| The Psalter of St. Demetrius | |
|---|---|
| Псалтирът на Димитър Олтарник | |
 Folio 22 | |
| Size | 13.5 x 11 cm |
| Writing | Glagolitic |
| Created | 1046-1056, 1058-1066, 1094-1106 |
| Discovered | 1975 St. Catherine's Monastery, Sinai, Egypt |
| Identification | Sin. slav. 3/N |
| Language | Old Church Slavonic |
Dimitri's Psalter is an 11th-century Glagolitic manuscript containing verses from the Psalms. [1]
The manuscript was discovered in 1975 in the Sinai Monastery of St. Catherine. It is currently still located in the monastery. The manuscript is completely preserved, and contains 145 leaves measuring 13.5 x 11 cm and has its original binding intact. [2] The text dates back to the 11th century, [3] and was published in its entirety in 2012 by Austrian historians. [4] [5]
The publisher of the description of the manuscript, Ioannis Tarnanidis, called it "The Psalter of Dmitry the Altarnik" on the basis of an entry on folio 1a, where the expression ⰰⰸⱏ ⰴⱏⰿⱅⱃⱏ ⰳⱃⰵⱎⱀⰺⰽⱏ (az дъмтръ гіріні) is followed by the beginning of a word that has not been preserved in full: ⱁⰾ(...), presumably, this is the beginning of the word ol (tarnik) . The name "Dmitry" is repeated on folio 141b: az dmtryi pisakh se. [2]
The manuscript contains the Psalm of David, and contains the writings of two various scribes. The first is believed to have written the leaves: 1b-2a, 3a, 35b-141b, 142a-145b, and the second wrote the rest. Both scribes are alternating with different handwriting, and there are many unfilled pages in between that are filled with notes and prayers in Glagolitic writing.
The writing shows transitions within the Church Slavonic alphabet, as it contains orthography with ⱏ, the use of four yus, the presence of ⱋ, ⱎ, and ⱅ, and the clarification of reduced vowels with Cyrillic influence.
There are multiple notes and inserts in the manuscript in Greek, Latin, and Glagolitic. There are deuterocanonical texts, and recipes to protect against various ailments. The texts of the recipes contain unknown and little-known words and expressions that shed light on the culture of Balkan Slavs, such as: ⱍⰰⰹ (chai), ⱁⰱⱏⱃⰺⱀⱏ (obrin), ⱂⱁⰽⱃⰺⰲⱏⱀⱁ ⰾⰺⱄⱅⰲⱏⰵ (crooked foliage), ⰸⱁⰴⱏ (zod), ⱁⰿⰰⱀⱏ (Oman), ⰿⱁⱅⱏⰹⰾⰰ (mot'ila), ⱄⱅⱆⰴⰵⱀⰺⱌⰰ (jelly), and ⱍⱔⰱⱃⰵⱀⱁ (чѧbreno). [6]
According to the Bulgarian professor Boryana Velcheva, the manuscript comes from Northeastern Bulgaria, although most scholars, including the editors of the manuscript, have pointed out that the manuscript represents a collaboration between multiple scribes and was most likely produced on Sinai itself, while the scribe Demetrius came from the Adriatic coast, possibly the area of Zeta/Duklja/Hum. Among Western Balkan features, the main text of the manuscript contains characters such as "ⱓ" instead of "ⱙ", which likely points to Serbian or Croatian scribes.
| Glagolitic text | Modern Bulgarian |
|---|---|
| ⱅⰵⰱⰵ ⰿⰾⱘ ⰳⰺ ⰺⱄ ⰵ ⱈⱃⰵ ⰲⰵⰴⱃⱏⰶ ⰺⱅⰵⰾⱆ: ⰴⰰ ⱁⱅⱏ ⱂⱆⱄⱅⰺⱎⰺ ⰲⱄⱔ ⰳⱃⱝⱏⱏⰺ ⰿⱁⱙ: ⱂⱃⱝⰶⰴⰵ ⰴⰰⰶⰵ ⱀⰵ ⱆⰿⱃⱘ: ⰺ ⰴⰰ ⱀⰵ ⱂⱁⱃⰰⰴⱆⰵⱅⱏ ⱄⱔ ⱆⰿⱏ ⱀⰵⰲⰾⱏ ⰿⱁⰺ: ⰺ ⱅⰵⰱⰵ ⰿⰾ ⱘ ⱄⱅⱏⰺ ⱂⰵⱅⱃⰵ: ⰺⰶⰵ ⰴⱃⱏⰶⰺⱎ ⰺ ⰽⰾⱓⱍⱐ ⱌⱃⱄⱅⰲⱆ ⱀⰵⰱⱄⱀⱆⰿ ⱆ. ⰺ ⰴⰰ ⰿⰺ ⱃⰰⰸⰴⱃⱝⱎⰺ ⰳⱃⱝⱈⱏⰺ ⰿⱁⰵⰺ ⱀⰰ ⰸⰵⰿⰺ ⰴⰰⰶⰴⱏ ⰿⰺ ⰳⰺ ⰺⱄ ⱈⱃⰵ ⰽⱃⱝ ⱂⱁⱄⱅⱏ ⱄ ⱀⰱⱄⰵ ⰴⰰ ⱂⱁⰱⱝⰶⰴⱘ ⰴⰺⱝ ⰲⱁⰾⰰ ⰲ ⱏⰴⱏⱋⰰⰳⱁ ⰺ ⰱⱁⱃⱔⱋⰰ ⱄⱔ ⱄⱏ ⰿⱀⱁⱙ: | Тебе молѫ господи исоусе христе вседръж етилоу: да отъпоустиши всѧ грѣхъи моѩ: прѣжде даже не оумрѫ: и да не порадоуетъ сѧ оумъ неволъ мои: и тебе мол ѫ свѧтъи петре: иже дръжиш и ключь царьствоу небесноум оу. И да ми раздрѣши грѣхъи моеи на земи и даждъ ми господи исоусе христе крѣпостъ сънебесе да побѣждѫ диѣвола в ъдъщаго и борѧща сѧ съ мноѭ: (folio 144b) |
| ⰵⰳⰴⰰ ⰴⱔⱄⱀⱏⰹ ⰳⱀⱏ ⱙⱅⱏ: ⱅⱁ ⱍⱔⰱⱃⱏ ⱀⱁ ⰽⱁⱃⱔⱀⱏⰵ ⱄ ⱏⱅ ⰵ ⱃⱏ ⱀⰰⱄⰺⱂⰰⰹ: | Егда дѧсны гнъ ѭтъ: то чѧбръ но корѧнъе съте ръ насипаи: (folio 141b) |
| ⰵⰳⰴⰰ ⰽⰰⱎⱏⰾⰵⱅⱏ ⱍⰾⰲⰽⱏ ⱅⱁ ⱁⰿⰰⱀⱏ ⰲⰰⱃⰺⰲⱏ ⱎⰵ ⰲⱐ ⰲⰺⱀⱝ: ⰹ: ⱍⰰⰹ ⰲⱁⰾⰺⱝⱅⰺ ⰴⰰ ⰵⰴⰺⱀⱘ ⰺⱄⱂⱏⰵⱅⱏ: | Егда кашълетъ чловѣкъ то оманъ варивъ ше вь винѣ: и: чаи волиѣти да единѫ испъетъ: (folio 141c) |
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The Cyrillic script, Slavonic script or simply Slavic script is a writing system used for various languages across Eurasia. It is the designated national script in various Slavic, Turkic, Mongolic, Uralic, Caucasian and Iranic-speaking countries in Southeastern Europe, Eastern Europe, the Caucasus, Central Asia, North Asia, and East Asia, and used by many other minority languages.
The Glagolitic script is the oldest known Slavic alphabet. It is generally agreed that it was created in the 9th century for the purpose of translating liturgical texts into Old Church Slavonic by Saint Cyril, a monk from Thessalonica. He and his brother Saint Methodius were sent by the Byzantine Emperor Michael III in 863 to Great Moravia to spread Christianity there. After the deaths of Cyril and Methodius, their disciples were expelled and they moved to the First Bulgarian Empire instead. The Early Cyrillic alphabet, which developed gradually in the Preslav Literary School by Greek alphabet scribes who incorporated some Glagolitic letters, gradually replaced Glagolitic in that region. Glagolitic remained in use alongside Latin in the Kingdom of Croatia and alongside Cyrillic until the 14th century in the Second Bulgarian Empire and the Serbian Empire, and later mainly for cryptographic purposes.
Old Church Slavonic or Old Slavonic is the first Slavic literary language and the oldest extant written Slavonic language attested in literary sources. It belongs to the South Slavic subgroup of the Balto-Slavic branch of the Indo-European language family and remains the liturgical language of many Christian Orthodox churches. Until the reforms of Patriarch Nikon of Moscow between 1652 and 1666, Church Slavonic was the mandatory language of the Russian Orthodox Church.
The Early Cyrillic alphabet, also called classical Cyrillic or paleo-Cyrillic, is an alphabetic writing system that was developed in Medieval Bulgaria in the Preslav Literary School during the late 9th century. It is used to write the Church Slavonic language, and was historically used for its ancestor, Old Church Slavonic. It was also used for other languages, but between the 18th and 20th centuries was mostly replaced by the modern Cyrillic script, which is used for some Slavic languages, and for East European and Asian languages that have experienced a great amount of Russian cultural influence.
Church Slavonic is the conservative Slavic liturgical language used by the Eastern Orthodox Church in Belarus, Bulgaria, North Macedonia, Montenegro, Poland, Ukraine, Russia, Serbia, the Czech Republic and Slovakia, Slovenia and Croatia. The language appears also in the services of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia, the American Carpatho-Russian Orthodox Diocese, and occasionally in the services of the Orthodox Church in America.
Chernorizets Hrabar was a Bulgarian monk, scholar and writer who worked at the Preslav Literary School in the First Bulgarian Empire at the end of the 9th and the beginning of the 10th century. He is credited as the author of On the Letters.
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