''Cuneus Prophetarum'' (, ) is a philosophical, theological and scientific

treatise A treatise is a Formality, formal and systematic written discourse on some subject concerned with investigating or exposing the main principles of the subject and its conclusions."mwod:treatise, Treatise." Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary. Acc ...

written by Pjetër Bogdani, an Albanian philosopher, originally published in

Padua Padua ( ) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) in Veneto, northern Italy, and the capital of the province of Padua. The city lies on the banks of the river Bacchiglione, west of Venice and southeast of Vicenza, and has a population of 20 ...

in 1685 in Albanian and

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

. It is considered to be the most prominent work of early Albanian literature.

History

Pjetër Bogdani had finished writing ''Cuneus Prophetarum'' by 1675 but was refused the rights to publish it by the Sacred Congregation for the Propagation of the Faith that ordered its translation to allow the book's publication. After ten years the book was published with the assistance of Gregorio Barbarigo,

cardinal Cardinal or The Cardinal most commonly refers to * Cardinalidae, a family of North and South American birds **''Cardinalis'', genus of three species in the family Cardinalidae ***Northern cardinal, ''Cardinalis cardinalis'', the common cardinal of ...

in 1685 in Padua,

Northern Italy Northern Italy (, , ) is a geographical and cultural region in the northern part of Italy. The Italian National Institute of Statistics defines the region as encompassing the four Northwest Italy, northwestern Regions of Italy, regions of Piedmo ...

. The original Latin title of the treatise is: Cuneus prophetarum de Christo salvatore mundi et eius evangelica veritate, italice et epirotice contexta, et in duas partes diuisa a Petro Bogdano Macedone, Sacr. Congr. de Prop. Fide alumno, Philosophiae & Sacrae Theologiae Doctore, olim Episcopo Scodrensi & Administratore Antibarensi, nunc vero Archiepiscopo Scuporum ac totius regni Serviae Administratore. The English translation of the title is The Band of the Prophets Concerning Christ, Saviour of the World and his Gospel Truth, edited in Italian and Epirotic (Albanian) and divided into two parts by Pjetër Bogdani of Macedonia, student of the Holy Congregation of the Propaganda Fide, doctor of philosophy and holy theology, formerly Bishop of Shkodra and Administrator of Antivari and now Archbishop of Skopje and Administrator of all the Kingdom of Serbia. The treatise was reprinted, in Italian and Albanian, in 1691 and 1702 by the House of Albizzi as ''L' infallibile verità della cattolica fede'' ()

Content

''Cuneus Prophetarum'' is divided in two volumes of four chapters each, containing two parallel columns, one written in Albanian while the other contains its Latin (in 1685 edition) or its Italian (in 1691 and 1702 edition) translation. The introductory part of the first volume contains dedications and eulogies in Albanian, Italian, Latin and Serbian. It also includes two eight-line poems written in Albanian. The first poem written by Llukë Bogdani, cousin of Pjetër Bogdani is titled ''Pjetër Bogdanit, argjupeshkëpit Skupsë, kushërinit tim dashunit'' (), while the second one is a philosophical poem written by Llukë Summa, a monk from

Shkodër Shkodër ( , ; sq-definite, Shkodra; historically known as Scodra or Scutari) is the List of cities and towns in Albania, fifth-most-populous city of Albania and the seat of Shkodër County and Shkodër Municipality. Shkodër has been List of o ...

. The main subjects of the first volume derive from the

Old Testament The Old Testament (OT) is the first division of the Christian biblical canon, which is based primarily upon the 24 books of the Hebrew Bible, or Tanakh, a collection of ancient religious Hebrew and occasionally Aramaic writings by the Isr ...

and its four chapters are: #How God created man. #The prophets and their metaphors concerning the coming of the

Messiah In Abrahamic religions, a messiah or messias (; , ; , ; ) is a saviour or liberator of a group of people. The concepts of '' mashiach'', messianism, and of a Messianic Age originated in Judaism, and in the Hebrew Bible, in which a ''mashiach ...

. #The lives of the prophets and their prophecies. #The lives of the ten sibyls. The second volume is entitled De vita Jesu Christi salvatoris mundi (), its main theological subjects derive from the

New Testament The New Testament (NT) is the second division of the Christian biblical canon. It discusses the teachings and person of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus, as well as events relating to Christianity in the 1st century, first-century Christianit ...

, while its chapters include: #The life of

Jesus Christ Jesus (AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ, Jesus of Nazareth, and many Names and titles of Jesus in the New Testament, other names and titles, was a 1st-century Jewish preacher and religious leader. He is the Jesus in Chris ...

. #The miracles of Jesus Christ. #The suffering and

death of Jesus The crucifixion of Jesus was the death of Jesus by being nailed to a cross.The instrument of crucifixion is taken to be an upright wooden beam to which was added a transverse wooden beam, thus forming a "cruciform" or T-shaped structure. ...

Christ. #The resurrection and the

second coming The Second Coming (sometimes called the Second Advent or the Parousia) is the Christianity, Christian and Islam, Islamic belief that Jesus, Jesus Christ will return to Earth after his Ascension of Jesus, ascension to Heaven (Christianity), Heav ...

of Christ. The fourth chapter of the second volume includes a translation from the

Book of Daniel The Book of Daniel is a 2nd-century BC biblical apocalypse with a 6th-century BC setting. It is ostensibly a narrative detailing the experiences and Prophecy, prophetic visions of Daniel, a Jewish Babylonian captivity, exile in Babylon ...

in Albanian, Arabic, Armenian, Greek, Hebrew, Italian, Latin and Syriac. This volume includes also a chapter on the life of

Antichrist In Christian eschatology, Antichrist (or in broader eschatology, Anti-Messiah) refers to a kind of entity prophesied by the Bible to oppose Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ and falsely substitute themselves as a savior in Christ's place before ...

, an index in Albanian and Italian and a three-page supplementary appendix titled ''Antichita della Casa Bogdana'' () regarding Pjetër Bogdani's family and genealogy.

Legacy

''Cuneus Prophetarum'' is considered to be the most prominent work of early

Albanian literature Albanian literature stretches back to the Middle Ages and comprises those literary texts and works written in Albanian language, Albanian. It may also refer to literature written by Albanians in Albania, Kosovo and the Albanian diaspora particul ...

. It covers issues of philosophy, science and theology as well as subjects regarding astronomy, physics, geography and history. Its works of poetry and prose examine motifs of

literary theory Literary theory is the systematic study of the nature of literature and of the methods for literary analysis. Culler 1997, p.1 Since the 19th century, literary scholarship includes literary theory and considerations of intellectual history, m ...

. ''Cuneus Prophetarum'' is regarded as a

humanist Humanism is a philosophical stance that emphasizes the individual and social potential, and agency of human beings, whom it considers the starting point for serious moral and philosophical inquiry. The meaning of the term "humanism" ha ...

work of

Baroque literature The Baroque ( , , ) is a Western style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished from the early 17th century until the 1750s. It followed Renaissance art and Mannerism and preceded the Rococo ( ...

with a philosophical aim of approaching and knowing

divinity Divinity (from Latin ) refers to the quality, presence, or nature of that which is divine—a term that, before the rise of monotheism, evoked a broad and dynamic field of sacred power. In the ancient world, divinity was not limited to a single ...

and examining the problem of existence. The language used by Bogdani is an archaic form of Albanian and its use is regarded as one of the early literary forms of Albanian language. ''Kryshten i shyityruory'' () written by Anton Santori and published in 1855 in Naples contains parts of ''Cuneus Prophetarum''. Santori included excerpts of ''Cuneus Prophetarum'' in his book to symbolize the continuity of Albanian religious literature.

Bibliography

;Notes ;References * *{{cite book , last=Elsie, first=Robert , url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ox3Wx1Nl_2MC&q=cuneus+prophetarum&pg=PA27, title = Albanian literature: a short history, edition=2005, year=2005, publisher = I.B.Tauris, isbn= 978-1-84511-031-4 - Total pages: 291

External links

First volume of Cuneus ProphetarumSecond volume of Cuneus Prophetarum
1675 non-fiction books 1685 non-fiction books 1685 in Italy 1685 in Christianity 1691 non-fiction books 1702 non-fiction books 17th-century Christian texts 17th-century books in Latin Albanian non-fiction literature Christian theology books Treatises History of Padua Works based on the Book of Daniel Books about Jesus Antichrist Humanist literature