This year, the Independence Day of the Republic of Armenia was commemorated by a major cultural event: the opening of the international exhibition “Mother Deity: from Anahit to Mariam” at the History Museum of Armenia.

For the first time in Armenia, the bronze head and hand of Goddess Anahit, dating back to the II-I century BC, transferred from the British Museum to the History Museum of Armenia, are on public display.

RA President Vahagn Khachaturian, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and his wife Anna Hakobyan, Chairman of the National Assembly Alen Simonyan, Chief of Staff to the Prime Minister's Office Arayik Harutyunyan, ESCS Minister Zhanna Andreasyan, and other officials attended the opening of the exhibition.

The exhibits were transported from the British Museum to Armenia for a 6-month temporary exhibition. They were paired with over sixty exhibits from the Armenian History Museum's extensive collection, illustrating the concept of the mother deity from paganism to Christianity.

The exhibition is supported by the RA Ministry of Education, Science, Culture, and Sports as part of the collaboration between the History Museum of Armenia and the British Museum.

First, at 20:00, the national anthem of Armenia was played on Republic Square, followed by a concert program.

The exhibition will be open until midnight on September 21.