Eternal Alphabet: AYB - Ա (այբ)

“I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending” (Revelation 1:8). Letter Ա, being the symbol of the beginning, was correlated with the first day of creation of the world, the day when the God created the light and separated it from the darkness.

Ա [a] is the first letter of the Armenian alphabet. Its prototype is the Greek α (alpha), reshaped by cutting the upper arch. In the earliest version of the Armenian alphabet yerkatagir (ironclad letter) ayb had almost the same shape as the present-day capital Ա. Afterwards, another type was generated – ա. Which acquired the role of the small letter. Medieval manuscripts contain a great variety of these two types. One of the most uncommon forms of this letter is the so-called single-line ayb that consists of just one short vertical line – I. The letter name “ayb” is consonant with both the Greek “alpha” and the Semitic letter "aleph”.

The numerical value of letter “ayb” is 1. Just like figure one, ayb is the symbol of the God. This is also due to the fact that ayb is the first letter of the words Astvats (the God) and Ararich (the Creator). Thus, the symbolism of letter “ayb” conforms to the symbolism of the Greek letter “alpha” in the

Revelation of St. John, where the God says “I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending” (Revelation 1:8).

Besides, letter Ա, being the symbol of the beginning, was correlated with the first day of creation of the world, the day when the God created the light and separated it from the darkness.

See more at Aram Khachaturians "Armenian Alphabet" book