Memory of the World: The treasures that record our history from 1700 BC to the present day. UNESCO
for worship on a particular day. The colophon or publishing detail of the manuscript records that two scribes wrote the main parts, although there are shorter, inserted contributions from two other scribes. The Gospel’s design is relatively simple and its illustration minimal compared with better known and more highly illustrated and illuminated medieval manuscripts. The relative plainness of the book’s appearance perhaps suggests that the copy was intended for everyday use rather than for presentation as a gift to a patron.
Rare and attractive as the Gospel is, its particular value lies in what it reveals about the time and culture from which it came. In 1054 the Great Schism divided the Christian Church along differing theological lines into Eastern Greek and Western Latin wings and the Archangel Gospel is a product of the aftermath of the split.
The Gospel is written in Cyrillic rather than Latin, and as such it is one of the oldest existing Eastern Slavic books in the world. The Cyrillic alphabet was a form that had developed in Russia as recently as the 10th century, so the transcription of the Slavonic language of the Church into Cyrillic makes the book highly valuable for scholars of linguistics. In addition, the handwriting in the manuscript is invaluable to paleographers.
The Gospel is also significant in that it is a codex and is bound in the form of printed books of today. The practice of presenting information in book rather than in scroll form is generally thought to derive from the spread of Christianity, which early adopted the codex form for the Bible. Scrolls continued to be used in Far Eastern culture beyond the end of their use in the West.
Illuminated codices from the library of the Bratislava Chapter House
Inscribed 1997
What is it
A collection of 101 early books, or codices, containing numerous illuminations and illustrations and dating from the 12th to the 16th centuries.
Why was it inscribed
The collection, from the former Chapter House library, is the most wide-ranging, comprehensive, influential and historically and artistically valuable set of medieval manuscript books in Slovakia.
Where is it
Slovak National Archives, Bratislava, Slovakia
The territory of Slovakia has historically been a meeting ground of political and cultural influences from Central, Eastern and Western Europe. The Bratislava Antiphonaries, as the codices are known, are among the most important religious documents in Central Europe.
Archival documents reveal that the library of the Bratislava Chapter of canons was created and grew during the 13th century. The Chapter itself was an important institution of the Church in Bratislava with legal and cultural as well as religious responsibilities.
Antiphons are chants sung at certain parts of the Roman Catholic Mass and the Bratislava Antiphonaries were in active use in church services for several centuries. This constant use over such a long period put them at the centre of worship in the region and made them one of the foremost religious and spiritual influences of Central Europe.
The illuminations in the antiphonaries are the central resource of information and knowledge of the history of medieval book painting in the Central European area. In addition, they are also among the most important music books of the region and allow an insight into its medieval music culture.
The musical codices of the collection dating from the 15th and 16th centuries are assumed to have been created in the scriptorium at St Martin’s Cathedral in Bratislava. The work of several illuminators and scribes, they contain numerous lavish, ornate and colourful illuminations and illustrations and are of central importance in the history of books in Central Europe.
The complete collection is the most wide-ranging and comprehensive set of medieval manuscript books in Slovakia. In 1988 it was acknowledged by the government as one of the cultural monuments of the nation.
St Martin’s Cathedral, Bratislava, where the musical codices of the collection are believed to have been created.
Medieval manuscripts on medicine and pharmacy
Inscribed 2005
What is it
Three manuscripts from the Institute of Manuscripts of the Azerbaijan National Academy of Sciences (IMANAS), which holds 12,000 manuscripts in total. The manuscripts listed on the Register are three medical texts copied in the 12th, 13th and 18th centuries from earlier originals.
Why was it inscribed
These manuscripts on medicine and pharmacology are rare and valuable. One is a single-existing copy; another is one of the oldest copies in the world; and all were influential in their fields not only in Azerbaijan but also in neighbouring countries around the region.
Where is it
Institute of Manuscripts of the Azerbaijan National Academy of Sciences (IMANAS), Baku, Azerbaijan
The collection as a whole has 363 valuable medieval medical manuscripts: 222 are in Persian, seventy-one in Turkish and seventy in Arabic. The three books listed on the Register are Zakhirai-Nizamshahi (Supplies of Nizamshah) by Rustam Jurjani; Al-Qanun Fi’l Tibb (Canon of Medicine, The Second Book) by Ibn Sina (Avicenna); and Al-Makala as-Salasun (Thirtieth Treatise) by Abu al-Qasim al-Zahravi (Abulcasis).
The first of the works, Zakhirai-Nizamshahi by Rustam Jurjani, is not known to be in any other collection in the world. Its date of compilation is uncertain, but the manuscript was copied in the 16th century. The book provides descriptions of pharmaceutical properties of medicinal herbs, animal substances, minerals and complex medicines. It influenced the development of medicine and pharmacology in Persian-speaking areas and countries.
Al-Qanun (Canon of Medicine, The Second Book) by Ibn Sina (Avicenna), is a famous work in the field of pharmacology and medicine. The second book deals primarily with pharmacology and contains pharmaceutical descriptions of hundreds of natural medicines derived from plants, minerals and animal substances. It was one of the most influential and popular books of medicine in the world and was copied in AD 1143, only 104 years after the author’s death. The book was influential in the development of medical sciences in the Muslim world and in the West.
Al-Makala as-Salasum (Thirtieth Treatise) by Abu al-Qasim al-Zahravi (Abulcasis) is an Arabic book of surgery and surgical instruments and is a rare manuscript in world terms. The book contains pictures of approximately 200 medieval surgical instruments used at the time. Zahravi (who died in 1013) is the only medieval author who provides pictures of so many surgical instruments, together with explanation methods of their use. This work influenced the development of surgery in the Muslim East and Europe. This manuscript is the 13th-century copy of the 11th century book.
The Arnamagnæan manuscript collection
Inscribed 2009
What is it
A collection of almost 3000 early Scandinavian manuscripts dating from the 12th century onwards.
Why was it inscribed
The manuscripts and documents in the collection are invaluable sources of information on the history and culture of Scandinavia and by extension, northern Europe, from around 1150 to 1850.
Where is it
Copenhagen, Denmark and Reykjavik, Iceland
Old Norse