The antique collection of the National Marciana Library in Venice contains a medieval manuscript known in academic circles as the Codex Cumanicus. There are only 82 paper sheets in it. On the one hand, it would seem to be a collection of religious texts and a medieval Latin-Persian-Kipchak dictionary, but on the other hand, it is an 82–page document with a wealth of material, which is based on almost the entire political diplomacy of the Eurasian continent of the Middle Ages. The Qazaqstan Tarihy portal will tell you what is known about the Codex Cumanicus manuscript, a direct participant in trade relations between East and West at the beginning of the 14th century.
The unique Codex Cumanicus was created at the beginning of the 14th century. This is one of the first medieval multilingual dictionaries that reflected the diversity of the Turkic dialects that existed at that time. The document is divided into two parts. The first part served as a pocket dictionary. But here it should be noted that this was not a terminological dictionary, but a rather voluminous, expanded dictionary of those times.
It is well known that the main purpose of dictionaries and phrasebooks is to help build social ties with various segments of the population, whether they are merchants, warriors, princes or barbers. The first dictionaries known to history appeared at the beginning of the second millennium BC in one of the oldest centers of Babylonia, Akkad. Of course, they improved over time. For example, a phrasebook called «Treasure for Youth» was published in England in 1440. The Codex Cumanicus appeared a hundred and thirty years earlier.
To fully reflect the importance of this document, it is worth delving into the history. According to official historiography, in the 11th century, the Kipchak tribes crossed the Volga and moved west, gradually filling the territories of Southern and Western Kazakhstan, the Volga region, the Caucasus and the Black Sea coast. From that time to the 15th century, the vast expanse from the Irtysh to the Dnieper is referred to in Western and eastern historical sources as «Desht-i-Kipchak» («Kipchak steppe»). However, Turkologist Murad Aji is sure that everything happened much earlier. In his opinion, the Kipchaks settled half of Europe and the whole of Central Asia by the end of the 5th century. The Turkic language drowned out any other on the Eurasian continent, and the Turkic people were the most powerful and numerous people in the world.
«Once upon a time, the Turks spoke the same language that everyone understood. About two thousand years ago, the division of their speech into dialects began, understandable only to their own. However, the common language was not forgotten for a long time. This common language gave rise to the literary language. Whole states spoke and wrote in Turkic back then!»
Murad Aji
«The Kipchaks. The ancient history of the Turks and the Great Steppe».
It was the Kipchaks who played the role of the unifying principle. They managed to create a state entity — the Kipchak Confederation. This union, which became famous under the name of the Kipchaks, occupies a prominent place in the intricate history of the Turkic peoples in Europe. It was much more profitable to cooperate with the sons of the Great Steppe than to fight.
«Since numerous Turkic tribes, equally called Kipchaks, played a very important role along a large stretch of the Great Silk Road, business people from Europe, of course, had to win their sympathies.»
«Preface to the Codex Cumanicus: Polovtsian prayers, hymns and riddles of the 13th-14th centuries», A. Garkavets.
In addition, European countries understood that during the period of the Mongol conquests of Genghis Khan, the development of the Great Silk Road, connecting Europe with the East and Asia with the West, was undermined. Therefore, it was very important to find the mechanisms that would allow restoring the dialogue.
The need for dialogue with the Kipchaks grew, and therefore knowledgeable people proposed the creation of a dictionary that would incorporate those languages that at that time were the languages of international communication – Latin, Kipchak and Persian.
This is how the Codex Cumanicus appeared. In any case, the first part of it. Latin graphics were used to convey the Kipchak language. Scientists are still puzzling over who was the author of this book, although Italian scientists are sure that the handwriting belongs to a native of the Appennine Peninsula.
Despite the fact that the date July 11, 1303, is printed on the first page of the manuscript, scientists cannot say with certainty what it means: the date of completion of writing or the date of the last revision of the work, because the book, especially in those days, was compiled for quite a long time.
Meanwhile, due to the lack of alternative options, the completion date of the dictionary is considered to be July 11, 1303.
The place of the dictionary’s initial appearance is also completely unclear. The most ancient part, as scientists say, was created in the Crimea, in the city of Solkhat, located on the way from the East to Egypt. It was here that the residence of the governor of Zolotordyn Khan was located, through which trade relations were established.
Historians believe that it was especially important for Venice and Genoa that the Black Sea and Caspian cities, located directly at the junction of Europe and Asia, played a leading role in writing the document. In other words, it would be pointless to write a dictionary in a city that was not a stronghold, a center of trade and economic ties between the Golden Horde and Europe. Along with the city of Solkhat, ancient Sarai, Hungary, Feodosia and the equally enlightened and developed trade and craft city of Kafa, where the document, according to scientists, could be finalized, also claim the right to be considered the birthplace of the manuscript.
Who was the author of the manuscript? Researchers believe that the most likely author of the work is considered to be a medieval missionary. The fact is that in addition to trade, Christianity was spreading intensively at that time. Missionaries, Franciscan monks, along with merchants penetrated into the most remote corners of the Kipchak steppe. And in this case, they needed a dictionary again. The authorship of the missionary is also supported by the fact that the second part of the book is, in fact, a collection of various religious t Who was the author of the manuscript? Researchers bel that the most likely author of the work is considered to be a medieval missionary. The fact is that in addition to trade, Christianity was spreading intensively at that time. Missionaries, Franciscan monks, along with merchants penetrated into the most remote corners of the Kipchak steppe. And in this case, they needed a dictionary again. The authorship of the missionary is also supported by the fact that the second part of the book is, in fact, a collection of various religious texts. In this part, the «Ten Commandments of God», fragments from tart, the «Ten Commandments of God», fragments from the «Book of Proverbs» of Solomon, the Gospel, the prayer «Our Father», «Ave Maria» and many other texts were translated from German into Kipchak. In addition to the holy scriptures, the Codex Cumanicus presents the earliest collection of 47 Turkic riddles in history, which are the most important source for studying early Turkic folklore. Eg:
Aq küymäniŋ avzu yoχ. Ol, yumurtqa. (The white yurt has no doorway. It’s an egg).
Kökčä ulaχïm kögende semirir. Ol, χavun [χuun]. (A gray kid is getting fat on a leash. It’s a melon).
Olturɣanïm oba yer, basqanïm baɣïr čanaq. Ol, [eyär bile] üzeŋgi. (I’m sitting on a hill, stepping on copper mics. This is a saddle and stirrups).
But even here, scientists cannot say with certainty that the author of the work was necessarily a missionary. In addition, the document could have been written at different times by different people, but at the same time it is unlikely that it could have been completed without the participation of an educated native speaker of the Kipchak language.
It is important to say here that the Codex Cumanicus manuscript, which has survived to this day, is only a copy. The original was lost in the Middle Ages. Hoping to find the author of this copy of the manuscript, the researchers found out that back in the 80s of the 13th century, a certain monk from the Franciscan Order informed the Cardinal College of Avignon about the progress of his studies in the Kipchak language at the Kafa missionary school. Apparently, the original Kipchak dictionary was copied for him.
Interestingly, on the back of the 78th page of the Codex Cumanicus, an entry was found with the name of a certain Antonio Definale. But it is also unknown whether he was among the drafters of the document or only its blessed owner, who carefully preserved the priceless relic.
This manuscript has survived to this day thanks to the Italian poet Francesco Petrarch. In May 1361, an unknown monk sailed back to Italy with a book from the Golden Horde Crimea. History is silent about what happened when This manuscript has survived to this day thanks to the Italian poet Francesco Petrarch. In May 1361, an unknown monk sailed back to Italy with a book fromden Horde Crimea. History is silent about what happened when the monk arrived at his homeland, but the worn-out assistant to merchants and missionary negotiators somehow appeared on the shelf of the famous poet of the Renaissance. Having lost his only son during the plague, Petrarch went to Venice, where he supported himself as best he could. Six months later, he offered his library to the collegiate governing body of the Republic of Venice in exchange for a house and a lifetime allowance. After Petrarch’s death on July 19, 1374, the Codex Cumanicus was at the disposal of the city’s library.
For centuries, the Codex Cumanicus has been of particular interest to the scientific community. Work on it has been underway since the first half of the 19th century, immediately after the discovery of the document by the German orientalist Julius Heinrich Klaproth. Following him, renowned orientalists and Turkologists studied the work, among whom the names of Annemarie von Gabain, Fedor Korsh, Karl Zaleman, Gyula Nemeth, Jan Tadeusz Kowalski, Dmitry Rasovsky, Platon Melioransky, Alexander Samoilovich, Vasily Bartold, Sergei Malov, Nikolai Baskakov, Abzhan Kuryshzhanov, Andrei Zaionchkovsky, Magomet Khabichev and others stand out. Turkologists.
All of these scholars have made a special contribution in trying to explain the document’s origin. For example, one of the researchers, V. Radlov, brought the Codex Cumanicus language closer to the dialects of the Tatar-Mescheryaks, and A. Samoilovich – to the language of the Kumyks, Karachays and Balkars. A. Zayonchkovsky showed elements found both in the Cuman dictionary and in the Arabic-Kipchak dictionaries. N. Baskakov the language of the Cuman dictionary includes a group with modern Karaite, Karachay-Balkarian, Kumyk, Crimean Tatar and Mamluk Kipchak languages. F. von Kleritz-Greifenhorst, J. Denis, T. Kowalski, et All of these scholars have made a special contribution in trying to explain the document’s origin. For example, one of the researchers, V. Radlov, brought the Codex Cumanicus language closer to the dialects of the Tatar-Mescheryaks, and A. Samoilovich – to the language of the Kumyks, Karachays and Balkars. A. Zayonchkovsky showed elements found both in the Cuman dictionary and in the Arabic-Kipchak dictionaries. N. Baskakov the language of the Cuman dictionary inst.