History Museum of Armenia
Date of foundation: 1919
Subject: History, Archeology
Visitors per year: 100000 people
Working days: Tue – Sun
Opening hours: 11:00 – 18:00
History Museum of Armenia was founded by the Parliament Law No. 439, September 9, 1919. It was called Ethnographic-Anthropological Museum-Library and had Yervand Lalayan as its first director. It started receiving visitors on August 20, 1921. The museum was renamed State Central Museum of Armenia (1922), Cultural-Historical Museum (1931), Historical Museum (1935), State History Museum of Armenia (1962) and History Museum of Armenia (2003). It was was formed on the basis of the collections of the Armenian Ethnographical Association of the Caucasus, Nor Nakhidjevan Museum of Armenian Antiquities, Museum of Antiquities of Ani, Vagharshapat Repository of Ancient Manuscripts (15,289 objects). In 1935, based on the collections of this Museum, separate museums were established by the order of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Armenia:
- Museum of Art of the Armenian SSR was organized based on the Museum’s Department of Art (the present-day National Gallery of Armenia) – 1660 objects passed on to the newly-founded museum.
- Museum of Literature (the present-day Charents Museum of Literature and Art) was formed based on the Museum’s Department of Literature – 301 objects and 1298 manuscripts passed on to the newly-founded museum.
The State Museum of Ethnography founded in 1978 received 1428 objects and 584 photographs. It is for 100% subsidized by the State, the owner of the collection and the building. The museum is entrusted with a national collection of 400,000 objects and has the following departments: Archeology (35% of the main collection), Ethnography (8%), Numismatics (45%), Documents (12%). It replenishes its collections by finds from excavations at ancient sites in present-day Armenia during scientific expeditions of the Institute of Archeology and Ethnography, National Academy of Sciences of Armenia, by purchases and donations. It represents an integral picture of the history and culture of Armenia from prehistoric times (one million years ago) till our days. It presents the rare traces of cultural interrelations with the ancient eastern countries in the Armenian Highland: Egypt, Mitany, the Hittite kingdom, Assyria, Iran, the Seleucid state, Rome and the Byzantine Empire. the museum owns an enormous and exceptional collection of the 3rd-2nd millennia BC bronze specimens, which belong to the world treasury of masterpieces. It possesses the sumptuous historical-cultural heritage of Urartu, the powerful Armenian state in the Ancient East: exceptional cuneiform inscriptions, bronze statuettes, wall-paintings, painted ceramics, arms and weapons with sculptural ornamentation, unique specimens of gold, silver and bone, excavated from Karmir Blur, Arin-Berd and Argishtikhinili. It possesses the cuneiform inscription of 782 BC about the foundation of the city of Erebuni (Yerevan), by the Urartian king Argishti I.
The museum owns a collection of the most ancient evidences of the history of transport, 15th-14th century BC wooden carts and chariots, excavated from Lchashen, and their miniature models in bronze. The museum owns a collection of Miletian, Greek-Macedonian, Seleucid, Parthian, Roman, Sasanid, Byzantine, Arabic, Seljuk and other gold, silver and copper coins, circulating in Armenia. It owns a rich collection of Armenian coins, issued in Tsopk, Minor Hayk (3rd century BC – 150 BC), coins of the Armenian Artaxiad dynasty (189 BC – 6 AD), of the Kiurike kingdom (11th century) and Armenian kingdom of Cilicia (1080-1375). THe museum presents valuable specimens of peculiar transformation of the Hellenistic culture in Armenia, excavated from the archeological sites of Garni, Artashat and Oshakan. It presents the 4th-5th century Christian culture of Armenia with the unique architectural, sculptural and ceramic finds, excavated from the cities of Dvinand Ani, from the fortress of Amberd. The museum has carried out conservation and restoration work. It has published works on Armenian architecture, archeology, ethnography, history, series and reports on archeological excavations (since 1948)
