Reviews of outstanding Frenchmen of the XIX century (Marquis de Custine, Germaine de Stael, Theophile Gautier, Alexandre Dumas-father) about our country have long been the subject of wide reader interest. The perception of the representative of the Arab culture in Russia for the reasons described below is of a half-forgotten rarity. Meanwhile, the appeal to the monument, which will be discussed in this article, is important from the point of view of cultural and historical perspective.

Keywords: Sheikh Tantawi, Muhammad ibn ' Ayyad at-Tantawi, estate structure of Russia, Russian National Library (RNB) in St. Petersburg, Arabic literature of the XIX century.

For a long time, nothing was known about the Egyptian professor of St. Petersburg University Sheikh Muhammad ibn 'Ayyad at-Tantawi in our country. Only in the 1920s did Academician I. Y. Krachkovsky undertake a detailed study of the work, life, and personality of this outstanding teacher of the Arabic Language Department (Krachkovsky, 1929).

Sheikh at-Tantawi was born in the city of Tanta in Egypt in 1810.1 For many years he worked at the largest university in his country - al-Azhar, and later was invited to Russia to teach Arabic. The sheikh wrote many works on literary studies and grammar, although among his works you can find something that is not directly related to Arabic philology. This is confirmed by the main work of Sheikh Tantawi (according to Krachkovsky [Krachkovsky, vol. I, 1955, p. 96]) "Description of Russia"2. This work remains unappreciated by Russian researchers working on the culture of Russia in the mid-19th century, despite the fact that it is a multi-faceted source for historians, geographers, ethnographers, cultural scientists, philologists, and orientalists alike. This is due to the lack of a complete translation of the manuscript.

1 For more information about the life and activities of Tantavi, see [Krachkovsky, 1929; Mints, 2009, pp. 42-43].

2 The full title of the manuscript is "A gift to the smart ones with messages about the Russian country". In Russian transliteration - "Tukhfat al-azkia' bi-ahbar bilad rusia". The autograph manuscript of this work was preserved in one of the Istanbul mosques (Riza Pasha in Rumeli Hisar). A copy of this work, most likely made by a certain Turk, by a happy accident in 1927 fell into the hands of I. Y. Krachkovsky [Tantavi, 49]. Subsequently, having received a second copy of the manuscript (which will be discussed below), Krachkovsky called the above-mentioned first manuscript "Istanbul". The current cipher of this copy is Kr. 49. It is kept in the Russian National Library (RNB) in St. Petersburg. However, the history of the manuscript itself does not end here, since in the early autumn of 1928, the second copy of the manuscript "Description of Russia" fell into the hands of I. Y. Krachkovsky [Tantavi, 47]. It was found by a young semitologist A. Ya. Borisov at a second-hand bookseller on Volodarsky Avenue and presented to Krachkovsky. This manuscript is of the greatest value, as it is an autograph of Tantavi. Most likely, this manuscript, which is called "Leningrad", was a draft copy. In it, we find a significant number of corrections or changes in the margins to individual words, many later inserts and additions. When compared with the" Istanbul " manuscript, it becomes clear that almost all amendments and additions have been made to the main text. Excerpts of the manuscript given in this article were translated by M. V. Eremina (Mints).

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"Description of Russia"is designed in a calm and objective tone, there is no plot or action. The main task of the author was to create a beautiful and easy-to-read work that could be presented to the Ottoman Sultan ' Abd al-Majid I and thereby satisfy his curiosity. By the time the manuscript was completed (1850), Tantavi had lived in Russia for about 10 years. It can be assumed that many pages have become the fruit of long observations and gradual entry into a foreign culture. Against this background, the contact of two cultures, which at first glance are quite distant, is particularly interesting. Here the subtle flair of a Muslim scholar is shown, who notices even what seems absolutely familiar to the ordinary view of a Russian person.

In this article, we will limit ourselves to an excerpt from the" Leningrad " manuscript devoted to the description of the estates and realities of social life in Russia at that time. As you know, social stratification leaves a deep imprint on the national culture and consciousness of its bearer, it cannot but be decisive in the perception of another culture and another society. The choice of subject matter is also due to Tantavi's exceptional interest in the details of Russian social life. The author is so keen on describing the structure of society that, either forgetting or out of ignorance, he confuses the Russian estates with the Egyptian ones. Through the prism of such mistakes, we see the cultural context of the "Description of Russia", which is primarily associated with the Arab-Muslim civilization and the peculiar culture of Arab scholarship. This passage may be of interest to many historians, ethnographers and specialists who considered the estate structure of Russia in the mid-19th century as a given. A new view of it by an Eastern person opens up a different image of Russia. The cultural context that led the sheikh to confuse the Egyptian and Russian estates suggests that in the perception of the Egyptian observer, Russia is really similar to the East,as some European travelers say. At the same time, Tantavi's unconventional and open view may reveal to us the true course of things in their direct manifestation and within the author's observations, and not the officially established facts of the estate structure of Russia. When he gets confused in formal details, he sees the main thing very clearly.

Tantawi, being a highly educated person who studied in al-Azhar, was interested in everything related to education and the status of an educated person. After 10 years of teaching in al-Azhar, in 1840 the sheikh arrived in Russia as a teacher of Arabic in the Educational Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. And 15 years later, in 1855, he received the title of ordinary professor, thus passing through all the steps of the career ladder of a Russian teacher of Egyptian origin. Tantavi could not ignore this experience and covered it in the framework of his work. He also drew attention to the connection of appeals by rank with the education system, which distinguished Russia from Egypt, where there were no ranks per se, and appeals differed depending on a person's social status.

Mostly Tantavi describes everyday life. This passage shows his abilities as an exceptional observer, who sees the subject of his research with a sharp eye and describes it at the same time figuratively and in detail, objectively, but at the same time putting a personal assessment into each moment. Here is a relevant fragment from the "Description of Russia":

"Russian customs, customs, holidays, religion, happiness and achievements in the sciences, arts, and so on will be discussed in the next section.

The first part

It is known that the Russian tradition and character are expressed in generosity, pride and sociability of people, especially since they began to develop in the field of culture and sciences. Peter the Great's insightful remark about them was just. They (Russian. They strive for glory and greatness, and Peter said: "My greatness is my character." Russian people

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they are distinguished by their beauty, fair skin, ability to craft, friendly service, obedience to the lord, because they have little worship, a lot of piety and a lot of...3. And in the past, they were known for their cowardice, until they were temporarily enslaved by the Tatars, but later everything became different, and the Tatars became their subordinates and subjects " [Tantavi, 49, p. 151].

These comments about the Russian character and disposition were drawn from Tantawi's own observations. Here it makes sense to recall the work of Germaine de Stael, dedicated to her journey through Russia in 1812. The Frenchwoman Baroness de Stael makes notes that are somewhat similar to Tantavi's observations. She writes:

"I didn't find anything wild about these people; on the contrary, they have a lot of grace and softness that you don't find in other countries" [Russia of the first half..., 1991, p.25].

Further, more specific conclusions arise, which, however, do not change the general disposition of the author:

"They love its [Russia's] grandeur and splendor in life more than the quiet joys it can give. They, like the people of the East, show extraordinary hospitality to a foreigner... They care more about external splendor than about their own well-being; they are not pampered by luxury, and a monetary sacrifice satisfies their pride all the more fully the more lavishly they bring it" [ibid., 1991, p. 27].

There is a similar chain of assessments, but you can also see the peculiarity. Madame de Stael looks at Russia through the eyes of a Westerner, so she is ready to compare Russians with people of the East (passage on hospitality), seeing in this a certain exoticism. She also notices the tendency of our countrymen to show off their brilliance in the absence of a real attachment to their own well-being. This can be understood in two ways - both as admiration for generous hospitality, and at the same time as an indication of vanity, a property of the "facade empire". Despite all the sympathy, there is a slight irony of a person who represents a culture based on the idea of a sovereign person.

In turn, the opinion of Tantavi is not so clear. So, it is not too happy to read a categorical opinion about our ancestors: "And in the past they were known for their cowardice." Tantawi's brief statement about the changes in the nation's temperament can also be understood in this way: liberation from the Tatar-Mongol yoke brought up dignity and courage in Russians. It is noteworthy that Tantavi connects the development of the best qualities of the Russian people (generosity, pride, sociability) and with the enlightenment of the nation in the Petrine era, i.e. with the influence of the West. Also noteworthy is the Sheikh's great respect and admiration for the Russian tsar. It is no coincidence that he devotes almost half the volume of his manuscript to retelling Russian history, where almost all the facts are related only to Peter I. This is a kind of paradox: after all, Peter is associated in our national consciousness with Russia's appeal to the European experience. Tantavi demonstrates a certain breadth and impartiality, emphasizing the activities of the reformer king. The passage about the cowardice of the Russians can be commented on by Tantawi's own considerations and his view of our history, although it is possible that he had a certain source.

As for the appearance of the Russian people, it is interesting for comparison to look at the description given by the French traveler Astolphe de Custine:

"The Russian people are quite beautiful. Men of a purely Slavic race, brought here by their masters to serve from the center of Russia... they are distinguished by their light hair color and bright face paint, especially by the perfection of their profile, which resembles Greek statues. Their almond-shaped eyes have an Asian shape with a northern bluish coloration and a peculiar expression of softness, grace and cunning" [Custine, 1990, p.87].

3 The word is not understood [Tantavi, 49, p. 151].

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Again, we see here, along with the mention of similarities with Greek statues, words about the Asian shape of the eyes. This is how a Frenchman sees the Russians, who considers Russia a barbarian power.

It is also worth comparing the description given by Ibn Fadlan, an Arab who traveled along the Volga River in the tenth century. He wrote about the Slavs as follows:

"I saw the Rus when they arrived on their trade business and settled down (landed) on the Atil River. And I didn't see (people) with more perfect bodies than them. They are like palm trees, ruddy and red" (Ibn Fadlan's Journey to the Volga, 1989, p. 78).

Most likely, the book of the traveler Ibn Fadlan, who traveled almost the entire Volga Bulgaria as part of the embassy from the Baghdad Caliphate and wrote a very valuable geographical and ethnographic work, did not pass by the scholar Tantawi. V. V. Barthold states that "during the heyday of Arabic geographical literature, in the IX-X centuries, the Muslim world was much more closely connected with Byzantium and Russia than with Western Europe" (Barthold, 1922, p.24). It should be remembered, however, that for nine centuries the features of an ethnic group may have undergone changes. It is all the more important to compare the testimonies of representatives of different cultures and different centuries.

The following passage deals directly with the estates.

"They (the Russians. Not all people of the same class, but several. The first class is the nobility. Belonging to this class is inherited, i.e. the son of a nobleman is considered one of the nobles. People of this class are distinguished by the fact that they are allowed to buy land and serfs (doel, "slaves". They are not forbidden to attend noble gatherings. And if one of them marries a woman below his class, then her status increases and she takes his name. Also, this estate is divided into two parts: nobles (personal nobility. - Approx. trans.) and nobles from the nobles (hereditary nobility. - Approx. trans.), which they were even before the time of Peter. And their names are in the third book. For example, the education of the daughters of nobles in the Smolny Monastery requires that these daughters be considered noblemen of the nobility, unless there is a special permission from the emperor. And if any nobleman voluntarily goes to the army, for example, in the rank below an officer, then in 2 years he becomes an officer. The second category: nobles who do not pass on their estate by inheritance (personal nobility. - Approx. trans.)- foreigners, employees and those who are awarded Orders of distinction by the Emperor. If someone receives a class from the emperor, then they begin to relate to the nobles who pass on their class by inheritance and have the right to acquire land and Russian slaves, but not gentiles. And then a Muslim is forbidden to own Russian, just as a Muslim slave is forbidden by law to belong to a Christian or non-Believers" [Tantavi, 49, p.151].

Tantavi's views are somewhat different from the official hierarchy and are most likely based primarily on personal observations. It should not be surprising that the sheikh sometimes confuses the Russian and Egyptian class structure and allows some inaccuracies in the description.

Tantavi writes that the first Russian estate at that time was considered to be the nobility, which was divided into personal and hereditary nobility, or service and ancestral, in which he is absolutely right. According to N. I. Pavlov-Silvansky, who devoted a great deal of research to the sovereign's servants, Peter the Great "weakened the hereditary isolation of the service class, legalized in the previous century, namely, established the length of service of the nobility, opening up free access to the gentry class to raznochintsy" [Pavlov-Silvansky, vol. I, 1909, p. 225]. Finally, the nobility became a privileged class with the granting of liberties and freedom from official service in 1762. According to researchers of Russian culture B. F. Yegorov [Yegorov, 2000, p. 90] and Yu. A. Fedosyuk [Fedosyuk, 2003, p. 144-145], Peter's " Table of Ranks "(1722) equalized the rights of the nobility before the law and divided them by origin into personal (service or new) and descendants-

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Yu. A. Fedosyuk informs about the subtleties of this division and helps to understand Tantavi's note about books that contain the names of hereditary nobles: "Pillar nobles were called descendants of ancient noble families who owned fiefdoms, and in the XVI-XVII centuries recorded in genealogical books-columns, that is, lists in the form of glued scrolls" [Fedosyuk, 2003, p. 144].

As for Tantavi's remark that only the daughters of nobles were educated at Smolny Monastery, this is slightly contradicted by the words of Madame de Stael:

"I was going to see the educational institutions founded by the Empress... St. Catherine's Institute (Smolny Monastery) consists of two houses, each of which educates one hundred and fifty girls of the noble and merchant classes" [Russia of the first half..., 1991, p. 56].

It is possible, however, that with the change of the emperor, the rules for admission to the Smolny Monastery were tightened, and the daughters of merchants were no longer allowed there.

From many sources, it becomes known that under Peter I, a decree was issued on the mandatory service of noble young men. Already under Peter's successors, the situation changes, and parents immediately after the birth of their sons write them down in the Guards regiments as non-commissioned officers, and not sending them there to serve. Here is what L. N. Shepelev writes about the personal rights of hereditary nobles: "They were exempt from poll taxes, conscription, and corporal punishment; they could take part in the estate organization of the nobility; the duty to serve was also a preferential right for them to public service; children of nobles enjoyed educational benefits" [Shepelev, 1991, p. 30]. Shepelev also writes about personal nobles: "The prestige of the personal nobility, which first appeared together with the Table of Ranks, was minimal (it was not even considered a "real" nobility). With few exceptions, personal nobles did not have the right to own serfs" [ibid., 1991, p. 31].

The most interesting part of the "Description of Russia" is Tantavi's statement about the prohibition of Christians to keep slaves of other faiths, and how he emphasizes that Muslims also have no right to keep Christian slaves and cannot be slaves of Christians. It seems that for a nineteenth-century Muslim scholar, the facts surrounding the division of religions in such a sensitive issue as serfdom were of much greater importance than for our modern researchers. This confirms the fact that in the Middle East in the XIX century, "the division of the population into Muslims, Christians and Jews remained fundamental from a legal point of view" [New History..., 2004, p. 66]. In addition, the attitude towards slaves in Islam was, judging by the evidence of European authors, significantly different from the attitude towards serfs in Russia or black slaves in America. Thus, the enlightened Frenchman A. Clothe-bey, who hated slavery and was proud that the West had abolished it, still recognized that there was a huge difference between American slavery and Muslim slavery. A Muslim sees a slave as a person, does not consider him a thing. "The Muslim law protects the slave from the injustice of the master, protects him from violence and commands him to provide him with protection, which the faithful are obliged to do with respect to weak beings" [Klot Bey, part I, 1845, p. 214]. The actual practice of serfdom in Russia in this context does not require comments.

The next passage in Tantavi's manuscript is a passage about the merchant class.

"The third (estate): merchants who are not considered nobles in Russia. Even if a merchant owns millions, he does not belong to this class (nobility. And if he marries one of the noblewomen, then her rank decreases, and she begins to belong to the merchant class, because the wife is subordinate to the husband in any class. A nobleman's daughter marries a merchant only because of his wealth, just as a nobleman marries a merchant's wife because of her wealth.

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her wealth. And they prefer to live in contentment and prosperity, corresponding to their social level.

And it is possible to raise a merchant to a nobleman, but only if his merit is obvious, which consists in performing tasks important to the state, but this rarely happens. Merchants and their children are not accepted into the army, but they pay a tax instead. However, if a merchant goes broke and cannot pay, then he becomes a philistine. This privilege (exemption from recruitment. - Approx. trans.) it is not inherited. If a merchant dies, the duty to pay (tax) passes to his son, and if he is unable to pay, he is deprived of this privilege. And if a merchant voluntarily joins the army in a lower rank than an officer, then after three years of service he becomes an officer. Merchants and nobles can leave the army whenever they want. And merchants (have a custom. - Approx. trans.) to let go of beards " [Tantavi, 49, p. 152].

It is interesting to note Tantavi about the fact that merchants in Russia do not belong to the nobility. After all, in Egypt at that time, merchants also did not belong to the ruling class. But in Tantawi's homeland, it was possible to become a large feudal landowner and thereby identify yourself with the upper strata of society, which was impossible in our country. This is what Tantavi emphasizes: he emphasizes that in Russia a merchant could become a nobleman only if the emperor granted him this estate. We see that the description of Tantavi is somewhat general, devoid of important details that clarify the structure of the estate, but in general it is very accurate. It is also interesting that the sheikh insistently emphasizes the moment of change of class associated with marriage and having a distinctly patriarchal character in Russia.

Strictly following in his description of the official hierarchy, Tantavi passes to the lower classes.

"The fourth (estate): philistines. If they are promoted to merchants or demoted to the army (to a lower class. - Approx. trans.), their position (rights and obligations. - Approx. trans.) is changed accordingly. Fifth (estate): the peasants. If they are accepted into the army, then the army order applies to them, otherwise they cannot rise to the first class. Sixth (estate) - military. If the military rises to the rank according to which he deserves stripes on the shoulder straps with gold thread (epaulettes. - Approx. trans.), then becomes a nobleman. And it must last at least 15 years. And if he has had exemplary behavior, then perhaps he will rise to any rank below officer, and then to the rank of officer. And those who have served 15 years leave the army if they wish. Seventh (estate): serfs (finished. "slaves." It is not allowed to buy slaves to anyone, as in our country, but only on condition that the buyer is a Russian nobleman and that they are sold with land. No (special. - Approx. trans.) the market where they are sold, and they are sold together with the land. Sometimes they can be bought and released. There are also those who are redeemed (do), "buy themselves". - Approx. trans.A slave cannot become a nobleman (even a freedman. - Approx. trans.), except when he becomes a military man and makes a career" [Tantavi, 49, p. 152-153].

The bourgeois class did not deserve the special attention of an Arab scholar. Tantavi's comment on the peasantry is interesting. Indeed, before the estate reform, which Nicholas I began to carry out in 1826, non-nobles could be promoted and receive an officer's rank for exceptional bravery and impeccable service, which before the reform of 1874 meant receiving the nobility. The historian A. A. Kiesewetter reports on the discussion of the draft law on states (on estates) in 1826-1830: "It was proposed to completely abolish the receipt of noble dignity by seniority of ranks, leaving only one way to join the noble class: the highest award" [Kiesewetter, 1912, p. 444].

Tantavi's remark that in Russia the military was not a separate class is characteristic. Here he compares our system, wittingly or unwittingly, to that of Egypt, in which the Ojakl (corps military) class was singled out as a separate ruling class. When Tantawi writes about the seventh estate, he completely confuses the fifth estate of his division, i.e., the peasants, with the Egyptian lower stratum of society-slaves. Perhaps Tantavi is so convinced that Russian serfs occupy such a place.

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the same status as slaves in Egypt, which consciously equates them with each other. And by the fifth estate he means only freedmen and free farmers (see below). Such an attitude to the situation of Russian serfs can be seen in the book of the European de Custine, who writes:: "In many parts of the empire, the peasants believe that they belong to the land... In other places, the peasants believe that the land belongs to them; these are the happiest, if not the most downtrodden and tortured of the Russian slaves " [Custine, 1990, p. 88]. Interestingly, in the above passage from Tantawi's work, the sheikh is surprised that the Russians do not have special places (markets) for the sale of slaves (serfs). After all, in Egypt at that time there was even a separate group of people: it "consisted of a few Jallabi-slave traders who were engaged in the resale of slaves" [Atsamba, 1997, p.39]. As for the serfs who could buy themselves out and buy a small plot of land, here Tantavi is referring to the free farmers who appeared after the decree of 1803.

So, Tantavi considers two types of nobility to be the ruling classes in Russia, he considers merchants, philistines, peasants and military men to be the middle classes, and the last lower class is considered to be slaves. Of course, this conditional division does not correspond to the official class hierarchy of Russia. "According to the reforms of the XVIII century, four estates were established in the country: nobles, clergy, urban inhabitants, rural inhabitants (peasants)" [Yegorov, 2003, p. 89]. Sheikh Tantawi completely ignores the clergy and divides the strata of society on an arbitrary basis, apparently based on his practical observations.

Let us turn for comparison to the social structure of nineteenth-century Egypt. After all, apparently, Tantawi partially combined the Russian estate structure with the Egyptian one. In the sheikh's homeland, during the reign of Muhammad Ali, three classes were dominant: the Mamluk multazim, the Ulama, and the Ojakli (warriors of the corps). According to F. M. Atsamba, "the Mamluks in Egypt were the largest feudal landowners-multasim, who carried out cruel exploitation of the peasantry" [Atsamba, 1997, p. 36]. Also, " the most important component of the ruling class in Egypt was the highest Muslim clergy - the Ulama. They overwhelmingly lived in cities and played a significant role in the system of state administration and socio-political life of the country " [ibid., p. 37]. The middle class in Egypt was considered a trade and craft population, which included large merchants, small retailers, artisans and ordinary workers. And the" urban lower classes " were recognized as hired workers and the population employed in the service sector (including domestic slaves). So, the Egyptian system was not very different at that time from the Russian one. Tantavi divided the Russian estates in an arbitrary order according to his observations, which, on the one hand, cannot be considered reliable scientific information, but, on the other hand, is very characteristic in terms of the overlap of two cultures in the mind of the observer. In addition, in almost all details, Tantawi is quite accurate in essence, if not in form.

The author of "Description of Russia" concretizes his ideas about the estates, referring to the sphere that is close and familiar to him, i.e. education.

"It is also true that nobles need the training and education with which they achieve rank. And if they are studying at a higher school to get a candidate's degree, i.e. "nobility" (a form of titling. - Approx. trans.), then they will belong to the tenth rank (Table of ranks. - Editor's note). This happens if they write a good research paper. And if they make very few mistakes, then they are awarded a student's degree, otherwise they are not owed anything at all. And if they are studying in a lower school, they do not receive this degree and serve without a degree until they are awarded it. Similarly, the children of merchants, if they study at a higher school and reach the degree of "nobility". Then "nobleness" if it tries, writes a scientific paper, defends (its work. - Approx. trans.) before scientists and successfully passes the defense, then he is awarded a master's degree, i.e. a scientist, and he fits the ninth rank. Then if he continues to work hard, also writes and conducts a third research paper, it is discussed, and he has an excellent discussion, then he gets a degree

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doctors, i.e. "high honor" (its titling formula. - Approx. trans.) and fits under the eighth rank. Then, if he serves, he is promoted to the seventh rank, and thus the "high honor" can become a teacher of the first rank and the second, i.e., look for a match for a full-time university position. All of this applies to the rank acquired through education. A "noble" can reach one of these ranks through service, that is, it can become "eminence", even if it is not a scholar and not a "noble". As for exaltation without being "noble", it is possible, but rare" [Tantavi, 49, p. 153].

In this passage, Tantavi tells a very interesting fact, combining bureaucracy and science into a single system. Yu. A. Fedosyuk talks about degrees and titles in science as follows: "A student who completed the course with honors became a candidate without any postgraduate studies or defending a dissertation... Undistinguished graduates were content with the title of a valid student... The second academic degree in tsarist Russia, and after 1884 the first-a master's degree... The highest degree, as now, was doctor... In the old days, an academician was called not only a member of an academy - a scientific institution, but also a student (or a graduate) of a higher educational institution that bears the name of an academy, for example, a military or spiritual one" (Fedosyuk, 2003, p. 109). From other historical sources, we also learn that the reforms of Nicholas I "pinned down" the higher school. "In 1835, a new university charter was adopted, which deprived universities of their former (since 1804) autonomy. From now on, government officials became the owners of universities - the trustee of the educational district (they were often concurrently the Governor-General) and the minister, who was authorized to appoint and dismiss professors at his own discretion " [Troitsky, 2003, p. 108].

All these questions should have been very relevant for Tantavi: after all, he himself was a university teacher and personally went through all the bureaucratic levels of the Russian educational system during the pre-reform period of Nicholas I. A little later, the government considered it necessary to put universities under even stronger control than the charter of 1835 allowed. rectors and deans received instructions in the following year, 1850, establishing the rule of the most detailed supervision of teaching. All teachers were required, in accordance with these instructions, to submit before the start of the course exact teaching programs, indicating the essays that they will use." Deans were required to ensure that "the content of the program does not contain anything that disagrees with the teaching of the Orthodox Church or with the way of government and the spirit of state institutions" (Milyukov, 1994, pp. 304-305). The last point of this charter could completely "crush" Sheikh Tantawi, because he taught, in addition to the language, and the course of history of Arab countries. In addition, at this time, a suspicious attitude towards all foreign teachers began, as P. N. writes about. Milyukov [ibid., pp. 297-299], M. M. Shevchenko [Shevchenko, 2003, pp. 72-75] and other researchers. And the Minister of Public Education under Nicholas I, S. S. Uvarov, in his report persistently wrote about the need to introduce a strict Russian education system. "To blot out the conflict between the so-called European education and our needs, to heal the newest generation from blind, thoughtless addiction to the superficial and foreign, spreading in young souls a warm respect for the native..."[Nicholas and his Epoch, 2001, p. 153]. But from about this time on, Tantavi was almost out of work, and he began to develop his serious illness. It is worth, however, to evaluate his loyalty and the tone of an objective statement in the story about the Russian bureaucratic system.

"The Emperor awards, on the recommendation of the ministers, the one who deserves the award through promotion and distinction. Orders are numerous, including the Order of Stanislav and Vladimir. For the first (Order of Stanislav. - Approx. trans.) ribbon with a white border, for the second (Order of Anna. - Approx. trans.) with a yellow border, for the third (Order of Vladimir. A ribbon with a black border, and the ribbons themselves are red. Ribbons of the last Order (third step-

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no. - Approx. trans.) are small and hung on the chest, and for the first degree they are long and hung like a sword belt, and they are given only to"nobles". And second-degree ribbons are hung like a necklace around your neck. The Emperor granted me the first 2 (of these orders. And they hang around my neck because of the success of my students in their research. When I got the second one, I made up this pun:

Truly I saw a miracle in St. Petersburg,
And it was that,
What is a Muslim sheikh
He clutches Saint Anne to his chest

The emperor also awarded me for my third work the 4th order with an expensive diamond, and on it the initials of a noble name. The emperor noticed that Muslims do not like images on the orders granted to them. And replaced this image with an image with an eagle. Although we imitate the Europeans in awarding degrees and orders to officials, we still do not do the same with students and scientists. What's wrong with that? On the contrary, direct adherence (to the European tradition) and encouraging students to study (is positive. For example, when (a student) has completed his / her secondary school education and enters a school to study science, then after four years, if his / her mentors attest to his / her abilities, he / she will be called "noble". And it's not bad at all if he writes a research paper and for this he is provided with a certificate and a certificate, but on stamped paper. Then, if he continues (training), then in a year, for example, or in two, he is awarded a degree of a scientist, and then "honours". And this rank corresponds to the degree of a teacher of the first rank and second rank, and lower ranks-the degrees of a teacher and assistant " [Tantavi, 49, p. 154].

In this excerpt, we see a small insert by Tantawi regarding the awarding of orders in Russia. The author himself comments on this as an important point for encouraging his scientific work. After all, he, an Arab scholar, was awarded three orders by the emperor. True, there is an irony in the passage about St. Anne on the Muslim's chest, but it is very good-natured. We can judge the significance of such an award on the basis of the draft order charter. "As explained in this document, the "Cavalier Order" was established "to reward and reward some for loyalty, bravery and various services rendered to us and the fatherland, and others - for encouragement to all noble and heroic virtues" "[Shepelev, 1991, p. 191]. In total, in pre-revolutionary Russia, there were eight names of orders, but some of them had three or four degrees, very unequal. "Orders of the highest, that is, the first, degree were worn on a wide ribbon worn over the shoulder, while the order itself in the form of a cross was attached to a ribbon near the hip. Another badge of the same order-a star-was worn on the chest... The high-grade order cross was worn on a narrow ribbon around the neck, where the tie knot is now located, and the low-grade cross was worn on the chest "[Fedosyuk, 2003, pp. 132-133]. This is what Sheikh Tantawi tells us. He even shows off his poetic creativity in a few lines of verse.5 As for the orders, it is still necessary to explain that the classification given by the sheikh is correct in terms of numbering, but from the point of view of the merits of orders, everything was the opposite, and the order that stands in the first place was considered the lowest order.

Later in the text, we see a remark about the respectful and, as is now customary to say, tolerant attitude of Nicholas I to the traditions and religion of foreigners. Tantawi says that the emperor, who learned about the Muslim ban on human images, replaces the traditional order with an order with the image of an eagle. Tantawi notes some of the shortcomings of the incentive-based education system in Egypt and the merits of the Russian system, which recognizes the merits of a person who receives a special education.-

4 It is difficult to say with certainty whether this is a manuscript or Tantavi's service in a Russian educational institution.

5 M. M. A. Reda [Reda, 1984] writes about this and, in general, about the Tantavi manuscript as a literary monument.

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having a high level of education and achieving success in this field. Here it is necessary to explain that after entering 1517. The local waqfs became impoverished, and the education system that depended on them began to decline. The prestige of education has noticeably decreased. Many religious schools have closed. Only al-Azhar, which at that time represented both secondary and higher education, began to play the role of a general Muslim educational institution. Ruler of Egypt in the first half of the 19th century Muhammad Ali, instead of maintaining higher education in his country, "sent dozens of young Egyptians to Europe to study military and technical sciences, agronomy, medicine, languages, and law" (Lutsky, 1965, p.53). At the same time, the Ministry of National Education was established in Russia, and "the highest authorities sought to radically update the bureaucracy, raise the quality of public service, and improve the general culture of the administration" [Shevchenko, 1998, p.108].

Thus, we see that in the first part of the third section of the manuscript "Description of Russia" Tantavi tried to systematically describe the entire socio-social structure of Russia in the middle of the XIX century, to tell about the estates, officials and how the scientific sphere came under the influence of the"Table of Ranks". Sometimes Tantawi compares the state of affairs in Russia with the state of affairs in Egypt and makes comments about this, sometimes not in favor of his homeland. The sheikh is concerned about some realities that are rarely emphasized in the works of Russian researchers about the Russian culture of the XIX century, but are quite relevant in the East, in particular the question of the role of religious and confessional relations in the class hierarchy. It should also be noted that there are several historical inaccuracies in this manuscript, but this is understandable: after all, the work was not declared at all as a historically reliable and scientific text. Nevertheless, Sheikh Tantawi's "Description of Russia" is a very revealing and in many ways unique monument, containing a peculiar view of the bearer of Arab-Muslim culture and Egyptian scholarship on Nikolaevskaya Russia. This text represents the Eastern perception of a country that is apparently doomed to constantly struggle with the question of whether it belongs to the West or to the East.

source

Tantawi, Muhammad ' Ayyad. A gift to smart people with messages about the Russian country. Krachkovsky. Hands. N 47, N 49.

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