Paleographic Data Research Articles

On the question of dating Arabic texts on papyrus and paper

Dating is one of the most important stages of working with a document, along with its deciphering. When working with Arabic documents on papyrus and paper, we do not have information about their provenance, or whether they were part of an archive. Their often poor preservation does not increase a researcher’s chances of dating the document at least within a century as well. Conditionally dividing the dating mechanisms into “external” and “internal,” we can argue that prosopography provides the most accurate data about when the document was written; the formulas and structure of documents may indicate a certain historical period; paleographic analysis provides the least accurate data. Based on paleographic data, documents on papyrus are tentatively dated to the 3rd/9th century, and documents on paper - to the period from the 4th/10th to the 7th/13th centuries.

From Moravia to Pskov: Text and Extratexts of the St. Sophia Triodion

The article is devoted to the analysis of a previously unpublished caption to the drawing in the Triodion manuscript Nr. 84 of the collection of the Cathedral of St Sophia in the Russian National Library, St Petersburg, and to the study of paleographic, orthographic and linguistic features of this codex. Based on paleographic data, the Sophia Triodion should date back to the second half of the 14th century. The identification of one of the handwritings of the manuscript with the main handwriting of the Service Menaia Nr. 101, 106, and 111 from the collection of the Synodal Typography in the Russian State Archives of Early Acts, Moscow, allows placing the codex Soph. 84 in the circle of manuscripts associated with the famous Pskov scriptorium of Andrei, priest of the St. Nicholas Church. The orthographic analysis of the handwritings presented in Soph. 84 shows that the scribes of most of the manuscript (before fol. 199 and after fol. 230) are opposed as rather conservative for the 14th century to the scribes who copied the ff. 199–230. Perhaps the scribes of this “conservative&8j1; part sought to accurately convey the orthographic features of the ancient antigraph of Triodion, which, as some researchers believe, dates back to the Moravian period of the development of Slavic writing; the latter thesis is confirmed by some Western Slavic linguistic features preserved by the text of the Soph. 84. At the same time, all four scribes have interspersed phonetic dialectisms: tsokanye (ts–ch merger), zhg < *zdj/*zg(i) and a single example of the merger of whistling and hushing consonants – the most important argument in favor of the Pskov origin of the manuscript.

«Роспись Китайскому государству и Лобинскому...» томского казака Ивана Петлина: внешняя критика источника, лингвистическое издание

The article presents the text of the report on the trip to China of a small squad of Russian service people under the command of the Tomsk Cossack Ivan Petlin in 1618-1619. The text is prepared according to the rules of a linguistic publication. Written in the genre of rospis’ (list, inventory), this document became the first reliable evidence of a Russian visit to China and enriched world science with its geographical and ethno-cultural data. The research part of the publication contains the external criticism of the source, including the definition of authorship, time and place of origin of the source, the conditions for its formation and the genre features of the presented Rospis’. According to the established tradition, a complex of paleographic data of the text was considered within the framework of external criticism of Petlin’s report; this relates to its linguistic informativeness: the type of writing, spelling features and the presence of edits in the text, the readability of the text, as well as the characteristics of the graphics of the records created by two people. The text of the present Rospis’ is completed in cursive writing, typical for the beginning of the 17th century, with an even direction of the lines that contain traces of gridding, which gives the writing a certain accuracy. Repeated introductions (a ot - whom?/what? -ekhati/idti - how long?) and parallelism in the construction of sentences are noted on some sheets, which characterises business letters of this era. The analysis revealed new information that supplements the linguistic richness of the previous editions of this report by historians and made it possible to clarify some lexemes (so vstuku, Yunokach’), a number of morphological forms (yadra) reflecting the construction of nominal and pronominal paradigms at that time (vo khramu, vsyakimi obrazy, za plechmi); numerals which in this publication are represented in numbers (vosm’, po pyatidesyat) proved to be particularly informative. When reproducing the text, the rules of a linguistic publication were taken into account, involving the separation of words, the introduction of capital letters for proper names, marking the end of the line and sheet. Marginal graphemes are in italics, titles are omitted, and abbreviations are not opened due to their traditional character for medieval writing (tsr’, gdrstvo). Lost letters at the end of a line or omitted at the end of a word before a similar grapheme at the beginning of the next one are restored in square brackets, reading options are offered in parentheses. The only punctuation marks given are dots next to letter-numbers indicated in the record (da v to zh ozero .D reki / vpali), the selection of paragraphs corresponds to spaces at the end of lines. The text is reproduced letter for letter, reflecting the functional duplication of different graphic characters where possible. The authors declare no conflicts of interests.

The Gunbad Manuscript of “Kitab-i Dedem Korkut” as a New Source in the Study of the Epic

“Kitab-i dedem Korkut” is the only surviving monument of the written epic among the Turkic Oghuz peoples. Until recently, two undated manuscripts of “Kitab-i dedem Korkut” were known – the so-called Dresden and Vatican manuscripts (both, according to paleographic data, relate to the end of the 16th century). The first was discovered in the Dresden library by G. Dietz in 1815; the second one was found in the Vatican Library, translated and published by E. Rossi in 1950. In 2018, a new manuscript which is referred to as the “Book of Dede Korkut” was found in Iran in the private collection (“The Gonbad manuscript”); its brief (mostly linguistical) research, along with a facsimile of the manuscript, was published by the collective of authors in June 2019. This copy dates back to the 2nd half of the 18th century and comes from the Northeastern Iran. Text of the manuscript (on 31 folios) it consists of 25 parts, which contains some genealogies and tells about the exploits of Kazan (one of the central and ancient characters of the “Book of Dede Korkut” according to previously known manuscripts); other heroes of this epic are also mentioned, including Korkut himself. The events referred to in the text take place in the territories of Transcaucasia, which are located much to the east of those referred to in the previously known manuscripts. The date of this source to the 18th century (even if we have a relatively late imitation of the epic) indicates, first of all, a certain actualization of the Turkic cultural heritage in Iran.

Новый фрагмент санскритской Саддхармапундарика-сутры из Хотана

Introduction. The collection of Sanskrit manuscripts of the Lotus Sutra is a richest one in the Serindian Collection of the Institute of Oriental Manuscripts (RAS, 27 call numbers). Most of the fragments of the Sanskrit Lotus Sutra from the Serindian Collection belong to the Central Asian edition, including the famous Kashgar manuscript by N. F. Petrovsky that is the most extensive version of the Sutra (about 400 folios) and the core of the Sanskrit manuscripts containing the text of ‘Saddharmapuṇḍarīka’. Most of the Sanskrit manuscripts of the Lotus Sutra in the Serindian Collection were compiled in the southern oases of the Tarim Basin and made in poṭhī format. The texts of these manuscripts were written in Southern Turkestan Brāhmī in black ink on paper. According to paleographic data, these manuscripts can be dated to the 8th–9th centuries AD. Goals. The article seeks to introduce into academic circulation a new fragment of the Sanskrit Lotus Sutra from the Serindian Collection of the IOM (RAS). The new unpublished fragment of the Lotus Sutra stored under call number SI 6584 has been identified relatively recently. It is an excerpt from Chapter XVIII of the Lotus Sutra (‘The Chapter Describing the Religious Merit [Obtained through] Joyful Participation [in Dharma]’, ‘Anumodanāpuṇyanirdeśaparivartaḥ’). According to paleographic and codicological characteristics, the new fragment is very close to another previously published manuscript of the Lotus Sutra stored in the Serindian Collection under call number SI 1934. The article describes the external features of both manuscripts (SI 1934 and SI 6584), transliterates, translates and compares fragment SI 6584 to the other well-known texts of the Lotus Sutra. The paper also contains a facsimile reproduction of fragment SI 6584. Conclusions. As compared to other texts of the Lotus Sutra, fragment SI 6584 belongs to the Central Asian edition of ‘Saddharmapuṇḍarīka’, and its text is almost identical to that of the Kashgar manuscript by N. F. Petrovsky (fol. 335b–337a).

Bone Detritus in Sediments of the Tethys Ocean

Comparative studies of the geochemistry of bone detritus were performed for the bottom of the Melovoe deposit (south of the Mangyshlak Peninsula; Oligocene–Miocene) and for the recent uranium-bearing sediments at the shelf of Namibia in which the concentrations of trace elements were determined. The similarity of trace-elemental compositions of bones and enclosing sediments was revealed for both cases, as well as a partial similarity of ancient and recent sediments and bones. Moreover, the similarity of uranium mineralization in Maikop bones and in the bone matter of the recent shelf was found. Paleographic data on the Maikop basin showed that the ore bodies were formed in shoal productive shelf zone characterized by frequent mass die-offs of fauna similarly to occasional events at the recent oceanic shelves. Certain geochemical differences in mineral and chemical compositions of ancient and recent bones are related to the increased concentrations of uranium and other trace elements in the Tethys waters owing to the evaporation of seawaters and associated concentrating of dissolved metals under the ocean regression.

Molecular Genetic Analysis of the Relationships and Origin of Smelt (Hypomesus, Osmeridae), a New Component of the Fauna of the Barents Sea

This study examines the relationships and origin of a population of smelt (genus Hypomesus) that was recently found in the Barents Sea at a significant distance from the western boundary of its geographic range. Genetic analysis clearly identified this species as pond smelt H. olidus and showed its phylogenetic closeness and shared demographic history with H. olidus from the basin of the Bering Sea. Genetic differentiation indices suggest long isolation of populations of the Pacific and Barents Sea basins. The statistical estimates of historical demographic events, coupled with the paleographic data for the Arctic areas of Russia, show that certain populations of H. olidus might have survived in glacial refugia of the Polar Ural region. H. olidus might have passed repeatedly through a bottleneck in past glacial refugia, as well as in the recent time because of the harsh Arctic conditions.

Apontamentos paleográficos e análise de indícios de mudança fonética em manuscrito setecentista de Minas Geraes

Este artigo apresenta, de forma parcial, dados paleográficos de um manuscrito setecentista localizado no Arquivo Eclesiástico da Arquidiocese de Mariana (MG), do qual são extraídos e analisados casos que podem indiciar mudança fonética. Muitos desses casos ainda são recorrentes e atuantes no português brasileiro. Os dados aqui apresentados podem, de alguma forma, contribuir para os estudos etimológicos, já que o corpus analisado, transcrito com critérios filológicos, possui datação e localização.

Urban daemons of early Shang: Urbanism in ancient China

Two early Shang (ca.1600–1200BCE) works of art are critical in demonstrating the thesis that Shang ritual imagery was meaningful as a royal symbol of metamorphosis, in the context of urbanization from its earliest manifestation during the Early Shang era and throughout the heyday of Shang culture. Due to the abundance of newly excavated artifacts and art and of paleographic data in the form of oracle bone inscriptions, it is possible to begin to explain Shang (ca.1600–1046BCE) religion and its artistic symbolism. As I identified in my recent book, The Meaning of the Graph Yi 異 and Its Implications for Shang Belief and Art (2008), the belief in metamorphosis yi 異 was basic to the socioreligious practice of Shang and remained key throughout Sinitic history. This belief in metamorphic power, and the artistic program to which it gave rise is recorded in two kinds of primary sources, written inscriptions and a vocabulary of standardized visual elements, both of which are analyzed in the present manuscript.

Опыт нового прочтения родословной легенды князей Фоминских-Травиных: сюжет свадебной порчи

The article studies the legend of how a ‘wedding hex’ caused the divorce of Simeon Ivanovich Gordyi (the Proud), Grand Prince of Moscow. The various versions of this event in medieval sources and the interpretations in the research literature are discussed. According to the most popular version, the marriage between Simeon Gordyi and Grand Princess Eupraxia Fedorovna of Smolensk was not consummated because the princess was made to look like a corpse in her husband’s eyes. Simeon thus sent the princess back to her father and entered into a new marriage, his third. This article demonstrates that this tale derives from a genealogical legend surrounding the origin of the princely Fominsky family. It is assumed that the legend was initially disseminated by the Karpov family, since they competed with the Fominskys for ancestral seniority. The legend appears for the first time in a Karpov genealogy dating from the first decade of the 16th century. Folkloric traditions are replete with tales of wedding accidents similar to that which befell Simeon Gordyi and Eupraxia Fedorovna. According to popular belief, a hex on either one of a newly-wed couple (or both) could lead to their physical transformation into an animal or hallucinations whereby one’s partner seemed to become a snake, a wolf, or a bear. However, hallucinating that one’s partner is a corpse was not a mainstay of folk traditions. Thus we may assume that the version of the legend that ultimately appeared might have been the result of either conscious distortion or reading errors. Linguistic slippage between the words ‘bear’ and ‘dead’ is another potential reason when we consider the paleographic data and the history of language. Therefore the legend of the wedding hex on Princess Eupraxia Fedorovna should not be read literally.

Big Ding 鼎 and China Power: Divine Authority and Legitimacy

Paleographic, art historical, metallurgical, and archaeological data are used to identify the monumental bronze tetrapod ding vessel as a preeminent symbol of state authority and divine power during the Shang era of ca. 1640–1046 b.c.e . Paleographic data based on oracle bone terms and inscriptions includes reference to ding as a verb of ancestral sacrifice, and the ding vessel in the specialized compound, yiding , referring to the ritually and metamorphically empowered ding vessel. Art historical data accounts for differences in form and style between ding tetrapod and tripod types. Metallurgical data derives primarily from a unique source of high radiogenic lead in southern China exploited during the early Shang period. Archaeological data derives from excavated Shang tetrapod ding in royal burial or cache burials.

Statistical Analysis of Digital Paleographic Data: What Can It Tell Us?

Manuscript transcription in the Cotton Nero A.x. Project is at a graphetic level and captures each distinguishable glyph used by the scribe. When the transcription is organized as a series of XML entities within a codicological DTD a search-and-count algorithm can be appied to the database of graphetic information. Initial statistical analysis of the data reveals dramatic changes in the scribe’s writing system at two points in the manuscript that are roughly coincident with quire boundaries (and also textual boundaries). Hypotheses that will guide further investigation of this phenomenon include the possibility that substantial gaps of time separated the scribe’s work in copying the four Middle English poems that make up the manuscript.

Reaction Of The Heat Regime Of Antarctic Ice Sheet Inland Regions On Long-Term Changes Of Climate

A nonstationary mathematical model of thermics and dynamics of the Antarctic ice sheet has been developed, taking into consideration the influence of long-term changes of climate. The influence of climatic variations during the last 100 000 years on the temperature field within the ice sheet has been analysed. Information about climatic changes is based on paleographic data and isotope analyses of ice samples from bore holes at Vostok and Byrd stations. The input data used include results from field surveys of accumulation, temperatures of upper surface, relief of the base and thickness of the ice sheet along the flowlines in the western and eastern parts of the ice sheet, as well as experimental data on ice rheology. The computations show that traces of the climatic minimum that took place about 18 000 years ago are found in the temperature field of the Antarctic ice sheet. The model developed has proved that warming of climate due to the “greenhouse effect” leads to significant changes in the thermal regime in the upper parts of the ice sheet, but will not lead to conditions threatening bottom layers.