Scripts, Saints, and Scientists: The Social Life of Gospel Books in an Armenian Museum

In this article, I explore the social life of Armenian Christian Gospel Books in the Matenadaran (the Mesrop Mashtots Institute of Ancient Manuscripts) in Yerevan, Armenia. In this state repository, research center, and museum, manuscript Gospel Books have become precious pieces of tangible national heritage. They have been protected, renovated, studied, and displayed as objects that exemplify the Armenian unique artistic and literary tradition. However, some of these manuscripts have resisted secularisation while preserving the traditional roles of the powerful sacred objects venerated by Armenian Christians. Consequently, they have been attracting not only visitors but also pilgrims to the Matenadaran. Furthermore, since the early 2000s, five of them have been temporarily released from the Institute to participate in religious feasts of the Armenian Apostolic Church, when they attract crowds of pilgrims. This article builds on a material religion and museum studies approach to examining what these Gospel Books are, what they do, and how they relate to people in post-socialist Armenia, where the formation of the sacred and secular is partially shaped by Soviet legacies of desecration, museumification, and heritagization of religion.