Visiting Museums

History Museum of Armenia
Yerevan, Armenia

My entrance and tour guide ticket stubs.

Located within the Republic Square in Yerevan near a large water fountain is the national history museum.  This central and attractive location is neighbors with the Government building to the left and what was once the former Ministry of Foreign Affairs building to the right.  During the day, people walk through or meet at this location daily perhaps without realizing this building houses the history museum and more importantly, the world's oldest shoe! At night, the fountain puts on a dance performance offering both passerby's and tourists a colorful show accompanied with global musical pieces.  Perhaps this central location is not by coincidence but resonates with how Armenian society values and glorifies its historical past - right in the middle of the capital city, Yerevan.

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It had been a while since I had visited the History Museum and on this hot, sunny summer day, I decided to take a tour.  The guide identified herself as a scholar focused on Armenian-Turkey relations and was eager and pleased to guide me, a diasporan Armenian American student through the museum with her narration.  There was no possible way to see everything in depth within one visit so the guide tried to make sure she could offer the best explanations and chose select exhibits to spend more or less time based on what she identified as significant.  Photography was prohibited during the tour therefore I will try to illustrate the exhibits based on notes I took.  I also wish to provide a disclaimer - the text that I present in this blog from my notes are the descriptions and historical facts offered by the guide.  For an ethnographer it is important to understand from the perspective of the culture and people therefore, my experience from museum visits help me understand what narratives have been taught in schools, beliefs of the society, and curated narratives of the museum staff.

Armenian solar system

The grand three hour tour began with the map of Armenia stretching from sea to sea - a map where the present national boundaries reach from the Caspian Sea to the Mediterranean Sea - which Armenians believe to have been the territory of Armenians from time immemorial.  On the map, the guide pointed out Mount Ararat as Armenia's highest peak.   We spent a significant amount of time studying the map which helped ground the geographical and political location for the tour.  For the next few hours I walked through ancient history from the stone age, bronze age and all the way through to modern time.  Along the way, I learned about clay vessels used as tombs in the 24th century for rich peoples' burial to pottery being shaped to symbolize women as one with the soil and land while the roundness of the pot as fertility.  One area of the exhibit included a model of the solar system according to ancient times.

We spent a significant amount of time touring the Urartu Kingdom, discussing the gods of the 7th century and learning about their army.  Specific items such as grapes and pomegranates were also highlighted throughout the tour in various different sightings including decorations on large pots, on dresses, jewelry, among many other places.  The pomegranate is a symbol of Armenia's unity with each seed symbolizing each Armenian individual.

We ventured throughout the number of times Armenia was conquered and taken over by various rulers, listing all of the major King's and major events from the kingdoms. According to the guide, 1555 is the first division of Armenia and 1639 was the second between the Ottoman and Persian Empires.  Of interest was how the guide described that Armenians outside of Armenia kept record of history with the printing press and referred to the first printer to reach Etchmiadzin in 1772.  In terms of foreigners and Armenians outside of Armenia,  the guide claims the first Armenian community of Russia was established in 1779 and she connects the Blue Mosque - currently located on Mashtots Street in Yerevan - with the Persian empire.  While observing fashion including dress and jewelry, the guide referred to mainly European and Persian influences.  In ancient times, couples who got married did not offer rings to each other but instead wore belts with their names and dates sewn on them.  Instead of wearing a white dress, women wore red dresses symbolizing new lives.  Within the women's dresses, the guide pointed out the Eastern and Western influences based on designs and colors used in the fabrics.

As we made our way into the history of Western Armenia, the guide inquired about where my family roots were from as I think she wanted to point it out on the map but it seemed she had not heard of Palu or Berecik.  When the Guide explained the history of the Genocide, I realized there was no mention of coexistence but immediately jumped into the history of slaughter and displacement.  This may be due to the lack of time or the Guide's assumption that I studied the history, but still I felt robbed by the experience where the national rhetoric is the dominant narrative and apparently, dominant in the curator's description.  Out of frustration, I found myself sharing the dominant narrative in place of her at some point which is when she paused and asked about my personal research and dissertation topic.  I knew time was limited so I gave a short explanation without going into details about my interest in the history coexistence with the "other" and crossing borders and interacting with the "other".

We visited the model display of Ani, the city 1001 churches and eventually found ourselves in the history of WWI and WWII and Soviet Armenian history.  Prior to walking through the hallway of carpets, we were greeted by portraits of the first three presidents of the republic of Armenia: Levon Ter Petrosyan, Robert Kocharyan, and Serzh Sargsyan.  The Guide recognized the portraits and exclaimed that these men were not of importance to us or society but were leaders who robbed from their own people.  I sensed the Guide identified herself as an Im Qayle supporter and activist during the Velvet Revolution based on how she beamed with pride while explaining the current political situation.

Throughout the tour, I tried to keep my own thoughts silent so I could focus on the guide but some questions I had along the way included the following:  who decided what items and exhibits could be displayed?  Do these tour guides have a script and must they stick to it?  Do scripts change when guides offer it in different languages?  But also, did the museum ever turn away certain items from being displayed in the exhibits?