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Azerbaijan Receives Ancient Manuscripts From Vatican
The Vatican Library
http://www.rferl.org/content/azerbaijan_ancient_manuscripts_vatican/24263710.html
July 12, 2011
BAKU -- The Azerbaijani government has received copies of 60 rare
medieval manuscripts from the Vatican's secret archives, RFE/RL's
Azerbaijani Service reports.
Farid Alakbarli, a department head at Baku's Institute of Manuscripts,
told RFE/RL today that the documents -- discovered by Azerbaijani
scholars two months ago -- include works by scientists and poets such
as Nizami, Fuzuli, Nasimi, Maragayi, and Nasraddin Tusi.
He said the Vatican scanned the manuscripts and put them on CDs for
Azerbaijani officials. Those written in Arabic and Persian will be
transliterated into the Latin script, he added.
Alakbarli said the original manuscripts are kept in the Vatican
Archive's Iranian and Turkish depositories, as there is no specific
depository for Azerbaijan.
He told RFE/RL on July 9 that the manuscripts will enable historians
to study Azerbaijan's history and culture more deeply.
The manuscripts include a volume of stories in Turkish dating from the
15th century.
Alakbarli said "the book contains folklore and resembles the 11th-12th
century 'Book of Dede Korkut' (Kitabi Dede Qorqud)," and added that
the precious documents include a separate manuscript of the "Book of
Dede Korkut" -- the famous epic stories of the beliefs of the Oghuz
Turks.
The manuscripts from the Vatican library also contain written
correspondence between Vatican popes and the rulers of territories
that today are part of Azerbaijan.
"The documents include some political information that was previously
unknown," Alakbarli said. "The study of these documents may augment
our knowledge of the history of Azerbaijan."
Alakbarli said that during the Middle Ages, the popes acquired an
interest in non-Christian authors as they tried to proselytize. That
interest led to the acquisition of the books from and about the Muslim
East.
The Vatican Library
http://www.rferl.org/content/azerbaijan_ancient_manuscripts_vatican/24263710.html
July 12, 2011
BAKU -- The Azerbaijani government has received copies of 60 rare
medieval manuscripts from the Vatican's secret archives, RFE/RL's
Azerbaijani Service reports.
Farid Alakbarli, a department head at Baku's Institute of Manuscripts,
told RFE/RL today that the documents -- discovered by Azerbaijani
scholars two months ago -- include works by scientists and poets such
as Nizami, Fuzuli, Nasimi, Maragayi, and Nasraddin Tusi.
He said the Vatican scanned the manuscripts and put them on CDs for
Azerbaijani officials. Those written in Arabic and Persian will be
transliterated into the Latin script, he added.
Alakbarli said the original manuscripts are kept in the Vatican
Archive's Iranian and Turkish depositories, as there is no specific
depository for Azerbaijan.
He told RFE/RL on July 9 that the manuscripts will enable historians
to study Azerbaijan's history and culture more deeply.
The manuscripts include a volume of stories in Turkish dating from the
15th century.
Alakbarli said "the book contains folklore and resembles the 11th-12th
century 'Book of Dede Korkut' (Kitabi Dede Qorqud)," and added that
the precious documents include a separate manuscript of the "Book of
Dede Korkut" -- the famous epic stories of the beliefs of the Oghuz
Turks.
The manuscripts from the Vatican library also contain written
correspondence between Vatican popes and the rulers of territories
that today are part of Azerbaijan.
"The documents include some political information that was previously
unknown," Alakbarli said. "The study of these documents may augment
our knowledge of the history of Azerbaijan."
Alakbarli said that during the Middle Ages, the popes acquired an
interest in non-Christian authors as they tried to proselytize. That
interest led to the acquisition of the books from and about the Muslim
East.