The Armenian collection is astounding, encompassing all religious creeds and heresies, philosophy, history, medicine, mathematics, poetry and prose, botany, zoology, astronomy, chemistry, alchemy, geology, music, painting and aeronautics.

There are dictionaries and grammar books, geographical maps and calendars, mathematical formula books, manuals on preparing dyes, inks and parchments. Most famous are astronomical and mathematical works by Anania Shirakatsi, and the Consolation in Fevers by the medieval Armenian physician Mkhitar Heratsi, the Book of Lamentations by Grigor Narekatsi (10^th century) and the manuscripts of songs by Sayat Nova; books by Narekatsi and Nerses Shnorhali.

Also included in the vast collection are the works of 5^th century world historians and philosophers, Armenian translations of works by Aristotle, Plato and Xenon, translations of books by Galens, Nemesius and Nyssa; and the oldest translations of the works of Homer, Cato, Ovid, Aesop, Olympiodorous and Menander.

There are translations of Italian medieval fables and stories; The Song of Roland, works by Firdowsi, Nizami, Rustaveli, and Fizuli; and poems by Navoi, the Uzbek poet, recorded in 1494, in the poet’s lifetime.

Many original works by Ancient Greek, Assyrian and other scholars and philosophers lost over the centuries are preserved only their Armenian translations. They include such works as The Chronicle by the prominent 4^th century Greek historian Eusebius of Caesura; On Nature by the Greek philosopher Xenon the Stoic; the works of Theon of Alexandria and Philo Judaeus; fragments from Botany by Dioscorides; the mathematical work Kitabeh Nejab by Avicenna; and many sections of the History of Alexander the Great by pseudo Callisthenies.

From the beginning of the manuscript tradition, Armenian philosophers, historians and scientists first translated, and then began to write treatises on classical views of the universe. The writings are so sophisticated that they can be used as incidental proof of a much longer empirical tradition in Armenia. Only one hundred years removed from their pagan roots, the authors show a feisty and sometimes contentious view of the way things work.

As early as the 5^th-7^th centuries, Armenian philosophers and scientists were already describing planets revolving around the sun, remarking on this effect when there was an eclipse of the sun and moon. This is in stark contrast to the way the universe was described in Catholic Europe, and would have branded these Armenian writers as heretics, earning them a place at the stake.

In The Interpretation of the Genesis, Yeghisheh, the 5^th century Armenian philosopher and scientists wrote: "When the Moon is in the upper hemisphere, and the Sun is in the lower, that is, when they are both on the same axis, the Sun cannot illuminate the Moon simultaneously and an eclipse of the Moon takes place."

Anani Shirakatsi, a 7^th century Armenian philosopher, astronomer and mathematician wrote: "The earth reminds me of an egg. Just as the round yolk is in the middle of the egg, surrounded by egg-white and covered by the shell, so the round Earth is surrounded by air and enveloped on all sides by the sky."

Elsewhere he wrote that every living being is subject to decay, and the seeds of life emerge from decay; the world continues to exist as a result of this contradiction.

And they certainly questioned the feudal system. In The Book of Law, Mkhitar Gosh, a 12^th century scholar and writer wrote: "God created human nature to be free; but man is forced by his need for the soil and water to serve masters. And I consider that he is fully justified to be free of his masters and live wherever he likes"

Grigor Tatevatsi, a 14^th century Armenian philosopher, wrote: "The mind is a bold and unabashed judge! It does not fear God because it is free; it does not feel shame because it keeps itself hidden; it does not take bribes because it does not need them; it is not ignorant because it always scrutinizes everything. That is why it judges truly and correctly"

And further: "Common people deserve leniency and charity, for they do not commit a crime willfully but because of their poverty. He steals, as the parable tells us, to appease his hungry belly, whereas a prince commits a crime of his own free will for he is in need of nothing, and for that he should be doubly punished."

Heretics in Europe were burned for much less than this, yet Armenian Church tradition which combined religious and lay governing boards was tolerant of questioning views.

As a result, Armenian science and philosophy had evolved to such an extent that it led Europe by several hundred years. Consider the renaissance did not reach England until the mid 16^th century, while it began in Armenia in the 5^th century.

Perhaps as remarkable as the words they wrote, was the fact that no matter how profound the thought, the writers consistently referred to themselves as "unworthy" and "ignorant". They lived in the most remote corners of old Armenia, though they were the leading thinkers of their time. And they wrote during invasions by Arabs, Seljuks, Mongols and Turks.