The oldest surviving extensive example of Glagolitic script.
The Baška tablet - a stone slab recording King Zvonimir's donation of land to a Croatian Benedictine abbey around the year 1100 - was discovered in 1851 in the paving of the Church of St. Lucy, on the island of Krk. 1/
The Baška tablet - a stone slab recording King Zvonimir's donation of land to a Croatian Benedictine abbey around the year 1100 - was discovered in 1851 in the paving of the Church of St. Lucy, on the island of Krk. 1/
The Baška tablet is made of limestone, 2m wide by 1m high, and weighs approximately 800 kg. Since 1934 the original has been kept in the Croatian Academy of Sciences & Arts in Zagreb, but a replica is kept at the church, where it's believed it was used as an alter partition. 2/
The scholars who worked on deciphering the Glagolitic text faced palaeographic challenges, as well as the problem of the damaged & worn surface of the slab. The contents was largely established before 1914, but they remained a topic of study throughout the 20th century. 3/
The Croatian linguist Stjepan Ivšić called the Baška Tablet the "jewel" of the Croatian language and "the baptismal certificate" of Croatian literary culture.
Photo of the the Baška Tablet below from Radoslav Katičić's 1987 book "Two thousand years of writing in Croatia". 4/
Photo of the the Baška Tablet below from Radoslav Katičić's 1987 book "Two thousand years of writing in Croatia". 4/
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