Home Perennial flowers What the letters tell about. Why did birch bark letters become a sensation? Corps of birch bark letters

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What the letters tell about. Why did birch bark letters become a sensation? Corps of birch bark letters

Map of cities where birch bark letters were found

Birch bark letters have long been associated in our minds with Veliky Novgorod, as the main place where these historical documents were found.

What is a birch bark letter? Where and when was the manuscript on birch used? What are the most interesting letters found on the territory of Russia?

The first collection of birch bark letters was collected in tsarist Russia by the Novgorod collector V.S. Peredolsky, however, at that time few believed that these were "the writing of our ancestors." Unfortunately, the first collection of manuscripts on the birch bark was irretrievably lost.
What is a birch bark letter?
The upper part of the birch bark is called birch or birch bark. Soft and easy-to-handle birch was often used in Russia on the farm, in the manufacture of household utensils, for artistic crafts, and as a material for writing. These ancient "letters of our literate ancestors" are called birch bark letters. Namely, the manuscripts on birch bark are material evidence of the wide distribution of the writing of Ancient Russia of the 10th century and Medieval Russia up to the 15th century. Swedes and Germans used birch bark for writing in the 15th century and later. A 1570 birch bark manuscript was found in Tallinn. There is a mention that the American Indians also knew the writing on birch bark.

Before writing on the birch, the bark of the birch was removed from the birch and first processed, cut into sheets of the same size. The cut sheets with important business records could even be stitched into a book so as not to lose.

The cuts (letters) on the birch bark were applied using "Wrote" - a pointed stick, the letters turned out to be angular and not always even. In ancient Russian letters, natural dyes were sometimes used as ink, in order to wipe the cuts and highlight the message inscribed on the birch bark. The same was done in ancient India - the letters were first scratched on soft birch, and then covered with one of the natural dyes.

It is believed that birch bark and bark, as a convenient material for writing, began to be used in the Mesolithic or Neolithic in many parts of the world. In the last century, archaeologists found a Sanskrit manuscript from the 7th century AD. in India, a number of Buddhist texts of the 5th century. On the territory of Tuva in 1960, Tibetan medieval writings were found written in birch bark with magical texts of a sacred nature.

The bark of birch and other trees was used in Ancient Greece, Egypt and Rome, and later in the Mediterranean countries, wax-coated tablets and "style" - a special pointed stick for writing letters began to be used for teaching writing.

In the European part of Russia, the first finds of a manuscript on a birch bark were found in 1951 in Veliky Novgorod July 26 at the Nerevsky excavation site. Now this date is celebrated in Veliky Novgorod as “ Day of birch bark letter ".
During archaeological excavations in Veliky Novgorod, birch bark letters were found, written in Latin, Russian, Karelian, German, Greek. An interesting find was the Russian-Karelian dictionary for collectors of tribute.

Diploma number 9. Novgorod, 1160-1180: " From Guest to Vasil... What my father and relatives gave me in the bargain, after him. And now, by marrying a new wife, he does not give me anything. Shaking my hands (as a sign of a new engagement), he chased me away, and took the other as his wife. Come, do mercy "

Diploma No. 109 Novgorod, 1100-1120 : "Diploma from Zhiznomir to Mikula. You bought a slave girl in Pskov, and now the princess grabbed me for it (convicting theft). And then the squad vouched for me. So send a letter to that husband if he has a slave. But I want to, having bought horses and put [on the horse] the prince's husband, [go] to face-to-face confrontations. And you, if you haven't taken that money [yet], don't take anything from him "

In Smolensk, they found a birch bark with a runic letter, which, apparently, was used by the inhabitants of Smolensk, runes similar in writing to the runes of Old Scandinavian writing. During archaeological excavations in ancient Russian cities, about 1200 letters have already been found. Most of the manuscripts on birch, almost 1100, were found in Veliky Novgorod, the rest of the finds, sometimes in a single copy, were found in Staraya Russa, Torzhok, Vologda, Smolensk, Moscow, Pskov and other cities of Russia, Ukraine and Belarus.

Before the advent of paper in the 15th century, all important government documents were written on parchment, which was very expensive. Due to the appearance and widespread distribution of paper, birch bark, as a writing material, fell out of use, although there were some cases of using birch in the XX century. For a long time, ordinary people continued to use birch to teach children to read and write, and write letters and memorial notes. That is why numerous birch bark letters reflect precisely the spoken language of Ancient Rus, as well as common literary works.
Some of the most interesting ancient Russian handwritten letters are 20 birch bark manuscripts on birch bark and with drawings by Onfim, which were found by archaeologists in July 1956. A real treasure from an armful of birch bark leaves was thrown on an ancient pavement, on an area of about 10 square meters. According to dendrochronological data from the bridge, archaeologists have established the time of the creation of the letters - this is the interval 1234-1268 years, that is, birch bark letters are now about 750 — 780 years.

One birch bark says: “ Bow from Onfim to Danila. " The beginning of the Old Russian message always began with a bow to his interlocutor. Researchers of birch bark letters "From Onfim" found out that they were written by a Russian boy named Onfim, full name Anthimiy.

The authorship of Onfim's birch bark letters is confirmed by one of the drawings - a self-portrait with a signature "Onѳime" ... Imitating adults, the boy wrote on birch bark, taught to read and write, and having fun, drew funny drawings.
The nature of the outline of angular letters on birch bark left no doubt that the boy Onfim was learning to write, the bulk of the alphabet letters belonged to educational records when children were taught read and write "in warehouses". The cuts on the birch bark show that Onfim has already learned to write letters and warehouses well, and for the sake of training he consolidates the skill of writing on birch bark. The researcher of birch bark manuscripts V.L. Yanin believes that initially the boy wrote on a wax tablet, on which it is much easier to write, since no great effort is needed.

A piece of birch bark was punched along the edge with holes, apparently, it was part of the bottom of a birch bark tuyeska, which fell apart, and Onfim began to draw little men on it and write exercises for writing alphabet letters, storehouses of individual words, and standard writing texts, turns of Old Russian speech. On the other side of the birch bark lettering is a drawing of Onfim, a rider galloping on a horse and striking a beast with a spear, the signature “ Bow from Onfim to Danila "and the inscription on the four-legged beast: "I am a beast" - "this is a beast."

On the outside of the birch bark, Onfim painted conquered people with raised rake hands. The number of fingers on the hands is different, but this does not mean that Onfim cannot count most likely, he simply does not yet realize the need to draw exactly five fingers on his hand.
The main value of the find of 20 sheets of Onfim's birch bark letters lies in the fact that it is a clear evidence of the process of primary education in Ancient Russia and its features.
found in the Taynitsky Garden of the Moscow Kremlin during archaeological excavations in 2007. Of all known to science birch bark manuscripts XIV-XV centuries, Moscow birch bark certificate No. 3 is considered the longest Old Russian text on birch bark, and is remarkable for many reasons.

— Largest by word count Old Russian letter, contains about 370 words, that is, it is twice the volume of the largest previously known birch bark letter.

- Moscow birch bark certificate is a The first diploma of Moscow, containing coherent text. Before that, only small fragments were found.

— The first economic document of the late XIV - early XV century from the Moscow Kremlin, which has come down to us in the original.

- This letter demonstrates a developed rich Old Russian horse breeding terminology.

- The peculiarity of the Moscow birch bark letter is that it written in ink.

— Lines of the text of the letter are inscribed across the fibers of the birch bark, as in the previous Moscow diplomas. This means that in Moscow the writing of birch bark manuscripts was different from the Novgorod letters, where birch bark was written along the fibers.

- Moscow birch bark certificate No. 3 is an inventory of the property of a noble nobleman Turabeya , probably drawn up by the manager of his farm named Elbuga ... Most likely, the inventory was drawn up after Turabey's death.

Name Turabey in medieval Russia was not rare.Tur is a bison, and the ancient Russian warrior, brave knight was called Tur. In the old Russian word “Bogatyr” there is the word “tur” - * baɣatur (hence the Hungarian bátor “brave”), Danube-Bulg. - βαγάτουρ, tour and the name « Tour+hit», possibly meant "Tour fighter", a warrior like Tur (bison) ... Based on the context of the document and the location where it was found, it can be assumed that Turabey was a wealthy Moscow nobleman , the owner of one of the Moscow courtyards on the Podol of the Kremlin, and the owner of land near Suzdal.

The author of the inventory lists in detail the people who served with Turabey - "young people", and the for military service a salary in silver , as well as dependent peasants - "Strangers" ( from the word "Strada" - field work), livestock, some household items that were apparently used for cooking and drinking during common meals: "Boiler of beer iron", "boiler of copper buckets in two". The horses that belonged to Turabey and were probably an important part of his property are described in particular detail. Document compiler late XIV century separates riding horses, used for riding, and "stray", used for field work.

The diploma reveals to us the world of everyday economic life of the Moscow nobility at the end of the XIV-XV centuries, shows the complex organization of the economy, which required thoughtful management and accurate accounting of property, and introduces the names of people who inhabited Moscow in the era of Dmitry Ivanovich Donskoy (1350 - 1389) and his son Vasily Dmitrievich. A noticeable part of the names mentioned in the charter are the names of the Muslim world - of Turkic or Arabic origin: Bayram, Ahmed and Jalor are in the group of "young people", that is, mercenary warriors. Central characters of the letter Turabey and Elbuga - the main bearers of power. The presence of eastern names in the Moscow charter is quite understandable and testifies to the admission of people from the Horde to the service of the Moscow princes at the end of the 14th century.

Diplomas of boyars Mishinichi
In August 1953, a birch bark was found in Novgorod the Great diploma number 94 , which marked the beginning of a whole detective investigation.

“The peasants beat their foreheads to Mr. Yuri Ontsiforovich about the housekeeper, because, sir, we cannot please him with anything. That, sir, from the village ..., sir, is driving him away, but for himself, sir, ...? "

From the Russian chronicles of the 15th century, historians are well aware of the boyar from the Mishinich (Antsiferovich) clan Yuri Ontsiforovich, elected in 1409 as mayor of the Novgorod Republic, and who held this position until his death in 1417. For the first time boyar Yuri Ontsiforovich was mentioned among other Novgorod boyars in Russian chronicles and various documents in 1376. Boyarin Yuri Ontsiforovich led the Novgorod army, built many churches in Veliky Novgorod, regularly traveled with the embassy to his neighbors, laid the city of Yama (now Kingisepp).

Of course, in Veliky Novgorod, the name Yuri was encountered very often, but not many Novgorodians could boast of the patronymic Ontsiforovich, moreover, with a respectful address “master”. Birch bark " Mr. Yuri Ontsiforovich " was found near Kozmodemyanskaya Street, where the same Yuri Ontsiforovich lived, in the layer of earth of the sixth tier of the Nerevsky excavation, that is, it belonged to the XIV-XV centuries.

A little later, next to the found birch bark certificate No. 94, archaeologists unearthed an old Russian estate with the remains of a stone foundation. It is the one and only stone building with 1,100 wooden houses in this excavation site. On the territory of the estate with a stone foundation, they found another birch bark No. 97, where the addressee is Yuri, who was named by the master - “To Mr. Yuriy the chelom beee Ortmka and Deitsa. Sell rye at ... " This birch bark dates back to the beginning of the 15th century.

Even later, the inscription is made from two fragments of birch bark: “A bow from Nufrei to the pos (adnik Mr. Onsifor) and Smen. Lord Onsiphora, your robe and servant, my children. I have Neverovitsi d ... "(one of the translation versions).

There is only one Ontsifor in the lists of Novgorod mayor - the father of Yuri Ontsiforovich, Ontsifor Lukinich, also the most famous person in the history of Novgorod. All in the same 1953, two more birch bark letters were found with the name of Onzifor on the territory of this estate.

In 1955, birch bark No. 157 was found near the estate, with the following text: “Mister Mikhail Yuryevich is beaten with a forehead by the peasants of the Chechens. You, sir, ordered us to rearrange (that is, to put anew) the courtyard, and the key keeper tells us, sir, to rearrange ... "

This is how the third generation of Novgorod mayor was found in one clan - Mikhail Yurievich, the son of Yuri Ontsiforovich, and the grandson of Ontsifor Lukinich. Such a conclusion was made both by the characteristic naming “lord” and the respectful use of the patronymic, which was the privilege of the boyars. The fact that Yuri Ontsiforovich had a son, Mikhail, became known from other chronicle documents. And later, letter No. 301 was found, which already directly indicated precisely their relationship - "To Mr. Mikhail Yuryevich, son of the posadnich, your servant Klya beats with his forehead ...".

As a result, after several years of excavations, we can say with confidence the following - birch bark letters made it possible to connect 6 generations of the Mishinich boyars, as well as to reveal the history of two estates that belonged to them. And these were not just boyars - they were an Old Russian clan, represented by four generations of elected mayors who played a significant role in the life of Veliky Novgorod in the 13th-15th centuries, representing one of the main political forces of the Novgorod Republic.

The archeology of the twentieth century led to the discovery of a unique historical source - birch bark letters.

Peredolsky exhibited birch bark letters found or purchased from peasants in the first private museum in the city, built with his own money. Novgorod birch bark letters, in his words, were "the letters of our ancestors." However, it was impossible to make out anything on the old scraps of birch bark, so historians talked about a hoax or considered the "ancestral letters" scribbles of illiterate peasants. In a word, the search for "Russian Schliemann" was classified as eccentric.

In the 1920s, the Peredolsky Museum was nationalized and then closed. Director of the State Novgorod Museum Nikolay Grigorievich Porfiridov issued a conclusion that "most of the things were not of particular museum value." As a result, the first collection of birch bark letters was irretrievably lost. Purely Russian history.

Found again!

The sensation came with a half-century delay. As they say, there was no happiness, but misfortune helped ... During the restoration of the city in the 1950s, large-scale archaeological excavations were carried out, which revealed medieval streets and squares, a tower of the nobility and houses of ordinary citizens in the thickness of the multi-meter cultural layer. The first birch bark letter (end of the 14th century) in Novgorod was discovered on July 26, 1951 at the Nerevsky excavation site: it contained a list of feudal duties in favor of a certain Thomas.

Akulova handed over her find to the head of the excavation Gaide Andreevna Avdusina, and she called out Artemy Vladimirovich Artsikhovsky, which got the main dramatic effect. Hail found him standing on an ancient pavement being cleared, which led from the pavement of Kholopya Street to the courtyard of the estate. And standing on this pavement, as on a pedestal, with a raised finger, for a minute, in full view of the entire excavation, he could not, gasping for breath, utter a single word, uttering only inarticulate sounds, then in a hoarse voice with excitement shouted: “I was waiting for this find twenty years! "
In honor of this find, on July 26, Novgorod celebrates an annual holiday - "Day of the birch bark letter".

The same archaeological season brought 9 more documents on birch bark. And today there are already more than 1000 of them. The most ancient birch bark letter belongs to the X century (Troitsky excavation site), the “youngest” - to the middle of the 15th.

As they wrote on birch bark

The letters on the letters were scratched out with a sharpened writing.

The writing was found in archaeological excavations on a regular basis, but it was not clear why their reverse side was made in the form of a spatula. The answer was soon found: archaeologists began to find in the excavations well-preserved boards with a depression filled with wax - tsera, which were also used for teaching literacy.

The wax was leveled with a spatula and letters were written on it. The oldest Russian book - the Psalter of the XI century (c. 1010, more than half a century older than the Ostromir Gospel), found in July 2000, was just that. The book of three tablets 20x16 cm, filled with wax, bore the texts of the three Psalms of David.

Birch bark letters are unique in that, unlike chronicles and official documents, they gave us the opportunity to "hear" the voices of ordinary Novgorodians. The bulk of the letters is business correspondence. But among the letters there are also love letters, and the threat to be summoned to God's judgment - a test by water ...

Examples of Novgorod birch bark letters

The educational notes and drawings of the seven-year-old boy Onfim, discovered in 1956, are widely known. Having scratched the letters of the alphabet, he finally portrayed himself as an armed warrior, riding a horse, crushing enemies. Since then, the boys' dreams have not changed much.

The birch bark letter №9 became a real sensation. This is the first female letter in Russia: “What my father and relatives gave me in addition, then for him (meaning - for my ex-husband). And now, by marrying a new wife, he does not give me anything. Shaking my hands as a sign of a new engagement, he drove me away, and took the other as his wife. " That's really, really, a Russian share, a woman's share ...

And here is a love letter written at the beginning of the XII century. (No. 752): “I sent to you three times. What evil do you have against me that this week you did not come to me? And I treated you like a brother! Did I hurt you by sending me to you? And you, I see, do not like it. If you were in love, then you would have escaped from under human eyes and rushed ... do you want me to leave you? Even if I have hurt you out of my unreasoning, if you start to mock me, then let God and I judge you. "
It is interesting that this letter was cut with a knife, the scraps were tied in a knot and thrown into a heap of manure. Apparently, the addressee has already started up another sweetheart ...

Among the birch bark letters, there is also the first marriage proposal in Russia (end of the 13th century): “From Mikita to Anna. Follow me. I want you, and you want me. And for that he heard (witness) Ignat ... ”(№377). This is so casual, but straightforward.

Another surprise was presented in 2005, when several messages of the XII-XIII centuries with obscene language were found - e ... (No. 35, XII century)., B ... (No. 531, early XIII century), n ... (No. 955, XII century), etc. This is how the well-established myth was finally buried that we owe the originality of our "Russian oral" to the Mongol-Tatars.

Birch bark letters revealed to us the amazing fact of the almost universal literacy of the urban population of ancient Russia. Moreover, the Russian people in those days wrote practically without errors - according to Zaliznyak's estimates, 90% of the letters were written correctly (sorry for the tautology).

From personal experience: when my wife and I were students working in the 1986 season at the Troitsky excavation site, a letter was found that began with a broken “... Yaninu”. There was a lot of laughter over this message to the academician through the millennium.

Wandering around the Novgorod Museum, I came across a letter that can serve as a good alternative to the title of Yanin's famous book “I sent you birch bark” - “I sent you a bucket of sturgeon”, by God, it sounds better, more tempting)) ...

Here is such an illiterate Russia! There was a written language, but Russia was illiterate - it doesn't happen like that….

On July 26, 1951, a unique birch bark letter was discovered at the Nerevsky excavation site in Veliky Novgorod. It was a welcome find! The head of the expedition, Artemy Vladimirovich Artsikhovsky, dreamed about it for almost 20 years (excavations have been carried out since 1932). We had not yet met the messages on birch bark, but they knew for sure that in Russia they wrote on birch bark.

In particular, the church leader Joseph Volotskiy wrote about Sergius of Radonezh: "In the monastery of Blessed Sergius, the books themselves are not written on charters, but on birch barks."

On July 26, during excavations at a depth of 2.4 meters, a member of the expedition, Nina Akulova, noticed a piece of birch bark measuring 13 by 38 centimeters. Observation helped the girl to find a needle in a haystack - she looked closely and made out the scribbled letters on the scroll!

Expedition leader A.V. Artsikhovsky: "During excavations, for several hundred empty birch bark scrolls, there was one covered with writing. Blank scrolls did not differ in appearance or anything from letters, apparently served as floats or were simply thrown away when decorating logs."

The scroll was carefully washed in hot water with soda, straightened and clamped between the glasses. Later, historians began to decipher the text. The entry consisted of 13 lines. Scientists analyzed every word and fragment of the phrase and found out that the speech in the manuscript (it is assumed that the XIV century) was about feudal duties - questions of land and gift (income and quitrent).

From birch bark letter No. 1, found by the expedition of Artsikhovsky: "From Shadrin (a) the village went 20 bel dar (y)", "Mokhova village went dara 20 bel".

The very next day, archaeologists will be lucky to find two more certificates - on the fur trade and the brewing of beer. In total, during the 1951 expeditionary season, scientists discovered nine letters. In addition, a writing instrument was found - a curved and pointed bone rod.

It is the scribbled letters that are of outstanding historical value. Expedition leader A.V. Artsikhovsky: "Before these excavations, only Russian birch bark manuscripts of the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries were known. But during this period they wrote on birch bark with ink. Meanwhile, birch bark ... is preserved in the ground in two cases: if it is very dry and if it is very damp. It is damp in Novgorod. , and ink should be stored there poorly. That is why, by the way, discoveries during excavation of parchment letters, which were also widespread in ancient Russia, are unlikely. ...

Artsikhovsky's expedition opened a new page in the study of Russian history. According to experts, the Novgorod cultural layers keep about 20 thousand more ancient Russian birch bark letters.

The archeology of the twentieth century led to the discovery of a unique historical source - birch bark letters.

True, it should be noted that the first collection of birch bark letters was collected at the end of the 19th century by a Novgorod collector Vasily Stepanovich Peredolsky(1833-1907). It was he who, after conducting independent excavations, found out that there is a perfectly preserved cultural layer in Novgorod. Peredolsky exhibited birch bark letters found or bought out from peasants in the first private museum in the city, built with his own money. Birch bark letters, in his words, were "the letters of our ancestors." However, it was impossible to make out anything on the old scraps of birch bark, so historians talked about a hoax or considered the "ancestral letters" scribbles of illiterate peasants. In a word, the search for "Russian Schliemann" was classified as eccentric.
In the 1920s, the Peredolsky Museum was nationalized and then closed. Director of the State Novgorod Museum Nikolay Grigorievich Porfiridov issued a conclusion that "most of the things were not of particular museum value." As a result, the first collection of birch bark letters was irretrievably lost. Purely Russian history.

The sensation came with a half-century delay. As they say, there was no happiness, but misfortune helped ... During the restoration of the city in the 1950s, large-scale archaeological excavations were carried out, which discovered medieval streets and squares, a tower of the nobility and houses of ordinary citizens in the thickness of the multi-meter cultural layer. The first birch bark letter (end of the 14th century) in Novgorod was discovered on July 26, 1951 at the Nerevsky excavation site: it contained a list of feudal duties in favor of a certain Thomas.

Academician Valentin Yanin in the book "Birch bark post of centuries" described the circumstances of the find as follows: "It happened on July 26, 1951, when a young worker Nina Fedorovna Akulova found during excavations on the ancient Kholopia street of Novgorod, right on the flooring of its pavement of the XIV century, a dense and dirty scroll of birch bark, on the surface of which clear letters shone through the dirt. If it were not for these letters, one would think that a fragment of another fishing float was discovered, of which there were already several dozen in the Novgorod collection by that time. Akulova handed over her find to the head of the excavation Gaide Andreevna Avdusina, and she called out Artemy Vladimirovich Artsikhovsky, which got the main dramatic effect. Hail found him standing on an ancient pavement being cleared, which led from the pavement of Kholopya Street to the courtyard of the estate. And standing on this pavement, as on a pedestal, with a raised finger, for a minute, in full view of the entire excavation, he could not, gasping for breath, utter a single word, uttering only inarticulate sounds, then in a hoarse voice with excitement shouted: “I was waiting for this find twenty years! "
In honor of this find, on July 26, Novgorod celebrates an annual holiday - "Day of the birch bark letter".

The same archaeological season brought 9 more documents on birch bark. And today there are already more than 1000 of them. The oldest birch bark letter belongs to the 10th century (Troitsky excavation site), the “youngest” - to the middle of the 15th.

The letters on the letters were scratched out with a sharpened writing.

And here is a love letter written at the beginning of the XII century. (No. 752): “I sent to you three times. What evil do you have against me that this week you did not come to me? And I treated you like a brother! Did I hurt you by sending me to you? And you, I see, do not like it. If you were in love, then you would have escaped from under human eyes and rushed ... do you want me to leave you? Even if I have hurt you out of my unreasoning, if you start to mock me, then let God and I judge you. "
It is interesting that this letter was cut with a knife, the scraps were tied in a knot and thrown into a heap of manure. The addressee, apparently, has already started up another sweetheart ...

Among the birch bark letters, there is also the first marriage proposal in Russia (end of the 13th century): "From Mikita to Anna. Go for me. I want you, and you want me. And then Ignat (witness) hearsay ..." ( No. 377). This is so casual, but straightforward.

Another surprise was presented in 2005, when several messages of the XII-XIII centuries with obscene language were found - e ... (No. 35, XII century)., B ... (No. 531, early XIII century), p. .. (No. 955, XII century), etc. This is how the well-established myth was finally buried that we owe the originality of our "Russian oral" to the Mongol-Tatars.

Wandering around the Novgorod Museum, I came across a letter that can serve as a good alternative to the title of Yanin's famous book "I sent you birch bark" - "I sent you a bucket of sturgeon", by God, it sounds better, more tempting)) ...

According to archaeologists, the Novgorod land keeps at least 20-30 thousand birch bark letters. But since they are discovered on average 18 a year, it will take over a thousand years to bring this priceless library into the world.

A complete set of birch bark letters was posted in 2006 on the site

Did you know about birch bark letters before the finds of archaeologists?

They knew. Some ancient Russian authors reported about books written “not on haratias (pieces of specially dressed sheep skins), but on birch bark”. In addition, the Old Believers' tradition of the 17th-19th centuries was known to rewrite entire books on stratified birch bark.

When did you find the first letter?

The Novgorod archaeological expedition led by Artemiy Artsikhovsky worked in Novgorod since the 1930s and found, among other things, writing - sharp metal or bone rods, with which letters were scratched on the birch bark. True, at first the writing was mistaken for nails.

During the Nazi occupation, archaeological excavations in Novgorod had to be curtailed; they were resumed only by the end of the 1940s.

Who found the first letter?

Novgorodok Nina Okulova, who came to earn extra money on an archaeological expedition during her maternity leave. For her discovery, she received a prize of one hundred rubles.

Is finding a diploma a unique event or are they often found?

Relatively often. Already in the summer of 1951, in addition to certificate number 1, nine more letters were found. Further, their number varied from zero to more than a hundred per year, depending on which archaeological layers were studied.

Is it true that birch bark letters are found only in Veliky Novgorod?

No. In addition to Veliky Novgorod, where 1064 letters have already been found, birch bark letters were found in Staraya Russa (45), Torzhok (19), Smolensk (16), Pskov (8), Tver (5), Moscow (3) and other cities.

There are more letters in Novgorod. Did the Novgorodians know how to write more often than others?

Completely optional. It's just that in Novgorod, the preservation of literacy is favored by the peculiarities of life and soil.

In order for the fragile birch to be preserved for several centuries, it must get into conditions where it would not be destroyed by water and air. It is no coincidence that most of the letters found are private letters or drafts of documents - merchants, receipts, wills (sometimes destroyed beforehand - cut into pieces). Apparently, the records that had become unnecessary were simply thrown out into the street, where they fell under a fresh layer of soil and debris.

An important role in the discovery of letters is played by the preservation of the archaeological layer of the 11th-13th centuries in Novgorod. Unfortunately, after numerous reconstructions in different centuries, not many cities have the same feature.

Who is excavating?

Novgorod archaeological expedition of Moscow State University, as well as expeditions of scientific institutes. Students and schoolchildren are widely attracted to participate in the excavations.

What are the most famous scientists engaged in literacy?

Academician Artemy Vladimirovich Artsikhovsky(1902-1978) - the first head of the department of archeology renewed at Moscow University (1939), later (1952-1957) - dean of the Faculty of History, founder and head of the Novgorod archaeological expedition (1932-1962), the first publisher of birch bark letters. Introduced a general course in archeology into the university curriculum, developed a general methodology for analyzing the cultural layer.

Academician Valentin Lavrentievich Yanin(1929) - head of the Novgorod archaeological expedition (since 1963), head of the archeology department of Moscow State University (since 1978), specialist in Old Russian numismatics. For the first time he used birch bark letters as a historical source.

He developed a methodology for complex source study, in which the analysis is done simultaneously on the basis of written sources, archaeological finds, found coins and seals, and art monuments.

He developed in detail the topography, the history of veche relations and the monetary system of ancient Novgorod.

Academician Andrey Anatolyevich Zaliznyak(1935) - linguist, since 1982 has been studying the language of Novgorod letters. He established the features of the Old Novgorod dialect and, in general, the features of the Old Russian language. Known for his lectures on birch bark letters at Moscow State University.

What does the excavation look like?

An excavation is a small area, several hundred square meters, where the expedition is to study the cultural layer in one summer or over several archaeological seasons.

The main work of the expedition is that gradually, layer by layer, they raise the soil from the place of work and study everything that is in different layers: the foundations of houses, ancient pavements, various objects that were lost or thrown away by residents in different years.

The peculiarity of the work of archaeologists is based on the fact that in ancient times large-scale excavation works - excavation or, on the contrary, filling of soil - were not carried out, therefore all traces of life and activity remained right there, under people's feet.

For example, a new house could be built on the crowns from the burnt one by dismantling the upper charred logs. Once every thirty or forty years in Novgorod, wooden pavements were rebuilt - right on top of old planks. Now, when the dating of these works has been well studied, it is easy to date them by the layer of the pavement over which the object or letter was found.

The thickness of the cultural layer in some places in Novgorod reaches seven meters. Therefore, a fully developed excavation is a pit of the appropriate depth; in it, archaeologists removed, sifted and studied all the upper layers and reached the mainland - a layer in which there are no traces of human life and activities. The Novgorod mainland corresponds to the twenties and thirties of the X century.

What did they write about in the letters?

Diplomas are current business and daily correspondence. Unlike official papers - princely decrees, chronicles, spiritual literature - whose authors assumed that their works would live a long time, the letters tell about the everyday and unofficial life of the ancient Russians.

Thanks to the letters, it was possible to study in detail the genealogy of the boyar families of ancient Novgorod (there are many wills among the documents), to understand the geography of its trade relations (there are deeds of sale and receipts). From the letters, we learned that women in Ancient Russia knew how to write and were quite independent (there are letters in which husbands are given instructions on the household). Children in Ancient Rus usually learned to write at the age of ten or thirteen, but sometimes earlier (there are prescriptions and just scribbles).

Spiritual writings and prayers take a much smaller place in the letters - apparently, it was believed that they belong in church books, but there are conspiracies.

The most interesting certificates

Charters 199-210 and 331 - copybooks and drawings of the Novgorod boy Onfim, who lived in the XIII century.

It is known from the letters that Onfim was about seven years old, and he was just learning to write. Some of the letters are the recipes of Onfim, who studied according to the traditional Old Russian method - first he wrote out syllables, then small pieces of prayers from the Psalter, separate formulas of business documents. In his free time in the classroom, Onfim drew - for example, he portrayed himself as a warrior.

Letter 752. Love letter of a girl of the XI century:

“I sent to you three times. What evil do you have against me that this week you did not come to me? And I treated you like a brother! Did I hurt you by sending me to you? And you, I see, do not like it. If you were in love, then you would have escaped from under human eyes and rushed ... do you want me to leave you? Even if I have hurt you out of my unreasoning, if you start to mock me, then let God and I judge you. "

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