CODEX CUMANICUS
Bibliographic Description
Codex Cumanicus / Гаркавец А.Н. – Алматы : Алматы-Болашақ, 2019. – ISBN 978-601-7461-59-1.
- Author
- Гаркавец А.Н.
- Publisher
- Алматы-Болашақ
- Year of publication
- 2019
- Classification index (UDC)
- —
- Language
- Russian
- Publication type
- Book
- Country of Publication
- —
- Access
- Available to all
Description
This is the first complete Russian edition of the unique Kipchak-Cuman-Polovtsian texts of a monument that is, it would seem, widely known, yet in fact known to virtually no one — a monument first presented to the Russian and world scholarly community by Heinrich Julius Klaproth as far back as 1828. Later, the “Codex Cumanicus” was published more than once in Latin, German and French, while the riddles and certain other texts, not fully deciphered and translated, also appeared in Russian and other languages. The Codex contains: the earliest collection in history of 47 Turkic riddles, and, translated for the first time into the language of the Kipchaks-Cumans-Polovtsians, the “Ten Commandments of God,” fragments of the “Book of Proverbs” of Solomon, of the Gospels, and of the writings of the theologians St. Gregory of Nazianzus (329/330-389/390), St. Ambrose of Milan (339-397), St. Jerome of Stridon (340/345-420) and St. Augustine (354-430), the “Creed,” the prayers “Our Father” and “Ave Maria (Hail Mary),” hymns by Caelius Sedulius (d. 450), Venantius Fortunatus (530/540-600), Theofilo of Saint-Aubin (12th-13th centuries) and other Latin poets — “Hail, Gate of Paradise,” “Jesus, Our Ransom,” “The Word Was Made Flesh,” “The Banners of the King,” “Remembering the Priceless Blood,” “From the Corner Where the Sun Rises” — and original Cuman sermons. We have supplied the religious texts with historical notes, commentary and Latin equivalents. The originals of most of them were established a hundred years ago by Willy Bang and Karl Zalemann. The texts have been prepared for publication from a facsimile of the Codex manuscript, now held in the library of the Cathedral of St. Mark the Evangelist in Venice (Biblioteca Divi Marci – Biblioteca Nazionale di S. Marco – Biblioteca ad templum Divi Marci Venetiarum, Venezia, Mss. latini, Fondo antico, Collocazione 1597, Codex DXLIX / No. 549), taking into account the invaluable publications of Heinrich Julius Klaproth, Géza Kuun, Hermann Vámbéry, Willy Bang, Vasily Radlov, Karl Zalemann, Otto Blau, Julius Németh, Kaare Grønbech, Dagmar Drüll, Andreas Tietze, Mefküre Mollova, Vladimir Drimba, and others. The Cuman texts are given in the Latin-based Turkological transcription that we developed earlier for Kipchak monuments, and in accordance with the principles for reading the Turkic texts of the Codex set out in our monograph “The Kipchak Languages: Cuman and Armeno-Kipchak” (Alma-Ata: Nauka, 1987), which provides an exhaustive table of correspondences between written signs and the sounds of Polovtsian speech and shows the evolution of the monument's graphic system. The Kipchak vocabulary of the published texts, and of the Codex as a whole, has been included in our “Kipchak Dictionary” — the third volume, now being completed, of “The Written Legacy of the Kipchaks.”
Machine translation, not reviewed by the editors
Reading room rules
Approved by Order No. ______ of the Director of the Republican State Institution "Presidential Center of the Republic of Kazakhstan" dated ____ September 2026
1. General Provisions
1.1. These Rules for the Use of the Reading Room of the Republican State Institution "Presidential Center of the Republic of Kazakhstan" (hereinafter, the Rules and the Presidential Center) have been developed in accordance with the Constitution of the Republic of Kazakhstan, the Civil Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan, the Laws of the Republic of Kazakhstan "On Culture" and "On Copyright and Related Rights", the Regulations on the Republican State Institution "Presidential Center of the Republic of Kazakhstan" approved by Order No. 05/255 of the Head of the Administrative Department of the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan dated 28 August 2023, and other regulatory legal acts of the Republic of Kazakhstan.
1.2. These Rules set out the procedure for using the reading room of the Presidential Center, the terms of service for users, and the rights and obligations of users and of the staff of the Library Service.
1.3. The library collection of the Presidential Center is part of the institution's library collection and is subject to registration, storage and safekeeping in the manner established by the legislation of the Republic of Kazakhstan and the internal documents of the Presidential Center.
1.4. The right to use the library resources of the Presidential Center is granted to citizens of the Republic of Kazakhstan and foreign nationals registered as users of the Presidential Center, in the manner established by these Rules.
1.5. These Rules are binding on all users of the reading room.
2. Procedure for Using the Reading Room
2.1. The reading room is a form of library service that enables users to work with library documents directly on the premises of the Presidential Center without removing them from the institution.
2.2. Users are served in the reading room free of charge.
2.3. Users are admitted to the reading room on the basis of their user identification number (ID number), in the manner established by the Presidential Center.
2.4. Reading room opening hours: Tuesday to Sunday, 09:00 to 18:30; Monday is a day off. Users are admitted to the reading room until 18:15.
2.5. Access to the reading room may be temporarily restricted or suspended during events, scheduled maintenance, technical and other works, and in other cases provided for by the internal documents of the Presidential Center.
2.6. On registering as a user of the Presidential Center, a person reads these Rules and confirms having read them and undertakes to comply with them. This confirmation is given by the user's personal signature or in electronic form, in the manner established by the Presidential Center.
2.7. Users who violate these Rules or cause damage to the library collection or other property of the Presidential Center are liable in accordance with the legislation of the Republic of Kazakhstan.
2.8. Liability for harm caused by minors is determined in accordance with the legislation of the Republic of Kazakhstan.
2.9. In the event of loss of or damage to library documents, the user shall compensate for the damage caused in the manner and on the terms established by the legislation of the Republic of Kazakhstan and the internal documents of the Presidential Center.
2.10. Lost or damaged library documents may, by agreement with the Library Service, be replaced with equivalent documents in the manner established by the legislation of the Republic of Kazakhstan and the internal documents of the Presidential Center.
3. Rights and Obligations of Users
3.1. Users have the right to:
- use the library documents and the basic library and information services of the Presidential Center free of charge;
- receive advice from the staff of the Library Service when searching for and selecting the information they need;
- use the computers and software provided by the Presidential Center for work in the reading room, within the access rights granted;
- submit proposals, comments and complaints on library service matters in the manner established by the legislation of the Republic of Kazakhstan and the internal documents of the Presidential Center.
3.2. Users shall:
- present their user identification number (ID number) when receiving library documents;
- comply with these Rules and the established opening hours of the reading room;
- keep silence, maintain public order and observe the rules of conduct in the reading room;
- treat other users and the staff of the Presidential Center with respect;
- comply with the requirements of the legislation of the Republic of Kazakhstan on copyright and related rights when using library documents and information resources;
- handle library documents, equipment, furniture and other property of the Presidential Center with care;
- use the reading room premises and equipment solely for their intended purpose;
- comply with sanitary and fire safety requirements;
- leave outerwear in the cloakroom when visiting the Presidential Center, in accordance with the established procedure;
- bring personal working materials, including dissertations, notebooks and other documents, into the reading room in the manner established by the Presidential Center;
- in an emergency, including a fire, natural disaster, industrial accident, terrorist act or threat thereof, immediately follow the requirements and instructions of the staff of the Presidential Center and of the staff of the organisations providing security for the facility, and follow the established evacuation procedure.
3.3. Users are prohibited from:
- passing on to other persons their identification data, including the login and password provided for access to information systems and resources;
- disturbing the silence, public order or the established rules of conduct;
- being in the reading room under the influence of alcohol, drugs or other intoxicants, or in a condition that endangers safety or infringes the rights and legitimate interests of others;
- making any changes to library documents, including underlining, marking, correcting, folding pages or otherwise damaging documents;
- taking library documents out of the reading room or passing them to third parties without the permission of the staff of the Library Service;
- removing sheets, individual pages, photographs, drawings, stamps or other component parts of library documents;
- being in the reading room in outerwear, including carrying outerwear as hand luggage;
- bringing food, drinks and bulky items into the reading room, except in cases provided for by the internal requirements of the Presidential Center;
- using mobile phones and other devices with sound that disturbs the silence in the reading room;
- changing the settings of computers and other equipment, or installing software, without the permission of an authorised staff member;
- photographing, filming, audio recording, scanning or copying library documents without prior agreement with the staff of the Library Service and without regard to the requirements of the legislation of the Republic of Kazakhstan on copyright and related rights;
- holding tours, classes, lectures, presentations or other events in the reading room without prior agreement with the management of the Presidential Center.
4. Rights and Obligations of the Library Service
4.1. The Library Service has the right to:
- require users to comply with these Rules;
- temporarily restrict or suspend users' access to library resources and the reading room in the cases provided for by these Rules and the internal documents of the Presidential Center;
- refuse to provide certain services where a user violates these Rules, safety requirements or the legislation of the Republic of Kazakhstan;
- demand compensation for damage caused to the library collection, equipment and other property of the Presidential Center, in the manner established by the legislation of the Republic of Kazakhstan;
- take other measures provided for by the legislation of the Republic of Kazakhstan and the internal documents of the Presidential Center against persons who have violated these Rules.
4.2. The Library Service shall:
- serve users in accordance with these Rules;
- provide users with information on library and information services, the procedure for obtaining them and the opening hours of the reading room;
- ensure users' access to library resources in accordance with the established procedure;
- provide proper conditions for users to work in the reading room;
- take measures to ensure the safekeeping of the library collection;
- ensure a high standard and quality of service to users;
- promote the library collection and help develop an interest in reading;
- comply with the requirements of the legislation of the Republic of Kazakhstan when processing users' personal data.
5. Final Provisions
5.1. The administration and the staff of the Library Service are not liable for the loss of or damage to users' personal belongings left unattended, except where such liability is provided for by the legislation of the Republic of Kazakhstan.
5.2. Matters not governed by these Rules are governed by the legislation of the Republic of Kazakhstan and other internal documents of the Presidential Center.
5.3. Where the provisions of these Rules conflict with the legislation of the Republic of Kazakhstan, the provisions of the legislation of the Republic of Kazakhstan apply.
5.4. Amendments and additions to these Rules are made in the established manner and approved by order of the Director of the Presidential Center.
5.5. These Rules enter into force on the date of their approval and remain in effect until they are amended or declared invalid.
*The Presidential Center reserves the right to amend these rules.