The History Museum of Armenia is regarded as Armenia's national museum and is located on Republic Square in Yerevan. The state financially supports the museum and owns both the collection and the building. The museum carries out conservation and restoration work and publishes works on Armenian architecture, archaeology, ethnography, and history. They also have published a series of reports on archaeological excavations since 1948. The museum carries out educational and scientific programs on Armenian history and culture as well.
On 9 September 1919, the National Assembly of Armenia founded the History Museum of Armenia. The museum opened to visitors on August 20, 1921. Its first director was Yervand Lalayan.
In 1935, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Armenia, established separate museums. These museums received items that originally were part of the History Museum of Armenia:
The Museum of Art of the Armenian SSR, was organized according to the History Museum’s Department of Art (the present-day National Gallery of Armenia) and received 1,660 objects.
The Museum of Literature, (the present-day Charents Museum of Literature and Art) was formed from the History Museum’s Department of Literature and received 301 objects and 1,298 manuscripts.
The State Museum of Ethnography was founded in 1978 and received 1,428 objects and 584 photographs.
The History Museum of Armenia continually replenishes its collections with finds from current excavations made at ancient Armenian sites by the Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography and the National Academy of Sciences of Armenia. Other objects are obtained through purchases and donations. The museum represents an integral picture of the history and culture of Armenia, from prehistory to the present day. The museum also presents rare traces of cultural interrelations between ancient eastern societies in the Armenian Highlands. These ancient societies include Caucasus, Crete, Egypt, Mitanni, the Hittite Kingdom, Assyria, Iran, the Seleucid Empire, the Roman Empire, and the Byzantine Empire.
