Mesrop Mashtots (; 362February 17, 440) was an early medieval Armenian linguist, theologian, statesman and hymnologist. He is best known for having restored or invented the Armenian alphabet c. 405 AD, which was a fundamental step in strengthening Armenian statehood and the bond between the Armenian Kingdom and Armenians living in the Byzantine Empire and the Persian Empire. He was also, according to a number of scholars and contemporaneous Armenian sources, the creator of the Caucasian Albanian and Georgian alphabets.