Slavic language before Cyril and Methodius. Slavic writing and culture

In history, there are several types of writing among the Slavs. Slavic writing was used to conclude contracts, transfer notes and for other purposes. For example, you can find information about this from Archimandrite Leonid Kavelin in his Collection: "On the homeland and origin of the Glagolitic alphabet and its relation to the Cyrillic alphabet" (1891). There is a special day dedicated to Slavic writing. Today it is celebrated by Russians as the day of veneration for Cyril and Methodius, although it is known that neither Cyril nor Methodius invented the Russian alphabet. They just transformed it - shortened it and adapted it to make it easier to translate Christian manuscripts from Greek. For example, the historian Dobner (Czech Republic), you can find a whole study on the topic: “Is the so-called now Cyril alphabet really an invention of the Slavic ap. Cyril? " (1786 year of publication).

Writing, as a derivative of the famous Christian saints Cyril and Methodius, appeared in Russia in the period from 900 to the beginning of the 1000-s. Until that time, a different writing system existed among the Slavs. We meet the data of chroniclers about the conclusion of contracts of the book. Igor and Prince. Oleg with the Byzantine kingdom (907-911) even before the arrival of the Cyrillic alphabet in Russia.

Some historians called it the "Khazar script" (Persian, Fakhr ad-Din, 700), speaking of the southwestern Slavs of a particular historical period. Others called it "an independent Russian letter", referring to the "Thessalonian legend", in which there is a mention of Jerome (lived until 420) and his connection with Slavic writings. Some scholars consider Cyril and Jerome from this legend to be one person, but the dates of the activities of these characters do not coincide.

There are now two directions in which the Slavic writing developed:

1. Figurative views. Creates a volumetric image and perception.
2. Descriptive views. Creates a plane perception by drawing on a plane.

Earlier, our ancestors, when they talked about objectivity and functions, called their writing:

• word;
• by letter;
• a book;
• diploma.

Types of writing throughout the history of the Slavs, arranged in chronological order of their time of appearance and use:

• Glagolitic- the middle of the 10th century;
• Initial letter(drevleslovenskaya) - presumably the end of the 10th century;
• ABC- a variant of pre-revolutionary tsarist Russia;
• Alphabet- 1918 (Lunacharsky reform).

Some scholars present the verb as one of the methods of pronunciation and writing of the drop caps. But this issue is still being investigated. This is what the Russian philologist Sreznevsky I.I. (1848):

Turning to the Glagolian alphabet, let us first of all note how it is similar and how it differs from the Cyrillic alphabet. Most of its letters differ in their form not only from Cyril, but also from other known ones. Similar to Cyril's d, x, m, p, f, w ... The selection of letters is the same. The order of the letters is also the same ... The peculiarity of many verbal letters has long led to the conclusion that the Glagolitic alphabet is the ancient alphabet of the pagan Slavs and, therefore, is older than the Cyrillic alphabet; Count Grubishich, Doctor Anton believed this; This is also believed by the now famous German philologist J. Grimm. It is hardly possible to refute this, assuming that the simple features of the ancient are replaced by curly and complex ones in the now known Glagolitic only later, due to special, unknown reasons; however, it is also difficult to refute the fact that the Glagolitic letters of unknown origin were never simpler, but were invented by an idle literate as they are, without any deviation from the ancient Slavic letters. It is true that the features of the Glagolitic alphabet are generally rough and some are open to the left side, as if they were used for writing from the right hand to the left, but the roughness of the drawing of the letters is not a sign of antiquity, and the opening of some to the left side could also be an accidental expression of the inventor's taste ...

Slavic writing was used in 4 variations: 2 main and 2 auxiliary. Separately, one should dwell on such types of writing that historians of modern science still cannot ignore with their attention. These are the following types of writing among the Slavs of different nationalities:

Traits and Rezes. By the names one can judge about their origin - they drew letters and cut them. This is a type of drop cap application.

Da'Aryan Tyragi - were used to convey the multidimensionality and imagery of the runes.

X'Aryan Karuna (runic, runica, runes) - was used by the priests, consisted of 256 runes, which formed the basis of the languages ​​of Devanagari, Sanskrit.

Rasenskie Molvitsy - Etruscan letter.

Now there is enough evidence that Slavic tribes and peoples settled on the Earth long before Christianity. Therefore, anthropologists often find blue-eyed Hindus in India, Kalash in Pakistan, or mummies of European appearance among archaeological sites in China. Therefore, the Aryan writing can also be remotely called Slavic, or Slavic-Aryan, for whom it is more convenient to understand. The Slavs of modern Russia and neighboring countries with ethnic identity are most close to them - Glagolitic and Initials, as well as Runes, Traits and Reza.

What is special about Slavic writing and culture

Glagolitic was most often used to seal business relationships in trade matters. She executed contracts, other papers, which are confirmation of the concluded transaction. In confirmation of this, today there are a fairly large number of ancient treaties written down precisely in Slavic Glagolitic. The following words are associated with this name:

• to verb - to speak;
• verbolasha - who spoke, pronounced;
• we verb - we speak;
• verb - action.

The drop cap, as the capital of words, had different writing styles. You can give an example of the following several options for the artistic image of old letters:

Ostromir letters - taken from the Ostromir Gospel (1056-1057)

teratological (or animal) style - features of animals and birds were included in the image of the letter

initials - colored letters, where, in addition to fantastic animals, people were also depicted (about 800)

Ottonian style of the Western Slavs - large letters, with gilding and patterned weaves

illustrated initial letter - each capital letter was illustrated with different fairy-tale characters and themes

filigree beeches (from the old name - "beeches", and not "letters" from the All-Light Literature of Shubin-Abramov Anania Fedorovich) - the letters were decorated with the finest pattern

guslitsky style - comes from the Old Believer settlement Guslitsy

Vetka style in Belarus

There are many options for the image of Slavic letters. Our ancestors, the Slavs, were famous masters of arts and arts. Therefore, the letters could be portrayed by scribes with a creative approach. The main feature of the drop cap is that it formed the basis of such languages ​​known to us as Latin (Latin) and English.

The worldview of the Slavs was changed even by modifying the writing. If earlier letters and words were perceived in volume with a semantic and figurative-symbolic load, now they are perceived on a plane, faceless, carrying only sounds folded into words.

Researchers of Slavic mythology believe that such a transfer of perception from volumetric "holographic" to flat writing began approximately from the time of the Germanization of Russia. Apparently, the influence of the West has always been fatal for the Russians and the Slavs in general, which is why the leading Russian minds of the times of Fyodor Dostoevsky and Leo Tolstoy mentioned this so often.

When the day of Slavic writing is celebrated

Slavic culture in historical data has undergone various changes. This suggests that scientists have not yet stopped their research - new artifacts found are being studied. The date when the writing of the Slavs and their culture was honored also changed. The very same Slavic mythology and history does not confirm the fact that the ancient Slavs celebrated a special day dedicated to their writing. Nevertheless, it is worth considering the appearance of such events at a later time, approximately when Christianity came to Russia.

Most often this date was associated with Cyril and Methodius. It was at that time that they began to set aside a certain day on which the merits of these two reverend fathers were remembered. Only the date changed:

• May 11 - Christian enlighteners were remembered by the "Solunski brothers";
• May 24 - Bulgarians today, along with these two saints, remember their culture;
• July 5 - in the Czech Republic;
• January 30 - the inhabitants of Russia remembered the Slavic writing and culture at the suggestion of the Presidium of the RSFSR Armed Forces (1991).

May 24- a generally accepted holiday in Slavic culture and writing. It was declared the "Day of Slavic Culture and Writing" in 1985, when the 1100th anniversary of the death of Methodius was celebrated in the USSR. Therefore, today this holiday is wholly served from the point of view of the Orthodox Church. However, those who remember and honor the legacy of the more ancient ancestors of the Slavs still revere the Old Slovenian Initial Letter. On this day, ancient letters are drawn on the asphalt, in underground passages, in squares, everywhere in the cities of the country.

In scholarly circles, some believe that the Slavs once had one language, but there were many ways to display it in any medium. Writings could be written on metal (coins, jewelry), birch bark, leather, stone. The peculiarity of the Slavic writing is that it, first of all, carried the Sveto-Russian (in some reading - “Svyatorusskie”) images. Simply put, we understand that it was figurative writing, and not flat, carrying a deeper meaning than just sound.

Such is the specificity of the topic covered in our book that, considering one of the issues related to it, you invariably touch upon another. So, while talking about proto-Cyrillic and proto-glagolitic, we have already touched on the problem of the existence of writing among the Slavs in the pre-Cyrillic era. However, in this and subsequent chapters, this issue will be revealed much more broadly. The chronological framework will be expanded, additional evidence will be involved, we will talk not only about the proto-Cyrillic and protoglagolitic letters, but also other types of writing of the Slavs. Finally, we will look at the same proto-Cyrillic alphabet in a different way.

“In Russian Slavic studies until the 40s of the XX century and in most of the foreign studies of a later time, the existence of pre-Cyrillic writing among the Slavs was usually denied. In the 40-50s, in order to prove the usefulness and independence of the Slavs in their development, the opposite theory appeared that writing arose independently in ancient times ... "- this is how the modern researcher E. V. Ukhanova describes the approaches that existed to the problem of pre-Cyrillic Slavic writing (II, 58; 196).

In general, E. V. Ukhanova's sketch is correct. But it requires some additions and clarifications.

The opinion, according to which the Slavs had a letter from the time of Cyril and Methodius, and before that the Slavs were an unwritten people, became dominant (we emphasize: dominant, but by no means the only one) in Russian and foreign Slavic studies only during the 19th century. In the 18th century, many scholars argued just the opposite. You can name the names of the Czechs Lingardt and Anton, who believed that the Slavs had written language long before the Solun brothers. Only the emergence of such a developed alphabetic system, such as the Glagolitic alphabet, they attributed to the V-VI centuries AD. e. (II, 31; 144). And before that, in their opinion, the Slavs had runes (II, 58; 115).

"Father of Russian history" V. N. Tatishchev in his "History of Russia" devoted the first chapter to proving the antiquity of Slavic writing. This chapter, by the way, is called “On the Antiquity of the Writing of the Slavs”. We will quote excerpts from it, for they are very interesting and revealing.

“... When, by whom, and which letters were first invented, about the endless strife between scientists ... As for the Slavic writing in general and the Slavic-Russ proper, many foreigners write out of ignorance, supposedly the Slavs are late and not all, but one letter after another received and allegedly the Russians for fifteen centuries according to Christ did not write any stories, about which Treer from others in his Introduction to Russian history ... wrote ... Others, even more wonderful that they say, allegedly in Russia before Vladimir, they did not have any letter ... Indeed, the Slavs long before Christ and the Slavic-Rus actually had a letter before Vladimir, as many ancient writers testify to us ...

Below, from Diodorus Siculus and other ancients, it is quite clear that the Slavs first lived in Syria and Phenicia ... where they could freely have Jewish, Egyptian or Chaldean writing in the neighborhood. Having moved from there, they lived on the Black Sea in Colchis and Paphlagonia, and from there during the Trojan War with the names of Geneta, Gaul and Meshini, according to the legend of Homer, they moved to Europe and seized the Mediterranean coast to Italy, Venice was built, etc., like the ancients, many , especially Strykovsky, Belsky and others, say. Consequently, having lived in such closeness and community with the Greeks and Italians, it is doubtless to have a letter from them to have and use a method unquestioningly, and this is only in my opinion ”(II, 58; 197-198).

What do we see from this quote? First of all, what V.N. Tatishchev says about the existence of writing from the Slavs (albeit borrowed) long before our era. Secondly, it is clear that at that time another point of view was also strong in science, which considered the Slavs an unwritten people literally until the 10th century AD. e. This point of view was defended mainly by German historians (Treer, Beer). However, in Russia it was not official, that is, it was not dominant, otherwise Empress Catherine II would not have written the following word for word in her Notes on Russian History: “The ancient Russian law or Code is quite antiquity of writing in Russia. The Russians had a letter long before Rurik ... ”(II, 58; 196). And the years of Rurik's reign are 862–879. It turns out that the Rus had a letter long before the calling in 863 of Saint Cyril to Moravia. Of course, Catherine the Great was not a scientist, but she was very educated and tried to keep abreast of the latest achievements of science. Therefore, her expression of such an opinion speaks of its importance in the Russian historical science of that time.

During the 19th century, however, the emphasis was rearranged. The opinion that the Slavs had no written language prior to the activity of the Solunsk brothers began to prevail. Written references to the contrary were ignored. Samples of pre-Cyrillic Slavic writing were either also ignored or declared to be a forgery. In addition, if these samples were small or illegible inscriptions, they were declared signs of genus, property, or a combination of natural cracks and scratches. We will talk in more detail about all these monuments of Slavic pre-Cyrillic writing below. Now let us note that in the 19th century, some of both foreign and Russian Slavic scholars continued to believe that the written tradition of the Slavs is older than the 9th century. You can name the names of Grimm, Kollar, Letseevsky, Ganush, Klassen, Chertkov, Ilovaisky, Sreznevsky.

Until the second half of the 9th century, the point of view of the non-literacy of the Slavs, having become dominant in tsarist Russia, also passed into Soviet historical science. And only from the end of the 40s of the XX century the process that E.V. Ukhanova writes about began.

A whole group of researchers made statements about the deep antiquity of Slavic writing (Chernykh, Formozov, Lvov, Konstantinov, Engovatov, Figurovsky). P. Ya. Chernykh, for example, wrote the following: “We can talk about a continuous (from the prehistoric era) written tradition on the territory of Ancient Rus” (II, 31; 99). A.S. Lvov considered Glagolitic to be an ancient Slavic script, attributed its appearance to the 1st millennium BC. e. and concluded that "the Glagolitic alphabet is directly related to cuneiform" (II, 31; 99). According to A. A. Formozov, some kind of writing, consisting of conventional signs, drawn in lines, common to the entire steppe zone of Russia and "formed on a local basis", existed already in the middle of the 2nd millennium BC. e. (II, 31; 99).

Above we have already spoken about the reconstructions of the protoglagolic alphabet by N. A. Konstantinov, N. V. Enogovatov, I. A. Figurovsky.

All these attempts to prove the antiquity and independence of Slavic writing were characterized by official science as a "wrong tendency" (II, 31; 99). “You cannot overly age” - this is the conclusion of our professors and academicians dealing with these issues. But why not? Because when it comes to times close to the turn of eras, and even more so about the times before our era, the overwhelming majority of scholars both then (in the 50-60s of the XX century) and now are afraid to use the word "Slavs" (they say, did they exist then at all? And if they existed, then what kind of writing can we talk about?). Here is what, for example, V.A.Istrin writes about the dating of the emergence of Glagolitic alphabet by A.S. Lvov in the 1st millennium BC. e.: “Meanwhile, in the 1st millennium BC. e. Proto-Slavic tribes, apparently, did not even fully develop as a nationality and were at such early stages of the tribal system, when they could not have a need for such a developed alphabetic writing system as Glagolitic ”(II, 31; 99). However, among linguists, the point of view that the Proto-Slavic language developed long before our era is quite common (II, 56; 12). Since there was a language, then there was also a people who spoke this language. So that readers and listeners are not confused by the prefix "pra" in the word "Proto-Slavs", let's say that Slavic tribes are called "Proto-Slavs" at the stage of their linguistic unity. It is believed that such a unity disintegrated by the 5th-6th centuries AD. e., when the Slavs were divided into three branches: eastern, western and southern. Consequently, the term "Proto-Slavic language" means the language of the Slavic tribes before their separation. The concept of "common Slavic language" is also used (II, 56; 11).

In our opinion, it would not be a big sin to drop the prefix "pra" and just talk about the Slavs BC. In this case, the question must be posed in a different way: the level of development of the Slavic tribes. What is he like? Maybe one in which there is already a need for writing?

But we got distracted. So, attempts to make Slavic writing antiquated were condemned by official science. Nevertheless, it would be unfair to say, as some adherents of antiquity do, that this very science takes the position of the Slavs being unwritten until the time of Cyril and Methodius' activity. Just the opposite. Russian historians and philologists admit that the Slavs had a written language before the 9th century. “The internal needs of a class society,” writes Academician DS Likhachev, “in conditions of weak political and economic ties among the East Slavic tribes could lead to the formation or borrowing of different alphabets in different territories. It is significant, in any case, at least that the unified alphabet adopted from Bulgaria - the Cyrillic alphabet - is established only in a relatively unified early feudal state, while the most ancient times give us evidence of the presence of both alphabets - the Cyrillic and Glagolitic ones. The older the monuments of Russian writing, the more likely they are to contain both alphabets.

Historically, there is no reason to think that the most ancient two-alphabetic character is a secondary phenomenon, replacing the original one-alphabetic character. The need for writing in the absence of sufficient state connections could give rise in different parts of the East Slavic society to various attempts to answer these needs ”(II, 31; 107-108).

V. A. Istrin expresses in the same vein: "The conclusions about the existence of writing among the Slavs (in particular, the Eastern ones) in the pre-Christian period, as well as the simultaneous use of several types of writing by the Slavs, are confirmed by documentary evidence - both chronicles and archaeological" (II, 31; 132).

True, it is necessary to make a reservation that the official Russian science recognized and recognizes the pre-Cyrillic Slavic writing with a number of restrictions. These relate to the types of writing and the time of their occurrence. There were no more than three types: proto-Cyrillic (borrowed from the Greeks), protoglagolitic (a possible type of writing; it could have been formed on a local basis) and pictographic writing of the type "devil and cut" (also originated on a local basis). If the first two types were a developed alpha-sound system, then the last one is a primitive letter, which included a small, unstable and different assortment of simple and conventional signs for different tribes, which had a very limited range of applications (counting signs, property signs, fortune telling, generic and personal marks, etc.).

The beginning of the use of the Proto-Cyrillic and Protoglagolitic alphabet by the Slavs dates back to the 7th – 8th centuries AD. e. and is linked with the formation of elements of statehood among the Slavs (II, 31; 132-133), (II, 16; 204). The pictographic writing of the type of "features and cuts" could have originated in the 2nd-5th centuries AD. e. (II, 31; 132), (II, 16; 204).

As you can see, they did not go far from the 9th century, except for the 2nd-5th centuries AD. e. for "features and cuts". But the latter are treated as a primitive pictographic system. In other words, the Slavs are still denied the presence of an ancient written tradition.

And one more interesting fact. Despite the fact that the presence of a letter among the Slavs before the activity of the Solunsk brothers is recognized by Russian science, for some reason the representatives of the latter did nothing to ensure that the existing system of historical education would bring this to the students of Russian history. First of all, we mean, of course, the middle link, that is, the school, which has a significant impact on the formation of mass consciousness. As a result, it is not surprising that the majority of our citizens are firmly convinced that Cyril and Methodius brought the letter to the Slavs, and the lamp of literacy spread throughout the Slavic lands only thanks to Christianity. The knowledge of pre-Christian writing among the Slavs remains, as it were, behind the scenes, the property of only a narrow circle of specialists.

In this regard, one should not be surprised that not so long ago, by decision of UNESCO, 863 was recognized as the year of the creation of Slavic writing (II, 9; 323). In a number of Slavic countries, including Russia, the Day of Slavic Written Language and Culture is celebrated. It is wonderful that such a holiday exists. Only now its celebration is inextricably linked with the names of Cyril and Methodius (the holiday is timed to coincide with the memorable day of St. Cyril). At the same time, the Solunski brothers are called "first teachers", and the role of the Orthodox Christian Church in the enlightenment of the Slavs is emphasized in every possible way. We do not want to underestimate the merits of Saints Equal to the Apostles Cyril and Methodius (they are really great), but we believe that historical memory should not be selective, and truth is above all.

However, from the sphere of mass consciousness, let us return to the scientific sphere. The tendency noted by E.V. Ukhanova in Soviet-Russian science (historical and philological) to prove the antiquity and independence of Slavic writing, never - since the end of the 40s of the XX century, in fact, without completely fading away, experienced a stormy surge in the so-called perestroika and post-perestroika periods ... If earlier publications dealing with this topic were pushed mainly to the pages of periodicals and popular science literature, nowadays there are a large number of books that may well be regarded as serious scientific monographs. The names of such researchers as V. A. Chudinov, Yu. K. Begunov, N. V. Slatin, A. I. Asov, G. S. Grinevich and a number of others have become known.

Note also that this trend has not spread in foreign Slavic studies. The positions held by foreign Slavists can be characterized by quoting the words of the famous Czech scientist C. Loukotka: “The Slavs, who later appeared in the European cultural field, learned to write only in the 9th century ... It is not necessary to speak of the existence of writing among the Slavs before the end of the 9th century, except for the nicks on the tags and other mnemonic devices ”(II, 31; 98). The only exceptions are, perhaps, Bulgarian and Yugoslavian historians and philologists. They, in particular E. Georgiev (Bulgaria) and R. Pesic (Serbia), have done a lot of work to prove the existence of proto-Cyrillic letters among the Slavs.

For our part, we are of the opinion that until the 9th century AD. e. the Slavic written tradition went back many centuries. The material presented in the future will serve as proof of this position.

A number of written sources report that the Slavs had pre-Cyrillic (pre-Christian) writing.

First of all, this is the “Legend of the Writings” of the monk Brave, which we have already mentioned more than once. The first lines of the treatise literally read the following: “Previously, I don’t have books for Slovenia, but with features and cuts of chetyahu and gadaakhu, you are a filthy creature ...” (II, 52; 141), (II, 27; 199). Just a few words, but there are some difficulties with translation, and the context of this message depends on the resolution of these difficulties. First, in a number of lists, instead of the word “books”, there is the word “written”. Agree, the meaning of the sentence very much depends on which of these words you prefer. It is one thing to have a letter, but not to have books. Another thing is not to have "writing", that is, writing. “Did not have books” does not mean that the letter was of a primitive nature and served to serve some elementary everyday and vital needs (signs of ownership, family, fortune telling, etc.). These words were written by a Christian, with a clerical title (monk-monk). In saying this, he could mean the absence of Christian sacred books. This assumption is supported by the end of the phrase: "you are filthy," that is, "because they were pagans." In addition, according to N. V. Slatin, these words “should be understood so that they (that is, the Slavs. - I. D.) there were no books in the form they appeared later, but they were on other materials, not on parchment - on tablets, for example, on birch bark or on a stone, etc. - they scratched inscriptions and texts with a sharp object ”(II, 52; 141).

And is the word "writing" so unambiguously to be understood as "writing"? A number of translations speak of "letters" (II, 58; 49). This understanding of this word seems to us to be more correct. First of all, it follows from the title of the work itself. Further, below in his treatise, Brave himself, speaking about the creation of the Slavic alphabet by Constantine the Philosopher, uses the word “writing” in the meaning of “letter”: “And he created for them 30 letters and 8, some based on the Greek speech "(I, 7; 52). "These are Slavic letters, and so they should be written and pronounced ... Of these, 24 are similar to Greek letters ..." (I, 7; 54). So, the “letters” of those lists of the Brave's work, where this word is used instead of the word “books”, are “letters”. With this interpretation, the beginning of the "Tale" will look like this: "After all, before the Slavs did not have letters ...". But since they did not have letters, they did not have writing either. No, such a translation does not provide grounds for such conclusions. Slavic written signs could simply be called differently: "lines and cuts", as Brave says, or "runes". Then let us not forget that these words were written by a Christian and a monk. By "letters" he could understand Christian written signs, that is, signs of the sacred Christian alphabet, created specifically for recording Christian texts. This is how VA Chudinov understands this passage in the Legend (II, 58; 50). And I must admit that he is most likely right. Indeed, for Christians, pagan writing was not suitable for some reason. Apparently, they considered it beneath their dignity to write down Christian sacred texts with pagan symbols. That is why Bishop Wulfila creates in the 4th century A.D. e. letter for ready. In the same century, in the Caucasus, Mesrop Mashtots created as many as three writing systems for the Caucasian peoples (Armenians, Georgians, Caucasian Albanians) who converted to Christianity. The Goths had runic writing. According to a number of researchers, Armenians and Georgians had the letter before the adoption of Christianity.

So what do we have? Whichever of the list options you take, whether the one where it is about books, whether the one where about "writing", he does not lead to the conclusion that the Slavs do not have a letter.

If we continue the analysis of the proposal, then the conclusion will be just different: the Slavs wrote in pagan times. "With features and cuts" the Slavs "chetyahu and gadaakhu". Most researchers translate "chetyahu and gadaakhu" as "read and wondered." If you read it, then it means there was something to read, there was writing. Some scholars (in particular, V. A. Istrin) give the translation “they considered and wondered”. Why such a translation is given is understandable in principle. Replacing just one word has big consequences. Above, we said that Soviet historical science from the end of the 40s of the XX century began to adhere to the opinion about the existence of a pre-Christian letter among the Slavs. But only primitive pictographic writing was unconditionally recognized as his own, directly born in the Slavic environment, which was considered the "features and cuts" mentioned by Brave. With this understanding of the latter, the word "read" seems to fall out of context, because it indicates a developed writing system. It also does not agree with the word "wondered". The modern philologist N.V. Slatin approached the issue of words dropping out of the context of a phrase in a different way. He translates this part of the sentence as “read and spoke”, understanding by “spoke” - “wrote” and indicating that the use of the word “divined” in translations contradicts the meaning of the sentence (II, 52; 141).

Based on all of the above, we give the following translation of the beginning of the Brave's treatise: "After all, before the Slavs did not have books (letters), but they read and spoke (wrote) with lines and cuts."

Why did you dwell in such detail on the analysis of just one sentence from the "Legend of the Writings"? The fact is that two things depend on the results of this analysis. First, the resolution of the question of the degree of development of the Slavic writing system. Secondly, the recognition of the existence of a letter among the Slavs as such. It is no coincidence that the questions were put in such an “inverted” sequence.

For the official Soviet (now - Russian) historical science, there is, in fact, no problem here, there is no need to especially worry about translating this sentence (unless from a purely philological point of view, advocating for the correct translation of ancient words into modern language). The indication that the Slavs have pictography is, so to speak, "in its pure form." Well, thank God! We have nothing more to wish for.

But pictography is the initial stage in the development of writing, writing is extremely primitive. Some researchers do not consider it to be writing either, clearly separating pictography, as a mnemonic means, from phonetic writing (II, 40; 21). From here it is only one step to say: "Pictures are pictures, but the Slavs did not have letters."

For our part, following a number of scholars, we tried to show that the words of the monk Brave not only do not deny that the Slavs have a written language, not only indicate that they have pictographs, but that the Slavic writing was quite developed.

Let's move on to the evidence from other sources. Arab travelers and scholars report about writing among the Eastern Slavs. Ibn Fadlan, who, during his stay with the Volga Bulgarians in 921, saw the burial ceremony of one Rus, writes: “First they made a fire and burned a body on it, and then they built something like a round hill and erected a large piece of poplar in the middle of it, wrote on her the name of this husband and the name of the king of the Rus and departed ”(II, 31; 109).

The Arab writer El Masudi, who died in 956, in his essay "Golden Meadows" claims that he discovered in one of the "Russian temples" a prophecy inscribed on stone (II, 31; 109).

The scientist Ibn el-Nedim in his work "Book of painting to sciences" conveys the story of the ambassador of one of the Caucasian princes to the prince of the Rus, dating back to 987. “I was told by one, on whose truthfulness I rely,” writes Ibn el-Nedim, “that one of the kings of Mount Kabk sent him to the king of the Rus; he claimed that they have letters carved into the wood. He showed me a piece of white wood on which they were depicted, I do not know if they were words or individual letters ”(II, 31; 109-110). Ibn el-Nedim's account is especially interesting in that he gives a sketch of the inscription he mentioned. But more on that below.

Another oriental author, the Persian historian Fakhr ad-Din (early 13th century), claims that the Khazar "writing comes from Russian" (II, 31; 110). A very interesting message. First, we are talking about a Khazar script unknown to science (apparently, runic). Secondly, this testimony makes one think about the degree of development of the Slavic writing. Apparently, this degree was quite high, since the letter is borrowed by other peoples. Thirdly, the question arises: what was the Slavic writing system? After all, the Khazars (since they are Türks) are supposed to have a runic script. Was there a runic and Russian writing?

Let us pass from the messages of the eastern authors to the western authors, more precisely to the author, because in "our arsenal" there is only one evidence on the issue of interest to us. Bishop of Merseburg Titmar (976-1018) says that in the pagan temple of the city of Retra (the city belonged to one of the tribes of the Slavs-lyutichi; the Germans called the inhabitants of Retra "redaria" (II, 28; 212), (II, 58; 164)) he saw Slavic idols; on each idol his name was inscribed with special signs (II, 31; 109).

Excluding Fakhr ad-Din's message about the origin of the Khazar script from the Russian, all the rest of the above evidence may well be interpreted as indicating only the presence of the Slavs pictographic writing of the type "features and cuts".

Here is what VA Istrin writes about this: “The names of the Slavic idols (Titmar), as well as the names of the deceased Rus and his“ tsar ”(Ibn Fadlan), were probably something like pictorial or conventional generic and personal signs ; similar signs were often used by Russian princes of the 10th - 11th centuries on their coins. The prophecy inscribed on stone (El Masoudi) makes you think about the "lines and cuts" of fortune-telling.

As for the inscription of Ibn el-Nedim, some scholars believed that this is an Arabic spelling distorted by scribes; others tried to find in this inscription similarities with the Scandinavian runes. At present, the majority of Russian and Bulgarian scholars (P. Ya. Chernykh, D. S. Likhachev, E. Georgiev, and others) consider the inscription of Ibn el Nedim to be an example of Slavic pre-Cyrillic writing of the type of "features and cuts".

It was hypothesized that this inscription is a pictographic route map ”(II, 31; 110).

Of course, the opposite can be argued, that is, that these messages are talking about developed writing. However, the controversy will be unfounded. Therefore, it is better to turn to another group of messages, which unequivocally indicates the presence of a very perfect written language among the Slavs in the pre-Christian period.

The Tale of Bygone Years tells that during the siege of Chersonesos by Prince Vladimir Svyatoslavich (at the end of the 80s of the 10th century), one of the inhabitants of Chersonesos, named Anastasius, shot an arrow into Vladimir's camp with the inscription: goes along a pipe "(II, 31; 109), ie:" To the east of you there is a well, from which water goes through a pipe into the city. " You cannot write such a message with a pictograph, it will be very difficult. Of course, it could have been written in Greek. In the camp of Vladimir, of course, there were people who understood the Greek language and read Greek. Another option is also possible. In his work, Brave reports on the use of Greek and Latin letters by the Slavs to record their speech. True, it is rather difficult to write in Slavic in Greek and Latin letters, since these alphabets do not reflect the phonetics of the Slavic language. Therefore, Brave points out the use of these letters "without dispensation", that is, without order, speech was conveyed inaccurately. Nevertheless, it was transmitted. But no one can exclude the possibility that Anastasius wrote his message in the very "Russian letters" about which the "Pannonian Life of Cyril" speaks. Recall that, according to this "Life" Constantine (Cyril), during a trip to the Khazars, it was in Chersonesos that he found the Gospel and the Psalter written in "Russian letters", and met a person who spoke Russian, from whom he learned to read and talk. This testimony of the "Pannonian Life" is one more proof of the existence of a developed system of writing among the Slavs in the pre-Cyrillic era.

Let's go back to the Russian chronicles. They talk about written agreements that Russia entered into with Byzantium in 907, 944 and 971 (note, pagan Rus). The texts of these treaties have been preserved in the annals (II, 28; 215). Written agreements are concluded between peoples who have a written language. In addition, in the very text of these agreements, one can find evidence of the presence of some kind of writing system among the Slavs (Rus). So, in the contract of Oleg we read: “If anyone dies without finishing his estate (he will die while in Byzantium. - I. D.), or not to have his own, may he return the estate to the small "neighbors" in Russia. If he will create a dress, such will he be harnessed to him, to whom he wrote to inherit his estate, and to inherit it ”(II, 37; 69). We pay attention to the words "without dressing" and "wrote". The latter speaks for itself. As for the first, we note that it is possible to "arrange" the property, that is, to dispose of it, being far from home, in a foreign land, is possible only in writing.

Oleg's agreement with the Greeks, as well as Igor's, ends with a very interesting wording, which is worth dwelling on and considering in more detail. It sounds like this: "The contract was written by Ivanov in two charters" (II, 37; 53). What kind of "Ivan's scripture" was used by the Russians? And who is this Ivan? According to Stefan Lyashevsky, Ivan is Saint John, bishop of the Greek Gotf diocese in Taurida. He was a Tavroscythian by origin. And the Tavro Scythians, according to S. Lyashevsky, relying on the testimony of the Byzantine historian Leo the Deacon, are the Russes (Leo the Deacon writes: "The Tavro Scythians, who call themselves" Rus ") (II, 37; 39). John was ordained bishop in Iberia, and not in Constantinople, since in the latter church power was seized by the iconoclasts. When the territory of Taurida was under the rule of the Khazars, John revolted against them (II, 37; 51). The Greeks betrayed him to the Khazars. He manages to escape. Here is such a stormy life. The Gotha diocese was recently created at that time. And it was, as S. Lyashevsky believes, on the territory of the Russian Bravlinsky principality in Taurida (II, 37; 51). Prince Bravlin, who had recently fought with the Greeks, was able to create a Russian state in Taurida. For his fellow tribesmen, John created writing (presumably, on the basis of the Greek). It was with this letter that the Gospel and the Psalter were written, found by Constantine the Philosopher in Korsun (II, 37; 52). This is the opinion of S. Lyashevsky. He also names the exact date of the creation of "John's writing" - 790. In this he relies on Karamzin. The latter in his "History of the Russian State" writes: "Vedati befits that the Slovenian-Russian people in 790 A.D. have started a letter; In that year, the Greek king wrestled with the Slovenes, having and made peace with them, after them, as a sign of friendship, letters, that is, alphabet words. This is from the Greek scripture, again compiled for the sake of the Slavs: and from that time the Russians began to have the scriptures ”(II, 37; 53).

In general, in our opinion, this testimony of Karamzin should be treated very, very carefully. The fact is that Karamzin adds that he read it in one handwritten Novgorod chronicle (II, 37; 53). It is likely that this chronicle could be the very Joachim chronicle, based on which Tatishchev wrote his work, or a chronicle directly based on it.

Unfortunately, the Joachim Chronicle has not reached us. Most likely, she died during a fire in Moscow in 1812. Then, in general, a huge mass of historical documents was lost. Let us recall at least the ancient copy of the "Words about Igor's Campaign."

Why is this chronicle so valuable? According to experts, its creation dates back to about 1030, that is, it is almost a hundred years older than the Tale of Bygone Years. Consequently, it could contain such information that was no longer in the "Tale of Bygone Years". And there are a number of reasons for this. First, Joachim, the author of the chronicle, is none other than the first Novgorod bishop Joachim of Korsunian. He took part in the baptism of the Novgorodians. That is, while in Novgorod, he came across a very, very lively paganism, its beliefs and legends. Nestor, who wrote in the 10s of the XII century, did not have such an opportunity. More than a hundred years after Vladimirov's baptism of Rus, only echoes of pagan traditions reached him. Moreover, there is every reason to believe that Joachim used some written sources dating back to pre-Christian times. These sources were persecuted and destroyed in every possible way after the adoption of Christianity by Russia, and they could simply not reach Nestor.

Secondly, there is no doubt that what we consider to be a non-corrosive "Tale of Bygone Years" is in fact only partially so. And the point here is not that this chronicle has come down to us only as part of the later compilations of chronicles. We are talking about editing "The Tale of Bygone Years" during the life of Nestor. The name of the editor is known - hegumen of the princely Vydubetsky monastery Sylvester, who put his name at the end of the chronicle. Editing was carried out to please the princely power, and what was in the original "Tale", only God knows. Obviously, a significant layer of information related to the Doryurik times was "thrown out". So, the Joachim Chronicle was clearly not subjected to a similar revision. In particular, as far as she is known in Tatishchev's presentation, there is much more data about the times before Rurik than in the Tale of Bygone Years.

It remains to answer the question: why should the Greek Joachim from Korsun, a Christian, a priest, try so hard to present Russian history (pre-Christian, pagan). The answer is simple. According to S. Lyashevsky, Joachim, like St. John, was from the Tauride Rus (II, 37; 215). That is, he expounded the past of his people. One can apparently agree with this.

So, we repeat, the above testimony of Karamzin must be treated with attention. So, it is likely that around 790 Bishop John invented a certain Russian script based on the Greek one. It may well be that it was she who wrote the Gospel and the Psalter, found by Constantine the Philosopher in Chersonesos.

But, in our opinion, this was not the beginning of Russian (Slavic) writing. The Slavic written tradition is much older. In this case, we are dealing with one of the attempts to create a sacred Christian letter for the Slavs. A similar attempt, according to a number of scholars, at the end of the 4th century A.D. e. was undertaken by Saint Jerome, and seven decades later John - by Saint Cyril, Equal to the Apostles.

In addition to reports from written sources about the presence of letters among the Slavs, scientists have at their disposal a significant number of samples of the latter. They were obtained mainly as a result of archaeological research, but not only.

Let's start with the inscription already known to us, contained in the work of Ibn el-Nedim. It was said above that in our time it is mainly interpreted as an example of Slavic pictographic writing of the type of "features and cuts". But there is another opinion. V.A. Chudinov considers this inscription to be executed in syllabic Slavic writing (II, 58; 439). G.S. Grinevich and M.L.Seryakov adhere to the same opinion (II, 58; 234). What would I like to note? A certain similarity with the Arabic script is striking. It is not without reason that a number of scholars considered the inscription a distorted Arabic script by scribes (II, 31; 110). But, most likely, the opposite was the case. This repeated rewriting by the Arabs "worked" the sample of Russian writing to resemble Arabic script (Fig. 7). This hypothesis is supported by the fact that neither the Arab el-Nedim, nor his informant paid any attention to the similarity of the signs of the inscription with the Arabic letters. Apparently, initially there was no such similarity.

Rice. 7.Sample of Russian writing to resemble Arabic script

Now this inscription is considered unreadable in scientific circles (II, 52; 141), although attempts to decipher it have been made several times since 1836, when Academician H.M. Fren introduced this inscription into scientific circulation. He was the first to try to read it. The Danes F. Magnusen and A. Sjögren, the famous Russian scientists D.I.Prozorovsky and S. Gedeonov tried their strength in this matter. However, their readings were found to be unsatisfactory. In our time, the inscription is read in a syllabic way by G. S. Grinevich and V. A. Chudinov. But the results of the efforts of these researchers are highly controversial. So "the sentence remains in force" - the inscription of el-Nedim is not yet read.

A numerous group of probable (we add: very, very probable) monuments of pre-Christian Slavic writing are formed by mysterious inscriptions and signs on ancient Russian household items and on various handicrafts.

Of these inscriptions, the most interesting is the so-called Alekanov inscription (Fig. 8). This inscription, applied to an earthen vessel of the 10th - 11th centuries, was discovered in 1897 by V.A.Gorodtsov during excavations near the village of Alekanovo near Ryazan (hence the name - Alekanovskaya). Contains 14 characters located in a line layout. Fourteen is quite a lot. That is why this find is valuable because the inscriptions with a large number of signs of the alleged Slavic writing are not yet known to science.

rice. 8 - Alekan's inscription

True, even in the first half of the 19th century, Academician MP Pogodin published in his journal "Moscow Observer" some inscriptions discovered by someone in the Carpathians. Sketches of these inscriptions were sent to the "Moscow Observer" (Fig. 9). There are more than fourteen characters in these inscriptions. Moreover, an interesting fact is that some signs are similar to the signs of the inscription of el-Nedim. But ... Both in the time of MP Pogodin, and in our time, scientists doubt the Slavic identity of the Carpathian inscriptions (II, 58; 224). In addition, M.P. Pogodin did not see the inscriptions themselves, dealing only with the sketches sent to him. Therefore, now, after more than one and a half years, it is very difficult to establish whether the venerable academician was misled, that is, whether these sketches are falsified.

fig. 9 - inscriptions found in the Carpathians

So, we repeat, Alekan's inscription is the largest example of an unknown Slavic script. It can be considered indisputable that the letter is Slavic, and that the signs of the inscription are precisely a letter, and not something else. Here is what VA Gorodtsov, the discoverer of Alekanov's "urn", wrote about this: “... . Slav "(II, 31; 125). “The meaning of the signs is still mysterious, but it is already more likely to have monuments of prehistoric writing in them than stamps or generic signs, as one might have assumed at the first acquaintance with them on a burial vessel, where it seemed a very natural phenomenon on one vessel of many stamps or generic signs, since the act of burial could serve as a reason for the congress of several families or clans, who came in large numbers to perpetuate their presence at the funeral by tracing their brands on the clay of the burial vessel. A completely different matter is the finding of signs in a more or less significant number and in a strict layout on household vessels. It is impossible to explain them as marks of the master, because there are many signs; it is also impossible to explain that these are signs or hallmarks of individuals. There remains one more probable assumption - that the characters represent the letters of an unknown letter, and their combination expresses any thoughts of the master or customer. If this is true, then we have at our disposal up to 14 letters of an unknown letter (II, 58; 253–254).

In 1898, in the same place, near Ryazan, V.A.Gorodtsov discovered five more similar signs. The marks on pots from the Tver Museum, as well as on copper plaques found during excavations of the Tver burial mounds of the 11th century, are similar in shape to the Alekanov ones. On two plaques, the signs go in a circle, forming two identical inscriptions. According to V.A.Istrin, some of these signs, like Alekan's ones, resemble the letters of the Glagolitic alphabet (II, 31; 125).

Of interest is also the "inscription" (if only to consider it an inscription, and not a random combination of cracks from fire; hence the quotation marks at the word "inscription") on a sheep's shoulder, discovered around 1916 by D. Ya. Samokvasov during the excavation of Severyan burial mounds near Chernigov. "Inscription" contains 15-18 characters (it is difficult to say more precisely) located inside a semi-oval, that is, in terms of the number of characters it surpasses Alekan's (Fig. 10). “Signs,” writes D. Ya. Samokvasov, “consist of straight cuts and, in all likelihood, represent a Russian letter of the 10th century, which is indicated in some sources” (II, 31; 126).

rice. 10 - Inscription during the excavation of the Severyan burial mounds near Chernigov

In 1864, for the first time, lead seals were found near the village of Drogichin on the Western Bug, apparently trade seals of the 10th - 14th centuries. In subsequent years, the finds continued. The total number of fillings is measured in thousands. On the front side of many seals there is a Cyrillic letter, and on the back there are one or two mysterious signs (Fig. 11). In 1894, Karl Bolsunovsky's monograph contained about two thousand seals with similar marks (II, 58; 265). What's this? Are they just property marks or an analogue of the corresponding Cyrillic letters from an unknown Slavic script?

rice. 11 - lead seals

The great attention of researchers was also attracted by the numerous mysterious signs found along with the Cyrillic inscriptions on the old Russian calendars and on the spinning wheels of the 10th - 11th and later centuries (Fig. 12). In the 40-50s of the last century, many tried to see prototypes of verb letters in these mysterious signs. However, then the opinion was established that these were signs of the type of "lines and cuts", that is, pictography (II, 31; 126). Nevertheless, we allow ourselves to express doubts about such a definition. On some spindle whorls, the number of unknown symbols is quite large. This does not fit in with their understanding as pictograms. Rather, it suggests that we are dealing with a dubbing of a Cyrillic inscription. Hence, more or less developed writing, not primitive pictography. It is not for nothing that today V. A. Chudinov and G. S. Grinevich see syllabograms in signs on spindle wheels, that is, symbols of syllabic writing.

rice. 12 - inscriptions made in Cyrillic on old Russian calendars and on spindle wheels of the 10th - 11th and later centuries

In addition to household items and handicrafts, some unknown signs are found on the coins of Russian princes of the 11th century. Above we said that on the basis of these signs in the late 50s - early 60s. XX century, an attempt was made to reproduce the proto-glagolic alphabet by N.V. Engovatov. His work has been heavily criticized. The criticizing side was inclined to explain the origin of the mysterious signs on the coins by the illiteracy of Russian engravers (II, 31; 121). Here is what, for example, B. A. Rybakov and V. L. Yanin wrote: “The matrices with the help of which the coins were minted were soft or fragile, they needed very quick replacement in the process. And the amazing closeness in the details of the design of coins within each type suggests that the newly emerging matrices were the result of copying matrices that were out of order. Can it be assumed that such a copy is capable of preserving the original literacy of the original copy, which was exemplary? We think that NV Engovatov would answer this question in the affirmative, since all his constructions are based on the idea of ​​the unconditional literacy of all inscriptions ”(II, 58; 152–153). However, the modern researcher V. A. Chudinov correctly notes: “The worked engravings may not reproduce part of the strokes of the letter, but they may not double them and not turn over the images, not substitute the lateral masts! This is absolutely out of the question! So Engovatov in this episode was criticized not on the essence of the issue ... ”(II, 58; 153). In addition, we note that to confirm his hypothesis, N.V. Engovatov drew on the seal of Svyatoslav of the 10th century, which also has mysterious symbols similar to the signs on coins of the 11th century. So, X century, pagan times. Here it is difficult to explain the origin of incomprehensible signs by errors in the transmission of Cyrillic letters. Plus, it's a seal, not a coin. There can be no talk of mass production, and, therefore, we cannot talk about the flaws of mass production. The conclusion, in our opinion, is obvious. We are dealing with signs of an unknown Slavic letter. How to interpret it, whether it is literal protoglagolic, as N.V. Engovatov believed, or syllabic, as V.A.Chudinov believes, is another question.

The specified group of possible samples of pre-Cyrillic Slavic writing, with the exception of the inscriptions published by M.P.

The other group of samples was less fortunate. Why? This lack of attention to them is difficult to explain. The more reasons we have to tell about them.

In the 30s of the XIX century in Tverskaya Karelia, on the site of an ancient settlement, four stones with mysterious inscriptions were discovered. Their images were first published by FN Glinka (Fig. 9, 13). The Danes F. Magnusen and A. Sjögren, already mentioned by us, tried to read two of the four inscriptions (but not on the basis of Slavic). Then the stones were quickly forgotten. And no one seriously considered the question of whether the inscriptions belonged to the Slavs. And in vain. There was every reason for this.

rice. 13 - In the 30s of the XIX century in Tver Karelia on the site of an ancient settlement, four stones with mysterious inscriptions were discovered

In the 50s of the XIX century, the famous Russian archaeologist O.M.Bodyansky, his Bulgarian correspondent Hristo Daskalov, sent an inscription that he discovered in the ancient capital of Bulgaria, Tarnovo, in the Church of the Holy Apostles. The inscription was clearly not Greek, not Cyrillic, or Glagolic (Fig. 14). But, as it seems to us, there is reason to associate it with the Slavs.

rice. 14 - an inscription discovered in the ancient capital of Bulgaria Tarnovo in the Church of the Holy Apostles

In 1896, archaeologist N. Kondakov published his research, in which, describing various treasures found in Kiev during the 19th century, he, in particular, cited images of some rings. There are some drawings on these rings. They could be mistaken for patterns. But the patterns are characterized by symmetry, which is absent in this case (Fig. 15). Therefore, there is a high degree of probability that we have before us another sample of pre-Cyrillic Slavic writing.

rice. 15 - images on rings found in Kiev during the 19th century

In 1901, A.A. Spitsyn, while excavating the Koshibeevsky burial ground, discovered a copper pendant with notches on the inner ring. In 1902, at the Gnezdovsky burial ground, S.I.Sergeev found a blank for a knife from the 9th-10th centuries, on both sides of which there were notches. Finally, A. A. Spitsyn, while investigating the Vladimir kurgans, found a temporal ring of the 11th – 12th centuries, on which there was an asymmetrical ornament on three blades (Fig. 16). The written character of the images on these items was not revealed by archaeologists in any way. It is possible that for them the presence of notches on metal products was somehow connected with the nature of metal processing. Nevertheless, the images of some asymmetrical signs on the items are seen quite well. According to V. A. Chudinov, “there is no reason to doubt the presence of inscriptions” (II, 58; 259). In any case, the likelihood that we are in front of the signs of the letter is no less, and perhaps even greater than in the case of the famous lamb shoulder.

rice. 16 - The temporal ring of the 11th-12th centuries was found on the Vladimir mounds, on which there was an asymmetrical ornament on three blades

rice. 17 - Lednice figurines

The monograph by the famous Polish Slavist Jan Lecievsky, published in 1906, contains an image of the "Lednice figurine" resembling a goat (Fig. 17). It was discovered on Lake Lednice in Poland. The figurine had signs on its belly. Letseevsky himself, being an ardent advocate of pre-Cyrillic Slavic writing, read these signs (as well as the signs of many other inscriptions, including the inscription of Alekan's "urn") on the assumption that Slavic writing is modified Germanic runes. In our time, its deciphering is recognized by experts as unsuccessful (II; 58; 260-264). He deciphered the inscription on the "Lednice figurine" as "to heal".

The Czech archaeologist Vaclav Krolmus, traveling in the Bohuslav region of the Czech Republic in 1852, was in the village of Kralsk, where he learned that the peasant Józef Kobša, digging a cellar, suggested the existence of a cavity behind the northern wall of the house by the sound of a blow. Breaking through the wall, Jozef discovered a dungeon, the vault of which was held on a stone pillar. There were vessels on the stairs leading there, which attracted his attention, for he assumed that money was hidden in them. However, there was no money there. Indignant, Kobsha smashed the urns and threw away their contents. Krolmus, hearing about the urns found, went to the peasant and asked to see the basement. Looking around the dungeon, he noticed two stones with inscriptions on the pillar supporting the vaults. After redrawing the inscriptions and carefully examining the rest of the items, Vaclav Krolmus left, but at every opportunity in 1853 and 1854 he asked his friends to visit the peasant, copy the inscriptions and send them to him. So he became convinced of the objectivity of the drawing (Fig. 15). We deliberately dwelled in such detail on the circumstances of the discovery of the Krolmus inscriptions, for later the inscriptions were declared falsified (in particular, by the famous Slavist I.V. Yagich) (II, 58; 262). If someone has a rich imagination, then let them imagine how and for what purposes this falsification was implemented. We, frankly, find it difficult.

V. Krolmus himself tried to read these inscriptions on the assumption that before him were Slavic runes. The reading gave the names of various gods (II, 58; 262). On the basis of the runes, I read the inscriptions of Krolmus and the already known to us Y. Letseevsky (II, 58; 262). However, the readings of these scholars are recognized as erroneous (II, 58; 262).

Back in 1874, Prince AM Dondukov-Korsakov discovered a stone in the village of Pnevishche near Smolensk, both sides of which were covered with strange inscriptions (Fig. 19). He copied these inscriptions. However, they were published only in 1916. No attempts were made to read these inscriptions in Russia. The Austrian professor G. Wankel tried to read them, who saw in them, God knows why, the Hebrew square letter (II, 58; 267).

Back in the 80s of the XIX century, on the banks of the Bushi River, which flows into the Dniester, a temple complex was discovered that belonged to the Slavs of pagan times (although later it was probably also used by Christians). In 1884 the temple was examined by archaeologist A. B. Antonovich. He left a detailed description of the temple, published in his article "On the rocky caves of the Dniester coast in the Podolsk province", given in "Proceedings of the VI Archaeological Congress in Odessa, 1884". In fact, this research work remains unsurpassed to this day. In addition to descriptions, it also contains high-quality photographs.

In 1961, the famous Ukrainian archaeologist Valentin Danilenko equipped an expedition to the Bush temple. However, the results of the work of this expedition in Soviet times were not published (II, 9; 355). His Bush expedition is known only from the stories of its participant Dmitro Stepovik (II, 9; 354–355).

That, perhaps, is all the research of such a wonderful monument as the Bush Temple. Surprising neglect of Soviet archaeologists. True, for the sake of justice, we note that back in 1949, in his book "Kievan Rus", BD Grekov gave a brief description of this temple. Here is what he writes: “A sample of pagan sculpture was preserved in one of the caves on the banks of the Buzh River (more precisely, Bushi or Buska. - I. D.), which flows into the Dniester. On the wall of the cave is a large and complex relief depicting a kneeling man praying before a sacred tree with a rooster sitting on it. A deer is depicted on the side of it - possibly a human sacrifice. Above, in a special frame, an illegible inscription ”(II, 9; 354).

fig. 19 - a stone discovered in the village of Pnevishche near Smolensk

Actually, there is more than one inscription. Not one cave. There is a small cave, which A. B. Antonovich designated in his work with the letter "A". There is a cave marked with the letter "B". In it, in the left wall from the entrance, an oblong niche is carved into the rock. There is some kind of inscription above the niche. Antonovich reproduces it in Latin: "KAIN PERUNIAN". A.I. Asov believes that the scientist reproduced exactly what he saw, and the letters of the inscription were indeed Latin (II, 9; 356). This casts doubt on the great antiquity of the inscription. That is, it could appear in the Middle Ages, but much later than the time of the functioning of the pagan temple, and played the role of explaining the purpose of the sanctuary. According to A. I. Asov, the cave "B" was a sanctuary of Perun, which is what the inscription says. For the word "kain (kai)" in Old Russian means "hammer", and "perunian" can mean "Perunin" belonging to Perun (II, 9; 356). The niche in the wall is, apparently, an altar or a pedestal for the statue of Perun.

Of greater interest is the cave "C" of the temple complex. It is in it that the relief, which BD Grekov described above, and the “illegible” inscription in the frame are located (Fig. 20). V. Danilenko read this inscription as “I am the Myrobog priest of the Olgov” (II, 9; 355). He also read, according to D. Stepovik, other inscriptions on the walls of the temple: “Perun”, “Khors”, “Oleg” and “Igor”. However, since the results of Danilenko's expedition have not been published, there is no need to make judgments about these last inscriptions. As for the inscription in the frame, a number of researchers, based on a photograph of 1884, agree with such a reconstruction (II, 28; 214). In this case, the inscription, apparently, will have to be dated to the time of the reign of Oleg the Prophet, that is, the end of the 9th - the beginning of the 10th century. It is executed in letters similar to Cyrillic ones. There is every reason to assert that we have before us another sample of the proto-Cyrillic alphabet. Taking into account that the name of Prince Oleg appears in the inscription, one can also recall the “John's Letter” of Oleg's agreement with the Greeks. One more argument "in the piggy bank" of S. Lyashevsky.

rice. 20 - I am Myrobog, priest of Olga

It should be borne in mind that the sanctuary itself and the relief in particular, in all likelihood, is much older than the frame with the inscription. This was pointed out in his work by A. B. Antonovich. In the vicinity of the temple caves, “a great many flint fragments were found, including several specimens of quite distinct flint chops” (II, 9; 358). In addition, the nature of the relief and the frame is different: the relief is protruded on the rock, and the frame is a depression in it. This fact can clearly indicate the difference in timing of their manufacture. Consequently, the relief depicted by no means Mirobog. But who he portrayed is another question.

I would also like to mention one more monument - a grandiose rock inscription of the 6th century, accompanying the Madara horseman. Russian science keeps an incomprehensible silence about this inscription, although in Bulgaria and Yugoslavia extensive literature has been published on it (II, 9; 338). The inscription contains news of the conquest of the Balkans by the Slavs. It is written in letters similar to Cyrillic and very reminiscent of the letters of the inscription of the cave "C" of the Bush temple (II, 9; 338). Taking into account the time of its creation, that is, the 6th century, it is possible with good reason to question the constructions of S. Lyashevsky concerning "John's letter". And, of course, we have a proto-Cyrillic text at our disposal.

To all the above examples of pre-Cyrillic Slavic writing, let us add the samples of the proto-Cyrillic alphabet already mentioned in the previous section. Let us recall the evidence of the existence of Proto-Cyrillic and Proto-Glagolitic before St. Cyril.

Let's say about the following. As many linguists note, the words "write", "read", "letter", "book" are common for the Slavic languages ​​(II, 31; 102). Consequently, these words, like the Slavic letter itself, arose before the division of the common Slavic (Proto-Slavic) language into branches, that is, no later than the middle of the 1st millennium BC. e. Back in the late 40s of the XX century, Academician S. P. Obnorsky pointed out: “It would not be at all bold to assume that some forms of writing belonged to the Rus of the Ant period” (II, 31; 102), that is, in V – VI centuries n. e.

And let's pay attention to the word "book". If books are being written, then the level of development of writing is quite high. You can't write books with primitive pictography.

It seems to us that the attempts of some researchers to refute the last cited evidence of the existence of pre-Cyrillic writing among the Slavs, a written language that is very developed, seems absolutely groundless. Here is what, for example, Dmitry Dudko writes: “To write” can mean “to draw” (“paint a picture”), and “to read” means “to say a prayer, a conspiracy”. The words “book”, “letter” are borrowed from the Goths who adopted Christianity already in the IV century and had church books ”(II, 28; 211). As for the passages of D. M. Dudko regarding the words “write” and “read”, their far-fetchedness is striking. The variants of the use of these words given by him are clearly not initial, they are secondary. Regarding the borrowing from the Goths of the words "letter" and "book", we note that this borrowing is very controversial. Some etymologists believe that the word “book” came to the Slavs from China through Turkic mediation (II, 58; 49). Like this. From whom did the Slavs borrow: from the Goths or from the Chinese through the Turks? Moreover, what is interesting: the Turks themselves use the word “kataba” borrowed from the Arabs to designate books. Of course, changing it somewhat. For example, the Kazakhs have a "book" - "kitap". The Türks no longer remember what word they borrowed from the Chinese for the designation of books. But then the Slavs, all without exception, remember. Ah, this is the eternal desire of the Slavs to borrow everything, everything in a row, indiscriminately. And to treat someone else's borrowed even better than the original owners themselves. Or maybe this is a far-fetched desire? He's not there, but was he invented in the silence of the classrooms?

The famous Czech Slavic scholar Hanush derived the word "letter" from the name of the tree - "beech", the tablets from which probably served as writing material (II, 58; 125). There is no reason to suspect Gothic borrowing. Yes, for the Germans the name of the corresponding tree is very close to the Slavic one (for example, for the Germans "beech" - "Buche"). The word, in all likelihood, is common to the Slavs and Germans. Nobody borrowed anything from anyone. Modern Germans have a "letter" - "Buchstabe". The word is clearly derived from the name of the tree. One might think that this was the case among the ancient Germans, including the Goths. And so what? It can be argued with equal reason that not the Slavs from the Goths, but the Goths from the Slavs borrowed, if not the word "letter" itself, then the principle of its formation (from the name of the tree). It can be assumed that the Slavs and the Germans, completely independently of each other, formed the word "letter" according to the same principle, since beech tablets could serve as writing material for both.

The argument about Christianity has been ready since the 4th century, and their church books are simply untenable. Does paganism make it fundamentally impossible for this or that people to have a written language, exclude the creation of books?

So, a whole complex of evidence from written sources and samples of pre-Cyrillic Slavic writing, as well as some linguistic considerations, suggest that the Slavs had a written language until the 60s of the 9th century. The above samples, with good reason, also allow us to assert that the Slavic writing was sufficiently developed, having stepped over the stage of primitive pictography.

While agreeing with such statements, one nevertheless has to answer a number of questions raised by them.

First of all, when did the letter originate among the Slavs? Of course, there is no need to talk about the exact date. The opinion of S. Lyashevsky about the creation in 790 of a certain "John's writing" deserves attention. But in this case we are talking, obviously, only about one of the types of writing used by the Slavs. This exact dating is the only exception. We have to operate not with specific years, but with centuries. As we saw above, we can talk about the VI, V, IV, III, II centuries of our era, the first centuries of the existence of Christianity, that is, in other words, the first centuries of our era. Another question arises: in fact, a number of hypotheses bring us to the turn of eras. Is it possible to cross this line? The question is very difficult, since the problem of the Slavs before our era is very complex.

Finally, the question arises of the relationship between Slavic writing and the writing systems of the surrounding peoples. Have there been any borrowings? Who borrowed from whom and what? The extent of these borrowings?

Attempts to answer these questions will be discussed in the following chapters.

Igor Dodonov

The first arguments in favor of the existence of the Slavic pyonic writing were put forward at the beginning of the last century;
At the beginning of the last century, historians and archaeologists put forward the first arguments proving the existence of the Slavic pyonic writing even in ancient times.

1. It is impossible to dispute the evidence of the German chronicler Titmara of Merseburg(German: Thietmar von Merseburg; 975-1018), who described the inscriptions on pagan idols made by "special", not Hermanian pyns in the Slavic temple of Retra, located in the lands of the Lyutichi. Inside the Retra temple there were idols and and each of them had his name written.

2.Arabian historian, geographer and traveler Hassan Al-Massudi at the end of the 1st millennium, when describing the Slavic temple in golden meadows, he says that there on the stones were inscribed with signs, which designated future affairs, i.e. events predicted.

3.In the treaty of the prince Igor with the Greeks it is said: “ If I wear the seal of gold, and the guest is silver: now I have taken away to eat Your prince send a letter to our kingdom: we send them like that, as if a ship was sent to the ambassadors… ”.

4. In the contract Prince Oleg with the Greeks it is said: “ about those who work in Gretsekh of Russia with the Christian Tsar: if anyone dies without arranging his estate, he does not have qi and his own, but return the estate to his small neighbors in Russia. If you want to put on the harness, such is the harnessed it, to whom he wrote, inherit the estate, and inherit. "(i.e. to whom he will inherit the estate, he will inherit )

5. Arab traveler and writer of the 1st half of the 10th century Ibn Fodlan, writes, as an eyewitness about the pre-Christian Russ, that they the name of the deceased was always written on the pillar on the grave, along with the name of the Prince.

Slavic Runic Inscriptions Found in Staraya Ladoga

6. In the life of St. Cyril, in the list kept in the Rila Monastery, it is said that before leaving for Moravia he was in Kherson(Chersonesos Tauric) and: "Get to The Gospel and the Psalter were written by Roushki and a person to find a verb by that conversation, and having talked with him and syllabus a speech, you butt to your conversation and soon start clean and tell and I marvel at God praising ", — it is clear from this that The Russians had not only letters before Cyril and Methodius, but there were already Christians before his coming to Moravia; for they already had the Gospel in their own language. This circumstance is also consistent with church history, which says that Russ Chernomorskie already had their own church in the 4th century.

The Life of Constantine-Cyril the Philosopher about Russian Letters -Pannonian Lives

Leading the first of the apostles called by Christ - Andrew the First-Called, bypassed with the Word of God the entire coast of the Black and Azov Seas. It is known that the Holy Apostle Andrew preached in Sarmatia, Scythia, Pontic kingdom - in Olbia, Panticapaeum, Feodosia, Chersonesos.

V The fourth Pope Clement I, who was exiled in 98 by the Roman emperor Troyan to the Inkerman quarry, preached Chersonesos Tauride. According to legend, by that time a Christian community of about 2000 people already existed in Tauric Chersonesos, founded by Andrew the First-Called, who had their own “ The Gospel and the Psalter were written by Roushkim ... "

7. Arabian scientist Ibn El Nedim speaks of the existence of the Slavic pre-Cyrillic writing, the ancient Russ really wrote on wooden tablets, the letters are carved into a white tree (on a birch birch bark). Ibn El Nedim he even cites in his essay a photograph from a letter from Russ, which he found in the possession of a Caucasian inhabitant. Birch bark letters were distributed throughout Russia - the people knew the letter.

8. Information about the presence of the Slavs in the pre-"Cyril" era of their writing is contained in many works of the Arab authors Ibn Fodlan and El Massoudi, the Persian historian Fakhr ad Din and other scholars and travelers telling that already in the 40s IX centuries among the Eastern Slavs there were baptized people, it was for them that the sacred books were written in Russian letters. A well-known diploma of Pope Leo IV (Pope from 847 to 855), written in Cyrillic before its "invention".

9. Catherine II in her "Notes on Russian history" wrote: “... the Slavs older than Nestor had a written language, but these have been lost and have not yet been found, and therefore have not come down to us. The Slavs had a letter long before the birth of Christ. "
Pavlenko N.A. in the fundamental monograph "History of Writing" (Minsk, 1987) discusses six hypotheses of the origin of the Cyrillic and Glagolitic, and argues that both Glagolitic and Cyrillic were among the Slavs in pre-Christian times.

10. Russian historian of the XIX century, Doctor of Philosophy and Master of Fine Sciences Klassen E.I. noted that “ The Slavic Russians, as a people, previously educated by the Romans and Greeks, left behind in all parts of the Old World many monuments testifying to their presence there and to the most ancient writing, arts and enlightenment. Monuments will remain forever incontrovertible evidence ... ".
The numerous names of the Slavic tribes and their settlement in large territories are mentioned in the book of the Archbishop of Belarus Georgy Koninsky "History of the Russians or Little Russia", published at the beginning of the 19th century.

11.. Chernorizets Brave, a Bulgarian monk, who lived at the turn of the 9th and 10th centuries, in the "Legend of the Writings" mentions the presence of the runic script among the Slavs: " First, I don’t have books for Slovenia, but with lines and cuts to chtyahu and gadahu, trash (i.e. idolaters) essential ".

Indeed, there are no books or large works written in runes. These are mainly inscriptions on gravestones, on roadside stones, on weapons, on ceramic dishes and other household items, on clothes, jewelry, coins, rock inscriptions. They are scattered throughout Scandinavia, Denmark, England, Hungary, Russia, Ukraine, Greenland and even on the Atlantic coast of America.

12. Konstantin Porfirodny says that Slavs- Croats immediately after adopting Christianity, therefore, before they could learn to read and write, by their own with signatures confirmed their oath to the Pope not to fight with other peoples.

13. Educator and publicist Avdiy Ivanovich Sokolov translated into Russian and published in 1846 “ Kraledvor manuscript " 9th century, accidentally found by the Czech scientist Hanka in the town of Kralevin Dvor, in one of the church towers. In the Czech " Song of the judgment of Lubusha "9th century , it is said that at the throne of Princess Lyubasha during a public meeting there were two maidens of judgment; one of them had "The sword is crooked karayuchi"(sword, punishing falsehood), the other "Deski truth-datne" (boards of laws). This means that the laws of the Czech Slavs in the 9th century were already written.

14.In 6th century Byzantines say already about the northern Slavs as an educated people, having their own letters, called a drop cap. The root of this word has survived to this time in the words: letter, primer, alphabet, and even in the second letter of the alphabet (buki - derived from Sanskrit); hence the english word book -book; (German Buch; Dutch boek; dates. bog; Iceland. bók; norv. bok; Swede. boken - book) comes from the Slavic roots of words - beeches, letter, drop cap.

15. Scythian king challenged the Persian king Darius with an abusive letter to battle even in 513 BC

16. From the 2nd to the 7th century we often find Scandinavians and Byzantines written evidence that Slavs are an educated people, with a lot of knowledge and having its own writing.

17. In the Scandinavian sagas of the Slavs, Vinets are called educated people. Slavic priests and sages wrote folk laws on wooden tablets; the Slavs used runes for predictions.

18. The Slavs had letters long before Cyril and Methodius, evidenced by the very old Slavic letters found in Munich Library... To the ancient tribes The Slavs had their own runic letters- this is already undoubtedly and is not disputed even by the Germans, who habitually deny every step of Slavic enlightenment.

Only our homegrown skeptics who graduated from the study of history in school, assure that all runes must be Scandinavian.
Schlözer himself - this Slavophobe, rejecting everything that elevates the Slavs over other peoples, did not dare to disagree with the testimony of Herodotus and other Greek writers that many Scythian tribes knew the letter and that yourself the Greeks adopted the alphabet from the Pelasgians, the people are also of Scythian, or, which is all the same, of Slavic-Russian origin.

The Slavs had a literacy not only before all the Western peoples of Europe, but also before the Romans and even the Greeks themselves and that the enlightenment came from the Russ to the west, and not vice versa. And if something stopped the enlightenment of the Russ for a while, then these were periods of destructive invasions of the Persians, Greeks, Romans, Mongols, who destroyed everything with fire and sword.

Enlightenment of the Russ stopped internal strife, which always ended in exterminating fires. During periods of civil strife, the Slavs-Russy lost not only their material values ​​and literary treasures, but were also forced to introduce leather and fur money (kunya furs) for a while.

Hints of Lost Literary Treasures we find in various later works, which, apparently, partly used by the creator "Words about Igor's regiment". Many passages from ancient literary treasures come to us in a distorted form, and have survived verbally the legend of the people already in the form of fairy tales, which still retained all their poetic beauty and strength in those places where smoothness and the sonority of the verse involuntarily lay forever in the memory of the people.
This is, for example, a description of a beauty or a horse, which is in no way inferior to the description of the horses of Achilles in the Iliad.

The antiquity of rhymes in ancient Russian legends is evidenced by proverbs and sayings, invariably preserved from ancient times, rhymed. For many Slavs, folk poetry still dispenses with rhymes completely, rhymes in the verses of ancient Russian songs are found only later.
In Russian folk poetry, especially in proverbs, alliteration is often encountered, sometimes the comparison develops in the whole picture, in a whole parallel of similar ideas: the clear falcon is a good fellow, the horse under him is a fierce beast , etc. Among the features of the folk syllable, it should be noted that there are also constant epithets, For example: blue sea, green garden, mother of cheese earth, dark forest, clear field, red girl, good fellow, violent head, white hands, frisky legs, fierce beast, clear falcon, white gyrfalcon, bay tur, good horse and so on. It is remarkable that the Russian people in these definitions never confuse concepts, they do not even confuse synonyms, and with unchanging fidelity they say, for example: the sun is red, the month is bright, the stars are bright, the wine is green, the mash is intoxicating, the beer is strong.
In the description of the clothes - coats of crunchy damask, sable blankets, leopard coats, morocco boots; weapon descriptions - a tight bow, a silk bowstring, a damask sword, a sharp spear, red-hot arrows, golden helmets. .. Constantly repeating epithets in folk poetry and legends indicate a special ancient commonality of the world outlook of the people.

Alphabet truths

TO Every Russian person at least once in his life has heard the phrase "elementary truths." But does everyone understand what exactly it means? On the one hand, there is nothing incomprehensible here. Alphabet truths mean the simplest, as simple as those truths that a person learns from the alphabet, i.e. in theory, from the first book in my life. But what are these truths that you can read in the alphabet? It seems like the letters are alone. A - sounds like a, i.e. as the beginning of the word watermelon. B is the first letter of the word hippo (). And so on. Do these notes pull on the truth?

WITH On the one hand, everything seems to be correct, everything is correct. But the loud word is truth, to call it all in aggregate - the language somehow does not turn. This is on the one hand. On the other hand, the first alphabet was created a long time ago, and long before the appearance of the Cyrillic alphabet. In those days, not every person knew who a hippopotamus was and why he carried a watermelon with him. Moreover, we can safely assume that in the territory inhabited by the Slavs and their ancestors, hippos were never heard of. But, even if someone knew about them (for example, in extreme cases, and such), it is unlikely that hippos were put in the first rows of what a person should always remember in order to live a long and happy life. But the knowledge that people really need, here it is - it is desirable to get it from an early age, in order not only to have time to understand, but also to successfully apply in practice. What kind of knowledge-truths were they? Now, many thousands of years later, it is rather difficult to say for sure. But we can assume this or that option and then choose the best one. Because it depends on us whether our children will comprehend the Azy or whether the first thing they read will be something like: "Hippopotamus Watermelon carries, Hippopotamus loves to eat."

AND so, there are many interpretations of the concept of ABC truths. For example, this: "Know the ABC and speak well" (). Or they mention the first Slavic poem - the Alphabet Prayer. (. True, that's why the Slavs need protection from pharaoh ask? And the first Slavic poems are the texts of folk songs). Some authors emphasize that it is easier to memorize the ABC this way. Others believe that the main task was to capture the Basics of Life in the ABC. Personally, I am more inclined to the second option, although the first has a right to exist. The most important thing is to remember that they are not mutually exclusive, but, on the contrary, complement and enrich each other. So it seems that there is more truth in both of them than in each separately.

D Then I will give just one of the possible variants of the elementary truths. The curious reader can find other options himself.

Az God I Know The Verb Good Eat Belly Zello Earth Like What People Think Our He Peace Ratsy Word Firmly.

Zelo - adv. church. old. very, very, strong, hard, painful, hefty; lot. | noun Wed the name is the eighth letter of the church alphabet, see earth. Zelny, strong, plentiful, great, strong, to a great extent, in large sizes. Zelno adverb abundantly, very much, very strongly, consumed. and to this day they are literate. (Dahl.)
Belly is life.
Izhe - 1. which (Dal, Efremova) 2. Always.
Uk - the basis of knowledge, doctrine. Wed science, teach, skill, custom.
Fert - one of the possible options - to fertilize, fertile.
Her - divine, given from above. Wed German Herr (lord, God), Greek. "Hiero" (divine), eng. hero (hero), as well as the Russian name of God - Horse.
Qi is energy.
The worm is dark red, scarlet (possibly blood).
Bp - primordial energy, space-time, cf. Ra is the divine light, Era is the era.
Yus - yas, light. Wed clear.
Yat is a personal pronoun. Refers to more of the outer than. Those. if it is my essence, then I am the external manifestations of my essence. Wed accept, withdraw.

T Thus, the last part of the ABC can be roughly understood as follows:
knowledge will give birth to time, which is the energy of the blood of the space of my light (yours ?, whose? ...).

D about Cyril and Methodius there were 49 letters in the Slavic alphabet. But 2 of them denoted sounds that were not used in Greek speech - and these letters were abolished. And then the Slavic ABC only grew thinner:

P Initially, the Slavic alphabet looked like this:
Az Gods Vedi Verbs Good Eat Is Belly Zero Earth Like Izhey Init Herv Kako People Think Our He's Quarters Ratsy Slov Tvrdo Uk Ouk Fert Her Ot Tsi Chrvl Sha Shta Er Ersi Yat Yun Ars Edoza Om Yeta Yitsi

And now like this:
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Sh Shch Y Z

Information of the ABC is lost, lost. If this continues, then the ABC will become completely.

M Few people know, but before the spread of the ABC, cut off by Cyril and Methodius, the Slavs had other types of writing: Glagolitic, initial, runic, lines and cuts. The writing of the Etruscans - the teachers of Rome - is read only from the assumption that the Etruscans are Slavs. (For details and cuts, see works

Slavic writing

It is not known exactly when the Slavs learned writing. Many researchers associate the emergence of Slavic writing with the adoption of Christianity. All information about the ancient Slavs of the preliterate era was extracted by historians from the scanty lines of historical and geographical writings belonging to ancient Roman and Byzantine authors.

Glagolitic

Old Russian writing, "bookishness" developed in parallel with oral folk art. There is reason to believe that it arose in Russia long before the adoption of Christianity.

Back in the middle of the 9th century. Constantine the Philosopher (Cyril), during his Khazar mission, saw the Gospel and the Psalter in Chersonesos near the "ruin" in "pusano's small letters". Knowing the Slavic language, this Solunsky Greek, to the amazement of the audience, quickly began to read and translate the Psalter and the Gospel, written in signs unknown to him, but in a language that he could understand. What did this ancient Russian letter look like? Chernorizets Brave reports that in ancient times the Slavs had "features and cuts" with which they "chtyakhu and gadakhu". Then they began to borrow Latin and Greek letters, but since they lacked a number of sounds that were in the Slavic languages ​​(f, h, w, sch, etc.), a Slavic script was created.

We can observe these Old Russian "features and cuts" on the fragments of pottery of the 9th-10th centuries found in the lands of the Vyatichi and Krivichi, on polished bones found in the land of the northerners near Chernigov, in the work of Ibn-Abn-Yakub-El-Nedim, an Arab writer of the 10th century, who carefully copied the Russian inscription on a piece of wood.

Ibn Fadlan saw an inscription on a pillar erected by the Russians on a burial mound.

Already Oleg's agreement with the Greeks was translated into Russian, and from the time of Igor, the prince supplied all Russian ambassadors and merchants traveling to Constantinople with special letters.

There is reason to believe that these Russian "features and cuts", adapted to the sounds of Slavic speech, learned by him during the Khazar mission, Konstantin the Philosopher, introducing writing among the Moravian Slavs, based on the Slavic writing, the famous "Cyrillic".

Birch bark letters from excavations in Novgorod

Slavic writing arose on the basis of Old Russian writing, and Russia did not borrow writing, but created and spread it itself.

This is confirmed by Fakhr-ad-Din-Mubarak-Shah (XIII century), who reports that the Khazars borrowed their letter from the Russians. “They write from left to right, the letters do not connect with each other. There are only 22 letters. " And in the basis of his alphabet, numbering "thirty times" letters, Cyril put this alphabet, akin to the Russian and Khazar writing.

The adoption of Christianity contributed to the spread of writing and "bookishness" in Russia, but the Old Russian writing originated long before the official baptism of Russia.

Its influence on the writing of neighboring Slavic and non-Slavic peoples is very great.

The last page of the Ostromir Gospel. 1056 BC

This text is an introductory fragment.

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