But Ask The Animals, And They Will Teach You

October 3, 2024
But Ask the Animals, and They Will Teach You

This story is part of an ongoing series of editorials in which HMML curators and catalogers examine how specific themes appear across HMML’s digital collections. From the Eastern Christian collection, Dr. Ani Shahinian has this story about Animals.

The book of Job, chapter 12, in Classical Armenian with zoomorphic initials, commentary by Vanakan Vardapet, Tavushets‘i (1181–1251). Collection of Armenian Patriarchate of Istanbul, Azgayin Matenadaran. (APIA 00186)

“But ask the animals, and they will teach you,
the birds of the air, and they will tell you;
ask the plants of the earth, and they will teach you,
and the fish of the sea will declare to you.
Who among all these does not know
that the hand of the Lord has done this?
In his hand is the life of every living thing
and the breath of every human being.”

(Job 12:7–10)

Why do we find the presence and descriptions of animal creatures all throughout the unfolding narratives and poetry of scripture? Beautiful images and ornamented illustrations of the natural living world engage the imagination of the person who studies these manuscripts in history.

Illuminations found in collections of Armenian manuscripts depict the splendor of the animal world. What is truly on the mind of a scribe who copies the treasured texts and illuminates them with artistic beauty? What is the purpose of bringing the natural world (i.e., fish, birds, lions, flora and fauna) onto a folio? What would the animals teach and declare to the one who listens?

A canon table decorated with zoomorphic and vegetative ornamentation. Collection of the Armenian Church, Katʻoghikosutʻiwn Hayotsʻ Metsi Tann Kilikioy. (ACC 00033)

These types of questions engaged my imagination as I cataloged and studied the extraordinary illuminated Armenian manuscripts in the collections of the Armenian Patriarchate of Istanbul in Turkey; the Armenian Church, Diocese of Aleppo, in Syria; and Our Lady of Bzummār Convent in Bzummār, Lebanon.

Day Five: Creation of the Animals

Animals in manuscript illuminations take my imagination to the creation story in Genesis, where we meet animals of all kinds (Genesis 1:14–19). In the Christian and Hebrew scriptures, it is on day five—before the creation of human beings—when the animals in the sky, water, and land are created by God through His spoken word. On day six, when human beings are created in the image and likeness of God (Genesis 1:27), they are given authority and responsibility to name and care for the animal kingdom.

The artist or scribe enhances the storytelling as they illuminate the text. When they illuminate a manuscript and incorporate animals on land, sea, and sky, and flowers of the field, the artist brings to life the harmony of creation described in the text and makes it accessible through the means of colors and shapes. In an extraordinary manner, through this act of creativity, the artist enters into the act of creation—displaying the layers of symbolic meaning in the text and image, reminiscent of the creation story in the Garden of Eden.

On verso: Adam and Eve, the snake, and the tree in the Garden. On recto: in t‘rchnagir (zoomorphic, bird-script) with vegetative headpiece, the reading for Bun Barekentan (literally meaning vitality, fruitfulness, the good life), read during the Sunday before the Great Lent in preparation for Easter, when the Church remembers the good life as known in paradise. Collection of Our Lady of Bzummār Convent. (BZBZ 00068)

Illuminated sharaknotsʻ from 1323 CE. The marriage rite of a man and a woman, crowned as king and queen over the created world, Christ depicted in their center, and eternity painted through the peacocks and the fountain above. Collection of Our Lady of Bzummār Convent. (BZBZ 00065)

Interwoven with Narrative

Whether in the scene at creation, in a prophetic vision, or at the birth of Christ at Bethlehem, animals are present.

Animals present at the Nativity story. Beautifully displayed in the Gospel of Nakhijevan from 1304 CE, held at the Matenadaran, Institute of Ancient Armenian Manuscripts, in Yerevan, Armenia. Photograph from Wikimedia Commons (Public Domain).

Similar to the wider Christian traditions, animals in Armenian manuscripts were often used to symbolize biblical themes and make connections throughout biblical stories and prophecies. For example:

Lions represent power, royalty, and the resurrection of Christ.
Oxen represent strength and redemption and life through sacrifice.
Doves are frequently associated with God’s peace throughout scripture. In the New Testament, we experience the Holy Spirit represented as a dove descending from Heaven, seen in famous scenes of the Annunciation and the baptism of Christ, and even in artistic depictions of Pentecost.
Lambs symbolize innocence and are often depicted to represent Christ or as sacrificial figures, particularly in liturgical manuscripts.
Peacocks symbolize immortality and resurrection, due to the belief that their flesh did not decay.
Eagles symbolize spiritual ascent or vigilance, for their sight and vision.

Christian scriptures—including the creation story, the nativity scene, and prophetic visions like Ezekiel’s vision and the apocalypse of John’s vision in Revelation—pick up the themes of animals as venues of communicating in symbolic terms. But animals not only play an important symbolic role in enhancing the story; they also engage with the biblical narratives, part of the action themselves.

Ezekiel’s vision displayed Christ and a man, a lion, an ox, and an eagle. In early Christianity, the four living beings in Ezekiel’s vision were associated with the four evangelists. At the top of the page, God is shown enthroned, surrounded by the four animals of the Apocalypse. On the verso folio we see the Holy Spirit descending as a dove on Saint Mary and the 12 apostles. Collection of Armenian Church, Diocese of Aleppo. (AODA 00044)

Theo Maarten van Lint (Calouste Gulbenkian Professor of Armenian Studies, University of Oxford) describing Ezekiel’s vision in Armenian manuscripts and tradition. (Oxford Armenian Studies)

Becoming the Words

Illuminated manuscripts were important visual medium of expression in Armenian culture, and calligraphy was a very important element in the art of Armenian manuscripts. Animals incorporated into calligraphy often carry distinctive characteristics shaped by Armenian Christian culture and artistic traditions.

A prominent example of this is the t‘ṛchnagir (Թռչնագիր), zoomorphic script. To produce special effects, flexible human or animal figures and rich plants and flowers were used to display eccentric shapes by decorating the capitals or corners of the folio. For example, see the opening words of the Gospels decorated with zoomorphic script, with animals from Ezekiel’s vision accompanying the illuminations of the four evangelists.

Opening page to the Gospel of Matthew, with opening words of the Gospel decorated zoomorphic script, t‘ṛchnagir (Թռչնագիր). Collection of Armenian Church, Diocese of Aleppo. (AODA 00044)

Opening page to the Gospel of Mark, with the Lions as zoomorphic initial to the start of the Gospel: “Սկիզբն աւետարանի Յիսուսի Քրիստոսի” (The beginning of the Gospel of Jesus Christ). Collection of Armenian Church, Diocese of Aleppo. (AODA 00018)

Opening page to the Gospel of Luke with the first letter depicting the animal ox. Collection of Armenian Church, Diocese of Aleppo. (AODA 00054)

Opening page to the Gospel of John with the initial zoomorphic letter as an eagle. Collection of Our Lady of Bzummār Convent. (BzNr 00027)

A Sense of Place

One may observe that these manuscript illuminations not only enhance the storytelling and the theological message, but they also reveal unique environmental and agricultural landscapes of the natural beauty of the artists’ homes, such as the Armenian Plateau. Perhaps the use of animal illustrations suggests that animals support a ritual function, possibly in connection with agricultural cycles and the role of the natural world.

Across time, these illustrated animals are reminders of our interdependence and connection to the natural world. We find them grafted into letters in t‘ṛchnagir; as beauty in marginalia; as actors in our own stories; and in the saghmosaran (psalter) and sharakans (hymns), singing the psalms and sharakans in their own way, with us.