mc NO 10 2017 mc NO 10 2017 manuscript cultures manuscript Hamburg | Centre for the Study of Manuscript Cultures ISSN 1867–9617 cultures ISSN 1867–9617 © SFB 950 “Manuskriptkulturen in Asien, Afrika und Europa” Universität Hamburg Warburgstraße 26 www.manuscript-cultures.uni-hamburg.de D-20354 Hamburg N O 10 PUBLISHING INFORMATION | MANUSCRIPT CULTURES Publishing Information Forthcoming 10 - Dividing Texts: Visual Text-Organization in North Indian and Nepalese Manuscripts by Bidur Bhattarai The number of manuscripts produced in the Indian sub- Editors Editorial Office continent is astounding and is the result of a massive Prof Dr Michael Friedrich Dr Irina Wandrey enterprise that was carried out over a vast geographical area Universität Hamburg Universität Hamburg and over a vast stretch of time. Focusing on areas of Northern Asien-Afrika-Institut Sonderforschungsbereich 950 India and Nepal between 800 to 1300 ce and on manuscripts Edmund-Siemers-Allee 1/ Flügel Ost ‘Manuskriptkulturen in Asien, Afrika und Europa’ containing Sanskrit texts, the present study investigates a D-20146 Hamburg Warburgstraße 26 fundamental and so far rarely studied aspect of manuscript Tel. No.: +49 (0)40 42838 7127 D-20354 Hamburg production: visual organization. Scribes adopted a variety Fax No.: +49 (0)40 42838 4899 Tel. No.: +49 (0)40 42838 9420 of visual strategies to distinguish one text from another [email protected] Fax No.: +49 (0)40 42838 4899 and to differentiate the various sections within a single [email protected] text (chapters, sub-chapters, etc.). Their repertoire includes Prof Dr Jörg Quenzer the use of space(s) on the folio, the adoption of different Universität Hamburg Layout writing styles, the inclusion of symbols of various kind, Asien-Afrika-Institut Astrid Kajsa Nylander the application of colors (rubrication), or a combination of Edmund-Siemers-Allee 1/ Flügel Ost all these. This study includes a description of these various D-20146 Hamburg Cover strategies and an analysis of their different implementations r Tel. No.: +49 40 42838 - 7203 Photo: Codex Azcatitlan, Ms. Mexicain 59-64, fol. 5 (detail) across the selected geographical areas. It sheds light on how Fax No.: +49 40 42838 - 6200 showing traces of Mesoamerican footprints. © Paris, Biblio- manuscripts were produced, as well as on some aspects of [email protected] thèque nationale de France. their employment in ritual contexts, in different areas of India and Nepal. Translations and Copy-editing Carl Carter, Amper Translation Service www.ampertrans.de Mitch Cohen, Berlin Forthcoming 15 - Studies on Greek and Coptic Majuscule Scripts Print and Books by Pasquale Orsini AZ Druck und Datentechnik GmbH, Kempten The volume contains a critical review of data, results and Printed in Germany open problems concerning the principal Greek and Coptic majuscule bookhands, based on previous research of the author, revised and updated to offer an overview of the different graphic phenomena. Although the various chapters address the history of different types of scripts (i.e. biblical majuscule, sloping poitend majuscule, liturgical majuscule, epigraphic and monumental scripts), their juxtaposition allows us to identify common issues of the comparative method of palaeography. From an overall critical assessment of these aspects the impossibility of applying a unique historical paradigm to interpret the formal expressions and ISSN 1867–9617 the history of the different bookhands comes up, due to the fact that each script follows different paths. Particular © 2017 attention is also devoted to the use of Greek majuscules in www.manuscript-cultures.uni-hamburg.de SFB 950 ‘Manuskriptkulturen in Asien, Afrika und Europa’ the writing of ancient Christian books. A modern and critical Universität Hamburg awareness of palaeographic method may help to place the Warburgstraße 26 individual witnesses in the context of the main graphic D-20354 Hamburg trends, in the social and cultural environments in which they developed, and in a more accurate chronological framework. O manuscript cultures mc N 10 CoNTENTS | MANUSCRIPT CULTURES 1 CONTENTS 1 FORUM 3 | A Case for the Study of Modern Literary Manuscripts by Christian Benne ARTICLES 15 | The ‘Marriage Charter’ of Theophanu: A Product of Ottonian Manuscript Culture by Bruno Reudenbach 31 | Medial Ambiguity: Liturgical Books of the Latin Church and their Changing Status in Mediaeval Tradition by Felix Heinzer 51 | Travelling the Time Line: The Visual Organisation of New Spanish Manuscripts about the Mexica by Anna Boroffka 73 | How Arabic Manuscripts Moved to German Libraries by Tilman Seidensticker 83 | A Manifold Heritage: Glimpses of a Family Collection of Arabic Manuscripts in Ilọrin (Nigeria) and Its Transregional Links by Stefan Reichmuth 101 | Fakes or Fancies? Some ‘Problematic’ Islamic Manuscripts from South East Asia by Annabel Teh Gallop 129 | What a Multiple-text Manuscript Can Tell Us about the Tamil Scholarly Tradition: The Case of UVSL 589 by Jonas Buchholz and Giovanni Ciotti 145 | The Novgorod Birch-bark Manuscripts by Imke Mendoza 160 | How to Make an Archival Inventory in Early Modern Europe: Carrying Documents, Gluing Paper and Transforming Archival Chaos into Well-ordered Knowledge by Markus Friedrich 174 | Contributors 176 | Announcement O mc N 10 manuscript cultures MENDOZA | THE NovGOROD BIRch-barK maNUSCRIPTS 145 Article The Novgorod Birch-bark Manuscripts Imke Mendoza | Salzburg Abstract The Novgorod birch­bark manuscripts (берестянaя грaмота, documents were part of and will show how this affects the berestjanaja gramota or only gramota), pieces of birch bark linguistic and communicative structure of the documents. with short messages, are typically dealing with issues of everyday life in mediaeval Russia. They have fascinated 1. General description of the birch-bark corpus historians, archaeologists and, most notably, linguists The first birch­bark document was found on 26 July 1951 ever since the first birch­bark writing was found in 1951.1 during archaeological excavations in the city of Novgorod We now have 1,200 documents of this kind, which were in north­west Russia. Great Novgorod was a city of great unearthed in several cities in Russia, mostly in the Novgorod economic and political power and played an important area (Fig. 1).2 role in mediaeval Russia. The archaeological layers of Due to their contents, function and linguistic features, Novgorod date back to the late tenth century, the time of the manuscripts constitute a unique corpus of documents the Christianisation of Rus’. Between 1136 and 1478 CE showing Russian mediaeval literacy.3 They contain valuable Novgorod was the centre of the Novgorod Republic information on daily life in mediaeval Novgorod, the social (Novgorodskaya Respublika), a rather independent structure structure of Novgorod’s society, trade relations, private within the Rusʼ territory and in the fourteenth century it was relations, the city administration and so on. They have the largest and most prosperous Russian city.4 also proven to be an extraordinarily valuable source of Extensive excavations began in Novgorod and the information for historical linguistics since they have some surrounding area after World War II and are still going unusual linguistic and pragma­linguistic characteristics. on today. They have unearthed an enormous number of The aim of this paper is twofold. First, I shall present a archaeological artefacts, including birch­bark manuscripts. general overview of these manuscripts. Then I will focus The birch­bark documents were found in various cultural on the complicated interactional setting that the birch­bark layers on the territory of private homesteads (Fig. 2). According to Janin,5 the existence of birch­bark archives is highly unlikely since messages on birch bark were considered to be of temporary value only (see below). They have been 1 The general public has also taken a great interest in these documents. The preserved due to high soil humidity, which prevents organic yearly excavations in the city of Novgorod receive extensive media co­ verage, particularly in the local media, and the anniversary of the day when material like leather, bone and wood from decaying. the first document was found is publicly celebrated (‘Birch­bark Day’, Denʼ Now we have approximately 1,200 documents and beresty, 26 July). the number is still growing. More than a thousand pieces 2 Other cities with birch­bark finds are Pskov, Staraja Russa, Toržok, Tver’, of birch­bark writing were found in the city of Novgorod Moscow, Nižny Novgorod, Vitebsk, Smolensk, Mstislavl’, Staraja Rjazan’ and Zvenigorod Galickij. In 2013, archaeologists found a birch­bark do­ cument as far away as Starоturuxansk in the Krasnodar region in Eastern Siberia; see Tjemina 2013. 4 3 For a comparison with similar corpora in other cultures (rúnakefli, Vindo­ The ‘Novgorod Republic’ existed from 1136, when Prince Vsevolod was landa tablets, papyri), cf. Franklin 2002, 35–47, and Schaeken 2012, 204– ousted from Novgorod, until its forcible annexing to the Grand Duchy of 205. Birch bark was used as writing material in other cultures as well – see Moscow in 1478. It was ruled by the aristocracy and the archbishop; the the collection of Mongolian manuscripts described in Chiodo 2000–2009 prince only played a marginal role. For an outline of the history of me­ and Indic Buddhist manuscripts (cf. the contributions in Harrison/Hartmann diaeval Novgorod, see Goehrke 1981 and Crummey 1987, 32–34. 2014). I am indebted to Michael Friedrich for drawing my attention to these manuscripts. 5 Janin 1995, 212–213. O mc N 10 manuscript cultures 146 MENDOZA | THE NovGOROD BIRch-barK maNUSCRIPTS →Staroturuxansk,Krasnojarsk, Sibiria Old Zvenigorod Galickij Fig. 1: Eastern Europe, c. 1350. Birch-bark manuscripts’ finds are marked with orange circles. O manuscript cultures mc N 10 MENDOZA | THE NovGOROD BIRch-barK maNUSCRIPTS 147 alone,6 some in other cities, mostly in the north­west or west stylus usually made of iron, but sometimes bronze or bone of Russia (Map 1). The birch­bark documents cover a period (Fig. 3);13 only three messages were written in ink14 (Fig.