Zosime Ioane
Ioane Zosime, Georgian Christian monk, religious writer, and calligrapher of the 10th century. Biographical information about him is scarce, mainly preserved in the wills and notes of the Sinaitic Collection of Georgian Manuscripts. Ioane Zosime’s name is associated with both the compilation and copying, as well as the binding and updating of many manuscripts. His work is entirely connected with Palestine: initially he was in the Mar Saba (from the beginning of the 40s to the end of the 60s), and later — on Mount Sinai. The earliest manuscript that confirms Ioane Zosime’s work on Sinai is Sin.-35, bound by him in 973, and the latest — A. Tsagareli's catalog No. 93 and No. 92 (currently scattered in various antiquities repositories), copied and bound in 986.
Ioane Zosime is a representative of those Georgian Mar Saba figures who were the last generation to follow the pre-Byzantine, or Jerusalem, rite of Christian worship. The collections he compiled simultaneously include both novelty and antiquity. His encyclopedic liturgical-hymnographic collection Sin.- 34 stands out most of all. Ioane Zosime himself notes that he composed it for “educated people”. According to his will, Ioane Zosimefinished compiling the collection in 965, but certain notes, explanations, and other material appear to have been included in the collection during his time at Mount Sinai. Some parts of Sin.-34, which were thought to be lost, have been preserved in the manuscript collections of the St. Petersburg Public and Leipzig University libraries. This addition makes the importance of Sin.-34 even more evident.
Many monuments, which were preserved only in the collections of Ioane Zosime, were first included in Sin.-34 or were preserved only through this manuscript. The notes-explanations and testamentary notes of the manuscript clearly show how Ioane Zosime investigated the origin and antiquity of the editions of a particular monument, reconciled them with modern practice and created a completely new work. Ioane Zosime paid great attention to the compilation of hymnographic collections. Of particular importance among the collections is the earliest manuscript Sin.-34, which contains both the old and new editions of the Iadgari. This collection reflected the process of transition from old to new types of hymns, the mutual combination of old and new traditions in liturgical practice at this stage.
In the manuscript testaments and notes, Ioane Zosime is referred to as the “searcher”, that is, the one who determined and edited the text, discovered it and created the manuscript. He is not named as the author or translator anywhere. Despite this, he is credited with the authorship of such an important monument as Praise and Exaltation of the Georgian Language, three copies of which were created by Ioane Zosime. Some researchers consider him only a scribe of this monument. Ioane Zosime is also credited with the original acrostic poem from Sin.-34. This is a peculiar testament of the Iadgari of Sin.-34. The name “George” is visible in the double-sided epigraph of the poem, and that’s who some researchers consider the author of the poem.
Literature: ინგოროყვა პ., თხზულებათა კრებული, ტ. 3, თბ., 1965; ძლისპირნი და ღმრთისმშობლისანი. ორი ძველი რედაქცია X–XI სს. ხელნაწერების მიხედვით, გამოსცა და გამოკვლევა დაურთო ე. მეტრეველმა, თბ., 1971; კეკელიძე კ., იოანე ქართველის კალენდარი (X ს.). იხ. მისი: ეტიუდები ძველი ქართული მწერლობის ისტორიიდან, V, თბ., 1957; მისივე, ძველი ქართული მწერლობის ისტორია, ტ. 1, თბ., 1951; მენაბდე ლ., ძველი ქართული მწერლობის კერები, II, თბ., 1980; შანიძე ა., ქართული ხელნაწერები გრაცში. «ტფილისის უნივერსიტეტის მოამბე», 1929, ტ. 9; ჭანკიევი ც., პალესტინელ გადამწერ „იოვანეთა" შესახებ. «მრავალთავი», III, თბ., 1973; ხევსურიანი ლ., Sin. 34-ის შედგენილობის საკითხისათვის, იქვე, VI, თბ., 1978; მისივე, იოანე-ზოსიმეს ერთი ხელნაწერის შესახებ, «მრავალთავი», VII, თბ., 1980; ჯავახიშვილი ივ., სინას მთის ქართულ ხელნაწერთა აღწერილობა, თბ., 1947; Марр Н. Я., Описание грузинских рукописей Синайского монастыря, М.–Л., 1940; Цагарели А., Памятники грузинской старины в Святой Земле и на Синае, «Православный Палестинский сборник», т. 4, вып. 1, СПб., 1888; Brosset M., Études de chronologie technique, I. – «Men. de l’Academie Imp. des Sciences de St. Petersbourg», VII série, XI, №13, 1868; Garitte G., Catalogue des manuscrits géorgiens littéraires du Mont Sinaї. – «CSCO», vol. 165, Subsidia, t. 9, Louvain, 1956; Le Calendrier palestino-géorgien du Sinaїticus 34, édité, traduit et commenté par G. Garitte, Bruxelles, 1958; Esbroeck M. van, Les manuscrits de Jean Zosime Sin.- 34 et Tsagareli 81, «Revue de Kartvélologie», vol. XXXIX, Paris, 1981.
L. Khevsuriani
