Արփի Վարդումեան2026-01-222026-01-222012Վարդումեան, Ա., «Հայոց միջնադարեան ձեռագրերը երաժշտաբուժութեան մասին (ակնարկներ)», «Հայկազեան հայագիտական հանդէս», 2012, Պէյրութ, էջ 283-297https://haigrepository.haigazian.edu.lb/handle/123456789/1084The beginning of the art of music goes back to the very origin of the human race. Of all the arts, music exerts the most powerful influence on the psyche of the human being. There are relatively few details concerning healing by music preserved in medieval Armenian manuscripts. However, in various works devoted to different fields of science, we find extremely interesting ideas regarding the relation between music and the spiritual realm of the human being and the affinities between different musical instruments and parts of the human body, as well as the significant impact music has on a person's emotions and sensations. The most perfect musical instrument was considered to be the human being himself with his consummate vocal potential, which skillful craftsmen have always striven to imitate in fashioning instruments. Against the backdrop of several medieval Armenian manuscripts or fragments that speak indirectly about music therapy, the author sheds light on an outstanding late medieval manuscript in the Matenadaran collection (N 4618). This fragment contains an extensive discussion concerning music healing. The author argues that music therapy can be more efficacious than administering medications, particularly in cases where the patient suffers from a purely psychological condition arising from sorrow. The author notes that the fragment considered human sorrow and other psychological conditions the result of a misbalance among the four humors of the human body. This is treated by singing a hymn (sharakan) in one of the eight modes of the Armenian church.