Tri Dem Grich

[Arpa]

(Note: I had translated this some time. 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)

ÂðÆ ¸ºØ ¶ðÆâ

زÞîàòÆ êÊð²¶àâÌàôÂÚàôÜÀ

THE SWORD v THE PEN

(The Miracle of Mashtotz)

 

"ȳí ëÏÇëµÁ ·áñÍÇ Ï»ëÝ ¿",- ³Ûë

ͳÝáà ËáëùÇ ×ßÙ³ñïáõÃÛ³Ý ÏßÇéÁ áã ÙÇ ï»Õ

ûñ»õë ³ÛÝå¿ë ã»ë ½·áõÙ, ÇÝãå¿ë سßÃáóÇ Ù³ëÇÝ

·ñ»ÉÇë:

 

"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[/font]. 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[/font]) 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...

 

***

Edited November 11, 2003 by Arpa

[gamavor]

Thank you Arpa! It was pleasure to read and kind of self-content!