Mesrop Mashtots, the Author of the Prospect of Uniting the Armenian Nation

Many researchers have tried to come close to unraveling the formula of the striking viability of the Armenian people. Some even tried to use the example of their history and develop mystical teachings.

On the territory of the Oshakan village 25 km west of Yerevan, there is a grave of a man who has been worshiped for 1600 years. That man is the creator of the Armenian alphabet, Mesrop Mashtots, whose contribution to the formation of the Armenian people’s self-consciousness is priceless.

He was 27 when his previously powerful homeland, Armenia, was divided between the Byzantine and Persian Empires. This happened in 387.

The western regions of the country have been under strong Greek influence. Church services have been conducted in Greek, and the clergy had no choice but to become subordinate to the Greek bishopric. The Greek language was also declared the state language on these territories.

As for eastern Armenian areas, those were under Persian control, which suggested the return of the Armenians to sun worship. The Arshakuni dynasty ruled there until the second division of the country in 428.

During this crucial period, a split nation was in vital need for a consolidating mechanism. A state decision was taken on the need to create an Armenian writing system.

With the support of the monarch and Catholicos, forty-five-year-old Mashtots (a former soldier and ascetic, the main initiator of the case) undertook a journey to the countries of the region in order to discover a system of letters corresponding to the Armenian speech to get inspiration from it.

At the turn of the 4th-5th centuries, after years of toil, Mashtots independently developed and presented the Armenian alphabet, thereby indicating the prospect of uniting his nation.