Ancient Russian writing. The rapid development of Slavic writing: the baptism of a pagan land

generally accepted The date of origin of writing among the Slavs is considered to be 863, but some researchers claim that they knew how to write in Rus' before. It is known that in pre-Christian times, the Slavs had runic writing(runitsa, Slavic runic writing), within several centuries after the introduction of Christianity, was completely destroyed by clergy and authorities, as an attribute of Slavic paganism.

Only in recent decades have a number of works appeared devoted to Old Russian writing. For example, in the fundamental monograph “History of Writing” N.A. Pavlenko offers six hypotheses for the origin of the Cyrillic and Glagolitic alphabet, and argues in favor of the fact that Glagolitic and Cyrillic were used by the Slavs in pre-Christian times. Historian Lev Prozorov is confident that there is more than enough evidence of the existence of writing before the appearance of the Cyrillic alphabet in Rus'. He argues that our distant ancestors could not only write individual words, but also draw up legal documents. As an example, Prozorov draws attention to conclusion of a treaty with Byzantium by the Prophetic Oleg.

In the “Lives of Methodius and Cyril,” compiled in the Middle Ages, it is written about how Cyril visited Chersonesos and saw the Holy Books there, written “ Roussian letters" However, many researchers tend to be critical of this source. For example, Victor Istrin believes that the word “Rous” should be understood as “Sour”, that is, Syrian writing, others think differently. However, there is other evidence confirming that the pagan Slavs still had writing. You can read about this in the chronicles of Western authors - Helmold of Bossau, Thietmar of Merseburg, Adam of Bremen, who, when describing the shrines of the Baltic and Polabian Slavs, mention inscriptions on the bases of the statues of the Gods. The Arab chronicler Ibn-Fodlan wrote that he saw with his own eyes the burial of a Rus and how a memorial marker was installed on his grave - a wooden pillar on which the name of the deceased himself and the name of the Tsar of the Russ were carved. And he lived in the first half of the 10th century.

After the creation of the new writing, runica was banned, all Slavic runic records were destroyed, records on the stones of pagan temples were finely chopped, and teaching runitsa was punishable by death. And the pre-Christian history of the Slavs became unknown, and the Slavs on their own ancestral land for 1000 years found themselves slaves to all kinds of immigrants from other nations who came to the lands of the Slavs. Thus, with the forced accession to Christianity, the ancient Russian writing and pagan religion were lost.

In the 10th century, Bulgaria became the center of distribution Slavic writing and books. It is from here that Slavic literacy and Slavic books come to the Russian land. The oldest Slavic written monuments that have survived to this day were written in not one, but two varieties of Slavic writing. These are two alphabets that existed simultaneously: CYRILLIC(named Kirill) and GLAGOLITIC(from the word “verb”, i.e. “to speak”). There are hidden numbers in the Cyrillic alphabet.Wherein digital values As a rule, they had only letters, not syllables and words.

Ancient Russian language is a language that was characteristic of the Eastern Slavs in ancient period(from VI to XIII - XIV centuries). This language arose a long time ago, some scientists call it one of the most ancient languages.

Styles Slavic letters are already fraught with mystery. Hidden behind the letters sacred meaning- symbols of eternity, Trinity, Christ..A number of scientists hypothesize that the Slavic alphabet was a secret script and represented a complex logical-mathematical system.. The Cyrillic alphabet conceals an interpretation of the world order, where each letter contains a meaning and can be deciphered by reading all the letters in order and understanding the meaning of the syllables. If enclose the Cyrillic alphabet in a 7 by 7 square, then it can be read in any order, discovering new meanings.

18.06.2011

I really love Fairy Tales. As a child, I read a lot and there were always a lot of books with fairy tales in the library. But to move on to Fairy Tales, we need to talk a little about the origins of our Slavic writing, about our language and, in general, about our Heritage.

Initially, we did not have writing, because we communicated using telepathy. This is the language that animals and plants use. But then some people began to lag behind in evolutionary development and they had to use language to communicate. “A thought expressed is a LIE” is an axiom. And then writing began to appear. The original writing was FIGURATIVE: it conveyed images. Then a more primitive writing appeared.

NODULARY. The signs of this writing were not written down, but were transmitted using knots tied on threads.
Knots were tied to the main thread of the narrative, constituting a word-concept (hence - “knots for memory”, “connect thoughts”, “connect word with word”, “speak confusingly”, “knot of problems”, “intricacy of the plot”, “plot” and “denouement” - about the beginning and end of the story).

One concept was separated from another by a red thread (hence - “write from a red line”). An important idea was also knitted with a red thread (hence - “runs like a red thread through the entire narrative”). The thread was wound into a ball (hence, “thoughts got tangled”). These balls were stored in special birch bark boxes (hence - “talk to three boxes”).

The proverb has also been preserved: “What she knew, she said, and strung on a thread.” Do you remember in fairy tales that Ivan Tsarevich, before going on a journey, receives a ball from Baba Yaga? This is not a simple ball, but an ancient guide. As he unwound it, he read the knotted notes and learned how to get to the right place.

The knotted letter is mentioned in the “Source of Life” (Second Message): “Echoes of battles penetrated the world that was inhabited on Midgard-earth. At the very border there was that land and on it lived the Race of pure light. Memory has preserved many times, tying into knots the thread of past battles.”

The sacred knot script is also mentioned in the Karelian-Finnish epic “Kalevala”:
“The rain brought me songs.
The wind inspired me to sing.
The sea waves brought...
I rolled them into one ball,
And I tied a bunch into one...
And in the barn under the rafters
He hid them in a copper casket.”

In the recording of Elias Lönnrot, the collector of the Kalevala, there are even more interesting lines that he recorded from the famous rune singer Arhipp Ivanov-Pertunen (1769 - 1841). Rune singers sang them as a beginning before performing the Runes:

“Here I am untying the knot.
Here I am dissolving the ball.
I will sing a song from the best,
I will perform the most beautiful..."

The creatures who came to Rus', in order to hide the truth about their origin, their hostility to the Race and the seizure of our planet, declared “nauz” (knot writing) witchcraft, and wearing “charm” (amulet knots, from the word “bayat” - to speak) - sinful act.

There was VOLUMETRIC writing, which was depicted in volume even on a plane. The signs of knotted writing depicted on a plane are called Volumetric Trags or Elm. The possibility of three-dimensional vision is achieved by defocusing vision. The stereoscopic effect is enhanced by superimposing a visualized thought form on the text.
Such holographic color moving “pictures” explain the meaning of what is written. The voluminous letter was very difficult to write and read, so it is used only by specially trained Da’Aryan Guardian Priests.

Then the letter went into PLATE. Next was an even more primitive SYLLABLE. And now a PHONETIC letter has been imposed on us. When reading phonetically, we seem to glide along the surface, unable to go into depth. And any superficial knowledge is considered incomplete, distorted, i.e. lies.
TO UNDERSTAND SOMETHING DEEPLY, YOU NEED TO MASTER NOT THE COMBINATION OF LETTERS, NOT THE WRITING OF LETTERS, BUT THE CONNECTION OF IMAGES, THE CONNECTION IN ESSENCE: WHY IT IS SAID THIS WAY AND THIS IS OTHERWISE AND WHAT THE MEANING IS INVESTED IN THIS. THIS WILL BE THE MOST CORRECT WAY: YOU NEED TO KNOW THE BASIS TO UNDERSTAND EVERYTHING ELSE.

And it is not at all by chance that before 1917 initial training required knowledge of the basics Old Slavonic language. This is where education began (the calling of the image), i.e. the ability to connect and understand the meaning of initial letters and words. And without this skill (key), which gives access to ancient texts, the rest of the training was considered meaningless.

Education is all about recruitment and improvement. quality characteristics compared to those with whom we came here, and not the stereotyped memorization of words, phrases, concepts, images…. etc.

According to the Wisdom of our Ancestors, “IMAGE” is a set of diverse knowledge that is combined into a specific description of an object or phenomenon. Each image carries a deep essence. This essence makes it possible to understand the purpose and existence of this image.

It is the child at the initial stage of learning who is still able to penetrate into the deep essence of any image, including the way of thinking, bypassing the secondary. The ability to understand the primary meaning of an image, to visualize the image clearly and in detail, to think in images, i.e. to be able means to be a MAGIC.

The magician is the one who can. The Russian language was and still remains a language of images deep meaning, in contrast to European ones, which give a superficial (broad) understanding of the transmitted information.

In ancient times, the Slavic-Aryan peoples had four main letters according to the number of main Clans of the White Race. The most ancient surviving documents were written down with Runes or Runics.

Ancient Runes are not letters or hieroglyphs in our modern understanding, but kind of secret images, transmitting a huge amount of Ancient Knowledge. Signs represent numbers, letters, and individual objects or phenomena, either frequently used or very important.

And those philologists who claim that they can read runic text are deceived. They pick up only the “tops”, unaware of the “roots”. Each Rune of Karuna (union of runes) has over 144 meanings!!! The decipherment of these texts was carried out by professionals who had the gift of connecting and understanding the path of the image of the runes - the darrungs.
The graphemes of Karuna and the Holy Russian Initial were written under the so-called “celestial” line. But the images they carried within them often did not coincide. To identify the desired image embedded in the text, in addition to “ simple reading” three more so-called “deep readings” (step-by-step deciphering) were carried out.

The result of each stage became the “key” to the transition to the next stage. All four readings were combined into a single text (simple reading - everyday wisdom; deep reading - the highest order of wisdom). And vice versa: deep information was superimposed on the publicly available text (simple reading), using it as a matrix medium.
The result was a kind of “information doll” for general use. Ordinary people repeated it in chants and hymns glorifying the Gods from century to century.

This ensured the safety of information over time simply and reliably. And the priests kept the “keys” for deciphering ancient wisdom. That's how it was general shape saving knowledge in the past.

The preserved heritage of our Ancestors in the form of Vedic books and texts provides the main proof not only of their literacy, but also proof of the primacy of the Slavic-Aryan culture on Midgard-Earth, because from the moment of its settlement the White Peoples recorded, stored, and passed on from generation to generation the Commandments of the Gods , Wisdom of the Ancestors, Vedic Knowledge.

How different this is from what is still taught in schools, and is also constantly imposed in books and on TV screens, claiming that supposedly Greek monks gave the “illiterate” Slavic Rus the alphabet and taught us to read and write!
Difficulties in establishing the origins of Russian writing are associated with ignorance of native history, a lack of written primary sources and biased views.

ALL THIS IS DUE NOT ONLY TO RUTHLESS TIME AND NATURAL DISASTERS, BUT ALSO TO A GREAT EXTENT TO THE WIDE-WIDE DESTRUCTION OF WRITTEN SOURCES DURING THE “CHRISTIANIZATION” OF THE SLAVS.

Old Russian books and manuscripts: wooden tablets, birch bark letters, santias (texts on precious metal) was burned and melted down by Prince Vladimir and the foreign missionaries who baptized Rus', depriving the Russian people of historical memory. Particularly valuable Old Russian chronicles on expensive parchment were scraped off by monks and filled in with church texts.
The destruction of national Russian culture was continued by other princes and tsars who asserted their power. The Church achieved complete subordination and control over society and every individual, which led to a decline in the level of literacy, and, consequently, culture!!!

Initially, the language of the White Race existed on the basis of four main and two auxiliary types of writing:

Da'Aryan Thragi - these are figurative symbols that combine complex three-dimensional signs that convey multidimensional quantities and diverse runes. Some of these crypto-hieroglyphic symbols formed the basis of the cryptograms of the Cretan-Mycenaean culture, as well as hieroglyphic writing Ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia, Chinese, Korean and Japanese species hieroglyphic writing.

H'Aryan Karuna - a union of 256 runes (144 main runes and 112 auxiliary) or a priestly letter. Karuna formed the basis of ancient Sanskrit, Devanagari, and was used by the priests of India and Tibet. In a simplified form, Karuna was used by the Western Slavs and Aryans.

Rasen Molvitsy or Figurative Mirror Writing. This writing was called the ETRUSIAN letter, since it was written by the Etruscans, who called themselves Rasens - the same Slavs and Aryans who inhabited Italy in ancient times. This letter formed the basis of the ancient Phoenician alphabet.

Holy Russian images or initial letter , was the most common letter among our Clans in ancient times. Various versions of the abbreviated initial letter are known: Old Slovenian or Old Russian alphabet; Velesovitsa or Veles Book font; font of the Svyatorussian Magi - texts written on tablets from sacred trees; Church Slavonic alphabet. The Old Slovenian or Old Russian language formed the basis of many European languages, including the English language.

Glagolitic or trade letter , was used to formalize transactions and trade agreements. Quite a lot of books were written with this letter, which are now essentially monuments ancient history and writing.

Slovenian folk letter , “birch bark” letter or “traits and cuts”, was the simplest and was used for short messages.

What remains today of the Heritage of the Ancestors? In modern Russian language textbooks there is not even a mention of Runic, Glagolitic, Traits and Rezes. Contrary to the data of many studies, Cyril and Methodius continue to be called the creators of Slavic writing?!
And today in all Slavic countries they celebrate the so-called. Day of Slavic literature and culture, glorifying Byzantine monks. Overseas educators, they say, came to the unreasonable and “wild Slavs” and gifted them with writing.

But Cyril and Methodius not only did not create anything, but, on the contrary, they robbed the Russian language. The purpose of this sabotage (and there is no other way to say it) was to carry out an easier translation of the Bible, in the name of which subsequently the cleansing of any manifestations of the original Slavic culture took place.

At the same time, Cyril’s “Pannonian Life” reports that when he arrived in Korsun (Chersonese Tauride) at the end of 860, they showed him there church books, written in “Russian letters”.
Cyril used the Slavic initial letter, which existed at that time and consisted of 49 letters, while he removed five letters and gave the Greek name to four. As a result, the Cyrillic alphabet appeared - the Church Slavonic alphabet, the purpose of which was to open the way for the Byzantine Church to the Russian Lands.

WHY DID THESE MONKS NOT LIKE THE FIVE LETTERS OF OUR ANCIENT LETTER?
IT TURNS OUT THAT THEY TRANSMITTED THROAT AND NASAL SOUNDS. LOSSING THE THROAT SOUNDS, THE PEOPLE GRADUALLY LOST THROAT SINGING - A SPECIAL VIBRATION OF THE VOCAL CORDS, AND THE ABSENCE OF NASAL SOUNDS NEGATIVELY AFFECTED THE FUNCTIONS OF THE PITUITARY physis, WHICH IS THE CENTER OF THE WILL.
Now everyone knows that sound is a vibration of a certain frequency. With the help of sound you can heal, or you can destroy a wall. Our ancestors knew the secret power of sound, and a large number of phonemes in ancient language was not an accident.

Thus, it is more logical to call this day the DAY OF THE DESTRUCTION OF SLAVIC WRITING AND CULTURE. This is much more to the point!

During the time of Yaroslav the Wise, another letter was removed, leaving 43 letters. The second crushing blow was dealt by Peter I when he immediately removed seven letters that corresponded to vowel sounds.
In addition, he introduced a new spelling of letters according to Western style. It is known that Peter, raised by foreigners, was an opponent of everything truly Russian and he handed over the reform of the Russian Language to foreigners.

It is noteworthy that all the reforms of the Russian Language were carried out by non-Russian people. What does this mean? After all, it is known that in order to enslave a people, you must first of all conquer their spirit by imposing your faith, and secondly, it is necessary to suppress it original culture, breaking the connection with their ancestors, with their Native Land. And the root of any culture is the Mother Language.

By the beginning of the 19th century, the Slavic initial letter lost three more letters (images). At the same time, three new letters were added - “ya”, “e” and “e”. The most disastrous reform of the Russian Language was carried out by Lunacharsky two months after the Bolshevik victory.
This reform destroyed the sacred part of the language - the images of letters. By force of arms they confiscated i (“and” decimal), as well as yat, izhitsa and fita. The semivowels er (b) and er (b) have become hard and soft signs.

Initially, the Slavic ABC looked like this:
Az Gods Vjdi Verbs Good Is Is Zhilo Zelo Earth Izhe Izhei Init Herv Kako People Myslte Our On Peace Ratsy Sjlov Tvardo Uk Ouk Fert Her Ot Qi Chervl Sha Shta Er Yery Er Yat Yun Ar Edo Om En Od Yota Ota Xi Psi Fita Izhitsa Izha.

And now it’s like this: A B C D E E F G H I J K L M N O P R S T U V X W Q C H Y Y Y Z. The information of the ABC, its images, have been lost. Deprived of images, language became UGLY. This is what happened to the Heritage of our ancestors, to the “great and mighty” Russian language, undeservedly trampled upon, desecrated and forgotten.

The Russian alphabet is a completely unique phenomenon among all known methods of alphabetic writing. The ABC, and only it, has content. The Proto-Slavic Alphabet is a Message - a set of coding phrases that allows each sound of the language system to be given an unambiguous graphic correspondence - that is, a letter.

Now let’s read the Message contained in the Proto-Slavic ABC. Let's look at the first three letters of the alphabet - Az, Buki, Vedi.
Az - “I”.
Buki (beeches) - “letters, writing.”
Vedi (vede) - “knew”, perfect past tense of “vediti” - to know, to know.
Combining the acrophonic names of the first three letters of the ABC, we get the following phrase: Az buki vede: I KNOW THE LETTERS.

All subsequent letters of the ABC are combined into phrases:
A verb is a “word,” not only spoken, but also written.
Good - “property, acquired wealth.”
Yes (naturally) - 3rd l. units h. from the verb “to be”.

The verb is good: THE WORD IS AN PROPERTY.

Live (instead of the second “and” the letter “yat” was previously written, pronounced live) - imperative mood, plural from “live” - “LIVE IN WORK, AND NOT VEGETATE.”
Zelo (transmitted the combination dz = voiced ts) - “zealously, with zeal”, cf. English zeal (persistent, zealous), jealous (jealous), as well as the biblical name Zealot - “jealous”.
Earth - “planet Earth and its inhabitants, earthlings.”
And - the conjunction “and”.
Izhe - “those who, they are the same.”
Kako - “like”, “like”.
People are “reasonable beings.”
Live well, earth, and people like you: LIVE WORKING HARD, EARTHLANDS, AND AS BEGINNING FOR PEOPLE.

Think (written with the letter “yat”, pronounced think) - imperative mood, plural. h. from “to think, to comprehend with the mind.”
Nash - “ours” in the usual meaning.

He is “that one” in the meaning of “single, united”.
The chambers (peace) are “the basis (of the universe).” Wed. “to rest” - “to be based on...”.
Think about our peace: COMPREHEND OUR UNIVERSE.

Rtsy (rtsi) - imperative mood: “speak, utter, read aloud.” Wed. "speech".
The word is “transmitting knowledge.”

Firmly - “confidently, confidently.”
Rtsy word is firm: CARRY KNOWLEDGE WITH CONFIDENCE.

Uk is the basis of knowledge, doctrine. Wed. science, teach, skill, custom.
Fert, f(b)ret - “fertilizes”.
Kher - “divine, given from above.” Wed. German Herr (lord, God), Greek. “hiero” (divine), English. hero (hero), as well as Russian name God - Horse.
Uk fret Her: KNOWLEDGE IS FERTILIZED BY THE ALMIGHTY, KNOWLEDGE IS A GIFT OF GOD.

Tsy (qi, tsti) - “sharpen, penetrate, delve, dare.”
Worm (worm) - “he who sharpens, penetrates.”
Ш(т)а (Ш, Ш) - “what” in the meaning “to”.
Ъ, ь (еръ/ерь, ъръ) - are variants of one letter, meaning an indefinite short vowel close to e.

Yus - “light, old Russian jar”. In modern Russian, the root “yas” is preserved, for example, in the word “clear”.
Yat (yati) - “to comprehend, to have.” Wed. withdraw, take, etc.
Tsy, worm, shta ara yus yati: BE BOLD, POINTS, (like) A WORM, SO THAT THE LIGHT OF EXISTING COMPREHENSIVE.

The combination of the above phrases constitutes the ABC MESSAGE:
(Yaroslav Kesler)

Az buki veda:
The verb is good.
Live well, earth,
And, like people,
Think about our chambers.
Rtsy's word is firm -
Uk fret dick.
Tsy, worm, shta
Y'ra yus yati! I KNOW THE LETTERS:
WRITING IS AN ASSET.
WORK HARD, EARTHLANDS,
AS BEfits REASONABLE PEOPLE -
UNDERSTAND THE UNIVERSE!
BRING YOUR WORD WITH CONVINCIENCE -
KNOWLEDGE IS A GIFT OF GOD!
GO FOR IT, GET INTO
THE LIGHT OF EXISTENCE IS COMPREHENSIVE!

Do you want to get a more visual idea of ​​what our writing was like? Slavic ancestors(as much as possible)?

Let's try to restore the meaning of the phrase “WAY OF LIFE”.
“O-B-Ъ-R-AZ” is an abbreviation and consists of initial letters: On, Bog, Er, Rtsy, Az
Adding up the meaning of each letter we get: HE IS A GOD-CREATED RIVER ASOM.
“ZHI-Z-N-b” is also an abbreviation: Belly, Earth, Ours, Er
This means: THE LIFE OF OUR EARTH, CREATED FROM HIGH.

Combining the words “IMAGE” and “LIFE”, we get the result: CREATED BY GOD AND ASOM ONE OF THE FACES IS ALIVE or BEING IN ONE OF THE QUALITIES.
And “Alive” is a unit of life, or our true Self.
WHAT A BEAUTIFUL RESULT!!!

Liked? Then let's continue.

“D-U-SH-A”: Good originally sent multiplied by As.
“B-O-G - B-G-Ъ”: God of the Creator Verbs, i.e. manifesting thought through words.
“D-O-L-G-Ъ”: Good to People Verb the Creator (transmit).
“S-E-B-YA”: This is the Image of God, that is, the descendant of the Gods.
“R-O-D-Ъ”: By uttering He Creates Good.

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Modern Russian is based on Old Church Slavonic, which, in turn, was previously used for both writing and speech. Many scrolls and paintings have survived to this day.

Culture of Ancient Rus': writing

Many scientists claim that before the ninth century there was no trace of writing. This means that during Kievan Rus writing did not exist as such.

However, this assumption is erroneous, because if you look at the history of other developed countries and states, you can see that each strong state had its own written language. Since it was also part of a number of fairly strong countries, writing was also necessary for Rus'.

Another group of scientific researchers proved that there was writing, and this conclusion was supported by a number of historical documents and facts: Brave wrote the tale “About the Letters.” Also “in the Lives of Methodius and Constantine” it is mentioned that Eastern Slavs writing. The records of Ibn Fadlan are also cited as evidence.

So when did writing appear in Rus'? The answer to this question is still controversial. But the main argument for society, confirming the emergence of writing in Rus', are the treaties between Russia and Byzantium, which were written in 911 and 945.

Cyril and Methodius: a huge contribution to Slavic writing

The contribution of Slavic enlighteners is invaluable. It was with the beginning of their work that they developed their own alphabet, which was much simpler in pronunciation and writing than the previous version of the language.

It is known that the enlighteners and their disciples did not preach among the East Slavic peoples, but researchers say that, perhaps, Methodius and Cyril set such a goal for themselves. Sharing your views would not only allow you to expand your range of interests, but would also simplify the introduction of a simplified language into East Slavic culture.

In the tenth century, books and lives of great enlighteners came to the territory of Rus', where they began to enjoy real success. It is to this moment that researchers attribute the emergence of writing in Rus', the Slavic alphabet.

Rus' since the appearance of its language alphabet

Despite all these facts, some researchers are trying to prove that the alphabet of the enlighteners appeared during the times of Kievan Rus, that is, even before baptism, when Rus' was a pagan land. Despite the fact that most historical documents are written in Cyrillic, there are papers that contain information written in Glagolitic. Researchers say that the Glagolitic alphabet was probably also used in Ancient Rus' precisely in the period of the ninth-tenth centuries - before Russia adopted Christianity.

More recently, this assumption has been proven. Research scientists found a document that contained records of a certain priest of Upir. In turn, Upir wrote that in 1044 the Glagolitic alphabet was used in Rus', but the Slavic people perceived it as the work of the enlightener Cyril and began to call it “Cyrillic.”

It is difficult to say how different the culture of Ancient Rus' was at that time. The emergence of writing in Rus', as is commonly believed, began precisely from the moment of widespread dissemination of the books of the Enlightenment, despite the facts indicating that writing was an important element for pagan Rus'.

The rapid development of Slavic writing: the baptism of a pagan land

The rapid pace of development of the written language of the East Slavic peoples began after the baptism of Rus', when writing appeared in Rus'. In 988, when Prince Vladimir converted to Christianity in Rus', children who were considered the social elite began to be taught using alphabetic books. It was at this same time that church books appeared in written form, inscriptions on cylinder locks, and there were also written expressions that blacksmiths embossed to order on swords. Texts appear on princely seals.

Also, it is important to note that there are legends about coins with inscriptions that were used by princes Vladimir, Svyatopolk and Yaroslav.

And in 1030, birch bark letters became widely used.

The first written records: birch bark letters and books

The first written records were those on birch bark letters. Such a document is a written record on a small fragment of birch bark.

Their uniqueness is that today they are perfectly preserved. For researchers, such a find is of great importance: in addition to the fact that thanks to these letters one can learn the features of the Slavic language, writing on birch bark can tell about important events, which took place during the period of the eleventh to fifteenth centuries. Such records have become an important element for studying the history of Ancient Rus'.

In addition to Slavic culture, birch bark letters were also used among cultures of other countries.

On this moment in the archives there are many birch bark documents, the authors of which are Old Believers. In addition, with the advent of birch bark “paper”, people learned to peel birch bark. This discovery was the impetus for writing books on Slavic writing in Rus' began to develop more and more.

A find for researchers and historians

The first writings made on birch bark paper that were found in Russia were in the city Velikiy Novgorod. Anyone who has studied history knows that this city was of no small importance for the development of Rus'.

A new stage in the development of writing: translation as the main achievement

The southern Slavs had a huge influence on writing in Rus'.

Under Prince Vladimir, books and documents from the South Slavic language began to be translated in Rus'. And under Prince Yaroslav the Wise it began to develop literary language, thanks to which such a thing appeared literary genre as church literature.

Of great importance for the Old Russian language was the ability to translate texts from foreign languages. The first translations (of books) that came from the Western European side were translations from Greek. Exactly Greek language changed the culture of the Russian language in many ways. Many loanwords were increasingly used in literary works, even in the same church scriptures.

It was at this stage that the culture of Rus' began to change, the writing of which became increasingly more complex.

Reforms of Peter the Great: on the way to simple language

With the advent of Peter I, who reformed all the structures of the Russian people, significant amendments were made even to the culture of the language. The appearance of writing in Rus' in ancient times immediately complicated the already complex In 1708, Peter the Great introduced the so-called “civil font”. Already in 1710, Peter the Great personally revised every letter of the Russian language, after which a new alphabet was created. The alphabet was distinguished by its simplicity and ease of use. Russian ruler I wanted to simplify the Russian language. Many letters were simply excluded from the alphabet, due to which not only Speaking, but also written.

Significant changes in the 18th century: introduction of new symbols

The main change during this period was the introduction of such a letter as “and short”. This letter was introduced in 1735. Already in 1797 Karamzin used a new sign to indicate the sound “yo”.

By the end of the 18th century, the letter “yat” lost its meaning, because its sound coincided with the sound of “e”. It was at this time that the letter “yat” was stopped being used. Soon it also ceased to be part of the Russian alphabet.

The last stage of development of the Russian language: minor changes

The final reform that changed the written language in Rus' was the reform of 1917, which lasted until 1918. It meant the exclusion of all letters whose sound was either too similar or even repeated. It is thanks to this reform that today solid sign(Ъ) is dividing, and soft (b) became dividing when denoting a soft consonant sound.

It is important to note that this reform caused enormous dissatisfaction on the part of many prominent literary figures. For example, Ivan Bunin strongly criticized this change in his native language.

Since ancient times in Rus', relations with the public were carried out by storytellers, buffoons, heralds, peddlers, guslars, who were original informants of the population, both about the heroic past of the people and about what was happening around them. The question of the origin of writing in Rus' is still debatable. An interesting, very well-reasoned concept was expressed by the Ukrainian historian M.Yu. Braichevsky in his book “The Establishment of Christianity in Rus'.”

For a long time, science was dominated by the belief that literacy came to Rus' from Bulgaria after the religious act of 988. Recently, the existence of Old Russian writing of the pre-Cyril type has been proven.

An extremely interesting treatise by Chernorizets Khrabra (10th century) has reached us, dedicated to the emergence of ancient Slavic writing. It proposes a periodization involving three stages of the process. At first, the Slavs used “lines and cuts” to transmit distant (in space and time) information, with the help of which they “chteahu and gataahu” (counted and told fortunes). The second characterizes the use of letters of the Greek and Latin alphabets “without structure” for writing, i.e. without adaptation to the phonetic features of Slavic languages. The third is the activity of Cyril the Philosopher and his invention of a special Slavic alphabet.

This treatise, among other things, contains symbolic signs that represented the embryo of Russian hieroglyphics. The total number of types of signs (more than 200) excludes the possibility of interpreting them as letters of the phonetic alphabet. They are found in separate characters and in the form of texts that have not yet been deciphered.

The second stage, determined by the use of phonetic writing based on the use of Greek and Latin graphics, is perfectly documented by archaeological materials of the Chernyakhov culture (mid-1st millennium AD). The bearers of this culture maintained close and varied relations with the Romans and Greeks. Many of them went to ancient cities, mastered Greek and Latin languages, received education, sometimes very high, mastering skills well written culture. One way or another, the idea of ​​​​using letters of a foreign alphabet to depict Slavic words should have been on the agenda.

In this case, naturally, purely practical difficulties arose due to the discrepancy between both alphabets and the phonetics of the Slavic languages. IN greek alphabet, say, there were no signs to convey the sounds “b”, “u”, hissing, voiceless vowels, diphthongs “ts”, “ch”, etc. Therefore, adaptation of existing graphic systems was relevant. According to Brave, such a “dispensation” constitutes the main content of the third period. But educational activities Kirill the Philosopher and his students does not exhaust the entire process and is only the final stage. One of the most significant achievements historical science in recent decades has been the discovery of the Sofia alphabet, reflecting the initial stage of the “dispensation” of Slavic writing. It includes 23 letters of the Greek alphabet - from “alpha” to “omega” - with the addition of four specifically Slavic characters: “b”, “zh”, “sh”, “sch” (the latter was pronounced as a diphthong “tsh”). These are the most required letters, without which Slavic writing could not function normally.

The Sophia alphabet was discovered in the St. Michael's chapel of the Kyiv Cathedral of St. Sofia, where in the middle of the 11th century. there was a library and scriptorium. It is drawn on the wall very carefully, in capital letters(height about 3 cm). Some researchers assumed that this was an ordinary Cyrillic alphabet, only unfinished. However, this assumption seems incredible. The author depicted the letters carefully, leading up to the “omega” itself, which completed the list. The missing “zh” is written above the line in the proper place, but “ts” and “ch” are not written in. “Fita” is not at the end of the alphabet, as it should be in the Cyrillic alphabet, but in tenth place - between “i” and “i”, as is customary in the Greek alphabet. The author carefully wrote down the signs that were unnecessary for the Slavic language (for example, “xi” or the same “omega”), but ignored the frequently used unvoiced vowels (“ъ” and “ь”), etc.

Thus, the idea arises that the alphabet discovered in Sofia of Kyiv is pre-Cyrillic and reflects First stage in the “organization” of Slavic writing. It is not difficult to understand its appearance on the wall of the scriptorium and library. In the first half of the 11th century. Yaroslav the Wise organized a cultural and educational center in Kyiv, where there was the first library known in Rus'. It undoubtedly contained documents from the pre-Vladimir period (this is evidenced by the texts of treaties between Rus' and the Greeks, which have come down to us as part of later chronicles). Obviously, there were many such official letters. In addition, books from the second half of the 9th-10th centuries were also kept. - translations of Christian literature, chronicles, church documentation, etc.

At the present stage of research, it has been established that East Slavic writing arose independently of Cyril’s mission. It was formed on the basis of two sources, which respectively determined two genetic lines. The first of them was the Black Sea hieroglyphics, combined with the phonetic writing of the Greeks and Romans. As a result, the so-called Russian-Khazar letter arose, the existence of which is attested by Eastern authors. The monuments of this letter have already been deciphered. A branch of this line - the runic alphabet - in the first half of the 1st millennium AD. e. became widespread not only in the Black Sea region, but also far to the West - up to Scandinavia inclusive. On Slavic soil a “proto-glagolic” alphabet arose, around which a heated debate has unfolded in recent decades.

Another source was the Greek writing with a well-established and fairly perfect phonetic alphabet. The process of “arrangement,” which ultimately led to the crystallization of the Cyrillic alphabet in its two variants (Moravian of 38 letters and Bulgarian of 43 letters), determined the main direction in the formation of its own Slavic writing.

The question remains open as to which alphabet Kirill invented. Many researchers are inclined to favor the Cyrillic alphabet. Others believe that it was Glagolitic. The author of these lines is among the latter.

Glagolitic is an artificial alphabet invented by Cyril around 862. It was not used due to its complexity and practical inconveniences, giving way to the Cyrillic alphabet, which finally took shape in the 9th-10th centuries. Perhaps Cyril's acquaintance with Russian books in Chersonesos a year before the start of the Moravian mission to some extent influenced his invention.

Meanwhile, there are other versions about Russian writing.

One of the creators of the alphabet, Kirill, once wrote that before creating his alphabet, he saw the Gospels and Psalms “written in Russian characters” among the Slavs and Aryans.

Then what did Cyril and Methodius create?

In fact, these monks did not create Slavic writing as such, but the Church Slavonic alphabet for the Christian church in Slavic lands. The monks took as a basis the “Initial Letter” that had existed among the Slavs since ancient times, consisting of 49 letters, removed 5 letters, gave Greek names to four letters and began to translate Christian liturgical books from Greek into the one they invented dead language, which did not take root among the people.

What other evidence of the literacy of the Slavs and Aryans, which existed long before the arrival of Cyril and Methodius, can be given, except for the statement of the “enlightenment” Cyril?

Here historical fact: Peter the Great introduces by Decree from January 1, 1700 a new calendar - from the birth of Christ in digital notation, abolishing the Slavic-Aryan Calendar that existed in Rus', according to which at the time of the Decree the Summer of 7208 from the Creation of the World was in progress in the Star Temple.

Moreover, the Russian people wrote the number of years in letters, which proves the existence of writing among the Slavs and Aryans by that time for at least 7208 years.

Another proof can be the words of Catherine II, who wrote the book “Notes on Russian History,” which states that “...The Slavs had many letters before the birth of Christ.”

Here's modern evidence. With the help of the ancient Russian language, the language of the Aryans was studied, ancient Egyptian “hieroglyphs” on papyri, clay and stone were read, Etruscan writings and inscriptions on the Phaistos disk were deciphered, proto-Indian inscriptions on clay seals from Horappa and Mohenjo-Daro were deciphered.

“The signs are different, the language is the same” - this is what our contemporary P.P. wrote. Oreshkin in his work “Babylonian Phenomenon” on deciphering the ancient written monuments. Another Russian linguist G.S. Grinevich in his book “Proto-Slavic Writing” provides evidence of this.

The scientist-historian, the Italian Mavro Orbini, tried to prove this to the whole world in his time, who in 1601 wrote a study entitled “The Book of Historiography initiating the name, glory and expansion of the Slavic people and their Kings and Rulers under many names and with many Kingdoms, Kingdoms and Provinces, collected from many historical books, through Mr. Mavrourbin Archimandrite of Raguzh.”

The Slavic scholar of the 18th century, the Pole Fadey Wolansky, the author of the book “Monuments of the Writing of the Slavs before the Birth of Christ,” was sentenced to death by the Catholic Inquisition for writing “extremely heretical.” The book's circulation was thrown into the fire, where the author was also burned.

Doctor of Philosophy, contemporary of A.S. Pushkin, Russian scientist German origin E.I. Klassen, a passionate follower of M.V. Lomonosov in his views on Ancient Russian history, irrefutably proved the primacy of the Culture of Rus', which became the foundation of cultures Western Europe and countries of the East. The unified Slavic-Aryan language existed on the basis of 4 main and 2 auxiliary types of writing:

• 1) da’Aryan Thragi. This Figurative Symbols, which combine complex three-dimensional signs that convey multidimensional values ​​and diverse Runes;
• 2) x’Aryan Karuna (Union of 256 Runes). Colloquially called priestly writing. Karuna formed the basis of ancient Sanskrit, Devanagari, and was used by the priests of India and Tibet.
• 3) Rasenskie Molvitsy (Imaginative-mirror writing). This writing was called the Etruscan letter, since they wrote with it Races or Etruscans - Slavs and Aryans who inhabited Italy in ancient times. This letter formed the basis of the ancient Phoenician alphabet. Subsequently, the ancient Greeks took the Phoenician writing as a basis, emasculated it and passed it off as their own, on the basis of which “Latin” later appeared.
• 4) Svyatorussian Images(Initial letter). This letter was the most common among all Slavic-Aryan Clans in ancient times. The letter was used for inter-tribal and interstate agreements. Various versions of the abbreviated Initial Letter are known: the Byzantine unicial, the Church Slavonic alphabet, the Old Slovenian (Old Russian) alphabet.

This also includes Velesovitsa or the font of the Veles Book, and the font of the Svyatorussian Magi - texts written on tablets from sacred trees: oak, birch, cedar and ash.

The Old Slovenian or Old Russian language formed the basis of many European languages, including English, the words of which were written in the “Latin alphabet”, and in the sound and meaning of the words they were Slavic-Aryan;

• 5) Glagolitic, or Trade Letter, was used for maintaining registers, calculations, execution of transactions and trade agreements. Subsequently, Glagolitic began to be used along with other languages ​​for recording epics, fairy tales, historical events, and writing Sacred Books;
• 6) Slovenian folk writing was the simplest. It was used to transmit short messages. Subsequently, it became known as “birch bark letter”, or “Characters and Cuts”. This is a letter of constant use. Each Rusich owned this letter and could write a message on a everyday topic to his relative on a piece of birch bark.

The Russians recorded Ancient Wisdom and on more durable materials, such as stones or sheets of various metals (silver, gold, platinum). The most convenient were Santi - plates of platinum, gold and silver, on which Runes were extruded, then filled with indelible paint (similar to cinnabar). The plates were sewn together with rings of the named metals into an oak frame, which was framed with red fabric.

The primary sources of Vedic Knowledge are kept in the Communities of Orthodox Old Believers-Ynglings to the present day.

“That Cyril and Methodius (especially Cyril) compiled the alphabet for the Slavs is recognized by everyone, on the basis of numerous and undoubted evidence antiquities; but the time and place of compilation of this alphabet are a matter of disagreement between scientists, as well as the question of which of the two is knowncurrently available Slavic alphabets, Glagolitic or Cyrillic, invented by Kirill" (article by A. B-va from " Encyclopedic Dictionary Brockhaus and Efron").

The main merit of Cyril and Methodius is not in the invention of a more or less successful alphabet, but in the translation into the Proto-Slavic language of the main sacred texts for Christians, which contributed to the transition of the Slavic peoples from paganism to Christianity. Thus, even if we do not know exactly what alphabet was invented by the brothers, because of this we should not question their role as educators of the Slavic peoples: they first began to preach Christianity in Eastern Europe in the language of the inhabitants of these countries, because of which they were subjected to persecution by the papal clergy. It belongs to the brothers Cyril and Methodius the main role in the adoption of Orthodoxy in Rus', which happened approximately 100 years after their death.

Old Church Slavonic alphabet

Russian master scribes gave the world many excellent manuscripts. One of the brilliant examples of handwritten books is the “Ostromir Gospel”, ancientan incredible monument to Church Slavonic writing And the oldest monument Russian editors. It was recorded in 1056-1057 for the Novgorod languagegardener Ostromir (baptized Joseph) by deacon Gregory. “The Ostromir Gospel” is a perfectly preserved parchment manuscript of beautiful writing on 294 sheets, of which three contain picturesque images of the evangelists John, Luke and Mark, and two were left blank.

The symbolism of Russian masters was revealed in the writing of initial letters, which indicates an undoubted connection between thinkers of the East and West. The initial letters of the books were decorated with patterns and painted in a different color than the rest of the text, which is where the name “red line” came from. Such initial letters were also written in Western European manuscripts.

Ancient Russian writing - Lines from "Ostromir's Scripture"

	However, Russian scribes often depicted the letter A (Az) in the form of a fantastic animal - the half-beast, half-bird Simurg (Semargl), which is called the “Russian sphinx.” This mythical animal served as the personification of the most ancient wisdom.
	It’s as if a person is woven into the letter B (Buki), who symbolically holds the letter in second place, which saves this letter from “running ahead,” that is, from the sin of pride. The pattern of the letter B (Vedat) includes a face in a mask, which personifies deepening in knowledge.
	In letter 3 (Earth) from the “Primer” by Karion Istomin (XVI century), under the symbol “snake” the concept of “earth” was encrypted (an animal crawling on the ground and symbolizing wisdom).

However, over time, such complex allegories no longer help a person study complex texts, but, on the contrary, complicate them even more and interfere with the perception of already difficult concepts. The letter turned into solid calligraphy. Therefore, the reform of writing carried out by Tsar Peter the Great was a truly great gift to the people and advanced Russian science, which in one leap overcame the century-long lag behind Western science. The point is that in-depth study Holy Scripture Although it developed piety among parishioners, it objectively hampered the development of science. Sciences, especially accurate (“digital”) ones, were not needed in Russia for a long time. Graspendthrifts were revered as sorcerers, books with “digits” were considered “black books” (from the unclean, devilish). It got to the point that one fine day it became clear that there was no one to even calculate church Easter eggs, and for this reason the famous Archbishop G. Gonzov had to send an entire expedition to the Mediterranean for consultations.

Ancient Russian writing (Old Slavonic writing), made in ligature.