Matenadaran Mesrop Mashtots Institute of Ancient Manuscripts

History and Founding

The Matenadaran (Armenian: Մատենադարան), officially the Mesrop Mashtots Institute of Ancient Manuscripts, is one of the world's foremost manuscript repositories, combining the functions of a museum, archive, and scientific research institute. Its history traces to the fifth century, when the first manuscript library at the Etchmiadzin Catholicosate was referenced by historian Ghazar Parpetsi. Following the creation of the Armenian alphabet by Mesrop Mashtots around 405 CE, manuscript repositories grew at major Armenian monasteries. After 1441, when the Catholicos returned to Etchmiadzin, the collection grew substantially.

In 1920 the Bolsheviks confiscated the Etchmiadzin collections, and in 1939 they were moved to the State Public Library in Yerevan. On 3 March 1959, the Council of Ministers of Soviet Armenia formally established the Matenadaran as an institute of scientific research. In 1962, it was named after Mesrop Mashtots. The main building, designed by Soviet Armenian architect Mark Grigoryan, was completed in 1957 and officially opened to the public in 1959. A major new building designed by architect Artur Meschyan was constructed between 2009 and 2011, quadrupling exhibition space.

Collections and Holdings

The Matenadaran holds approximately 20,000–23,000 manuscripts, of which around 14,800 are in Armenian. The remaining manuscripts are in Arabic, Persian, Greek, Latin, Aramaic, Hebrew, Ethiopian, Georgian, Syriac, and other languages. The collection spans almost every sphere of Armenian ancient and medieval science and culture, including history, philosophy, medicine, science, literature, liturgy, and cosmography. The collection also includes 450,000 archival documents and approximately 3,000 ancient printed books. The collection is registered in the UNESCO Memory of the World programme (1997). Notable individual items include the fifth-century Etchmiadzin Gospel and the seventh-century Mugni Gospels. Some manuscripts preserve Greek classical works otherwise lost, including portions of Eusebius's Chronicle and works by Theon of Alexandria.

Access and Usage

The Matenadaran is located at 53 Mesrop Mashtots Avenue on a hillside at the north-eastern end of Mashtots Avenue in central Yerevan. It is open to the public as both a museum and a research institution. The museum contains 12 exhibition halls displaying selected manuscripts and illuminated codices. Researchers can access reading rooms for scholarly consultation of manuscripts. The institution offers guided tours, educational programmes, and temporary exhibitions.