The Rila fragments are a
Glagolitic manuscript consisting of eight fragmentary
parchment
Parchment is a writing material made from specially prepared Tanning (leather), untanned skins of animals—primarily sheep, calves and goats. It has been used as a writing medium in West Asia and Europe for more than two millennia. By AD 400 ...
leaves and three fragments of a 10th-century Glagolitic
Old Church Slavonic
Old Church Slavonic or Old Slavonic ( ) is the first Slavic languages, Slavic literary language and the oldest extant written Slavonic language attested in literary sources. It belongs to the South Slavic languages, South Slavic subgroup of the ...
book.
The fragments' texts are part of
Ephraim the Syrian's "Parenesis" (precepts). and from prayers read during
Lent
Lent (, 'Fortieth') is the solemn Christianity, Christian religious moveable feast#Lent, observance in the liturgical year in preparation for Easter. It echoes the 40 days Jesus spent fasting in the desert and enduring Temptation of Christ, t ...
.
History
The first two fragments were discovered in the
Rila Monastery
The Monastery of Saint John of Rila, also known as Rila Monastery ("Sveti Ivan Rilski" (), is the largest and most famous Eastern Orthodox monastery in Bulgaria. It is situated in the southwestern Rila Mountains, south of the capital Sofia in th ...
in 1845 by the Russian historian
Viktor Grigorovich. Today, they are located in the library of the
Russian Academy of Sciences
The Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS; ''Rossíyskaya akadémiya naúk'') consists of the national academy of Russia; a network of scientific research institutes from across the Russian Federation; and additional scientific and social units such ...
in
Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...
. The better preserved part of the manuscripts was published in 1909 under the name "Macedonian Glagolitic Leaf" by the Russian history Grigory Ilyinsky.
It is 27.5 x 21.3 cm in size and contains the end of the 78s Parenesis speech. In the 15th or 16th century, additional notation was added to the fields in a newer Cyrillic.
Three or more leaves were found in the Rila Monastery by Czech historian
Konstantin Irechek in 1880 within the binding of
Vladislav Gramatik's handwritten "Panegirik" from 1473. In 1936, Yordan Ivanov found additional fragments. The finds of Irechek and Yordanov are still kept in the Rila Monastery, rather than the RAS.
The so-called "Grigorovich's Leaf" (Russian Academy of Sciences, St. Petersburg, ''24.4.17'') is not counted among the Rila Glagolitic sheets by all scholars.
See also
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List of Glagolitic manuscripts (900–1199)
This is a list of manuscripts featuring the Glagolitic script from the 10th to 12th centuries.
900–999
1000–1099
1100–1199
References
Further reading
* Verkholantsev, Julia: ''The Slavic Letters of St. Jerome: The ...
*
Lists of Glagolitic manuscripts
Below are lists of manuscripts with Glagolitic by date:
* List of Glagolitic manuscripts (900-1199)
* List of Glagolitic manuscripts (1200-1299)
* List of Glagolitic manuscripts (1300-1399)
* List of Glagolitic manuscripts (1400-1499)
* ...
Sources
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References
{{Glagolitic topics
10th-century manuscripts
Old Church Slavonic canon
South Slavic manuscripts
Church Slavonic manuscripts
Bulgarian manuscripts
Rila Monastery