Washington’s Museum of Bible showcases manuscripts of Armenian kings of Cilicia

More than 600 unique Christian manuscripts in various languages, including Armenian, are showcased at the Museum of the Bible in Washington, D.C.

The museum’s exhibition includes an illustrated Bible in Armenian dating back to the 13th and 15th centuries, which belonged to the Armenian kings of Cilicia, as well as a 17th-century Bible from Constantinople.

The translations section of the Washington museum tells the story of the creation of the Armenian alphabet in the 5th century by Mesrop Mashtots, whose goal was to translate the Bible from Greek and Latin into Armenian.