Georgian Traces in Armenian Manuscripts

Abstract

Initially, the Armenian manuscript collection consisted of only 67 manuscripts. Over time, the collection steadily grew thanks to manuscripts discovered during expeditions conducted by the institute’s staff, as well as through private donations. Today, the collection holds 311 manuscripts, 198 historical documents, and 23 fragments. In terms of composition, the Armenian collection is diverse. It contains both translated and original works of Armenian literature. The manuscripts and fragments preserved at the Georgian National Centre of Manuscripts are dated from the 8th to the 20th centuries. Given the geographical and cultural closeness of Georgia and Armenia, it is not surprising that Georgian traces can also be found in the Armenian manuscripts preserved at Our Centre. Some Armenian manuscripts include fragments of Georgian manuscripts reused as flyleaves (e.g., Arm-24, Arm-299). These fragments are notable for their exceptional antiquity. Armenian manuscripts containing Georgian flyleaves were, in theory, copied in entirely separate literary centers (for example, in historical Albania and in Crimea). While the presence of a Georgian manuscript in a monastic centre of the South Cau-casus is easy to explain, the discovery of Georgian parchment leaves in literary centers geographically distant from Georgia must be linked to the working practices of scribal centres, which everywhere collected or purchased damaged, torn, or worn-out manus-cripts and reused them in their own book production. At the National Centre of Manuscripts, we also encounter Armenian manuscripts copied in Georgia. One such example is the Gospel copied in Gori in 1700, whose miniatures contain Georgian explanatory inscriptions. The Georgian names of the donors likewise suggest that the Armenian Gospels Arm-109 (1681) and its copy Arm-110 (17th c.) were most likely produced in Georgia. Both manuscripts are bound in decorated metal covers and adorned with miniatures that, if not executed by the same artist, were at least created by representatives of the same miniature-painting school. Two manuscripts, Arm-98 and Arm-22, which contain the History of Agha Mohammad Khan’s destructive campaign of 1795, are believed to have been copied in Tbilisi, Georgia. The study of the Armenian collection kept at the National Centre of Manuscripts shows that the presence of Georgian marginal notes in Armenian manuscripts is, in part, connected to the activities of Armenians who had become linguistically assimilated into Georgian culture. Thus, the study of Georgian colophons preserved in the Armenian manuscript collection at the National Centre of Manuscripts demonstrates that the Armenian popu¬lation maintained close literary connections with Georgia and the Georgians. Georgian-Armenian relations have a centuries-old history and have never been interrupted. These relations – revealed in various forms both within the territory of Georgia and beyond – are most clearly attested by the colophons found in the manuscripts.