MEMORY OF THE WORLD REGISTER. Enina Apostolos (Old Bulgarian Cyrillic manuscript (fragment) of the 11t h century)

Transcription

1 MEMORY OF THE WORLD REGISTER Enina Apostolos (Old Bulgarian Cyrillic manuscript (fragment) of the 11t h century) (Bulgaria) Ref N PART A ESSENTIAL INFORMATION 1 SUMMARY The 11 th century Enina Apostolos is the most ancient extant Slavonic copy of the Acts and Epistles. It has been recognised as one of the most important evidences of Old Slavonic literacy. Written on parchment, the fragment represents one of the oldest forms of the Cyrillic script hanging from the ruling line and sloping to right. By the latter Enina Apostolos is akin to other ancient Old Bulgarian manuscripts like the Vatican Palimpsest, the Book of Priest Sava (Aprakos Evangelion), the Undolskij Folia, the Hilandar Folia but the script possesses very particular features. Moreover, the scribe used both the Cyrillic and Glagolitic letters in the text and in the illumination where three of the initials are Glagolitic. The ornament of the initials shows certain similarities with the illumination of the Glagolitic Codex Assemanianus (Vat. Slav. 3), datable to late 10 th or early 11 th century. Enina Apostolos is the only Old Bulgarian Cyrillic manuscript preserving the copy of the Apostolos Lectionary. Its Calendar reflects the Constantinopolitan Cathedral Rite, with the patriarchal service on the 14 th September (Elevation of the Cross) but has certain specific features. The readings supplied with their corresponding liturgical elements antiphons, prokeimena and alleluia, together with the liturgical indications are valuable source for the earliest liturgical practices introduced with the Conversion of Bulgarians and followed by Bulgarian Church in the epoch of the First Bulgarian Kingdom. The language of Enina Apostolos has retained the oldest layer of the phonetic, morphologic and syntactic characteristics of Old Bulgarian. The orthography is characterized by one jer (back vocal Ъ) and the usage of the two nasals. Some linguistic peculiarities (like the lexeme kadilnitsa ) support the arguments for the East Bulgarian origin of the manuscript. Its palaeographic, as well as its orthographic features is decisive testimony not only of the Glagolitic protograph of Enina Apostolos but of the process, known as prelozhenie knig (the transcription of Glagolitic books in Cyrillic) from the sources which also ascribe the initiative to the King Simeon I ( ). On the whole evidence of the manuscript the recent studies maintain the conclusion on the importance of the copy for revealing the specificity of the Preslav Literary School of the 10 th century. From the time of its discovery until today the fragment has proven to be of crucial importance for establishing basic linguistic, textological, orthographic, palaeographic, historic and liturgical issues of the Slavonic cultural heritage based on the deed of St Cyril and St Methodius. 2 DETAILS OF THE NOMINATOR 2.1. Name (person or organisation): Memory of the World National Committee. Head: Prof. Doct. Phil. Boriana Hristova, Director, SS Cyril and Methodius National Library (NBKM), Sofia, Bulgaria Relationship to the documentary heritage nominated: 1

2 The National Library is the holder of the nominated object. The manuscript collections of which are state property Contact person (s): Dr Elissaveta Moussakova, Senior Research Fellow, Head of the Manuscript and Old Printed Books Department, National Library 2.4 Contact details (include address, phone, fax, ): SS Cyril and Methodius National Library, 88 Vasil Levski Blvd, 1037 Sofia, Bulgaria; phone number , ext. 391; e.musakova@nationallibrary.bg 3 IDENTITY AND DESCRIPTION OF THE DOCUMENTARY HERITAGE 3.1 Name and identification details of the items being nominated: Enina Apostolos, Old Bulgarian Cyrillic manuscript (fragment) of the 11 th century; kept in the National Library, Sofia, shelfmark NBKM Description 1 Description of the nominated object Enina Apostolos is a fragment of 39 parchment folios, all of them in a different state of damage. Single fragments measure not more than 10 cm. In its original condition the parchment codex might have comprised 26 or 27 gatherings (quaternions) or about 216 folios. The parchment is thick, of mediocre quality but relatively well processed before writing. It is difficult to establish the original size of the leaves but it can be approximated to 190/200 xc155 mm. The upper margin is about 35 mm, while the lower is about 30 mm; the left and right margins are respectively about 20 and 30/35 mm. The ruling system and type are simple ones. The text column measures 135 x 105 mm. The ink is dark brown, the rubrics are written in minium. The script is archaic Cyrillic ustav (uncial), sloping to right and hanging from the ruling line, 3 3,5 mm high. The illumination is represented by two headpieces, of the band- or strip-type, and several initials, preceding each reading. Their ornament is prevailingly geometric with early elements of the Slavonic teratological style. Peculiar feature of the decoration is the giant initial on f. 1v, comparable to those in two glagolitic manuscripts Codex Zographensis and Codex Marianus, both datable to the 10th century. Content: even though the greatest part of the copy is missing, the extant leaves form a unity, the synaxarion comprising the readings from the Acts and Epistles provided for the services between the 35th week after Pentecost and Holy Saturday, and the menologion comprising readings for the period between the 1st September (The Beginning of the Indiction) and the 3rd October, the Commemoration of St Dionysius Areopagites. The date of origin has been established mainly on linguistic criteria and is considered to be 11th century (even its second half). Though the statement has not been challenged yet, certain peculiarities of the script and illumination are suggestive for an earlier date of origin (end of 10th beginning of 11th c.). Condition: at the moment of its finding, the folios were damaged, crumbled in a ball, covered with dirt, with torn out parts and destructed parchment due to exposition to moisture and oxidation of the inks. The fragment has been treated in the Laboratory of Conservation and Restoration at the National Library. As a result, the text became readable in most of the folios, the parchment has been softened and pressed, on three of the leaves was experimented the 2

3 filling in with new parchment of the missing parts but the procedure proved to be unsuitable and unsuccessful and was nor carried on further. At present the folios are in very good condition, each wrapped in acid-free paper and put in a cardboard-and-leather box of no archival quality. It is kept on a metallic shelf in the conditioned and secured storage area of the Library, under regular temperature of 18 20oC and relatively regular humidity. 4 JUSTIFICATION FOR INCLUSION/ ASSESSMENT AGAINST CRITERIA 4.1 Is authenticity established? The authenticity of Enina Apostolos (NBKM 1144) is definitely proven in the process of its physical analysis and by the exhaustive study before and after its restoration. The document corresponds in any detail to its description in the reference papers as quoted above: Mirchev, Kodov 1965, Stoianov, Kodov 1971, Mirchev, Kodov 1983, Dogramadzhieva 1985, Ikonomova A fully reliable source, confirming its origin and identity is the facsimile edition of K. Mirchev and H. Kodov, from Is world significance, uniqueness and irreplaceability established? Enina Apostolos is the oldest known Cyrillic copy of the Lectionary Apostolos which justifies the world importance of the fragment. The unique character of Enina Apostolos is attested by the fact that it is also the oldest extant Slavonic copy of the Cyrillo-Methodian translation of the Acts and Epistles. Thus the copy appears as important in the history of Slavonic literacy and more particularly, of the translations from Greek made by St Cyril and St Methodius and their disciples. The translations were transmitted in East Bulgaria at the end of 9 th c. and the beginning of 10 th c. The importance of the copy as a unique document, representative for the whole Slavonic tradition of the Apostolos in the Middle Ages is extensively explained in the most recent work on the translated Apostolos, Христова- Шомова, И. Служебният Апостол в славянската ръкописна традиция [Hristova Shomova, I. Liturgical Apostolos in the Slavonic Manuscript Tradition]. Sofia, 2004, 832 p. 4.3 Is one or more of the criteria of (a) time (b) place (c) people (d) subject and theme (e) form and style (f) social, spiritual and community significance satisfied? (а) The script and illumination of Enina Apostolos reveal archaic and conservative features. The language and orthography keep traces of the Glagolitic tradition and the early characteristics of Preslav Literary School. Therefore Enina Apostolos appears to be a unique document of the East Orthodox literacy of the late 10 th and early 11 th century. (b) Preslav Literary School, the tradition to which Enina Apostolos is ascribed, inherited the Cyrillo-Methodian legacy, the Bulgarian capital Preslav, under the rule of king Simeon ( ). Also in the time of his son King Peter ( ), literary activity was extremely intensive and fundamental to the establishing of an entire corpus of liturgical and dogmatic books. The literary production of the epoch, known as The Golden Age of Simeon provided Christian literature models to the rest of Slavs Russians, Serbs, Croats. (c) The text of the Apostolos Lectionary (selected parts or readings from the Acts and Epistles, arranged according to the liturgical calendar) is of a great importance as it comprises the basic formulae of Christian dogma. As an inseparable part of the text corpus for the the Christianization of Slavs and the performing of Slavonic liturgy in vernacular, the New Testament text preserved in Enina Apostolos is a witness of the affiliation of Slav people to Christianity a crucial change in their history and culture. 3

4 (d) The Lectionary of the Apostolos has been obligatory component of the first translations of liturgical books. Its Slavonic translation appeared in the 9 th century as a necessity for the missionary work of St Cyril and St Methodius in Great Moravia and Pannonia. Ioann (John) Ekhzarh (Bulgarian man of letters, 10 th century) explicitly pointed out the Gospel and Apostolos Lectionaries as the first among the books translated by the Holy brothers. Testimonies to the same are given in the Lives of the two saints and also in the earliest Russian chronicles. The importance of the apostolic text for the Christianization of the Slavs is confirmed by Latin and Byzantine sources. (e) The script and the entire design of Enina Apostolos bear the symptomatic features of the oldest Cyrillic Old Bulgarian codices of the 10 th and 11 th centuries (Undolskij Folia, Macedonian Cyrillic Folio, the Book of Priest Sava, Hilandar Folia and others). By its format, style of writing and decoration the manuscript is valuable witness to the pre-iconoclastic Byzantine manuscript tradition based on the heritage of the Eastern Early Christian culture. (f) The liturgical content of the manuscript points to its (or its protograph) usage in the Patriarchal service which underlines the importance of the document for the religious life of Bulgaria, the only European country in the late 9 th century where vernacular was given the status of liturgical language. 4.4 Are there issues of rarity, integrity, threat and management that relate to this nomination? Enina Apostolos is one of the rarest documents of Slavonic written heritage. Even though it is described in details, edited and digitized, its character demands its inclusion among the monuments under the auspices of UNESCO as an exemplar of an ancient, European manuscript tradition which must be evaluated by its merits and made popular among a wide cultural auditory. After its digitization, Enina Apostolos became globally available through the Internet but its importance for European culture has not been sufficiently emphasized, nor has it taken the place it deserves in the list of cultural monuments having leading role in the Christianization of the Slavs. 5 LEGAL INFORMATION 5.1. Owner of the documentary heritage (name and contact details) Holder: SS Cyril and Methodius National Library, 88 Vasil Levski Blvd, 1037 Sofia, Bulgaria (the State is the owner of the special collections of manuscripts, archives and similar documents). 5.2 Custodian of the documentary heritage (name and contact details, if different to owner) 5.3 Legal status: (a) Category of ownership: State ownership (b) Accessibility: limited access to the original; free access to the digital copy of the manuscript. (c) Copyright status: copyright is of the Holder 4

5 (d) Responsible administration: The Head of the Department of Manuscripts and Old Printed Books; the Head of the Marin Drinov Specialised Reading Room. (e) Other factors: The Ministry of Culture is the authority giving permission to loan items from the special collections of the Library to other institutions in the country and abroad. 6 MANAGEMENT PLAN 6.1 Is there a management plan in existence for this documentary heritage? NO Current storage: at present the folios are put in a cardboard-and-leather box of no archival quality. It is kept on a metallic shelf in the conditioned and secured storage area of the Library, under regular temperature of o C and relatively regular humidity. 7 CONSULTATION 7.1 Provide details of consultation about this nomination with (a) the owner of the heritage (b) the custodian (c) your national or regional Memory of the World committee (a) Boriana Hristova, Prof. Doct. Phil., Director of the National Library; (b) Elissaveta Moussakova, PhD, Head of the Manuscripts and Old Printed Books Department; (c) Vasil Gjuzelev, Acad. Prof. Doct. Hist., Head of the National Archaeographic Commission; Axinia Dzhurova, Corr. Memb. Prof. Doct. Art Hist., Director of the Centre for Slavo-Byzantine Researches Ivan Dujcev ; Anissava Miltenova, Ass. Prof. Doct. Phil., Head of the Department of Old Bulgarian Literature at the Institute of Literature, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences. PART B SUBSIDIARY INFORMATION The following information will not be taken into account in deciding whether or not to inscribe documentary heritage on the Register but will be included in the database as additional information. Some of this information may be drawn from the management plan (item 6 above). 8 ASSESSMENT OF RISK 8.1 Detail the nature and scope of threats to this documentary heritage (see 5.5) The risks of fire, water and theft are brought at a minimum. 9 ASSESSMENT OF PRESERVATION 9.1 Detail the preservation context of the documentary heritage (see 3.3) The conditions of preservation are very good but not optimal. The document is kept in conditioned and secured storage area, in a cardboard-and-leather box of no archival quality; each of the folios is wrapped in acid-free paper. 5