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Aybuben - Alphabet

Ararat Sargsyan21th century

The Museum of Printing

The Museum of Printing
Yerevan, Armenia

Mesrop Mashtots - the founder of Armenian school, the first Armenian teacher, the early medieval Armenian linguist, theologian, statesman and hymnologist, with the active support of King Sahak Partev and Catholicus Vramshapuh invented Armenian alphabet of 36 letters. The most valuable fact of Mashtots’s writing was that each sound had its own corresponding letter. At the end of the 12th century, the Armenian alphabet was supplemented by three more letters. In ancient times, 36 letters of the Armenian alphabet were also used as numbers. The first row contains letters from Ա to Թ, which express units (1-9), the second row contains letters Ժ-Ղ expressing tens (10-90), the third row contains hundreds (Ճ-Ջ, i.e. 100-900), the fourth row is thousands (Ռ-Ք, i.e. 1000-9000).
Mashtots combined the heritage of the past with spiritual and cultural features. The Armenian alphabet except of being means of writing also contained a number of mysteries and cosmic knowledge. It is necessary to note the numerical value of the letters, because according to Pythagoras, numbers regulate the world, and all the truths can be found in numbers.
If we try to place the Armenian alphabet in an equilateral triangle, the letters Ա, Ս, Ք (a, s, k’) will be on its three corners, where the letter Ա (a) symbolizes the Creator, the letter Ս (s) is the Holy Spirit, and Ք ( k’) – Christ.

Details

  • Title: Aybuben - Alphabet
  • Creator: Ararat Sargsyan
  • Date Created: 21th century
  • Location Created: Yerevan, Armenia
  • Type: Parchment
  • Rights: National Library of Armenia
  • Medium: Ink on paper

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