Culture

The Armenian language and the Armenian Church played paramount role in shaping the Armenian national culture.

The Language

The Armenian language is an independent, one-language subgroup within the Indo-European language family.

The Armenian alphabet, which consists of 39 characters, representing 36 sounds, was created in   405 AD by a scholar and monk named Mesrop Mashtots (the original alphabet had 36 letters, three characters were added later). The first work of literature with the new alphabet was the translation of the Bible from Greek. This translation has been since regarded as a masterpiece by many linguists.

During the centuries, the dialect into which the Bible was translated became the standard language - grabar, or Classical Armenian. Numerous literary works, both original and translations, were  written in that period in grabar. Many works in Classical Greek, Latin and other languages exist today only in their Armenian translations. A unique collection of priceless ancient documents is preserved in the National Depository of Manuscripts, the Matenadaran, in Yerevan.

First printed documents appeared in Armenia in 1512. A century and half later, in 1662, an Armenian cleric, Father Voskan was sent to Amsterdam by Catholicos Hakop, to prepare printing of the Bible in Armenian. For years later, the job, which consisted of casting Armenian letter types, producing wooden carvings for the illustrations, etc. was completed, and the first Bible in the Armenian language was printed in Amsterdam in 1662.

The Literature

Armenian literature began to develop with the creation of the Armenian alphabet in 405 AD and the subsequent translation of the Bible into Armenian. The oldest form of poetry, the hymn of religious inspiration, has played a major role in Armenian literature for centuries. This lyrical poetry, a combination of poetry and chant designed for use in religious services, has been written by the Armenians since the 5th century.

Religious lyricism reached its pinnacle in the 10th century with the works of Grigor of Narek (Narekatsi). His masterpiece, the Book of Prayer or Narek, was one of the most widely read works in Armenia. The 12th century witnessed the rise of yet another summit of medieval lyricism in the person of Nerses Shnorhali (or simply Snorhali -- The Gracious). 

 
In the 13th and 14th centuries, Constantine of Erznka (Erzankatsi) began to write poetry of spring, love, light and beauty, images which he allegorically exalts the great mysteries of Christianity. In Constantine one can see a broadening of the poetry, a movement away from more rigid ecclesiastical terminology and toward a freer, more open use of language.

In the 15th and 16th centuries, love poetry became stronger in Armenia. Basically common to all Eastern literatures, love poetry and its forms were recreated in Armenia, a country that had no such tradition behind it. Nahapet Kootchak embodied this new movement in poetry.

The nineteenth century beheld a great literary movement that was to give rise to modern Armenian literature. One of the creators of modern Armenian literature was Khatchatour Abovian (1804-1848). Abovian was the first author to abandon the classical Armenian and adopt the modern language - Ashkharabar- for his works, thus ensuring their diffusion. Abovian's most famed work, The Wounds of Armenia, returns to the theme of the Armenian people's suffering under foreign domination. Khatchatour Abovian dedicated his life to writing and educating others on the subject of Armenia and her people. The Armenian national movement was given impulse by yet another great writer. Raffi (Hakop Melik-Hakopian) was the grand romanticist of Armenian literature. In his works, Raffi revived the grandeur of Armenia's historic past. 

The literary tradition of Khatchatour Abovian and Raffi was continued even as Armenia came under Communist rule. This revival of tradition was carried out by such writers and poets as Hovhaness Toumanian, Avetik Isahakian, Yeghisheh Charents, Vahan Teryan and the like.

In the late 1960's, a new generation of Armenian writers emerged. As Armenian history of the 1920's and of the Genocide came to be more openly discussed, writers like Paruir Sevak, Gevork Emin and Hovhaness Shiraz began a new era of literature. Writers like Hrant Matevossyan and Aghassy Aivazyan and others introduced Armenia to a wider world.

Art

One of the most important periods of Armenian art was that from the ninth to the sixth centuries BC. Armenia was, at this point in history, the Kingdom of Van or Urartu. Citadels, temples, irrigation canals, carved stone seals, glass, ceramics, jewelry and arms were characteristic of Urartu's artistic endeavors. The Urartians were major producers of bronze objects. They were also very skilled in the use of silver and gold. Vases, medallions and amulets were fashioned from silver while gold was used to create articles of jewelry.

In the 4th and 5th centuries AD very important events in Armenian history greatly affected the arts. As Armenia became the first nation to officially adopt Christianity in 301 AD, Christian iconography came to play a very important role in Armenian art and architecture. Also, after the creation of the Armenian alphabet in 405 AD by Mesrop Mashtots, the written word helped to develope the Armenian language, literature and arts, allowing for the advancement of the art of the illuminated manuscript. Armenian scribes began to copy and translate Christian texts onto parchment adding to them symbolic illustrations and introductory folios. These manuscripts were then used in religious services.

Churches soon became the main mode of Armenian architectural expression. The seventh century is often referred to as the "golden age of Armenian ecclesiastical architecture." A great many cathedrals and monuments with interior frescoes and stone carvings pertaining to the Biblical stories were constructed.

Monasteries, founded in the 10th century, grew as important artistic centers. illuminated manuscripts, a major component of Armenian art history, were created and assembled into books here. Today, the largest collection of these can be found in Yerevan's famed repository of ancient documents, the Matenadaran and other museums and private collections across the world, most notably in the St. Mchitarian Abbey in the island San Lazzaro in Venice, in the Bodleian Library at Oxford in the Chester Beatty library in Dublin and elsewhere.   The twelfth to fourteenth centuries witnessed the development of manuscript illumination into the art of book illustration. Manuscripts became smaller, no longer for use in religious services. These more elaborately designed and varied works were now for private use in the libraries of monasteries and homes.

These monasteries also provided for the production of khatchkars (literally, "cross-stones"), a distinct feature of Armenian art. These carved stones were most commonly used as gravestones as well as to mark victories, foundations of villages, the completion of a church and the like. Although for all their diversity, the basic khatchkar design was always the same, the Cross being the central object often surrounded by elaborate ornamentation, it is said that of the tens of thousand existing khatchkars, no two are the same.  

In the 16th century, changes in social and political life resulted in the dramatic alteration of Armenian culture and art. At this time, Armenia lost her independence and was divided between the empires of Turkey and Persia. 

From the sixteenth to eighteenth centuries, the orientation of art turned increasingly to that of everyday life. The minor arts such as carpet and lace-making developed into well-known crafts. These arts were inspired by sculpture, architecture, and painting . The creative impulse is quite evident in the surviving examples of metalwork of earlier centuries, in the carved doors of monasteries and in the fine collections of Armenian carpets found in the museums of Yerevan.

The art of carpet-making has existed in Armenia since the fifth century BC. But, perhaps the most noteworthy period of Armenian rug weaving is that of the thirteenth century. The great "dragon" rugs showing indigenous designs resembling highly stylized dragons woven into a latticework of plant and animal forms were created during this period. They are among the most original and abstract creations in textiles.  Early in the nineteenth century when the sultans of Turkey wanted to establish rug weaving around Constantinople, it was the Armenian master weavers whom they called upon to do so.

In the 17th and 18th centuries, Kutahia (now in Turkey) became a pottery and ceramics Center. Art experts have contributed the entire output of this area to Armenian potters. This attribution is confirmed by Armenian inscriptions found on the works, the characteristic representation of saints on the pieces and the treatment of ceramic tiles both purely decorative and religious. 
 

Architecture

Armenian architecture, a particularly rich part of the Armenian heritage, is widely recognized as a unique contribution to international architecture. The tradition of architectural engineering has ancient origins on the Armenian highlands.

During the Urartian period of Armenian history (9th through 6th centuries B.C.), existing traditions were developed and perfected. The Urartians were noted for their high standards in city building (Ainili, Tushpa, Argishti, Erebuni,), palatial complexes and richness of interior decoration. Urban architectural traditions, as well as other forms of art in pre-Christian Armenia, were developed further under the influence of ancient Hellenistic and Roman art. The temple of Garni (I century AD, partially restored in the 20th century, pictured right  ), is the only pagan monument preseved in the Republic of Armenia.

Armenia entered a new phase of architectural development with the adoption of Christianity as state religion in 301. City building and other forms of architecture entered a new and long-lasting developmental phase, while persevering older traditions.

In the early Christian period in Armenia (5th through 7th centuries), church architecture proceeded with the creation of various basilical domed houses. Armenian architecture carved its national style with the construction of the cathedrals of Echmiadzin, Ererouk, Hripsime, Zvartnots, and Geghard monastery.

During the 9th through 14th centuries, Armenian architecture proceeded on the same developments path and crated new masterpieces, such as: the monasteries of Tatev, Aghtamar, Marmarashen, Sanahin, Haghpat (9th through 11 centuries), Haghartsin, Goshavank, Makaravank, Ohanavank, and Noravank (12th through 14th centuries).
 

Relevant Links
Armenian Church http://www.armenianchurch.org/
Research on Armenian Architecture http://www.raa.am/
http://www.khachkar.am