The ancient civilizations of the Middle East - Egypt, Sumer, Akkad, Babylon, Assyria and others - are still given too much importance. Perhaps only Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome received (and receive) no less attention. As a result, people have a distorted picture. stories humanity, when other regions of the planet remain in the consciousness of “unknown lands”. It is clear that the Middle East in antiquity was distinguished by high culture. It should also be remembered that its current population has little to do with the ancient peoples who lived there and left such a rich heritage. However, to ascribe to this region all the main achievements of mankind is not worth it.
By the end of 20, the beginning of 21 for centuries, a sufficient amount of information had been accumulated, as this region was subjected to the most careful study by the scientific community to conclude that civilizations in the Middle East in the past have the strongest "gaps" in cultural continuity. And to understand that creative impulses for restoring collapsed states (at a new level) and building new formations were received from outside.
In particular, the farming culture in the Middle East was not local, but came from the outside in 8 thousand BC. e. The “gap” in cultures is huge, it was a real revolution. The semi-wild generations have just been engaged in gathering and hunting, and suddenly there are cities (proto-city) with a population of several thousand, whose inhabitants have the skills to cultivate up to 14 cereal species and animal husbandry technologies. Among these cities are modern Jericho in Palestine and Chatal-Uyuk (Chatal-Hüyuk) in southern Anatolia. Thus, according to the British archeologist James Mellart, the Neolithic cultures of Anatolia laid the foundation for agriculture and animal husbandry, as well as the cult of the Mother Goddess - the basis of our civilization (Mellart J. The oldest civilizations of the Middle East). Scientists called this event the “Neolithic revolution” - there was a transition of human communities from the primitive economy of hunters and gatherers to a production economy based on agriculture and animal husbandry.
Another gap that Middle Eastern cultures have experienced is noted in 5 millennium BC. e. Many of the old settlements - the proto-city died, and for almost a thousand years the region fell to a more primitive level of development. At the end of 4 millennium BC. e. People of a different anthropological type penetrate into the region than before and bring with them the technologies of the “Bronze Age”. The era of the famous civilizations of the Ancient World, which, in the opinion of the majority, laid the foundations of modern human civilization, begins.
The Sumerians in the area between the Tigris and the Euphrates were not the first inhabitants. They themselves believed that they had come to this place from “Dilmun Island”. Find out what it was for the island, there is no possibility. The scientific world has spawned on this subject several versions. However, it is obvious that it was the southern "island", the Sumerians were people I clearly expressed Negroid features. But not all the Sumerians were "southerners." The highest castes of the Sumerian city-states belonged to the “Nordic” (Indo-European) type. In the Sumerian imperial burial grounds, people are clearly of a different race than the majority of the population. Apparently, here we are witnessing a situation that has been preserved in India: the Sumerian aristocracy, the high priesthood and the majority of the population correlated with each other, as the highest and lowest caste-varna in India of the Aryan period. In addition, a similarity was found between the objects of the material culture of Sumer and the steppes of southern Russia. In particular, images of carts that were found in the royal tombs 3 thousand BC. e. are similar to the chariots of the south Russian steppes. And in the southern Russian steppes these chariots appeared on 2 thousands of years earlier, which rejects the hypothesis that the northern barbarians borrowed the best practices of the southerners. E. Tseren in the work “Biblical Hills” reports another interesting fact: it was found strikingly similarity between the tombs of the kings in Ur and some burial grounds in Greece, the eastern part of the Balkan Peninsula and in southern Russia. Such forms of construction — vaulted and domed tombs — were characteristic of Greece and southern Russia.
Thus, we find in Sumer traces of the influence of the northern civilization - the Aryan (Indo-European) racial type of aristocracy, the Aryan chariots, the methods of construction. Another example of the influence of the northern tradition is the sleigh. The Sumerians did not ride in them (there was no snow), but they sent their rulers to the last journey. It was a national tradition of the Sumerian culture - in gold and silver, lapis lazuli, with images of heads of lions, and bulls, the sleighs of the kings of Ur were sent on their last journey. Interestingly, this custom has been preserved in Russia (the direct heir of the Aryan, Scythian-Sarmatian civilization) up to the Middle Ages. The Grand Duke Vladimir Monomakh (1053-1125), feeling the approach of death, writes in his Instruct: “Sitting on a sleigh already ...”, in the sense of “preparing for death”. And here is what the Czech researcher Lubor Niederle reports in “Slavic Antiquities”: “In Russian sources, according to which this custom is only known to us, there are several reports that the bodies of the dead princes Vladimir, Boris, Gleb, Yaroslav, Mikhail, Svyatopolk (X - XII century), whether they were buried in the winter or in the summer, were brought to the burial place on sleds ”. In addition, people who were waiting for their imminent death prepared themselves for the burial of a sleigh, and the old Russian expression “to sit on a sleigh” meant the same thing as “to be before death”. This tradition has long been maintained in Russia and in its south. This custom is also noted in other Slavic regions - in the Carpathians, in Slovakia, Poland and Serbia.
It is interesting that we discover sledges in ancient Egypt (as well as northern-type bronze swords, which belong to the early history of Egypt). On the eastern side of the burial chamber of the Egyptian ruler Tutankhamen shows the funeral procession. The body of the pharaoh lies in a sarcophagus on a stretcher with images of lions; and the sarcophagus stands in the ark, which people drag on a sleigh to the tomb. As it is known, snow in Egypt is an anomaly. To invent such a thing as a sleigh in Egypt alone could not. This item, which has such importance for the burial of the king, was brought from outside. And representatives of the upper classes, the aristocracy. This is the continuity between the civilization of the North (the Arians - the Scythians and the Rus-Slavs) and Ancient Dvorech, Egypt.
In the steppes of southern Russia already in the middle of the 3rd millennium BC. e. there was a developed plowing, and, moreover, irrigated farming (at that time the Sumerians still preferred hoe farming). Tserena’s work “Biblical Hills” raises the question: “Did the Sumerians learn the art of building canals and turning the marshy lowlands into fertile lands on vast plains that stretch from the Black to the Caspian Seas?” The same question can be posed with respect to another ancient Middle civilization East - Egypt. Egyptian civilization was economically based on artificial irrigation. Valley of the Great Nile River in 5 thousand BC. e. represented literally "empty space". Rare generations of hunters and fishermen roamed the local marshy lowlands. However, by the end of this millennium, a sharp qualitative breakthrough is taking place in the spiritual and material culture of this region. The rapid development of irrigation farming begins. And after a thousand and a half years in the Nile Valley, we already see the civilization that we are shown in a variety of artistic and documentary works, with huge pyramids and temples. Usually, this flourishing is preceded by centuries and millennia of prehistory, which create the basis for civilization. We do not observe this, there is no “preface”. From the wretched few anglers and the magnificent civilization of the whole "step" in historical terms. No wonder that a lot of “researchers” appeared on the background of this, who enthusiastically dig out the “traces” of alien influence, of a different mind.
In the first architectural monumental buildings of Egypt, for example, in the temple at the tomb of Djoser (considered the first pyramid in Ancient Egypt), imitation of stone wooden pillars and a vaulted roof was found (in fact, it was a prototype of the Greek hall and Christian basilica that would appear in the West only through 3 thousand years). The prototype for this temple, in ancient Egypt to Djoser, there are simply no such buildings, so-called. “Houses of high standard construction”, a favorite type of dwelling in the vast continental Eurasia. This type of dwelling is known from the most ancient times of the Pit-hole culture of southern Russia - this is the archaeological culture of the late copper age - the early bronze age (3600 — 2300 BC), it occupied the territory from the South Ural region in the east to the Dniester in the west, from the North Caucasus in the south to the Middle Volga region in the north. With the dwellings of the cultures of the Middle East, where they do not know winter, these houses have nothing in common. Therefore, it is not surprising that buildings of this type arise in Egypt only at the "beginning" of its history, and then disappear.
There is every reason to believe that the civilizations of Sumer and Egypt received an "energy push" from the North, from the southern Russian steppes, through the Caucasus (most often east, along the coast of the Caspian Sea) and Asia Minor. Migrations of this type were fixed at a later time - the movement of Cimmerians and Scythians to the Middle East, they could have been earlier. Otherwise, it is impossible to explain the emergence of traditions of spiritual and material culture, which are typical of the civilization of the North, in the Middle East. They appeared with groups of immigrants who brought their cultural traditions, cutting-edge technology at that time.
Obviously, the impact was not one-sided. Southerners quickly mastered advanced technologies, in the south they flourished, took elaborate forms and tried to influence the northern civilization (first of all, the military). Hike Persian ruler Darius in 512 BC. e. against Great Scythia was not the first invasion from the South. There is evidence that Ancient Egypt still waged war with Scythia. A number of ancient authors report on the wars that the pharaoh Sezostris conducted with the Scythians. Under this name are known several Egyptian pharaohs of the Senusserts - there were three of them, their rule belongs to the Middle Kingdom, when Egypt reached the peak of its power. Sources say that the outcome of the war for Egypt was so successful that Pharaoh’s army invaded the Northern Black Sea region.
Scythian element in Egypt, Dvorichche and Palestine in 2 thousand BC. e.
Sources report that in 17-16 centuries. BC e. Egypt and Mesopotamia were captured by some people who had a cavalry army. In Babylon, they were called "Kassites", in Assyria - "Mitanni", in Egypt - "Hyksos". Sources of these peoples are not reported on the origin. One thing is clear - they came to the Middle East from the outside, becoming the next wave of immigrants. To understand the origin of these "mysterious" horsemen, it is enough to recall that at that time only Indo-Europeans (arias) who lived in the expanses of Great Scythia possessed developed horse-drawn transport.
About the Indo-European origin of these warriors can be understood by a number of other signs. In particular, in the agreements of the state of Mitanni (it was founded by “horsemen” in the territory of Northern Mesopotamia and adjacent areas) with the Hittite kingdom (another state of Indo-Europeans in Asia Minor), dating back to 14 century BC. e., mentioned the names of the gods of the Aryan pantheon: Mitra, Indra, Varuna, Nasatya. Varuna is a god-father, a creator and an almighty; Mithra, the god-son, the god of the day and the sun; Indra - thunderer, winner of evil; The name of Nasatya is associated with the cult of divine horsemen, the wheelwalker Ashwins (they symbolize sunrise and sunset). Cassite riders who are in 1595g. BC e. established control over Babylon and ruled it in the XVI-XII centuries. BC. (in the 15th century BC, the Kassites subdued southern Mesopotamia), the god of the Sun Surios, the Vedic Surya, was known.
Some researchers of this period in the history of the region, for example T. Barrow, came to the conclusion that the language of the Mitanni population was the same as the Indo-Aryans. However, it is not customary to develop this topic, since this is a question related to the Great Policy, the struggle that is going on for the planet. Western historians do not want to admit the fact that the original homeland of the Aryans (Indo-Europeans) is located in Russia. Both Indian and Persian Aryans came to the South from their ancestral homeland, the steppe and forest-steppe zones of southern Russia. The migratory impulses occurred at different times and went in different ways - through Central Asia, through the Caucasus, the coast of the Caspian Sea, through the Balkan Peninsula.
A new major relocation of Indo-Europeans to the Middle East took place at the end of the 13th and the beginning of the 12th centuries. BC e. This time some sources speak directly about Scythians. According to Egyptian sources, the country was attacked by the so-called. "Peoples of the sea". So the Egyptians called in the XIV – XII centuries. BC e. previously unknown (or little-known) to them northern peoples who lived beyond the Mediterranean Sea. Among the "peoples of the sea" were the tribes: Sherdans (Shardans), Thyrsens, Tersha, Philistines, Chakkal, Danuns, Phrygians, Shakalesh, Achaeans, Garamant, Bows and Tevkra. The name "Shardan" is mentioned in Russian sources, they say that the brothers Skif and Zardan went to the "land of Egypt" by war. These shardan created the city of Sardis (the future capital of the Lydian kingdom) on the western coast of Asia Minor; a part came to Italy, settling the island of Sardinia (its name is on their behalf).
Southern sources also associate the invasion of the "peoples of the sea" with Scythia. Some ancient authors talk about the wars of the Egyptian Pharaoh Vesaus (a collective name like Pharaoh Sezostris) with the Scythian ruler Tanaem (perhaps a fictitious name or a nickname associated with the river Tanais - Don). The Egyptians were the first to strike, the Scythians repelled him and responded. As a result of these wars, the city of Tanis (Tanais) was founded in the Nile River delta. However, Egypt resisted, calling for help the neighboring tribes of Libyans and Ethiopians.
More successfully, the affairs of the "peoples of the sea" went in Palestine, where Philistines (Pelasgians) were entrenched there. They occupied the cities of Ashkelon, Ashdod, Gata, Gaza and founded Ekron. They had more advanced technologies (in particular, the technology of production of iron weapons and agricultural implements) than the local Canaan. The Philistines created a coalition of 5 cities and were more interested in maritime affairs than continental ones. At the same time, the Philistines were a powerful military force that slowed down the invasion of nomadic Semites (ancestors of Jews and Arabs), who at that time were at a very low stage of development. The Philistines have often smashed the Semites, preserving a high culture in the region. According to Tseren, the Philistines belonged to the steppe people who penetrated from the deep regions of the Balkan Peninsula, Central and Eastern Europe to the Illyrian and Greek shores of the Mediterranean, and from there through Asia Minor and the sea, the islands, including Crete, moved to the coasts of Egypt and Palestine.
To be continued ...