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Lithuanian Incantation in Arabic Script from a Tatar Manuscript

Summary/Abstract: The article presents the first ever known Lithuanian manuscript text written in Arabic script by Tatars of the former Grand Duchy of Lithuania. The text was recently identified in a chamail written in late 19th–early 20th century and now kept in a private collection in Minsk. The manuscript was previously in use in the town(s) of Pastavy and perhaps Myadzyel in Belarus, in close vicinity of the Lithuanian border. The Lithuanian text is a short incantation against snake bites. The authors publish it in Latin transliteration (along with a photo of the corresponding manuscript fragment) and propose its interpretation based on textually similar Lithuanian folklore incantations against snake bites. The Lithuanian incantation known from the unique Tatar manuscript must have originated more or less in the same region of eastern Lithuania/western Belarus (somewhere between the settlements of Dysna, Tverečius, Mielagėnai, Adutiškis in Lithuania, and Pastavy in Belarus) where, in all probability, it was later written down by Tatars using the Arabic script.

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