Pictures of Athos by Damaskin, Hierodeacon of the Chudov Monastery. The Discoveries of 2015

Abstract

There are few descriptions of the journeys on Mount Athos in the Slavic literature. The Greek text of the Proskynetarion by Byzantine nobleman John Komnenos, compiled and published in Ungrovlahia in 1701, has a Slavonic translation, made in 1701 by Damaskin, hierodeacon of the Chudov Monastery (the first edition by archimandrite Leonid (Kavelin), 1883, the second edition by doctor of philology T.A. Isachenko, 2015). The Greek text of 1701 is as rare as the Slavonic manuscript: they are today in the same list. The discovery of T.A. Isachenko (summer 2015), who found the Proskynetarion of John Konmenos in the collections of the Museum-Reserve of Yaroslavl (Snagov, 1701, the book belonged to archbishop of Rostov and Yaroslavl Arseny), allows to clarify all inaccuracies of the Slavonic translation, to prepare the publication of the Greek and Slavonic texts. The relevance of the project is substantiated by the upcoming anniversary: in 2016, it is the 1000th anniversary of the ancient monastic life on Mount Athos.