), Hovhan Vorotnetsi, Grigor Tatevatsi (14th century), works of the medieval poets Hovhannes Yerzenkatsi (13th-14th centuries), Khachatur Kecharetsi (14th century), Martiros Ghrimetsi (17th century), Naghash Hovnathan, Paghtasar Dpir (18th century), etc. Of a great value are the 'hishatakarans' (colophons) of the Armenian manuscripts, volumes of short chronicles and Persian Fimans (Decrees).

 

The development of science in our country, the exhibiting facilities of the Matenadaran brought an unprecedented recognition to this great Armenian manuscript depository, promoting the procuration of the manuscripts.

 

Individuals both in Armenia and foreign countries often denote preserved manuscripts and fragments to the Matenadaran. It is enough to mention Harutiun Hazarian from New York, who has denoted 397 Armenian and non-Armenian manuscripts; Rafael Markossian from Paris has bequeathed his motherland 37 manuscripts; Varouzhan Salatian of Damascus denoted more than 150 manuscripts in memory of his parents; Arshak Tigranian of Los Angeles, Karpis Jrbashian and Gevorg Bakirjian of Paris and many others.

 

Appreciable are the names of those hundreds of individuals having in their possession only one manuscript, who have given it away nonetheless.

 

In 1969 95-year old Tachat Markossian of Gharghun village (New Julfa, Iran), sent a manuscript to the Matenadaran, dated 1069, copied in the Narek Monastery, having as prototype 5th century Gospel, written by Mesrop Mashtots. Hovhannes Bostanian of Lyon, France, lived through the genocide (1915), without parting with the only manuscript and only in 1967 he had an opportunity to come to the Motherland and to denote it personally to the Matenadaran.

 

Julien Hovsepian of New York had only one fragment of an Armenian manuscript with a rare miniature, and he gave it to the Matenadaran.

 

All the treasures of the Mashtots Matenadaran are being worked up and studied in the departments of scientific preservation and bibliography and are open for historians, philologists and scholars, who study different branches of science, giving an opportunity for a thorough study of all the branches of the medieval history and culture.

 

Each sample of the ancient Armenian culture is significant and the staff of the Matenadaran jealously endeavors to save them from loss. For this purpose planned works are being carried out to register the manuscripts kept by individuals both in the native country and abroad.

 

Many dedicated devotees of Armenian manuscript relics, young and old, are voluntarily involved in this work. The administration of the Matenadaran also places great emphases on the acquisition of microfilms of Armenian manuscripts kept in foreign museums and libraries in order to complete the scientific research and publications.

 

 

Some Unique Items

THE OLDEST FRAGMENTS

The oldest examples of the Armenian manuscripts date back to the 5th-6th centuries. Since then complete manuscripts were not preserved. They have reached the present times in the form of fragments. Each of them is a witness of a lost manuscript. A part of this fragments survived as fly-leaves stuck to the bindings of the manuscripts. The medieval book-finders often sewed some leaves of older and unuseful manuscripts between the cover and the first page of the manuscripts to protect the writing from permanent contact with the binding . Many specimens of the earlier copies of Armenian and foreign authors were preserved thanks to such fly-leaves. They are of great scientific value today. A great part of fragments reached us separate from the manuscripts.Very often they were found unexpectedly here and there, in caves, ruins or buried in the ground. There are separate pages torn from the manuscripts hundreds of years ago, that were carefully preserved and passed from generation to generation.

 

For example, we own 17 fragment sheets of a translation from a work of the 4th century Greek author Cyril of Jerusalem, copied more than one thousand years ago. They have been torn from a lost manuscript. One of these sheets has been preserved in our collection for a long time. Two sheets were brought from the museum of Ani during the World War 1st, two sheets were sewed to the binding of a manuscript brought from Varag in 1916. Other four sheets were stuck to a manuscript, copied in Vaspurakan in 1916. Two sheets are sewed to the sides of a manuscript copied in 1311 in Ayri Dzor. These sheets have been preserved for a long time in the village of Bendusai, Caesaria, then transferred to Beirut. From there they were brought to the Matenadaran in 1953. Other four sheets were found in a manuscript received from Moscow in 1959. They have been sewed to the sides of a manuscript, copied in Moks in 1452. So the sheets of the same manuscript have been scattered to quite different places.

 

The oldest binding and miniatures in the Matenadaran are of the 6th century. The manuscript is kept under number 2374. Having been preserved for a long time in Echmiadzin, it is named 'Echmiadzin Gospel'. The Gospel was written in 989 in Noravank. The scribe's name was Hovhannes and the receiver's name was Stepanos. The sizes are 37x30,3. It has 233 sheets, written on parchment. There are two columns on each page, the writing is rounded majuscule. It has 7 miniatures. Four of them date back to the 6th century. The binding is ivory with magnificant ornamentations, done in the 6th century.

 

The oldest dated complete manuscript is 'Lazarian Gospel', copied in 887. It is kept under number 6200. It has been preserved in the Moscow Lazarian Seminary for a long time. The scriber is Sahak Vanandetsi. The sizes are 37x27,5. It has 229 sheets written on parchment. There are 2 columns on each page, the writing is rounded majuscule. The binding is simple brown leather.

 

The oldest paper manuscript of the Matenadaran has been copied in 981 and is under number 2679. The scriber is Gsukas, the receiver is David, father of Ghukas. The sizes of the manuscript are 28x19. It has 359 sheets, written on parchment. There is one column on each page, the writing is minuscule. The binding is stamped leather with a board as an inset.

 

The largest manuscript weights 27,5 kilos and is called 'The Homilies of Mush'. It is under the number 7729. Written in 1200-1202 AD in the Avag Monastery in Yerzenka, the scriber is Vardan Karnetsi, the illustrator is Stepanos and the binder is Stepanos (1205). Later it was rebinded by Kirakos Aghbetsi (1828). The receiver is Patron Astvatsatur of Baberd. The size of the manuscript is 70,5x55, it has 603 sheets written on parchment, with 3 columns on each page. The writing is straight majuscule. It has three magnificent miniatures and one khoran. Now it is bindingless and is divided into two halves that are kept separately.

 

The smallest Armenian manuscript weights 19 grams. It is a Church Calendar and is under the number 7728. It was written in Kafa. The scriber is Avgsent and the receiver is Hakob. It is 3x4cm. Its 104 sheets are on parchment with one column on each page. The writing is minuscule and the binding is stamped leather with a board as an inset.

 

In the Matenadaran's collection, the manuscript numbered '1' was written in 1632-1633 in Tokhat. The scriber is Sahak. The size of the manuscript is 20,5x15 with 123 sheets, written on paper, with one column on each page, the writing is minuscule and notrgir. The binding is stamped leather with a board as an inset. The manuscript contains the 'The Book of Adam' by Arakel Sunetsi, poems, speeches, horoscopes, fortune-tellings, written by Arakel Sunetsi, Karapet Baghishetsi, Arakel Baghishetsi, Stepanos Goyneritsants.

 

http://www.matenadaran.am/english/history/

Copyright © 1999-2000 Mashtots Institute of Ancient Manuscripts. All rights reserved.

This publication was supported by a grant from the OSI Assistance Foundation Armenia.

 

 

 

[This message has been edited by MJ (edited January 20, 2001).]

[Guest]

Great article MJ !

These are one of the things that makes me proud to be an Armenian.

This is one of the great gifts that Armenia and the Armenian people have to offer to the world.

[Guest]

Raffi,

 

I think you would find many such articles in their Web site. It was somewhat slow, however, though it may be due to my settings, too.

 

I think they have done a nice job.

[Guest]

quote:

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Originally posted by MJ:
Raffi,

I think you would find many such articles in their Web site. It was somewhat slow, however, though it may be due to my settings, too.

I think they have done a nice job.

---

MJ,

Great article! Thank you for presenting it to the attention of the forum members. Matenadaran is truly one of the things that make me proud to be an Armenian.

[Guest]

quote:

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Originally posted by MJ:
Interesting story. Here is the rest of it. About 10-15 years ago, the then Patriarch of Jeruasalem, Bishop X, tried to sell these manuscripts. The Influential Diasporan circles received an advanced warning. Alex Manoogian succeeded in preventing the sale. The Bishop X is in Armenia now, and to the best of my knowledge, he has founded the Theological Department of the Yerevan State University.

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Wow ! Please, please tell me more if you know more about it! Do you know if they were the actual manuscripts that came from Etchmiadzin? Name names. (Well I suppose there have not been that many Patriarchs of Jeruasalem!)

(Or if you want to be anonymous post it onto the armeniandiaspora message board).

Steve

[Guest]

Steve,

 

I don't know the names of the documents, and I had not known before the story of Catchpool you communicated. I also don't know for sure that these are the documents you have mentioned. But I know that these were extremely valuable documents. I just brought 2 and 2 together. What I know is that at the time when the deals was done, Israeli Government has stepped in and has declare the manuscripts a "national property," and has prevented taking them out of Israel. There is information that it has been achieved due to the efforts of Alex Manoogian.

 

By the way, the Bishop X is known as a person of "vast connections."

 

There are stories that famous nuns have taken part in nightly pilgrimages at the doors of the Bishop X, to archive "spiritual enhancements through his grace."

 

P.S. If I knew the answer, I would've not needed to post them anonymously.

 

[This message has been edited by MJ (edited January 25, 2001).]

[Guest]

Here is a story connected to the Matenadaran that you will probably not have heard of.

 

In 1916 Britain introduced conscription. In the early months of it, men could appeal to tribunals if their religious beliefs made it impossible for them to be trained as soldiers (after those early months such men were often imprisoned and sometimes tortured). There was a man named Egerton Catchpool, aged 26, who, as a quaker, applied for exemption. In june 1916 he joined the "War Victims Relief Agency" and went to Russia and from there, in spring 1917, went to Armenia. He helped run two orphanages in Igdir, filled with children whose parents had been murdered by the Turks in 1915. At the end of 1917 he was forced to leave as the Turkish army advanced, but before he left he went to the library at Etchmiadzin, offering to take to safety some of their most precious manuscripts. He was given several very early papyrus manuscripts. He mannages to escape with a group of American aid workers and arrives in Baku just after the riots between Turks and Armenians - he mentiones seeing bodies stacked 6 feet high. From there he goes (with the manuscripts) to Moscow, then to the White Russian forces of Kolchak who acuse him of being a Bolshevik agent. To escape he travels across Russia to Vladivostok, then crosses to Japan, then to China and Hongkong. He gets a ship back to Europe, but gets off at the Suez canal to visit Palestine, then just liberated from Turkish rule. He visits Jerusalem, and hands over the manuscripts to the Archmandrite of the Armenian church in Jerusalem. As the manuscripts are laid out on his table, the priest throws his arms round Catchpool, kissing him emotionally on both cheeks. Although Etchmiadzin was only 800 miles to the northeast of Jerusalem, the manuscripts had travelled over 20,000 to get there.

 

This is told in the book "Candles in the Darkness" by E. S. Catchpool, published in 1966. I wonder if the manuscripts were ever returned to Armenia, or are they still in Jerusalem?

 

Steve

[Guest]

Interesting story. Here is the rest of it. About 10-15 years ago, the then Patriarch of Jeruasalem, Bishop X, tried to sell these manuscripts. The Influential Diasporan circles received an advanced warning. Alex Manoogian succeeded in preventing the sale. The Bishop X is in Armenia now, and to the best of my knowledge, he has founded the Theological Department of the Yerevan State University.

[Guest]

I just love- this -thread

 

Before you start thinking what a strange one I am, it's the way that MJ and bell the cat were telling the story between them. It made me imagine that I was there. I wasnt sitting in the computer for 10 minuites but far, far away, in 1916,first in Britan, the russia, Armneia, and all over the world! Then I found I was back at college

 

My grandfather was one little orphan at exactly that time. I dont think I will ever know why or how he and his aunt escaped and survived. I can understand why some Armenians have such a sore point about "odars" because I dont think they can ever understand or imagine what we have been thopugh on some level. There will always be a part that Armenian to Armenian will understand.

 

Anyway I will try becuase I need to find my history!