The history of the Eastern Slavs, the process of the emergence of the Eastern Slavs in ancient times, their life and beliefs. The origin of the Eastern Slavs, the first written evidence. Description of the ancient Slavs. Life and beliefs: the economy of the Slavs and their community, housing and beliefs.

Introduction

History has always aroused great public interest. This interest is explained by the natural need of a person to know the history of his homeland, his roots. A people without historical memory is doomed to degradation. He cannot give up his past, because then he will have no future. The most important sources of Russian history are chronicles. Nowadays, Eastern Slavs (Russians, Ukrainians, Belarusians) make up about 85% of the population of Russia, 96% of Ukraine and 98% of Belarus. However, this situation has arisen quite recently. Getting acquainted with the most ancient descriptions of our country, until the first centuries of our era, we will not even find a mention of the name of the Slavs. The history of the Eastern Slavs, like most other peoples, has its roots in ancient times. Without knowledge of the peculiarities of the historical and spiritual development of the ancient Eastern Slavs, it is impossible to fully reveal the essence and nature of the relations of modern Slavic peoples among themselves and with other peoples.

The first who tried to answer the questions: where, how and when the Slavs appeared on historical territory was the ancient chronicler Nestor, the author of The Tale of Bygone Years. He defined the territory of the Slavs, including the lands along the lower Danube and Pannonia. It was from the Danube that the process of settlement of the Slavs began, that is, the Slavs were not the original inhabitants of their land, we are talking about their migration. Consequently, the Kiev chronicler was the founder of the so-called migration territory of origin of the Slavs, known as the “Danube” or “Balkan”.

The history of the Eastern Slavs, like most other peoples, has its roots in ancient times. Without knowledge of the peculiarities of the historical and spiritual development of the ancient Eastern Slavs, it is impossible to fully reveal the essence and nature of the relations of modern Slavic peoples among themselves and with other peoples.

1. Origin of the Eastern Slavs

The Slavs, according to most historians, separated from the Indo-European community in the middle of the 2nd millennium BC. e. The ancestral home of the early Slavs (Proto-Slavs), according to archaeological data, was the territory to the east of the Germans - from the Oder River in the west to Carpathian Mountains in the east. A number of researchers believe that the Proto-Slavic language began to take shape later, in the middle of the 1st millennium BC. e.

The first written evidence about the Slavs dates back to the beginning of the 1st millennium BC. e. Greek, Roman, Arab, and Byzantine sources report on the Slavs. Ancient authors mention the Slavs under the name of the Wends. The Wends at that time occupied approximately the territory of what is now South-Eastern Poland, South-Western Belarus and North-Western Ukraine.

During the era of the Great Migration of Peoples, the Slavs conquered the territory of Central, Eastern and South-Eastern Europe. They lived in the forest and forest-steppe zone. The peculiarities of agriculture forced the Slavs to colonize vast territories. The Slavs moved and settled along large rivers, which at that time served as transport arteries. The local population (Iranian, Baltic, Finno-Ugric) was easily assimilated by the Slavs, usually peacefully. The relations of the Slavs with nomadic peoples were special. Along this steppe ocean, stretching from the Black Sea region to Central Asia, wave after wave of nomadic tribes invaded Eastern Europe. At the end of the 4th century. The Gothic tribal union was broken by the Turkic-speaking tribes of the Huns who came from Central Asia. In 375, hordes of Huns occupied the territory between the Volga and Danube with their nomads, and then advanced further into Europe to the borders of France. In their advance to the west, the Huns carried away some of the Slavs. After the death of the leader of the Huns, Atilla (453), the Hunnic state collapsed, and they were thrown back to the east.

In the VI century. Turkic-speaking Avars (the Russian chronicle called them Obra) created their own state in the southern Russian steppes, uniting the nomadic tribes there. The Avar Khaganate was defeated by Byzantium in 625. The “proud in mind” and body of the great Avars disappeared without a trace. “They died like obra” - these words from light hand Russian chronicler became an aphorism.

Eastern Slavs in the VI-IX centuries. In the VI century. The Slavs repeatedly carried out military campaigns against the largest state of that time - Byzantium. From this time, a number of works by Byzantine authors have reached us, containing unique military instructions on how to fight the Slavs. So, for example, the Byzantine Procopius from Caesarea in the book “War with the Goths” wrote: “These tribes, the Slavs and Antes, are not ruled by one person, but from ancient times they have lived in democracy (democracy), and therefore for them happiness and misfortune in life are considered a matter of general... They believe that only God, the creator of lightning, is the ruler over all, and they sacrifice bulls to him and perform other sacred rites... Both of them have the same language... And once upon a time even the name of the Slavs and Antes was the same.”

The formation of large tribal associations of the Slavs is indicated by a legend contained in the Russian chronicle, which tells about the reign of Kiya with his brothers Shchek, Khoriv and sister Lybid in the Middle Dnieper region. Kyiv, founded by the brothers, was allegedly named after his older brother Kiy. The chronicler noted that other tribes had similar reigns. Historians believe that these events occurred at the end of the 5th - 6th centuries. n. e.

2. Description of the ancient Slavs

“Their justice was imprinted in their minds, not in laws,” wrote one Greek historian, noting that the Slavs at that time did not yet have written legislation, “theft was rare and was considered more important than any crime. They despised gold and silver as much as other mortals coveted it.” And here is the testimony of another author: “The Slavic tribes lead the same way of life, have the same morals, love freedom and cannot stand slavery. They are especially brave and courageous in their country and are capable of all kinds of hardships and hardships. They easily tolerate heat and cold, and nakedness of the body, and all kinds of inconveniences and disadvantages. They are very affectionate towards strangers, whose safety they care about most of all: they accompany them from place to place and instruct themselves with the sacred law that a neighbor must take revenge on his neighbor and go to war against him if he, through his carelessness, instead of protecting him, allows any incident where a stranger will suffer misfortune." The Greeks noticed the peculiarities of the communal patriarchal order of life of the Slavs: “The Slavs’ captives, unlike other peoples, do not always remain in slavery; they determine for them a certain time, after which, having made a ransom, they are free either to return to their fatherland, or to remain friends and free with them.” Often engaging in battles with the Slavs, the Greeks very carefully studied the character of the Slavs and their military habits: “They are excellent warriors, because with them military affairs becomes a harsh science in every detail. The highest happiness in their eyes is to die in battle. To die of old age or from any accident is a shame, nothing more humiliating than which can be. They are generally handsome and tall; their hair is light brown. Their look is more warlike than fierce.” “They often make raids, surprise attacks and various tricks day and night and, so to speak, play with war.” “Their greatest art is that they know how to hide in rivers under water. Often, caught by the enemy, they lie for a very long time at the bottom and breathe with the help of long reed tubes, the end of which they take into their mouths, and the other sticks out to the surface of the water and thus hide in the depths.” The following observation is also surprising: “The Slavs do not tolerate any power and hate each other.”

3. Life and beliefs

Economy of the Slavs. The main occupation of the Eastern Slavs was agriculture. This is confirmed by archaeological excavations that discovered seeds of cereals (rye, wheat, barley, millet) and garden crops (turnips, cabbage, beets, carrots, radishes, garlic, etc.). Man in those days identified life with arable land and bread, hence the name of grain crops “zhito”, which has survived to this day. The agricultural traditions of this region are evidenced by the adoption by the Slavs of the Roman grain norm of the quadrantal (26.26 liters), which was called a quadrant in Rus' and existed in our system of weights and measures until 1924.

The main farming systems of the Eastern Slavs are closely related to natural and climatic conditions. In the north, in the region of taiga forests (a remnant of which is Belovezhskaya Pushcha), the dominant farming system was slash-and-burn. In the first year, trees were cut down. In the second year, the dried trees were burned and grain was sown using the ash as fertilizer. For two or three years, the plot produced a high harvest for that time, then the land was depleted, and it was necessary to move to a new plot. The main tools of labor were an axe, a hoe, a plow, a harrow and a spade, which were used to loosen the soil. Harvesting was done with sickles. They threshed with flails. The grain was ground with stone grain grinders and hand millstones.

In the southern regions, the leading farming system was fallow. There was a lot of fertile land there, and plots of land were sown for two, three or more years. As the soil became depleted, they moved (transferred) to new areas. The main tools used here were a plow, a ralo, a wooden plow with an iron ploughshare, i.e. implements adapted for horizontal plowing.

Livestock breeding was closely related to agriculture. The Slavs raised pigs, cows, and small cattle. In the south, oxen were used as draft animals, and horses were used in the forest belt. Other occupations of the Slavs include fishing, hunting, beekeeping (collecting honey from wild bees), which had a large specific gravity in the northern regions. Industrial crops (flax, hemp) were also grown.

Community. The life of the Eastern Slavs among dense forests and swamps cannot be called easy. Before cutting down the house, it was necessary to find dry and relatively open place, and most importantly, clear it. It was impossible to engage in farming alone. Labor-intensive tasks could only be performed by a large team. His task was also to monitor the correct distribution of land. Therefore, the community acquired a large role in the life of the Russian village - the world, the rope (from the word “rope”, which was used to measure the land during the division).

With the improvement of the tools of labor, the clan community was replaced by the neighbor, or territorial community, within which private property emerged and strengthened.

All possessions of the community were divided into public and private. The house, personal land, livestock, and equipment constituted the personal property of each community member. Land, meadows, forests, reservoirs, fishing grounds, etc. were in common use. Arable land and meadows were subject to division between families.

The unity of the neighboring community was maintained not by blood, but by economic ties. A monogamous family consisting of husband, wife, children becomes integral part social cell of society - the neighboring community.

Housing. As a rule, the village is not large - from one to five courtyards. Villages of several dozen houses were apparently very rare. A Byzantine author wrote that the Slavs live in poor, isolated huts. Excavations allow us to imagine the appearance of an ancient Slavic dwelling. This is a small semi-dugout with a floor one and a half meters below ground level, wooden walls, a roof covered with clay, the slopes almost touching the ground. Inside there is a clay or stone oven, fired in black (i.e. without a chimney). The housing area ranged from 10 to 20 square meters. The villages were surrounded by earthen ramparts, traces of which are often found by archaeologists. Palisades were placed on the ramparts for protection from enemies and wild animals. The villages were usually located along the banks of rivers. Apparently, several villages made up one community. This statement is supported by the grouping of ancient settlements in “nests” separated by a distance of several tens of kilometers. Inside the nest, the villages were located much closer to each other.

Belief. The religion of the Eastern Slavs was complex, varied, with elaborate customs; like other ancient peoples, the Slavs were pagans. They populated the world with a variety of gods and goddesses. There were among them the main and the secondary, the omnipotent and the weak, the playful, the evil and the good. The most important gods of the Slavs were Perun - the god of thunder, lightning, war; Svarog - god of fire; Veles is the patron of cattle breeding; Mokosh is a goddess who protected the female part of the household; Simargl is the god of the underworld. The sun god was especially revered, who was called differently by different tribes: Dazhdbog, Yarilo, Khoros, which indicates the absence of stable Slavic inter-tribal unity.

Conclusion

The historical period considered has great importance in Russian history. The Eastern Slavs were the ancestors of not only Russian people, but also Ukrainians, Belarusians, Latvians and others. During this period, the development of the East European Plain, the establishment of intertribal contacts, and the process of mixing peoples took place. Subsequently, tribal unions began to form - one of the main steps towards the emergence of statehood.

The constantly improving economy of the Eastern Slavs eventually led to the fact that an individual family, an individual house no longer needed the help of their clan or relatives. This is how the right of private ownership, private property, was born.

Under these conditions, the power and economic capabilities of tribal leaders, elders, tribal nobility, and warriors surrounding the leaders increased sharply. This is how property inequality arose in the Slavic environment, and especially clearly in the regions of the Middle Dnieper region.

In many ways, these processes were helped by the development not only of agriculture and cattle breeding, but also of crafts, the growth of cities, and trade relations, because conditions were also created here for the additional accumulation of social wealth, which more often fell into the hands of the propertied, deepening the property difference between the rich and the poor.

The religion of the Eastern Slavs was complex, varied, with detailed customs. Its origins go back to Indo-European ancient beliefs and even further back to Paleolithic times. It was there, in the depths of antiquity, that man’s ideas about the supernatural forces that control his destiny, about his relationship to nature and its relationship to man, about his place in the world around him arose. Religion that existed in different nations before they adopted Christianity or Islam is called paganism.

Thus, from the 6th to the 9th centuries. The Eastern Slavs and their neighbors were at a socio-primitive level of development, which during the same period began to gradually transform into a feudal level. Territorial communities and tribal unions appeared, headed by “the best men.” These beginnings of power relations contributed to the formation of the Old Russian state in the 9th century on the territory of settlement of the Eastern Slavs and the beginning of a new stage in Russian history.

Bibliography

A.A. Danilov, L.G. Kosulina. Russian history. M.: Education, 2000. - 336 p.

V.P. Kobychev. In search of the ancestral home of the Slavs. M. - 1989 - 256 p.

History of Russia: textbook. / A. S. Orlov, V. A. Georgiev, N. G. Georgieva, T. A. Sivokhina. - 3rd ed., revised. and additional - M.: TK Welby, Prospekt Publishing House, 2006. - 528 p.

L.N. Gumilev. Ancient Rus' and the Great Steppe. M. - 1999 - 300 p.

Domestic history: A textbook for students of non-historical faculties. - Voronezh: VSU Publishing House, 2002. - 576 p.

S.A. Kislitsin. History of Russia in questions and answers. Tutorial. - Rostov-on-Don: Phoenix Publishing House, 2007.

As for the testimonies of the authors about the life and customs of the ancient Slavs, these testimonies must be handled very carefully: they are often clearly tendentious, and sometimes, as, for example, that of the famous Ibn Fadlan, very valuable in other respects, they are simply anecdotal. This is explained by the fact that these authors were most often noble travelers, representatives of the well-born and serving Arab nobility, or they were court historians, aristocrats who were in the service of the Byzantine emperors and usually approached the “barbarians” or with some biased aristocratic intolerance, somewhat condescendingly , as to bestial creatures of the lowest breed, which we have, for example, in Ibn Fadlan; or simply with tendentious hostility, as towards one’s enemies, as we observe, for example, in some Byzantine authors. Therefore, the testimony of these sources always has only relative value and requires a highly critical attitude towards itself, but nevertheless they remain the only written source, and, moreover, a source with rich and varied material, which we have no right to ignore.

The ancient Slavs usually lived in places naturally protected from enemy attacks by nature itself, i.e. in forests, on mountains, near swamps and rivers. According to Mauritius, the Slavs live in forests, near rivers, swamps and lakes, in inaccessible places, and Jornand notes about the Slavs: “ They have swamps and forests replacing cities", which must be understood not in the sense that the Slavs did not have cities as settlement points, but in the sense that swamps and forests replaced cities for them, as fortified covers, behind whose walls they hid from enemies attacking them. The author of “The Tale of Bygone Years” devotes interesting lines to the description of the life and customs of the Eastern Slavs, who, however, does not hesitate to exaggerate when he talks about the Nepolian Slavs, showing in in this case, apparently, confessional tendentiousness: the glades were already Christians in his time, and the other tribes about which he speaks in his chronicle kept their masses, apparently, of a pagan cult.

   According to the chronicler’s description, the Polyans are a people of meek and quiet disposition and have “shame” towards their daughters-in-law, sisters, mothers and parents, and daughters-in-law among the Polyans have “great shame” towards their mothers-in-law and brothers-in-law. The Glades, according to the chronicler, knew marriage customs, i.e. a marriage formalized and sanctioned by a well-known traditional folk ritual. " Drevlyans,- says the chronicler, - I live like beasts, and kill each other, eating everything unclean, and they never had marriage, but I snatched the girl away from the water. And Radimichi, and Vyatichi, and the North have one custom: I live in the forest, like every animal, eating everything unclean, and they speak shame before their fathers and before their daughters-in-law, and the brothers have not been in them, but play among the villages, and go to the games , to dances and all the demonic songs, and that kidnapping of his wife, whoever conferred with her; having two and three wives...»

According to the chronicler, these same peoples performed a funeral feast for the dead, and then burned the corpse on a large bonfire and, after collecting the bones, “ I put a small amount into the vessel, and placed it on a pillar on the way to create Vyatichi,- the chronicler notes, - and now" According to the chronicler, the Krivichi and other pagans adhered to the same customs, “ not knowing the law of God, but making the law for themselves».

According to the description of the Arab writer Ibn-Dast (10th century), “ the country of the Slavs is a flat and wooded country; They live in the forests. They have neither vineyards nor arable land. They make a kind of jugs from wood, in which they have hives for bees, and the bees' honey is stored. They call it sij, and one jug contains about 10 mugs of it. They herd pigs like sheep».

Ibn-Dasta, like Ibn-Fadlan, describes the ritual of burning the dead practiced by the Slavs, which is also discussed by Al-Masudi and Ibn-Haukal, and Ibn-Wahshiya in this regard notes: “ I am surprised at the Slavs, who, despite their extreme ignorance and removal from all science and wisdom, decreed the burning of all their dead, so that they do not leave either the king or another person without burning after death" Ibn Fadlan gives an exceptionally vivid picture of the funeral rite of burning a noble Russian with all the accompanying details, including the slaughter of one of his wives at the grave of the deceased for burial with him. Al-Masudi and Ibn-Dast are also spoken of by the Slavs about burning their wives along with their husbands. Archaeological excavations of Slavic burials confirm the data of Arab sources.

According to Procopius, the Slavs lived “ in crappy huts scattered at a great distance from one another" Another Western source, Helmold, says about the Slavs that they do not care about building their houses, but usually weave huts from brushwood for themselves, just to shelter from rain and bad weather. " As soon as the cry of the military alarm is heard,- says this author, - They will quickly take all the grain, hide it with gold, silver and all expensive things in a pit, take their wives and children to safe shelters, to fortifications, or even to forests, and there will be nothing left for the enemy to plunder except some huts, about which they don't regret it at all" Ibn-Dasta says about the Slavs that, due to the severe cold that occurs in their country, each of them digs a kind of cellar in the ground, to which he attaches a wooden pointed roof, like a (roof) christian church, and puts earth on the roof. They move into such cellars with the whole family and remain there until spring. They heat this home in the following way: they light firewood and heat the stones red-hot on the fire. When the stones are heated to the highest degree, water is poured over them, which spreads steam, heating the home until they take off their clothes.

   Portraying the Slavs as a hardy and seasoned, but primitive and uncultured people, limited in their needs, preferring the carefreeness of a miserable existence, moderation in food and an idle but free life to work, Byzantine authors, however, say about them that they are not evil and not treacherous (Procopius); that they are affectionate with strangers (guests), receive them at their place, escort them from one place to another, where they need to go, and even if some misfortune befalls the guest through the fault of the owner, then the one who received the guest after him opposes negligent, considering it an honor to stand up for a guest; that their slaves are not kept in captivity forever, like other nations, but are assigned a certain time (of service) and then given the choice of whether to return to their homeland with a certain reward, or to remain with them as free comrades; that Slavic women are chaste beyond all belief, so that most of them consider the death of their husbands to be theirs own death and voluntarily strangle themselves, because for them widowhood is no longer life; that the Slavs do not want to serve anyone or be under authority; that they are resilient under all kinds of hardships - heat, cold, rain, lack of clothing and food, but the Slavs, the same sources say, have no agreement, they are stubborn, do not want to submit to the opinion of the majority in their views, which results in bloody clashes (Mauritius, Leo the Wise). The German writer Adam of Bremen says about the Pomeranian Slavs: “ There are no people more hospitable and friendly than them" Even the Baltic pirates, according to Helmold, were distinguished by their hospitality and generosity. For the guest and wanderer, the Slav was ready to sacrifice everything that was best for him. Taking care of the sick and elderly, feeding them and giving them rest was considered a sacred duty among the Slavs. Helmold himself had the opportunity to directly verify at the reception that Prince Pribyslav of Vagr gave him of the wide hospitality of the Slavs and came to the conclusion that there are no people more welcoming than the Slavs with their hospitality. In inviting a guest, he writes, they all seem to be deliberately competing with each other, so that the wanderer himself never has to ask them to receive him. Whatever a Slav acquires through his labor, be it bread, fish, or game, he spends it all on treats, and considers the one who is more generous to be the best person... According to another German author (Sefried), among the Pomeranians, each owner had a special clean and an elegant hut, which served only for the table and refreshments; there was always a table set with all kinds of food and treats, waiting for guests. According to Adam of Bremen, every visiting foreigner enjoyed all the civil rights of the natives among the Baltic Slavs. Even the Saxons, he says, who come to them in the city of Julin, the largest of all cities in Europe, receive equal rights with the natives, as long as they do not publicly perform Christian rites during their stay. All the people there, says this author, are still devoted to pagan errors; however, regarding morals and hospitality, you cannot find people more honest and good-natured.

Arab sources give a similar description of the Slavs when talking about the morals of the Eastern Slavs. So, for example, the Arab writer Ibn-Dast (10th century) says about the Rus that they treat slaves well and take care of their clothes; that they have a large number of cities, and that they live in open spaces; guests are given honor and treated well with foreigners who seek their protection, and with everyone who often visits them, without allowing any of their own to offend or oppress such people. In any case, notes Ibn-Dast, if one of them offends or oppresses a stranger, help the latter and protect him.

Both eastern and western sources unanimously speak of the courage and belligerence of the Slavs. So, for example, the Arab writer Ibn Yaqub says about the Slavs that they are a brave and warlike people and no one would compare with them in strength if not for the disunity of their numerous, isolated tribes. Al-Bekri (11th century) gives the same description of the Slavs, saying: “ The Slavs are a people so powerful and terrible that if they had not been divided into many generations and clans, no one in the world could resist them" Earlier reviews from the Byzantines also coincide with this characteristic of Arab writers.

   Good-natured, friendly and hospitable, regardless of the nationality of the guest, in a home environment, brave and warlike, as they are depicted by ancient authors, the Slavs showed irreconcilable and merciless ferocity in war. According to Procopius, having crossed the Danube in 549, the Slavs horribly devastated all of Illyria as far as Epidamnus; Those they met, regardless of age, were partly killed, partly taken captive, deprived of their property. In 550, having captured the leader of the Greek army, Azbad, they burned him at the stake. Having taken by storm a strong fortress on the Aegean Sea, Toper (Boar-kalesi), they killed all the inhabitants - men up to 15 thousand people, plundered property, and took their wives and children into slavery... And for a long time all of Illyria and Thrace, notes Procopius, were covered corpses. They did not kill those they met with a sword, a spear, or any other weapon, but impaled them, crucified them on a cross, and beat them on the head with batogs; others, locked in tents along with bulls and sheep, which they could not take with them, were mercilessly burned. About the Kiev prince Svyatoslav Leo the Deacon says that, having taken the city of Philippopolis, he impaled 20 thousand of its inhabitants, and having learned that the Mizans (Bulgarians) had gone over to the side of the emperor, he ordered the heads of 300 of the noblest and richest of them to be cut off. Similar facts are reported by German sources (Widukind, Adam of Bremen, Helmold) about the Polish and Baltic Slavs, who dealt with the hated Christian missionaries, bishops, priests, church officials and Christian churches and monasteries in the same way with their missionary activities among the Slavs. German conquerors and served as support for them. But the Slavs, it must be kept in mind, did not act in this case as some kind of exceptional monsters: defending their freedom, which was dearer to them than anything else in the world, the Slavs paid their enemies in approximately the same coin that they received from them with much more heavy victims, which German authors must impartially admit (Helmold). The Slavs were characterized by heroism in war, and they always considered their military exploits in defense of their homeland and freedom to be a matter of honor, glory and valor. And they brilliantly proved this in the east and in the west with glorious exploits throughout their military history, starting from the 4th century. AD, in the fight against the Huns, Avars and Ugrians, with the Greeks, with the Germans, with the Swedes, with the Tatar khans and with the Polish lords, staunchly and courageously defending their homeland and their freedom.

  « And Svyatoslav went to the villages,- the chronicle tells in its stories about the Bulgarian campaigns of the Kyiv prince Svyatoslav Igorevich, - and went against Rus'. Having seen Rus', I was greatly afraid of the multitude of warriors. And Svyatoslav said: “We are no longer able to stand against our children, willingly or unwillingly; let us not disgrace the Russian land, but let us lie down with that bone: for we have no shame in death; and we cannot run away, but we will stand strong, and I will go before you; If my head falls, then take care of yourself." And we decided: “Where your head is, we will lay down our heads.” And Rus' was in full swing, and Greece was against it; and the regiment fought; and staggered Greece and Rus'. And the slaughter was great; and overcame Svyatoslav, and fled Greece...».

These events date back to the 10th century. But here is another similar page from the history of the Slavs from an earlier time in the 6th century. " Avar Khakan(Accordion) sent an embassy to Lavrita(option - Dabrite) and to the most important princes of the Slavic people, demanding that they submit to the Avars and undertake to pay tribute. Lavrita and the Slavic princes answered: “Was that person born in the world and warmed by the rays of the sun who would subjugate our power. Not others are our land, but we are accustomed to possessing someone else’s. And of this we are sure as long as there is war and swords in the world "».

By their nature, the Slavs, as they are depicted in the sources, were a cheerful, cheerful and temperamental people. They loved music, singing and dancing, and, warming themselves with “sweet honey,” for which the Slavs were always great hunters, because “ Rus' has joy to drink, it cannot exist without it", as, according to legend, Vladimir of Kiev answered the Bulgarian missionaries, - " with dancing, humming and splashing“The Slavs held their folk festivals, celebrated their holidays, carried out their working lives and experienced their sadness and grief. They were going to " playing between the villages, dancing and singing all the demonic songs, and stealing his wife for himself" “With long songs” the girl says goodbye to life before her violent death at the grave of her master in the description of the funeral rite of Ibn Fadlan. Theodosius of Pechersk, entering one day to Prince Svyatoslav, found him “ many playing in front of him: some harp voices emanating, others organ voices singing, and frosty squeaks singing, and so everyone playing and having fun, as is the custom before the prince" The best confirmation that all sorts of games, buffoonery, music and singing were common folk entertainment among the Slavs is evidenced by the numerous accusatory speeches of the Christian clergy directed against “demonic singing and prodigal mockery.” While inculcating Christian morality and piety, the clergy diligently but fruitlessly tried to eradicate them from popular life. Arab writer of the 10th century. Ibn Dasta, describing the life and customs of the Slavs, says: “ They have various kinds of lutes, harps and pipes. Their pipes were two cubits long, and their lute was eight-stringed. The intoxicating drink is prepared from honey. When the dead are burned, they indulge in noisy joy, thereby expressing the joy of their mercy, show him(to the deceased) god" A year after the death of the deceased, according to the same author, the Slavs celebrate a funeral feast, i.e. funeral service for the deceased, already much more on a large scale: « They take 20 jugs of honey (and each jug, i.e. jug, contains about 10 mugs of it), sometimes a little more, sometimes a little less, and carry them to the hill where the family of the deceased gathers, eat, drink and then disperse" Under Vladimir, the chronicler says, when sending supplies around the city for the poor and beggars, they also carried “honey in barrels.”

According to contemporaries, starting from the 6th century AD. e., the Slavs were distinguished by their tall stature, strong physique, great endurance, and dark blond (reddish) hair color. They were enterprising, brave and warlike people. “All of them,” Procopius says about the Slavs, “are tall and strong, their complexion is not quite white, their hair is neither blond nor completely black, but reddish...” “I saw the Russians when they arrived on their trade business and settled down (landed ) on the Atil River,” writes Ibn Fadlan in his “Journey to the Volga” in the 20s of the 10th century. “And I have not seen people,” he says, “with more perfect bodies than them. They are like palm trees, ruddy and red.” Al-Masudi (10th century) speaks about red (or light brown) hair among the Slavs and their blush.

According to Kazvini, “the Slavs have red hair, a reddish body color and are distinguished by great liveliness.” Western writers * the Byzantines and Germans, no less than the Arabs, were amazed at the tall stature and strong physique of the Slavs, their strength and dexterity.

Byzantine historian of the 10th century. Leo the Deacon, describing the Kyiv prince Svyatoslav Igorevich (942-972), says that he was of average height, not too tall, but not short either, had thick eyebrows, blue eyes, a short nose, a beard was shaved, upper lip thick and long hair; the head was completely shaved, with a forelock hanging on one side, which signified the nobility of the family; his neck was strong, his shoulders were broad, and in general he was very well built. The chronicle says about Mstislav Yaroslavich (11th century): “Mstislav was stout in body, great in eye,” and the chronicler describes Prince Vladimir Vasilkovich (13th century) as follows: “This noble prince Volodymer was tall in age, had great shoulders, with a red face, yellow curly hair, a trimmed beard, and having red (i.e. beautiful) hands and feet.”

The idea of ​​blond Slavs was so popular in the East that the tribal term "sakaliba", i.e. Slav, became here a synonym for the name of any red-faced, white-haired or red-haired person in general, which can be judged, in particular, on the basis of the Arabic lexicographer Abu -Mansura (X-XI centuries): “The Slavs are a red-colored tribe with light brown hair... A red-colored person is called a Slav because of his similarity to the color of the Slavs.”

The ancient Slavs usually lived in places naturally protected from enemy attacks by nature itself, that is, in forests, mountains, swamps and rivers. According to Mauritius, the Slavs lived in forests, near rivers, swamps and lakes in inaccessible places, and the Ostrogothic historian Jordanes notes about the Slavs: “For them, swamps and forests replace cities.”

According to the chronicler’s description, the Polyans are a people of meek and quiet disposition and have “shame” towards their daughters-in-law, sisters, mothers and parents, and daughters-in-law among the Polyans have “great shame” towards their father-in-law and brothers-in-law. The Glades, according to the chronicler, knew marriage customs, that is, marriage formalized and sanctioned by well-known folk rituals. “And the Drevlyans,” says the chronicler, “lived in a beastly manner, and killed each other, eating everything unclean, and they never had marriage, but they snatched away the maiden by the water. And Radimichi, and Vyatichi, and the North have one custom: I live in the forest, like every beast, eating everything unclean, and they speak shame before their fathers and before their daughters-in-law, and the brothers do not fight in them, but play among the villages, and go to the games , to dances and to demonic songs, and to marry his wife; having two and three wives..."

According to the chronicler, the Slavs performed a funeral feast for the deceased, and then burned the corpse on a large bonfire and, after collecting the bones, “put a small amount into the vessel, and placed the Poles on a pillar on the way to do Vyatichi,” the chronicler notes, “even now.” . According to the chronicler, the Krivichi and other pagans adhered to the same customs, “not knowing the law of God, but making the law for themselves.”

According to the description of the Arab writer Ibn Dasta (10th century), “the country of the Slavs is a flat and wooded country; they live in the forests. They have neither vineyards nor arable land. They make a kind of jugs from wood, in which they have hives for bees, and the bees' honey is stored. They call it sidge, and one jug contains about ten mugs of it. They herd pigs like sheep."

Ibn-Dasta, like Ibn-Fadlan, describes the ritual of burning the dead among the Slavs, which Al-Masudi also speaks about, and Ibn-Wahshiya in this regard remarks: “I am surprised at the Slavs who, despite their extreme ignorance and removal from all science and wisdom, they decreed that all their dead should be burned, so that neither the king nor any other person would be left without burning after death.” Ibn Fadlan gives an exceptionally vivid picture of the ritual of burning a noble Rus with all the accompanying details, including the slaughter of the deceased on the grave for burial with him and one of his wives. The Slavs also speak about the burning of his wife along with her husband by Al-Masudi and Ibn-Dast. Archaeological excavations of Slavic burials confirm the data of Arab sources.

According to Procopius, the Slavs lived in “trashy huts scattered at a great distance from one another.” Another Western source, Helmold, says about the Slavs that they do not care about building their houses, but simply weave huts from brushwood for themselves, just to shelter from rain and bad weather. “As soon as the cry of military alarm is heard,” says this author, “they will quickly take all the grain, hide it with gold, silver and all sorts of expensive things in a pit, take their wives and children to safe shelters, to fortifications, or even to forests, and there will be nothing left for the enemy to plunder except some huts, which they do not regret at all.”

The Slavs usually went to war on foot, covering themselves with armor, having a helmet on their head, a heavy shield on their left hip, and a bow with arrows soaked in poison behind their back. In addition, they were armed with a sword, ax, spear and reed. Over time, starting, apparently, from the 10th century, the Slavs introduced cavalry into their military practice, as can be judged by the testimony of Leo the Deacon regarding the army of Svyatoslav.

The Slavs did not have a standing army. If necessary, all men capable of carrying weapons went on a campaign, and they hid children and wives with their belongings in cities and forests. Mauritius talks about the art, characteristic of the Slavs, of hiding in the water and remaining under water for a long time, unnoticed by the enemy, breathing through a long reed. The Slavs preferred to fight in gorges and gorges, hitting enemies with a surprise attack from behind a rock or from behind bushes, during the battle they set up an artificial barrier from carts, built rubble and fences. The usual battle formation among the Slavs was a triangle or wedge, a boar, a boar's head, called a “pig” in Russian chronicles.

The ancient Slavs were great masters in military affairs, loved war and, endowed with courage, courage, stamina and endurance, represented a strong military force, known both in the East and in the West among their neighbors, who willingly accepted them into military service. Among the persons who were in the military service of the Byzantines and held major command positions, one can mention, for example, the chief of the Thracian troops Anangast, an anta or Slav by origin (469); in the 530s - anta Khvilibuda (Hil-wood), who commanded the Greek garrison on the Danube; in the middle of the 6th century - Ant Dobrogast - the head of the Byzantine Black Sea squadron, etc. The Slavs took part in the battles of the Byzantine army in Italy against the Goths, in the Byzantine-Persian war in 554, etc.

John of Ephesus testifies to the military art of the Slavs, which they achieved by the end of the 6th century: “They became rich, had a lot of gold, silver, herds of horses and weapons, and learned to wage war better than the Romans themselves.”

Both eastern and western sources unanimously speak about the courage and endurance of the Slavs. Ibn Yaqub notes that this is a brave and warlike people, and no one would compare with them in strength if it were not for the fragmentation of their numerous isolated tribes. Al-Bekri (11th century) gives the same description of the Slavs: “The Slavs are a people so powerful and terrible that if they were not divided into many generations and clans, no one in the world could resist them.” Earlier reviews from the Byzantines also coincide with this characteristic of Arab writers.

Simple-minded, friendly and hospitable, regardless of the nationality of the guest, in a home environment, the Slavs in war are irreconcilable and merciless to the enemy. According to Procopius, having crossed the Danube in 549, the Slavs devastated all of Illyria as far as Epidamnus; Those they met, regardless of age, were partly killed, partly taken captive, deprived of their property. In 550, having captured the leader of the Greek army, Azbad, they burned him at the stake. Taking by storm a strong fortress on the Aegean Sea - Toper (Boar-Kalesi), they killed all the male inhabitants (up to 15 thousand people), plundered property, and took their wives and children into slavery... “And for a long time all of Illyria and Thrace,” notes Procopius , - were covered with corpses. They killed those they met not with a sword, not with a spear, or with any other weapon, but impaled them, crucified them on a cross, and beat them on the head with batogs; others, locked in tents along with bulls and sheep, which they could not take with them, were mercilessly burned.”

About the Kiev prince Svyatoslav Leo the Deacon says that, having taken the city of Philippopolis, he impaled 20 thousand of its inhabitants, and having learned that the Mizans (Bulgarians) had gone over to the side of the emperor, he ordered the heads of 300 of the noblest and richest of them to be cut off.

Very little is known about the early history of the Eastern Slavs. Around 550-600 years ago, a wave of immigrants from the middle Danube reached the Masurian Lake District. The wave of Slavic migration in the south reached Asia Minor. Slavic movement to the east. East Slavic tribes. Beliefs concerning the relationship of the dead to the living were very firmly held. East Slavs. Relations with Byzantium. Plan for discussing the Slavs. Religion of the Eastern Slavs.

“Land of the Slavs” - Dangers forced the Slavs to study the science of war. The fight against nomads, constant confrontation claimed thousands of lives and distracted them from peaceful work. The Slavs' defense of their lands. The Slavs did not lock the doors when leaving their houses. The tall, strong Slavs were known as brave warriors in open battle. The Slavs were distinguished by their good nature. And yet, the Slavs slowly but persistently moved along the path of forming a state.

“Development of the Eastern Slavs” - The social structure of the Slavs in the 8th–9th centuries. Interaction of the Slavs with the indigenous population of Eastern Europe. Indo-European language family. Occupations of the Eastern Slavs. The path from the Varangians to the Greeks. Is there a difference in wealth between dwellings. Trade on the way from the Varangians to the Greeks. The boats were dragged from Lovat to the tributaries of the Western Dvina. Eastern Slavs in ancient times. Agriculture among the Eastern Slavs. The beginning of the transition to two-field.

“Life and customs of the Eastern Slavs” - Headdresses. Dragon. Lada. Svarog. Mokosh. Settlement of the Slavs. Settlement. Bereginya. Dazhdbog. Trade. Occupations and life of the Slavs. Dimensions of semi-dugouts. Shoes. Firebird. Jewelry made of silver and bronze. Knives. Social system. Genus. Decorations. Items of clothing. Stribog. Dwellings of the Eastern Slavs. Veles. Charms. Kolyada. Cat Baiyun. Poneva. Lelya. Kikimora. Life and customs of the Eastern Slavs. Craft. Perun.

“History of the Ancient Slavs” - Apostle Andrew. Historian Herodotus. How the Slavs became famous in Byzantium. Non-Russian peoples. Volga Vseslavovich. Sculptural monument. Academician Boris Aleksandrovich Rybakov. Ibn-Dast. A failed sacrifice. Story Ancient Rus'. Wars of Emperor Justinian. What were the Slavs called? Svyatogor and the Blacksmith of Fate. Names of pagan idols. They called themselves northerners. The word "Slavs". Which word is missing from the list?

“State of the Eastern Slavs” - Specialist on Byzantium. Rus' at the beginning of the 10th century. Byzantines. Let's look for a prince. The emergence of a state among the Eastern Slavs. Attack of Askold and Dir. Rus. State "Rus". Norman theory. The Tale of Bygone Years. Pomors. The main Slavic tribes. Kyiv. Creation of a single state. Translator of sagas from Old Icelandic. Transfer of power by inheritance. Prerequisites for the unification of Slavic tribes. Novgorod.

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EDUCATIONAL PRIVATE INSTITUTION

HIGHER EDUCATION

"HUMANITIES AND SOCIAL INSTITUTE"

Faculty - Social Sciences and Humanities

Department of Pedagogy and Psychology

Direction of training: 44.03.02 - Psychological and pedagogical education

Field of training: Psychology and social pedagogy

Eastern Slavs: life, culture, beliefs and rituals

Essay

Shevchenko A.V.

1st year, correspondence course

Teacher:

Ph.D., Art. Ave. Urbanovich V.M.

Kraskovo

Introduction

1. Beliefs of the Eastern Slavs

2. Life and culture of the Eastern Slavs

3. Rituals among the Eastern Slavs

Conclusion

Bibliography

Introduction

The history of the emergence of such a great and powerful people as the Slavs has interested many generations and continues to lose interest even in our time. The origin of the Eastern Slavs has interested many historians, and there is still debate about this. In ancient times, the Slavs were admired by such great minds and scribes as Bishop Otto of Bamber, Byzantine Emperor Mauritius the Strategist, Procopius of Pisaria, Jordan and many others.

Tribal groups of Eastern Slavs were among the first inhabitants of the lands later called Kievan Rus. 6th-century sources, including the Byzantine Procopius of Caesarea and the Gothic author Jordanes, identify with the Eastern Slavs the Antes, a group of tribes that occupied territory that reached the Black Sea in the south, the lower Danube in the west, and the Seversky Donets in the east.

Slavic tribes have long been engaged in agriculture, hunting, fishing and cattle breeding. In addition, in many Slavic settlements that arose in the valleys of the Dnieper, Donets and Volkhov, primitive crafts were established, including pottery and weaving. The importance of agriculture for the early tribal society of the Slavs is indicated by the predominance of corresponding cults and natural gods of the East Slavic pagan pantheon.

The purpose of this work is to study the life, culture, beliefs and rituals of the Eastern Slavs. To achieve this goal, it is necessary to solve the following tasks:

1) Consider in detail the beliefs of the Eastern Slavs;

2) Study the life and culture of the Eastern Slavs;

3) Explore the rituals of the Eastern Slavs.

To write this work, the literature of many authors was used.

1. Beliefs of the Eastern Slavs

In the pre-Christian period (until the end of the 10th century), the Eastern Slavs professed a pagan religion, similar to the ancient beliefs of other peoples of Europe. The basis of ancient European religions was the spiritualization of nature and its forces, the worship of the elements, which were personified in the form of various gods or spirits. The Olympic religion, which was followed by the ancient Greeks and Romans, stood apart from other pagan beliefs of Europe, but it also began with the pan-European worship of nature, only later, during the development of ancient Greek civilization, gods appeared in it, symbolizing people with their virtues and vices. Many gods and spirits in which other European peoples, including the Slavs, believed, have their analogues in the religion of the ancient Greeks and Romans.

Since the Eastern Slavs inhabited a very vast territory from the Baltic states to the steppes of Eastern Europe, from the Carpathians to the Volga, natural conditions in their country were different. Therefore, there could be some differences in beliefs among different Slavic tribes. Also, in addition to the gods, who, according to the ancient Slavs, ruled the entire natural element, each forest area, field, and reservoir could have its own master spirit. Some are the same gods and spirits; different Slavic tribes could have their own names. However, based on archaeological, chronicle, ethnographic and folklore data, researchers were able to restore the general appearance of the ancient beliefs to which the ancestors of modern Russians, Belarusians and Ukrainians were committed. Kozak D.N., Borovsky Ya.E. Sanctuaries of the Eastern Slavs // Rituals and beliefs of the ancient population of Ukraine. Kyiv, 2009-P.117

Like most peoples of the World in general, in the paganism of the ancient Slavs there was an idea of ​​​​divine unity of command. That is, above all the numerous gods they recognized a supreme god, who could influence directly or through the younger gods on all processes occurring in the Universe. The Eastern Slavs actually had two supreme gods. The majority of the people - those who did not belong to the tribal nobility, especially revered Yar or Yarilo (among some tribes: Khoros). This is what the Slavs called the sun, which they considered a living supernatural creature that gives people warmth and light. Since the basis of the life of the common people was agriculture, which directly depended on the heat of the sun, and the ancients could not help but notice that all life in nature depended on the sun, Yar was worshiped especially zealously. It was considered the beginning of all life. The ancient Slavs depicted Yar as a solar disk with a human face painted on it. This tradition is still preserved when drawing illustrations for children's books and cartoons. The moon and stars, which also shone, were also spiritualized by the Slavs and were considered to be related to Yar-sun. Many words in East Slavic languages, including Russian, are associated with the word-name “Yar”: “bright”, “furious (meaning “hot, hot”).” Many Old Slavonic names have at their root the name Yara (Yaroslav, Yaropolk). Zelenin D.K. East Slavic ethnography. - M., 2009-P.157

The tribal nobility, whose main occupation was military campaigns and the protection of tribal lands from enemy attacks, more revered the thunder god Perun. Perun was, apparently, not an original Slavic god, but borrowed from the Iranian-speaking nomadic tribes who inhabited the steppes adjacent to the lands of the Slavs. The Slavs associated a thunderstorm, a storm with its lightning that caused fires and could kill a person with war - the main business of noble people. Being the god of war, Perun constantly demanded bloody sacrifices. On his altars they slaughtered cattle, and in special cases, people, choosing one of their fellow tribesmen by lot. It was believed that Perun threw lightning from the sky and dispersed evil spirits with them. If lightning killed a person, then people believed that he was being punished for some sins. Assuring his opponent that he was right, the debater exclaimed: “Kill me Perun (if I’m telling a lie)!” The Slavs solemnly swore in the name of Perun, placing their weapons nearby. During a thunderstorm, the Slavs closed the windows and turned the vessels upside down in the house so that evil spirits, pursued by the lightning of Perun, would not hide in them. Perun was depicted as a strong and formidable humanoid creature with a monstrous, ferocious face.

It is not known for sure whether Perun and the god of fire and sky Svarog, revered by some East Slavic tribes, were one and the same deity, or is it different gods. The Ipatiev Chronicle calls the Sun or Dazhdbog the son of Svarog. The same chronicle notes that the Slavs prayed to fire, which they also considered the son of Svarog and called Svarozhich.

The patron god of livestock, Volos or Veles, was very revered. It was believed that the offspring and mortality of livestock, the feeding of meat and fat by cows, sheep and pigs, and the size of milk yield depended on it. The Slavs also worshiped the god of the winds, Stribog. The Tale of Bygone Years mentions a certain Simargl among the Slavic pagan gods. What, in the ideas of the Slavs, this god managed cannot be reliably established today, but some historians identify him with the ancient Iranian bird-like deity Simurgh - the messenger between the worlds of heaven (i.e., divine) and earth (i.e., people, animals) and spirits). Mythological stories of the Russian population of Eastern Siberia / Comp. V.P. Zinoviev. Novosibirsk, 2007-P.134

Of deities female Mokosh or Makosh was known. According to various sources, they prayed to her and made sacrifices when it was necessary to cause rain or not to tangle the thread during spinning. It is possible that some Slavic tribes revered her as a goddess of fertility, while others revered her as a goddess of handicrafts. It was as a deity-needlewoman that she was revered by Russian peasant women already in modern times.

Yaga or Baba Yaga is a goddess, information about whom is preserved only in folklore. Based on folklore data, she was, apparently, the goddess of death and the conductor of the souls of the dead from the earthly world to the world of the dead, as indicated by the fact that she had one bone (i.e., dead) leg. This is also indicated by the folklore description of her home: “a hut on chicken legs, without windows or doors.” Many tribes of the Eastern Slavs buried their dead in log cabins mounted on smoke-fuelled pillars. Other data, also recorded in the folklore of the Slavic peoples, indicate that Yaga was also a goddess of forests, ruling over trees and bushes, wild animals. Yaga was described as a demonic old woman, greedy for human life, commanding all the elements that bring grief to people (diseases, fires, hurricanes, etc.). Fairy tales describe a plot where Baba Yaga puts people, usually children, on a shovel and sticks them into a burning oven. This clearly describes a primitive initiation rite that apparently persisted for a very long time among the Eastern Slavs: after a child reaches a certain age, in order to develop his resistance to the severe physical suffering inevitable in the life of people of that time (illness, wounds, hunger, etc. .) were subjected to a special test, placed in a chamber heated by fire. Probably, this ritual was performed by priestesses, possibly of the same Yaga. In fairy tales, the hero whom Baba Yaga usually wants to eat often stops her with a decisive demand to meet him as a host should greet guests: with bread and salt. Here, the attitude of people towards death itself must be expressed: only a self-possessed, determined person who does not lose his presence of mind can safely overcome mortal danger and even benefit from such a situation. Sedakova O.A. Poetics of the Rite. Funeral rituals of the Eastern and Southern Slavs." M., 2012-P.147

In addition to natural elements and phenomena, the ancient Slavs deified the spirits of their ancestors. Each clan had its own ancestor, whom all its members worshiped. Among different tribes it was called clan, shchur, grandfather, ancestor, great-grandfather. It was believed that he patronized the entire family, protecting them from dangers and troubles. In a critical situation, the Slav called on the spirit of an ancestor for help, and back in the 20th century. some superstitious people habitually uttered the spell: “Chur (i.e., squint), me!” The Slavs revered the female ancestors under the name of women in labor. Women in labor were considered the patroness of women's family affairs: they protected the house and children from all sorts of misfortunes. Slavic women sacrificed bread, cheese, honey, porridge and cut children's hair to women in labor. Sedov V.V. Old Russian pagan sanctuary in Peryn // Brief messages Institute of the History of Material Culture. 2009. issue. 50-S.214

In addition to the gods, who personified the elements and phenomena, the Slavs revered spirits - the owners of specific natural objects and the patrons of a specific house. Thus, according to the Slavs, each house had its own house spirit. It was often identified with the schur, believing that it was the spirit of the long-dead founder of the family. The veneration of ancestors, parents, and spiritual attachment to a deceased relative is clearly visible here. The whole life of the home in which he lives depends on the brownie, as the Slavs believed: the very integrity of the house, the health and family well-being of its owners, their property and wealth, the health of their pets. Therefore, they tried to appease the brownie in every possible way, leaving him some food for the night. When moving to another place, the Slavs took their brownie with them using a special ritual: they put stove ash or food in a basket or other container, “invited” the spirit there with spells and took it away to new house. Without a brownie, it was thought, there would be no life in the home: the farm would immediately fall into disrepair, the livestock would die out, and the family would quarrel and fall apart. The brownie was attributed to incomprehensible sounds if they were heard in the house, illnesses of family members and pets, happy and nightmare dreams. It was believed that if it is not enough to honor the brownie, and also poorly take care of the house and household, then violate the customs family life, then he will take revenge on the owners of the house, interfering with household chores, sending illnesses and terrible dreams, etc. Other small spirits that settled in houses were kikimors - female creatures, in many ways similar in habits to brownies, but mostly only harmful to the owners.

The Slavs also believed in evil spirits that caused illness, death, or missing children, similar to the Greco-Roman lamias. Today it is difficult to say what these spirits were originally called, but to our time folklore ideas about them have come down to us as beeches and babays (in modern names English and Turkic etymology can be traced). Tokarev S.A. Religious beliefs of the East Slavic peoples of the 19th - early 20th centuries. M., 2007-P.152

In Slavic myths there is a certain creature - a cat-bayun, a monster in the form of a huge cat that put people to sleep with its voice and ate them. The image of the cat-bayun is one way or another similar to the ancient Greek sirens and sphinx, as well as the mythical creatures of many other nations, personifying the danger hidden under something beautiful and pleasant. It is also possible that in the cat form of the bayun, the memories of the Slavs about some large predators of the cat family that lived in Europe in the primitive era (for example, a cave or Asiatic lion) were preserved.

In the forests, as the Slavs thought, goblin lived. Each goblin lived in a certain forest area and controlled the animals and plants that inhabited it. Sacrifices were made to the goblin: food was left on forest stumps, livestock was tied to trees. In the forest, a person was more vulnerable to nature than anywhere else: he could get lost, become a victim of wild animals, get injured by stumbling among the thickets, and be left without help, so the Slavs, who were engaged in hunting and gathering, going for firewood, always sought to appease the forest spirit. The goblin was credited with the ability to frighten people with unknown sounds, hallucinations, false voices, lead forest travelers off the road, and make a person wander, moving in circles in the forest thickets. Leshy were described as furry humanoid creatures with horns on their heads. In this way, as well as other attributes, for example, possessing forest creatures and frightening people, they are similar to the Greco-Roman deities Pan, the satyrs and the Silenians. Klein L.S. Resurrection of Perun. Toward the reconstruction of East Slavic paganism. SPb., 2008-P.116

The Slavs considered each body of water to be the possession of a water spirit. The waterman controlled the aquatic creatures that lived in him, and, according to the ancient Slavs, fish catches, calm and excitement on a river or lake depended on him. Therefore, the merman sacrificed livestock, which they simply drowned in a reservoir. Tretyakov P.N. East Slavic tribes. M., 2009-P.178

The Slavs considered the reservoirs themselves to be the entrance to the world of the dead: therefore, a drowned person dies. According to Slavic beliefs, the souls of the dead can return to the world of the living for a certain time in the spring to enjoy the spring awakening of nature. The souls that emerged from the world of the dead were called mermaids: from the word “blond, fair-haired,” that is, light. Mermaids, who were described as people of impeccable bodily form, but with lifeless faces, sat quietly or wandered along the banks of reservoirs; according to other sources, they danced in circles, sang songs and wove wreaths. After their stay in the world of the living expired, they returned back to the world of the dead. Most often, drowned innocent girls were considered mermaids. Like the dead in general, the Slavs were afraid of mermaids: after all, they reminded the living of their own sooner or later coming end. There were beliefs that mermaids take with them from the world the living people they like, so the Slavs preferred during this spring period - mermaid week - not to appear alone at bodies of water, but to gather on the shore in groups, swim and pay respect to their deceased relatives and friends. According to other Slavic ideas, the souls of the dead looked like people of very short stature and were called Nav or Navier. It was believed that in the world of the dead people live much like in the world of the living: they eat and drink, rejoice and suffer, love and hate.

Different tribes buried their dead in different ways. The Radimichi, Vyatichi and northerners burned the noble dead on a large log of wood, and the bones were placed in a clay vessel, which was placed on a pole near the road. Some tribes buried their dead, like most peoples of the world - in the ground, some - in log house on poles, some put the deceased on a raft and sent him to float in a river or lake. Noble people, especially tribal military leaders (princes), were often buried in mounds - they were placed in a deep earthen grave, on top of which a high hill, visible from afar, was poured. Then the warriors sat around the mound and celebrated a farewell feast near it - a funeral feast. This custom is similar to the funeral rites of nomadic steppe peoples and ancient peoples North Caucasus. With the deceased, various household items, weapons and valuables were placed in the grave, which, as the Slavs thought, could be useful to him in the world of the dead. Some tribes had a custom of burying one of his wives with the husband, over whom a ritual murder was committed. Klein L.S. Resurrection of Perun. Toward the reconstruction of East Slavic paganism. SPb., 2008-P.195

The Slavs associated pagan holidays with the worship of natural forces. After the winter solstice (December 22 or 23, depending on the year), the Slavs celebrated Kolyada Day. A group of people dressed in the best clothes and, singing and praising the deity, went from house to house and village, collecting offerings from the owners. Then what was collected was probably ceremonially sacrificed. On this day, a plow handle was placed on the table to protect the fields from mice and moles. On the day of the summer solstice (June 20 or 21), one of the most solemn Slavic holidays was celebrated - the day of Kupala, the god of abundance, in ancient times most likely identified with Yar. It was believed that on this day Yar rode out from his house on three horses (a clear analogy with the ancient Greek Helios) to meet the Month - his relative or matchmaker, and the world of gods and spirits became closer than ever to the world of people. The Slavs believed that on the day of Kupala, signs of life and activity of supernatural forces are especially clearly visible: the sun dances and scatters fiery sparks across the sky, trees move, move from place to place and communicate with each other through the noise of their branches, rivers sparkle with silver. They sacrificed a white rooster to the Yar - a bird that greets the sunrise with its cry, and in the river they drowned an effigy of cold and death - Mary. People collected herbs, which were believed to have beneficial properties, and bathed in the river, believing that it would cure diseases. They cleansed themselves of evil and evil spirits by lighting fires and jumping over them, and also drove cattle between two large fires - “through the fire.”

It is not known for sure whether the Slavs had permanent priests. Perhaps the more culturally developed tribes had a priestly class, while among the less developed tribes the role of priests was played by leaders, clan elders, and householders. It is possible that some gods were worshiped through intermediaries in the form of priests, while others were worshiped directly. Chronicles sometimes mention the Magi - ministers of a pagan cult who stubbornly resisted the spread of Christianity. Folklore identifies magi with sorcerers, hence: “magic, magical.” Therefore, it is impossible to say for sure whether the Magi were a special layer of society, who, on behalf of the community, made sacrifices to the pagan gods and sought their favor for the entire clan or tribe, or simply something like ascetics, considered especially close to the world of the gods. Eleonskaya E.N. Amulets of livestock among the Eastern Slavs during the first spring pasture in the field / Agricultural magic // Russian witchcraft. M., 2012-P.135

Pagan worship services of the Slavs were performed in specially equipped sanctuaries - temples (from “drop - idol”). At the temple there was an altar - a treasure (from “treba - sacrifice”). All data about ancient Slavic sanctuaries was collected by historians on the basis of archaeological data, since the surviving chronicles do not mention anything about pagan temples. The Slavs usually chose a clearing among a swampy forest or the top of a hill as a place for a temple. A rounded area was leveled and fenced with one or two ditches and earthen ramparts, in the center of which there was an elevation or, conversely, a depression where the idol was placed. The idol represented wooden post, carved in the form of a deity to whom the temple was dedicated. One of the most famous ancient Slavic sanctuaries is the Peryn sanctuary, excavated and studied by archaeologists A. Artsikhovsky (1948) and V. Sedov (1951 - 1952) six kilometers from Veliky Novgorod between the Volkhov, Prost and Rakomka rivers near Lake Ilmen. According to the Novgorod Chronicle, here stood the idol of Perun, installed by the governor Dobrynya in 980 by order of the Kyiv prince Vladimir, and in 988, after the baptism of Rus', it was cut down and thrown into the Volkhov on the orders of Archbishop Joachim Korsunyanin and the same governor Dobrynya. According to archaeological research, the moat surrounding the site of the temple was made in the form of a flower, having arched protrusions on the outside, and its bottom consisted of a ring of depressions separated by rollers, in which ritual fires were kindled. On the eastern ledge of the ditch the fire burned constantly. In addition to the statue of Perun, there were idols of other deities around. The tract in which the sanctuary was located received its name from Perun - Peryn. The former purpose of this place, even when the remains of the sanctuary themselves were eventually swallowed up by the earth, was firmly preserved in the people's memory. Even in the 19th century. sailors, sailing from the Baltic to Ilmen, threw coins into the water as a sacrifice to Perun. The idol of Perun, according to popular rumor, somehow got from Volkhov to the Dnieper, along which it sailed to Zaporozhye and there, turning into a seven-headed snake, began to kidnap girls. Sedov V.V. Clothes of the Eastern Slavs of the 6th-9th centuries. AD // Ancient clothing of the peoples of Eastern Europe. M., 2009-P.168

Rice. 1 Peryn sanctuary. Reconstruction by archaeologists

During excavations in Novgorod, wooden sticks with a man’s head carved at one end are found. Apparently they served as "household idols" and represented the brownie whom the family worshiped. In addition to idols, amulets - small objects that, according to the people, had a supernatural ability to bring good luck and protect from evil, had cult significance. Amulets were made of metal and were worn on the chest, hanging from chains. Amulets could have different appearances, probably related to their specific purpose. During archaeological excavations, amulets in the form of spoons, small swords, animal figurines, etc. are recovered from the remains of ancient Slavic dwellings and burial mounds. Amulets, which, according to the Slavs, protected from misfortunes, diseases, evil eye, were called amulets. One of the types of pagan rituals was ritual fortune telling, for example, dice, by the random arrangement of which the Slavs tried to predict the future. Sedov V.V. Clothes of the Eastern Slavs of the 6th-9th centuries. AD // Ancient clothing of the peoples of Eastern Europe. M., 2009-P.215

Rice. 2 Amulets-amulets of the ancient Slavs, found during archaeological excavations

After the baptism of Rus', the authorities of the ancient Russian state waged a merciless fight against paganism. However, at that time the state was not yet able to deeply control all aspects of public life in all areas of the vast Russian land. Pagan beliefs persisted for a very long time. Subsequently, when the Christian religion was firmly established in all the lands of the Eastern Slavs, pagan ideas in the minds of the unenlightened people (who were then the absolute majority) were mixed with Christian teaching. Some pagan gods were almost completely forgotten, while other gods and spirits lost their divinity and began to be identified with the demons mentioned in the Bible, or with the souls of the damned, those who did not receive communion, and therefore did not go to heaven, or were simply presented as invisible, without divine abilities, but real beings. Such a mixture of Christian and pagan ideas is called folk Christianity in science. The Church usually had a negative attitude towards the remnants of pagan beliefs in the minds of Christians, since their persistence often led to the fact that people feared folk demons more than God. But it was often difficult for priests to explain to illiterate people why certain things happened. natural phenomena and patterns that greatly influence people's lives, both for good and for bad. Answer: “by the will of God” did not always suit the common people, and the natural sciences were not developed for many more centuries, and only in the 20th century. natural science was brought to the villagers. Until Soviet times and universal enlightenment, villagers went to church, confessed, received communion and prepared for afterlife and the Day of Judgment, and at the same time they made sacrifices to the brownies, pleased the goblin, and were afraid of the mermaids coming out of the water. And even in our time you can still meet people to whom forest and water spirits do not seem too fantastic. And in many regions of Russia, even in cities, there are still traditions of celebrating ancient Slavic pagan holidays and some rituals (Maslenitsa, Kolyada, etc.), although often their adherents no longer know about their roots and original meaning. Eleonskaya E.N. Amulets of livestock among the Eastern Slavs during the first spring pasture in the field / Agricultural magic // Russian witchcraft. M., 2012-P.187

2. Life and culture of the Eastern Slavs

Little is known about the culture of the Slavic tribes. Examples of applied art that have survived to this day testify to the development of jewelry. In the VI-VII centuries. writing emerges. An essential feature of Old Russian culture is the religious and mystical overtones of almost all its manifestations. The ancient Slavs were pagans: they believed in evil and good spirits, deified the forces of nature (hence polytheism). The most important gods of the Slavs were Perun - the god of thunder, lightning, war; Svarog - god of fire; Veles is the patron of cattle breeding; sun god - Dazhdbog. The custom of burning the dead and erecting mounds over funeral pyres, where things, weapons, and food were stored, are widespread. Birth, wedding, death were accompanied by special rituals.

The disintegration of clan relations, the strengthening of squads and princely power also affected the pagan cult. Huge mounds were built over the dead princes. Pagan temples began to be built, and stone statues of deities - idols - appeared. However, this was not yet a religion, but only religious beliefs. Timoshchuk B.A. East Slavic community VI - X centuries. M., 2009-P.164

Everyday ideas of ancient Russian man Man Family was the center of human life in Ancient Rus'. The extensive and detailed terminology of kinship relationships is one of the best confirmations of this. Unfortunately, written sources cover this aspect of the spiritual life of our ancestors very sparingly. However, even indirect data allows us to draw quite interesting conclusions.

Apparently, the most significant connections were considered, firstly, between brothers and, secondly, between parents and children. The “depth” of ancestral memory rarely went beyond these two generations of relatives. It is not without reason that the nouns “brother” and “brothers” are used more often than any other words by chroniclers. Thus, in “The Tale of Bygone Years” they occur 219 times (i.e., on average, 4.6 mentions for every thousand words of text; for comparison: the most used noun in “The Tale” is “summer” - met 412, gives out 8.8 mentions for every 1000 words, and the next most frequently used word is “son” - found 172 times, respectively, 3.7 mentions). In general, children were of little interest to the chronicler. Words denoting the younger generation (“youth,” “child,” “child”) are found ten times less often in The Tale of Bygone Years than nouns referring to adult men. Male related terminology makes up a little less than a third of the entire complex of chronicle nouns, despite the fact that in general “related” vocabulary makes up 39.4% of all nouns used by the chronicler. It should also be noted that the older generation (father-mother; husband-wife) occupies a subordinate position in the chronicle compared to the younger one (son-daughter; brothers-sisters; children-children): 353 and 481 mentions, respectively. Moreover, the problem of “fathers and sons” in the Russian Middle Ages took the form of a problem of “sons and parents”: the relationship between sons, on the one hand, and parents (father, mother) on the other, gives 355 mentions. Approximately the same trends can be traced in the material of East Slavic anthroponymy, when analyzing the proper names that people bore in Ancient Rus'. These include personal names, nicknames, nicknames, patronymics and surnames. Personal names are names that are assigned to people at birth and by which they are known in society. In ancient Rus', canonical and non-canonical names were distinguished. Novikov N.V. Images of East Slavic fairy tale. L., 2007-P.133

The canonical name is the “true”, “real” name of a person, enshrined in the traditions of the Christian religion. IN domestic sources the canonical ones usually include Orthodox names, taken from church calendar, where the names of canonized saints are listed by month and day of their memory (the so-called calendar, or hagiographic names). On early stages development of feudal society, as a rule, only godparents (baptismal, church), monastic, (monastic) and schematic names were canonical. Godname given to a person at baptism. It was usually chosen by the priest from the church calendar in accordance with the name of the saint whose memory was celebrated on the person's birthday or baptism. There are also other motives for assigning a person a particular name. Baptismal name it is rarely mentioned in early sources, usually only in reports of the death of a given person or in texts written after his death. Eleonskaya E.N. Amulets of livestock among the Eastern Slavs during the first spring pasture in the field / Agricultural magic // Russian witchcraft. M., 2012-P.181

3. Rituals among the Eastern Slavs

Ancient monuments quite often speak of pagan water cults. First of all, these are prayers by the water, sacrifices. The victim was laid or exposed on the shore, and it was supposed to be swallowed up by the idolized elements. Some ancient monuments (for example, “The Word of John Chrysostom about how the filthy bowed to idols”) explain what such a sacrifice consisted of. It turns out that chickens were drowned in water. This news is confirmed by the message of Leo the Deacon, according to which Svyatoslav’s soldiers immersed live roosters in the waters of the Danube. Of course, among the Russian soldiers there were many Kievites.

The Slavs considered water to be the element from which the world was formed, and therefore they worshiped it. They populated the waters with various deities - morayans, mermen, mermaids. They were also idolized by special female water creatures - beregins, whose cult is associated with water. There is a lot of evidence of the veneration of beregins in the speeches of preachers against paganism. The same “Word of John Chrysostom” says that in Rus' they worshiped “rivers, springs, and banks.”

According to the ideas of the ancients, the worship of water and springs was supposed to save from drought and irrigate fields. Worshiping water deities, the Eastern Slavs swore by them, purified themselves with water as a sacred element, and sacrificed flowers, food, and chickens. Special holidays were dedicated to water creatures to perform ceremonial services and rituals before them. Such holidays near the water were celebrated both at the beginning and in the middle of summer. Klein L.S. Resurrection of Perun. Toward the reconstruction of East Slavic paganism. SPb., 2008-P.174

The summer holiday from 23 to 24 June took place near water (rivers, lakes, ponds) in honor of the ancient pagan god Kupala. Some researchers, including the author of the Synopsis of 1674, believed that this was the holiday of Kupala - the god of earthly fruits, harvest, prosperity and water. However, there is reason to believe that the original was the goddess Kupala, whose power extended to all field germinations. The fact that the name of the mythical Kupala in Rus' meant a female creature is confirmed by ritual games, where the goddess was represented by a tree - a willow, which is often mentioned in Kupala songs. Sometimes the place of the tree was taken by a doll or girl, who was called the queen, kupaila or madder.

On the Kupala holiday, girls and boys gathered near the water, made bonfires, jumped over them, sang songs, and burned birch bark. The girls wove wreaths and launched them into the water. Jumping over fire, swimming at dawn, and dancing around fires had a special magical meaning - cleansing from sins.

Honoring forests and groves

As the chronicle indicates, the people of Kiev worshiped trees, that is, they revered forests and groves, dedicating them to the gods. The Slavs completely deified certain groves: it was not allowed to catch birds, animals, or cut down trees in them. Violators faced severe punishment, sometimes death. Forests and groves were considered the dwellings of the gods. Therefore, here, sometimes near individual trees, they worshiped the deity, conducted services, and made sacrifices. Foreign sources and folk legends indicate the veneration of trees among the Slavs. The “Charter” of Vladimir and church courts, for example, speak of those “who pray in the grove.” The worship of trees is mentioned in the life of Konstantin of Murom, and sacrifices to groves are mentioned in the Gustyn Chronicle. Sedov V.V. Clothes of the Eastern Slavs of the 6th-9th centuries. AD // Ancient clothing of the peoples of Eastern Europe. M., 2009-P.116

According to scientists, the veneration of sacred trees, along with the deification of water and the cult of fire under the barn, constitute main features the folk faith of our ancestors. This faith among tribes that lived primarily by agriculture was associated with agriculture, that is, these cults had economic significance.

In addition to worshiping water and trees, the Eastern Slavs revered the sun, moon, stars and fire as special deities. Zelenin D.K. East Slavic ethnography. - M., 2009-P.208

Deification of the sun

The sun has long been revered by the Eastern Slavs. It is not for nothing that the Arab writer of the 10th century Al-Masudi calls the Slavic pagans sun worshipers.

In the apocrypha of the 12th century, “The Virgin Mary’s Walk through Torment,” the Sun god is mentioned among other Slavic gods. Yaroslavna turns to the sun as a deity in lamentation. Here is how the author of “The Tale of Igor’s Campaign” writes about it:

Eastern Slav pagan rite

Yaroslavna cries early

in Putivl on a visor, saying:

“Bright and bright sun!

For everyone you are warm and wonderful.

Why, sir, did you spread your hot rays

on my dear warriors?

In a waterless field, thirst bent their bows,

Have they filled their quivers with grief?..”

And the main characters of “The Tale of Igor’s Campaign,” Oleg and Igor, considered themselves the grandchildren of the Sun God.

Undoubtedly, the ancient Slav saw in the sun a powerful giver of heat and light, representing it as a red-hot heavenly fire, a wheel on which his life and well-being entirely depended. The changing seasons evoked ideas of a dying and reviving god. They talked about the sun as if it were a living being: it awakens from sleep, sets, and hides behind the clouds. Telegin S.M. Mythology of the Eastern Slavs. M., 2010-P.196

They swore by the sun when concluding peace treaties: oaths and spells were proclaimed in the direction of the rising of the divine luminary. Often priests, magi and other servants of the supreme deity on earth spoke on his behalf. Special holidays were also dedicated to the red sun, which enlivens all nature - Ivan Kupala, Kolyada, and farewells. They were accompanied by ritual games, dances and songs, in which people glorified the sun and asked him for rain and harvest. However, the sun was not only kind. As a living creature, it was angry with people, sometimes bringing misfortune. In “The Tale of Igor’s Campaign” the sun destroys the soldiers of Prince Igor with its hot rays.

As we can see, the Slavs revered the bright, triple-light sun most of all. Therefore, it is not surprising that the red sun was worshiped by Kiy, Shchek and Khoriv, ​​their warriors and ordinary Kyivians. Over time, they could call the sun Trojan. It is not without reason that the name of this deity is mentioned four times in the “Tale of Igor’s Campaign” when indicating the “ages of Trojan,” “the land of Trojan,” “the path of Trojan,” and “the seventh century of Trojan.” Makashina T.S. Elijah's day and Elijah the prophet in popular ideas and folklore of the Eastern Slavs. - In the book: Rituals and ritual folklore. M., 2008-P.152

The original meaning of Trojan lies in the triune deity, recognized by many religions of ancient peoples in all periods of human civilization. In Ancient Rus', the word Troyan was interpreted as three suns in one, that is, three Yans.

Other East Slavic tribes, neighbors of the Polyans, could call the solar deity in their own way. Therefore, in ancient monuments we find such names of the sun among the Eastern Slavs as Dazhdbog, Yarilo, Kupalo, Kolyada, Troyan.

Worship of fire. Svarog

Another god revered by the people of Kiev was Fire. IN ancient times and during Kiya he could be called Svarog. Indeed, in the minds of the ancients, it was Svarog who personified Heaven and was the god who lights fire and gives life to the sun, that is, he was the father of Svarozhich and Dazhdbog - the two most powerful gods in Rus'. In addition, the name of Svarog, the supreme god of the Slavs, and his origin are associated with Sanskrit words meaning light, the sun in the sky. And this confirms that Svarog in ancient times was the god of light, sky and the whole world, like the ancient main deity of the Greeks, Uranus.

Supreme ruler of the world, lord heavenly fire Svarog in translated monuments of the 12th century is identified with the Greek Hephaestus, the god of fire and the blacksmith god. Thus, in the story about Svarog-Hephaestus in the Ipatiev Chronicle, extracts from the chronicle of John Malala are given. In the time of Svarog, the chronicler noted, people learned to “forge weapons” and mastered the art of blacksmithing. The name of Svarog is also associated with the struggle for a monogamous family, monogamy, and therefore he was considered the patron saint of marriage and family. Sedov V.V. Eastern Slavs in VI - XIII centuries. M., 2012-P.119

Conclusion

The culture of Rus' was formed from the very beginning as synthetic, influenced by various cultural movements, styles, and traditions. At the same time, Rus' not only blindly copied other people’s influences and recklessly borrowed them, but applied them to its cultural traditions, to its folk experience that had come down from time immemorial, its understanding of the world around us, and its idea of ​​beauty.

The pagans were familiar with many types of arts. They were engaged in painting, sculpture, music, and developed crafts. Here archaeological research plays an important role in the study of culture and life.

Excavations in the territories of ancient cities show all the diversity of everyday life in city life. Many discovered treasures and opened burial grounds brought to us household utensils and jewelry. The abundance of women's jewelry in the found treasures made the study of crafts accessible. On tiaras, rings, and earrings, ancient jewelers reflected their ideas about the world; with the help of ornate floral patterns, they could tell about “Kashchey’s Death,” about the change of seasons, about the life of pagan gods... Unknown animals, mermaids, griffins and Semargls occupied the imagination artists of that time.

Unfortunately, almost all pagan architecture was wooden and is almost lost to us, but in the surviving early stone Christian churches you can see pagan motifs in decoration and ornament. This is typical of the period of dual faith, when the artist could depict a Christian saint and a pagan deity side by side, bringing together a cross and ancient Slavic symbols in an ornate ornament.

Bibliography

1. Eleonskaya E.N. Amulets of livestock among the Eastern Slavs during the first spring pasture in the field / Agricultural magic // Russian witchcraft. M., 2012.

2. Zelenin D.K. East Slavic ethnography. - M., 2009

3. Klein L.S. Resurrection of Perun. Toward the reconstruction of East Slavic paganism. St. Petersburg, 2008

4. Kozak D.N., Borovsky Ya.E. Sanctuaries of the Eastern Slavs // Rituals and beliefs of the ancient population of Ukraine. Kyiv, 2009

5. Makashina T.S. Elijah's day and Elijah the prophet in popular ideas and folklore of the Eastern Slavs. - In the book: Rituals and ritual folklore. M., 2008

6. Mythological stories of the Russian population of Eastern Siberia / Comp. V.P. Zinoviev. Novosibirsk, 2007

7. Novikov N.V. Images of an East Slavic fairy tale. L., 2007

8. Sedakova O.A. Poetics of the Rite. Funeral rituals of the Eastern and Southern Slavs." M., 2012.

9. Sedov V.V. Eastern Slavs in the VI - XIII centuries. M., 2012

10. Sedov V.V. Old Russian pagan sanctuary in Peryn // Brief communications of the Institute of the History of Material Culture. 2009. issue. 50

11. Sedov V.V. Clothes of the Eastern Slavs of the 6th-9th centuries. AD // Ancient clothing of the peoples of Eastern Europe. M., 2009

12. Telegin S.M. Mythology of the Eastern Slavs. M., 2010

13. Timoshchuk B.A. East Slavic community VI - X centuries. M., 2009

14. Tokarev S.A. Religious beliefs of the East Slavic peoples of the 19th - early 20th centuries. M., 2007.

15. Tretyakov P.N. East Slavic tribes. M., 2009

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