Дъбът Александър и истинското местоположение на „Фулското племе“ от „Пространното житие на Константин-Кирил“

Автори:
Страници: 27-48
DOI: https://doi.org/10.54664/BBEB1136

Резюме:

In 860–861 AD, the brilliant Byzantine intellectual and future Bulgarian and Slavic enlightener St Constantine-Cyril the Philosopher was sent on a diplomatic mission to the Khazar Empire. The main sources about this mission and about the life of Constantine-Cyril in general are two medieval Bulgarian texts: „Long Vita of St Constantine-Cyril“ and „Short Vita of St Constantine-Cyril“ (also known as „Uspenie Kirilovo“). According to the Lives (Vitae), the grand plan of St Constantine-Cyril was to convince the Khazar Khagan and his courtyard to renounce Judaism and adopt Christianity from Constantinople. However, albeit some small concessions, Constantine's mission was not successful and finally he had to return to the city of Cherson, the center of Byzantine Crimea. There, in the lands of the „Phoullae tribe“ or „Phoullae people“, according to both Lives, Constantine cut down a huge rain giving oak tree, named Alexander, that had grown together with a cherry tree, and baptized the local pagans, who had previously worshipped this oak tree:„In the land of Phoullae stood a great oak which had grown together with a cherry tree, and under it sacrifices were offered. It was called Alexander, and women were not permitted to approach it or the sacrifices. When the Philosopher learned of this, he did not hesitate to betake himself to them. And standing among them, he said to them: „The Hellenites inherited eternal torment for having worshiped as God the heavens and the earth as well as all creation. How then shall you who worship a tree, a worthless thing intended for burning, escape the eternal fire?“And they answered: „We have not just begun to do this, but have taken it from our fathers. All our requests are fulfilled by it, most of all rainfall, and much else. How can we do that which none has dared to do? For if someone were to dare this, he will then see death, and furthermore, we will not see rainfall until the end“. Until now, the story of the Oak (of) Alexander has not been given the necessary attention because it seems unimportant, fantastic and even ridiculous, a figment of the imagination of medieval Christian authors. In reality, the story of the cutting of the Oak (of) Alexander is not a fiction. The comparison between the two Lives of St Cyril on the one hand, and the Armenian geography „Ashkharatsyuts“ (second half of the 7th century) and „The History of the Caucasian Albanians“ of the Armenian author Movses Kalankatuatsi (second half of the 8th century) on the other hand, shows that the account of the Alexander’s oak was based on true events. However, the real story in the Lives took place not in Crimea, but north of the Derbent Pass, where the ancient Massagetae (Maskut) kingdom and the Country of the Hons (usually interpreted as „Country of the Huns“) were once located. And again, the comparison with the History of Kalankatuatsi reveals that Alexander from the Lives was a local East Caucasian variant of the ancient military and solar Iranian god Mithra. By the late 7th century, north of Derbent, in the vicinity of the city of Varachan (also known as Balanjar and Bulkar-Balkh), the cult of Mithra had been merged with the cult of the famous conqueror Alexander the Great, thus creating a local syncretic god named Aspandiat, called Tangri-khan by the Turks. According to the Lives of St Cyril and the History of Kalankatuatsi, the symbol and incarnation of Alexander-Aspandiat was a huge rain giving oak tree, to which the local pagans worshiped and sacrificed horses.The East Caucasian location of Alexander-Aspandiat's sanctuary is also confirmed by the analysis of the name „Phoullae [tribe]“. In the written copies of the „Long Vita of St Constantine-Cyril“ the ethnonym can be found in 4 variants: 3 of them are „Phillae“ (Фильсцѣ, Филистѣ, θилстѣ) and only 1 – „Phoullae“. The last variant may be a result of the frequent alternation „i~u“ in the medieval Bulgarian texts. Actually, the only reason to set up „Phoullae“ as authentic form is the decision of the editors of the „Long Vita of St Constantine-Cyril“, as they themselves admit, to change „Phillae“ to „Phoullae“ due to the phonetic similarity with the Crimean town of Phoulla (Φοῦλλα). Indeed, a more profound research shows that „Phillae“ in the Lives corresponds to the kingdom of Filan (with its king named Filan-shah) in modern-day Dagestan, mentioned in different contexts by Ibn Khordadbeh (820–912 AD), al-Baladhuri (820–892 AD) and al-Masudi (896–956 AD).Reportedly, the first Christian, who saw Alexander-Aspandiat (Mithra-Aspandiat) sanctuary, was Israel, a Caucasian Albania bishop, who, in the winter of 684 AD, crossed East Caucasus and reached the city of Varachan. According to Kalankatuatsi, Israel was invited by the local prince Alpiluthuer to convert his people to Christianity. There, overcoming the rage of the pagan priests and crowds, Israel cut down the huge rain giving oak tree of Mithra-Aspandiat and erected a wooden Cross in its place. One hundred and eighty years later Constantine-Cyril set out with his companions from the Khazar capital Ithil to Varachan to make sure whether and what had survived from the mission of his predecessor Israel. It was the real aim of Constantine that predetermined the strange land route of the second part of his itinerary from Ithil to the present-day Dagestan, instead of going back by ship along the Don River to the city of Cherson in Crimea.

Ключови думи:

Alexander the Great; „Ashkharatsyuts“; Aspandiat; Bishop Israel; Caucasian Albania; Cherson; Balanjar; Bulkar-Balkh; Country of the Huns; Derbent Pass; kingdom of Filan; Filan-shah; „The History of the Caucasian Albanians“; Ithil; Khazar Empire; Massagetae kingdom; Mithra; Movses Kalankatuatsi; Phoullae tribe (Phoullae people); city of Phoulla (Φοῦλλα); St Constantine-Cyril the Philosopher; Tangri-khan; Varachan

Изтегляне