This stamp incorporates a view of the Zabljak Fortress, the residence of the Crnojevic family in the 15th century, the Crnojevic coat of arms, and an illuminated page, from the Oktoih, a collection of hymns.

     The Oktoechos is a collection of hymns in eight tones for worship. They were composed by Patriarch Severus of the Syrian Jacobite (Monophysite) church in Antioch in the 6th century. John of Damascus adapted these hymns for use in Byzantine monasteries and churches. The British library has a copy of the 1493 Oktoechos containing songs written in Church Slavonic, printed at Makarije's press at Obod (Cetinje), Montenegro.
     It seems likely that it is this Oktoechos that is the subject of these stamps issued in 1994 to observe the 500th anniversary of publication. The first stamp has a picture of the same page of the book as the stamp above, while the other stamp has a picture of liturgists from the book.