The alphabet of the Old Slavonic alphabet, like any other alphabet, was a system of certain signs, to which a certain sound was assigned. The Slavic alphabet was formed on the territory of the peoples of Ancient Russia many centuries ago.
Events of the historical past
The year 862 went down in history as the year when the first official steps were taken in Russia to adopt Christianity. Prince Vsevolod sent ambassadors to the Byzantine emperor Michael, who were supposed to convey his request that the emperor send preachers of the Christian faith to Great Moravia. The need for preachers arose due to the fact that people themselves could not penetrate the essence of Christian teaching, because the Holy Scriptures were only in Latin.
In response to this request, two brothers were sent to the Russian lands: Cyril and Methodius. The first of them received the name Cyril a little later, when he took monastic vows. This choice has been carefully considered. The brothers were born in Thessalonica in the family of a military leader. The Greek version is Thessaloniki. The level of education for that time they had a very high. Konstantin (Cyril) was trained and brought up at the court of Emperor Michael the Third. He could speak several languages:
- Greek
- Arabic,
- Slavic
- Jewish.
For his ability to initiate others into the secrets of philosophy, he received the nickname Constantine the Philosopher.
Methodius began his career with military service, he tried himself as the ruler of one of the regions, which was inhabited by the Slavs. In 860, they made a trip to the Khazars, their goal was to spread the Christian faith and reach some agreements with these people.
History of written signs
Konstantin had to create written signs with the active help of his brother. After all, Holy Scripture was only in Latin. To convey this knowledge to a large number of people, the written version of the Holy Books in the language of the Slavs was simply necessary. As a result of their painstaking work, the Slavic alphabet appeared in 863.
Two variants of the alphabet: Glagolitic and Cyrillic are ambiguous. Researchers argue about which of these two options belongs directly to Cyril, and which one appeared later.
After the creation of the written system, the brothers were engaged in translating the Bible into the language of the Slavs. The meaning of this alphabet is enormous. The people could not only speak their own language. But also to write, and to form the literary basis of the language. Some of the words of that time have come down to our time and function in Russian, Belarusian, Ukrainian languages.
Word symbols
The letters of the ancient alphabet had names that coincided with the words. The very word "alphabet" comes from the first letters of the alphabet: "az" and "beeches". They were the modern letters "A" and "B".
The first written symbols in the Slavic lands were scratched on the walls of the churches of Pereslavl in the form of pictures. It was in the 9th century. In the 11th century, this alphabet appeared in Kiev, in St. Sophia Cathedral, where signs were interpreted, written translations were made.
A new stage in the formation of the alphabet is associated with the advent of printing. 1574 brought the first alphabet to the Russian lands, which was printed. It was called "Old Slavonic alphabet". The name of the person who released it entered the centuries - Ivan Fedorov.
The connection between the emergence of writing and the spread of Christianity
The Old Slavonic alphabet was more than a simple set of characters. Its appearance made it possible for a large number of people to get acquainted with the Christian faith, to penetrate into its essence, to give it their heart. All scholars agree that without the appearance of writing, Christianity in the Russian lands would not have appeared so quickly. Between the creation of letters and the adoption of Christianity - 125 years, during which there was a huge leap in the self-consciousness of the people. From dense beliefs and customs, people came to faith in the One God. It was the Holy Books, which were distributed throughout the territory of Russia, and the ability to read them, that became the basis for the spread of Christian knowledge.
863 is the year of the creation of the alphabet, 988 is the date of the adoption of Christianity in Russia. This year, Prince Vladimir announced that a new faith was being introduced in the principality and a struggle began against all manifestations of polytheism.
The mystery of written symbols
Some scientists believe that the symbols of the Slavic alphabet are secret signs in which religious and philosophical knowledge is encrypted. Together they represent a complex system based on clear logic and mathematical relationships. There is an opinion that all the letters in this alphabet are an integral, inseparable system, which is why the alphabet was created as a system, and not as separate elements and signs.
The first such signs were something between numbers and letters. The Old Slavonic alphabet was based on the Greek uncial writing system. The Slavic Cyrillic alphabet consisted of 43 letters. The brothers took 24 letters from the Greek unique, and the remaining 19 were invented by themselves. The need to invent new sounds arose due to the fact that the Slavic language contained sounds that were not characteristic of Greek pronunciation. Accordingly, there were no such letters. Constantine either took these symbols from other systems or invented them himself.
"higher" and "lower" part
The whole system can be divided into two distinct parts. Conventionally, they received the names "higher" and "lower". The first part includes letters from "a" to "f" ("az" - "fet"). Each letter is a symbol-word. Such a name was completely focused on people, because these words were clear to everyone. The lower part went from "sha" to the letter "Izhitsa". These symbols were left without digital correspondence, were filled with negative connotations. “In order to penetrate the essence of the cryptography of these symbols, they need to be carefully studied, analyzed all the nuances. After all, in each of them lives the meaning laid down by the creator.
Researchers also find the meaning of the triad in these symbols. A person, comprehending this knowledge, must reach a higher level of spiritual perfection. Thus, the alphabet is the creation of Cyril and Methodius, leading to the self-improvement of people.
Who invented the Slavic alphabet?
Editorial responseOn May 24, Russia and other Slavic countries celebrate the Day of Slavic Literature and Culture. On this day, the Orthodox Church remembers the creators of the Slavic alphabet - the holy Equal-to-the-Apostles brothers Cyril and Methodius. And although the brothers had never been to Ancient Russia, without the Cyrillic alphabet, the formation of Russian culture and literature would have been impossible.
Who were Cyril and Methodius?
Cyril (c. 827-869) received this name when he was tonsured into the schema 50 days before his death in Rome, he lived all his life with the name Constantine, and for his love of philosophy he was called Constantine the Philosopher. Methodius (820-885) - the monastic name of the monk, the worldly name is unknown, presumably his name was Michael.
Monument to Cyril and Methodius on Slavyanskaya Square. Moscow. Sculptor Vyacheslav Klykov. Opened in 1992 Photo: RIA Novosti / Alexander PolyakovCyril and Methodius were born in the city of Thessaloniki (Thessaloniki) in Greece, which at that time was part of Byzantium. Their father was a high-ranking military leader.
Cyril from childhood showed interest in science and foreign languages. He received an excellent education at the royal court, where his teacher was the famous Photius, subsequently Patriarch of Constantinople.
At the end of his teaching, Saint Constantine accepted the rank of priest and was appointed curator of the patriarchal library at the church of Saint Sophia, but soon left the capital and secretly retired to a monastery. However, he was tracked down and returned to Constantinople to become a teacher of philosophy at the higher educational institution of Constantinople - the court school.
With the help of wisdom and faith, young Constantine defeated the leader in the debate heretic iconoclasts Annius. After this victory, the emperor sent Constantine to dispute about the Holy Trinity with the Saracens (Muslims), where the Philosopher also won.
Meanwhile, the elder brother Methodius, having served ten years as the ruler of one of the provinces, went to the Olympus Monastery in Asia Minor. In the 860s, having renounced the rank of archbishop, he became abbot of the monastery Polychron on the Asian coast of the Sea of Marmara, near the city of Cyzicus. Upon his return from the Saracens, Saint Cyril joined his brother, since he always desired the monastic life.
In 858, the Khazars, who roamed in the southeast of present-day Russia, asked Emperor Michael faith preachers. The emperor sent them the brothers Cyril and Methodius. Their path lay through Korsun (Tauric Chersonese), where the missionaries stopped for a while to study Hebrew. Here they discovered the relics Saint Clement — Pope. They took most of the holy relics with them. But the brothers failed to convert the Khazar Kagan, who professed Judaism, to the Christian faith. Having baptized about 200 Khazars and taking with them the captive Greeks released to freedom, they returned. The elder brother became abbess at the Polychronius Monastery, and the younger brother returned to Constantinople.
How was Slavic writing created?
In 863, the embassy of the ruler Prince Rostislav arrived in Constantinople. The ambassadors asked to send teachers who could preach in the Slavic language. The Byzantine emperor decided to send Cyril and Methodius there.
Christianity was brought to Moravia by Latin missionaries from southern Germany. They performed divine services in Latin, which did not contribute to enlightenment and the spread of Christianity.
Sending the brothers to Moravia, the Byzantine emperor said to Cyril: “I know that you are weak and sick, but there is no one except you to fulfill what they ask. You, and all the Thessalonians speak purely Slavic. “I am weak and sick, but glad to go, on foot and barefoot, ready to die for the Christian faith,” Cyril answered. “Do the Slavs have an alphabet? - he asked. “Learning without the alphabet and without books is like writing a conversation on the water.”
Then St. Cyril began work on the Slavic alphabet, which was based on the Greek alphabet.
There is no consensus among scientists about what kind of alphabet Cyril created - Cyrillic or Glagolitic. In the X-XI centuries, the Cyrillic alphabet consisted of 43 letters: 25 were borrowed from the Greek alphabet, and 18 were built relatively independently to convey the sounds of Old Slavonic speech that were absent in the Greek language.
The Glagolitic alphabet largely coincides with the Cyrillic alphabet. The difference lies in the shape of the letters, which are more difficult to write. Moreover, the origin of such inscriptions remains controversial. The Glagolitic alphabet was common in the 10th-11th centuries in Moravia, Dalmatia and Bulgaria, and existed in Croatia until the 18th century.
Saints Cyril and Methodius. Photo: Public Domain
According to one version, Cyril invented the Glagolitic alphabet, and the Cyrillic alphabet was created by his student Clement of Ohrid at the end of the 9th - beginning of the 10th century in Ancient Bulgaria after this country was baptized.
According to another version, the Glagolitic alphabet was introduced into Moravia at the end of the 10th century by the disciples of Cyril, because the Cyrillic alphabet, which was too similar to the Byzantine script, began to be persecuted by the Western Latin clergy, who competed with the Byzantine missionaries in this region.
Until the 11th-12th centuries, both Cyrillic and Glagolitic were used in parallel. Later, the graphically more advanced Cyrillic replaced the Glagolitic everywhere.
Over time, Slavonic writing and books translated into Slavonic spread from Constantinople throughout the eastern half of the Balkan Peninsula, in the vast Bulgarian state, along the Danube, in modern Hungary, to the outskirts of Poland, the Czech Republic, Croatia and Serbia, and finally to Kiev and Novgorod. This enlightenment became the source and symbol of Slavic unity.
In those years, the conflict between the Eastern and Western Churches and the struggle for influence were already flaring up. Acting on the territory independent of the Patriarchate of Constantinople, but adjacent to the Roman throne, the Slavic enlighteners had to be extremely careful not to arm the power of Rome against themselves.
The bishops of Germany, who celebrated divine services in Latin in the Moravian churches, rebelled against the holy brothers, arguing that divine services could be celebrated only in one of three languages: Hebrew, Greek or Latin.Saint Constantine answered them: “You recognize only three languages worthy of glorifying God in them. But David cries out: Sing to the Lord, all the earth; praise the Lord, all nations; let every breath praise the Lord! And in the Holy Gospel it is said: Go and teach all languages...”
The German bishops were put to shame, but became even more embittered and filed a complaint with Pope Nicholas I. To resolve the dispute, the saints went to Rome. They carried with them part of the relics of Equal-to-the-Apostles Clement, Pope of Rome, and the sacred books translated by them.
Pope Nicholas I without waiting for them, he died. His successor, Pope Adrian, who wished to reconcile the Western and Eastern Churches, went out to meet the saints outside the city, accompanied by the clergy and people. The patriarch received the holy relics from Cyril and Methodius and placed them in the church of St. Clement, and consecrated the books translated into Slavonic on the throne of the most ancient Roman basilica, called Mary the Great.
Shortly after arriving in Rome, Cyril fell ill. He bequeathed the continuation of the great work to his brother and died on February 14, 869. Before his death, he said to Methodius: “We are with you, like two oxen; from a heavy burden, one fell, the other must continue on his way.
Saint Methodius fulfilled his brother's will: returning to Moravia already in the rank of archbishop, he preached for 15 years. Saint Methodius died on April 19, 885.
How is the Day of Slavic Literature and Culture celebrated?
In Russia, the celebration was established on May 24, 1863 (May 11, according to the old style). With the advent of Soviet power, the holiday was abolished, but in 1986 it was revived, and since 1991 the Day of Slavic Literature has become a public holiday.
On this day, festivals, concerts and other events are held in Moscow and other Russian cities.
Moravia is a historical region of the Czech Republic to the east of the historical region of the Czech Republic.
Thessalonica is the Slavic name for the city of Thessaloniki (Thessalonica).
Until now, there is an opinion that before the creation of the Slavic alphabet by Cyril and Methodius, not only books, but even writing did not exist. Historical research suggests otherwise. The writer-historian Vyacheslav Manyagin gives many convincing examples proving the presence in Russia of a developed system of writing, dating back to ancient times.
Vyacheslav Manyagin: Talking about ancient Russian writing, which existed when, actually, perhaps, the Russian people were in their infancy, I want to start with the names of historians, not so distant, with the names of enough animals, this is with the names of Cyril and Methodius . It is often said that Cyril and Methodius are the first Slovenian teachers who created the modern Russian alphabet. In fact, this is not entirely true, because Cyril and Methodius created a very specific script for very specific purposes. They created Church Slavonic writing, in which later Church Slavonic liturgical books were written and published. But the question is, on the basis of what did they create this writing? After all, it cannot be that there was no written language before them. Of course, for example, Cyril was a philosopher, a brilliant linguist, a brilliant philologist, he quickly studied various languages, he knew Arabic, Hebrew, Syriac, since he was a Slavic language, yes, but still imagine that this is how it is written, let's say, in his life, that he sat down, prayed, and the Slavic alphabet immediately arose, yes, well, this, comrades, is not serious, let's be realists.
That is, it is clear that there was already some basis for their work, yes, for the creation of the Church Slavonic alphabet. Indeed, the very life of Saints Cyril and Methodius writes about this, when they arrived in the Crimea, in the city of Chersonesus during a mission to the Khazar Khaganate, Cyril discovered 2 books written in Russian letters in Chersonesos. And, as it were, what began here, yes, all historical science reared up, a huge number of scientists claim that there can be no Russian books written in Russian letters, that this is some kind of mistake, a typo of a scribe, yes, that, probably , it was necessary to write not in Russian letters, but in Sul letters. That is, what kind of sulki?
Well, it was either from the city of Surozh, yes, there in the Crimea near Surozh, Sudak, which is now called, yes, the Genoese fortress. Either these are books from Syria in general, yes, written in the Syrian local dialect, Syrian letters, yes, well, not Russian at all, it cannot be that there are Russian letters. But there are some inscriptions on the pots, yes, with features and cuts, but these are calendar marks, nothing more.
Why was there no writing? It wasn't all. Even here, it would seem, well, such clerics are known as Metropolitan Macarius Bulgakov, who lived in the 19th century, by the way, he is known for writing a textbook for an Orthodox seminary, and priests still study from this textbook. And many, so to speak, let's say, preconceived opinions that he laid there, they are still absorbed by the students in the seminary, then they are taken out, so to speak, to the people and are perceived as some kind of true absolute authority. So, even Macarius Bulgakov completely denied the possibility of the presence of some Russian faces, which especially wrote the psalms, the gospel, as they say in the life of Cyril and Methodius, that is, everyone, both learned historians and theologians, all deny the existence of Russian writing before Cyril and Methodius.
In fact, oddly enough, these preconceived notions were refuted by none other than Pope John VIII, who lived at the same time when Cyril and Methodius lived, became famous for the fact that he, in fact, saved Methodius from a German prison pulled out. And in particular, in one of the letters that he wrote in defense of Cyril and Methodius, which taught Christianity to the Slavs in the Slavic language, he wrote the following phrase that these letters were not invented by Cyril and Methodius, yes, they did not create, they simply renewed the existing earlier Russian letters. And this is very valuable. Value for what? That John VIII, he was an Italian, a native of Rome, yes, that is, he spent his life precisely in Italy, and he apparently had some reason to say that Constantine, Cyril the philosopher, he renewed these letters, namely adapted them for Slavic Orthodox worship, but did not invent, did not create them anew.
Here you need to understand that writing, in fact, is needed not for some kind of religious practices, yes, not for religious texts, because we know that most religions, including world ones, they initially did very well without any written texts sacred. Well, if we look at Judaism, yes, then the Bible was written down only after the Babylonian captivity, that is, from the king, as it were, from Moses, even if we start, all this was transmitted orally in legends, stories, and in writing it was already written down somewhere 600-700 years later. The same applies to other religions, Zoroastrianism, for example, yes, in fact, the Christian Church did not write down its sacred texts immediately after the life of Christ, but 200-250 years later. Writing, it is needed, first of all, not for this or that religion, it is needed for the state, because the state is a bureaucratic machine that must carry out accounting and control, keep everything in order, yes, in lists.
We will look at any statehood, there, at Ancient Sumer, there are huge archives on long tablets, yes, with hieroglyphs. What is written there in the first place? Tax collection, there are some reports to the king, and so on, and so on, that is, the office is solid. Yes, and the Epic of Gilgamesh is already, there, several tablets. Or in ancient Egypt, yes, what shall we see? Here is a statue of a scribe who is sitting and again writing down some taxes, reports. That is, the state is a bureaucratic machine, and it needed writing. And when we are told that the Russian people in antiquity could not have written language, that it appeared only in the 9th century, it was brought specially along with Christianity, yes, let's say, then we must clearly understand, thereby we are told that the Russian people in ancient times there could be no state. Why is it so important, right?
In particular, for Western peoples? So I talked about Northern Italy, about Central Europe, yes, that is, Venice, Norik, in the Russian state, in the Baltic states in the southern state border with Denmark, in France there is a Russian state, yes, that is, there were Russian state formations throughout Central, Eastern Europe, where these territories are now inhabited by Germanic peoples and other Western Europeans. To recognize that Russians once lived here, and here they had their own state, is tantamount to recognizing the right of Russians to this territory. Of course, not a single Western people will agree to this, therefore, with all their might, the presence of an ancient letter among Russians, and, accordingly, the presence of ancient Russian states on the territory of Europe, in order to prevent this, let's say, political, already some kind of territorial requirements.
And, accordingly, a fairy tale is imposed on us that the Russian state was created only in 862 at the suggestion of the German cult-gers Rurik and his brothers, such a Norman theory. Accordingly, the struggle for Russian writing is a struggle for Russian history, for Russian statehood and for Russian territories.
Heritage of the Planet
Believers and atheists have long argued about whether everything that is written in the Bible is a fairy tale? And did many saints really exist? However, the fact that Cyril and Methodius, the creators of Slavic writing, are real personalities, is recognized even by the most inveterate skeptics. And how can you doubt it? After all, here it is, iron proof, right before our eyes - our alphabet with you!
Two brothers were born in the Byzantine city of Thessalonica, in the family of a prosperous military man, where seven sons grew up. Methodius, Michael in the world, the eldest, before leaving for the monastery, following the example of his father, made a completely worthy military career and rose to the post of strategist of Slovenia in one of the Macedonian provinces. However, unexpectedly, for unknown reasons, he broke with the army. Historians vaguely refer to the human search for the meaning of life, and nothing more… But the fact remains that Michael retired to one of the monasteries on Mount Olympus and became the monk Methodius.
Cyril, Konstantin in the world, the youngest, from childhood he was distinguished by a craving for science. They say that already at the age of 5 he independently read the most complex texts of Gregory the Theologian. Having received an excellent education for those times, Konstantin flatly refused the financially profitable marriage almost arranged by his parents, took the rank of priest, received the name Cyril and entered the church service at the Constantinople Cathedral of Hagia Sophia as a hartophylax (library keeper). This position, by modern standards, could be occupied by a person who had the title of not less than an academician. But very soon Cyril neglected the benefits of his position and retired to one of the monasteries on the Black Sea coast, where he became a hermit. However, the city authorities did not want to lose such a talented scientist, therefore, although after 6 years, they found him and almost forcibly returned him to Constantinople, assigning him to teach philosophy at Mangavra University.
However, in 856, Cyril again fled from the bustle of the world, and together with his students entered the monastery, where his brother Methodius served as abbot. In this monastery, the Slavic alphabet was created, and the main liturgical books were translated from Greek into Slavonic and Bulgarian. The time of the creation of the alphabet is evidenced by the legend of the Bulgarian monk - Chernorizets Brave, he writes: "If you ask the Slavic literate, who created the written language and translated the books for you? Everyone knows, St. Constantine, a philosopher named Cyril, and Methodius, his brother. And if ask what time? They know and say: in the time of Michael, the king of Greece and Boris, the prince of Bulgaria ... "Thus, the year is almost exactly set - 863.
But experts still have not come to a consensus, did Kirill become the author of the Glagolitic or Cyrillic alphabet? Among historians, the point of view prevails, but is not generally recognized, that Cyril created the Glagolitic alphabet, based on the Greek alphabet. And the Cyrillic alphabet, in turn, based on the Glagolitic alphabet, was invented by a student of the brothers, Clement Ohridsky, and named it in honor of the teacher. He undoubtedly used the work on isolating the sounds of the Slavic language, done by Cyril and Methodius, and this is the main thing in creating a new script. The Glagolitic alphabet is more archaic in lettering, while the Cyrillic alphabet turned out to be more convenient for conveying the sound features of the Slavic language. Another flaw in the Glagolitic alphabet is that it contained 6 Greek letters, which are absolutely superfluous for the Slavic language. However, until the 9th century, both alphabets were in use. And only at the turn of the 10th-11th centuries the Glagolitic alphabet practically fell into disuse.
In 864 Moravian ambassadors from Prince Rostislav came to Constantinople with a request: "The people profess the Christian faith, but we do not have teachers who could explain our faith to us in their native language. Send us such." The emperor and the patriarch sent Cyril and Methodius to Moravia. There, the brothers continued to translate church books from Greek into Slavic and Bulgarian, taught the Slavs, including the inhabitants of Carpathian Rus, to read and write in the Slavic language. This went on for 3 years. However, local theologians considered that it was possible to praise God only in Greek, Hebrew, or Latin. They declared Cyril and Methodius heretics. The brothers were forced to go to Rome, in search of protection. They were lucky, the pope approved worship in the Slavic language and even ordered the translated books to be laid out in city churches.
However, in Rome, Cyril fell seriously ill and died on February 14, 869. Before his death, he said to his brother: "You and I are like two oxen, one fell from a heavy burden, but the other must continue on his way." Methodius returned to Moravia and, with the help of his disciples, translated the Old Testament and other patristic books into Slavonic. He died in 885.
When mentioning the brothers, Cyril is usually put in the first place, but in church usage, Methodius is always named first. This is explained by the fact that the elder rose to a higher priestly rank and in the last years of his life received the title of bishop.
The day of Cyril and Methodius was first declared a day of Slavic writing and culture and celebrated at the state level in 1863, in connection with the millennium of the Slavic alphabet. Today the holiday is celebrated annually in Russia, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Slavia and Macedonia. And with the accession of Bulgaria to the European Union in 2007. Cyrillic became its third official alphabet, along with Latin and Greek. Of the Slavic peoples today, Russians, Bulgarians, Serbs, Ukrainians, Montenegrins, Macedonians use Cyrillic. On its basis, the alphabets of the Bashkirs, Buryats, Kazakhs, Kirghiz, Komi, Tatars, Chuvashs, Yakuts and the vast majority of the peoples of Russia, as well as the former USSR, were created.
Director of the Volgograd Institute of Art Education Nikolai Taranov has many titles: calligrapher, doctor of pedagogical sciences, candidate of art criticism, professor, member of the Union of Artists of Russia. But few people know that he is still studying symbols. And while doing this, our Volgograd "Professor Robert Langdon", just like in Dan Brown's sensational novel, went on a detective trail and an amazing discovery. On October 22, the Volgograd scientist spoke about his version of the appearance and loss of the first alphabet on Earth in the recording of the program for the days of Slavic writing on the All-Russian TV channel "Culture".
Who invented the Slavic alphabet?
It would seem that everyone knows this: Cyril and Methodius, whom the Orthodox Church calls equal to the apostles for this merit. But what kind of alphabet did Kirill come up with - Cyrillic or Glagolitic? (Methodius, it is known and proven, supported his brother in everything, but it was the monk Kirill who was the “brain of the operation” and an educated person who knew many languages). This is still debated in the scientific world. Some Slavic researchers say: “Cyrillic! It is named after the creator. Others object: “Glagolitsa! The first letter of this alphabet looks like a cross. Cyril is a monk. It's a sign". It is also alleged that before the work of Cyril, there was no written language in Russia. Professor Nikolai Taranov categorically disagrees with this.
The assertion that there was no writing in Russia before Cyril and Methodius is based on a single document - the "Legend of the Letters" of the Chernorite Khrabr, found in Bulgaria, says Nikolai Taranov. - There are 73 lists from this scroll, and in different copies, due to translation errors or scribal errors, completely different versions of the key phrase for us. In one version: "the Slavs before Cyril did not have books", in the other - "letters", but the author indicates: "they wrote with features and cuts." It is interesting that Arab travelers who visited Russia back in the 8th century, that is, even before Rurik and even more so before Cyril, described the funeral of one Russian prince: “After the funeral, his soldiers wrote something on a white tree (birch) in honor of the prince, and then, having mounted their horses, they departed. And in the "Life of Cyril", known to the Russian Orthodox Church, we read: "In the city of Korsun, Kirill met a Rusyn (Russian), who had with him books written in Russian letters." Cyril (his mother was a Slav) took out some of his letters and with their help began to read those same Rusyn books. And these were not thin books. These were, as stated in the same "Life of Cyril", translated into Russian "Psalter" and "Gospel". There is a lot of evidence that Russia had its own alphabet long before Cyril. And Lomonosov spoke about the same thing. He cited as evidence the testimony of Pope VIII, a contemporary of Cyril, which states that Cyril did not invent these letters, but rediscovered them.
The question arises: why did Cyril create the Russian alphabet, if it already existed? The fact is that the monk Cyril had a task from the Moravian prince - to create for the Slavs an alphabet suitable for translating church books. Which he did. And the letters in which church books are now written (and in a modified form - our today's printed creations) are the work of Cyril, that is, Cyrillic.
Was the verb destroyed on purpose?
There are 22 points that prove that the Glagolitic was older than the Cyrillic, says Taranov. There is such a concept among archaeologists and philologists - a palimpsest. This is the name of an inscription made on top of another destroyed, most often scraped with a knife, inscription. In the Middle Ages, parchment made from the skin of a young lamb was quite expensive, and in order to save money, scribes often destroyed “unnecessary” records and documents, and wrote something new on a scraped sheet. So: everywhere in Russian palimpsests the Glagolitic alphabet is erased, and on top of it there are inscriptions in Cyrillic. There are no exceptions to this rule.
There are only five monuments written in the Glagolitic alphabet left in the world. The rest were destroyed. Moreover, in my opinion, the records in the Glagolitic alphabet were destroyed on purpose, - says Professor Nikolai Taranov. - Since the Glagolitic alphabet was not suitable for writing church books. The numerical value of the letters (and then the belief in numerology was very strong) in it was different than what was required in Christianity. Out of respect for the Glagolitic alphabet, Cyril left in his alphabet the same names of the letters as they were. And they are very, very difficult for an alphabet "born" in the 9th century, as claimed. Even then, all languages were striving for simplification; letters in all alphabets of that time denote only sounds. And only in the Slavic alphabet are the names of the letters: “Good”, “People”, “Think”, “Earth”, etc. And all because the Glagolitic is very ancient. It has many signs of pictographic writing.
Pictographic writing is a type of writing, the signs of which (pictograms) indicate the object depicted by them. The latest finds of archaeologists speak in favor of this version. So, tablets with Slavic writing were found, the age of which dates back to 5000 BC.
"Glagolitz was created by a genius"
All modern alphabets in Europe are descended from the alphabet of the Phoenicians. In it, the letter A, we were told, stands for the head of a bull, which then turned upside down.
And the ancient Greek historian Diodorus Siculus wrote: “These letters are called Phoenician, although it is more correct to call them Pelasgic, since they were used by the Pelasgians,” says Nikolai Taranov. “Do you know who the Pelasgians are?” These are the ancestors of the Slavs, the Proto-Slavic tribes. The Phoenicians stood out among the surrounding swarthy black-haired tribes of farmers, Egyptians and Sumerians with fair skin and red hair. Yes, even with their passion for travel: they were excellent sailors.
In the 12th century BC, the Pelasgians took part in the Great Migration of Peoples, and some of their groups of desperate conquerors of new lands wandered very far. What gives the Volgograd professor a version: the Phoenicians were familiar with the Slavs and borrowed the alphabet from them. Otherwise, why did an alphabetic alphabet suddenly form next to Egyptian hieroglyphs and Sumerian cuneiform?
Here they say: "The Glagolitic was too decorative, complex, so it was gradually replaced by a more rational Cyrillic." But Glagolitic is not so bad, Professor Taranov is sure. - I studied the earliest versions: the first letter of the Glagolitic alphabet does not mean a cross at all, but a person. That is why it is called "Az" - I am. A person for himself is a starting point. And all the meanings of the letters in the Glagolitic alphabet are through the prism of human perception. I drew the first letter of this alphabet on transparent film. Look, if you put it on other letters of the Glagolitic alphabet, you get a pictogram! I believe that not every designer will come up with such a way that each grapheme falls into the grid. I am amazed at the artistic integrity of this alphabet. I think the unknown author of the Glagolitic alphabet was a genius! No other alphabet in the world has such a clear connection between a symbol and its digital and sacred meaning!
Glagolitic and numerology
Each sign in the Glagolitic alphabet has a sacred meaning and denotes a certain number.
The sign "Az" is a person, number 1.
The sign “I know” is the number 2, the sign looks like eyes and a nose: “I see, so I know.”
The sign "Live" is the number 7, the life and reality of this world.
The sign "Zelo" is the number 8, the reality of a miracle and something supernatural: "too", "very" or "very".
The sign "Good" is the number 5, the only number that gives birth to its own kind or a decade: "Good begets good."
The sign "People" - the number 50, according to numerology - the world from where human souls come to us.
The sign "Our" - the number 70, symbolizes the connection between the heavenly and the earthly, that is, our world, given to us in sensations.
The sign "Omega" - the number 700, a certain divine world, "Seventh Heaven".
The sign "Earth" - according to Taranov, means a picture: the Earth and the Moon are in the same orbit.
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