პარატექსტები ოთხთავის ძველ ქართულ ხელნაწერებში

Abstract

Structurally, the manuscript of the Four Gospels is the collection that initially consisted of the texts of the four Gospels. Each text was accompanied only by the name of its author-evangelist and was not divided into chapters or verses. Gradually, the practical need (the ease of finding desired places and the process of reading) stipulated the segmentation of the text by different signs and the compilation of the “reader helper” indexes that had different purposes (Metzger, 2005:33-47). Such paratexts created for the text of the Gospel soon became a part of the collection / the Four Gospels (Wallraff, 2015: 237 – 243). The oldest Greek manuscript, in which the text of the Gospel was divided into small parts according to the system of Amonnius of Alexandria (the 3rd century), was the 4th century Vatican Codex. Since the early period there also existed the Canon Tables (“Eusebian Canons”) and the explanation of their usage (“Letter to Carpianus”) compiled by Eusebius of Caesarea in the fourth century for the purpose of searching parallel passages for the harmonization of the text of the Four Gospels. The Canon Tables and their explanation were usually presented in the beginning of the text and visually differed from the main text (written with different font, with different coloured ink and / or in arched decorative frames). In the Georgian literary tradition, Eusebian Canons attached to the manuscript has been referred to as კამარები/kamarebi. In ancient times, their short version placed in the bottom of the page (footnote), which was a thematic index of the text of the Gospel presented on the same page, was called განთესულნი/gantesulni. Parallel to Ammonian sections, the so-called capitula parallela - the graphic signs written on the margins of pages and indicating the ordinal number of Eusebian canons - appeared in the manuscript. Later, the manuscripts of the Four Gospels were accompanied by the list of chapters and / or a list of miracles performed by Jesus created on the basis of the division of the text of the Gospel into the extended thematic episodes. Each Gospel ended with the short note about its author as well as the time and place of writing. Sometimes the number of chapters and verses was indicated. The practice of reading relevant passages from the Gospel according to the liturgical calendar required the division of its text under this sign and the compilation of relevant indexes, which also became the accompanying part of the Four Gospels (“The index of the annual readings”). The “auxiliary texts” accompanying the Four Gospels assisted a reader in “navigating” the extended version of the Gospels. Their systematic usage in manuscripts until the late Middle Ages shows that it might be convenient for readers of ancient times (Crawford, 2015:29). The paper discusses the old Georgian manuscripts of the Four Gospels and considers the following issues: How homogeneous were the manuscripts of the pre-Athenian and post-Athenian periods and what kind of differences were observed in them? Did the paratexts of the manuscripts containing the texts of the Gospels of various redactions differ? Was the process of editing (mainly, “making like Greek”) related to the change of the structure of the Four Gospels and its adaptation to “the Greek rule”?