13th-century birch bark writing from Novgorod attributed to a boy named Onfim. He begins practicing his alphabet before getting bored and drawing himself as a knight stabbing an enemy[516X387].

Since the mid-20th century, archaeologists excavating the Russian city of Veliky Novgorod have uncovered hundreds of beresta, writings scratched onto birch bark. Seventeen of them can be traced directly to a young boy named Onfim.

Onfim lived in the 13th century and was probably only six or seven years old. His preserved work gives us a remarkable glimpse into both education in medieval Novgorod and the universality of childhood.

Most of his writings are homework exercises: practicing the alphabet, copying syllables, and writing simple religious phrases. But in several of them, he gets bored and starts drawing instead.

In the above example, Onfim writes his name, Онѳимє in Old Novgorodian, and begins practicing his Cyrillic alphabet, however, he gives up and decides to draw himself as a knight. In his right hand he holds the reins of his horse, and in his left he carries a spear, stabbing a foe beneath the horse’s feet.

In another drawing, Onfim depicts himself as “a wild beast.” On the same piece of birch bark where he practiced his alphabet, the beast holds a sign that reads: “Greetings from Onfim to Danilo.”

If you’re interested, I write about Onfim here: https://open.substack.com/pub/aid2000/p/hare-brained-history-vol-75-greetings?r=4mmzre&utm\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\_medium=ios