Byzantine studies; historical chronology; computus ecclesiasticus, Church history
7
Scopus Publications
Scopus Publications
Ketubah of Antinoopolis, Letter of Resh Galuta and Aramaic Tombstone Inscriptions from Zoar Or What Was the Original Molad Calendar of Hillel Bar Yehuda? Ari Belenkiy, Pavel Kuzenkov Scripta Classica Israelica, 2025 The paper describes the major reform of the Jewish calendar in 358/9 CE by Hillel Bar Yehuda, the historicity of which was recently questioned by Sacha Stern. This requires a separate assessment of the solar part (the intercalation cycle) and the lunar part (the timing of the mean lunisolar conjunctions) of the calendar that emerged after 358/9.As for the solar part, evidence from several Christian sources from the late 4th century proves the intercalation cycle in the 360s differed from the modern one perhaps only in year 16. The dating of the 5th century Ketubah from the Egyptian city Antinoopolis implies that the difference disappeared by 417 CE.New evidence from the Aramaic tombstone inscriptions from Zoar, a locality in Jordan, shows that year 9, not 8 as in the modern cycle, was intercalated from 372 to 467 or even 542. We conjecture that the original calendar of Hillel Bar Yehuda followed the cycle GUĤADZT counted from Tishri 311 BCE. We also conjecture that year 9, together with years 6 and 17, ceased to be intercalary during Emperor Justinian’s reign (527–565) though years 6 and 17 recovered intercalary status sometime after 823.As for the lunar part, the letter of Resh Galuta from 835/6 implies that the calendar of Hillel Bar Yehuda was a Nisan-based Molad calendar. The Julian date for the Passover in 387, given by two Christian authors, implies the presence of the rule Molad Zaqen for Rosh Ĥodesh Nisan at 18 hours and suggests that Molad Nisan was at least 19.5 minutes later than the modern one associated with Molad BaHaRaD.We tested this Nisan-based Molad calendar with the sequences of (30–29)-day months, the rules LO B-D-U PESAĤ and Molad Zaqen and two variable months, Ĥeshvan and Kislev, against available historical data: the dates on 18 Aramaic tombstone inscriptions from Zoar from 392–526 and two dates from Iggeret of Sherira Gaon—and found a perfect agreement except for two cases which imply the rule LO U PESAĤ was absent in the original calendar of Hillel Bar Yehuda and was introduced after 506, requiring a third variable month, the role played by Tevet as seen from the letter of Resh Galuta.The letter of Resh Galuta implies that the Nisan-based calendar lasted for almost 500 years. We conjecture that 823–836 was the time of transition to the modern Tishri-based calendar. We also give the reasons why Hillel Bar Yehuda’s name was all but forgotten.The reference epoch (the first Molad Nisan) of that calendar and the length of the calendar month will be established in a subsequent paper. This would allow us to pinpoint, with some exceptions, the Julian dates behind the Jewish dates from 360–836.
MEMORABLE INSCRIPTION IN HONOR OF A ‘HERO FROM POIKA’ AS EVIDENCE OF THE INITIAL STAGE IN THE HISTORY OF THEODORO Pavel V. Kuzenkov, Yurii М. Mogarichev, and Povolzhskaya Arkheologiya, 2025 The paper presents a new interpretation of the Theodorite memorial inscription from Mangup of AD 1282, erected in honor of a certain ‘*…fairy from Poika’ (IOSPE³ V 175). He was awarded ‘eternal remembrance’ for the fact that, having gathered the inhabitants of the village of Barzaroi, he was able to utterly defeat a certain company of horsemen who had committed violence against a local resident. The poor condition of the inscription did not allow to draw clear conclusions about who exactly the enemies of the Theodorites were. The authors, having studied the inscription de visu, offer a new version of interpreting the text of this epigraphic monument, which introduces the feat of the ‘hero from Poika’ into the context of the early stage of colonization of the Crimean peninsula by the Italian maritime republics and the active development of the Catholic mission in the region. Of the three possible interpretations of the conflict described in the inscription – 1) with Greek neighbors; 2) with the Mongols; 3) with the Italians – it is the third option that seems most likely. The cabalarii defeated by the Theodorites and the ‘priests and laity’ accompanied by them could well have been members of a certain Western European (Franciscan?) mission. According to the authors, the emergence of Theodorite statehood was associated with the feat that was recorded in the memorial inscription in honor of the ‘hero from Poika’ and marked the readiness of the Theodorites to defend their rights with arms in hand.
МОUNТАINОUS SОUТНWЕSТЕRN ТАURIСА АТ ТНЕ INIТIАL SТАGЕ ОF ТНЕ GОLDЕN НОRDЕ РЕRIОD (АССОRDING ТО NАRRАТIVЕ АND ЕРIGRАРНIС SОURСЕS ОF ТНЕ XIII–XIV СЕNТURIЕS) Павел Владимирович Кузенков, Юрий Миронович Могаричев Arkheologiia Evraziiskikh Stepei, 2024 В статье рассматривается один из наименее изученных периодов в истории Горной Юго-Западной Таврики, 2-я половина XIII в. В этот период происходит коренная трансформация политической системы всего Причерноморского региона, началом которой послужило разрушение Византийской империи в 1204 г., а катализатором выступили монгольские завоевания. Начиная с 20-х гг. XIII в., Крымский полуостров подвергается вторжениям армий Чингисхана и его потомков, однако процесс его интеграции в структуру Улуса Джучи (Золотой Орды) протекает неравномерно и растягивается на многие десятилетия. На основе комплексного анализа нарративных и эпиграфических источников авторы изучают специфику ранней фазы золотоордынского периода на территории Горного Юго- Западного Крыма, где представлены такие значительные археологические памятники, как Эски-Кермен и Мангуп. Сделаны выводы о том, что в рассматриваемый период регион сохранял определенную форму независимости от ханской власти и управлялся местными полиэтничными элитами, которые сохраняли приверженность греческому православному христианству, но при этом стремились вписатьсяв формирующийся привилегированный класс Золотой Орды.
A LITTLE-KNOWN SOURCE ABOUT THE INITIAL STAGE OF MONGOL PENETRATION INTO CRIMEAN GOTHIA Pavel V. Kuzenkov, Yurii М. Mogarichev, and Povolzhskaya Arkheologiya, 2024 Most of the sources, telling about the initial stage of Mongol penetration into the Crimean Peninsula, belong to a later time (after the 14th century). Reports relating to the 20th-40th years of the 13thcentury are unique and therefore especially valuable. Among them, was almost unnoticed the testimony of the papal ambassadors Giovanni da Pian del Carpini and Benedict of Poland, who traveled to Mongolia in 1245–1247, about the Saxons, whose country was located south of the Cuman steppe. The first author reports on the successful defense of the city of Saxons from the Mongol siege, and the second directly identifies these people with the Goths. This gives grounds to associate these reports with one of the early Mongol campaigns against the Crimean Gothic (in 1222/23 or 1238/39). In this regard, the information of the authors of the 16th century (Ogier Ghiselin de Busbecq, G. Torquatus), who compared the language of the Crimean Goths specifically with the Saxon (Low German) dialect of the German language, is of the value.
CHRONOLOGICAL DATA IN JOHN SKYLITZES’ SYNOPSIS OF HISTORIES Pavel Vladislavovich Kuzenkov and Antichnaya Drevnost I Srednie Veka, 2023 The Synopsis of Histories of John Skylitzes is one of the most important sources on the history of Byzantium in the tenth and eleventh centuries. By its nature, it is a compilation of many works of other authors. In view of the fact that most of these writings have not been preserved, a great part of Skylitzes’ book is significant as a primary source. The author’s working method can be revealed by comparison with the only main source of the Synopsis that survived, the so-called Continuator of Theophanes. This article analyzes all the dated events in the work of Skylitzes, compares them with his sources, and draws conclusions about the specifics of his approach to chronology. In general, John Skylitzes, as a chronicler, stands head and shoulders above other known Byzantine authors from the tenth and eleventh century; however, his “systematic” approach to the material does not save him from errors and hyper- corrections, which makes us cautious about the chronological and other information he reports. The account of the Synopsis of Histories is of great importance for the history of Byzantine chronology.
Reception of Crimea in Byzantine Sources (the Case of Toponymics) Pavel Kuzenkov Istoriya, 2021 The article traces the history of the names of the Crimean peninsula and its main regions in the Greek-language literature of the Byzantine period, from late Antiquity to the end of the Middle Ages (4th — 15th centuries). During this thousand-year period, the political and ethnic history of Crimea was characterized by large-scale transformations, accompanied by significant changes in the ethno-population structure of both mountainous and lowland populations. Nevertheless, Byzantine sources demonstrate a persistent desire to archaize and artificially “stabilize” the Crimean realities by describing them within the framework of the classical antique ethnogeographic nomenclature (Taurica, Scythia, etc.). The reflection of the actual linguistic usus in Byzantine time is typical, with rare exceptions, only for written monuments of the so called middle style, and even then mainly during the period of cultural decline of the “dark ages” (8th — 9th centuries).
CALIPH AL-MU'TASIM'S EXPEDITION AGAINST AMORION IN 838 AD: THE CHRONOLOGY RECONSIDERED Pavel V. Kuzenkov and Antichnaya Drevnost I Srednie Veka, 2020 This research offers a detailed reconstruction of one of the most famous episodes of Byzantine-Arab relations in the ninth century, the victorious campaign of the Abbasid army led by Caliph al-Mu‘tasim deep into the territory of Byzantium in 838 AD, which ended with the defeat of the army of Emperor Theophilos and the destruction of two most important fortresses in Asia Minor, Ankyra and Amorion, the native place of the ruling dynasty. The accounts of the circumstances and the route of this expedition kept by Arab, Syrian, and Greek sources make it possible to build a detailed chronological map of this military campaign with the use of new methodology created for the project of the comprehensive database of events of Byzantine history. The bringing together chronological and topographic indications of all available sources made it possible not only to make a complete reconstruction of the military operations, but also to revise the date of one of the most important events in the ninth-century history of Byzantium, the battle of Anzen at Dazimon plain, when the Arab-Turkic-Armenian army commanded by Afshin inflicted a crushing defeat on the Byzantine army of Emperor Theophilus, which included the Persian detachments of the ex-Khurramites of Babek. Taking the data in possession into account, there are reasons to date the battle to July 4th, 838 AD. It is proposed to correlate the previously accepted date indicated by at-Tabari, July 22nd, with another key event of the 838 campaign, the destruction of Ankyra. In addition, a comprehensive analysis of the sources makes it possible to clarify the chronology and circumstances of the fall of Amorion, which surrender to the Arabs was resulted by an ethno-religious conflict.
