An article dedicated to the mystery of the Slavic alphabet invites you to plunge into the world of our ancestors and get acquainted with the message embedded in the alphabet. Your attitude towards the ancient message may be ambiguous, but we can confidently say that after reading the article you will look at the alphabet with different eyes.

The Old Slavic alphabet got its name from the combination of two letters “az” and “buki”, which designated the first letters of the alphabet A and B. An interesting fact is that the Old Slavic alphabet was graffiti, i.e. messages scrawled on the walls. The first Old Slavonic letters appeared on the walls of churches in Pereslavl around the 9th century. And by the 11th century, ancient graffiti appeared in St. Sophia Cathedral in Kyiv. It was on these walls that the letters of the alphabet were indicated in several styles, and below was the interpretation of the letter-word.

In 1574 it happened most important event, which contributed to a new round of development of Slavic writing. The first printed “ABC” appeared in Lvov, which was seen by Ivan Fedorov, the man who printed it.

ABC structure

If you look back, you will see that Cyril and Methodius did not just create an alphabet, they discovered to the Slavic people a new path leading to the perfection of man on earth and the triumph of a new faith. If you look at historical events, the difference between which is only 125 years, you will understand that in fact the path to establishing Christianity on our land is directly related to the creation of the Slavic alphabet. After all, literally in one century, the Slavic people eradicated archaic cults and adopted a new faith. The connection between the creation of the Cyrillic alphabet and the adoption of Christianity today does not raise any doubts. The Cyrillic alphabet was created in 863, and already in 988, Prince Vladimir officially announced the introduction of Christianity and the overthrow of primitive cults.

Studying the Old Church Slavonic alphabet, many scientists come to the conclusion that in fact the first “ABC” is a secret writing that has a deep religious and philosophical meaning, and most importantly, that it is constructed in such a way that it represents a complex logical-mathematical organism. In addition, by comparing many finds, the researchers came to the conclusion that the first Slavic alphabet was created as a complete invention, and not as a creation that was created in parts by adding new letter forms. It is also interesting that most of the letters of the Old Church Slavonic alphabet are number letters. Moreover, if you look at the entire alphabet, you will see that it can be conditionally divided into two parts, which are fundamentally different from each other. In this case, we will conditionally call the first half of the alphabet the “higher” part, and the second “lower”. The highest part includes the letters from A to F, i.e. from “az” to “fert” and is a list of letter-words that carry a meaning understandable to a Slav. The lower part of the alphabet begins with the letter “sha” and ends with “izhitsa”. The letters of the lower part of the Old Church Slavonic alphabet do not have a numerical value, unlike the letters of the higher part, and carry a negative connotation.

In order to understand the secret writing of the Slavic alphabet, it is necessary not just to skim through it, but to read carefully into each letter-word. After all, each letter-word contains a semantic core that Konstantin put into it.

Literal truth, the highest part of the alphabet

Az is the initial letter of the Slavic alphabet, which denotes the pronoun I. However, its root meaning is the word “initially”, “begin” or “beginning”, although in everyday life the Slavs most often used Az in the context of a pronoun. Nevertheless, in some Old Church Slavonic letters one can find Az, which meant “alone,” for example, “I’ll go to Vladimir.” Or “starting from scratch” meant “starting from the beginning.” Thus, the Slavs denoted with the beginning of the alphabet the entire philosophical meaning of existence, where without beginning there is no end, without darkness there is no light, and without good there is no evil. At the same time, the main emphasis in this is placed on the duality of the structure of the world. Actually, the alphabet itself is built on the principle of duality, where it is conventionally divided into two parts: higher and lower, positive and negative, the part located at the beginning and the part that is at the end. In addition, do not forget that Az It has numeric value, which is expressed by the number 1. Among the ancient Slavs, the number 1 was the beginning of everything beautiful. Today, studying Slavic numerology, we can say that the Slavs, like other peoples, divided all numbers into even and odd. Moreover, odd numbers were the embodiment of everything positive, good and bright. Even numbers, in turn, represented darkness and evil. Moreover, the unit was considered the beginning of all beginnings and was highly revered by the Slavic tribes. From the point of view of erotic numerology, it is believed that 1 represents the phallic symbol from which procreation begins. This number has several synonyms: 1 is one, 1 is one, 1 is times.

Buki (Buki)- the second letter-word in the alphabet. It has no digital meaning, but has no less deep philosophical meaning than Az. Beeches- means “to be”, “will be” was most often used when using phrases in the future form. For example, “boudi” means “let it be,” and “boudous,” as you probably already guessed, means “future, upcoming.” In this word, our ancestors expressed the future as an inevitability, which could be either good and rosy or gloomy and terrible. It is still not known for certain why Bukam Constantine did not give a numerical value, but many scholars suggest that this is due to the duality of this letter. Indeed, by and large, it denotes the future, which every person imagines for himself in a rosy light, but on the other hand, this word also denotes the inevitability of punishment for committed low deeds.

Lead- an interesting letter of the Old Church Slavonic alphabet, which has a numerical value of 2. This letter has several meanings: to know, to know and to own. When Konstantin invested in Lead this meaning, it implied intimate knowledge, knowledge as the highest divine gift. If you fold Az, Beeches And Lead into one phrase, you get a phrase that means “I will know!” Thus, Constantine showed that a person who discovered the alphabet he created would subsequently possess some kind of knowledge. The numerical load of this letter is no less important. After all, 2 - deuce, two, pair were not just numbers among the Slavs, they accepted Active participation in magical rituals and in general they were symbols of the duality of everything earthly and heavenly. The number 2 among the Slavs meant the unity of heaven and earth, the duality of human nature, good and evil, etc. In a word, the deuce was a symbol of the confrontation between two sides, heavenly and earthly balance. Moreover, it is worth noting that the Slavs considered two to be a devilish number and attributed a lot of negative properties to it, believing that it was two that opened the numerical series of negative numbers that bring death to a person. That is why the birth of twins in Old Slavonic families was considered a bad sign, which brought illness and misfortune to the family. In addition, the Slavs considered it a bad sign for two people to rock a cradle, for two people to dry themselves with the same towel, and generally to perform any action together. Despite such a negative attitude towards the number 2, the Slavs recognized its magical power. For example, many banishing rituals evil spirits were carried out using two identical objects or with the participation of twins.

Verb- a letter whose meaning is the performance of some action or the pronunciation of speech. Synonyms of letters and words Verb are: verb, speak, conversation, speech, and in some contexts the word verb was used in the meaning of “write.” For example, the phrase “May the verb give us the word, the thought, and the action” means that “rational speech gives us words, thoughts, and actions.” Verb was always used only in a positive context, and its numerical value was the number 3 - three. Three or triad, as our ancestors often called it, was considered a divine number.

Firstly, the troika is a symbol of spirituality and the unity of the soul with the Holy Trinity.
Secondly, the three/triad was an expression of the unity of heaven, earth and underground kingdom.
Third, the triad symbolizes the completion of a logical sequence: beginning - middle - end.

Finally, the triad symbolizes the past, present and future.

If you look at most Slavic rituals and magical actions, you will see that they all ended with a three-time repetition of a ritual. The simplest example is triple baptism after prayer.

Good- the fifth letter in the Slavic alphabet, which is a symbol of purity and goodness. The true meaning of this word is “good, virtue.” At the same time, in a letter Good Constantine invested not only purely human character traits, but also virtue, which all people who love the Heavenly Father should adhere to. Under Good Scientists, first of all, see virtue from the point of view of a person’s maintenance of religious canons, which symbolize the Commandments of the Lord. For example, the Old Church Slavonic phrase: “Be diligent in virtue and in living truly” carries the meaning that a person should real life maintain virtue.

Numerical value of the letter Good denoted by the number 4, i.e. four. What did the Slavs put into this number? First of all, the four symbolized the four elements: fire, water, earth and air, the four ends of the holy cross, the four cardinal directions and the four corners of the room. Thus, the four was a symbol of stability and even inviolability. Despite the fact that this is an even number, the Slavs did not treat it negatively, because it was it, together with the three, that gave the divine number 7.

One of the most multifaceted words of the Old Church Slavonic alphabet is Eat. This word is denoted by words such as “is”, “sufficiency”, “presence”, “essence”, “being”, “nature”, “nature” and other synonyms that express the meaning of these words. Surely, having heard this letter-word, many of us will immediately remember the phrase from the movie “Ivan Vasilyevich is changing his profession,” which has already become popular: “I am the king!” With such a clear example, it is easy to understand that the person who said this phrase positions himself as a king, that is, the king is his real essence. Number letter puzzle Eat hiding in the top five. Five is one of the most controversial numbers in Slavic numerology. After all, it is both positive and negative number, as, probably, a number that consists of the “divine” triad and the “satanic” two.

If we talk about the positive aspects of five, which is the numerical value of the letter Eat, then, first of all, it should be noted that this number carries great religious potential: in Holy Scripture five is a symbol of grace and mercy. The oil for sacred anointing consisted of 5 parts, which included 5 ingredients, and when performing the “smudging” ritual, 5 different ingredients are also used, such as: incense, stakt, onykh, lebanon and halvan.

Other philosophical thinkers argue that the five is an identification with the five human senses: sight, hearing, smell, touch and taste. There are in the top five and negative qualities, which were found by some researchers of Old Slavic culture. In their opinion, among the ancient Slavs, the number five was a symbol of risk and war. A clear indication of this is the conduct of battles by the Slavs mainly on Fridays. Friday among the Slavs was a symbol of the number five. However, there are some contradictions here, as other numerology researchers believe that the Slavs preferred to conduct battles and battles on Fridays solely because they considered five a lucky number and thanks to this they hoped to win the battle.

live- letter-word, which is designated today as a letter AND. The meaning of this letter is quite simple and clear and is expressed by words such as “living”, “life” and “living”. In this letter, the wise Constantine put a word that everyone understood, which denoted the existence of all life on the planet, as well as the creation of new life. In many of his works, Constantine showed that life is a great gift that a person possesses, and this gift should be aimed at doing good deeds. If you combine the meaning of the letter live with the meaning of the previous letters, then you will get the phrase conveyed by Constantine to posterity: “I will know and say that goodness is inherent in all living things...” The letter Livete is not endowed with a numerical characteristic, and this remains another mystery that the great scientist left behind, philosopher, speaker and linguist Konstantin.

Zelo- a letter that is a combination of two sounds [d] and [z]. The main meaning of this letter for the Slavs was the words “strong” and “strong”. The letter itself is a word Zelo was used in Old Slavonic writings as “zelo”, which meant strongly, firmly, very, very, and it could also often be found in a sentence as “green”, i.e. strong, strong or abundant. If we consider this letter in the context of the word “very,” then we can cite as an example the lines of the great Russian poet Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin, who wrote: “Now I must deeply apologize to you for the long silence.” In this expression, “apologize very much” can easily be rephrased into the phrase “apologize very much.” Although the expression “to change a lot” would also be appropriate here.

• the sixth paragraph of the Lord's Prayer speaks of sin;
• the sixth commandment speaks about the terrible sin a person - murder;
• the line of Cain ended with the sixth generation;
• the notorious mythical snake had 6 names;
• The devil's number is presented in all sources as three sixes "666".

The list of unpleasant associations associated with the number 6 among the Slavs goes on. However, we can conclude that in some Old Slavonic sources, philosophers also noticed the mystical appeal of the six. So the love that arises between a man and a woman was also associated with the six, which is a combination of two triads.

Earth- the ninth letter of the Old Church Slavonic alphabet, the meaning of which is represented as “land” or “country”. Sometimes in sentences the letter is a word Earth was used in such meanings as “region”, “country”, “people”, “land”, or this word meant the human body. Why did Konstantin name the letter this way? Everything is very simple! After all, we all live on earth, in our own country, and belong to some nationality. Therefore the word is a letter Earth represents a concept behind which the community of the people is hidden. Moreover, everything starts small and ends with something big and immense. That is, Constantine in this letter embodied the following phenomenon: each person is part of a family, each family belongs to a community, and each community together represents a people who live in a certain territory called their native land. And these patches of land, which we call our native land, are united in huge country where there is one God. However, apart from deeply philosophical meaning in letter Earth a number is hidden that is directly related to the life of Constantine himself. This number 7 is seven, seven, week. What can modern youth know about the number 7? The only thing is that seven brings good luck. However, for the ancient Slavs and in particular for Constantine, seven was a very significant number.

Firstly, Konstantin was the seventh child in the family.
Secondly, it was at the age of seven that Konstantin dreamed of the Beautiful Sofia. If you delve a little deeper into history, you would like to talk about this dream. Sophia the Wise in the beliefs of the Byzantines was a deity like Athena among the ancient Greeks. Sophia was considered a symbol of Divine Wisdom and was revered as the supreme deity. And then one day seven-year-old Konstantin had a dream in which the Lord turned to him and said: “Choose any girl to be your wife.” At the same time, Konstantin looked at all the girls in the city and saw Sofia, who in his dream appeared as a beautiful pink-cheeked girl. He approached her, took her by the hand and led her to the Lord. Having told this dream to his father in the morning, he heard in response the following words: “Keep, son, the law of your father and do not reject punishment from the hand of your mother, then you will say words of wisdom..." Father gave this parting word to Konstantin, as young man who takes the righteous path. However, Constantine understood that in life there is not only a righteous or correct path, but also a path that awaits those who do not honor the Divine commandments.

The number seven for the Slavs and Constantine in particular meant the number of spiritual perfection, upon which God’s seal lay. Moreover, we can see seven almost everywhere in everyday life: a week consists of seven days, the musical alphabet of seven notes, etc. Religious books and scriptures also cannot do without mentioning the number seven.

Izhe- a letter whose meaning can be expressed by the words “if”, “if” and “when”. The meaning of these words has not changed to this day, it’s just that in everyday life modern Slavs use synonyms Izhe: if and when. Konstantin was more fascinated not by the verbal decoding of this letter-word, but by the numerical one. After all Izhe The number 10 corresponds to ten, ten, decade, as we call this number today. Among the Slavs, the number ten is considered the third number, which denotes divine perfection and orderly completeness. If you look at history and various sources, then you will see that the ten has a deep religious and philosophical meaning:

• The 10 commandments are God's completed code, which reveals to us the basic rules of virtue;
• 10 generations represent full cycle family or nation;
• in the prayer “Our Father!” contains 10 moments that represent a completed cycle of acceptance of God, reverence for the Almighty, a plea for deliverance, and the logical final moment is the recognition of His eternity.

And this is only an incomplete cycle of references to the number 10 in various sources.

Kako- a letter-word of the Slavic alphabet that means “like” or “like.” A simple example of the use of this word “like him” today is simply “like him.” In this word, Constantine tried to express the similarity of man with God. After all, God created man in his own image and likeness. Numerical characteristic This letter corresponds to twenty.

People- a letter of the Slavic alphabet, which speaks for itself about the meaning that is inherent in it. The true meaning of the letter People used to refer to people of any class, gender and gender. From this letter came such expressions as the human race, to live like humans. But perhaps the most famous phrase, which we still use today, is “to go out into the people,” which meant going out into the square for meetings and celebrations. Thus, our ancestors worked for a whole week, and on Sunday, which was the only day off, they dressed up and went out to the square to “look at others and show themselves off.” Letter-word People The number 30 corresponds to thirty.

Myslete- a very important letter-word, the true meaning of which means “to think”, “thinking”, “to think”, “to reflect” or, as our ancestors said, “to think with the mind”. For the Slavs, the word “think” did not just mean sitting and thinking about eternity, this word included spiritual communication with God. Myslete is the letter that corresponds to the number 40 - forty. In Slavic thinking, the number 40 had a special meaning, because when the Slavs said “very much,” they meant 40. Apparently, in ancient times this was the highest number. For example, remember the phrase “forty forty.” She says that the Slavs represented the number 40, as we do today, for example, the number 100 is one hundred. If we turn to the Sacred Writings, then it is worth noting that the Slavs considered 40 to be another divine number, which denotes a certain period of time that the human soul goes through from the moment of temptation to the moment of punishment. Hence the tradition of commemorating the deceased on the 40th day after death.

Letter-word Our also speaks for itself. Konstantin the Philosopher put into it two meanings: “our” and “brother”. That is, this word expresses kinship or closeness in spirit. Synonyms for the true meaning of the letter were words such as “our own”, “native”, “close” and “belonging to our family”. Thus, the ancient Slavs divided all people into two castes: “us” and “strangers”. Letter-word Our has its own numerical value, which, as you probably already guessed, is 50 - fifty.

The next word in the alphabet is represented by a modern letter ABOUT, which in the Old Church Slavonic alphabet is designated by the word He. The true meaning of this letter is "face". Besides that He denoted a personal pronoun, it was used to designate a person, personality or person. The number that corresponds to this word is 70 - seventy.

Peace- the letter of the spirituality of the Slavic people. True meaning Peace is about peace and quiet. Constantine the Philosopher invested special peace of mind or spiritual harmony in this letter. In various works, he often focused people’s attention on the fact that only by having grace in the soul can one find peace of mind. Agree, he's right! Man committing good deeds He who has pure thoughts and respects the commandments lives in harmony with himself. He doesn't need to pretend to anyone because he is at peace with himself. Number corresponding to letter Peace equals 80 - eighty.

Rtsy- is an ancient Slavic letter that we know today as the letter R. Of course, by asking a simple modern man you are unlikely to hear an answer about whether he knows what this word means. However, the letter-word Rtsy was well known to those who held in their hands or saw the first Slavic alphabet on the walls of churches. True meaning Rtsy lies in words such as “you will utter”, “you will say”, “you will express” and other words that are close in meaning. For example, the expression “talks of wisdom” means “speak wise words.” This word was often used in ancient writings, but today its meaning has lost its significance for modern people. The numerical value of Rtsy is 100 - one hundred.

Word- a letter about which we can say that it gives the name to all our speech. Since man came up with the word, surrounding objects have received their own names, and people have ceased to be a faceless mass and have received names. In the Slavic alphabet Word has many synonyms: legend, speech, sermon. All these synonyms were often used when composing both official letters and writing scholarly treatises. IN colloquial speech this letter is also widely used. Numerical analogue of a letter Word is 200 - two hundred.

The next letter of the alphabet is known to us today as the letter T, however, the ancient Slavs knew it as a letter-word Firmly. As you understand, the true meaning of this letter speaks for itself, and it means “solid” or “true.” It was from this letter that it came famous expression“I stand firm on my word.” This means that a person clearly understands what he is saying and asserts the correctness of his thoughts and words. Such hardness is destiny or very wise people or complete fools. However, the letter Firmly indicated that the person who says something or does something feels right. If we talk about the numerical self-affirmation of the letter Firmly, then it is worth saying that it corresponds to the number 300 - three hundred.

Oak- another letter in the alphabet, which today has been transformed into the letter U. It is, of course, difficult for an ignorant person to understand what this word means, but the Slavs knew it as “law.” Oak often used in the meaning of “decree”, “to fasten”, “lawyer”, “to indicate”, “to fasten”, etc. Most often, this letter was used to denote government decrees, laws adopted by officials and was rarely used in a spiritual context.

Completes the galaxy of “higher” letters of the alphabet Firth. This unusual letter-word means nothing more than glory, pinnacle, top. But this concept is not addressed to human glory, which denotes the fame of a person, but gives glory to eternity. note that Firth is the logical ending of the “higher” part of the alphabet and represents a conditional end. But this end gives us food for thought that there is still eternity that we must glorify. Numeric value Ferta is 500 - five hundred.

Having examined the highest part of the alphabet, we can state the fact that it is secret message Constantine to posterity. “Where is this visible?” - you ask. Now try to read all the letters, knowing their true meaning. If you take several subsequent letters, then edifying phrases are formed:

• Vedi + Verb means “know the teaching”;
• Rtsy + Word + Firmly can be understood as the phrase “speak the true word”;
• Firmly + Oak can be interpreted as “strengthen the law.”

If you look closely at other letters, you can also find the secret writing that Constantine the Philosopher left behind.

Have you ever wondered why the letters in the alphabet are in this particular order and not in any other? The order of the “highest” part of the Cyrillic letters can be considered from two positions.

Firstly, the fact that each letter-word forms a meaningful phrase with the next one may mean a non-random pattern that was invented to quickly memorize the alphabet.

Secondly, the Old Church Slavonic alphabet can be considered from the point of view of numbering. That is, each letter also represents a number. Moreover, all letter-numbers are arranged in ascending order. So, the letter A - “az” corresponds to one, B - 2, G - 3, D - 4, E - 5, and so on up to ten. Tens begin with the letter K, which are listed here similarly to units: 10, 20, 30, 40, 50, 70, 80 and 100.

In addition, many scientists have noticed that the outlines of the letters of the “higher” part of the alphabet are graphically simple, beautiful and convenient. They were perfect for cursive writing, and a person did not experience any difficulties in depicting these letters. And many philosophers see in the numerical arrangement of the alphabet the principle of the triad and spiritual harmony that a person achieves, striving for good, light and truth.

Literal truth, the “lowest” part of the alphabet

As an educated person who strives for truth, Constantine could not lose sight of the fact that good cannot exist without evil. Therefore, the “lowest” part of the Old Church Slavonic alphabet is the embodiment of everything base and evil that is in man. So, let's get acquainted with the letters of the “lower” part of the alphabet, which do not have a numerical value. By the way, pay attention, there are not many of them, not only 13!

The “lowest” part of the alphabet begins with the letter Sha. The true meaning of this letter can be expressed in words such as “trash”, “nonentity” or “liar”. Often in sentences they were used to indicate the entire baseness of a person who was called shabala, which means a liar and idle talker. Another word derived from the letter Sha, “shabendat”, which means fussing over trifles. And especially vile people were called the word “shaveren”, that is, trash or insignificant person.

Very similar to Sha the letter is the next letter Now. What associations do you have when you hear this letter? But our ancestors used this letter when they talked about vanity or mercy, but it is a root synonym for the letter Now You can only find one word: “mercilessly.” For example, a simple Old Church Slavonic phrase “betray without mercy.” His modern meaning can be expressed in the phrase “they betray mercilessly.”

Er. In ancient times, Erami were called thieves, swindlers and rogues. Today we know this letter as Ъ. Er is not endowed with any numerical value, like the other twelve letters of the lower part of the alphabet.

eras- this is a letter that has survived to this day and appears in our alphabet, like Y. As you understand, it also has an unpleasant meaning and means a drunkard, because in ancient times revelers and drunkards who hung around idle were called erigs. In fact, there were people who did not work, but only walked and drank intoxicating drinks. They were in great disfavour among the entire community and were often persecuted with stones.

Er represents b in the modern alphabet, but the meaning of this letter is unknown to many contemporaries. Er had several meanings: “heresy”, “heretic”, “enemy”, “sorcerer” and “renegade”. If this letter meant “renegade,” then the person was called “erik.” In other definitions, a person was called a “heretic.”

This word was perhaps the most terrible of all Slavic insults. After all, we all know very well from history what happened to heretics...

Yat- this is the letter to which the synonym “accept” is most suitable. In Old Church Slavonic texts it was most often used as “imat” and “yatny”. Amazing words, especially for modern people. Although I think that some of the slang words used by our teenagers would not have been understood by the ancient Slavs. “Have” was used in the context of catching or taking. “Yatny” was used in Old Slavonic texts when they talked about something accessible or an easily achievable goal.

YU[y] is the letter of grief and sadness. Its root meaning is a bitter lot and an unhappy fate. The Slavs called vale a bad fate. From the same letter comes the word holy fool, which means an ugly and insane person. Fools in Constantine's alphabet were designated exclusively from a negative point of view, but we should not forget who the holy fools were originally. After all, if you look at history, you will see that wandering monks and companions of Jesus who imitated the Son of God, accepting ridicule and mockery, were called holy fools.

[AND I- a letter that has no name, but it contains a deep and terrifying meaning. The true meaning of this letter is several concepts such as "exile", "outcast" or "torment". Both exile and outcast are synonyms for one concept that has deep ancient Russian roots. Behind this word was an unfortunate man who had fallen out of social environment and does not fit into existing society. It's interesting that in ancient Russian state There was such a thing as a “rogue prince.” Rogue princes are people who lost their inheritance due to the premature death of relatives who did not have time to transfer their possessions to them.

[I]E- another letter of the “lower” part of the alphabet, which does not have a name. The ancient Slavs had completely unpleasant associations with this letter, because it meant “torment” and “suffering”. Often this letter was used in the context of eternal torment experienced by sinners who do not recognize the laws of God and do not keep the 10 commandments.

Two more interesting letters Old Church Slavonic alphabet Yus small And Yus big. They are very similar in form and meaning. Let's look at what their differences are.

Yus small resembles in shape tied hands. The most interesting thing is that the root meaning of this letter is “bonds”, “fetters”, “chains”, “knots” and words with similar meanings. Often Yus small was used in texts as a symbol of punishment and was denoted by the following words: bonds and knots.

Yus big was a symbol of a dungeon or prison, as a more severe punishment for atrocities committed by a person. It is interesting that the shape of this letter was similar to a dungeon. Most often in ancient Slavic texts you can find this letter in the form of the word uziliche, which meant a prison or prison. The derivatives of these two letters are the letters Iotov yus small And Iotov yus big. Graphic image Iotova Yusa small in Cyrillic is similar to the image Yusa small, however, in the Glagolitic alphabet these two letters have completely different forms. The same can be said about Iotov Yus the Great and Yus the Great. What is the secret of such a striking difference? After all, the semantic meaning that we know about today is very similar for these letters and represents a logical chain. Let's look at each graphic image of these four letters in the Glagolitic alphabet.

Yus small, denoting bonds or shackles, is depicted in the Glagolitic alphabet as human body, whose hands and feet seem to be wearing shackles. Behind Yus small coming Iotov yus small, which means imprisonment, confinement of a person in a dungeon or prison. This letter in the Glagolitic alphabet is depicted as a certain substance similar to a cell. What happens next? And then it goes Yus big, which is a symbol of a prison and is depicted in Glagolitic as a crooked figure. It's amazing, but Yus big coming Iotov yus big, which means execution, and his graphic representation in Glagolitic is nothing more than a gallows. Now let's look separately at the semantic meanings of these four letters and their graphic analogies. Their meaning can be reflected in a simple phrase that indicates a logical sequence: first they put shackles on a person, then they imprison them in prison, and finally the logical conclusion of the punishment is execution. What comes out of this simple example? But it turns out that Constantine, when creating the “lower” part of the alphabet, also put into it a certain hidden meaning and ordered all the signs according to a certain logical criterion. If you look at all thirteen letters of the lower row of the alphabet, you will see that they are a conditional edification for the Slavic people. Combining all thirteen letters according to their meaning, we get the following phrase: “Insignificant liars, thieves, swindlers, drunkards and heretics will accept a bitter fate - they will be tortured as outcasts, shackled, thrown into prison and executed!” Thus, Constantine the Philosopher gives the Slavs the admonition that all sinners will be punished.

In addition, graphically all the letters of the “lower” part are much more difficult to reproduce than the letters of the first half of the alphabet, and what immediately catches the eye is that many of them do not have a name or numerical identification.

And finally, about the second half of the Old Church Slavonic alphabet, we can say that most of the letter-words do not have the positive beginning that is inherent in the letters of the “higher” part. Almost all of them are expressed in hissing syllables. The letters of this part of the alphabet are tongue-tied and lack melody, unlike those located at the beginning of the table.

Divine part of the alphabet

Having studied the true meaning of the two parts of the Old Church Slavonic alphabet, we receive two pieces of advice from the sage. However, don’t think that the ABC secrets end there. After all, we have a few more letters that stand apart from all the others. These signs include letters Her, Omega, Tsy And Worm.

The most interesting thing is that the letters X - Dick And W - Omega stand in the center of the alphabet and are enclosed in a circle, which, you see, expresses their superiority over the other letters of the alphabet. The main features of these two letters are that they migrated into the Old Slavonic alphabet from the Greek alphabet and have a dual meaning. Look at them carefully. Right side of these letters is a reflection of the left side, thus emphasizing their polarity. Perhaps Constantine, not by accident, but deliberately borrowed these letters from the Greeks? Indeed, in the Greek sense, the letter X means the Universe, and even its numerical value 600 - six hundred corresponds to the word “space”. Constantine put in the letter X the unity of God and man.

Considering the letter W, which corresponds to the number 800 - eight hundred, I would like to focus on the fact that it means the word “faith”. Thus, these two letters circled symbolize faith in God and are an image of the fact that somewhere in the Universe there is a cosmic sphere where the Lord lives, who determined the fate of man from beginning to end.

In addition, Konstantin in the letter Her invested a special meaning, which can be reflected by the word “cherub” or “ancestor”. Cherubim were considered the highest angels who were closest to God and surrounded the Throne of the Lord. Slavic words, derived from the letter Her, have only positive meanings: cherub, heroism, which means heroism, heraldry (respectively, heraldry), etc.

In its turn, Omega on the contrary, it meant finality, end or death. This word has many derivatives, so “offensive” means eccentric, and disgusting means something very bad.

Thus, Her And Omega, enclosed in a circle, were the symbol of this circle. Look at their meanings: beginning and end. But a circle is a line that has neither beginning nor end. However, at the same time, it is both the beginning and the end.

There are two more letters in this “enchanted” circle, which we know in the Old Church Slavonic alphabet as Tsy And Worm. The most interesting thing is that these letters have a dual meaning in the Old Church Slavonic alphabet.

So positive meaning Tsy can be expressed in the words church, kingdom, king, Caesar, cycle and many more similar words-synonyms of these meanings. In this case the letter Tsy meant both the kingdom of earth and the kingdom of heaven. At the same time, it was used with a negative connotation. For example, “tsits!” - shut up, stop talking; “tsiryukat” - shouting, shouting and “tsyba”, which meant an unstable, thin-legged person and was considered an insult.

Letter Worm also has both positive and negative traits. From this letter came such words as monk, that is, monk; brow, cup, child, man, etc. All the negativity that could be thrown out with this letter can be expressed in words such as worm - a low-lying, reptile creature, womb - belly, devil - offspring and others.

Having studied the alphabet from the very beginning, we can come to the conclusion that Constantine left to his descendants main value- a creation that encourages us to strive for self-improvement, learning, wisdom and love, crossing the dark paths of anger, envy and hostility.

Now, revealing the alphabet, you will know that the creation that was born thanks to the efforts of Constantine the Philosopher is not just a list of letters with which words begin that express our fear and indignation, love and tenderness, respect and delight.

Bibliography:

1. K. Titarenko “The Secret of the Slavic Alphabet”, 1995
2. A. Zinoviev “Cyrillic cryptography”, 1998
3. M. Krongauz “Where did Slavic writing come from”, journal “Russian Language” 1996, No. 3
4. E. Nemirovsky “In the footsteps of the first printer”, M.: Sovremennik, 1983.

Here we use numbers for various calculations. Some people know, but some people don’t really think about it - where did these squiggles come from, who invented them. Well, those that we now mainly use in everyday life - they came from Arab world. That's what they're called - Arabic numerals. There are also Roman numerals. Those are used little, well, in the numbering of a chapter or paragraph of some kind.

But these are not the only options. After all, there are numberings like the Egyptian hieroglyphic, they are Phoenician, Syrian, Palmyra, Greek. After all, every nation-language has its own numbers. So the question arose: How did our Russian ancestors write down the numbers?

Slavic numbers, numbers of the Old Russian counting, in which each of the integers from 1 to 9, as well as tens and hundreds, were designated by letters of the Slavic alphabet with a sign inscribed above them - (title). Integers up to 999 were formed using adjacent Slavic numbers For example, = 324. Here = 300, = 20, = 4. Thousands were designated using a prefix to a figure expressing the number of thousands of a certain sign.

There is also this article:

How to read years written in Slavic letters

Until the beginning of the 18th century, the year was indicated by Slavic letters. The numbers are written from left to right in descending order. The exception is numbers from 11 to 19, which are written as they are pronounced, i.e. first the smaller number, and then the designation of the number 10. For example, twelve is two by twenty, i.e. two by ten, first 2 is written, then 10. In order for the numbers to differ from the text, a title sign (҃) is drawn above them. In order to determine the year, you need to add up all the digits in the number.

To indicate thousands, a sign was placed before the letter (&

The question of the origin and development of the Glagolitic alphabet raised in this material is very complex. And not only because practically very few historical monuments and documentary evidence of the use of this font have survived. Looking through the literature, scientific and popular publications that somehow relate to this issue, it should, unfortunately, be noted that there are practically no works that fully cover this topic. At the same time, M.G. Riznik claims that “no other letter has been written as much as about the Glagolitic alphabet and its origin” (Letter and font. Kyiv: Higher schools", 1978).

G.A. Ilyinsky at one time counted about eighty works devoted to this issue. About 30 hypotheses have been put forward regarding the origin of the Glagolitic alphabet. Today, it’s enough to go online and see that a lot has actually been written about the Glagolitic alphabet. But basically it’s just a rehash of the same information, opinions and views. One gets the impression of a huge “circulation” of the same information.

In our opinion, a lot of interesting things can be found in the design of Glagolitic characters if you try to consider them from the point of view of the artistic and figurative expressiveness of this font. Despite the exceptional graphic originality of Glagolitic letters (not to mention the semantic meaning of each sign), many scientists tried to find prototypes of letter patterns in various alphabets of the world. The basis of the Glagolitic alphabet was most often found in Greek italic. Some see its basis in pre-Christian Cyrillic writing. Others saw its roots in the Iranian-Aramaic script in the East. The emergence of the Glagolitic alphabet was associated with Germanic runes. Safarik P.I. I saw the graphic basis of the Glagolitic alphabet in Hebrew writing. Obolensky M.A. turns to the Khazar script in search of sources of the Glagolitic alphabet. Fortunatov F.F. saw the basis of the Glagolitic alphabet in the Coptic script. Other scientists found the roots of the Glagolitic alphabet in Albanian, Persian, and Latin.

However, the searches listed above by comparing the graphic features of Glagolitic letters with other types were mostly of a formal nature.

The two main types of Slavic writing preserved in history are Glagolitic and Cyrillic. From the school course we know that both types of writing existed in parallel for some time. Later, the Cyrillic alphabet replaced the Glagolitic alphabet. Every schoolchild knows these, now elementary, truths. Information has become so firmly ingrained in our consciousness that it is perceived as an axiom. We know the time of the appearance of the official Slavic alphabet - 863, the 9th century after the Nativity of Christ, which began a new era.

We can judge the Cyrillic alphabet based on its name. Probably its creator was Kirill. Although this is not true to this day. Yes, there is historical information that Cyril invented some kind of alphabet for translating Christian liturgical books onto a Slavic basis.

But still not consensus about which alphabet exactly. In the chronicle sources of the 9th-10th centuries there are specific indications that Cyril (Constantine) created the Slavic alphabet, but none of these sources provide examples of the letters of this alphabet.

We know the number of letters included in Cyril’s alphabet, and the list of them that Chernorizets Khrabr gives in his work. He also divides the letters of Cyril’s alphabet into those created “according to the order of Greek letters” and into letters “according to Slovenian speech.” But the number of letters in the Glagolitic and Cyrillic alphabet, as well as their sound meaning, were practically the same. The oldest monuments of the Cyrillic and Glagolitic alphabet date back to the end of the 9th - beginning of the 10th century. The name of this alphabet is not proof of the creation of the Cyrillic alphabet by Kirill.

In the intense struggle for religious and political influence between the Roman Catholic and Eastern Byzantine Orthodox Churches, these two alphabet played an extremely important role in the formation of the identity of the Slavs. The Glagolitic alphabet was used in liturgical books in Dalmatia. A modified Cyrillic alphabet was used in Bulgaria.

Letters of the “round Glagolitic” alphabet and their meaning

There are several points of view on the problem of the formation and development of the Cyrillic and Glagolitic alphabet.

According to one of them, Cyril created the Glagolitic alphabet, and the Cyrillic alphabet arose later as an improvement of the Glagolitic alphabet.

According to another, Cyril created the Glagolitic alphabet, and the Cyrillic alphabet existed among the Slavs earlier, as a modification of the Greek letter.

It is assumed that Cyril created the Cyrillic alphabet, and the Glagolitic alphabet was formed among the Slavs in the pre-Cyrillic period. And it also served as the basis for the construction of the Cyrillic alphabet.

Perhaps Cyril created the Cyrillic alphabet, and the Glagolitic alphabet appeared as a kind of secret writing during the period of persecution of books written in Cyrillic by the Catholic clergy.

There is also a version according to which Glagolitic letters appeared as a result of deliberate complication, adding curls and circles instead of dots in Cyrillic letters, and in some characters due to their inversion.

There is a version that the Cyrillic and Glagolitic alphabet existed among the Slavs even in the pre-Christian period of their development.

All these points of view on the problem of the formation and development of the Glagolitic and Cyrillic alphabet are quite controversial and today have a lot of contradictions and inaccuracies. Modern science and factual material do not yet make it possible to create an accurate picture and chronology of the development of Slavic writing in general.

There are too many doubts and contradictions, and very little factual material on the basis of which these doubts can be dispelled.

Thus, Kirill’s student allegedly improved the alphabet created by the teacher, and thus the Cyrillic alphabet was obtained based on the Glagolitic alphabet and the Greek statutory letter. Most Cyrillic-Glagolic books (palimpsests) have an earlier text - Glagolitic. When rewriting the book, the original text was washed away. This confirms the idea that the Glagolitic alphabet was written before the Cyrillic alphabet.

If we agree that Kirill invented the Glagolitic alphabet, then the question naturally arises: “Why was it necessary to invent complex signs letters in the presence of simple and clear letters of the Greek script, and this despite the fact that it was necessary to strive to ensure Greek influence on the Slavs, which was the political mission of Cyril and Methodius?

Kirill had no need to create a more complex in outline and less perfect alphabet with letter names containing entire concepts, when it would have been enough to give only the sound meaning of the letter.

“First of all, I didn’t have books, but with features and cuts I read and gataahu, the trash that exists... Then, the lover of mankind... sent an ambassador named after St. Constantine the Philosopher, called Cyril, the husband of the righteous and true, and created for them writings (30) and osm, ova wobo according to the order of the Greek letters, but according to the Slovenian speech...” says in “The Legend of the Letters” by Chernorizets Khrabra. Based on this passage, many researchers
tend to believe that Kirill created the Glagolitic alphabet (L.B. Karpenko, V.I. Grigorovich, P.I. Shafarik). But in the “Legend” it is clearly stated “... twenty-four of them are similar to Greek letters ...”, and a list of letters similar to Greek is given, and then fourteen letters “according to Slavic speech ...” are listed. The word “similar” “similar” corresponds to the Russian word “similar”, “similar”, “similar”. And in in this case we can only speak with certainty about the similarity of Cyrillic letters with Greek letters, but not Glagolitic ones. Glagolitic letters are not at all “like” Greek letters. This is the first. Second: the digital values ​​of the Cyrillic letters are more consistent with the digital values ​​of the letters of the Greek alphabet. In the Cyrillic alphabet, the letters B and Z, which are not in the Greek alphabet, lost their numerical meaning, and some received a different digital meaning, which precisely indicates that the Cyrillic alphabet was created in the model and likeness of the Greek alphabet. Glagolitic letter styles “according to Slavic speech” were forced to partially change their style, retaining their names. Most likely, this is how two styles of the Slavic alphabet appeared with the same composition and names of letters, but different patterns of letters and, most importantly, purpose. The Cyrillic alphabet was created on the basis of the Glagolitic alphabet and was intended for the translation of church books into the Slavic language.

"The presence of more ancient linguistic features in Glagolitic monuments in comparison with Cyrillic ones, Glagolitic insertions in the form of individual letters and text segments in Cyrillic manuscripts, the presence of palimpsests (texts on recycled parchment), in which the Cyrillic text is written in the erased Glagolitic alphabet, indicate the seniority of the Glagolitic alphabet... The most ancient Glagolitic monuments are connected by their origin either with the territory where the activity of the Thessaloniki brothers took place, or with the territory of western Bulgaria, where the activity of the disciples took place” (L.B. Karpenko).

A set of historical and linguistic facts based on comparative analysis Glagolitic and Cyrillic sources confirms our opinion about the primacy of the Glagolitic alphabet.

The end of the 9th century for the countries of Western Europe means the presence not only of writing, but also of a large number of different types of fonts: Greek, Roman capital square, rustic, old and new uncial, half-uncial, Carolingian minuscule. A huge number of books have been written that have survived to our time. There is written evidence of Greek and ancient temples preserved in stone, mosaic, wood and metal. The origin of various types of writing dates back to the 8th-22nd centuries BC. Mesopotamia and Egypt, Byzantium and Greece, Maya and North American Indians. Pictography and ideography, wampums and shell writing. Everywhere and among many, but not among the Slavs, for for some reason they could not have written language until Saint Constantine was sent.

But it's hard to believe. It was necessary for all the Slavic tribes at that time to be blind and deaf, so as not to know and not see how other peoples, with whom the Slavs undoubtedly had various kinds of connections, had been using various types fonts. The Slavic lands were not an isolated reservation. However, judging by the theory of the development of writing that has developed and exists to this day, the Slavs,
were in close trade, political and cultural contacts with their neighbors, throughout all centuries remained until the 9th century throughout the territory Ancient Rus' a huge “blank spot” on the map of the distribution of writing.

This situation is difficult to resolve due to the lack of reliable written sources. This is all the more strange in the presence of an amazing, almost unknown to this day, truly wonderful world of those beliefs, customs, and rituals that our ancestors, the Slavs, or, as they called themselves in ancient times, the Rus, completely indulged in for thousands of years. Just take Russian epics and fairy tales as an example. They didn't happen out of nowhere. And in many of them, the hero, if not a fool, then a simple peasant son, meets at a crossroads or crossroads a stone with certain information indicating where to go and how the trip may end. But the main thing is not what and how is written on the stone, the main thing is that the hero easily reads it all.

The main thing is that he can read. This is common. And for Ancient Rus' there is nothing surprising in this. But in the fairy tales and legends of European and other “written” peoples there is nothing like this. The Slavs have come a very long and difficult historical path. Many nations and their empires fell, but the Slavs remained. That richest oral folk art, fairy tales, epics, songs, and the language itself, numbering more than two hundred and fifty thousand words, could not have appeared by chance. With all this, the practical absence or ignorance of the most ancient written monuments is surprising. Today there are very few monuments of Glagolitic writing.

In the 19th century there was a Psalter dating back to 1222, copied by the monk Nicholas of Arba under the papacy of Honorius in Glagolitic letters from the old Slavic Psalter, written by order and cost of Theodore, the last archbishop of Salona. Salona was destroyed around 640, so it can be argued that the Slavic Glagolitic original dates back to at least the first half of the 7th century. This proves that the Glagolitic alphabet existed at least 200 years before Cyril.

On the parchment sheets of the famous “Klotsovsky Codex” there are notes in Old German, indicating that the “Klotsovsky leaves” were written in Croatian, which is local dialect Slavic language. It is possible that the pages of the Klotsov Codex were written by St. himself. Jerome, who was born in 340 in Stridon - in Dalmatia. Thus, St. Jerome back in the 4th century. used the Glagolitic alphabet, he was even considered the author of this alphabet. He was certainly a Slav and reports that he translated the Bible to his fellow countrymen. The sheets of the Klotsov Codex were later framed in silver and gold and divided among the owner’s relatives as the greatest value.

In the 11th century, the Albanians had an alphabet very similar to the Glagolitic alphabet. It is believed that it was introduced during the Christianization of the Albanians. The history of the Glagolitic alphabet, in any case, is completely different from what it is imagined to be. It is too simplified to the point of primitiveness, especially in Soviet literature on the history of type.

The emergence and development of writing in Rus' is canonically associated with its Christianization. Everything that could have been or was before the 9th century was rejected as having no right to exist. Although, according to Cyril himself, he met a Rusyn who had books written in Russian characters.

And this was even before Rurik was called to Novgorod and almost one hundred and thirty years before the baptism of Rus'! Kirill met “and found a man” who spoke “through that conversation”; that is, in Russian. Kirill met a Rusyn, who had two books - the Gospel and the Psalter - in 860 or 861. These books are very complex in their theological content and archaic style, but they existed and were written in Russian letters. This historical fact is given in all twenty-three copies of the Pannonian Life of Constantine known to science, which confirms the authenticity of this event.

The presence of these books is indisputable evidence that Constantine took as the basis for his Cyrillic alphabet a script quite developed by the Rusyns. He did not create, but only improved (“by arranging the writing”), he streamlined the East Slavic writing that already existed before him.

One of the messages of Pope John VIII, a contemporary of Cyril and Methodius, clearly states that “Slavic writings” were known before Cyril and he “only found them again, rediscovered them.”

These words give reason to seriously think about their meaning. What does “found again” mean? This clearly indicates that they already existed before, were found earlier. They were used, and then somehow forgotten, lost, or stopped being used? When was this, at what time? There is no clear answer to these questions yet. Kirill “rediscovered” these letters. Didn't come up with it, didn't invent it, but just again
opened. It was the improvement of the Slavic script that was once created by someone that ended the mission of Cyril and Methodius to create Slavic writing.

Some information about ancient writing in Rus' is available among Arab and European writers and travelers. They testified that the Rus had writings carved on wood, on a “white poplar” pole, “wrote on white tree bark.” The existence of pre-Christian writing in Rus' is also contained in Russian chronicles. There is historical evidence of the Byzantine king and chronicler Constantine VII Porphyrogenitus (912-959), who in the treatise “De administrando imperio” (“On State Administration”) wrote that the Croats of 635, after baptism, swore allegiance to the Roman capital and in a charter written “ in their own letter,” they promised to maintain peace with their neighbors.

The Baschanskaya (Boshkanskaya) slab is one of the oldest known Glagolitic monuments. 11th century, Croatia.

The oldest monuments of Glagolitic writing are several inscriptions from the era of Tsar Simeon (892-927), an inscription of a Slavic priest on a letter of 982, found in the Athos monastery, and a tombstone dating back to 993 in a church in Preslav.

An important monument of the Glagolitic writing of the 10th century is the manuscript known as the “Kyiv Glagolitic sheets”, which at one time arrived at the Kiev Church Archaeological Museum from Archimandrite Antonin Kapustin, head of the Russian Ecclesiastical Mission in Jerusalem, and this document is located in the manuscript department of the Central Scientific Library of the Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, in Kyiv.

Kievan Glagolitic sheets, 10th century.

Among other famous monuments of Glagolitic writing, one should name the “Zograph Gospel” of the 10th-11th centuries, found in the Zograf Monastery on Mount Athos, the “Assemanian Gospel” from the Vatican, dating back to the 11th century, the “Sinaiticus Psalter” from the Monastery of St. Catherine, the “Mariinsky Gospel” from Athos, Klotsov collection (XI century) from the Klots family library (Italy).

There is a lot of debate about the authorship and history of the so-called “Klotsov Code”. There is written evidence that the leaves of the Klotsov Codex were written in Glagolitic alphabet in the own hand of St. Jerome, who was born in 340 in Stridon, in Dalmatia. He was a Slav by origin, as clearly evidenced by his own message that he translated the Bible to his fellow countrymen. In addition, the pages of this codex were at one time the object of religious veneration. They were framed in silver and gold and divided among the relatives of the owner of the codex, so that everyone would receive at least something from this valuable inheritance. Thus, already in the 4th century, Saint Jerome used the Glagolitic alphabet. At one time he was even considered the author of the Glagolitic alphabet, but no historical information on this matter has been preserved.

In 1766, a book by Klement Grubisich, published in Venice, argued that the Glagolitic alphabet existed long before the birth of Christ. Rafail Lenakovich expressed the same opinion back in 1640. All this indicates that the Glagolitic alphabet is centuries older than the Cyrillic alphabet.

In Rus', the beginning of weather records in the Tale of Bygone Years begins in 852, which makes it possible to assume that the chronicler of the 9th century used some earlier records. The texts of the agreements between the Kyiv princes and Byzantium have also been preserved. The texts of the treaties clearly indicate the developed ethics of written documentation of interstate relations already in the 10th century. Probably, the use of writing in Rus' found wide application in addition to church liturgical literature even before the official baptism of Rus'. This opinion is also supported by the existence of two alphabets in Rus' in the 9th century.

At the first stage of the development of writing there was no particular need for it. When something needed to be conveyed, a messenger was sent. There was no particular need for letters, because... everyone lived together, without going anywhere in particular. All basic laws were kept in the memory of the elders of the clan and passed on from one to another, preserved in customs and rituals. Epics and songs were passed on from mouth to mouth. It is known that human memory
capable of storing several thousand verses.

The recorded information was needed to indicate boundaries, boundary posts, roads, and property allocations. Perhaps that is why each sign had not only a graphic form, but also enormous semantic content.

For example, we can recall the fact that in the vast Vedic literature there is no indication of the existence of writing in early Aryan India. There are often indications that written recording had not yet been practiced, and at the same time, references to the real existence of texts, but their existence only in the memory of those who memorized them by heart, are quite common. As for writing, it is not mentioned anywhere. Although there is evidence of children playing with letters, the Buddhist canonical writings praise lekha - “writing”, and the profession of “scribe” is characterized as very good; There is other evidence that suggests the use of writing. All this suggests that in the 6th century BC. Both adults and children mastered the art of writing in India. As Professor Rhys Davide has rightly pointed out, this is one of those rare cases where the absence of written evidence where there is good reason to expect it is in itself useful evidence. By the way, a very interesting fact. In one of the northwestern variants of the Indian Gurmukhi script, the first letter of the alphabet completely repeats the Slavic Glagolitic letter Az...

Yes, today there is very little actual evidence of pre-Christian Slavic writing, and this can be explained by the following:

1. Written monuments on “white bark”, “white poplar”, and on any other tree they are simply short-lived. If in Greece or Italy time saved at least a small amount of marble products and mosaics, then Ancient Rus' stood among forests and the fire, raging, did not spare anything - neither human dwellings, nor temples, nor information written on wooden tablets.

2. The Christian dogma of the creation of the Slavic alphabet by Constantine was unshakable for centuries. Could anyone in Orthodox Russia allow themselves to doubt the generally accepted and deeply established version of the acquisition of writing by the Slavs from Saints Cyril and Methodius? The time and circumstances of the creation of the alphabet were known. And for centuries this version was unshakable. In addition, the adoption of Christianity in Rus' was accompanied by the zealous destruction of all traces of pagan, pre-Christian beliefs. And one can only imagine with what zeal all kinds of written sources and even information about them could be destroyed if they did not relate to Christian teaching or, moreover, contradicted
to him.

3. Most of the Slavic scientists of the Soviet era were restricted from traveling abroad, and even if they could go to foreign museums, their limited knowledge of languages, and the temporary timing of their business trips, did not allow them to work fruitfully. In addition, there were practically no specialists who dealt specifically with the emergence and development of Slavic writing, either in Russia or in the USSR. In Russia, everyone specifically adhered to the version of the creation of Slavic writing by Kirill and bowed to the opinion of foreign authorities. And their opinion was unequivocal - the Slavs did not have writing before Cyril. The science in the USSR about the writing and script of the Slavs did not create anything new, copying memorized generally accepted truths from book to book. It is enough to look at the illustrations that wander from book to book to be convinced of this.

4. Foreign scientists practically did not study the issues of Slavic writing. And they didn’t show much interest. Even if they tried to deal with this issue, they did not have the necessary knowledge of Russian, and especially the Old Church Slavonic language. Pyotr Oreshkin, the author of a book on Slavic writing, rightly writes: “The professors of Slavic languages” to whom I sent my work answered me in French,
in German, in English, being unable to write a simple letter in Russian.”

5. The monuments of early Slavic writing that were encountered were either rejected, or dated no earlier than the 9th century, or were simply not noticed. There is enough a large number of all kinds of inscriptions on rocks, for example in the Kremnica region of Hungary, which then passed to Slovakia, on utensils located in various museums around the world. These inscriptions undoubtedly have Slavic roots, but this additional historical material has not been used or studied at all, just like the Slavic runic inscriptions. If there is no material, there is no one to specialize in it.

6. The situation is still very well developed among scientists when a recognized authority on any issue expresses its opinion, and others (less recognized) share it, not allowing themselves not only to object, but even to doubt such an authoritative opinion.

7. Many published works are not of a research nature, but of a compilation nature, where the same opinions and facts are copied by one author from another without specific work with factual materials.

8. Future specialists who are preparing at universities barely have time to study what was written before them from session to session. And there is no need yet to talk about serious scientific research in the field of the history of Slavic writing in universities.

9. Many researchers simply denied the alphabet of our ancestors the right to an independent path of development. And they can be understood: whoever wants to admit this - after all, the recognition of this situation destroys many pseudo-scientific constructions of scientists of previous centuries, aimed at proving the second-rate and secondary nature of the Slavic alphabet, writing and even language.

Of the two types of Slavic writing that existed together for some time, its further development received Cyrillic. The Glagolitic alphabet moved away as a more complex letter in terms of the characters, as the officially accepted version says. But the Glagolitic alphabet could also fall out of use as a letter that ceased to be used, in connection with the introduction of the Cyrillic alphabet, for writing church books. The Glagolitic alphabet that has survived to this day
The letter has 40 letters, 39 of which represent almost the same sounds as in the Cyrillic alphabet.

In many books, articles and publications, Glagolitic letters are described as graphically more complex, “pretentious”, “contrived”. Some even characterize the Glagolitic alphabet as a “chimeric” and artificial alphabet, not similar to any of the currently existing alphabetic systems.

Many researchers looked for the graphic basis of the Glagolitic alphabet in the Cyrillic alphabet, in the Syriac and Palmyra alphabets, in the Khazar script, in the Byzantine cursive script, in the Albanian script, in the Iranian script of the Sassanid era, in Arabic script, in the Armenian and Georgian alphabets, in the Hebrew and Coptic alphabets , in Latin italics, in Greek musical notations, in Greek “spectacled writing”, in
cuneiform, in Greek astronomical, medical and other symbols, in Cypriot syllabary, in magical Greek writing, etc. Philologist G.M. Prokhorov showed the similarities in graphic terms between the letters of the Glagolitic alphabet and the signs of other writing systems.

And no one allowed the idea that the Glagolitic alphabet could have arisen independently, and not as a letter borrowed from someone. There is an opinion that the Glagolitic alphabet is the result of an artificial individual work. And the origin of the very name of this alphabet is not entirely clear. Traditionally, the Glagolitic alphabet is understood as a derivative of the word glagoliti - to speak. But there is another version, set out by I. Ganush in a book with characteristic
for its time the name: “On the issue of runes among the Slavs with a special review of the runic antiquities of the Obodrites, as well as the Glagolitic and Cyrillic alphabet. As a contribution to comparative Germanic-Slavic archaeology, the creation of Dr. Ignaz J. Hanusz, full member and librarian of the Imperial Czech Scientific Society in Prague". Ganush offers the following explanation for the Glagolitic name: “It may be that, according to the mass, the singing (reading) Dalmatian priests are called “verbalists,” just like their writings (books) from which they read. The word “verb” even now in Dalmatia serves as a designation for the Slavic liturgy, but the words “verb” and “glagolati” are already alien to today’s Serbo-Slavic dialects.” The Glagolitic alphabet has another name - the initial letter, which “in age surpasses all other names of alphabets,” and it is associated with the idea of ​​“the Glagolitic letter, the beech, the beech line.”

Both types of Glagolitic - rounded (Bulgarian) and angular (Croatian, Ilirian or Dalmatian) - really differ in a certain intricacy of characters in comparison with the Cyrillic alphabet.

It is this intricacy of the Glagolitic signs, together with their names, that forces us to look more carefully and in detail at each sign, its design and try to understand the meaning inherent in it.

The names of the alphabetic characters of the Glagolitic alphabet, later transferred to the Cyrillic alphabet, cause not only surprise, but also admiration. In Chernorizets Khrabra’s essay “On Letters” there is a clear description of the creation of the alphabet and the first letter: “And he created for them thirty-eight letters, some in the order of Greek letters, and others in accordance with Slavic speech. In the likeness of the Greek alphabet, he began his alphabet, they began with alpha, and
he put Az at the beginning. And just as the Greeks followed the Hebrew letter, so he followed the Greek... and following them, Saint Cyril created the first letter Az. But because Az was the first letter given from God to the Slavic race in order to open the letters of the mouth to the knowledge of those who learn, it is proclaimed by a wide parting of the lips, and other letters are pronounced by a smaller parting of the lips.” In the tale of Brave, not all letter names have
description.

The most interesting thing is that no other people and no other writing system have such or even similar letter names. It is very characteristic that not only the names of the Glagolitic alphabetic characters themselves cause surprise, but also their numerical meaning up to and including the letter “Worm”. This letter meant 1000, and the remaining letters of the Glagolitic alphabet no longer had a digital meaning.

Time and many layers and changes today have significantly distorted the original meaning and meaning laid down by the creators of the Slavic alphabet, but even today this alphabet represents something more than a simple letter series.

The greatness of our Glagolitic alphabet lies in the fact that the very shape of the letters, their order and organization, their numerical value, their names are not a random, meaningless set of characters. The Glagolitic alphabet is a unique sign system based on the specific experience of the worldview and worldview of the Slavs. The creators of the Slavic writing system, as many researchers note, undoubtedly proceeded from a religious reflection of the world, from the idea of ​​the sacredness of the alphabet.

In this regard, another question arises: “If Kirill created the Slavic alphabet, then why not end it with omega, following the example of the Greek alphabet?”

“Alpha and Omega” - the Lord calls himself, as the first and last, as the beginning and end of all things. Why shouldn’t Kirill use this expression, which was known at that time, and put omega at the end of the alphabet, thereby emphasizing the religious meaning of the alphabet he created?

The point is probably that he simply gave a different design to the letters, while preserving their existing structure and the established names of the letter styles of the Glagolitic alphabet used centuries before.

And the names of all the signs of the Slavic Glagolitic, and even the Cyrillic alphabet, when read carefully, not only indicate sound, but are also arranged into clearly meaningful phrases and sentences. To denote the letters of the Glagolitic alphabet, Old Church Slavonic words and word forms were used, which today have already lost a lot, but still retained their original meaning. The verbal meaning of the Glagolitic letters up to and including the letter “Worm” is especially pronounced.

Translated into modern Russian, the names of the letters sound like this: az (ya), beeches (letter, letters, literacy), vedi (I know, realize, know), verb (I say, speak), dobro (good, good), is ( exists, exists, is), live (live, live), zelo (very, completely, extremely), earth (world, planet), kako (how), people (children of men, people), think (meditate, think , think), he (one, otherworldly, unearthly), peace (peace, refuge, tranquility), rtsi (speak, say), word (speech, commandment), tvrdo (solid, immutable, true), ouk (teaching, teaching ), fert (elected, selective).

The meaning of the letters “Hera” and “Cherva” is still not resolved. The Cyrillic name of the letter “Hera” in the Orthodox interpretation is an abbreviation of the word “cherub”, borrowed from the Greek language. In principle, this is the only abbreviated name for the letter in the entire Slavic alphabet. Why on earth did Kirill, if he composed it, need to abbreviate this one word, and even with such a meaning? The worm, in the Orthodox interpretation, is a symbol of the most insignificant creation of the Creator. But whether this was their meaning in the Glagolitic alphabet remains a mystery to this day.

When reading the names of the letters of the Glagolitic alphabet, there is a clear, logical connection between the names of all letters and their combinations, up to the letter “Cherv”. When transferring to modern language the names of the letters form the following phrases and sentences: “I know the letters (letter)”, “I say (say) good is (exists)”, “live perfectly”, “the earth thinks like people”, “our (unearthly) peace ( calm)", "I say
The word (commandment) is firm (true)”, “teaching is chosen”.

There remain four letters with names: “Her”, “Omega”, “Qi”, “Cherv”. If we accept the Orthodox interpretation of these letters, then we can compose and obtain the phrase: “Cherub, or worm.” But then, naturally, questions arise with the letter “Omega”. Why it was included in this series and what it means will probably remain a mystery to us.

The phrase “The earth thinks like people” seems a little strange at first. However, if we take into account the achievements of modern science, we can only be amazed at the knowledge of our ancestors. Only in the middle of the twentieth century did scientists make a grand discovery - fungal mycorrhiza unites the root systems of all plants into a single network. Conventionally, this can be imagined as a huge web that connects the entire vegetation cover of the earth. This is also similar to the Internet that has taken over the entire world today. Due to this mycorrhiza, information is transmitted from plant to plant. All this has been proven by the experiments of modern scientists. But how did the Slavs know about this two thousand years ago, speaking in their alphabet,
that “the earth thinks like people”?

In any case, even what we have seen and already understood suggests that the Slavic Glagolitic alphabet is a unique example of an alphabet that has no analogue on our planet in terms of the conceptual meaning of the signs. It is now difficult to establish by whom and when it was compiled, but the creators of the Glagolitic alphabet undoubtedly had extensive knowledge and sought to reflect this knowledge even in the alphabet, investing in each sign not only conceptual, but also figurative, visual figurative information content. Each sign of the Glagolitic alphabet contains a huge amount of information. But many people need to point this out and decipher it, then everything immediately becomes clear.

Therefore, probably, many easily see in the first letter a hieroglyphic image of a cross, especially if they adhere to the opinion that Kirill developed this alphabet to translate liturgical books onto a Slavic basis. If we accept this version, then it would be possible to come up with many letters with Christian symbolism. However, this is not observed. But in the Glagolitic alphabet, almost every letter graphically reveals its meaning. Most modern writing systems convey only the sound from which the reader derives meaning. At the same time, the sign itself, its graphic design, has practically no meaning, performing only the nominal function of the generally accepted, symbol sound. In the Glagolitic alphabet, almost every sign carries a meaning. This is always characteristic of early forms of writing, when, first of all, they tried to express in each sign the meaning of the message. Below we will try to consider all the letters of the angular and round Glagolitic alphabet from the point of view of the artistic and figurative expressiveness of the sign.

A.V. Platov, N.N. Taranov

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Old Slavonic number system

In the Middle Ages, in the lands where the Slavs lived, they used the Cyrillic alphabet, and a system of writing numbers based on this alphabet was widespread. Indian numerals appeared in 1611. By that time, Slavic numbering was used, consisting of 27 letters of the Cyrillic alphabet. Above the letters, denoting numbers, a mark was placed - a title. At the beginning of the 18th century. as a result of the reform introduced by Peter I, Indian numbers and the Indian number system supplanted Slavic numbering from use, although in the Russian Orthodox Church (in books) it is used to this day. Cyrillic numerals originate from Greek ones. In form, these are ordinary letters of the alphabet with special marks indicating their numerical reading. The Greek and Old Slavonic ways of writing numbers had much in common, but there were also differences. The first Russian monument mathematical content The handwritten work of the Novgorod monk Kirik, written by him in 1136, is still considered. In this work, Kirik showed himself to be a very skillful counter and a great lover of numbers. The main tasks that Kirik considers are of chronological order: calculating time, flow between any events. When making calculations, Kirik used a numbering system called a small list and expressed in the following terms:

10000 – darkness

100,000 – legion

In addition to the small list, in Ancient Rus' there was also a large list, which made it possible to operate with very large numbers. In the system of a large list of basic digit units had the same names as in the small one, but the relationship between these units was different, namely:

a thousand thousand is darkness,

darkness to darkness is legion,

legion of legions - leodr,

leodr leodriv - raven,

10 ravens - a log.

About the last of these numbers, that is, about the log, it was said: “And more than this is borne by the human mind.” Units, tens and hundreds were depicted in Slavic letters with a ~ sign placed above them, called “titlo”, to distinguish numbers from letters. Darkness, legion and leodr were depicted with the same letters, but to distinguish them from units, tens, hundreds and thousand, they were circled. With numerous fractions of one hour, Kirik introduced his system of fractional units, and he called the fifth part the second hour, the twenty-fifth - three hours, the one hundred and twenty-fifth - four hours, etc. The smallest fraction he had was seven hours, and he believed that there can no longer be smaller fractions of hours: “This does not happen anymore, there are no seventh fractions, of which there will be 987,500 in days.” When making calculations, Kirik did the operations of addition and multiplication, and distribution, in all likelihood, he carried out shlyakhompidbora, considering successive multiples for a given dividend and divisor. Kirik made the main chronological calculations from the date that was accepted in Ancient Rus' as the date of the creation of the world. Calculating the moment of writing his work in this way, Kirik (with an error of 24 months) claims that 79,728 months have passed since the creation of the world, or 200 unknown and 90 unknown and 1 unknown and 652 hours. By the same kind of calculation, Kirik determines his age, and we learn that he was born in 1110. Operating with fractional hours, Kirik was essentially dealing with a geometric progression with a denominator of 5. In Kirik’s work, space is also given to the issue of calculating Easter, so important for clergy and being one of the most difficult arithmetic questions the ministers of the church had to solve. If Kirik does not give general methods for this kind of calculations, then in any case he shows his ability to do them. Kirik's handwritten work is the only mathematical document that has come down to us from those distant times. However, this does not mean that other mathematical works did not exist in Rus' at that time. It must be assumed that many manuscripts are lost to us due to the fact that they were lost during the troubled years of princely civil strife, perished in fires, and always accompanied the raids of neighboring peoples on Rus'.

Let's write the numbers 23 and 444 in the Slavic number system.

We see that the entry is no longer than our decimal. This is because alphabetic systems used at least 27 "digits". But these systems were convenient only for writing numbers up to 1000. True, the Slavs, like the Greeks, knew how to write numbers greater than 1000. For this, new notations were added to the alphabetic system. So, for example, the numbers 1000, 2000, 3000... were written in the same “digits” as 1, 2, 3..., only a special sign was placed in front of the “digit” at the bottom left. The number 10000 was denoted by the same letter as 1, only without a title, it was circled. This number was called “darkness”. This is where the expression “darkness to the people” comes from.

Thus, to denote "topics" ( plural from the word darkness) the first 9 “digits” were circled.

10 topics, or 100,000, was the highest level unit. They called it "legion". 10 legions made up the leord. The largest of the quantities that have their own designation was called “deck”; it was equal to 1050. It was believed that “the human mind cannot comprehend more than this.” This way of writing numbers, as in the alphabetic system, can be considered as the rudiments positioning system, since it used the same symbols to designate units of different digits, to which only special characters were added to determine the value of the digit. Alphabetic number systems were not very suitable for handling large numbers. During development human society these systems gave way to positional systems.