Public relations in ancient Russia. Old Russian writing

A 10th century Bulgarian writer, a monk (monk) Brave, dedicated a small (but immeasurably valuable for us, descendants!) Work to the beginning of Slavic writing - "The Legend of Writings", that is, about letters.

Brave says that in antiquity, when the Slavs were still pagans, they did not have letters, they read and divined with "charts and cuts." "Traits" and "cuts" are a kind of primitive writing in the form of drawings and notches on a tree, known among other peoples at the early stages of their development. When the Slavs were baptized, Brave continues, they tried to write down their speech in Roman and Greek letters, but “without dispensation,” without order. Such attempts were doomed to failure, since neither the Greek nor the Latin alphabet was suitable for conveying many of the special sounds of Slavic speech. “And so it was for many years,” notes the first historian of Slavic writing. This was the case until the time of Cyril and Methodius.

Cyril (secular name Constantine) and his older brother Methodius were born in the Byzantine city of Thessalonica on the coast of the Aegean Sea (now Thessaloniki in Greece), which the Slavs called Solun. Therefore, Cyril and Methodius are often called brothers of Solun ... Thessalonica was the largest city of the Byzantine Empire, many Slavs lived in its vicinity for a long time, and, apparently, even in childhood, the boys got acquainted with their customs and speech.

The brothers' father, Leo, was a middle-ranking military leader in the imperial army and was able to give the children a good education. Methodius (about 815 - 6. IV. 885), having brilliantly completed his studies, in his youth was appointed governor in one of the Slavic regions of Byzantium. As the pages of the "Life of Methodius" tell, he learned "all Slavic customs" there. However, “having learned many of the disorderly disturbances of this life,” he abandoned his secular career, took monastic vows around 852 and later became hegumen of the Polykhron monastery in Asia Minor.

Cyril (about 827 - 14. II. 869) from a young age was distinguished by a craving for science and exceptional philological abilities. He was educated in the capital of the empire, Constantinople, from the greatest scholars of his time - Leo the Grammar and the future patriarch Photius. After completing his studies, he served as a librarian in the richest patriarchal book depository in the Cathedral of St. Sophia and taught philosophy.

Highly appreciating the scholarship of Constantine, the Byzantine government entrusted him with important tasks. As part of diplomatic missions, he traveled to preach Christianity in the Baghdad Caliphate in 851–852. And about 861, together with Methodius, he went to Khazaria - the state of the Turkic-speaking tribes who converted to Judaism. The capital of Khazaria was located on the Volga, higher than modern Astrakhan.

The ancient "Life of Cyril", created by a man who knew the brothers well, tells us about the activities of the enlighteners, about the circumstances of the emergence of Slavic bookishness. On the way to Khazaria, in the city of Chersonesos - the center of the Byzantine possessions in the Crimea (within the boundaries of modern Sevastopol), Cyril found the Gospel and the Psalter, written in "rushky letters", met a man who spoke that language, and in a short time mastered "rushky" language. This mysterious place in the life gave rise to various scientific hypotheses. It was believed that "rushkiye pismena" is writing of the Eastern Slavs, which later Cyril used to create the Old Church Slavonic alphabet. However, it is most likely that the original text of the life contained "Surskie", that is, Syrian, letters, which the later book writer mistakenly understood as "Rushkiye".

In 862 or 863, ambassadors from the prince of Great Moravia Rostislav arrived in the capital of Byzantium, Constantinople. They conveyed to the Byzantine emperor Michael III Rostislav's request: "Although our people rejected paganism and adhere to the Christian law, we do not have such a teacher who could expound the right Christian faith in our language ... So send us, Vladyka, a bishop and such a teacher."

Great Moravia was in the 9th century a strong and vast state of the Western Slavs. It included Moravia, Slovakia, Czech Republic, as well as part of modern Slovenia and other lands. However, Great Moravia was in the sphere of influence of the Roman Church, and Latin was the dominant language of church literature and worship in Western Europe. The so-called "treyangers" recognized only three languages ​​as sacred - Latin, Greek and Hebrew. Prince Rostislav pursued an independent policy: he strove for the cultural independence of his country from the Holy Roman Empire and the German clergy, who performed church services in Latin, incomprehensible to the Slavs. Therefore, he sent an embassy to Byzantium, which allowed worship in other languages.

In response to Rostislav's request, the Byzantine government sent (no later than 864) a mission to Great Moravia headed by Cyril and Methodius.

By that time, Cyril, having returned from Khazaria, had already begun work on the Slavic alphabet and the translation of Greek church books into the Slavic language. Even before the Moravian embassy, ​​he created an original alphabet, well adapted to the recording of Slavic speech - verb... Its name comes from the noun verb, which means a word, speech. The Glagolitic alphabet is distinguished by its graphic harmony. Many of its letters have a loop-like pattern. Some scholars derived the verb from the Greek minuscule (cursive) writing, others looked for its source in the Khazar, Syrian, Coptic, Armenian, Georgian and other ancient alphabets. Cyril borrowed some letters of the Glagolitic alphabet from the Greek (sometimes with a mirror image) and Hebrew (mainly in its Samaritan variety) alphabets. The order of the letters in the Glagolitic alphabet is oriented towards the order of the letters in the Greek alphabet, which means that Cyril did not at all abandon the Greek basis of his invention.

However, creating his own alphabet, Cyril himself comes up with a whole series of new letters. For this he uses the most important Christian symbols and their combinations: the cross is a symbol of Christianity, atonement for sins and salvation; the triangle is a symbol of the Holy Trinity; circle - a symbol of eternity, etc. Not by chance az , the first letter of the most ancient Slavic alphabet (modern a ), created specifically for recording sacred Christian texts, has the shape of a cross -

The Glagolitic alphabet was used where it was originally used in Moravia in the 60s and 80s of the 9th century. From there, it penetrated into western Bulgaria (Macedonia) and Croatia, where it was most widespread. Glagolic church books were published by Croatian verbals as far back as the 20th century. But in Ancient Russia, the Glagolitic alphabet did not take root. In the pre-Mongol period, it was used here occasionally, and it could be used as a kind of secret writing.

Here comes the time of the second oldest Slavic alphabet - cyrillic... It was created after the death of Cyril and Methodius by their disciples in Eastern Bulgaria at the end of the 9th century. In terms of the composition, arrangement and sound meaning of the letters, the Cyrillic alphabet almost completely coincides with the verb, but sharply differs from it in the form of the letters. This alphabet is based on the Greek solemn letter - the so-called charter... However, the letters necessary to convey the special sounds of Slavic speech that are absent in the Greek language were taken from the Glagolitic or compiled according to its samples. Thus, Cyril is directly related to this alphabet, and its name Cyrillic quite justified. In a slightly modified form, it is still used by Russians, Belarusians, Ukrainians, Serbs, Bulgarians, Macedonians and other peoples.

What books were the first to be translated into the Slavic language?

The first book translated by the brothers, presumably even before the Moravian embassy, ​​was the Gospel. She was followed by the Apostle, the Psalter, and gradually the entire rite of church services was donned in a new outfit - Slavic. In the process of translations was created the first common Slavic literary language, which is usually called Old Church Slavonic. This is the language of Slavic translations of Greek church books made by Cyril, Methodius and their disciples in the second half of the 9th century. The manuscripts of that distant era have not survived to our time, but their later Glagolic and Cyrillic copies of the X-XI centuries have survived.

The folk basis of the Old Slavonic language was the South Slavic dialect of the Solun Slavs (Macedonian dialects of the Bulgarian language of the 9th century), which Cyril and Methodius met in their childhood in their hometown of Thessalonica. "You are the Solunians, and the Solunians all speak pure Slavonic," - with these words, Emperor Michael III sent the brothers to Great Moravia. We also learn about this from the Life of Methodius.

From the very beginning, the Old Slavonic language, like the rich translated and original literature created on it, had above national and international character. Old Slavonic book-writing existed in different Slavic lands; it was used by Czechs and Slovaks, Bulgarians, Serbs and Slovenes, and later by our ancestors, the Eastern Slavs. The continuation of the Old Slavonic language became its local varieties - out of the water, or edition. They were formed from the Old Slavonic language under the influence of living folk speech. There are Old Russian, Bulgarian, Macedonian, Serbian, Croatian Glagolic, Czech, Romanian versions. The differences between different versions of the Church Slavonic language are small. Therefore, works created in one linguistic territory were easily read, understood and copied in other lands.

Writing of Ancient Russia

A 10th century Bulgarian writer, a monk (monk) Brave, dedicated a small (but immeasurably valuable for us, descendants!) Work to the beginning of Slavic writing - "The Legend of Writings", that is, about letters.

Brave says that in antiquity, when the Slavs were still pagans, they did not have letters, they read and divined with "charts and cuts." "Traits" and "cuts" are a kind of primitive writing in the form of drawings and notches on a tree, known among other peoples at the early stages of their development. When the Slavs were baptized, Brave continues, they tried to write down their speech in Roman and Greek letters, but “without dispensation,” without order. Such attempts were doomed to failure, since neither the Greek nor the Latin alphabet was suitable for conveying many of the special sounds of Slavic speech. “And so it was for many years,” notes the first historian of Slavic writing. This was the case until the time of Cyril and Methodius.

Cyril (secular name Constantine) and his older brother Methodius were born in the Byzantine city of Thessalonica on the coast of the Aegean Sea (now Thessaloniki in Greece), which the Slavs called Solun. Therefore, Cyril and Methodius are often called brothers of Solun ... Thessalonica was the largest city of the Byzantine Empire, many Slavs lived in its vicinity for a long time, and, apparently, even in childhood, the boys got acquainted with their customs and speech.

The brothers' father, Leo, was a middle-ranking military leader in the imperial army and was able to give the children a good education. Methodius (about 815 - 6. IV. 885), having brilliantly completed his studies, in his youth was appointed governor in one of the Slavic regions of Byzantium. As the pages of the "Life of Methodius" tell, he learned "all Slavic customs" there. However, “having learned many of the disorderly disturbances of this life,” he abandoned his secular career, took monastic vows around 852 and later became hegumen of the Polykhron monastery in Asia Minor.

Cyril (about 827 - 14. II. 869) from a young age was distinguished by a craving for science and exceptional philological abilities. He was educated in the capital of the empire, Constantinople, from the greatest scholars of his time - Leo the Grammar and the future patriarch Photius. After completing his studies, he served as a librarian in the richest patriarchal book depository in the Cathedral of St. Sophia and taught philosophy. In medieval sources, Constantine is often called the Philosopher.

Highly appreciating the scholarship of Constantine, the Byzantine government entrusted him with important tasks. As part of diplomatic missions, he traveled to preach Christianity in the Baghdad Caliphate in 851–852. And about 861, together with Methodius, he went to Khazaria - the state of the Turkic-speaking tribes who converted to Judaism. The capital of Khazaria was located on the Volga, higher than modern Astrakhan.

The ancient "Life of Cyril", created by a man who knew the brothers well, tells us about the activities of the enlighteners, about the circumstances of the emergence of Slavic bookishness. On the way to Khazaria, in the city of Chersonesos - the center of the Byzantine possessions in the Crimea (within the boundaries of modern Sevastopol), Cyril found the Gospel and the Psalter, written in "rushky letters", met a man who spoke that language, and in a short time mastered "rushky" language. This mysterious place in the life gave rise to various scientific hypotheses. It was believed that "rushkiye pismena" is writing of the Eastern Slavs, which later Cyril used to create the Old Church Slavonic alphabet. However, it is most likely that the original text of the life contained "Surskie", that is, Syrian, letters, which the later book writer mistakenly understood as "Rushkiye".

In 862 or 863, ambassadors from the prince of Great Moravia Rostislav arrived in the capital of Byzantium, Constantinople. They conveyed to the Byzantine emperor Michael III Rostislav's request: "Although our people rejected paganism and adhere to the Christian law, we do not have such a teacher who could expound the right Christian faith in our language ... So send us, Vladyka, a bishop and such a teacher."

Great Moravia was in the 9th century a strong and vast state of the Western Slavs. It included Moravia, Slovakia, Czech Republic, as well as part of modern Slovenia and other lands. However, Great Moravia was in the sphere of influence of the Roman Church, and Latin was the dominant language of church literature and worship in Western Europe. The so-called "treyangers" recognized only three languages ​​as sacred - Latin, Greek and Hebrew. Prince Rostislav pursued an independent policy: he strove for the cultural independence of his country from the Holy Roman Empire and the German clergy, who performed church services in Latin, incomprehensible to the Slavs. Therefore, he sent an embassy to Byzantium, which allowed worship in other languages.

In response to Rostislav's request, the Byzantine government sent (no later than 864) a mission to Great Moravia headed by Cyril and Methodius.

By that time, Cyril, having returned from Khazaria, had already begun work on the Slavic alphabet and the translation of Greek church books into the Slavic language. Even before the Moravian embassy, ​​he created an original alphabet, well adapted to the recording of Slavic speech - verb... Its name comes from the noun verb, which means a word, speech. The Glagolitic alphabet is distinguished by its graphic harmony. Many of its letters have a loop-like pattern. Some scholars derived the verb from the Greek minuscule (cursive) writing, others looked for its source in the Khazar, Syrian, Coptic, Armenian, Georgian and other ancient alphabets. Cyril borrowed some letters of the Glagolitic alphabet from the Greek (sometimes with a mirror image) and Hebrew (mainly in its Samaritan variety) alphabets. The order of the letters in the Glagolitic alphabet is oriented towards the order of the letters in the Greek alphabet, which means that Cyril did not at all abandon the Greek basis of his invention.

However, creating his own alphabet, Cyril himself comes up with a whole series of new letters. For this he uses the most important Christian symbols and their combinations: the cross is a symbol of Christianity, atonement for sins and salvation; the triangle is a symbol of the Holy Trinity; circle - a symbol of eternity, etc. Not by chance az , the first letter of the most ancient Slavic alphabet (modern a ), created specifically for recording sacred Christian texts, has the shape of a cross -, letters others and word (our and , with ) received the same outlines connecting the symbols of the Trinity and eternity: respectively, and so on.

The Glagolitic alphabet was used where it was originally used in Moravia in the 60s and 80s of the 9th century. From there, it penetrated into western Bulgaria (Macedonia) and Croatia, where it was most widespread. Glagolic church books were published by Croatian verbals as far back as the 20th century. But in Ancient Russia, the Glagolitic alphabet did not take root. In the pre-Mongol period, it was used here occasionally, and it could be used as a kind of secret writing.

Here comes the time of the second oldest Slavic alphabet - cyrillic... It was created after the death of Cyril and Methodius by their disciples in Eastern Bulgaria at the end of the 9th century. In terms of the composition, arrangement and sound meaning of the letters, the Cyrillic alphabet almost completely coincides with the verb, but sharply differs from it in the form of the letters. This alphabet is based on the Greek solemn letter - the so-called charter... However, the letters necessary to convey the special sounds of Slavic speech that are absent in the Greek language were taken from the Glagolitic or compiled according to its samples. Thus, Cyril is directly related to this alphabet, and its name Cyrillic quite justified. In a slightly modified form, it is still used by Russians, Belarusians, Ukrainians, Serbs, Bulgarians, Macedonians and other peoples.

What books were the first to be translated into the Slavic language?

The first book translated by the brothers, presumably even before the Moravian embassy, ​​was the Gospel. She was followed by the Apostle, the Psalter, and gradually the entire rite of church services was donned in a new outfit - Slavic. In the process of translations was created the first common Slavic literary language, which is usually called Old Church Slavonic. This is the language of Slavic translations of Greek church books made by Cyril, Methodius and their disciples in the second half of the 9th century. The manuscripts of that distant era have not survived to our time, but their later Glagolic and Cyrillic copies of the X-XI centuries have survived.

The folk basis of the Old Slavonic language was the South Slavic dialect of the Solun Slavs (Macedonian dialects of the Bulgarian language of the 9th century), which Cyril and Methodius met in their childhood in their hometown of Thessalonica. "You are the Solunians, and the Solunians all speak pure Slavonic," - with these words, Emperor Michael III sent the brothers to Great Moravia. We also learn about this from the Life of Methodius.

From the very beginning, the Old Slavonic language, like the rich translated and original literature created on it, had above national and international character. Old Slavonic book-writing existed in different Slavic lands; it was used by Czechs and Slovaks, Bulgarians, Serbs and Slovenes, and later by our ancestors, the Eastern Slavs. The continuation of the Old Slavonic language became its local varieties - out of the water, or edition. They were formed from the Old Slavonic language under the influence of living folk speech. There are Old Russian, Bulgarian, Macedonian, Serbian, Croatian Glagolic, Czech, Romanian versions. The differences between different versions of the Church Slavonic language are small. Therefore, works created in one linguistic territory were easily read, understood and copied in other lands.

What brothers -

Cyril (Constantine the Philosopher) and Methodius?

In Great Moravia, they chose disciples for themselves, taught them Slavic literacy, trained clergy clergy capable of performing services in Slavic. And this caused the strongest dissatisfaction and resistance of the German clergy and "treyazychiki". Cyril and Methodius, together with their disciples, were forced to go to the Pope of Rome, to whom the German bishops were subordinate, in order to obtain permission from him for Slavic worship. At that time, there was still no official division of the Christian church into Orthodox and Catholic (this will happen later - in 1054). The road to Rome ran through ancient Pannonia. There Cyril and Methodius visited the Blatensky principality (modern western Hungary), where the Horutans, the ancestors of the Slovenes, lived. Prince Kotsel received Cyril and Methodius as a friend and ally: he himself learned the Slavic literacy and gave them about 50 students. For some time Cyril and Methodius worked in the Blatensky principality, and then went on to Rome.

A solemn reception awaited them in Rome. Want to know why? The brothers, as experienced diplomats, brought with them the relics of St. Clement, a disciple of the Apostle Peter and the third Roman bishop. The one whom the pagans drowned in the Black Sea during the persecution of Christians. The relics were discovered by Cyril in the Crimea, in Chersonesos, during his embassy to Khazaria. Pope Adrian II himself, striving to strengthen his influence in Moravia and the Blatensky principality, came out to meet Cyril and Methodius.

The decisive hour has come: Cyril, in a brilliant polemic with the supporters of "treiling", defended the right to Slavic worship and achieved the recognition by Rome of the equality of the Slavic language among other sacred languages. Adrian II, having accepted the Slavic books, consecrated them and laid them in the church of St. Mary. After that, the Solunsk brothers and their disciples "sang the liturgy in the Slavic language in the Church of St. Peter," as well as in other Roman churches. This is how the Life of Cyril speaks ...

Shortly thereafter, Constantine the Philosopher fell seriously ill. Feeling the approach of death, he “put on the holy monastic image” and took a new name - Cyril. Before his death, he summoned Methodius to him and turned to him with the last request. As if anticipating future trials that would befall their common cause, Cyril said, paraphrasing the words of the great Byzantine theologian Gregory Nazianzin: “Behold, brother, you and I were a couple in the same team and plowed one furrow, and I fall on the field, having finished the day mine. You loved the mountain very much [monastic solitude. - VC.], but do not dare to leave your teaching for the sake of the mountain, for how else can you better achieve salvation? "

On February 14, 869, Cyril died at the age of 42 and was solemnly buried in the Church of St. Clement (San Clemente) in Rome. There and now his body rests.

Methodius fulfilled the testament of his younger brother and continued the struggle for Slavic literacy. In 870 he was appointed archbishop of the Sirmian diocese (diocesan district), which included the Great Moravian and Blatensky principalities. During his stay at the archbishop's chair, Methodius completed the translation of the Bible (except for the Old Testament books of the Maccabees), translated many liturgical, hagiographic, church teaching and canonical works.

But life seemed to test him for strength and loyalty to the promise: shortly after being promoted to archbishop, in the same year 870, he was accused by the German bishops of illegally seizing regions that were ecclesiastically subordinate to the Bavarian clergy. The assembly of the Bavarian bishops pronounced a guilty verdict on Methodius and ordered him to be imprisoned together with his closest disciples in a monastery prison. This was a blatant lawlessness, but the bishops tried at any cost to put an end to the most authoritative spiritual pastor among the Slavs. According to the testimony of contemporaries, in a monastery in southern Germany, prisoners were kept "in the open air in the most severe winter and during heavy rains." The terrible imprisonment dragged on for two and a half years, but no trials could break the iron will of Methodius. Only thanks to the intercession of Prince Cocel and the intercession of the Pope of Rome, Methodius was released and the archbishop's see was returned to him. The activity of the Slavic pastor was recognized as faithful and canonical.

However ... After the death of Methodius on April 6, 885, his opponents obtained from Pope Stephen V the prohibition of the Slavic language in divine services. And now a message-order to the Great Moravian prince Svyatopolk is already flying: “Let no one from now on dare dare to perform divine functions, holy mass and sacraments in the Slavic language, as this Methodius dared ... Let the perversions that he expressed out of contempt for the universal faith fall on him [ Methodius. - VC.] head ".

Unlike his uncle Rostislav, an independent politician, Svyatopolk was not a supporter of Slavic worship and supported the Latin clergy. He ordered to expel the disciples of Cyril and Methodius from Great Moravia. And already in the XII century, on the territory of its initial distribution, the Old Slavonic writing was finally supplanted by Latin.

But ... "what is written with a pen - you cannot cut it out with an ax"! The case of the "brothers of Solunski" did not die with them: the Old Slavonic bookishness continued to develop in other Slavic lands. The disciples of Cyril and Methodius, expelled from Moravia, headed south, towards the Croats, and southeast, towards the Bulgarians. The Bulgarian prince Boris, who shortly before that baptized the country according to the Byzantine rite, created all the necessary conditions for the development of Old Slavonic literacy. Under his successor, Tsar Simeon (893-927), the Golden Age of Bulgarian literature began. Far beyond the borders of Bulgaria, such writers as Kliment Ohridsky, Konstantin Preslavsky, John Exarch of Bulgaria, and the Brave of the monks gained fame. Their work continued and developed the literary traditions of the Solunsk brothers.

The year 988 has come. Ancient Rus was baptized.

And migrated to this fertile land (through the southern and, to a lesser extent, Western Slavs) a huge book heritage created by Cyril, Methodius and their disciples in the 9th-10th centuries. Old Slavonic book wealth laid the foundations of our national culture and spirituality.

Both the brothers themselves and their successors firmly believed that they were working in the name of all Slavs, enlightened by a single faith and united by one, understandable to everyone, literary language. In the "Proglas" (preface) to the Gospel, the oldest Slavic poem, Methodius's disciple, Bishop Constantine Preslavsky, addressed the entire Slavic world:

Hear, all Slavs,

This gift from God is given to us ...

Listen, Slavic people!

Listen to the Word, for it is from God.

The word that nourishes the souls of men,

The word that strengthens hearts and minds

The word that prepares everyone to know God.

As without light there will be no joy to the eye,

Looking at God's creations,

But he who does not see their beauty,

So is every soul without a certificate

He does not see the law of God clearly,

Written law, spiritual,

Of the Law, revealing the paradise of God ...

Moreover, the soul is bookless

Turns him into a dead man.

The solemn hymn of Konstantin Preslavsky glorifies the idea of ​​Slavic enlightenment and unity. And the same idea sounds already in the earliest Old Russian works. “And the Slovenian language [people. - VC.] and Russian one is ... "- we read in" The Tale of Bygone Years ", the annals of the beginning of the XII century.

The life and works of Saints and Equal-to-the-Apostles Cyril and Methodius were dedicated to this great idea - the idea of ​​enlightenment and unity of the Slavs. Its light does not fade even in our days.

Since ancient times in Russia, public relations have been carried out by storytellers, buffoons, heralds, peddlers, guslars, who were a kind of informants of the population, both about the heroic past of the people and about what is happening around. The question of the emergence of writing in Russia is still controversial. An interesting concept was expressed by the Ukrainian historian M.Yu. Braichevsky in his book "The Establishment of Christianity in Russia".

For a long time, the prevailing belief in science was that literacy came to Russia from Bulgaria after the religious act of 988. Recently, the existence of the ancient Russian writing of the pre-Cyrillic type has been proven.

An extremely interesting treatise by Chernorizets the Brave (X century), dedicated to the emergence of ancient Slavic writing, has reached us. It proposes a periodization involving three stages of the process. In the first, the Slavs used “lines and cuts” to transmit distant (in space and time) information, with the help of which “chteakhu and gataakhu” (counted and guessed). The second characterizes the use of letters of the Greek and Latin alphabets for writing "without dispensation", i.e. without adaptation to the phonetic features of the Slavic languages. The third is the activity of Cyril the Philosopher and his invention of a special Slavic alphabet.

In this treatise, among other things, symbolic signs are given, which were the embryo of Russian hieroglyphics. The total number of varieties of signs (more than 200) excludes the possibility of interpreting them as letters of the phonetic alphabet. They are found in separate characters and in the form of texts that have not yet been deciphered.

The second stage, determined by the use of phonetic writing based on the use of Greek and Latin graphics, is perfectly documented by archaeological materials from the Chernyakhov culture (mid-1st millennium AD). The bearers of this culture maintained a close and varied relationship with the Romans and Greeks. Many of them traveled to ancient cities, mastered the Greek and Latin languages, received an education, sometimes very high, mastering the skills of written culture well. One way or another, the idea of ​​using letters from someone else's alphabet to represent Slavic words should have been on the agenda.

In this case, of course, purely practical difficulties arose due to the inconsistency of both alphabets with the phonetics of the Slavic languages. In the Greek alphabet, for example, there were no signs for the transmission of sounds "b", "y", hissing, voiceless vowels, diphthongs "ts", "h", etc. Therefore, the adaptation of existing graphics systems was relevant. This "dispensation" according to Brave is the main content of the third period. But the educational activity of Cyril the Philosopher and his students does not exhaust the whole process and is only the final stage. One of the most significant achievements of historical science in recent decades is the discovery of the Sophia alphabet, which reflects the initial stage of the "dispensation" of Slavic writing. It includes 23 letters of the Greek alphabet - from "alpha" to "omega" - with the addition of four specifically Slavic characters: "b", "zh", "w", "u" (the latter was pronounced as a diphthong "tsh"). These are the most necessary letters, without which the Slavic writing could not function normally.

The Sophia alphabet was found in the Mikhailovsky side-altar of the Kiev cathedral of St. Sofia, where in the middle of the XI century. there was a library and a scriptorium. It is drawn very carefully on the wall, in large letters (height about 3 cm). Some researchers assumed that it was the usual Cyrillic alphabet, only unfinished. However, this assumption seems incredible. The author painted the letters neatly, bringing them to the "omega" itself, which completed the list. The missing "g" is inscribed above the line in the proper place, but "ts" and "h" are not inscribed. "Fita" is not at the end of the alphabet, as it should be in the Cyrillic alphabet, but in tenth place - between "and" and "i", as is customary in the Greek alphabet. The author carefully wrote out the signs that are superfluous for the Slavic language (for example, "xi" or the same "omega"), but ignored the often used voiceless vowels ("b" and "b"), etc.

Thus, the thought arises that the Kievan alphabet found in Sophia is pre-Cyrillic and reflects the initial stage in the "dispensation" of Slavic writing. It is not difficult to understand her appearance on the wall of the scriptorium and library. In the first half of the XI century. Yaroslav the Wise organized a cultural and educational center in Kiev, where there was also the first library known in Russia. It undoubtedly contained documents from the pre-Vladimir period (this is evidenced by the texts of the treaties between Russia and the Greeks, which have come down to us as part of later chronicles). Obviously, there were many such official letters. In addition, books from the second half of the 9th-10th centuries were also kept. - translations of Christian literature, chronicles, church documentation, etc.

At the present stage of research, it has been established that the East Slavic writing system arose independently of Cyril's mission. It was formed on the basis of two sources, which determined, respectively, two genetic lines. The first of them was the Black Sea hieroglyphics combined with the phonetic writing of the Greeks and Romans. As a result, the so-called Russian-Khazar writing arose, the existence of which is attested by Eastern authors. The monuments of this letter have already been decrypted. An offshoot of this line - the runic alphabet - in the first half of the 1st millennium AD. NS. became widespread not only in the Black Sea region, but also far to the West - up to Scandinavia inclusive. On the Slavic soil, a "proto-glagolic" alphabet arose, around which a heated debate unfolded in recent decades.

Another source was the Greek writing system with a well-established and rather perfect phonetic alphabet. The process of "dispensation", which ultimately led to the crystallization of the Cyrillic alphabet in its two versions (Moravian of 38 letters and Bulgarian of 43 letters), determined the main direction in the formation of its own Slavic writing.

The question remains open, what kind of alphabet Kirill invented. Many researchers are inclined in favor of the Cyrillic alphabet. Others believe it was Glagolitic. Among the latter is the author of these lines.

Glagolitic is an artificial alphabet invented by Cyril around 862. It was not used because of its complexity and practical inconveniences, giving way to Cyrillic, which was finally developed in the 9th-10th centuries. Perhaps Cyril's acquaintance with Russian books in Chersonesos a year before the start of the Moravian mission influenced his invention to some extent.

Meanwhile, there are other versions of Russian writing.

One of the founders of the alphabet, Cyril, once wrote that before creating his own alphabet, he saw the Gospels and Psalms in the Slavs and Aryans "written in swarms".

Then what did Cyril and Methodius create?

In fact, these monks did not create the Slavic writing as such, but the Church Slavonic alphabet for the Christian church in the Slavic lands. The monks took as a basis the "Initial letter", which existed from ancient times among the Slavs, consisting of 49 letters, removed 5 letters, gave four letters Greek names and began to translate Christian liturgical books from Greek into a dead language invented by them, which did not take root among the people.

What other evidence of the literacy of the Slavs and Aryans, which existed long before the arrival of Cyril and Methodius, can be cited, besides the statement of the "enlightener" Cyril?

Here is a historical fact: Peter the Great introduces a new chronology from January 1, 1700 by a decree - from the birth of Christ in numerical designation, canceling the Slavic-Aryan Calendar that existed in Russia, according to which at the time of the decree was Summer 7208 from the Creation of the World in the Star Temple.

Moreover, the Russian people wrote the number of years in letters, which proves the existence of writing among the Slavs and Aryans by that time at least 7208 years.

Another proof can be the words of Catherine II, who wrote the book "Notes on Russian history", which says that "... the Slavs before the birth of Christ had many letters."

And here is the modern proof. With the help of the Old Russian language, the language of the Aryans was studied, the ancient Egyptian "hieroglyphs" on papyri, clay and stone were read, Etruscan letters and inscriptions on the Phaistos disc were deciphered, proto-Indian inscriptions on clay seals from Horappa and Mohenjo-Daro were unraveled.

“The signs are different, the language is one” - this is how our contemporary P.P. Oreshkin in his work "The Babylonian Phenomenon" on the deciphering of ancient written records. Another Russian scientist-linguist G.S. Grinevich in his book "Proto-Slavic Writing" provides evidence of this.

This is the same to the whole world tried to prove at one time the scientist-historian, the Italian Mavro Orbini, who in 1601 wrote a study entitled “Book of historiography honoring the name, glory and expansion of the Slavic people and their Kings and Masters under many name names and with many Kingdoms, Kingdoms and Provinces, collected from many history books, through Mr. Mavroubin, Archimandrite of Raguzhsky. "

The 18th century Slavic scholar, Pole Fadey Volansky, author of the book "Monuments of the Written Language of the Slavs before the Nativity of Christ", was sentenced to death by the Catholic Inquisition for writing "extremely heretical." The circulation of the book was thrown into the fire, on which the author was also burned.

Doctor of Philosophy, contemporary of A.S. Pushkin, Russian scientist of German origin E.I. Klassen, a passionate follower of M.V. Lomonosov's views on Ancient Russian history, irrefutably proved the primacy of the Culture of Russia, which became the foundation of the cultures of Western Europe and the countries of the East. A single Slavic-Aryan language existed on the basis of 4 main and 2 auxiliary types of writing:

• 1) da'Aryan Thrage. These are Figurative Symbols that combine complex three-dimensional signs that convey multidimensional quantities and diverse Runes;
• 2) x'Aryan Karuna (Union of 256 Runes). Colloquially called priestly writing. Karuna formed the basis of ancient Sanskrit, Devanagari and was used by the priests of India and Tibet.
• 3) Rasenskie Molvitsy (Figurative-mirror writing). This writing was called the Etruscan script, as it was written by the Rasens or the Etruscans - the Slavs and Aryans who inhabited Italy in ancient times. This letter formed the basis of the ancient Phoenician alphabet. Subsequently, the ancient Greeks took the Phoenician writing as a basis, emasculated it and passed it off as their own, on the basis of which "Latin" later appeared.
• 4) Svyatorusskie Images (Initial letter). This letter was the most widespread among all Slavic-Aryan Clans in antiquity. The letter was used for inter-clan and inter-state agreements. Various variants of the abbreviated drop cap are known: the Byzantine unial, the Church Slavonic alphabet, the Old Slovenian (Old Russian) alphabet.

This also includes Velesovitsa or the font of the Veles book, and the font of the Svyatorussky Volkhvari - texts written on tablets from sacred trees: oak, birch, cedar and ash.

The Old Slovenian or Old Russian language formed the basis of many European languages, including English, the words of which were written in "Latin", and the sound and meaning of the words were Slavic-Aryan;

• 5) Glagolitic, or Trade Letter, was used for keeping registers, counting, processing transactions and trade agreements. Subsequently, Glagolitic began to be used on an equal basis with other languages ​​for recording epics, fairy tales, historical events, writing the Holy Books;
• 6) Slovenian folk writing was the simplest. It was used to convey short messages. Subsequently, it began to be called "birch bark letter", or "Traits and Rezes". This is a letter of constant use. Each Rusich owned this letter and on a piece of birch bark could write a message on a household topic to his relative.

The Rusichi wrote down Ancient Wisdom on more durable materials, for example, on stones or on sheets of various metals (silver, gold, platinum). The most convenient were Santias - plates of platinum, gold and silver, on which Runes were squeezed out, then filled with indelible paint (similar to cinnabar). The plates were sewn with rings of the named metals in an oak setting, which was framed with red cloth.

The primary sources of Vedic Knowledge are kept in the Communities of Orthodox Old Believers-Inglings to the present day.

Hypothesis about pre-Christian writing in Russia

A significant group of researchers believe that the Slavs owned writing before the adoption of Christianity. This opinion was shared by Soviet researchers V.A. Istrin, S.P. Obnorsky, L.P. Yakubinsky, A.P. Lvov. and others. A number of sources were used as evidence:

1. "On the Writings" of Chernorizets the Brave
2. "Lives of Constantine and Methodius"
3. Texts by the Arabic author Ibn Fadlan
4. "Book of painting the news about scientists and the names of books written by them" by An-Nadim
5. Treaties of Russia with the Greeks $ 911, $ 945

Sometimes the so-called "Veles's book" is cited as evidence, although it has been proven that this is a fake of the $ XX century. The most competent source in this matter can be considered the legend of Chernorizets the Brave "On the Writings":

"Before, the Slavs did not have letters, but they read by features and cut, they guessed with them, being filthy."

Remark 1

However, at the moment in science there is no solid evidence for the existence of pre-Christian Slavic writing.

Missionaries Cyril and Methodius

Authors of the Slavic alphabet, Byzantine monks Cyril and Methodius, were on a mission in Moravia: the ruler of this state turned to the Byzantine emperor Michael III $ with a request to send teachers. Moravia was baptized, but did not have its own written language, which made the process of Christianization difficult. The conditional date for the creation of the Slavic alphabet, therefore, is considered to be $ 863 a year - the beginning of the educational mission of Cyril and Methodius in Moravia.

Remark 2

In science, it is considered proven that Methodius and Cyril created the so-called "Verb" ... The alphabet as usual - "Cyrillic" - created by Kirill's pupil Clement Ohridskiy on the basis of the Glagolitic alphabet and the Greek alphabet.

Cyril and Methodius were actually teachers of the southern Slavs, while the eastern ones were not included in their activities. But at the same time, the monastic brothers are considered enlighteners in Russia, the cult of Saints Cyril and Methodius has become very popular. The fact is that the Bulgarian sources, which describe the activities of the monks, were among the first books in Russia and became widespread.

The spread of writing in Russia after the adoption of Christianity

On a national scale, Slavic writing in Russia began to spread with the adoption of Christianity.

But since it is known that a small number of Christians lived in Russia during the pagan period, it can be assumed that they used the Slavic alphabet.

Example 1

Archaeological finds confirm this fact, for example, the “Gnezdovskaya inscription” on an earthen jug.

With the adoption of Christianity, Slavic writing began to spread throughout the Old Russian state. The reason for this was the need to study religious literature and conduct divine services in their native language, since only in this way the process of Christianization was easier. Slavic writing came to Russia from Bulgaria, since the language of the Bulgarians at that time was as close as possible. In addition, Bulgaria had adopted Christianity a century earlier and already possessed an impressive volume of translated theological literature. In the process of the spread of writing in Russia, the Cyrillic alphabet predominated, although it is known that the Glagolite was also used.

Example 2

An example of the use of the Glagolitic alphabet is "Kiev Leaves", a record of an excerpt from the liturgy. The appearance of the Glagolic alphabet seems to be very complex, which is probably why the Cyrillic alphabet supplanted it.

There is an opinion according to which the Glagolitic alphabet, due to its complexity, was used as a cipher, a secret letter. However, it is important to emphasize that the literal composition of the Cyrillic and Glagolitic alphabet practically coincided: $ 40 $ letters in Glagolitic, $ 43 $ letters in Cyrillic $ XI $ century.

Scientists have spent a lot of time and effort trying to find out at what times writing appeared, during which periods it was most developed.

Writing arose in Russia earlier than Christianity, but with its appearance it acquired a new impulse.

The Russian people needed sacred and liturgical books. Such books in the Slavic language already existed among our fellow tribesmen, Bulgarians and Serbs. They were brought to us, and we began to rewrite them. In those ancient times, the Slavic languages ​​still differed very little from one another, the books of one Slavic people were suitable for another.

The brothers Cyril (in the world Constantine) and Methodius were the apostles-enlighteners of the Slavs, the illustrators of the Slavic alphabet and translators of books into the Slavic language. The language into which they translated the Holy Scripture is now called "Church Slavonic." It is believed that it was the Old Bulgarian language.

Excursion into the past
The holy brothers Cyril and Methodius were born in Thessaloniki, the main city of Macedonia, a country inhabited mainly by Slavs. The elder brother, Methodius, received a home education, then entered the military service, was the ruler of one Slavic-Greek region. Then he left the world and took a haircut on Mount Olympus. The younger brother, Cyril, who was distinguished by his brilliant teaching ability, was brought up in Constantinople, along with the young emperor Michael. He studied verbal, philosophical, and mathematical sciences under the guidance of the famous Photius, later the patriarch of Constantinople. Cyril was expected to be honored in the world, but he was not deceived by this, he was ordained a priest and a librarian at the Church of St. Sophia. Then he went to a monastery and only at the insistence of his friends returned to the capital and took over the post of teacher of philosophy. The nickname "philosopher" remained with him forever.

Cyril's first apostolic feat was a contest with the Mohammedans, for which he was sent to the Emir of Milita. On his return from this journey, he retired to his brother on Olympus. It is believed that during their life on Olympus, the holy brothers began to translate the sacred books into the Slavic language (according to the testimony of the writer of the late 9th and early 10th centuries, the monastic Khrabra; the invention of the Slavic alphabet dates back to 855).

By the name of its creator, the alphabet is called "Cyrillic". It was based on the Greek alphabet by St. Cyril. For the same sounds of the Slavic language, for which there were no letters in the Greek alphabet, letters from the Hebrew, Armenian and Coptic alphabet were taken, and some letters were invented anew (such are the "yusy"). According to the legend of Brave, 38 letters were invented. Subsequently, this number in the Slavic alphabets increased and decreased. In addition to the "Cyrillic" alphabet, some Western Slavs existed in ancient times another alphabet, "Glagolitic", its letters are distinguished by their pretentiousness of writing. The alphabet of St. Cyril was first used by all Slavic tribes, but later the Western Slavs adopted the Latin alphabet.

After the death of Cyril and Methodius, their disciples settled mainly in Bulgaria. From Bulgaria and then from Serbia, our Russian ancestors, when they were enlightened by Christianity, began to receive books in the Slavic language. In addition to the books of sacred scripture and liturgical, they came to us from the Slavic lands, where literary development began earlier than here, and the works of Byzantine literature.

Byzantine literature proper refers to the period of Greek literature from Justinian to the fall of Constantinople (from 562 to 1458). The main merit of Byzantine literature is that it supported enlightenment in the dark Middle Ages.

Origins
Russian people read the works of paternal literature with love: this is the name of the works of the church fathers of the first centuries of Christianity. John Chrysostom was the most famous of the church fathers; the works of Basil the Great, Fyodor the Studite, Gregory the Theologian, and ascetic writers - St. Ephraim and Isaac the Syrian were also highly respected.

Writing in Russia
Of course, very soon after the books appeared in our country, the Russian people began to rewrite them, and we, in Russia, got a written language. The oldest surviving monuments of our writing date back to the second half of the 11th century. The most remarkable of them: the Ostromir Gospel and two Izborniks of Svyatoslav.

The Ostromir Gospel was written in 1056-1057 in Novgorod by deacon Gregory for the Novgorod mayor Ostromir. This exquisite parchment manuscript is written in two columns, in a beautiful continuous charter. This book is considered one of the oldest monuments of the Church Slavonic language (therefore, according to its text, this language is usually studied) and art (ornament and images of the evangelists). For posterity, this book is the greatest treasure.

The first Izbornik of Svyatoslav dates back to 1073; it is translated from a Greek collection in Bulgaria for Tsar Simeon. It was copied from the Bulgarian manuscript for the Chernigov prince Svyatoslav Yaroslavich.

How the books were copied
The work of rewriting books was highly respected in ancient Russia. This work was a means of spreading education and, moreover, it was not easy: to rewrite a book in large statutory or semi-statutory handwriting on parchment, it took a lot of time and effort. Therefore, scribes often marked their name on the work, the place where they wrote and the time when they started and finished their work. Books were expensive and were carefully kept in pantries, along with expensive vessels and materials. Writing off books was considered a godly affair, therefore almost all of our books were of spiritual content. Not only ordinary scribes, but also abbots, bishops, and princes copied books. She copied books, for example, St. Euphrosyne, Princess of Polotsk (XII century). They were especially zealous in this matter in the monasteries. In the cell of St. Theodosius of the Caves, the monk Illarion copied books. Theodosius himself spun threads for binding them. Elder Nikon bound books. Sometimes monks rewrote books as obedience imposed by the abbot, sometimes they did it on a vow, for the salvation of the soul.

During their travels, our monks were also engaged in the correspondence of books and by this they enriched our translated literature. The books were copied and translated in Constantinople, on Athos.

The emergence of libraries
In ancient times, libraries appeared, in which manuscripts were carefully collected and carefully kept. The most remarkable of them belonged to the Sophia cathedrals in Kiev and Novgorod and the monasteries of Kirillo-Belozersky and Solovetsky.