Analysis of information sources in references of the Wikipedia article "Культура Арменіі" in Belarusian language version.
изучая древнейшую социально-экономическую или культурную историю армянского народа, нельзя начинать её как бы с чистого листа и искать в VI—V вв. до н. э. первобытнообщинных отношений; нет сомнения в том, что древнейшую армянскую историю можно правильно понять только как продолжение еще более древней истории хурритов и урартов, а также лувийцев
Modern Armenia comprises only a small portion of ancient Armenia, one of the world’s oldest centres of civilization. At its height, Armenia extended from the south-central Black Sea coast to the Caspian Sea and from the Mediterranean Sea to Lake Urmia in present-day Iran. Ancient Armenia was subjected to constant foreign incursions, finally losing its autonomy in the 14th century ce. The centuries-long rule of Ottoman and Persian conquerors imperiled the very existence of the Armenian people.
The election of Smbat’s son Ashot I the Great, who had been accepted as “prince of princes” by the Arabs in 862, to be king of Armenia in 885 was recognized by both the caliph and the Byzantine emperor, and it was he who by his successful defense of his country against local Arab chieftains laid the foundations of a new golden age of Armenian history.
Армения в последние века до н. э. и первые века н. э. была страной высокой культуры. Яркий показатель этого – процесс урбанизации. Древнеармянские города были основаны по всем правилам эллинистического градостроительства. Характерна, в частности, регулярная планировка городских кварталов.
Just as Maurice settled colonies of Armenians in the west, so did Smbat find Armenian, Greeks and Syrians deported to Hyrcania when he was serving as governor there for Khusro II. Sebeos notes that the Armenian had even forgotten their own language, and that Smbat remedied this by arranging for the ministry of a priest. The role of language and religion as a means of preserving Armenian identity in colonies outside the homelands was already clear.
These factors certainly explain the relatively large number of Armenian manuscripts that have survived, compared with manuscripts in Greek, Latin or Georgian. Based on data from library catalogues, we can put the number of Armenian manuscripts at a little over 30,000, perhaps even 31,000. This may seem a low figure, but anyone who is familiar with Armenian history and the succession of destroyed towns and monasteries - not forgetting the tragic events of 1915 - will regard the figure of 30,000 as almost miraculous. It is particularly impressive when we consider, for example, that around 55,000 Greek manuscripts have survived, along with 300,000 Latin manuscripts and 12,000 Georgian manuscripts. Armenian manuscripts thus constitute an extremely significant cultural heritage and show the vitality and creativity of a cultural in contact with the Latin West, Byzantium, and the Iranian world, which fed an the works of classical antiquity and was eventually able to produce its own treasures.
The earliest reference to Armenian theatre is found in Plutarch's Comparative Biographies. It is stated there that the Armenian King Artavazd, son of Tigran the Great (d. c.56 BC), built a Hellenic theatre in his capital city of Artashat and that in 53 BC Euripides' The Bacchae was staged. Documentation also exists related to theatre during the early and late Middle Ages in the area.
Ещё в IV в. в Армении создаются школы, где преподавались греческий и сирийский языки. Армяне ездили учиться в Антиохию и Эдессу. С V в. в школах вводится преподавание на родном языке. Школы предназначались в основном для духовенства, но и для людей из народа просвещение не было полностью закрыто, как это показывает пример того же Месропа Маштоца.
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Так, несмотря на внутренние потрясения и потерю государственной самостоятельности, армянский народ продолжал развивать свою культуру, расцвет которой падает уже на следующие столетия (V—VII вв. н. э.).
