Problem-based methodological conferences "Monuments of Oriental Writing: Problems of Translation and Interpretation", held every autumn at the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences, have become a tradition. On October 27-29, 2014, a regular IV conference on this topic was held, organized by the Department of Written Monuments of the Peoples of the East of the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences. The conference was dedicated to the memory of the first head of the department, Georgy Girs (1928-1994).

Director of the Institute of Linguistics of the Russian Academy of Sciences Corresponding Member. RAS V. M. Alpatov welcomed the organizers and participants of the conference and shared with the audience his memories of G. F. Girs. The topic was continued by A. S. Gerasimova (IB RAS), a colleague and friend of Georgy Fedorovich.

Having emerged as a scientific division of a complex profile, the department brought together specialists-historians and philologists, who rely in their work on the texts of written monuments and other sources of philological, historical and socio-cultural information. The focus of its work has also determined the topics of annual conferences, which are attended not only by employees of the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences, but also by orientalists from other cities and foreign scientists. This year's conference was presented by researchers from Iran, Kazakhstan, China, Malaysia and the United States.

The presented reports went beyond the country-specific framework and beyond the scope of individual scientific disciplines. The conference organizers set themselves the task of including these reports in a common methodological context, sharing the experience of researchers working with different types of texts, and developing common requirements, approaches, and principles for publishing and commenting on them.

In recent years, art historians, including those who practice an integrated approach to the objects under study, have increasingly become participants in conferences. A. N. Babin (State Institute of Art Studies of the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation - hereinafter referred to as GII) ("Ragamala. Text and image in the Indian tradition of music visualization") He considered the phenomenon of ragamala (skt.

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"garland of rags"), which connects musicology, theater art, lyrical poetry and painting. The visual image of the raga as a special type of lado-intonation formation associated with a certain sound order was formed under the influence of the traditions of Indian theater (especially drama), which has always been inextricably linked with music. The author of the report showed how the images of ragas described in collections of shlokas (verse stanzas) in Sanskrit, Hindi and later Persian were embodied in the painting tradition of the XVI-XIX centuries at the court of the Rajput rulers of Rajasthan and the Himalayan mountain principalities, in Central India and the Deccan, in Nepal and Bengal.

In her report "Dwarfs in Ancient Indian Religious Art: Aspects of interpretation", D. N. Vorobyova (GII) spoke about this element of decorative decoration of architectural monuments of Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism. Little men are found in reliefs on mythological themes standing at the feet of the object of worship, as well as floating with various offerings. Often they are represented by dancing and holding musical instruments in their hands; their images may contain fantastic elements, a combination of human and animal features, a combination with plant forms. As the researcher noted, it is possible to understand and interpret the meaning of these images in sculpture only by referring to written sources, which is a matter of the future.

The interaction of visual and verbal visual series was considered in the report of N. A. Novikova (GII) "Images of celestial musicians in Dunhuang painting and Amidaism sutras: the word as a source of visual". The subject of the study was the painting of the Dunhuang Buddhist Cave Monastery (China). The murals that cover the ceilings and walls of many of the monastery's caves in a solid pattern serve as a means of full-scale artistic interpretation of a number of indigenous texts of the Jingtu (Pure Land School) tradition and recreate in detail the "Land of Supreme Joy", permeated by the"wonderful sound of Dharma". Like a tuning fork, the space of a Buddhist cave temple creates a special atmosphere and mood of the meditative state of the believer, inextricably linked with music. The author of the report noted that the Dunhuang painting, which has been created for almost a thousand years, allows us to trace the evolution of the plastic language of murals.: from extremely decorative to exquisitely stylized and realistic.

In the report " Convergence of cultures in relation to risk. The Rogovian cipher of astrological Arabic-Persian talismans and German reproductions of the XVI century " M. A. Rogov (RSUH) told about a mysterious engraving he found in June 2014 from a German antique dealer among the woodcuts of the mid-XVI century. The researcher found that in front of him is a woodcut amulet from the Reformation era with images of an astrological talisman similar to two previously known exhibits of the British Museum. The talisman features images of the planet Mars, motifs of the "Children of the Planets" and the Zodiac, which go back to the iconography of Arabic-Persian astrological ("Kitab al-Bulhan") and magical ("Picatrix") treatises. An attempt to decipher a fragment of the talisman text written in the characters of a cipher called "Rogovian" by Swedish font creator Matthias Persson led the author of the report to the hypothesis of the presence of the original Persian text of the military mascot. An unusual example of a reproduction of an oriental artifact in a German print demonstrates the transformation of a magical Arabic-Persian talisman into a replicated European amulet and reflects the evolution of ideas about risk.

G. S. Popova (Institute of History of the Russian Academy of Sciences) devoted her report " Difficulties in translating the Shu-ching (Canon of Records)" to one of the classical canonical written monuments of Ancient China, which is part of the Confucian "Thirteen Canon" (Shisan-ching). This work, which served as an important part of classical Confucian education until the twentieth century, had a great influence on the Chinese historiographical tradition. Its sources were written monuments of the previous era, information of a legendary nature, and mythological ideas that had developed by the time of its creation. The estimated time of creation of the Shu-ching is the Chunqiu period (770-154 BC). As the author of the report notes, its writing took place in two stages in the VII-VI centuries BC. Since the materials used in writing the monument have not been preserved, the Shu-ching is a valuable written source, and the accuracy of the text of the Shu-ching monument is very important. its translation is of fundamental importance.

Report by E. F. Bayalieva (Institute of History of the Russian Academy of Sciences) " A new source on the history of China: The Zhizhen Tiaoge (Yuan Dynasty) Code was dedicated to the original code of laws of this dynasty, which was found in 2002. Currently stored in a special pavilion of the Academy of Korean Studies

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The Yuan Codex, created in 1346, was published in South Korea in 2007 in a small print run and almost immediately became a bibliographic rarity, since not a single list of this document has been preserved in China itself.

Korean Sinologists were the first to start studying the codex, and later published the results of their research in Korean. In Russian Sinology, the Yuan era remains a poorly studied period, but information from classical Chinese sources and data from scientific studies suggest that the Yuan laws were a turning point in the legal history of China. An argument in favor of this conclusion is the content of the chapters (juanei) of the Zhizhen Tiaoge Code.

M. V. Toropygina (IB RAS) spoke about one of the practices of composing classical Japanese poetry in the report " Classical Japanese Poetry: composition of poems on a given topic (based on the material "Setetsu monogatari" (XV century)". The thematic composition was characteristic of several spheres of Japanese classical poetry: songs on screens, poetic tournaments, poetic cycles. The researcher analyzed the Japanese poet Setetsu's view of this problem, which he outlined in his essay "Setetsu Monogatari". He considered a number of questions related to writing: what are the topics; which topics are easy to write on, which are difficult to write on; which topics should be chosen for poetry collections; on which topics it is better for young authors to train. Setetsu also gives specific examples of writing such poems. The Setetsu Monogatari text shows that writing on the subject, which dates back to the ninth century, also remained extremely relevant at the end of the classical period of Waka poetry.

N. V. Rudenko (Xiamen University, China) dedicated the report "Essay on the Child's Heart"by Li Zhi: An Analysis of philosophical Ideas" to the Chinese Ming philosopher, an original follower of the teachings of Wang Yangming-Li Zhi (1527-1602). "Essay on a Child's Heart "("Tongxin Sho") is one of his most famous works. The central concept of the essay is the " child's heart "(tung xin), which has authenticity and pristine clarity. The main object of criticism in the essay and at the same time the antagonist of the "child's heart" is falsehood as the antithesis of the authentic and true. As the author of the report notes, in the concept of "children's heart", the ethical side is subordinate to the epistemological one: "children's heart" is valuable primarily as a tool for understanding the world. In developing these ideas, Li Zhi draws on the Confucian, Taoist, and Chan Buddhist traditions and sharply criticizes the prevailing ideas of his time.

The report of N. A. Chesnokova (RSUH) "Thenniji" ("Description of selected villages", 1751): the title of the work and its content " was devoted to one of the outstanding works of the late Middle Ages, created in Korea. It tells about the geography of each of the eight provinces of the country, its history, economy, famous people, traditions and cultural features. Created in the 18th century, the work immediately attracted the interest of educated sections of society, which is confirmed by its numerous handwritten copies. Currently, there are more than 80 lists of "Thenniji", differing in details, the order of chapters and their number. In addition, this work is known under more than 20 titles. Based on the manuscripts found by the author of the report in the Kyujangak Archive, the Seoul National University Library, the Yonsei University Library, and the Goryeo University Library in 2013 and 2014, the researcher analyzed the names given to the work, offered an explanation of the reasons for their choice by scribes, and also raised the question of translating these names into Russian.

In the report of E. S. Lepekhova (IB RAS) " On the concept of sankan ("triple perception") in the treatises of the Tendai school", an analysis of this Buddhist concept was given on the example of one text compiled presumably between 1150 and 1200 and entitled "The main collection of the Tendai-Hokke school on the teachings of the Bull's Head" ("Tendai Hokke- shu Gozu homon yozan"). The researcher emphasized that the most imaginative concept of sankan was presented in the first section of this text, " Reflection and mirror are one "("Kyozo ennyu"), where any object is considered as a unity of three components. These can be "essence", "properties" and "actions", three truths ("middle", "empty" and "temporary"), or three regions of the world. Here we are talking about the trinity-consciousness, the external world and the inner nature of a person-expressed in the image of a mirror. Analysis of the concept of sankan, which combines three concepts of absolute, temporal and median, allowed the author of the report to assume that the text of the monument reflected an attempt to synthesize two directions of Japanese Buddhism: esoteric and exoteric (Japanese kenmitsu), which was typical of the Tendai school in the XII-XIII centuries.

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N. R. Lidova (IMLI) in her report "Natyashastra as a literary monument: textual analysis, dating, state of the manuscript tradition" outlined the main range of problems related to the study of the main written source on the history and theory of ancient Indian drama, which is as important for the Indian and Eastern theater as Aristotle's Poetics is for the Western one. "Natyashastra" (lit. "Science of Drama") in terms of the scope of information and variety of topics presented, it has no equal among similar works of antiquity and the Middle Ages: in 36-37 verse chapters of the treatise, numbering about five thousand couplets and a number of prose fragments, all the main topics related to the field of both theoretical understanding and practical implementation of the drama are considered. Summarizing the tradition of theater development from its origins to literary drama, Natyashastra is an encyclopedic compendium, dating from the middle of the 1st millennium BC to the 7th-8th centuries AD. Such a spread of dates indicates attempts to isolate the oldest core of the monument or indicate the most recent stage of its formation.

In the report "Monument of the Golconda school of poetry of the XVII century - Masnavi "Phulban" Ibn Nishati" I. V. Zotova presented a vivid and original example of Urdu literature, a unique monument of Indo-Muslim synthesis. The author of the poem Ibn Nishati managed not only to combine the canonical and accepted themes of this genre, but also to convey the atmosphere that reigned in the principality of Golconda in the XVII century, enhancing the effect by mixing two rows of imagery - Muslim and Indian. According to the author of the report, the Masnavi Ibn Nishati poem, written in the form of a framed story, is distinguished by an entertaining plot, subtle lyricism and Sufi overtones inherent in this genre, and a general Shiite coloring.

In her report "Rethinking the ancient myth in the Mahabharata and Matsya Purana (on the example of the Legend of Savitri)", E. V. Tyulina (Institute of Philosophy of the Russian Academy of Sciences) identified what transformations the archaic myth underwent in the Indian epic tradition and what changes it underwent in ancient and medieval texts. Comparison with the medieval tradition is made possible by the fact that the puranas contain retellings of ancient epics - "Mahabharata" and "Ramayana", as well as the main legends that make up their composition. According to the speaker, this story is an echo of an ancient myth found in many peoples, but in the Mahabharata it was significantly processed and turned into a typical epic text, and later, in the medieval retelling, the legend changed beyond recognition. The report analyzed all the differences in the variants of the legend and showed the features of the ideas about the world that underlie them.

The problems of Malay historiography of the 19th century were discussed in the report of T. A. Denisova (Institute of History of the Russian Academy of Sciences) "Reliability criteria and elements of author's criticism in the chronicle of Raja Ali Haji Tuhfat an-Nafis ("The Precious Gift")". The subject of the researcher's attention was two works in the genre of chronicles written around 1866 by two representatives of the family of the Bughian vice-rulers of Johor-Raja Ahmad and Raja Ali Haji, proving the legitimacy of the Bughian ruling clan in power in Johor. The textual analysis of "Tukhfat an-nafis" allowed us to identify the criteria of reliability/unreliability, which served as a means for the author to increase readers ' confidence in his work. This confirms that " Tuhfat an-Nafis "(like many other Malay historical works) is primarily a monument of official historiography, describing the events that took place from the "correct" point of view. The author of the report was able to show that by the 19th century, a rich historiographical literature was formed in Johor, which incorporated both many elements of traditional Muslim chronography and new trends in Western historical thought.

The report " Truth and Fiction in Malay stories about the companions of the Prophet Muhammad ("The Story of Raj Khandak") " by L. V. Goryaeva (IB RAS) was devoted to stories about the early wars of Islam, introduced to the Malay world from the Arab-Persian tradition by non-Arab storytellers. As an example, the "Tale of Raj Khandak" was considered, the plot of which was based on the "Battle of the Moat" - the siege of Medina by the Quraysh in 637. L. V. Goryaeva showed how stories that came from a different culture were reinterpreted and adapted to the usual forms of plot narrative, where they were bizarrely mixed with each other elements of myth, legend, and history. According to the author of the report, such writings contributed to strengthening the Islamic consciousness of the Malays and their acquaintance with the main milestones of Muslim history.

M. Z. Usman (Malay University of Technology), who presented the report " The Terengganu Stele: how al-Attas managed to give its exact dating, " he told about how it was discovered.

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The date of the earliest known inscription, written in the Jawi script, an Arabic script adapted to Malay, has been pinpointed. As the speaker noted, this is due to the prominent Malaysian scholar Syed Naqib al-Attas, who resolved a number of issues that arose due to the incorrect reading and interpretation of the inscription by his predecessors. Careful study of the stele, knowledge of Arabic calligraphy and attraction of astronomical data allowed al-Attas to prove that the inscription was created on February 22, 1303 / 4 Rajab 702 AH. The author of the report checked this date using the astronomical computer program "Stellarium", which confirmed the correctness of the reading proposed by al-Attas. According to the researcher, this inscription indicates a very high level of astronomical knowledge in Malaya at the beginning of the XIV century.

S. A. Tuleubayeva (Eurasian National Bank) Al-Farabi University, Astana, Kazakhstan) in her report "On the issue of poly-linguism" considered the general linguistic situation in the Arab Caliphate in the IX-X centuries AD, when Arabic became the state language. She noted that al-Farabi (along with other immigrants from Central Asia and Iran) was an example of a new, multilingual person who spoke at least three languages belonging to unrelated language families. Al-Farabi knew three languages perfectly - Sogdian as the language of the region in which he lived, Persian and Arabic-and probably had some knowledge of Greek and Syriac. An exceptional feature of al-Farabi was that he so mastered the official language of science of that era - Arabic - that he was able to use it to formulate logical, philosophical and other scientific categories and ideas, present the concept of Aristotle and other Greek philosophers, and create his own philosophical system.

In her report "The specifics of phraseological calculus in the Mongolian dictionary "Muqaddimat al-Adab", N. B. Badmatsyrenova (Buryat State University, Ulan-Ude) studied one of the monuments of written culture-a four-language (Arabic-Persian-Turkic-Mongolian) dictionary, focusing on its Mongolian part, presumably dating back to the XIV or XV centuries. B. The Mongolian language material of the dictionary, which has several thousand lexical units, includes phraseological units formed by the method of lexical calculation, which allows you to preserve the internal form of the phraseological unit. Observations have shown that the formation of phraseological units is dominated by tracing papers of the corresponding turns, and along with the Mongolian phrase, as a rule, its Turkic counterparts are given.

Reports on Iranian studies were widely presented at the conference. N. I. Prigarina (Institute of History of the Russian Academy of Sciences) in her report "The Life of the word: Motive in Persian literature" analyzed the issue of common plots, themes and narrative structures inherent in different genres of Persian literature. She noted that in the Persian ghazal, which has created its own context, these elements can be reduced to a single word and become a poetic motif. The motif in the ghazal can be considered either in a system of intertextual connections that implicitly arise in the metatext, or in the context of the work of one poet using a certain pretext. Referring to the same motif in different contexts can create a separate narrative, for example, what Hafiz has built on the motif of Yusuf. Its pretexts are the Koran, interpretations, and the previous literary tradition, and its meta-text is Hafiz's Divan (495 ghazals). In the ghazals of Hafiz, there are about 12 contexts with separate variations of this motif, which allow us to isolate a certain narrative that has its own plot and ideological content.

In her report "Beauty in Persian: towards the Problem of the Genesis of Poetic Descriptions", N. Y. Chalisova (RSUH) traced the evolution of ideas about human beauty in the Persian tradition. In Middle Persian didactic writings, the theme of human beauty included a set of motifs related to Zoroastrian ideas about beauty and the good. The canon of classical Persian poetry formed after the Arab conquest (7th century) synthesized the Arabic and Old Iranian literary traditions. The theme of "bodily beauty" has already migrated to the New Persian period in an Arabic shell, while descriptions of beauty and its conceptualization are presented in all the leading genres of classical Persian literature of the Islamic time, from love lyrics to mystical and didactic poetry. The paper considers the genesis of this poetic theme based on the material of early descriptions of beauties in the poems "Shah-nameh" by Firdousi (early XI century), "Vis and Ramin" by Gurgani (XI century) and "Khusrav and Shirin" by Nizami (XII century) and provides data in favor of the hypothesis of a possible connection between the imagery presented in the article. in the descriptions, with the cult of Ardvisura Anahita, widespread in pre-Islamic Iran.

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L. G. Lahuti (Institute of History of the Russian Academy of Sciences) in her report "Man and his Surroundings"in the Poems of Farid al-Din 'Attar: Problems of Interpretation and Translation" addressed one of the aspects of the work of the famous Persian poet of the XII-XIII centuries. According to the researcher, 'Attar's poems often talk about a person's physical characteristics: about their gender and sexual orientation; beauty; complexion; physical disabilities: lameness, strabismus, blindness, etc.; social status. His activities are also mentioned: hunting, playing, versification, cheating, theft. Based on many examples, it has been shown that all these concepts are interpreted differently in 'Attar, depending on the context.

Yu. E. Fedorova (Institute of Philosophy of the Russian Academy of Sciences) continued the theme of the poet's work in her report " Specifics of Philosophical analysis of a Poetic text: based on Farid al-Din 'Attar's poem "The Language of Birds" (XII century)". In the center of her attention was a work created in accordance with medieval literary canons and is at the same time a philosophical work, which sets out the Sufi concept of knowledge of God. Since the poem has two semantic planes: external - poetic and internal-conceptual, the researcher inevitably faces the task of choosing the appropriate methodology for analyzing the poetic text in order to explicate its philosophical content. The analysis of the text allowed the speaker to show the connection between the content of the text of the poem "The Language of Birds" and the logic of its construction and to identify a number of basic categories that initially determine the choice of certain poetic means by the 'Attar'. The interaction of these categories can be understood and presented in a "pure form", regardless of the language structures of the text that illustrate it.

S. V. Lahuti's report "Letters from Firdowsi's Shah Nameh in the Face of Reality" was devoted to fragments belonging to the epistolary genre and their place in the general context of the great Iranian epic. These fragments represent an important part of the narrative and, in combination with the text directly related to them, occupy about 10% of the total volume of the monument. Since Ferdowsi's poem was written by him using historical sources, the author of the report raises the question of the need to correlate the structure of letters from the Shahnameh with the preserved letters and scribes of the Persian pre-Islamic tradition, as well as with the structure of letters written by modern Ferdowsi. According to the author of the report, such a study would make it possible to find out to what extent the epistolary part of "Shah-nameh" is influenced by modern Ferdowsi culture, and to what extent it goes back to more ancient traditions.

Persian motifs in Russian poetry were discussed in the report of F. Mashhadirafi (Teheran University; IV RAS) "Velimir Khlebnikov's appeal to ancient Iranian mythological heroes in the poems "The Oak of Persia" and "Kave the Blacksmith". V. Khlebnikov's interest in ancient Iranian mythology, noted by the researcher, is reflected in his poems of the "Iranian Cycle", where, in particular, the ancient Iranian heroes Mazdak and Kave the Blacksmith appear. Mazdak and Kave-Kuznets were perceived by the poet as representatives of revolutionary thought and fighters for the well-being of humanity, for the formation of "a new world order where Good and Justice will prevail."

M. F. Murtazin (IB RAS) in his report "Problems of translation and interpretation of the Tafsir (interpretation) of the Qur'an by Abu Ja'fara ibn Jarir at-Tabari (839-923) Jami' al-bayan fi 'an ta 'wil ai al-qur 'an" considered the situation with translations of the Tafsir of the Qur'an into Russian. The only tafsir covering the entire text of the Qur'an and translated by E. R. Kuliyev in 2010 is rather a modern theological interpretation of it. The academic approach to the interpretation of the text of the Qur'an was applied by D. V. Frolov, who used in his commentary in Russian six tafsirs written by al-Jalalayn, at-Tabari, Ibn Qasir, Zamakhshari, Ibn al - ' Arabi and as-Suyuti, which allowed reflecting the whole variety of theological approaches to understanding various aspects of the Qur'anic text. the text. The earliest in time and most complete in commentary is Tafsir at-Tabari. All subsequent interpreters of the Qur'an-Mufassir-used the interpretation of at-Tabari and referred to it. The report discussed specific problems that arise when translating this Tafsir into Russian.

Report of D. V. Mikulsky (Institute of History of the Russian Academy of Sciences) " Ta'rih ("History") An introduction to the study of the Monument by the Ottoman officer Hasan Aga al-'Abd (the first third of the 19th century) was dedicated to a text that emerged in an era when the formation of New Arab culture and literature was accompanied by the decline of the tradition of Arab education. Hasan Agha al - 'Abd, agha (major) of the Ottoman army, composed a "Story" in the vernacular (Syriac dialect). Bearing in mind that one of the most common compositional forms of historical works is to present events in accordance with the years of the Muslim era, he constructed his work according to this principle. In terms of genre-

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The Sheniyah akhbar (short stories) that make up the "Story" are condensed historical reports that describe events "from the author". Devoid of the elements of fictionalization inherent in the monuments of classical historiography, "History" nevertheless gives a vivid picture of both political and everyday life, of which the author was a contemporary.

I. V. Zaitsev (Institute of History of the Russian Academy of Sciences) in his report "Fatimid tarsh / tyrs from the collection of the D. G. Burylin Ivanovo State Museum of Local Lore: towards attribution of the monument of early Arabic Printing" reported on the attribution of an Arabic printing amulet discovered by him in the museum of Ivanovo. Such amulets were printed from metal matrices in Kufic script, and the center of their production was Fatimid Egypt. In relation to these products, the term tarsh or tirs has been established in the world of Islamic studies, although the term tirs (plural turus and atras) in the Arabic written tradition has other meanings: palimpsest and sheet (paper). The author of the report noted that there are less than 80 samples of Fatimid amulets in the world's collections, half of which are kept in Vienna. In his opinion, Ivanovo tarsh (tyrs) is almost the only example of this product in our country, which gives it a special value.

In her report "Written monuments about the unwritten language (Arabic-Yemeni tradition)", A. G. Belova (Institute of History of the Russian Academy of Sciences) described the information contained in historical and geographical works of the 7th-11th centuries devoted to Yemen and, more broadly, South Arabia. Their authors described not only historical events, real and mythical heroes of the past, features of individual cities, districts and local tribes, but also features of tribal and local dialects. On the territory of Yemen and adjacent territories, the authors of the VII-XI centuries found descendants of the pre-Arab population and left us some information about the Himyarite language.

Report by D. N. Gulidova (MSU ISAA) Ibn Ya'isha's Sarḥ al-MufaṣṣAl as a Monument to Medieval Arabic Grammatical Thought was dedicated to the commentary (šar ḥ) on the treatise al-MufaṣṣAl ("Divided into chapters") Az-Zamakhshari (1075-1144), written by the Arabic grammarian Ibn Ya'ish (1159-1245). The structure of "sarḥ al-MufaṣṣAl" was set by the composition of the composition being commented on: Ibn Ya'ish quotes a whole passage from the treatise of al-Zamakhshari, containing a complete thought, then comments on it in parts, if necessary analyzing individual words and constructions in detail and explaining the corresponding grammatical rules. In some places, the grammarian polemics with al-Zamakhshari, taking a different point of view. The researcher noted that the treatise reflects the views of representatives of the Basrian, Kufi and Baghdad schools, so "Sarḥ al-MufaṣṣAl" is rightfully called the encyclopedia of Arabic grammatical teachings. The text of the commentary is replete with references to the writings of other medieval Arabic linguists.

The topic of national identity and its reflection in literature was discussed in the report of M. A. Krutikov (University of Michigan, USA) "The Middle East and Eastern Europe: binocular "Orientalism" in Jewish culture at the turn of the XIX-XX centuries.The speaker noted that Eastern European Jewish culture has traditionally been based on the interpretation of the Pentateuch, with the main purpose of interpretation being the interpretation of laws and mystical symbolism. The connection of this culture with reality arose with the penetration of Enlightenment ideas into the Jewish environment and the emergence of new Hebrew literature, where European genres (classicism, Romanticism) adapted to Jewish material. All this created a cultural background for the ideology and policy of Zionism, which was based, in particular, on ancient and modern texts. As the researcher has shown, at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, the rise of nationalism in Eastern and Central Europe raised a difficult question for the Jewish intelligentsia: where is the locus of Jewish folk "authenticity" located - in Palestine or in the localities of Eastern Europe? The report suggested possible answers to this question in texts by such authors as Mendele Moicher-Sforim, Isaac Leibush Peretz, Martin Buber, Jacob Wasserman, and Uri-Zvi Greenberg.

In his report "Metaphor as a translation problem (based on Biblical material)", A. S. Desnitsky (IB RAS), based on examples taken from the projects of the Institute of Bible Translation, noted the key importance of metaphors in religious discourse related to a particular culture, worldview, and experience, and gave a number of examples of translating Bible texts into the languages of peoples, originally located outside the Christian tradition. He stressed that when the cultural and temporal distance between native speakers of the original language and the translation language is large, the translator must "get" into a different conceptual space, convey not only a thought or image, but also a certain part of the worldview within which these thoughts and images are located.

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they may mean something to the reader. Metaphor, in fact, is the unit of knowledge and description of the world, which is subject to careful and creative translation.

Summing up the conference, we should emphasize a noticeable increase in its popularity among fellow Orientalists of the" traditional " cycle. This year, for the first time, the practice of section meetings was introduced: the three days allotted for the conference were clearly not enough. It is gratifying that there were many young scientists among the participants. A collection of selected reports presented at conferences in recent years will appear on the Institute's website (http://www.ivran.ru).

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