Medieval Sources Research Articles

Anania Širakac‘i's k‘nnikon Reconsidered

Armenian medieval sources record that the seventh-century mathematician Anania Širakac‘i was commissioned with the creation of a perpetual calendar for the Armenians. These include Step‘anos Tarōnec‘i (eleventh century), who uses the term k‘nnikon in reference to Širakac‘i’s work, the exact meaning of which has been matter of debate. Scholars have suggested that it was a synonym of ‘chronicle’, and that it may have been used to indicate Širakac‘i’s perpetual calendar. The present article explores this idea further, comparing evidence in Armenian, Syriac and Georgian that had not been taken into account before in this context, showing that k‘nnikon was used to refer to an era based on an Easter cycle, a computus, and its use in Tarōnec‘i’s History may indicate Easter tables attributed to Anania Širakac‘i.

Physics and medicine from antiquity to the medieval period

Abstract Medical physics is commonly held to have begun at the end of the nineteenth century following discoveries about radiation and radioactivity that were to transform medical diagnosis and the treatment of cancer. A wider perspective dates the origin of the relationship between physics and medicine to the scientific revolution of the sixteenth century when physics began to be applied to understanding the workings of the body and to the development of medical technology. This paper argues that the relationship is in fact much older, dating back several millennia. At the heart of ancient Greek φυσική (natural philosophy) was an attempt to understand the nature and composition of the Universe and a belief which remains valid today that the human body functions on the same principles as the Universe as a whole. This approach led to a corpus of medical teachings rooted in physics as it was then understood that remained dominant in Europe and the Islamic world until the sixteenth century. Furthermore, ancient and medieval sources provide evidence of physical principles being used in medical diagnosis, in treatment and as a means of understanding the functioning of the body in a range of ancient cultures including Greece, Egypt and Persia. This mirrors the different ways in which physics continues to contribute to medical science and clinical practice today. Examples described in this paper include the first technique to map body temperature (arguably also the first medical imaging technique), the use of fire and heat in surgery and other forms of treatment, and medieval attempts to understand vision and the physics of the eye.

Moment or Process? Eucharistic Consecration and Epiclesis in Egyptian Thought: A Survey of Liturgical, Patristic, and Medieval Sources

Abstract There is a long-standing polemic that the ‘moment’ of eucharistic consecration for the West is the words of institution and for the East is the epiclesis. Zheltov and Mckenna have previously analysed this issue with respect to the Byzantine rite; however, there is still a need for analysis of the Coptic rite. This paper examines the liturgical, patristic, and medieval sources to provide a survey of understandings of the epiclesis and consecration within the Egyptian liturgical heritage. The liturgical sources utilized include the early Egyptian anaphoras, as well as those utilized in the Coptic rite today—Egyptian Liturgy of St Basil the Great, Anaphora of St Gregory the Theologian, and Anaphora of St Cyril of Alexandria. The paper will show that there is diversity of thought regarding eucharistic consecration within the Egyptian tradition; yet, while accents on moment and process are both present, consecration as a process appears to be the dominant understanding.

THE RIVERS OF THE PONTOS REGION IN ANCIENT AND MEDIEVAL SOURCES: THE HALYS, IRIS  THERMODON

The seas have shaped and moulded the surrounding geography ecologically, economically, demographically and politically for ages. However, freshwater resources, which are essential for people’s lives, also attracted human communities to themselves, and settlements were formed around the freshwater resources and streams. Like all seas, the Pontos Eukseinos (the Black Sea) shaped its surrounding geography and gave its name to the region on the south coast. The region called the Pontos in ancient times attracted attention with its suitable climatic conditions, geographical features, underground and above ground rich resources and the autochthonous peoples living on it. It is understood that the rivers were significant for the shaping of this region. These rivers not only marked the boundaries of the region, but also were regarded as the psychological border between societies and civilizations throughout history. The Halys was one of these rivers. Not only did the Pontos region mark the southern and western borders but also was considered to be the border between the eastern and western cultures throughout the ages. Another important river in the region was the Iris River being the lifeblood of the region with its waters forming the fertile plains. The Thermodon River, which gained its fame with the legendary peoples living around it, contributed to the popularisation of the region, and formed fertile lands suitable for agriculture due to its wetlands, it also significantly added value to the development of the region. This study has tried to deal with the importance of the Halys, Iris and Thermodon rivers in the Pontos Region and their images in the minds of the people throughout the ages by taking into account the axis of the ancient, medieval sources and modern research.

MODERN KAZAKH NOVEL: PAINTING AND AESTHETICS OF ARTISTIC DECISION OF THE XX CENTURY

The author of the article sets herself a goal – to highlight the relationship between Turkic-speaking and Iranian-speaking poets of the 15th–16th centuries, recorded in the “Tarikh-i Rashidi” by Mirza Muhammad Haidar. This question is poorly understood. This is proved the novelty of the idea of research. The article, written on the basis of data from a medieval source, helps to expand the relationship in Central Asian literary circles, a genre of poetry that was popular during this period. The picture of the relationship of poets is one of the aspects of the relationship in the culture of the peoples of Central Asia. The researcher used the publication “Tarikh-i Rashidi”, carried out by source scholars of Uzbekistan. As a result of the analysis of data from this work, it was established that the muʻamma genre was quite popular during the study period. The names of the masters of compiling charades, works on this genre are given. The data of “Tarikh-i Rashidi” were compared with data from “Majalis an-Nafais” by ʻAli Shir Navaʻi. It is established that some young poets of the era of ʻAli Shir Nava’i by the time of writing “Tarikh-i Rashidi” became famous poets in Herat. In the cultural center of Khorasan – Heart, poetry developed along with treatises. The relationship between the poets of Herat circle proves the path of development of the literature of Iranian-speaking and Turkic-speaking peoples of Central Asia, being an indicator of the relationship in the culture of the peoples of studying region.

DATA ON THE RELATIONSHIP OF POETS OF THE 15TH–16TH CENTURIES FROM “TARIKH-I RASHIDI”

The author of the article sets herself a goal – to highlight the relationship between Turkic-speaking and Iranian-speaking poets of the 15th–16th centuries, recorded in the “Tarikh-i Rashidi” by Mirza Muhammad Haidar. This question is poorly understood. This is proved the novelty of the idea of research. The article, written on the basis of data from a medieval source, helps to expand the relationship in Central Asian literary circles, a genre of poetry that was popular during this period. The picture of the relationship of poets is one of the aspects of the relationship in the culture of the peoples of Central Asia. The researcher used the publication “Tarikh-i Rashidi”, carried out by source scholars of Uzbekistan. As a result of the analysis of data from this work, it was established that the muʻamma genre was quite popular during the study period. The names of the masters of compiling charades, works on this genre are given. The data of “Tarikh-i Rashidi” were compared with data from “Majalis an-Nafais” by ʻAli Shir Navaʻi. It is established that some young poets of the era of ʻAli Shir Nava’i by the time of writing “Tarikh-i Rashidi” became famous poets in Herat. In the cultural center of Khorasan – Heart, poetry developed along with treatises. The relationship between the poets of Herat circle proves the path of development of the literature of Iranian-speaking and Turkic-speaking peoples of Central Asia, being an indicator of the relationship in the culture of the peoples of studying region.

Guillaume Houppelande’s Small Treatise on the Immortality of the Soul

This article focuses on the treatise De immortalitate animae (Paris, 1491) written by Guillaume Houppelande, one of the most famous members of the Faculty of Theology of the University of Paris in the fifteenth century. Houppelande’s treatise, which refers to ancient, patristic, and medieval sources, contains several arguments on the immortality of the soul. Special attention is first given to Houppelande’s attitude towards those philosophical and theological theories that supported his own arguments before focus is turned towards an analysis of Houppelande’s relationship to medieval philosophy.

Loyalty in 15th and 17th Century Legal Discourse and Its Medieval Sources

Loyalty in 15th and 17th Century Legal Discourse and Its Medieval Sources

Новый взгляд на «Историю монголов» Иоан­на де Плано Карпини

Research objectives: This article analyzes a new edition of the book by the famous Franciscan ambassador to the Mongols, John de Plano Carpini (1182–1252), who made a long journey from Lyon to Central Mongolia in 1245–1247 where he witnessed the enthronement of the khagan, Guyuk (1246–1248). Following the results of his difficult and dangerous journey, he wrote a report “The History of the Mongols,” in which he described quite fully and accurately what he saw and heard. Research results and scientific novelty: The work of Plano Carpini was published in Russian three times: in 1795, 1825 and 1911; the last translation, made by A.I. Malein, was then published more than once and gradually overgrown with comments. However, all these editions cannot be considered fully satisfying the requirements of publishing medieval sources. The new edition in question here meets the standards of modern science. It includes an introductory part, a critical text of the source, its new translation into Russian and detailed comments made by professional medievalist historians. In the comments, various aspects of the Central Asian civilization of the XIII century, with which the Franciscan mission had a chance to come into contact, are covered as fully as possible: material and spiritual culture of nomads, organization of their society, military affairs and many others. Despite the high level of preparation of this publication, some points in it do not exclude an alternative interpretation.

Physiognomy and Visual Judgment in Medieval and Early Modern Europe

From the late Middle Ages through the eighteenth century, the science of physiognomy played a central role in the intellectual life of what we might call “the long Renaissance.” Indeed, it did much to shape both the portrayal and the understanding of personality in the visual and literary arts of the period. But nowhere was its influence greater than in the practice of criminal law. This special issue explores the varied ways that jurists and judges drew on theories—ancient and modern—of how to read the human body, the face especially, in order to help determine whether or not a suspect was guilty or innocent. The articles offer insights into the various ways in which Renaissance thinkers not only drew on ancient and medieval sources for their understanding of human psychology but also continued to elaborate new theories in order to develop what they viewed as a more scientific jurisprudence.

СРЕДНЕВЕКОВЫЕ АРАБСКИЕ ГЕОГРАФИЧЕСКИЕ ТЕКСТЫ И КАРТЫ

Over the centuries, the interest of scholars in Arabic medieval sources on geography and geographical maps has been growing. This is connected with the important contribution of the Arab-Muslim civilization to the development of ideas about the inner and surrounding world, on the one hand, and the desire to restore or renew the history of various peoples involved in the zone of research interests of Arabic-speaking geographers, on the other hand. The authors of the article considered the sources stored in European repositories, available for study thanks to the descriptions and publications of Western orientalists, while discovering some trends manifested in the academic traditions of different stages of the development of historical geography. The interest of scientists of the 19th century was directed primarily to medieval texts, which were considered the primary and most important object for research, and the establishment of their authenticity was perceived as the main task of critical analysis of their content. As for maps, only in recent decades, did the historical and cultural context of this pictorial genre begin to be interpreted by scholars in all their fullness and functionality and published in the form of atlases, books, and encyclopedias, inviting readers to immerse themselves in a re-evaluated cultural tradition. The article aims to determine the features of different approaches to the interpretation of geographical Arabic-language sources in European oriental studies. For this purpose, critical editions of the sources undertaken in the projects of the Leiden and Bodleian libraries were studied and their characteristics were revealed through historical and comparative methods of analysis. The general dynamics in understanding historical geography from primarily philological textological work to cultural and interdisciplinary reevaluation of medieval Islamic maps is noted.

Chinggis Khan and the Idea of World Domination

The article proposes a solution to the question of Temujin/ Chinggis Khan’s plans for world domination. Based on reports of a number of medieval sources, the author comes to the conclusion that his military campaigns pursued specific goals mostly to take revenge on numerous enemies and were not a part of a common aggressive plan. After uniting nomadic tribes and pacifying borderlands, Chinggis Khan usually reacted severely to external challenges, and his first campaignto Xi Xia and Jin were predatory. At the same time, the war did not always imply seizure of foreign territories, or the Mongols at first limited themselves to their partial annexation. In process of revealing Chinggis Khan’s motivations, his testament to descendants is of great importance. Sources refute an idea that the dying khan bequeathed to complete his world conquests. In fact, his political testament is boiled down to the following: he approved Ogedei as his successor, ordered his sons to obey the new ruler and to do away with Tanguts, Jurchens, and Kipchaks. All these points were subsequently fulfilled. Chinggis Khan’s deathbed speeches do not contain words about the need to seize the whole earth. Plano Carpini was one of the first to attribute him such a will, but the source of his information is unknown. Most likely, the idea of world domination was formed by the Mongols during the reign of Ogedei, and then it began to be ascribed to the founder of the Mongol Empire, which probably arose in spite of his desire.

Emperor Honorius’ letter to the Army in Hispania: historical and philological notes on the Epistula Honorii

This article deals with a rare imperial document: a letter by the Emperor Honorius commonly known as the Epistula Honorii. According to its incipt, it was addressed to the soldiers stationed in Pamplona during the barbarian invasions of the first decade of the fifth century. Building upon the existing scholarship on this text, this work re-examines the Epistula’s textual transmission and content, offering new readings of it. In addition to a comparative analysis with other Late Antique and Early Medieval sources, primarily of legal nature, a special similarity to what have been called imperial adlocutiones, due to both the text’s form and its content, will be shown. Consequently, this approach opens up a new avenue for understanding of this text.

Некоторые замечания об изучении феномена "қазақлық"

The article provides a short author's review of his book "Qazaqlïq, or Ambitious Brigandage, and the Formation of the Qazaqs: State and Identity in Post-Mongol Central Eurasia," published in English by the Brill Publishing House at the end of 2015 and translated into Russian in Kazakhstan at Shon Publishing House in 2022. The writer outlines his main findings from the investigation of the Qazaqlïq phenomenon and responds to the remarks and criticisms made about the book. The research is based on a wide range of medieval sources written in Farsi, Turki, Russian, Polish, and other languages. Original quotations mentioning the Qazaqlïq phenomenon from sources such as the “Tarikh-i Rashidi” by Mirza Muhammad-Haidar Dughlat, “Bahr al-asrar fi manaqib al-akhyar” by Mahmud b. Amir Vali Balkhi, “Tarikh-i Dost Sultan” (“Chingiz-nameh”) by Utemish-haji, “Malfuzat-i Timuri” by Abu Talib al-Husayni, “Umdet al-akhbar” by Abd al-Ghaffar Kyrymi, are given along with their translations. From the mid-15th century, the words “kazak” and “kozak” (“Cossack”) appear in Russian, Polish and Ukrainian sources, such as the Nikon Chronicle, and the works of Jan Dlugosh and Maciej Miechowita. For the first time, the article quotes a message from the 16th-century Ottoman historian Seyfi Celebi about the reasons why the Qazaqs were given such a name. The author shows the uniqueness of the Qazaq identity and the importance of the Qazaqlïq phenomenon, and examines the legend of Alasha Khan, which reflects the Qazaqlïq of Zhanibek Khan and Kerey Khan. The author additionally discusses several recent publications pertaining to the term "Qazaq," which were published after the publication of his book; Peter Golden, Nurlan Atygaev, and Patrick Lewis have done research on this subject

Уточнение термина «армяне-халкидониты»

The ethnic self-consciousness of the Armenian ethnos, which passed the peak of ethnogenesis at the end of the first millennium BC, was ensured by the common origin, language and territory, common historical memory, continuity of state-political formations, cultural traditions and customs. Armenia is one of the oldest Christian states, and the Christianisation of the country in the early 4th century introduced a new cementing component into the Armenian identity. Wars with Mazdean Iran and later with the Muslim world, the struggle for fatherland and the struggle for faith cemented ethno-cultural and ethno-political identity. Armenia was one of the first countries to enter the Universal Church of the Christian East. Armenians participated in three Ecumenical Councils: the Council of Nicaea (325), the Council of Constantinople (381) and the Council of Ephesus (431), but did not attend the Fourth Council of Chalcedon (451) because of the war with Iran. The acts of the Council of Chalcedon, which reached Armenia much later, divided Armenians into two confessional directions — supporters and opponents of the Chalcedonian oros; the latter suspected in it hidden Nestorianism and did not recognise the supremacy of the Patriarch of Constantinople, while their opponents accused them of heresy. The emergence of Armenian writing in the early 5th century and the phenomenon of the «Golden Age» — the unprecedented rise of Armenian literature after the invention of the alphabet — determined for centuries the ethnic identity of Armenians, the unity of which was most universally and concretely reflected in the ethnic term «Armenian» (հայ, hay, ἀρμένιος). That is why the designation of the supporters of the Chalcedonian oros as Armenians-«Romaeans» and Armenians-«Georgians» did not find an adequate explanation for a long time. The term «Chalcedonian Armenians» was introduced in the early XX century by N. Y. Marr, as a designation of Armenians, called in the sources of XI–XV centuries «Romans» or «Ivirs», depending on their belonging to the Greek or Georgian Church. This hypothesis posed an important problem in Orientalism, caused continuous discussions and, accordingly, initiated further research. In recent decades, various aspects of the problem of the Chalcedonian Armenians (political, social, administrative, theological, polemical, historiographical) have attracted the attention of researchers; however, there is a range of issues that are unexplored or controversial. The term «Chalcedonite Armenians» proposed by N. Y. Marr instead of «Armenians-Romeans» and «Armenians-Ivirs» remained the most debatable issue for a long time. The aim of this paper is to clarify the content of the term «Chalcedonian Armenians» and, accordingly, the use of double ethnonyms in medieval sources, which served the emergence of this term in Modern times, i.e. to study the chronology and authorship of these sources.

Traces of Pre-Greek Linguistics Substratum in Early Byzantine Toponymy: Lists Related to Macedonia and Thessaly in Procopius’ "Buildings"

In our contribution, we will focus on the traces of the old Pre-Greek linguistics substratum in certain names of forts from Justinian’s building program presented in the Procopius’ Buildings (Περὶ κτισμάτων, De aedificiis). Actually, the Book IV of the panegyric features a description of fortifications, built and restored by the Emperor Justinian in the European territories. This is the most detailed book in the work, written with great care and completeness, most likely due to the fact that the danger of barbarian incursions in these areas was the greatest. In the paper we will present certain examples of place names which obviously contain remnants of relict languages as very important and valuable toponomastic evidence, typical for the broader area. We are going to inspect the etymology of the place names by Procopius attested as Λάρισσα, Γόμφοι, Λόσσονος, Πέλεκον, Χάραδρος and Βάβας. If possible, we will comparatively examine testimonies from other ancient and medieval sources, as well as epigraphic and archeological data for each name.

On Rulers' Titles and the Names of Balkan Peoples from the Middle Ages to Modern Times

This paper deals with a neglected issue in historiography: the manner of naming people in the medieval multi-ethnic states on the example of Bulgari (Bulgarian), Bulgarini/ Bulgareis (Bulgarinians / Bulgareians, as well as with the practice of claiming rulers’ titles in the Middle Ages and with the name of Macedonians in medieval sources. The misinterpretation of legal state names (Bulgarian, Byzantine, Ottoman) as the race-related, ethnic designations of the Balkan peoples that were used until the creation of the modern nation-state is pointed out, as well the lack of studies on this issue.

De la théorie à la pratique. Penser et nommer la vigne dans les sources médiévales

Cet article explore les manières de nommer les variétés de vignes entre le xiiie et le xve siècle. Les œuvres magistrales de Vincent de Beauvais, Thomas de Cantimpré, Barthélemy l’Anglais, Albert le Grand et Pierre de Crescens proposent un système de nomenclature emprunté aux auteurs anciens. Au même moment émerge dans les sources normatives et de la pratique une nomenclature vernaculaire vivante, riche et originale pour désigner des sortes de vignes et de vin ; ce système de dénomination est ignoré des grands auteurs du xiiie siècle. C’est à partir du xive siècle que des traités d’agriculture commencent à prendre en compte ces noms nouveaux. Cependant, jusqu’à l’invention de l’ampélographie dans la seconde moitié du xixe siècle, cette dénomination vernaculaire est ambiguë, servant à désigner parfois des variétés de vigne, plus souvent des qualités de vin.

Spanish and Ladino Versions of The Song of Songs

The biblical Song of Songs has undergone numerous translations into Spanish and Judeo-Spanish (Ladino) since the Middle Ages. While some translations exclusively feature the original biblical text, others also incorporate translations of the Aramaic interpretations found in Midrash Shir Hashirim. A comparison of these translations highlights a distinction in orthography between medieval and post-medieval renditions. The former are exclusively rendered in Latin letters, whereas the latter are presented in either Hebrew or Latin script. Medieval, and pre-17th century Ladino translations, encompass solely the biblical renderings, whereas post-medieval translations, dating from the 17th century onwards, encompass the translations of both the biblical text and the Aramaic interpretations. This paper specifically examines and contrasts the first three verses of the initial chapter, analyzing translations from three medieval sources and six post-medieval sources. The observed variations in these translations can be attributed to factors such as orthographic conventions, chronological influences, and the geographical locations of publication. Through these comparative analyses, it becomes evident that Ladino translations of biblical texts tend to adhere more closely to the original Hebrew source and maintain a stricter fidelity to established norms when compared to translations of the Aramaic texts.

Did Ernst Herzfeld Find the Qaṣʿat Firʿawn (Pharaoh’s Bowl) in the Caliphal Palace at Samarra?

Ernst Herzfeld’s (1879–1948) papers on his excavation of the Abbasid city of Samarra, held at the National Museum of Asian Art Archives, include two maps indicating the existence of a large circular basin at the center of the square domed chamber south of the Caliphal Palace’s throne room. The details of this basin are provided in an orthographic drawing, and the captions of two photographs tersely attribute it to the palace. Now in the Madrasa al-Sharābiya in Baghdad, this basin has sometimes been identified as Qaṣʿat Firʿawn (Pharaoh’s Bowl), a large basin cited in medieval sources as having been part of the fountain of the Great Mosque of al-Mutawakkil. Strangely enough, not the slightest mention of this basin has been found in the written records of the excavations or in the published reports. A careful examination of other documents in Herzfeld’s archives and publications, as well as a number of reports of the Iraqi Directorate General of Antiquities, has established that the basin must have been discovered under unknown circumstances at an unspecified location in the palace several years after Herzfeld’s excavation. Furthermore, the study of medieval textual sources and other data related to the basin has shown that the latter is not Qaṣʿat Firʿawn but might well have been a similar basin. Originally a Roman labrum, the basin in question was repurposed during the Abbasid period as part of a low fountain with a unique water-circulation system that bears some similarities to the fountains of Islamic Spain.