Baška tablet ( hr, Bašćanska ploča, ) is one of the first monuments containing an inscription in the
Croatian recension of the Church Slavonic language, dating from . The inscription is written in the
Glagolitic script
The Glagolitic script (, , ''glagolitsa'') is the oldest known Slavic alphabet. It is generally agreed to have been created in the 9th century by Saint Cyril, a monk from Thessalonica. He and his brother Saint Methodius were sent by the Byzan ...
. It was discovered in 1851 near the village of
Baška on the
Croatia
, image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg
, image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg
, anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland")
, image_map =
, map_caption =
, capit ...
n island of
Krk
Krk (; it, Veglia; ruo, Krk; dlm, label= Vegliot Dalmatian, Vikla; la, Curicta; grc-gre, Κύρικον, Kyrikon) is a Croatian island in the northern Adriatic Sea, located near Rijeka in the Bay of Kvarner and part of Primorje-Gorski Kot ...
.
History
![Crkva sv Lucije 08092012 12 roberta f](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/23/Crkva_sv_Lucije_08092012_12_roberta_f.jpg)
The tablet was discovered in 1851 during paving of the
Church of St. Lucy, Jurandvor near the village of
Baška on the island of
Krk
Krk (; it, Veglia; ruo, Krk; dlm, label= Vegliot Dalmatian, Vikla; la, Curicta; grc-gre, Κύρικον, Kyrikon) is a Croatian island in the northern Adriatic Sea, located near Rijeka in the Bay of Kvarner and part of Primorje-Gorski Kot ...
.
Since 1934, the original tablet has been kept at the
Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts
The Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts ( la, Academia Scientiarum et Artium Croatica, hr, Hrvatska akademija znanosti i umjetnosti, abbrev. HAZU) is the national academy of Croatia.
HAZU was founded under patronage of the Croatian bishop Jo ...
,
Zagreb
Zagreb ( , , , ) is the capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Croatia#List of cities and towns, largest city of Croatia. It is in the Northern Croatia, northwest of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slop ...
.
Croatian archaeologist
Branko Fučić
Branko Fučić (8 September 1920 – 30 January 1999) was a Croatian art historian, archeologist and paleographer.
He was born in Malinska-Dubašnica on the island of Krk. After graduating at the Faculty of Philosophy in Zagreb in 1944, he rece ...
contributed to the interpretation of Baška tablet as a left altar partition. His reconstruction of the text of the Baška tablet is the most widely accepted version today.
Description
The Baška tablet is made of white limestone. It is 199 cm wide, 99.5 cm high, and 7.5–9 cm thick. It weighs approximately 800 kilograms.
The tablet was believed to be installed as a partition between the altar and the rest of the church. A replica is in place in the church.
The
inscribed
{{unreferenced, date=August 2012
An inscribed triangle of a circle
In geometry, an inscribed planar shape or solid is one that is enclosed by and "fits snugly" inside another geometric shape or solid. To say that "figure F is inscribed in figu ...
stone
In geology, rock (or stone) is any naturally occurring solid mass or aggregate of minerals or mineraloid matter. It is categorized by the minerals included, its Chemical compound, chemical composition, and the way in which it is formed. Rocks ...
slab
Slab or SLAB may refer to:
Physical materials
* Concrete slab, a flat concrete plate used in construction
* Stone slab, a flat stone used in construction
* Slab (casting), a length of metal
* Slab (geology), that portion of a tectonic plate tha ...
records King
Zvonimir
Zvonimir is a Croatian male given name, used since the Middle Ages.
During Yugoslavia, the name became popular in other ex-Yugoslav republics like Croatia and Slovenia.{{citation needed, date=February 2014
People named Zvonimir
*Demetrius Zvon ...
's donation of a piece of land to a
Benedictine
, image = Medalla San Benito.PNG
, caption = Design on the obverse side of the Saint Benedict Medal
, abbreviation = OSB
, formation =
, motto = (English: 'Pray and Work')
, foun ...
abbey in the time of abbot Držiha. The second half of the inscription tells how Abbot Dobrovit built the church along with nine monks.
The inscription is written in the
Glagolitic script
The Glagolitic script (, , ''glagolitsa'') is the oldest known Slavic alphabet. It is generally agreed to have been created in the 9th century by Saint Cyril, a monk from Thessalonica. He and his brother Saint Methodius were sent by the Byzan ...
, exhibiting features of Church Slavonic of Croatian recension, such as writing ''(j)u'' for ''(j)ǫ'', ''e'' for ''ę'', ''i'' for ''y'', and using one ''jer'' only (ъ). It provides the only example of transition from Glagolitic of the rounded Bulgarian type to the angular Croatian alphabet.
Contents
![Bascanska ploca detail 1](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e3/Bascanska_ploca_detail_1.jpg)
The scholars who took part in deciphering of the Glagolitic text dealt with
palaeographic
Palaeography ( UK) or paleography ( US; ultimately from grc-gre, , ''palaiós'', "old", and , ''gráphein'', "to write") is the study of historic writing systems and the deciphering and dating of historical manuscripts, including the analysi ...
challenges, as well as the problem of the damaged, worn-out surface of the slab. Through successive efforts, the contents were mostly interpreted before World War I, but remained a topic of study throughout the 20th century.
The original text, with unreadable segments marked gray:
The
transliteration, transliterated text, according to
Branko Fučić
Branko Fučić (8 September 1920 – 30 January 1999) was a Croatian art historian, archeologist and paleographer.
He was born in Malinska-Dubašnica on the island of Krk. After graduating at the Faculty of Philosophy in Zagreb in 1944, he rece ...
, with restored segments in square brackets, is as follows:
Dating
![BaskatabletStLucyJurandvor](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fa/BaskatabletStLucyJurandvor.jpg)
The tablet's content suggests it was inscribed after the death of King Zvonimir in 1089, since abbot Držiha describes Zvonimir's donation as an event that happened further in the past ("in his days"). The Church of St. Lucy, described as having been built during the reign of prince Cosmas, indicates an era before the Venetian rule on Krk, starting in 1116. This, along with the Romanesque features of the church, dates the tablet to the late 11th or early 12th century.
The meaning of the opening lines is contested. While some scholars interpret the introductory characters simply as ''Azъ'' ("I"), others believe that letters were also used to encode the year. There is no agreement, however, on the interpretation: 1100, 1077, 1079, 1105 and 1120 have been proposed.
Significance
The name of
Croatia
, image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg
, image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg
, anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland")
, image_map =
, map_caption =
, capit ...
and King Zvonimir are mentioned on the tablet for the first time in Croatian.
Despite the fact of not being the oldest Croatian Glagolitic monument (the
Plomin tablet
The Plomin tablet.
Plomin tablet ( hr, Plominski natpis) is a Glagolitic inscription in Croatian at the outer wall of the church of Saint George in Plomin, Croatia. Roman god of flora and fauna Silvanus is portrayed. This inscription bears witn ...
,
Valun tablet
The Valun tablet ( hr, Valunska ploča) is an 11th-century bilingual (Old Croatian and Latin) and digraphic (Glagolitic and Latin) tablet, originally serving the role of a gravestone, found at the graveyard in Valun on the island of Cres, Croati ...
, Krk
inscription, are older and appeared in the 11th century) and in spite of the fact that it was not written in the pure Croatian
vernacular
A vernacular or vernacular language is in contrast with a "standard language". It refers to the language or dialect that is spoken by people that are inhabiting a particular country or region. The vernacular is typically the native language, n ...
- it has nevertheless been referred to by
Stjepan Ivšić
Stjepan Ivšić (; 13 August 1884 – 14 January 1962) was a Croatian linguist, Slavic specialist, and accentologist.
Biography
After finishing primary school in Orahovica, he attended secondary school in Osijek and Požega. At the Faculty of Phi ...
as "the jewel" of Croatian,
while
Stjepan Damjanović called it "the baptismal certificate of Croatian culture". It features a vaguely damaged ornamental string pattern, the
Croatian interlace
The Croatian interlace or Croatian wattle, known as the or in Croatian, is a type of interlace, most characteristic for its three-ribbon pattern. It is one of the most often used patterns of pre-romanesque Croatian art. It is found on and with ...
( hr, troplet).
The tablet is depicted on the
obverse
Obverse and its opposite, reverse, refer to the two flat faces of coins and some other two-sided objects, including paper money, flags, seals, medals, drawings, old master prints and other works of art, and printed fabrics. In this usage, ''o ...
of the Croatian 100
kuna
Kuna may refer to:
Places
* Kuna, Idaho, a town in the United States
** Kuna Caves, a lava tube in Idaho
* Kuna Peak, a mountain in California
* , a village in the Orebić municipality, Croatia
* , a village in the Konavle municipality, Croatia ...
banknote, issued in 1993 and 2002,
Features of Kuna Banknotes
(1993 issue)
(2002 issue). – Retrieved on 30 March 2009. and on a postage stamp issued by Croatian Post
Croatian may refer to:
*Croatia
, image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg
, image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg
, anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland")
, image_map =
, ...
in 2000.
References
Bibliography
*
*
*
Further reading
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Baska Tablet
Croatian culture
Old Croatian inscriptions
1100 in Europe
11th century in Croatia
Krk
Croatian glagolithic texts
11th-century inscriptions
Church Slavonic literature