Russian North — its forests and fields are not trampled hordes of invaders, its free and proud people are mostly not aware of feudal oppression, and it is here preserved in purity and integrity of the ancient songs, stories, were in Russia. It was here, in the opinion of many researchers, to keep such archaic practices, rituals and traditions that are not only ancient Greek, and even recorded in the ancient Indian «books of knowledge» — the Vedas, the most ancient monument of culture of all Indo-European peoples. On the next large Slavic and Vedic mythology wrote in the XIX century A. Afanasiev, who attached great importance to a convergence of mythological subjects and ritual practice of the Eastern Slavs and ancient.
These converging parallels marked and visible in the works of Russian historians and linguists XIX — early XX centuries, is enough to recall the work AH Vostokov II Sreznevskii, Sun Miller, VV Bartold, NM Galkovsky, etc. The idea of the unity of the origins of the folk culture of the Slavs and Aryans permeates by VA Gorodtsov «Daco-Sarmatian religious elements in the Russian folk art.» Recently, scientists began to raise the question about the possible existence of ancient indoslavyanskoy community, which differ not only a significant linguistic similarities, but also an exceptional cultural and economic closeness that has developed in a very long cohabitation.
Since most modern historians believe that at the turn II — I millennium BC Aryan tribes were already in the north-western part of the Indian subcontinent and in Iran, it is natural to assume that similar religious beliefs and mythology of the Aryans and Slavs had emerge much earlier .
Many scientists thought was aimed at finding the original land of Aryans, their ancestral home (under this name should be understood the lands where the disparate tribal groups evolved into tribes, producing the centuries vzaimoponyatnye similar dialects and languages, which became one of the main signs of the emerging ethnic groups).
«Slavic language — is an Indo-European language in general kept the archaic type.»
Native linguist BV Hornung believed that the ancestors of the Aryan (Indo-Iranians) at the end of the III millennium BC inhabited north-east of Europe and be somewhere near the middle of the Volga, and the other distinguished linguist VI Abaev writes: «Through a series of centuries carried the memory of his arias homeland and its great river Volga. «
Even in the 20’s of the XX century, Academician A. Sobolewski said that in the vast expanse of European Russia, up to the northern regions, dominated by names, which are based on an ancient Indo-European language. He wrote in his paper: «The starting point of my work — the assumption that the two groups of names (water sources — S. Zh) are related to each other and belong to the Indo-European language family.»
In the II millennium BC in north-western India and northern Iran, with its Eastern European «ancestral» come tribes ranchers and farmers, who call themselves Aryans.
Part of the Aryans, and not small, went from Eastern Europe to the East in search of a better life, but it’s hard to imagine a situation in which the entire population of a considerable part of its original settlement would leave them. Most likely, such a situation is simply impossible, because of historical reasons have been identified, which could cause them mandatory universal (Aryan — S. J.) care of their «ancestral home.» Probably part of the Aryan tribes stayed at home in the vast Eastern Europe to become the ancestors of some of the future of the peoples of this land. And there is nothing surprising in the fact that the historian PN Tretyakov quoted Academician Marr, who believed that the ancient Slavs subbase is not limited to, for example, the Volga region, and extends far to the north, «in the places to which the last time was not considered Slavic and Slavs occupied at the dawn of the so-called historical time. » Ancient ethnic group of Eastern North preceding relocation here from beyond the Urals group of the Finno-Ugric peoples, Marr sometimes called «northern Sarmatians» or, even more interesting, «Russ.» From south-eastern Europe, the Black Sea to the land left (as almost all historians believe — reason for leaving was the onset of drought) Aryan tribes thousands of years ago to find a new home in India and Iran (correct: Arjan — «Land of the Aryans»). Went and took with them their stories, fairy tales, myths, beliefs, rituals, songs, their ancient gods. On the new land for them, among other nations they piously preserved the memory of his past, his ancestral home. Kept their and our memory! Russia can not know ourselves without the help of the knowledge of the roots of the past, and not knowing yourself, it is impossible to know others and to take into account the position of others.
Look closely at the map north of Eastern Europe, the names of rivers, lakes, towns. All of these names are stored in the case are people who remember them. Otherwise, comes a new population, and calls everything is new. In the Russian North to this day you can find the names of rivers, is clearly related to Sanskrit, explained only by the ancient language of the Aryans — sanskrita8, as well as the names of many towns and villages.
It is in those places where they are preserved ancient names of villages, in weaving and embroidery Russian peasant before the end of XIX — early XX centuries. steadfastly maintained the tradition of ancient geometric patterns, which can be found in the most ancient cultures of Eurasia VI-II millennium BC. e. And above all, those patterns are often very complex and time consuming, which were «calling card» of the Aryan antiquity.
«People do not remember that he ever invented their mythology, their language, their laws, customs and rituals. All these national foundations are already deeply entered his moral being, like life itself, experienced it for many prehistoric ages, as the past, which rests firmly present order of things and the future development of life. Therefore, all the moral ideas of the people of the primitive era are its sacred tradition, the great native traditions, sacred covenant of their ancestors to descendants. » These words of the outstanding Russian folklorist XIX century. FI Buslaeva, spoken at a ceremonial meeting at Moscow State University in 1859, still relevant today.
And sinking into the depths of thousands in search of answers to the question: «So what is this sacred tradition, what this holy covenant of their ancestors to descendants?», We take with us, as a clue, that memory of the past, which is preserved in our songs, epics in our ceremonies, rituals, beliefs, language, and folk art.
Russian language has, according to some researchers, the translation of the Vedas, «a number of doubtless advantages over Western European languages.» These benefits are associated with the best kept in the Russian archaism than in Western languages.
One of the greatest modern American linguists P. Friedrich believes that Proto-Slavic language is better than all other Indo-European languages have preserved the ancient Indo-European system of names of trees, from which he concluded that the ancestors of the Slavs in the single Slavonic period lived in a natural climate zone that corresponds to the ancestral home of the Indo-Europeans , and «after the Slavic period speakers of different Slavic dialects substantially continued to live in this area.»
Arya went to the east and took with them their stories, fairy tales, myths, beliefs, rituals, songs, dances, their ancient gods. On the new land for them, among other nations they piously preserved the memory of his past, his ancestral home. Kept their and our memory!
Kowtow to you, distant brothers and sisters, for what you have carried through the millennia our common sanctuary, our common history, our common memory! Because preserved gold keys to the ancient times, and today we open the treasure of the past of his people. Whether it is to us? This question was answered in 1911, the prominent researcher of the Russian North Zhuravskaya: «In the» childhood «of humanity — the basis for the knowledge and direction of future ways of humanity. In the era of «childhood Russia» — the path to the knowledge of Russia, to the knowledge of the control of those historical events of our time, which are believed to be fatally complicated and not subordinate to the will of the people of the ruling, but the roots of which are simple and elementary, as an initial cell complex organisms … and we must fully use the experience of the hoary past, and the closer to the embryo of the past, we get in close, the more conscious, more certain and confident go ‘forward’ … It is the story of «the childhood of mankind,» it helps us to know ethnography logical laws of the natural progress and deliberately, and not blindly follow «forward» itself and move «forward» his people, for the ethnography and history — the way to a knowledge of the «past», without which it is impossible to apply to come to the knowledge of the knowledge of the present. «Mankind» is composed of «nations», and above all a logical necessity that the nation was a certain mutual entity, that it seemed we were not in the third person plural — «they», as in the first — «we.» Russia … can not know ourselves without the help of the knowledge of the roots of the past, and not knowing yourself, it is impossible to know the others and consider their position among the others, it does not correct itself, it is impossible to correct others … killing germs many beliefs and ideals — let us look at their prints items until they died forever. This is not the only «interesting» or «interesting», but vital, necessary. «
No, we do not have thousands of years old, as it is now, and write and speak, and millennia. About one thousand years, we can only speak with regard to the adoption of Christianity. Before that, our ancestors lived in caves and dressed in skins. Not suddenly in the European world was popularized Gardarica word («Land of Cities») as the title of Russia. Our lands were the cities, and in one day they were born and evolved and developed over the centuries, as the city — it is not just a gathering of houses, and a way of life, existing relations of production, centralization of economic and trade relations and the place concentration of social structures that have developed over the centuries.
Prince Oleg of Novgorod, taking the 885 authorities in Kiev and united around the center of Russia, went to war against Constantinople, the capital of the Byzantine Empire, and put this empire to its knees. At the beginning of X century, Prince Igor, son of Rurik, sent to the Khazars, who tried to crush Russia, 500 ships took on board at 100. They fought their way to the south of the Caspian Sea. Russia afraid of other people, she considered, she paid tribute. Such strength and unity were formed long before Christianity, and, therefore, the history of our incalculably ancient.
In Russia, the city flocked goods produced villagers — the citizens needed not only food and building materials, but things made by artisans — fabrics, pottery and metal. The cities themselves became the centers of production of many goods, especially luxury goods for the growing layer of the nobility. According to the data obtained in numerous excavations and carefully processed by archaeologists, the Slavs were of old barter trade with other countries, and this required growth skills of people working in any industry. Towns, cities embryos ancient Slavs were known in eastern countries: that they had long known the Arabs and Persians, is mentioned in the writings of Abu Reich Biruni (X c.) And Ibn Fadlan (IX-X centuries.). The latter describes the arrival on Itil (on the Volga) traders Russes and speaks of their ships, weapons, chains, ornaments of precious metal, pearl and bead necklaces, as well as the large wooden houses that they are building upon arrival at once on the beach and live in them for 10 — 20 persons with their wives and slave girls, he wrote and that Russ knew the money and the time has already sold, not just change their products, he describes their idols and the ritual burning of the dead, in which his wife killed ( or it kills you) and burned along with the body of her husband (turn our attention here to the fact that in ancient Indian literature describes a similar ritual that India has lived up to XIX-XX centuries.) states that «the Russian kings usually kept to himself in his castle or town 400 brave warriors (squad) … These are the 400 sitting down on the big sofa royal jeweled … he (king or prince) is the governor, who chairs the army … «
All of these data presents and Karamzin. So what is the beginning of statehood, and indeed the history of our can be dated only one millennium? There were cities, social distinctions bundle, were historical traditions, and it all adds up to a much older age.
So, in these cities Russes with large wooden houses developed, again, crafts, leaving its origins in prehistoric times. Gradually, in the course of the centuries, changed, improved, the technology, but the themes of images, pictures, and labels placed on items craft guarded tradition. They have not changed, because all of them carry a meaning, have a certain value, often magical, spell, and was a reflection of the concepts of life and death, the acquisition of the offspring, the preservation of property, livestock breeding, crop maturation. It was scary to change them, because the magic has played a leading role in the beliefs of the pagans, and the drawings and characters were firmly secured, as indicated by at least by the simple fact that they have lived in the folk art to this day.
The plot, the language of characters in this art summoned to increased interest, but the main focus of the work of scientists devoted to identifying and explaining the images of male and female deities, being found even in the later Russian embroideries, — this is a clear remnant of paganism. It is interesting that such a female deity (and perhaps this is a praying woman) is almost exactly repeated in Russian embroideries, and Indian fabrics and ritual objects, which is not a mere accident. In Russian and other Slavic embroidery of old, there are many geometric motifs, which, along with other topics too, take us to ancient times and, therefore, they can be used to trace some of the story line.
Russian folk embroidery for over a century has attracted the attention of researchers. Even at the end of the last century a number of brilliant collection of this kind of folk art and made the first attempts to read complicated «story» songs, especially characteristic of folk traditions of the Russian North.
There was a lot of interesting work on the analysis of the plot and symbolic language, especially technology and regional differences in Russian folk embroidery. However, the focus of most of these works is given anthropomorphic and zoomorphic, archaic three-part composition comprising, as already mentioned, the stylized and transformed the image of man — female (usually) male or (rarely) a pre-Christian deity.
A few stand out geometric motifs severorusskoy embroidery, accompanied, as a rule, the basic detailed narrative compositions, though often in the design of towels, belts, hem, and Mantle zarukavya shirts is geometric motifs are basic and the only thing they are extremely important to the researchers. By the way, and the analysis of patterns of local traditional lace also deserves a lot of attention from this point of view.
The archaic geometrism in Russian ornamental work and the need for its careful study repeatedly wrote Academician BA Rybakov. And in his work 1960 — 1970’s., And for the first time came out in 1961 his profound book on ancient Slavic paganism permeates the thought of the immeasurable depths of people’s memory, a preservative and careening through the ages in the images of embroidery wood carvings, toys and so on ancient philosophical scheme rooted in uncharted distant millennium.
Very valuable in this regard, the museum’s collection of Russian North, that is, the places where we can say, the eternal separation from government centers, as well as a relatively peaceful existence (Vologda, for example, in its north-eastern part of the little known wars) abundance of forests and protection of many settlements marshes and roads — all contributed to the preservation for the immeasurable number of centuries the oldest forms of life and the economy, respect for the faith of their fathers and grandfathers, and, as a direct consequence, conservation of ancient symbols that is encoded in the patterns of embroidery, in the patterns of fabrics and lace.
Of particular interest are the embroidery, «surviving» to turn XIX-XX centuries., Which originate from the north-eastern districts of the Vologda and Arkhangelsk regions neighboring areas. Many scholars have written about the fact that this was the land of the Finno-Ugric tribes, but these place names suggest something quite different — the overwhelming majority of names here are Slavic, and many of them are very archaic. Thus, in the Vologda region Tarnogsky of 137 settlements, both large and small, only 6 have expressed Finno-Ugric name. It is in these areas have the best preserved of the ancient tradition of ornamental patterns, as we lower trace the origin.
Ornamental compositions, which will be discussed and which are reproduced in the Vologda embroideries up to 1930, adorned only marked with sacred things. Accurately refer to this process Rybakov, «Deposition in embroidery very early formation of human religious thought … explained the ritual character of the subjects that were covered with embroidered pattern … These wedding kokoshniki brides, shirts, gowns for wedding carriages and more. Especially ritual object, has long stood apart from its domestic counterpart, had a towel with a rich and intricate embroidery. Towel on a tray of bread and salt, towels were reins wedding train, on the towels were carrying coffins and lowered it into the grave. Towels hang the red corner, a towel «religionists» icon of the Holy «10.
It is these sacred ornaments and presented in the museum of Vologda, and they will continue to be the main comparative material in our attempt to identify the parallels between the ancient ornamental designs severorusskoy embroidery and ornaments created by the people who lived within a different historical era in large areas of the Eurasian steppes and steppe and spoke Indo-European languages, including those that belong to the Iranian-speaking branches and indoyazychnym praindoiranskogo language (or merge them of a number of dialects of tribes included in science under the common name of the Aryans).
So, one of the oldest motifs ornament geometric type was among the peoples of Eurasia diamond or diamond-shaped meander (meander many interpreted as a conventional representation of the wave tops, wrap at right angles). Meander are even found in things, dating Paleolithic, such as various bone items found in the parking lot Mezin in Chernihiv. Paleontologist B. Bibikova in 1965 suggested that meander spiral torn strips meander and rhombus meanders on subjects from parking Mezin emerged as repetition of the natural pattern of dentin mammoth bivney11. From this it is concluded that such an ornament for the people of that era was a symbol of the mammoth, the main object of the hunt. This could be of value, and a magic spell-aimed at success of the hunt, and at the same time reflects the people’s perceptions of the abundance.
Meander pattern in its various combinations and modifications persist for thousands of years, is increasingly spreading among neighboring Indo-European peoples, and charges outside of their territories in the movement of the Aryans in the south-east. It as a symbol of good luck and a kind of guardian of unhappiness we meet in the cult objects and ceramics (ie, very important for human life storage of food and drink) and later cultures.
It should be mentioned that the very bone items mentioned Mezin site you can see how the strip of double meander images in motion from right to left, grow swastika shape — another characteristic of all Indo ornament. This element is depicted in its basic form — in the shape of a cross with bent at right angles to the ends, and being complicated by new elements in the form of additional processes.
The swastika in the decoration took a leading position. The word is Sanskrit and other languages had no other names not. It consists of two parts: «su» — a good, happy and «Pattern» — is (third person singular of the verb «to be»), and the rules of phonetics «y» before a vowel, «a» is replaced by «in» and receive «Swasti», to which is added the suffix «a» and ending «a»: a swastika. This sign means «giver of all good things, of good fortune.» If four of his «department» put on the point, it will be a symbol of planted fields, while praying for a good harvest.
Swastika motif:
a-h) the traditional motifs of embroidery and lace. Vologda, XIX-XX centuries. And) Novgorod. XIII century. J) Chernihiv. XII-XIII century.; L) Russ XIII-XV century., M) Ryazan, n-o) tripilska culture. Eneolithic, n-m) Scythian-Sarmatian product. I millennium BC. e. — The beginning of BC. e., y-y) Andronovo culture. Bronze Age, and x-y) Northern Caucasus. The Bronze Age; h) Zap. Caspian. Bronze Age, m), India, w) pattern on the wedding chamber. North. India, e) motif embroidery, Tajikistan, XX century.
By the way, if two swastika overlaid rotated 45 degrees to the top, you get ancient Slavic sun sign «Kolovrat», ie, the spinning wheel (kolo), with eight spokes with turned clockwise ends.
Swastika, from ancient times, the ancestors of the Slavs and Aryans came to refer to the light of the sun, the source of life and prosperity. This sign can be traced from Arkhangelsk to the lands of India, where it is visible everywhere — they decorate the temples, houses, clothes, and many necessary items connected with the wedding.
Until now, people resent the use of the swastika ugly German fascists, who by all means tried likened himself aryam («Aryan»), attributing this ancient tribal pastoralists, and then cattle-farmers, the features of some evil invaders. Badly with looks and speculation on a relatively small number of similar words in German and Sanskrit — these words are much more in the Slavic languages. All ancestors of the Indo-European peoples have developed in ancient times in the historical contacts a volume similar vocabulary, but the ancestors of the Germans and other European nations in the western group of Indo-Europeans, while the ancestors of the Slavs and Aryans — the eastern, more one-to-close. The so-called Aryan swastika can be seen even today in the craft works of the Slavs, especially the North: it is decorated with a lot of folk art, including vyvyazannye patterned mittens.
Transformation of the original meander motif is characteristic of ceramics Tripoli — shaped pattern, consisting of the so-called «Andrei».
In general, we can determine the range of the main ornamental motifs, which, focusing on Tripoli as a kind of arch, we will compare the material subsequent crops. This — meander and its varieties, meandioidnaya spiral hard-traced the cross, the swastika, «jib».
In search of the next time the analogies we naturally turn to the ceramic complex of the crops that are at various time intervals existed in Eastern Europe and the Urals and the Ural lands. Ceramic tradition of ornamentation, which includes an amazing array of options and meander svasticheskogo motives, we find the nearest neighbor «srubnikov» — the population of the Andronovo culture created by the Indo-Iranians, and genetically related to carcass. Synchronous in time, the two cultures have existed for a long period on a very large areas of the steppe and forest-steppe zones of the country.
We have every reason to talk about the distribution of the Slavs, to be exact, the eastern Slavs, described here, ornamental schemes. As with everything Andronovo ornament in severorusskoy folk embroidery and weaving Bran, the composition is divided into three horizontal zones, the upper and lower often duplicating one another, and the average bears important from their point of view on the importance of patterns. We do not know what was the form of ornaments on things, are made by people in the era of the ancient Indo-Iranian (Aryan) unity, but we believe that the described elements of ornamental patterns are unlikely to suddenly born in the mind of the same Andronov, and rooted in genetically related to them culture of their common ancestors.
Said middle stripe horizontal composition can carry consecutive time for a variety of different cultures from the combination of these elements of ornament, which are identical severorusskim, tripil’ska and much more the Eastern and South-Eastern cultures. Particularly interesting legality of such analogies can be traced in the East Slavic archaeological materials. For example, found in Novgorod in 1960. buckle in the form of hard incised crosses, dating from the middle of the XIII century., found a recurrence pattern in embroidery, recently performed on a towel Vologda peasant. Published Polyakova find slate spindles on Slavic settlement near Ryazan, which dates from the XI-XIII centuries., Is interesting in that the spindle pattern scratched in a six-pointed Orthodox cross, surrounded by a spiral and meander svasticheskimi motives.
Similar examples could be and still continue. We can only say the following: similar patterns may arise out of mutual communication among different people, but it’s hard to believe that the peoples separated thousands of kilometers and thousands of years — if only these people are not connected Ethnogenetic — can be completely independent of each other to appear as complex ornamental compositions, repeated even in the smallest details, but still perform the same functions: amulets and signs belonging to the family or genus.
It is impossible to deny the inevitability of Ethnogenetic links between the ancient ancestors of the Indo-Iranian tribes and isolated from their community and Iranian speaking indoyazychnoy branches, and, respectively, and those ethnic groups that were formed in close proximity with them for thousands of years, up to the addition of large ones in their culture carcass Andronov and communities.
With their combination should occur and the process of partial collapse, manifested in the resettlement of individual tribes or groups of both the west and east. Aryans care, for example, concluded, as recognized by science, by the second half of the II millennium BC. e. Geographically close to them for such a long time, partly Slavic ancestors migrated to the west, forming a group known as the Western Slavs, and the main array, called the East Slavs, settled on the lands of Eastern Europe.
Departing to the east and south, Aryan tribes took with the traditional form of culture — developed production skills, the types of ornaments (and understanding reflected in their symbolism), customs and beliefs.
On his way to India and Iran Aryans come in contact with the people of the countries through which they passed, settling there for different periods of time and some mingling with the public. So for us here are interesting and the motives of patterns that are close to the Old Slavonic, which are detected in people living, for example, in the Caucasus or Central Asia (although it should be remembered that in the Urals and to Afghanistan, part of the land included in the area of the Andronovo culture and earlier) .
Unfortunately, scientists have only in the last 25-30 years have been traced in his writings, racial, linguistic, cultural and other Arya-Slavic parallel, and such studies greatly expand the boundaries of our knowledge of our own past.
We are refraining from far-reaching conclusions, and only mention in conclusion that this analysis is limited outside the circumpolar, steppe and forest-steppe zones of the country. Undoubtedly attract Indian and Iranian materials would greatly expanded this framework.
It is our deep conviction, should not be so hard to suppress further hypothesis Indian historian B. Tilak on the probability of the most ancient ancestors of the Aryan Association (back in that distant era of their common indoiranoyazychnosti, recognized by the original form of the existence of their community) in tribal and tribal alliances is in the polar regions . Not only the possibility but the total probability of this fact it proves many descriptions of the Arctic nature, preserved in ancient Indian literature.
The earliest ancestors of the Slavs also, according to multiple sources close approaches different aspects of their culture with the old Aryan, and then the culture of the peoples of the Eurasian steppes, the carriers of the Indo-European languages (eg, Andronov, once separated from the Indo-Iranian community), appear to have been so close aryam that passed to their descendants and many elements in common language, and common motifs ornaments. And the language and ornaments were means of mutual communication and evidence of genetic affinity, and possibly signs of membership, joining the same genera in the same tribes.