Secrets of Russian history: Azov-Black Sea Russia and Varangian Russia. Part of 2
There is important evidence from Greek (Byzantine) sources of the complete identity of the Scythians and the Russes of the early Middle Ages. One of the first Greek writers who mentioned Russo (Rosov) was Patriarch Photius, who literally radiates hatred of "the Scythian, and rude, and barbarous people" - this is after the siege of Constantinople by the Russian troops in 860 year. At the same time, the Christian hierarch also noted that the Rus were not only barbaric, but also nomadic people. This is actually a direct reference to Azov-Black Sea Russia, which was the direct heir of the Great Scythia (Sarmatia).
It should be noted that for Photius and other Greek (Romaic) authors, the image of the “people grew” is sharply negative and fully coincides with the unfriendly attitude towards the Scythians, which existed in Greece at the time of Herodotus. In fact, it was a confrontation between two civilizations, one was mercantile, usurious at its core, and the other, northern (Russian), was based on the concepts of honor, justice, and creative labor. This confrontation with varying success continues to the present day. For the West, Russian civilization is a “different”, northern “Mordor”, where people are ready to give their lives “for their friends”, the Homeland. In Russia, the concept of the primacy of the general over the individual, the superiority of the Spirit over Matter, is preserved.
The famous historian Leo Deacon, who left for us a valuable description of Svyatoslav Igorevich's campaigns to Bulgaria, and a description of the greatest Russian warrior, stubbornly calls the Russian soldiers “Tavro-Scythians,” that is, the Crimean Scythians. The historian even noted that the name “Russians” is commonplace, and “Scythians” is real, scientific. Thus, we have data from Greek, Eastern sources that mention Azov-Black Sea Russia. This data is also supported by Russian sources: Nikonovskaya, Nikanorovskaya, Ioakimovskaya Chronicles, The Legend of Sloven and Ruse and the city of Slovensk. Even the Tale of Bygone Years calls the Black Sea "Russian", and the tribal unions of the Great Skifia living on its coast.
Confirms the data of written sources and archeology. It is obvious that Russians lived in the 8 century in Crimea, many objects of Slavic-Russian origin were found here. Slavic found in Korsun and southeastern part of the peninsula weapon, cult objects with inscriptions in Russian, Slavic dishes and other household items. At the same time, it is believed that descendants of Tavroskifs and Sarmatians lived in the Crimea during this period. It is obvious that the Sarmatians could not “turn” into Slavs in such a short period of time, since there were no major migrations of the population to Crimea during this period. The Crimean peninsula was not part of the migration zone of the Slavic unions that came from the Balkan Peninsula. We have to admit that the Crimean Slavs 8-9 centuries. and there are Sarmatians - Tauroskifs - Ruses.
It is also necessary to say that many eastern authors call the Don, the “river of Slavs”, the “Russian river”. Al-Masoudi notes that there are “many settlements of Slavs” on the great river Tanais (Don). The very first mention of the Slavic population of the lower Don dates back to 737. This year, Arab troops under the authority of Caliph’s brother Mervan Ibn Mohammed invaded the North Caucasus during the war with Khazaria, defeated the Khazars and devastated the land on the Lower Don, taking captive to 20 thousand Slavic families. Slavs planned to settle in the possession of the Caliphate to protect the borders. The Slavs at that time were famous for being excellent warriors and sources report on their constant presence in the wars of the Arab Caliphate, the Byzantine Empire and the Khazars. Originally they were located in Kakheti. However, soon the Slavs rebelled, killed the governor and his soldiers and moved to their homeland. But they did not have to see the banks of their native river, the Arab army overtook them and almost all of them destroyed.
According to Arabian author 13 of the century Fakhr ad-Din Mubarakshah, in the Khazar Khanate (the Slavs in general made up a significant part of the population of Khazaria) borrowed writing from the Russians who lived close by. Obviously, this refers to the Black Sea Rus, “Tauroskifs”. This is another confirmation that the Ruses possessed writing long before it was “created” by the “Slovenian teachers” Cyril and Methodius. Actually in “Life of sv. Cyril "also tells about the ancient Russian literature. Konstantin Philosopher (Kirill), being in the settlements of the southern Crimea, got acquainted there with books that were written by “Russian writings”. It was these letters that were taken as the basis for creating the “Cyrillic alphabet”. Therefore, when on the Day of Slavic Literature and Culture (Day of Saints Cyril and Methodius) they speak about the “creation” of the brothers of the Russian written language, this is obvious disinformation. Russian writing existed long before the Christianization of Russia. Moreover, the researchers even reported on several types of Slavic-Russian literature that existed in Pagan Rus.
There is no doubt that for the Arab and Greek authors the "Pontic" Rus Tauroskifs are Slavs. Byzantine sources in fact do not distinguish between the Black Sea and Dnieper Rus, considering them as parts of a single whole, a single culture. In their eyes, the "Scythians", "Tauroskifs" are identical with the Russians, the Russians. The Russian chronicles, reporting about the “Great Scythian”, which shook Constantinople-Constantinople with its campaigns, use the term “Russians” in its present meaning, without separating the 9 centuries from their contemporaries at all. As the researcher N. I. Vasilyeva rightly notes: “... placing“ Rus ”7-9 centuries. Only in Dnieper, in the Kiev region, and giving the entire steppe zone of the East European Plain to some “non-Russian” peoples, historians do not just make a mistake, but allow unforgivable juggling ”(Vasilyeva N. I., Yu. D. Petukhov. Russian Scythia) . Since ancient times this region has been inhabited by one community - the Superethnos Rus.
An interesting fact is that traces of the ancient Slavic heritage are found in the North Caucasus. Shore Nogmov in the work "The legends of the Adyghes are not useless for stories Of Russia, published in 1850 in the journal Moskovitianin, told about the Adyghean legends about the Ants bogatyrs and how these ants-Slavs fought with the Goths, Huns, Avars and Romans-Byzantines. I must say that Nogmov collected for the great Russian writer Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin Adyghean legends, legends and songs. The Epic of the Adygei tells in detail about the three Ants' heroes: Buce (Baksan), Laurite (Lauristane), and Mezanmire Idariche (Maremijo, son of Idar). We meet the name of Buss in the Gothic historian Jordan in his book on the origin and deeds ready. Agreeing to his story, Prince Vinitar captured and ferociously executed 70 antsky princes, led by Bus. The Russian “Word about Igor's Regiment” informs: “And now the red Gothic maidens sang on the coast of the blue sea, calling Russian gold: they sing the time of Busovo ...”.
Nogmov translated the cry of the meanly slain by the enemies of his sister's Antsky prince: “The heroism of Buss illuminates the Antsky people with their virtues. O Bous's birthplace, although he is no longer among the living, but when Gut (Goth) will get you, do not submit! All the people revered him for the good spirit: when the battle began and the blows shone like lightning, his presence settled confidence in the Ants people. Gut (gothic) torture does not stop, all the people came to despair, because eight pairs of bulls brought his body to their homeland. "
Another Slavic hero, Lavrit, the Adyghe traditions call Lauristan. He, according to the song, included captives from the Byzantine province of Mysia and Dacia into the bride price. This tells us about the wars of the Slavs-Ants with Byzantium. The Adygei songs say that the ambassadors of the Avar Kagan “Baikan” (Bayan) demanded tribute from Lavrita. The Antes responded with “proud and unpleasant words,” in response, the Avars also began to dare, as a result, which led to their death. Having received a pretext for war, the Avar ruler moved his troops into the lands of the Antes, and Lavrita died defending his homeland.
At the hands of the Avars, another Slavic prince, Mezanmir Idarich, was taken to death, whom Avar legends call Maremiho, son of Idar. This leader died during the embassy to the Avars - an antagonist of the Antes whispered to Kagan that by killing Prince Mesanmir, it would be much easier to cope with the Antes.
Another trace of the neighborhood with the Slavs remained in the Chechen folklore. In the legends of the Chechens, a certain Pirjo or Pyrone padchah (padishah) is mentioned. In the first tale, literally the divine power of the Creator is attributed to him: "... Piryon-padishah created heaven and earth." In the second tradition, Pyrrhon is already opposed to the “god” - not to Allah, not to the Christian Lord, or to one of the tribal deities of the Vainakhs. Up to the 19 century, Islam in Chechnya got along with paganism and Christianity, the time of the complete victory of Islam - this coincided with the period of activization of the tsarist policy in the Caucasus. “Pirjo argued with God. On the edge of the universe, he built a bronze canopy like a sky. Pir'o rode the barrels along with it, pouring water out of them. ” Another legend says that Pieron made the copper vaults of heaven. He forced women to climb the self-made vaults of heaven and pour water from there. There are also legends in which Piryon from the underworld got the first mill for people. He also tells that the formidable Vladyka Pirion highly respected the elderly, loved children and immensely revered bread, for disrespecting which he punished very harshly. The last commandment is very surprising for the mountain people, whose economy was based on cattle breeding, hunting, and raids on its neighbors.
It is obvious that Pirjo is the Slavic thunderer Perun. He "was responsible" for thunder and lightning, sent rains to the earth with the help of "cloud maidens" who were called pitchforks or beregin (women who Pyrion-Perun forced to pour water from the copper skies). Communication between the fork and the rain was inseparable - even on the headgear of Russian 12 women's centuries, chain-shaped trees depicting rain hanging on the sides of their faces ended with pendants that depicted pitchforks (birds with female faces). Perun, according to beliefs recorded in White Russia, flies on the sky astride a millstone. And in the Slovak legend it is reported that he severely punishes those who are disrespectful with bread. The connection of the thunderer with the “production of bread” is obvious.
The brazen sky, the “kingdom” is constantly mentioned in Russian legends, fairy tales, conspiracies: I will rise ... blessing, and go cross to an open field, wash with dew and dawn with light, rub myself with the red sun, gird you with a bright month, obtychsya small frequent stars, cover me with a copper sky ". The Christian “celestial commander”, Michael the Archangel (in whose image we also see the features of Perun), was asked by the Orthodox soldier to fence him with an “iron and copper sky”.
Even the barrels that were rolled over the copper sky by the women of “Pyrona” have a connection with the Slavic legends. In honor of the God of Thunder with his ritual weapon - the club (the first weapon of ancient people), the daring young men in the villages of Khorutan tried to get and break the old barrel from the saddle, which was hung in the main square of the village to the oldest and most revered tree. Villagers at that time sang ritual songs. And in Novgorod, in 1358, "established themselves with each other by kissing the cross, so that they wouldn’t be loved by the devils and don’t beat the barrels" (the pagan gods of ancestors became Russian demons by this time). Alexander Afanasyev in the Poetic Views of the Slavs on Nature compared these two news and came to the conclusion that this is a ritual in honor of Perun, where the barrel symbolizes his thunderstorm clouds full of intoxicating wet rains.
Varangian Rus
Another core of Russian statehood was "Varangian Rus" (Venediya). It consisted of vast areas of Central Europe. Often, researchers are mistaken when they are trying to adapt the messages of Arab authors, which are obviously related to the Varangian Rus, to the territory of the future Kievan Rus. Thus, the Persian author of 1 of the 10th century X Ibn Ruste writes about the “Land of the Ruses”, which is located on an island surrounded by a lake (sea). Tsar Rusov called "Khakan". The main occupation Rusov war and trade. They have many cities, the Ruses live richly, they all wear golden bracelets. Guests are respectful and in every way they protect. A newborn boy is presented with a sword with the wish that these weapons acquire wealth. Taken legal fights (court of God). Healers Russov "even command the king." The Russ accepted human sacrifices. The custom of the burial of one of the wives with the deceased husband was also adopted (in India, this custom - Sati was common until the 19 century, when it was banned by the British). “They are brave and courageous, and if they attack another people, they do not lag behind until they completely destroy them. The defeated are slaughtered or destroyed. But on horseback, they don’t show courage, and they make all their raids and trips on ships. ”
Obviously, these Rus are not Slavs of the Danube Valley or Dnieper. Nor can it be the Rus of Azov-Black Sea Russia. The heirs of the Great Scythia were excellent warrior-riders, and inherited the traditions of the "Scythians-plowmen". Human sacrifices, cruelty to the vanquished, are not characteristic of the Slavs and Rus of the Russian Plain. But all the signs indicate that the country is Rus, ”this is the land of the Venetian, Vendian, and Venetian. The island surrounded by a lake (sea) is the island of Ruyan (modern Rugen) in the Baltic Sea. This is the largest island within modern Germany - the total area of 926 km². Here was located the residence of one of the most authoritative rulers of the Wends, who bore the title of "Hagan of the North" ("Hakan Nortanorum"). Influential priests, whose power is higher than the prince - is the priesthood of the sacred Arkona, the city and religious center of the Ruyan. There was located one of the most important shrines of the Varangian Rus - the temple of Svyatovit.
Venda according to an eastern source had many cities. And this confirms the manuscript of the “Bavarian Geographer” (or the Eastern Franks tribal table) of the 9th century. It says that the willows (lutus) had 95 grads, northern obedrites - 53 cities, eastern obedrites - more than 100 cities, sorbs (Puddle Serbs) - 50 cities, earthenware (were part of the Obodrit union) - 7 cities, etc. The Vendas were also famous for their advanced crafts and trade. No wonder that their cities after Germanization and Christianization became the basis for the famous Hansa.
It should also be noted that the Western Rus (“Varangians”), being the “border” branch of the Superethnos Rus, which was the first to take the blow of Christian Rome and its “dog knights”, were distinguished by fury that bordered on cruelty. This has allowed them for several centuries to withstand the terrible blows of the Western "crusaders" who, with fire and sword, burned out the ancient legacy of Russian civilization in Europe. It was impossible to say about the Eastern Slavs and Rusas that they "destroy or defeat the vanquished or enslave." Western Rus lived according to the principle "to live with wolves - to howl like a wolf." No wonder one of the main unions of the tribes was called wiliah wolves, lyutychimi-lyutymi. The Varyags were afraid throughout Western Europe, their warships reached the Iberian Peninsula, and entered the Mediterranean Sea, devastating the shores of Italy. There was a bloody and brutal war between Christian Rome and its vassals, who rejected the ancestral faith of kings and Slavic state formations. It was a war of annihilation. The result was sad for the Superethnos Rus (Russian-Slavic civilization). Varangian Rus was destroyed, its population was mostly German. Another part of the Slavic world - the Polian-Lyakhs, Czechs, Moravians, Croats, and others. Christianized, subordinated to the Roman throne, largely depriving them of the Slavic code (program). They were made an instrument, a weapon in the struggle against the more stable eastern core of the Superethnos Rus.
Cruelty (in the eyes of the Eastern Rus, the Slavs) was also manifested in the custom of human sacrifice. This custom was alien to southern and eastern Slavs, Rusam-Scythians. They kept the purer tradition of the Russian Faith. So, it is known that when the Rus-Varangians (their significant element came to the Russian land with Rurik and his brothers) tried to introduce the custom of human sacrifice in Kiev, this caused public outrage.
At the same time, it cannot be said that Eastern and Western Russia were completely different cultures. There was much more common in character, faith, customs and way of life than differences. Those and others were faithful to the ancient religious tradition, which had been going on since the time of the Aryan-Indo-Europeans, and the state-communal (people's aristocratic) system, were courageous in battle, preferring death to captivity and slavery.
So, by the early Middle Ages, two main ethnocultural and language cores of the Superethnos Rus in Northern Eurasia were formed. The first core is Varyazhskaya Rus in Northern, Central and parts of Eastern Europe (the future lands of Novgorod). Apparently, originally Varyazhskaya Rus was secondary to Azov-Black Sea Russia, which was the direct heir of Great Scythia-Sarmatia. No wonder she was called "Borus, Borussia" (the ancient prefix "bo-" originally meant, the other, additional). Later this territory was called “Prussia”, i.e. Porus. Veneds-Venda was a foreign Shard of Great Scythia. However, as the crisis developed in the main territory of Scythia, the geopolitical center of gravity shifted to Variazhskaya Rus, which ultimately gave the ruling dynasty of the eastern part of the Russian world - Rurikovich.
The second core is in Southeastern Europe, Azov-Black Sea Russia, which was the direct heir of Great Scythia. However, this center was in crisis, it was subjected to the strongest pressure from the South (Byzantium, Khazaria, Turks and even Arabs). The Rus-Tavro-Scythians of the Eastern European steppes practically lost contact with the "Scythian-Siberian world" and as a result were defeated in the struggle for influence on the Slavs of the intermediate zone - the Danube, Dniester, Dnieper basins, the Rusam-Vikings. Later, part of Azov-Black Sea Russia was subordinated to Khazaria, the other part was included in the sphere of influence of Novgorod-Kiev Russia.
Sources:
Vasilyeva N. I., Petukhov Yu. D. Russian Scythia. M., 2006.
Vernadsky G.V. Ancient Rus. M., 1999.
Gedeonov S. Varyags and Russia. SPb., 2012.
Larionov V. Scythian Rus. M., 2011.
Lyubavsky M. Russian history from Scythia to Muscovy. M., 2012.
Mavrodin. V.V. Ancient Rus: The Origin of the Russian People and the Formation of the Kiev State. M., 1946.
Materials on the history of the USSR. M., 1985.
Petukhov, Yu. D. Rus of Eurasia. M., 2007.
Petukhov Yu. D. The Mystery of the Ancient Rus. M., 2007.
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