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PAMYATNIKI
VOSTOKA Vol. 20, No. 4 (55)
Winter 2023
Journal based in 2004
Issued quarterly
Full text as a *.PDF file PUBLICATIONS
HISTORY, PHILOSOPHY, PHILOLOGY
Youli A. IOANNESYAN. “A Guide for the Perplexed” by Sayyid Kazim Rashti. Translated from Arabic and Persian. Part 7 — 5
The article presents a part of a Russian translation (with an introduction and commentaries) of the valuable treatise: Dalil al-mutahayyirin (“A Guide for the Perplexed”) by Sayyid Kazim Rashti, one of the founders of the Shaykhi school. The work is dated 1842. The translation is made from the Arabic original and two Persian translations of the treatise.
Keywords: Shi‘ah schools, Shaikhism, Sayyid Kazim Rashti
Kirill M. BOGDANOV. Astrology and Divination in a Chronicle from the Tangut Collection of IOM, RAS. Preface, Translation from Tangut and Commentary — 21
Manuscript Tang 1770 (11th–13th centuries) from the IOM, RAS Collection is an astrological and mantic text. It has no beginning, where we could possibly find the text’s title, but its end has survived, so we know the name of its author or compiler. Its handwriting is quite clear and structure is also easy to read and understand, which is rarely the case with Tangut books. Judging from its grammar and lexical characteristics, it appears to be an original Tangut text rather than a translation from Chinese or Tibetan. Content-wise, this work offers a description of the agricultural calendar cycle, its beginning and ending, and significant mantic and astrological characteristics of every cycle. We also find here the elements of a year-by-year chronicle: some evidence of everyday life and real facts from Xixia history. There are also some interesting language traits which deserve further research. All these aspects make this text a very important written source for the Tangut studies.
Keywords: astrology, divination, Xi Xia history, agricultural calendar cycle
RESEARCH WORKS
HISTORY, PHILOSOPHY, PHILOLOGY
Alexandr L. KHOSROYEV. On Docetic Christology in Early Christianity. Pt. 3.2. — 38
The so-called docetic Christology was based on the idea that the earthly Jesus and the heavenly Christ were two different persons; it was Jesus who suffered on the cross, whereas Christ just entered Jesus’ body for a while and abandoned it before his death on the cross; consequently, the suffering of Christ was mere appearance. Based on some passages from Gnostic texts containing examples of docetic Christology, the author attempts here to trace the life of that concept, starting with the New Testament (Pt. 1: Synoptic Gospels). In previous parts of the article (Pt. 2.1; 2.2; 2.3; 2.4), he analyzed such Paul’s passages as Rom. 1.3–4, Gal. 4. 4–7, 1Cor 8.4–6, Phlp. 2.5–11, Col 1.15–20; in Pt. 3.1, the subject of research was 1John 4.2–3; 2John 7 and some related sayings from the Letters of Ignatius. In this part, the author discusses some (antidocetic) problems of the Gospel of John. To be continued.
Keywords: the New Testament, pre-existence, incarnation, docetism, Gospel of John
Nuryoghdi I. TOSHOV. Sources of the Literary and Intellectual Landscape of Central Asian Khanates: Jura Bik’s First Library — 60
The article seeks to provide a preliminary study of the book collection of a certain Jura Bik, the ruler of the Kitab Domain under the Bukharan Emirate and later a general of the Russian army. The collection in question was confiscated as a war trophy following the capture of the city of Kitab by Russian troops in 1870 and donated by the first Governor-General of Turkestan, K.P. von Kaufman to the Imperial Public Library (now NLR) in St. Petersburg. An inventory of said collection (76 books), as well as the one assembled by the orientalist A.L. Kuhn during the same Shahrisabz expedition (24 books), was discovered in 2016 in the archives of the National Library of Russia. The current article briefly covers Jura Bik’s biography, provides a general outline of his collection, and sets out to identify the manuscripts listed in the mentioned inventory, based upon their published descriptions and the author’s own materials.
Keywords: Emirate of Bukhara, Jura Bek, Kitab Domain, National Library of Russia, manuscript collections, Shahrisabz
HISTORY AND HISTORIOGRAPHY
TEXTOLOGY, CODICOLOGY, PALEOGRAPHY, ARCHEOGRAPHY
Magomed A. GIZBULAEV. Qabq in the Geographical Work and Maps in Abu Muhammad al-Idrisi’s Nuzhat al-mushtaq fi ikhtiraq al-afaq — 77
The article gives new information on the history of peoples of the Caucasus on the basis of translation, commentary and comparative analysis of excerpts from the 12th c. Arabic geographical work Nuzhat al-mushtaq fi ikhtiraq al-afaq (The Delight of Him Who Desires to Journey through the Climates) by Abu Muhammad al-Idrisi, as well as based on early sources by some Muslim authors related to the history of Qabq. For the first time in Russian historiography, it compares textual fragments from Nuzhat al-mushtaq with its maps of the given region in order to determine the degree of coherence between them, and it also delineates the differences between al-Idrisi’s maps in the Paris, St. Petersburg and Oxford manuscripts on Qabq.
Keywords: history of the Caucasus, Qabq, Nuzhat al-mushtaq fi ikhtiraq al-afaq, al-Idrisi, maps, source study
Zamir Sh. ZAKARIYAEV. An Arabic Construction Inscription of 1418 from the Tsakhur Village of Jinykh — 89
The article examines the content of the Arabic inscription discovered by the author in the mountainous Tsakhur village of Jinykh in Dagestan. The inscription was made on the occasion of the mosque reconstruction, it contains the name of the organizer of the repair works and is dated 821 AH, which corresponds to 1418. It has been established that the initial construction of the mosque in Jinykh took place much earlier, which is confirmed by the discovery of an Arabic Kufic inscription of the 12th–13th centuries within the wall of the mosque. The technique of the 1418 inscription, which was made in the calligraphic Naskh handwriting, greatly differs from the vast majority of other medieval inscriptions in the region. The description and translation of the text are accompanied by linguistic comments.
Keywords: Arabic epigraphy, Dagestan, Tsakhurs, the village of Jinykh, construction inscription, 1418, mosque
COLLECTIONS AND ARCHIVES
Elena V. TANONOVA. “Forms of the Canarese Characters at Different Periods” (1833): A Lithographic Edition by Walter Elliot from the Library of IOM, RAS — 95
The article is dedicated to a newly discovered item from the library of the Institute of Oriental Manuscripts, RAS. The lithographic book was issued in Bombay by a British administration official named Sir W. Elliot (1803–1887) in 1833 as a catalog of early forms of Kannada alphabetic characters dating back to the 6th century A.D. The researcher carefully collected inscriptions from various epigraphic sources. The table with characters is preceded by a Memorandum, where W. Elliot clearly answers the main questions: what kind of material was used in the lithography, where it was found and to what time it belongs, and, most importantly, why the author took the trouble to collect and classify epigraphic characters. The publication in question is an example of the work of a tireless researcher who, in his spare time, was obviously engrossed in an activity that was dear to his heart (like many researchers of all times), making Indian history and culture clearer and closer to the educated Western reader.
Keywords: Kannada, lithographic edition, Sir Walter Elliott, Indian epigraphy, British India
Hartmut WALRAVENS. Die Sammlung Wolfram Eberhard zur Populären Chinesischen Sittengeschichte — 106
The following list describes booklets which were banned in the 1960s in Hong Kong and Taiwan because of dealing with sexual topics. They were available only under the counter, did not enter libraries and official bibliographies and usually do not provide exact metadata. Most names are pseudonyms and the data on the place and year of publication are mostly missing. The Sinologist Wolfram Eberhard, who had dealt with similar subjects in his Guilt and Sin in Traditional China (Berkeley 1967) and The Daily Life of a Chinese Courtesan Climbing up a Tricky Ladder (Hong Kong 1980), possibly planned on also dealing with this popular material which he collected on his travels but he never found the time. Therefore, it is to be considered serendipitous that this little collection was acquired by the Bavarian State Library in Munich, probably the only library in the world to hold it.
Keywords: Wolfram Eberhard (1909–1989), Sinologist, Bavarian State Library, Munich
ACADEMIC LIFE
Tatiana I. ORANSKAIA. Academic Seminar Commemorating the 100th Anniversary of Iosif M. Oranskiy (1923–1977) (St. Petersburg, April 24, 2023) — 112
Keywords: I.M. Oranskiy, Iranian languages, Pamir languages, etymology, phytonymy, linguistics in Tajikistan, the Parya language, Pashtun identity, Manichean manuscripts
Sergey L. BURMISTROV. The “Traditional Buddhism and Modern Challenges” International Buddhist Forum (Ulan-Ude, August 17–19, 2023) — 117
Keywords: Buddhism, Buddhist countries, state politics in the sphere of religion, international relations in the sphere of religion
Olga A. BONCH-OSMOLOVSKAYA. The “Ideology in Traditional China” Scholarly Conference (on the 90th Anniversary of A.S. Martynov) (St. Petersburg, October 2, 2023) — 122
Keywords: imperial ideology, Confucianism, A. S. Martynov, Chinese philosophy, Far East
Ivan V. BOGDANOV. “Ancient Near Eastern Studies”: A Conference Dedicated to the 120th Anniversary of Yu.Y. Perepelkin, the 95th Anniversary of M.A. Dandamaev, and the 90th Anniversary of O.D. Berlev (St. Petersburg, October 3–4, 2023) — 127
Keywords: Egyptology, Assyriology, Hittite studies, Sabean studies, Coptology, Byzantine studies, Iranian studies, Ethiopian studies
Igor V. GERASIMOV. The Third International Scholarly Conference: “Problems of the History and Culture of Sudan: Antiquity, Modern and Contemporary Times” (St. Petersburg, October 11–12, 2023) — 131
Keywords: Sudan, St. Petersburg State University, University of al-Zaim al-Azhari, archaeology of Sudan, Sudanese tribes, Sultanate of Fung, fellata
Dina V. ZAITCEVA. The 1st Russian Scholarly Conference of Young Orientalists “Army and Military Traditions in the Middle East” (St. Petersburg, November 14–15, 2023) — 136
Keywords: Middle Eastern studies, Mamluk Sultanate, Ottoman Empire, art of war, army in the Middle East, contemporary Arabic art of war, military and technical cooperation, Egypt, Syria, Turkey, Yemen, Israel, Palestine, Lebanon, the Northern Caucasus
REVIEWS
Persian Diplomatic Documents of Shah Safi I’s Time. From the Collection of the Russian State Archive of Ancient Acts. Ed. by Artem A. Andreev, Vladimir A. Shorokhov, Olga M. Yastrebova. St. Petersburg: Nauka, 2021. 303 p. (Irina K. PAVLOVA) — 141
Keywords: archive, documents, diplomacy, Russia, Persia in the 16th century
Victoria G. Lysenko. Indian Philosophers on the Nature of Perception: Dignāga and His Opponents. Texts and Research. Moscow: Nauka — Vostochnaya literatura, 2022. 598 p. (History of Eastern Philosophy) (Helena P. OSTROVSKAIA) — 145
Keywords: Indian epistemology, the “epistemological turn” in Indian philosophy, Buddhist philosopher Dignaga and his Brahmanical opponents
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