Доклады Международного конгресса ИИСАА. Т. 1

II. Middle East, Caucasus and Central Asia / Ближний Восток, Кавказ и Центральная Азия 258 Proceedings of the International Congress on Historiography and Source Studies of Asia and Africa.Vol. I. 2020 I have written them down, not to mention all the Russian princes and boyars , in the Holy Sepulchre and in all the holy places. I celebrated fifty masses for Russian princes and all Christians, and forty masses for the dead...” 1 Based on Daniel’s story we can identify the names of his companions as well as their places of origin: “As for my stories and my humble person, God and the Holy Sepulchre of Our Lord make me the guarantor, as well as all my companions, the sons of Russia, from Novgorod and Kiev: Izyaslav Ivanovich, Gorodislav Mikhailovich, both Kashkiches and many others who were there on the same day...” 2 The pilgrimage of Daniel was followed by several others throughout the centuries, but it is important to retain one, that of the merchant Basil (Vasily) Posniakov to the Holy Places of the East (1558–1561). He carried a “message of the Orthodox Tsar and Grand Duke of all Russia, Ivan Vassilievich 3 , to the Pope and Patriarch Joachim of Alexandria...” 4 In his letter the first Tsar of Russia expressed his respect to and praised great virtues of Patriarch of Alexandria, asking to pray for him and his wife Tsaritsa Anastasia and their two children, Tsarevich es Ivan and Theodore, as well as for all Orthodox Christians, throughout the Patriarchate and in Mount Sinai. The Tsar asked him to include the names of his parents (his father Basil and his mother Helen) on the lists for intercessions in the churches of Alexandria for daily prayers for the rest of their souls. The Tsar’s message was accompanied by a gift consisting of “a thousand pieces of Hungarian gold and a Zibeline fur coat covered with velvet, by virtue of your prayers, we have also sent to the Archbishop and to the monks of Mount Sinai the value of a thousand pieces of gold for the needs of the convent...” 5 This generosity of the Tsar shows his attention to the Orthodox Christians, whom he had helped even before the journey of Basil Posniakov.We know fromPosniakov’s book that monks Moses and Anempodist 6 from the Convent of St Sabbas 7 went 1 Vie et pèlerinage de Daniel. P. 82–83. 2 Ibid. P. 80. 3 Ivan IV, also known as Ivan the Terrible, first Russian Tsar (1547–1584). 4 Le pèlerinage du marchand Basile Posniakov aux Saints Lieux de l’Orient (1558–1561) // Itinéraires russes en Orient. Vol. I, 1. P. 285–334. 5 Le pèlerinage du marchand Basile Posniakov. P. 287. 6 Ibid. P. 325. 7 We know about the state of the Convent of St Sabbas on the eve of Basil Posniakov’s journey: “The convent of Saint Sabbas-le-Béni is situated twenty versts from the city of Jerusalem, it is inhabited by a hegoumen and fifty monks; the cells number is fourteen thousand, but they are all empty. The churches are twenty in this convent, but except for four churches, where the divine service is celebrated, they are deserted. Every day we officiate in the great Church of the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin, which is one and a half times larger than the Cathedral of Moscow. This convent remained desolate for a hundred years, until the year 7048 [1540 AD]. It was then that the Hegumen Joachim came to live there with his monks, and he is there until now. He is of Vlach origin and came fromMount Sinai; the monks,