2002 marks the 280th anniversary of the beginning of the collection and scientific study of epigraphic monuments of Derbent - one of the largest and most important centers of the Caucasus and the entire Front East of the medieval era. At the end of August 1722, during Peter the Great's stay in Derbent, Prince Dmitry Kantemir (1673-1723), who was head of the emperor's marching office, recorded and partially copied 13 inscriptions of medieval epigraphy here, thus beginning its study. Even today, this ancient city, which is not only a museum-reserve, but also a unique "open-air library" with hundreds of epigraphic monuments in Arabic, Persian and Middle Persian, continues to open its "storehouses"to researchers. Recent finds in Derbent and its surrounding area include not only the oldest official Early Arabic Kufic inscription in the Caucasus, dating from 176 kh. 1792-793, with a reference to "Harun, Amir of the Faithful", i.e. Caliph Harun ar-Rashid, but also a series of Middle Persian inscriptions of the VI century. This publication will focus on the initial stage of discovering and studying the monuments of the Middle Persian epigraphy of Derbent.

Approximately 1200 years ago, the Armenian clergyman and writer Vardapet Gevond (late 8th century) first mentioned an epigraphic monument in Derbent and gave its contents. In his historical work, written on behalf of Prince Shapukh Bagratuni, he tells about the capture of Derbent by the Arabs under the leadership of the commander Maslama ibn Abd al-Malik in 717, reports the discovery of a slab with a construction inscription in the city: "When they came, they (the Arabs. - M. G.) gave battle to the troops of the Huns who [were] in Darband, defeated them and drove them out; and, having ravaged, destroyed the walls of this fortress. And when they were destroying the wall of the fortress, they found a large stone at its base, on which there was an inscription with this content: "Marcian, the autocrat, Caesar built a city, this tower with a large number of talents from his treasures, and in the following time the sons of Ishmael will destroy it and build it again at their own expense "" ¹ . The same information was later repeated by an Armenian historian of the second half of the tenth and first half of the eleventh centuries. Stepanos Taronetsi, nicknamed Asohik ("The Storyteller") ² .

Unfortunately, Gevond did not provide the source of his information and other data related to the mentioned inscription, and therefore it is impossible to confirm the reality of its existence. But the information contained in this inscription has some indirect confirmation and parallels in other written sources. Thus, in the Izvestiya of Michael the Syrian (XII c.), dating back to John of Ephesus (VI c.), it is reported that " the gate of Toraye (Tygau)", i.e. Derbent ³, is a city built by the Romans

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(Chron, d. 1199) ⁴. K. V. Trever, comparing Gevond's information with that of an Armenian writer of the fifth century. Yeghishe about the conclusion of the Treaty of alliance between the Emperor Marcian (450-457), who is mentioned in the above inscription, and Shahanshah Yazdigerd II (439-457), suggested that the Byzantines may have participated or financially assisted in the construction of defensive structures in the Eastern Caucasus. ⁵ Later on (under the Shahanshahs Peroz, Kevald I, Khosrow I), according to written sources (Yeshu Stilit, Procopius), Byzantium provided financial support to Sasanian Iran in the fight against nomads, including the construction and maintenance of defensive structures. In the light of these data and the actual fortification and construction activities of Sasanian Iran in the Derbent Pass during the reign of Shahan Shah Yazdigerd II, ⁶ K. V. Trever's assumption looks quite real.

More than 600 years after Stepanos Taronetsi, the Russian traveler, the Moscow merchant Fedot Kotov, who visited Derbent in 1624, drew attention to the epigraphic monuments of Derbent, namely the Arabic Kufic inscriptions in the northern city cemetery of Kyrkhlyar: "And from that city of Derben, near the sea, it is fenced up with standing stone slabs, and here lie 40 martyrs,... and they lie in their tombs and on them on the great white stone, and the inscription is cut on them, and neither the Busormans and Armenians, nor the Turks can read any signatures... Yes, to the same fence, the Busorman cemetery is also fenced with a stone... and near that great old cemeteries with tombs and signatures on them, but they say that the signature is Greek. " ⁷

Since that time, the ancient monuments of Derbent have constantly attracted the attention of travelers, scientists, and lovers of antiquity who visited this city at various times. Thus, the ancient Arabic, Persian, and Syriac inscriptions of Derbent are mentioned by European travelers Adam Olearius, who visited the city ⁱⁿ 1638.8 and Evliya Celebi, who was here in 1647.9 At the end of ^the 17th century, the ancient "Arabic and Syriac inscriptions" on the city walls and tombstones of Derbent were seen or reported by J. Streis, O. Dapper, N. K. Witsen ¹⁰ .

The information contained in these written sources about the epigraphic monuments of Derbent indicates the interest shown in these historical sites. The ancient inscriptions of the city will continue to attract the attention of many foreigners (J. Bell, P. G. Bruce, I. - G. Gerber, I. J. Lerch, J. Hanway, S. G. Gmelin, A. Dumas, etc.) who visited the city, but only as one of them. of the city's many attractions ("ancient memorabilia," as J. R. R. Tolkien put it). Bella).

The purposeful beginning of the collection of written monuments of Derbent and their study is associated with the name of Peter the Great, who stayed here for some time in late August-early September 1722 during the Persian campaign. It is symbolic that when Peter I entered the city, he was presented with a copy of the manuscript "Derbend-nam", which later became known to Orientalists, and during the emperor's stay here and, obviously, on his direct instructions, sketches of a number of ancient inscriptions of Derbent were made. Although there is no direct evidence of this prescription of his, ¹¹ but as early as 1718 it was written in the same text. Peter I issued a decree, and then a note on the collection and purchase of archaeological valuables, including" old inscriptions on stones " ¹², and at the beginning of the Persian campaign, it was at the behest of the emperor, after visiting the ruins of the ancient city of Bolgary, that 50 medieval inscriptions were copied and translated ¹³ .

In Derbent, Prince Dmitry Cantemir, an expert in Turkish and Arabic, a member of the Berlin Academy, was engaged in copying ancient epigraphic monuments. He recorded and partially sketched 13 medieval inscriptions, including 10 Arabic, 2 Middle Persian and another undetectable ¹⁴ . With this, you can

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1. Middle Persian inscriptions N 7 (a)and N 17 (b) in Dm. To Cantemir.

Thus, the study of the epigraphy (including Middle Persian) of Derbent was initiated. However, D. K. Kantemir did not identify these inscriptions as Middle Persian. He pointed out, in particular, that one of them, namely, located on the northern city wall near tower 11 in the direction of the sea from the Jarchi-kapa gate (Diarszi Capusi, Driardizi, Dzerdri according to D. K. Cantemir-the Middle Persian inscription N 7 according to the numbering of E. A. Pakhomov ¹⁵), was not written in Kufi and naskh handwriting ¹⁶ 1, a), and the other (identified by Ya. I. Smirnov and E. A. Pakhomov with the inscription N 17 ¹⁷) - can be taken for Greek ("literae, quae ut videntur sunt Graecae") ¹⁸ (Figs. 1, 6).

It is strange that, having recorded the inscription on the southern wall of the citadel, which was later designated by E. A. Pakhomov under N 17, D. K. Kantemir did not notice the Middle Persian inscriptions N 15, 16, 18-20 located nearby. However, on the same site of the citadel, he recorded two more Arabic inscriptions and several graffiti that still exist today, but did not pay attention to the signs of builders present here.

It is thanks to D. K. Kantemir's instructions on these drawings and the determination of their character that it is possible to consider this very inadequately sketched inscription as Middle Persian (N 17). Thus, he points out that between towers 6 and 7 of the southern wall of the citadel, there are "talia hierogliphyca" on the wall, which he sketched, although also very distantly: one is a boat with a mast and sail, another is a geometric figure, and the third is a shapeless human figure; ¹⁹ and on the neighboring curtain ("between the seventh and seventh They noticed images of two "four-legged animals", and below-an unreadable inscription ("illegibili subscriptione") ²⁰ . Further, D. K. Cantemir notes that three rows above these figures clearly show "letters that can be mistaken for Greek" ²¹ . The mentioned drawings of a boat, geometric and human figures are located next to each other in the 3rd row of the curtain masonry (from the modern earth's surface), and the Middle Persian inscription incorrectly drawn by him is in the 7th row of the same curtain, i.e. in three rows, as indicated by D. K. Kantemir.

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Another Middle Persian inscription discovered by D. K. Kantemir is identified with the current one (No. 7), both due to its precise location, different (unlike other Middle Persian inscriptions) location in the masonry of the wall, and the fact that it was copied much closer to the original.

The sudden death of D. K. Kantemir did not allow him to publish his notes and discovered inscriptions. These epigraphic monuments of Derbent, as well as inscriptions from the Bulgarians, were published many years later ^.22 Only in 1828, the founder and first director of the Asiatic Museum of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Academician H. D. Fren (1782-1851) published excerpts from D. K. Kantemir's notes and a short list (with some illustrations) of the inscriptions he collected ^.23 Based on his drawing, H. D. Fren identified one of them (inscription No. 7 by E. A. Pakhomov) как пехлевийскую, т.е. среднеперсидскую ("...man erkennt darin mehrere Buchstaben von Pehlewy oder Sasaniden Schrift ziemlich deutlich"). He also pointed out the secondary use of the stone with this inscription in the masonry of wall ²⁴, the order of its reading, and suggested defining a number of letters (while correctly defining the 3rd sign of the first line as s).

In August 1842, on his way to Persia, Derbent was visited by the young orientalist I. N. Berezin (1818-1896), later a professor at Kazan and St. Petersburg Universities. During several days spent in the city, he received several extremely unsatisfactory copies of ancient inscriptions delivered to him by an " Armenian who removed them long ago." Among these copies, two Middle Persian inscriptions are recognized (by the shape of individual characters) - one was taken by I. N. Berezin for Arabic, and the other, as he notes, "represents individual letters similar to Hebrew and Peglevi, but in essence does not belong to either of these scripts" ²⁵ . Unfortunately, there are copies of these inscriptions, which, according to the orientalist, are chl. The works of N. V. Khanykov (1819-1878), "in this form it would not be necessary to print" ²⁶, are not identified with the known Middle Persian inscriptions of Derbent.

In 1850 Derbent was visited by a well-known antiquarian collector and expert on Sasanian numismatics, corresponding Member of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Lieutenant-General I. A. Bartholomew (1813-1870) ²⁷ , who accompanied the Governor of the Caucasus, Prince M. S. Vorontsov. During a short stay in the city, they found one Middle Persian inscription, "probably V or VI century". This became known from the report of the Orientalist-Arabist, numismatist, secretary of the Russian Archaeological Society P. S. Savelyev (1814-1859), read in October of the same year at the meeting of the society ²⁸ . A little later, I. A. Bartholomew, in a letter to P. S. Savelyev, wrote about not one, but more Middle Persian inscriptions of Derbent: "These inscriptions (emphasis added. - M. G.) I still can't make it out. All I can say about them is that they must, by their character and shape of letters, be attributed to the first centuries after the Gijra, and not to the time of the Khosroes. However, they are interesting because of the language in which they are written. " ²⁹ The results of I. A. Bartholomew's research were obviously the first to attempt to read the inscriptions, and the inscriptions themselves were not published by him, and therefore it is not clear what kind of Middle Persian inscriptions we are talking about. But from the subsequent publications of N. V. Khanykov, it becomes clear that we are talking about the inscription No. 8 (according to the numbering of E. A. Pakhomov) and, most likely, about one of the nearby inscriptions-No. 3, 4, 9 and 28 (see below).

E. A. Pakhomov, in a brief historiographical review devoted to the Middle Persian inscriptions of Derbent, was surprised to note that B. A. Dorn (1805-1881), who was engaged in Sasanian numismatics and analyzed the Middle Persian legends on coins, "did not show the slightest interest in the Derbent Pahlavi inscriptions", especially since in 1861 he ^visited Derbent30 . Indeed, it seems unusual that an academician of the Academy of Sciences, a specialist in the field of Iranian linguistics and philology, could not pay attention to the previously discovered Middle Persian inscriptions.

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2. A page from B. A. Dorn's manuscript with a drawing of the Middle Persian inscription No. 1.

However, familiarization with the publications and archive of B. A. Dorn shows that he was not only interested in them, but also paid some attention to them.

Shortly before B. A. Dorn's trip to Derbent, information about these inscriptions was published in the publications of the Russian Archaeological Society (in 1855-1857), and the scientist was well aware of them31 . But even before the appearance of information about them in the "Proceedings of the Eastern Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences" and in the "Notes of the Russian Academy of Sciences", B. A. Dorn included in the detailed essay published in 1846 on the history of the Asian Museum of the Academy of Sciences for the first quarter of a century of its existence the above-mentioned article by H. D. Fren, was first defined as Middle Persian ³² . And, of course, being in Derbent, B. A. Dorn could not pass by these unique epigraphic monuments, first identified on the territory of the Russian Empire. However, as he later wrote, he could not find these inscriptions in Derbent.

The B. A. Dorn Foundation, which is kept in the Archive of the Russian Academy of Sciences in St. Petersburg, has a small manuscript of his on three sheets with text on both sides, entitled "Pehlevi Inschriften aus Derbend", but written in French33 and probably prepared for the journal "Melanges asiatiques". It seems that this manuscript was first noticed by Professor A. R. Shikhsaidov, who kindly informed me about it. The manuscript contains information about two inscriptions and a drawing of one of them (Figure 2), and next to it - the inscriptions "Bartholomei", "Derbend" and below a note (marked NB) in French indicating the location and size of the slab on which it was carved. In the early 1870s, these inscriptions were published by B. A. Dorn in the article "Extracts from two Eastern writers concerning the Caspian Sea and adjacent Countries" in the Bulletin of the Imperial Academy of Sciences and in Melanges asiatiques ^.34 Later, E. A. Pakhomov not only did not pay attention to

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He also noted that he had not found in the latest edition "any news about the publication of the Derband inscriptions" ³⁵ .

Meanwhile, the information concerning the Middle Persian inscriptions of Derbent contained in these publications (albeit in a note) is of great importance and sheds light on the history of the discovery and study of the Middle Persian epigraphy of Derbent. From these articles it becomes clear that I. A. Bartholomew discovered an inscription that was later rediscovered by E. A. Pakhomov and designated by him No. 1; some other inscription; as well as the fact that I. A. Bartholomew and B. A. Dorn discussed the question of the Middle Persian inscriptions of Derbent, etc. In a footnote, B. A. Dorn reports that "Mr. Bartholomew found a Pahlavi inscription on the wall before 1860" and gave a drawing of it. A fairly accurate copy of its drawing leaves no doubt that it is the Middle Persian five-line inscription No. 1 (according to the numbering of E. A. Pakhomov), located on the northern city wall, between towers 18 and 19 (according to the numbering of E. A. Pakhomov). Given stone dimensions ("1.5 yards long and about 1 yard wide") almost correspond to the actual dimensions of this slab (97 x 62 cm). Of particular interest is that B. A. Dorn attempted to read the inscription and noted that the penultimate word undoubtedly reads "fire-worshipper": "Das vorletzte Wort adurpadan, Feuerverehrer, unterliegt keinem Zweifel" ³⁶ .

According to B. A. Dorn, "on the same wall there is another Pahlavi inscription of almost the same size," but I. A. Bartholomew could not copy it, as it was unavailable. It is not clear from the text whether this refers to the same section of wall, the same curtain, or whether it refers to the northern city wall as a whole, as opposed to the southern wall and the walls of the citadel. If "the same wall "("In derselben Mauer...") means the same curtain between towers 18 and 19, then I. A. Bartholomew saw the six-line ("almost the same size") inscription No. 2 (according to the numbering of E. A. Pakhomov) located closer to tower 18, at a height of 0.5 meters. M. The reason why I. A. Bartholomew could not make a copy is unknown; if the height of the location is implied, then of the known inscriptions on the northern wall, only three inscriptions are located at a height higher than a human height of ³⁷ - 2.6 m and 3.3 - 3.4 m. This is the inscription N 7, the location of which was recorded by D. K. Kantemir (and which I. A. Bartholomew probably knew about from the publication of H. D. Fren), as well as the inscription N 25, located on the curtain next to the inscription N 1, and the inscription N 24, located on the next curtain, between towers 21 and 22 (according to numbering by E. A. Pakhomov).

According to B. A. Dorn, both inscriptions are incomplete and possibly complementary ("o... andere Pehlewy-Inschriften ... eben so unvollstandig wie die obige schien, aber die Erganzung derselben sein konnte") ^.38 Further, the author cited the opinion of I. A. Bartholomew expressed to him, which he supported, and according to which these inscriptions were originally located in another place, and then were reused in the masonry of the wall: I. A. Bartholomew came to the conclusion that during the restoration work on strengthening the walls of Derbent, carried out in the II or III century of the Hijri under the Abbasids, tombstones could be used for construction ³⁹ .

B. A. Dorn pointed to the work of N. V. Khanykov (see below), which mentions two Pahlavi inscriptions in Derbent, as well as information about these two inscriptions in the "Journal of the German Oriental Society" ⁴⁰ . He gave an interesting report that N. V. Khanykov in 1858 presented a drawing of one of the inscriptions to the German Oriental Society, which, in his opinion, is probably the second one seen by I. A. Bartholomew. In fact, we are talking about one inscription and it is indicated that a copy of it was presented to the society by Mr. Khanykov41 .

In his article, B. A. Dorn also gave a drawing of the Derbent inscription, presented to him by a member of the German Oriental Society, Prof. By Richard Gauche from

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3. Middle Persian inscription No. 8 by B. A. Dorn.

Galee ⁴² . This inscription, copied relatively accurately (Fig. 3), is undoubtedly the now lost Middle Persian inscription No. 8, which was located in the upper rows of masonry on the inner shell of tower 9 (according to the numbering of E. A. Pakhomov). The origin of this drawing becomes clear from the cover letter of R. Gaucher, written to B. A. Dorn on December 12, 1870 and stored in the Archive of B. A. Dorn. The letter, in particular, states that the copy kept by the German Oriental Society has the inscription: "An impression from the inscription presented on December 16, 1850 in the seventh Bastion of the Northern Wall in Derbent. March 10, 1851 Rented by Land surveyor Grigory Tverdokhlebov " ⁴³ . The letter also makes it clear that this is the same inscription that N. V. Khanykov gave a copy of to the German Oriental Society. The primary inscription, as is clear from N. V. Khanykov's report below, was also identified by I. A. Bartholomew, and, apparently, at his request, G. S. Tverdokhlebov made a copy of it.

Two years after the publication of B. A. Dorn, in 1874, this inscription was published by N. V. Khanykov, who translated into Russian the work of the German "pragmatic geographer" Karl Ritter (1779-1859) "Iran", providing it with his significant additions and comments. Among them is information about this Middle Persian inscription, discovered, according to N. V. Khanykov, by I. A. Bartholomew in 1852. ⁴⁴ Judging by the information contained in the letter of R. Gaucher, this inscription was discovered in 1850. In the work of K. Ritter also gives her drawing, or rather, a poor-quality print made by the Derbent land surveyor G. S. Tverdokhlebov. This inscription was reliably identified by E. A. Pakhomov with the inscription N 8 ⁴⁵ . According to N. V. Khanykov, this inscription is "on the 7th bastion, going from the Kizlyar gate down to the sea" ⁴⁶ . This name of the gate refers to the gate of the northern city wall of Kyrkhlyar-kapa, on the seventh tower of which there are no inscriptions. N. V. Khanykov made a mistake when he named the Kizlyar Gate instead of the Shura Gate (Dash-kapy) and specified the 7th bastion. The published inscription No. 8 is located on the 8th tower from the Dash-kapa gate towards the sea (to the east), whereas if you count from the Kizlyar Gate, it will be the 19th tower.

Considering the question of the time of construction of the city defensive walls of Derbent, N. V. Khanykov was the first to argue in favor of the now absolutely established fact that the northern wall was built earlier than the southern one. As one of the main arguments, he called " stones with Pahlavi inscriptions found in it

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on the inside of it, in the 7th projection from the Kizlyar gate to the sea and on the outside of the same projection " ⁴⁷ .

This report sheds some light on the well-known Middle Persian inscriptions of Derbent discovered by the middle of the 19th century. This comment actually mentions not only the inscription No. 8, but also those located next to it, the total number of which, unfortunately, is not given. The inscription No. 8 was located on the inner lining of the tower, and directly opposite this inscription was the inscription No. 9, which is close (if not identical) in content ⁴⁸ . There are no inscriptions on the outside of the tower. But next to this tower, two meters to the west, on the curtain, at a height of 1.2 m, there is a well-preserved inscription No. 3, which, as it seems, could not have been unnoticed. 12.3 m to the east of the tower, on another curtain, at the level of human growth, there is an inscription No. 4, which could also be seen. Finally, on a nearby tower facing the sea, at a height of 1.9 m, there is a poorly preserved inscription No. ²⁸, which I discovered in 1996,49 and which could also have been mentioned in this message by N. V. V. Khanykova ("from the outside of the same ledge"). In addition to this inscription, there is only one other inscription located on the tower - this is the inscription No. 26, which I also discovered in 1996 and is located much to the west, on the section between the gates of Kyrkhlyar-kapy and Dzharchi - kapy, on tower 36.

Thus, I. A. Bartholomew and N. V. Khanykov, in addition to inscription No. 8, were aware of some of the inscriptions that were later designated N 3,4,9 and 28. In addition to them, as noted, I. A. Bartholomew discovered inscription No. 1.

In the same year, 1874, the Caucasian scholar A. P. Berge (1828-1896), in his review "The Caucasus in archaeological terms", named two Pahlavi inscriptions among the 21 known to him ^.50 This information was evidently gathered by him from N. V. Khanykov's generalizing work "Memoire sur les inscriptions musulmanes du Caucase", published in 1862 in the Journal asiatique. ⁵¹ In it, he wrote that " of the 21 inscriptions found in Derbent, 2 are Pahlavi, 14 are Old Arabic, which I refer to as Kufic... and 5 naskh or suls " ⁵² . This information narrows the range of inscriptions known to specialists at that time to two: one of them was the inscription No. 8; the other, judging by fragmentary information, was either the inscription No. 3, located next to the tower, or the inscription No. 28, located on the neighboring tower.

The answer to this question is provided by reading the "Album of Drawings of Inscriptions from the monuments of Derbent", stored in the Scientific Archive of the Russian Geographical Society in St. Petersburg ⁵³ . This album was identified by V. A. Krachkovskaya, who convincingly proved that it belonged to N. V. Khanykov ^.54 The researcher believed that the album was compiled in the late 1850s, but L. I. Lavrov, based on the fact that it contains drawings of inscriptions that were not included in the consolidated work of N. V. Khanykov, pointed out that the album was compiled after 1862. ⁵⁵

This album, along with 10 watercolour drawings of various ruins of historical monuments and 50 drawings of Arabic and Persian inscriptions from Transcaucasia, Iran, and Dagestan, contains drawings of ²⁶ medieval inscriptions from Derbent, including one from the Middle Persian region . It is reproduced at a scale of 1: 10 cm on sheet 5 of the album, has the designation "N 2*" and is accompanied by a pencil signature that has been partially erased from time to time: "From the outside on the north wall at the 7th bastion." A comparison of this inscription pattern (Fig^{. 4)} with the well-known Middle Persian inscriptions of Derbent leaves no doubt that this is a unique inscription with a date that later received the designation No. 3, and the discovery of which was mistakenly attributed to I. A. Orbeli57 . The pictorial text for this inscription, as can be seen, makes the same mistake as in the information for the inscription No. 8 published by B. A. Dorn and later by N. V. Khanykov, which is located next to the inscription No. 3. Thus,

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4. Drawing of the Middle Persian inscription No. 3 from N. V. Khanykov's album.

It can be considered established that these two inscriptions were discovered in 1850 by I. A. Bartholomew, who reported them in a letter to P. S. Savelyev.

All these discoveries remained unnoticed by foreign Iranists: in the reports of prominent experts on the Middle Persian language of the second half of the XIX-early XX centuries, they are not mentioned ⁵⁸ . The exception was, as noted by E. A. Pakhomov, the French researcher E. Drouin, who in his work" History of Sasanian epigraphy " in the list of monuments of Middle Persian epigraphy known by the end of the XIX century under No. 10 recorded "two Pahlavi inscriptions found in Derbent, one by Khanykov, in 1848; the other by Gen. Bartholomew, in 1860. They were published in the "Melanges asiatiques", but remained unassembled " ⁵⁹ .

As you can see, we are talking about inscriptions N 1 and N 8. Regarding the information given by E. Drouin, much later, in 1929, E. A. Pakhomov wrote: "I do not know why Drouin attributes the find to Khanykov, and not to Bartholomew, and puts the wrong dates, as for his reference to the Mel. asiat., then in the latter I did not find any news about the publication of the Derbend inscriptions " ⁶⁰ . ^As can be seen from the above, E. Drouin mistakenly attributed the discovery of the second inscription to N. V. Khanykov, who actually visited Derbent, Richa and other localities of Dagestan in 184861 .

However, it should be noted that N. V. Khanykov played an important role in the discoveries made by I. A. Bartholomew. It was at his request, after a trip to Dagestan, that I. A. Bartholomew, who served in the Caucasus and Dagestan in the 1850s, began collecting ancient inscriptions and in 1850 he took out 26 prints and copies of inscriptions, including ²⁰ Kufic inscriptions, and, obviously, three Middle Persian inscriptions (N 1, 3, 8).

After these discoveries, the Middle Persian inscriptions of Derbent remained out of the field of view of specialists for a long time, until they attracted the passing attention of a well-known researcher of ancient and medieval art and culture, Prof. St. Petersburg University and the Hermitage curator Ya. I. Smirnov (1869-1918), who spent many years conducting research in the Caucasus (in Ani, Garni, etc.) and visited ancient Derbent in ^the summer of 190963. According to E. A. Pakhomov, in 1929 Academician V. V. Barthold sent him an unpublished article by the late Y. I. Smirnov, which contains "sketches of inscriptions No. 4 and No. 17 and mentions, apparently, No. 15 or No. 16". In this article, Ya. I. Smirnov made a note about the inscription No. 17 "is it not Pahlavi" and noted that this particular inscription was taken by D. K. Kantemir for Greek ⁶⁴ . This article by Y. I. Smirnov was never published, it is not known what it was dedicated to, nor is its further fate and location known.

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Thus, by the early 1920s, only seven Middle Persian inscriptions of Derbent were known. These were inscriptions that were later designated by E. A. Pakhomov. 1, 3, 4, 7, 8, 15 ( or 16), 17, of which only three were published (N 1, 7, 8). The name of E. A. Pakhomov is also associated with a new stage in the discovery and study of monuments of the Middle Persian epigraphy of Derbent, when the number of inscriptions discovered ^and put into scientific circulation reached 20,65.

Now, after a long break, as a result of research conducted in 1985, 1996 - 1997 and 2001, the corpus of Middle Persian inscriptions of Derbent of the VI century, which is an important historical source and a kind of enclave of Sasanian epigraphy, has been replenished with new finds and there are already 32 ⁶⁶ of them .

Ancient Derbent continues to open its "archives".

notes

¹ Istoriya khalifov vardapet Gevond, pisatelya VIII veka [History of the Caliphs of Vardapet Gevond, a writer of the VIII century]. Patkanyan K. St. Petersburg, 1862. Ch. 7.

² Obshchaya istoriya Stepanos Taronskogo, Asohik po prozvaniyu, pisatelya XI veka [The universal history of Stepanos Taronsky, Asohik by nickname, writer of the XI century].

³ "The Gate of Toraye" is a direct translation of the arm. durn Coray (Altheim P., Stiehl R. Michael der Syrer fiber das erste Auftreten, der Bulgaren und Chazaren / / Byzantion. Bruxelles, 1958. V. 28. S. 110). For identification of Chor and Derbent, see: Kuznetsov N. Derbent // Encyclopedic dictionary. Ed. by F. A. Brockhaus and I. A. Efron: SPb., 1893. Vol. 19. Marguart J. Eran Sahr nach der Geographic des Ps. Moses Xorenaci. Mit historisch-kritischen Kommentar und historischen und topographischen Excursen. В., 1901. S. 96 - 100; idem. Osteuropaische und os-tasiatische Streifsuge. Ethnologische und historisch-topograpische Studien zur Geschichte des 9 und 10. Jahrhunderts (ca 840 - 940). Leipzig, 1903. S. 489; Artamonov M. I. Istoriya khazar. L., 1962. pp. 120-121; Kudryavtsev A. A. O datirovke pervykh sasanidskikh fortifications v Derbent [On the dating of the first Sasanian fortifications in Derbent]. 1978. N 3; same name. "Long Walls" in the Eastern Caucasus / / Voprosy istorii. 1979. N 11; Gadzhiev M. S. Drevnyj gorod Dagestana [The Ancient City of Dagestan]. Experience of historical-topographical and socio-economic analysis, Moscow, 2002.

^{Marquart J.} 4 Osteuropaische und ostasiatische Streifsuge. S. 489.

^{Trever K. V.} 5 Ocherki po istorii i kul'tury Kavkazskoi Albanii [Essays on the History and culture of Caucasian Albania], Moscow, L., 1959, pp. 273-274.

^{Kudryavtsev A. A.} 6 On the dating of the first Sasanian fortifications. "Long walls"...; Gadzhiev M. S. Issledovaniya syrtsovoy fortifikatsii tsitadeli Derbent sasanidskogo vremeni (po materialam raskopov P-XI i P-XIII) [Studies of the raw fortification of the citadel of Derbent of the Sasanian period (based on the materials of excavations P-XI and P-XIII)]. Makhachkala, 1989. pp. 61-76.

⁷ Khozhdenie kuptsa Fedota Kotova v Persiyu [The Journey of merchant Fedot Kotov to Persia].

^{Olearius Adam.} 8 Description of the journey to Muscovy and through Muscovy to Persia and back / Translated by A.M. Lovyagin, St. Petersburg, 1906, p. 486.

^{Celebi Evlia.} 9 Travel book. Translation and Comments, Moscow, 1983, issue 3, pp. 173, 176.

^{Streis Ya} 10 Three Journeys, Moscow, 1935; Dapper O. Beschreibung des Konigreichs Persien. Nurnberg, 1681. S. 22; Witsen N. Noord en Oost Tartaye, ofte bondigh ontwerp van eenige dier Landen, en volken, zo als voormaels bekent zyn geweest... Amsterdam, 1705. V. II. P. 562 (1-е - Amsterdam, 1692).

¹¹ Peter I's interest in the antiquities of Derbent is evidenced, for example, by the fact that, according to D. K. Cantemir, the emperor personally measured the thickness of the exposed foundation of the fortress during its visit: "Fundamenti latitudinem ipsa sua Majestas dimensa est, ad 4 orgyas" (Cantemir D. Collectanea Orientalia (III. Ex eiusdem Demetrii Cantemiri schedis Manuscripts) / / Operele principelui Demetriu Cantemiru publicate de Academia Romana. Bucuresci, 1883. V. VI. P. 29).

¹² Polnoe sobranie zakonov Rossiiskoi imperii s 1649 goda [Complete Collection of Laws of the Russian Empire since 1649]. SPb., 1830. T. V. S. 542; Baranov P. I. The Order of Peter I on remuneration for archaeological finds. 1872. N 10. P. 474.

^{Barthold V. V.} 13 Obzor deyatel'nosti fakulteta vostochnykh yazykov [Review of the activity of the Faculty of Oriental Languages]. History of Oriental Studies in Europe and Russia // Ibid., p. 391; see also: Yusupov G. V. Vvedenie v bulgaro-tatarskuyu epigrafiku [Introduction to Bulgarian-Tatar Epigraphy], Moscow-L., 1960.

¹⁴ Cantemir D. Op. cit. P. 13 - 18, 20, 21, 26; See: Epigraphic monuments of the North Caucasus in Arabic, Persian,and Turkish. Inscriptions of the X-XVII centuries / Texts, translations, comments, introduction and appendices by L. I. Lavrov. Moscow, 1966. Ch. I. P. 21.

^{Pakhomov E. A.} 15 Pahlavian inscriptions of Derbent // Proceedings of the Society for Survey and Study of Azerbaijan. Baku, 1929. N 8. Issue V.

^{Cantemir D.} 16 Op. cit. P. 13.

page 51

^{Pakhomov E. A.} 17 Edict. soch. P. 10.

^{Cantemir D.} 18 Op. cit. P. 18.

¹⁹ Ibid. P. 17.

²⁰ Ibid. P. 18. These drawings of" horses " are still preserved on this section of the citadel wall, in the 4th row, and below them, in the 3rd row, is a kufic inscription. This inscription was identified by H. D. Fren in his editions of inscriptions from Derbent (see below) as Kufischen Inschrift, but in the appendix to E. Eichwald's book, it is probably accidentally called Turkic (Tiirkischen Inschrift). L. I. Lavrov suggested reading "beautiful" or "disgusting", but incorrectly pointed out that it is not a Turkish inscription. the fact that this inscription is located "on the Northern Wall, between the 7th and 8th bastions" (Epigraphic monuments of the North Caucasus... p. 108).

^{Cantemir D.} 21 Op. cit. P. 18.

^{Cantemir D.} 22 Collectanea Orientalia // Operele principelui Demetriu Cantemiru publicate de Academia Romana. Bucuresci, 1883. V. VI.

^{Fraehn Ch.} 23 Die Inschriften von Derbend // St. -Petersburgischen Zeitung. 1828. N 21 (Russian translation: Fran H. About inscriptions in the city of Derbent //Proceedings and Chronicles of the Society of Russian History and Antiquities, 1837, vol. VIII, pp. 107-111); see also this article as an appendix: Fraehn Ch. Die Inschriften von Derbend / / Dorn B. Das Asiatische Museum der keiserlichen Akademie der Wissenschaften zu St.-Petersburg. SPb., 1846, p. 297 - 323; idem. Die Inschriften von Derbend // Eichwald E. Reise auf dem Caspischen Meere und den Kaukasus. Stuttgart, 1834. Bd. I. Taf. 1; Bd. II. B., 1838. S. 205 - 229.

²⁴ Х. Д. Френ писал: "Ich glaube, die Stellung dieser Inschrift sey nicht die rechte. Sie wird sich vermuthlich auf einem besonderen Steine befinden, und dieser unrichtig eingezetzt seyn..." (Fraehn Ch. Die Inschriften..., 1828. S. 304; Fraehn Ch. Die Inschriften..., 1846. S. 214).

^{Berezin I. N.} 25 Travel to Dagestan and Transcaucasia. Kazan, 1849. Note p. 74, Tables II, 6, 7.

^{Khanykov N. V.} 26 On some Arabic inscriptions in Derbent and Baku // Proceedings of the Eastern Branch of the Imperial Russian Archaeological Society. St. Petersburg, 1856. Ch. II. pp. 170-172; on. On some Arabic inscriptions in Derbent and Baku / / Notes of the Imperial Russian Archaeological Society. St. Petersburg, 1857, vol. IX, pp. 43-45.

²⁷ For the first information about the inscriptions collected by I. A. Bartolomey in Dagestan in 1850, see: Khanykov N. V. Essay on scientific activity in the Caucasus in 1850 / / Kavkaz. 1851. N 25-29.

^{28 Izvestiya o} vostochnykh drevnostey i monetakh [News about Eastern antiquities and coins]. Trudy Vostochnogo otdeliya Imperatorskogo Russkogo Arkheologicheskogo obshchestva. St. Petersburg, 1855. Part 1. par. XXXV. P. 301.

^{Savelyev P. S.} 29 Decree. op. s. 322-323.

^{Pakhomov E. A.} 30 Edict. soch. p. 9-10.

³¹ In the travel report, B. A. Dorn, without specifying, reports that " in Derbent... we removed several inscriptions; the inscriptions from which it was impossible to take correct pictures, I instructed to copy or draw " (Dorn B. A. Report on a scientific trip to the Caucasus and the southern coast of the Caspian Sea // Proceedings of the Eastern Branch of the Imperial Russian Archaeological Society. СПб., 1864. Ч. VIII. С. 275; то же см.: Dorn B. Bericht iiber eine wissenschaftliche Reise in dem Kaukasus und den siidlichen Kustenlandern des Kaspischen Meeres // Bulletin de l'Academie Imperiale des sciences de St. -Petersboug. SPb., 1862. V. IV. P. 365; idem. Bericht iiber eine wissenschaftliche Reise in dem Kaukasus und den siidlichen Kustenlandern des Kaspischen Merres // Melanges asiatique. SPb., 1863. V. IV. Livr. S. 159.

^{Dorn B.} 32 Das Asiatische Museum der keiserlichen Akademie der Wissenschaften zu St. -Petersburg. SPb., 1846. S. 303.

^{Dorn B. A.} 33 Pahlavi inscriptions from Derbent. Sketches and description / / Archive of the Russian Academy of Sciences. F. 776. Op. 1. D. 148. N 54.

^{Dorn B.} 34 Ausziige aus zwei morgenlandischen Schriftstellern, betreffend das Kaspischen Meer und angranzende Lander // Bulletin de l'Academie Imperiale des sciences de St. -Petersburg. SPb., 1871. V. XVI. P. 15 - 41; idem. II Melanges asiatiques. SPb., 1872. V. VI. Livr. 3 - 4. P. 369 - 370.

^{Pakhomov E. A.} 35 Edict. soch. P. 10.

^{Dorn B.} 36 Ausziige... S. 369.

³⁷ I do not take into account the inscriptions No. 8 and No. 9, which were located on the inner face of tower 9, in the uppermost rows of masonry.

^{Dorn B.} 38 Ausziige... S. 369.

³⁹ Ibid. S. 369 - 370: "Ubrigens ist es, wie er mil Recht bemerkt, klar, dass diese wie andere Steine mit Arabischen oder Persischen Inscgriften ohne Absicht nach der ursprunglichen Erbauung der Mauer eingesetzt sind, da sie oft verkehrt sind. Er schliesst daraus, dass die Mauer, wenn auch nicht erbaut, so doch aisgebessert oder umgebaut worden

page 52

sei, in zweiten oder dritten Jahrhindert der Flucht (719 - 911) unter den Abbasiden, wo man alte Grabsteine zum Bau verwenden konnte".

⁴⁰ Zeitschrift der Deutschen Morgenlandischen Gesellschaft. Wiesbaden, 1859. Bd. XIII. S. 259, N *41; S. 341; N 266.

⁴¹ Ibid.

^{Dorn B.} 42 Auszuge... S. 370.

^{Dorn B. A.} 43 Edict. soch. l. 2.

^{Ritter K.} 44. Iran / Translated and supplemented by N. V. Khanykov, St. Petersburg, 1874, p. 500.

^{Pakhomov E. A.} 45 Edict. soch. P. 10.

^{Ritter K.} 46 Edict. op. p. 500; see also: Kozubsky E. I. Istoriya goroda Derbent [History of the city of Derbent]. Temir-Khan-Shura, 1906, p. 297.

^{Kozubsky E. I.} 47 Decree. op. p. 297.

⁴⁸ Inscriptions No. 8, 9 have not yet been preserved.

^{Gadzhiev M. S.} 49 New finds and topography of the Middle Persian inscriptions of Derbent // Bulletin of Ancient History. 2000. N 2.

^{Berzhe A. P.} 50 Kavkaz v arkheologicheskom otnoshenii [The Caucasus in the archaeological context]. The same information about inscriptions is given in the following works: he is. Kavkaz v arkheologicheskom otnoshenii [The Caucasus in the archaeological context]. Minutes of the preparatory committee. 1879. p. 33; same name. Kavkaz v arkheologicheskom otnoshenii [The Caucasus in the archaeological context]. Tiflis, 1875. Book 1. pp. 9-11; Nadezhdin P. P. Kavkazskiy krai. Tula, 1895. p. 385. Ed. 2. 1901. Ed. 3. P. 453; Kozubsky E. I. Decree. op. p. 300; on. Dagestan collection. Temir-Khan-Shura, 1902, issue 1, p. 166.

^{Khanykoff N.} 51 Memoire surles inscriptions musulmanes du Caucase//Journal asiatique. Ser. 5. P., 1862. V. XX. P. 57 - 154; idem. Memoire sur les inscriptions musulmanes du Caucase. P., 1863.

^{Khanykoff N.} 52 Memoire sur les inscriptions. 1862. P. 64; idem. Memoire sur les inscriptions..., 1863. P. 8.

^{[Khanykov N. V.]} 53 Album of drawings from monuments and inscriptions of the city of Derbent / / Scientific Archive of the Russian Geographical Society. Razr. 52. Op. 1. N 63. I would like to express my sincere gratitude to Candidate of Historical Sciences V. O. Bobrovnikov (IB RAS), who, at my request, kindly copied the drawings of the Derbent inscriptions given in the album.

^{Krachkovskaya V. A.} 54 Neizvestnyj albom po arabyskoj i persizskoj epigrafike [Unknown album on Arabic and Persian epigraphy]. 1946. Issue II.

⁵⁵ Epigraphic monuments of the North Caucasus ... p. 33.

^{[Khanykov N. V.]} 56 Edict. soch. L. 3. pp. 5-20, 22.

^{Pakhomov E. A.} 57 Decree. soch. p. 11, 14; Trever K. V. Ocherki po istorii i kul'tury Kavkazskoi Albanii [Essays on the history and culture of Caucasian Albania]. Moscow-L.; 1959. p.347.

^{Thomas E.} 58 Sassanian Inscriptions // The Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society. New Series. V. 3. L., 1868; idem. Early Sassanian Inscriptions, Seals and Coins // ibid.; Haug M. Essai on the pahlavi language. 1870; Спигель Ф. Recent results of the analysis of the Sasanian inscriptions. Iran. pp. 487-490; Herzfeld E. Paikuli. Monument and Inscription on the Early History of the Sassanian Empire. B., 1924. V. 1 - 2.

^{Drouin E.} 59 Histoire de 1'epigraphique sassanides. P., 1898. P. 8 - 10.

^{Pakhomov E. A.} 60 Edict. soch. P. 10.

⁶¹ Epigraphic monuments of the North Caucasus ... p. 31.

⁶² Ibid.

⁶³ About him, see: Zhebelev S. Yakov Ivanovich Smirnov. Prague, 1928 // Seminarium Kondakovianum. II; as well as a handwritten article by I. A. Orbeli "The works of Y. I. Smirnov in the Caucasus", kept in the archive of I. A. Orbeli.

^{Pakhomov E. A.} 64 Edict. soch. P. 10.

⁶⁵ Ibid., pp. 3-25.

Novye nakhodki srednepersidskikh napisis v Derbent [New finds of Middle Persian inscriptions in Derbent]. 1988. N 1. pp. 88-95; Gadzhiev M. S. New finds and topography of the Middle Persian inscriptions of Derbent. pp. 116-129.

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