Armenian Calligraphy by Ruben Malayan

Ruben Malayan has made a video of his stunning work on Armenian Calligraphy. Isn’t this wonderful?

 

Armenian Calligraphy

Armenians have a long and exceptionally rich literary tradition. Ancient scripts dating back to millennia before the start of the Common Era are found in abundance on the Armenian plateau. Among numerous scripts and hieroglyphs written in tongs long lost, are the Urartian hieroglyphs that have yet to be deciphered by modern scholars. Many Armenian words we speak today trace their origin to these ancient times. A well known example is the word “khndzor” meaning “apple” in Armenian. Although these ancient hieroglyphs show a remarkable development of linguistic culture in the earliest of days, it was not until the adoption of the modern Armenian alphabet that a period of illumination and intellectual expression unparalleled in Armenian history has began. Ever since the creation of the modern Armenian alphabet devised in 405 AD by Saint Mesrop Mashtots, Armenians have been actively engaged in the practice of writing. So dear was this script to the early Armenains that according to J.R.Russell (Harvard University) “Armenian was never again to be written otherwise, and even Armenians who spoke alien tongues used their own script to write in them.”

They wrote tens of thousands of religious manuscripts, recorded scientific discoveries, translated Greek and Persian philosophy and recorded historic events as they unfolded during the old days.  Much of what we know about Armenian history and culture today, has been preserved in these manuscripts and historic books. As the writing culture expanded among the Armenians so did the art of calligraphy. In fact up to the XIV century, Armenian books were all handwritten, facilitating the development of a rich tradition of calligraphy.