"Made to last!" Is the best commendation a creation of human hands can receive, whether it be a building, furniture, weapon or armor. What is much more difficult to maintain over the centuries is the language - infinitely changeable and adaptable. And yet, when a real master, such as Mesrop Mashtots, gets down to business, the boundaries of the possible are pushed. The Armenian alphabet he created has existed almost unchanged for over one thousand six hundred years.
SCIENTIST OF A SEVERE AGE
Reading the life story of the great Armenian linguist, it may seem that everything was too easy for him. Born into a wealthy family, received a decent education, served at the royal court. When he took up educational activities and started creating an alphabet, he received universal support, in the end he succeeded in all endeavors. He lived in high esteem, died in his very advanced years, not in the least in poverty. That is, of course, the personality was outstanding, but where is the drama, conflict, interest?
If you look at the actions of Mesrop Mashtots superficially, then approximately the way it is. The blissful picture is disturbed by only one tiny factor - the era. It just so happened that Mashtots did not live in our days, not in the last or the century before last … but in the damn IV-V centuries of our era! And then the Middle Ages had not really started yet! It is difficult to imagine how cruel, bloody and terrible human existence could be more than one and a half thousand years ago. Especially life in Greater Armenia, a country under the control of Rome and the Persian state of the Sassanids at the same time. But the country was torn apart not only for political reasons - it was not bound by a single religion. Formally, Armenia adopted Christianity, and generally became the first Christian state in the world in 301, and in this it was supported by Rome. But in reality, the pagan sects still had considerable influence, and the Persians with might and main tried to impose Zoroastrianism on the Armenians, often with the help of a whip and a sword. Mesrop Mashtots, who loved his homeland more than anything else, dreamed of uniting it through the Christian faith and, preaching the word of God, often faced considerable resistance from both Persians and compatriots. The situation was further complicated by the fact that the Gospel was written only in Greek and Assyrian languages, which the vast majority of Armenians did not know. Mashtots did not want to accept the role of preacher and translator at the same time. It was then that he came up with the idea of creating a full-fledged Armenian alphabet.who loved his homeland more than anything else, dreamed of uniting it through the Christian faith and, preaching the word of God, often faced considerable resistance from both Persians and compatriots. The situation was further complicated by the fact that the Gospel was written only in Greek and Assyrian languages, which the vast majority of Armenians did not know. Mashtots did not want to accept the role of preacher and translator at the same time. It was then that he came up with the idea of creating a full-fledged Armenian alphabet.who loved his homeland more than anything else, dreamed of uniting it through the Christian faith and, preaching the word of God, often faced considerable resistance from both Persians and compatriots. The situation was further complicated by the fact that the Gospel was written only in Greek and Assyrian languages, which the vast majority of Armenians did not know. Mashtots did not want to accept the role of preacher and translator at the same time. It was then that he came up with the idea of creating a full-fledged Armenian alphabet.which the overwhelming majority of Armenians did not know. Mashtots did not want to accept the role of preacher and translator at the same time. It was then that he came up with the idea of creating a full-fledged Armenian alphabet.which the overwhelming majority of Armenians did not know. Mashtots did not want to accept the role of preacher and translator at the same time. It was then that he came up with the idea of creating a full-fledged Armenian alphabet.
ANCIENT ALPHABET WITH A FAILURE
To begin with, Mashtots enlisted the support of the princes of two regions of the country - Gokhtne and Syunik, preaching there and spreading his ideas. Then he turned directly to the Catholicos (the highest cleric of the Armenian Church) Sahak Partev. There was a possibility that the head of the church would not understand the request of a little-known preacher. But fortunately for Mashtots, it turned out that Partev dreamed of creating an Armenian writing almost more than he himself. A church council was immediately convened out of turn, and all the bishops were called to the Vagharshapat synod in order to properly study this important issue. King Vramshapuh also positively assessed the idea, and even more than that, announced that during his stay in Mesopotamia he had discovered the ancient Armenian alphabet there! Which, accordingly, can and should be used to create a more modern writing system. Mashtots, appointed as a vardapet (a high church rank corresponding to an archimandrite), had no choice but to recruit students and begin training through the newly acquired ancient writing.
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It should be noted here that the so-called "Daniel's letters" could be either a real alphabet among pagan Armenians, or one of the outdated versions of the Aramaic alphabet, or a variation of the ancient Greek writing. Mashtots fought with this artifact for two full years, until, finally, he was forced to declare that it was impossible to convey with the help of ancient writing all the richness and diversity of the modern (404 AD) Armenian language. He was lucky again - the king, although he was upset, did not become angry and blessed the wise vardapet to create a more perfect alphabet.
RECIPE FOR PERFECT WRITING
By this time, it is already easy to understand that the hallmarks of Mesrop Mashtots were both the greatest gift of persuasion and boundless luck. Yes, he was doing the right thing, but how many people who stood up for the truth suffered for it or even gave their lives? Mashtots, with the full support of the state and the church, went to northern Mesopotamia, to the cities of Amid, Edessa and Samosata. He visited the very Bishop Daniel, who discovered the previous version of the alphabet, but could not get anything worthwhile from him. In Edessa, Mashtots plunged headlong into the Edesa book depository - the largest not only in all of Mesopotamia, but possibly at that time in the entire civilized world. Followers of Mashtots say that none of the existing and written down on paper escaped the gaze of a linguist - he studied their structure,forms of letters and principles of writing for many months and only then began to compose his own version. Half of his students settled in Edessa to study the Syrian writing, half went to Samosata in order to dig deep into Greek.
Finally, after thousands of hours of scientific work, Mashtots creates a 36-letter Armenian alphabet in Edessa, arranging the letters in accordance with the Greek script. Later, in Samosat, he, together with the Greek scribe and calligrapher Ropanos, improved the spelling of Armenian letters, "thin and bold, short and long, single and double." That is, along with the alphabet, several fonts were immediately invented for it. It is impossible to imagine how amazingly subtle and at the same time monstrously huge work was the creation of the Armenian alphabet. Let's add - for one thousand six hundred years it has undergone minimal changes! Many modern linguists agree that Mashtotsev's phonetic writing was the most perfect not only for its time, but is so to this day.
PATRON OF ARMENIA
By only creating the Armenian alphabet, Mashtots secured his way to immortality, but he was not going to stop there. Returning to the capital, he immediately began teaching Armenians a new alphabet and, with the assistance of the Catholicos, founded the Vagharshapat Seminary, the first higher school in Christian Armenia. Behind her are other schools throughout the country, like the Greek ones, first in the "Persian" part, then in the "Roman" part. Initially, however, the clergy of Western ("Roman") Armenia reacted with indignation to the activities of Mashtots, since they recognized exclusively Greek writing. But with the blessing of Emperor Theodosius II, Mashtots continued to preach, at the same time fighting pagans in remote provinces. They fiercely resisted - sometimes, when opening new schools, they even had to call in troops for protection, but in the end,Christian enlightenment prevailed. In subsequent years, Mashtots managed to visit a nominal Catholicos, create sketches of the ancient Georgian and Albanian alphabets, and translated the Bible. He died alone, but most likely, it was his conscious choice.
Hardly anyone has ever done more for their homeland than Mesrop Mashtots. His ambitious mission was completely crowned with success, and the country was united more than ever. Since the 5th century, Armenia has been repeatedly conquered and torn to pieces, the Armenian people have been subjected to innumerable persecutions, but managed to survive, preserving their history and identity. The armor of the Armenians was their language and faith, forged by Mesrop Mashtots. Can you imagine a stronger protection?
Sergey Evtushenko
