(Arabic St. Petersburg Facial Psalter) from the collection of the Institute of Historical Sciences of the Russian Academy of Sciences (St. Petersburg branch). Podg. Val. V. Polosin, N. I. Serikov, S. A. Frantsuzov; under the general editorship of N. I. Serikov. Saint-Petersburg-Voronezh: Kvarta Publ., 2005, 216 p. ("Mirabilia" series)* Studies of the history and culture of the peoples of the Christian East were once one of the leading areas of Russian science. It is enough to recall such names of scientists of the late XIX-early XX centuries as V. R. Rosen, V. V. Bolotov, B. A. Turaev, N. A. Marr, and I. Y. Krachkovsky. After a period of decline that lasted almost the entire twentieth century, the study of Middle Eastern Christianity in the last 10 to 15 years is experiencing a new upsurge in Russia. The number of publications devoted to the Christian cultures of the East has significantly increased. One of the most recent examples of this kind is a peer-reviewed publication. Made on a brilliant printing level, this publication is accompanied by a separate volume of detailed comments compiled by well-known Arabists N. V. Polosin, N. I. Serikov and S. A. Frantsuzov, who have long been fruitfully engaged in the Christian East. The interest of Russian science and society in Eastern Christian subjects is quite understandable. Orthodox and other Christian cultures of the Syro-Palestinian region are part of the Byzantine civilization to which we belong. Knowing it is also important for our own self-identification. Moreover, the history of Christian Arabs has been intertwined with Russian history more than once, including in the era when the now reprinted Arabic Psalter was written. This manuscript was created in the autumn of 1648 in the entourage of the Orthodox Patriarch of Antioch Makariy ibn az-Zaim (reigned in 1647-1672), known for his two-time visit to Russia during the reign of Alexey Mikhailovich. The copyist and illustrator of the book was Yusuf al-Musawwir, a pr ... Read more