Industrial crops grown by the Eastern Slavs

There were no stores in Ancient Russia, so food had to be grown by ourselves. The land in Russia has always been fertile, the main territory of the land was black soil, and it was a sin not to use it. Agriculture was discovered by women. They loosened the ground near the house with whatever fell under the hands, with sticks, bones, stones, and put the seeds of wild plants in the holes formed. Later, the plants became domesticated and fully adapted for human consumption.

By the way…

Over time, more and more territory was required for sowing, and it had to be cleared and dug up, thus, men joined in agriculture. They sowed cereals and cereals in the fields, as well as hemp and flax, which were used to make ropes and fabrics.

What was the farmer in Russia, and what was his way of life. Types of agriculture.

In ancient Russia, a peasant farmer was very hardworking, worked tirelessly. They put on the clothes that they sewed themselves. The clothes were loose and comfortable for both work and leisure. They ate what the land gave. They ground the grain and baked the first bread. They paid tribute in grain and cloth, paid taxes.

The peasants were divided into feudal-dependent and free. Feudal dependent peasants should not be confused with slaves. Slaves were completely subordinate to the owners, and the peasants paid taxes to the feudal lords, but at the same time they had their own house, their own income, a plot of land and livestock. Initially, free farmers, commoners in Ancient Rus were called smerds, but over time they also fell into partial feudal dependence. With all this, they retained legal freedom. If the stinker took a kupa (loan) from the prince, then it passed into the category of purchases, of the lower class of peasants. The purchases were supposed to work for the feudal lord for free until they worked out their debt in full. An even lower class of peasants was called slaves. Serfs are the same as slaves who are completely dependent on the principality and do not have any rights. In 1723, servitude was abolished by Peter the Great.

Do you know what type of farming prevailed among the Eastern Slavs? The most predominant farming systems among the Eastern Slavs were called the slash-and-burn system and the fallow. Which system the farmers used depended on natural and climatic conditions. The slash-and-burn system prevailed in the north in the Taiga. It consisted in the fact that in one year trees were cut down and allowed to dry. In the second year, dry trees were burned, and grain crops were sown in this place. Ash served as a fertilizer. By the way, modern land workers also use ash as fertilizer. For several years the land gave a good harvest, but later it had to be allowed to rest.

Perelog was the southern farming system. The peasants could rid the plot of weeds for several years. When the land was depleted, they moved to another territory, and this area was left to "rest" for 10 years.This type of farming is also called arable farming and it was used on the territory of steppe forests.

From what territory the sowing took place depended on what the ancient farmers cultivated. In the south, buckwheat, millet, spelled, and wheat were grown. In the north, the field was sown with oats, barley, millet, winter rye and spring wheat. With the development of agriculture in Ancient Russia, they began to plant not only cereals, but also vegetables. Most of all, rutabagas, beets, carrots, potatoes, pumpkin were grown, then legumes appeared. As mentioned above, not everything that was grown was eaten. Flax and hemp were used to make fabric. All these cultures are the main agriculture of the Eastern Slavs.

Farmer of Ancient Russia

Agriculture is hard work and it is impossible without various inventions designed to help in this difficult matter. People began to create tools to help themselves. Those devices that were used in Ancient Russia have come down to us, but over time they have been modernized and improved. The quality and quantity of the future harvest directly depended on what tools were used in agriculture. The tools of labor used by ancient farmers include: plow, hoe, sickle, ax and others. Let's understand in more detail.

Farmer's tools of labor.

1. 

   Sickle. This tool was used to harvest grain crops. Harvesting such a crop was called the harvest. Consisted of a steel, rounded like a month, a thin blade and a short wooden handle.

2. Spit. The scythe is an agricultural tool for cutting grass. Has a long and sharp knife, slightly curved inward, made of steel. The handle of the braid is long, made of wood.
3. Hoe. Now this tool is called a hoe. It has a long wooden handle and a paddle located perpendicular to the handle. The shoulder pad was square in shape and made of sturdy metal. It was used to chop off weeds right at the root, in other words for weeding. A pickaxe was used to work in hard soil.
4. Plow. The plow was indispensable for plowing the land. The plow was used to turn the topsoil. Most often it was made of metal. Initially, the plow was pulled by the farmers themselves, later they began to use horses for this.
5. Sokha. Plowing tool. The plow consisted of a thick long wooden plank with two metal teeth at the edges. The working wooden part of the plow was called rassokha, and the iron teeth were called openers. The plow was attached to the shafts into which the horse was harnessed. This tool is somewhat similar to a plow, but the plow does not turn the ground, but shifts it to the side.
6. Spade. A device similar to a modern shovel in Russia was called a spade, now such a word is outdated, but the shovel continues to exist and is used in agriculture to this day. Previously, the spade was completely wooden, with only a metal tip. Later, a completely iron, pointed digging part was attached to a wooden long handle, which is called a handle. This name was formed from the word to step up, step on the foot.
7. Rake. The rake was and is still used today to break up clods of already plowed soil. With the help of this tool, weeds and other unnecessary items were collected from the cultivated soil, and the mowed grass was also raked into one part. The Old Russian rake consisted of a wooden block, which was called a ridge. Holes were made in the ridge, into which iron teeth were inserted. A long wooden handle was attached to this base. In ancient Russia, the rake was hand or horse-drawn, in the modern world there is a rake for a tractor. By the way, such a popular expression "to step on a rake" means to make a stupid mistake, because if you step on the ridge of a rake, you can get a handle on the forehead.
8. Pitchfork. It is an agricultural tool used to collect and load hay. Also, this tool was used to puncture the soil, with the help of which its supply of oxygen was increased.The pitchfork consists of a metal piercing part, with several teeth (from three to seven pieces) and a long wooden handle. By the way, in Christian mythology, the pitchfork was considered an instrument of the Devil and devils, used to torture sinners in hell. This belief came out of the images of the ancient gods, Neptune or Poseidon, which came down to the first Christians, who were perceived as the Devil, and the trident as a pitchfork. The ancient pagan Slavs did not have such associations, and the pitchfork was perceived exclusively as a tool of labor.
9. Chain. A chain is two sticks connected to each other that had mobility, the first long stick was a handle, and the second short one was a thresher. Such a device was used to thresh grain or separate grains from chaff. This tool was used not only in Ancient Russia. By the way, on the basis of the flail, military melee weapons appeared - a mace or a battle flail, and the famous Japanese edged weapons - nunchucks.
10. Harrow. The harrow was used in the slash-and-burn farming system, helping to avoid drying out the earth and collecting weeds. Created from wood.

Since in the era of Ancient Rus people were pagans, a huge part of their life was occupied by rituals and rituals. These traditions and agriculture were not spared. The Slavs believed that the rituals helped to appease the gods, and guaranteed them a good harvest. As a rule, rituals were performed on the days of spring holidays.

Slavic agricultural rites.

1. 

   Christmas agricultural rites. In the first week of Christmastide, fasting was observed, in the second week, people wondered. Christmastide lasted from 7 to 19 January.

2. Shrovetide rituals. Such ceremonies were held at the end of winter on Shrovetide from March 21, this is the day of the vernal equinox. The Slavs took the first pancake out into the yard and laid it on the ground. It was a gift to the gods Vesna and Yarila. Thanks to this, the sun warmed up the fields faster and stronger.
3. Cleansing rites. It was believed that a lot of wickedness was going to gather during the winter, and it was necessary to get rid of it. First, people washed their homes and themselves, collected all the garbage and burned it in the yards, the smoke from the fires was supposed to drive away evil spirits. Then the fields were showered with ashes from these bonfires. It is not surprising that they received a good harvest from this ceremony, because ash is an excellent fertilizer. Willow branches were placed along the edges of the field, since for the ancient peasants it was a sacred plant, because the pussy willow gave its first buds before other plants.
4. Red hill. In the spring everything bloomed, birds flew in, the sun was shining. The first grass appeared in the fields and hills, and this created a certain contrast. Hence the name "Red Hill", red means beautiful. The crops were rolled in an egg, read conspiracies and sprinkled with bone meal. Flour was supposed to protect the future harvest from hail. The egg was buried in the field as a symbol of fertility.
5. Sacrifices. The pagans considered the earth to be alive, she was their deity, and they thought that when plowing, they hurt her. Therefore, the land had to be appeased. For this, bread was inserted into the furrows, and after the end of the sowing season, they walked around the fields with food and mash and had a feast. Early spring was associated with the return of birds, so the Slavs caught the bird as a symbol of spring and ate it. It was believed that, in this way, it was best to use the forces of spring.
6. Kolosyanitsa. The girls took food and went to the birch, arranged a feast around it, sang songs, and danced in circles. They believed that birch has the power of fertility, and they wanted to use its power in the fields.
7. Rites dedicated to the deities Kupala and Yarila. When the time of the harvest came, bonfires were kindled and the fields were bypassed, reading conspiracies. This was done in honor of Kupala, who was considered the god of abundance and harvest. The bonfires were designed to drive away evil spirits from the already ripe fruits. God Yarilo, was considered the god of the sun, and the sun was of great importance for the ancient Slavs and thanks to him crops grew.
8. Harvest feasts of zhinka (beginning of harvest) and rezinka (end of harvest). At this time, evil spirits were driven out. They baked ceremonially bread from the first and last sheaf of the harvest. The grains were stored at home and mixed with soil during the next sowing.

In the 21st century, such rituals have become a relic of the past, and special machines are used to cultivate large areas. Nevertheless, we cannot belittle the work of our ancestors, because they gave us the beginning for the development of modern technology. And the ancient Slavic holidays are observed to this day, just for the sake of fun and as a tribute to the traditions of our history.

More Slavic rites here

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5 edits

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Agriculture among the Slavs was the basis of their economy, which influenced the Slavic calendar, cuisine, life and mythology. The Slavs rested mainly in winter (kolyada, Christmastide, Shrovetide), while summer was a time of harvest (suffering). The Slavs were engaged in agriculture mainly for their own subsistence and it almost never bore a commercial nature.

The emergence and development of farming systems

Since ancient times, the Slavs have been engaged in plowing, slash-and-burn agriculture. The field (Polish. Pole) was cleared for arable land with the help of fire, and then plowing and sowing began.

Tools

In the development of new living spaces by people, in everyday life in general and in the slash-and-burn method of farming in particular, the ax played a key role. With the help of an ax and fire, a new field for plowing was cleared of trees and other vegetation.

Among the tools for loosening and digging up the earth, the Slavs widely used a hoe, a spade and a shovel. These hand tools were most widely used in gardening.

Fields with a sufficiently large area of ​​land were loosened with the help of draft implements of plowing - a ral, a plow (Polish. Socha), or a plow. To carry out this type of work, the Slavs attracted oxen or horses.

Traditionally, the harvesting of grain crops by the Slavs was carried out by means of harvesting with a sickle (Polish Sierp). The sickle harvest is reported in ancient Russian written sources of the early 13th century; it is depicted in miniatures and frescoes.

Mowing for harvesting grain crops began to be used only in the 18th century in connection with the publication by Peter I of the decree "On sending peasants to various grain-growing places to teach local inhabitants to remove bread from the field with scythes." But even after the decree was issued, the scythe could not take the place of the sickle in agriculture, where the sickle was not only used, but also continued to be constructively refined until the middle of the 20th century. Oblique mowing was carried out mainly during haymaking, which is reflected in the term.

Bunches of ears were knitted into sheaves and threshed with flails (Polish Cep).

Cultivated plants

The main agricultural crops were wheat (Polish Pszenica), rye (rye), barley (Polish. Jęczmień), oats (Polish. Owies), from which the Slavs baked bread (Polish. Chleb, including ritual loaf) and pancakes, and also made porridge (Polish. Kasza). Cabbage (Polish Kapusta), peas (Polish Groch) and turnips were also grown. Subsequently, the turnip among the Slavic peoples was replaced by potatoes. From the Mediterranean Greeks, the Slavs borrowed not only writing and religion, but also some agricultural crops (beets and buckwheat).

Annual cycle of agricultural work

Plowing

North

Haymaking

Harvest

The agricultural cycle ended in late summer - early autumn with various harvest festivals (roast, skits). The month of harvest fell on August and was called sickle

Harvest storage

The crop was stored in granaries (first in grain pits, and then in barns and sheds).

Notes (edit)

Painting by Russian artist-itinerant

Ivanova S.V."Housing of the Eastern Slavs", 1909

Slavic settlements were usually located along the banks of rivers and lakes in places suitable for farming - their main occupation. It was originally extensive in nature.In the steppe and forest-steppe regions, they burned grass, fertilizing the soil with ash, and used it to the point of depletion. Then the site was thrown, until the natural grass cover was restored on it. This farming system is called fallow.

In the forests where it was used

slash (slash-and-burn) system: trees were cut down and left to dry until next year, then they were burned along with uprooted stumps. The resulting fertilized area, as in the fallow system, was used until depletion.

The set of agricultural crops differed from the later one: rye still occupied a small place in it, wheat predominated. There were no oats at all, but millet, buckwheat, and barley were known. They cultivated flax, hemp, as well as vegetables - turnips, radishes, onions, garlic, cabbage.

Along with agriculture, a large place in the economy of the Eastern Slavs was occupied by animal husbandry... The Slavs bred cattle, pigs, cows, goats and poultry. And the bones found during excavations confirm that the Slavs bred horses, the meat of which was rarely eaten (they were used mainly for riding and as draft force).

The forests that covered the territory of Eastern Europe were abundant in animals, and in the rivers there were a lot of fish. Therefore, the Slavs hunted wild boar, bear, fox, hare. On the hunt they took a bow with arrows and a spear.

Pike, bream, catfish and other fish were caught in the rivers. The fish were caught with hooks, nets, seines and a variety of wicker devices. Development fishing, of course, contributed to the fact that the Slavic settlements were located along the banks of the rivers.

An auxiliary role in the economy of the Eastern Slavs was played bee-keeping - collecting honey from wild bees. It was not just collecting honey, but also taking care of the hollows - "beards", and even their creation.

According to archaeological data, we can judge to some extent about the life of the ancient Slavs. Their settlements located along the banks of rivers were grouped into a kind of "nest" of 3 - 4 settlements. Several families lived in each village; sometimes they numbered in the tens. The houses were not large, like semi-dugouts: the floor was a meter or a half below ground level, wooden walls, an adobe or stone stove heated in black, a roof plastered with clay and sometimes reaching the ends of the roof to the ground.

Based on site materials

By the end of the reign of the Prophetic Oleg, almost all the tribes of the Eastern Slavs and a number of other ethnic groups entered the Old Russian state. Moreover, each of them continued to preserve the traditions of their ancestors, beliefs and customs.

Prince Oleg obeyed the meadows, Novgorod Slovenes, Krivichi, Drevlyans, Radimichi, Northerners and, in part, Tivertsy. In addition to the Slavs, Finno-Ugric ethnic groups lived within the state of Rus - Chud, Merya, All and Murom, natives of Scandinavia, the ancestors of the Ossetians - the Alans, the ancestors of the Poles - the Lendzians and others. Russia as a state association declared itself on the international arena in treaties with Byzantium at the beginning of the 10th century, but in the cultural sense it was not united, as evidenced by archaeological research and descriptions of the rituals of its inhabitants.

Ancient settlement of the Slavs. Russia IX-XII century.

Settlements and settlements. The bulk of the population of ancient Russia lived in unprotected settlements located in low places hidden from the human eye. In the 9th century, fortified settlements became the main settlements. They occupied places convenient in defensive and at the same time economic relations along the banks of rivers and lakes or at the confluence of two rivers. The settlements were built up with dugouts, and sometimes with extended ground houses, where several families of the same clan lived. The buildings were located along the perimeter of the settlement, and communal buildings for various purposes and a small reservoir were located in its center. A large area served as a corral for the community herd.

Agriculture of the Slavs. The main occupation of the population of Russia was agriculture. The Slavs cultivated rye, wheat, barley, millet, flax, hemp. Garden crops such as turnips, cabbage, beets, carrots, radishes and others were grown.Natural and climatic conditions dictated the peculiarities of arable farming. On the southern fertile lands, the "fallow" prevailed: the fields were sown for several years until they were completely depleted, and then they were abandoned and "shifted" to new plots. The southern Slavs used a plow, a wooden plow with an iron ploughshare, and a ral with a metal tip. In the northern, forest lands, slash-and-burn agriculture took place. Initially, the forest was cut to make way for arable land. When the trees dried up, they were burned, and the resulting ash was used as fertilizer. They fed from such a field for two or three years, and then they had to develop a new territory. In their work, farmers used an ax, a hoe, a two-toothed plow, and a knotted harrow. The harvest was harvested with sickles. The grain was threshed with flails and ground with hand millstones. The Slavs bred pigs, cows and sheep. They used oxen in the south and horses in the north as draft animals.

Fishing in Russia. In Ancient Russia, fishing was widely practiced. In the rivers pike, carp, pike perch, bream, catfish, sturgeon and other fish were found in abundance, which were caught with nets, seines, tops and fishing rods. During excavations of settlements of the 9th-10th centuries, the usual finds of archaeologists are bones and scales of various fish, special pits that served to store fish prepared for future use, clay sinkers, bone needles for weaving nets and iron fish hooks.

Hunting of the Northern Slavs. Hunting among the northern tribes was of great importance. Judging by the archaeological finds, the prey of the hunters were such animals as elk, reindeer, roe deer, bear, wild boar, and hare. The Kiev prince and local rulers received tribute from the population with furs, therefore, hunting for fur-bearing animals developed: beaver, lynx, fox, marten, otter. Bow and arrows, snares and crossbows, which were placed on animal paths, served as hunting tools. Wild birds were caught with the help of "weights" - large nets that were stretched high above the ground in places where birds migrated.

Forestry. Bortnichestvo was an extremely widespread forestry of the Eastern Slavs. A tree with a hollow inhabited by forest bees was called a bord. Anyone who found a wrestle in the forest could declare himself its owner, putting on it his distinctive sign - "banner". Honey and wax were important subjects of the grand ducal trade, and therefore the princes received tribute from the volosts with them.

There were no stores in Ancient Russia, so food had to be grown by ourselves. The land in Russia has always been fertile, the main territory of the land was black soil, and it was a sin not to use it. Agriculture was discovered by women. They loosened the ground near the house with whatever fell under the hands, with sticks, bones, stones, and put the seeds of wild plants in the holes formed. Later, the plants became domesticated and fully adapted for human consumption.

By the way…

Over time, more and more territory was required for sowing, and it had to be cleared and dug up, thus, men joined in agriculture. They sowed cereals and cereals in the fields, as well as hemp and flax, which were used to make ropes and fabrics.

What was the farmer in Russia, and what was his way of life. Types of agriculture.

In ancient Russia, a peasant farmer was very hardworking, worked tirelessly. They put on the clothes that they sewed themselves. The clothes were loose and comfortable for both work and leisure. They ate what the land gave. They ground the grain and baked the first bread. They paid tribute in grain and cloth, paid taxes.

The peasants were divided into feudal-dependent and free. Feudal dependent peasants should not be confused with slaves. Slaves were completely subordinate to the owners, and the peasants paid taxes to the feudal lords, but at the same time they had their own house, their own income, a plot of land and livestock. Initially, free farmers, commoners in Ancient Rus were called smerds, but over time they also fell into partial feudal dependence. With all this, they retained legal freedom.If the stinker took a kupa (loan) from the prince, then it passed into the category of purchases, of the lower class of peasants. The purchases were supposed to work for the feudal lord for free until they worked out their debt in full. An even lower class of peasants was called slaves. Serfs are the same as slaves who are completely dependent on the principality and do not have any rights. In 1723, servitude was abolished by Peter the Great.

Do you know what type of farming prevailed among the Eastern Slavs? The most predominant farming systems among the Eastern Slavs were called the slash-and-burn system and the fallow. Which system the farmers used depended on natural and climatic conditions. The slash-and-burn system prevailed in the north in the Taiga. It consisted in the fact that in one year trees were cut down and allowed to dry. In the second year, dry trees were burned, and grain crops were sown in this place. Ash served as a fertilizer. By the way, modern land workers also use ash as fertilizer. For several years the land gave a good harvest, but later it had to be allowed to rest.

Perelog was the southern farming system. The peasants could rid the plot of weeds for several years. When the land was depleted, they moved to another territory, and this area was left to "rest" for 10 years. This type of farming is also called arable farming and it was used on the territory of steppe forests.

From what territory the sowing took place depended on what the ancient farmers cultivated. In the south, buckwheat, millet, spelled, and wheat were grown. In the north, the field was sown with oats, barley, millet, winter rye and spring wheat. With the development of agriculture in Ancient Russia, they began to plant not only cereals, but also vegetables. Most of all, rutabagas, beets, carrots, potatoes, pumpkin were grown, then legumes appeared. As mentioned above, not everything that was grown was eaten. Flax and hemp were used to make fabric. All these cultures are the main agriculture of the Eastern Slavs.

Farmer of Ancient Russia

Agriculture is hard work and it is impossible without various inventions designed to help in this difficult matter. People began to create tools to help themselves. Those devices that were used in Ancient Russia have come down to us, but over time they have been modernized and improved. The quality and quantity of the future harvest directly depended on what tools were used in agriculture. The tools of labor used by ancient farmers include: plow, hoe, sickle, ax and others. Let's understand in more detail.

Farmer's tools of labor.

1. 

   Sickle. This tool was used to harvest grain crops. Harvesting such a crop was called the harvest. Consisted of a steel, rounded like a month, a thin blade and a short wooden handle.

2. Spit. The scythe is an agricultural tool for cutting grass. Has a long and sharp knife, slightly curved inward, made of steel. The handle of the braid is long, made of wood.
3. Hoe. Now this tool is called a hoe. It has a long wooden handle and a paddle located perpendicular to the handle. The shoulder pad was square in shape and made of sturdy metal. It was used to chop off weeds right at the root, in other words for weeding. A pickaxe was used to work in hard soil.
4. Plow. The plow was indispensable for plowing the land. The plow was used to turn the topsoil. Most often it was made of metal. Initially, the plow was pulled by the farmers themselves, later they began to use horses for this.
5. Sokha. Plowing tool. The plow consisted of a thick long wooden plank with two metal teeth at the edges. The working wooden part of the plow was called rassokha, and the iron teeth were called openers. The plow was attached to the shafts into which the horse was harnessed. This tool is somewhat similar to a plow, but the plow does not turn the ground, but shifts it to the side.
6. Spade.A device similar to a modern shovel in Russia was called a spade, now such a word is outdated, but the shovel continues to exist and is used in agriculture to this day. Previously, the spade was completely wooden, with only a metal tip. Later, a completely iron, pointed digging part was attached to a wooden long handle, which is called a handle. This name was formed from the word to step up, step on the foot.
7. Rake. The rake was and is still used today to break up clods of already plowed soil. With the help of this tool, weeds and other unnecessary items were collected from the cultivated soil, and the mowed grass was also raked into one part. The Old Russian rake consisted of a wooden block, which was called a ridge. Holes were made in the ridge, into which iron teeth were inserted. A long wooden handle was attached to this base. In ancient Russia, the rake was hand or horse-drawn, in the modern world there is a rake for a tractor. By the way, such a popular expression "to step on a rake" means to make a stupid mistake, because if you step on the ridge of a rake, you can get a handle on the forehead.
8. Pitchfork. It is an agricultural tool used to collect and load hay. Also, this tool was used to puncture the soil, with the help of which its supply of oxygen was increased. The pitchfork consists of a metal piercing part, with several teeth (from three to seven pieces) and a long wooden handle. By the way, in Christian mythology, the pitchfork was considered an instrument of the Devil and devils, used to torture sinners in hell. This belief came out of the images of the ancient gods, Neptune or Poseidon, which came down to the first Christians, who were perceived as the Devil, and the trident as a pitchfork. The ancient pagan Slavs did not have such associations, and the pitchfork was perceived exclusively as a tool of labor.
9. Chain. A chain is two sticks connected to each other that had mobility, the first long stick was a handle, and the second short one was a thresher. Such a device was used to thresh grain or separate grains from chaff. This tool was used not only in Ancient Russia. By the way, on the basis of the flail, military melee weapons appeared - a mace or a battle flail, and the famous Japanese edged weapons - nunchucks.
10. Harrow. The harrow was used in the slash-and-burn farming system, helping to avoid drying out the earth and collecting weeds. Created from wood.

Since in the era of Ancient Rus people were pagans, a huge part of their life was occupied by rituals and rituals. These traditions and agriculture were not spared. The Slavs believed that the rituals helped to appease the gods, and guaranteed them a good harvest. As a rule, rituals were performed on the days of spring holidays.

Slavic agricultural rites.

1. 

   Christmas agricultural rites. In the first week of Christmastide, fasting was observed, in the second week, people wondered. Christmastide lasted from 7 to 19 January.

2. Shrovetide rituals. Such ceremonies were held at the end of winter on Shrovetide from March 21, this is the day of the vernal equinox. The Slavs took the first pancake out into the yard and laid it on the ground. It was a gift to the gods Vesna and Yarila. Thanks to this, the sun warmed up the fields faster and stronger.
3. Cleansing rites. It was believed that a lot of wickedness was going to gather during the winter, and it was necessary to get rid of it. First, people washed their homes and themselves, collected all the garbage and burned it in the yards, the smoke from the fires was supposed to drive away evil spirits. Then the fields were showered with ashes from these bonfires. It is not surprising that they received a good harvest from this ceremony, because ash is an excellent fertilizer. Willow branches were placed along the edges of the field, since for the ancient peasants it was a sacred plant, because the pussy willow gave its first buds before other plants.
4. Red hill. In the spring everything bloomed, birds flew in, the sun was shining. The first grass appeared in the fields and hills, and this created a certain contrast. Hence the name "Red Hill", red means beautiful. The crops were rolled in an egg, read conspiracies and sprinkled with bone meal.Flour was supposed to protect the future harvest from hail. The egg was buried in the field as a symbol of fertility.
5. Sacrifices. The pagans considered the earth to be alive, she was their deity, and they thought that when plowing, they hurt her. Therefore, the land had to be appeased. For this, bread was inserted into the furrows, and after the end of the sowing season, they walked around the fields with food and mash and had a feast. Early spring was associated with the return of birds, so the Slavs caught the bird as a symbol of spring and ate it. It was believed that, in this way, it was best to use the forces of spring.
6. Kolosyanitsa. The girls took food and went to the birch, arranged a feast around it, sang songs, and danced in circles. They believed that birch has the power of fertility, and they wanted to use its power in the fields.
7. Rites dedicated to the deities Kupala and Yarila. When the time of the harvest came, bonfires were kindled and the fields were bypassed, reading conspiracies. This was done in honor of Kupala, who was considered the god of abundance and harvest. The bonfires were designed to drive away evil spirits from the already ripe fruits. God Yarilo, was considered the god of the sun, and the sun was of great importance for the ancient Slavs and thanks to him crops grew.
8. Harvest feasts of zhinka (beginning of harvest) and rezinka (end of harvest). At this time, evil spirits were driven out. They baked ceremonially bread from the first and last sheaf of the harvest. The grains were stored at home and mixed with soil during the next sowing.

In the 21st century, such rituals have become a relic of the past, and special machines are used to cultivate large areas. Nevertheless, we cannot belittle the work of our ancestors, because they gave us the beginning for the development of modern technology. And the ancient Slavic holidays are observed to this day, just for the sake of fun and as a tribute to the traditions of our history.

More Slavic rites here

East Slavs - cultural and linguistic community of the Slavs who speak the East Slavic languages. The tribal unions of the Eastern Slavs, which, in the opinion of most scholars, managed to merge into a single nationality, constituted the main population of the medieval Old Russian state. As a result of the subsequent political stratification of the Eastern Slavs, by the 17th century, three peoples were formed (in descending order of number): Russian, Ukrainian, Belarusian. Sometimes Rusyns are allocated to the fourth East Slavic ethnos.

Some early researchers also used the designation Russian Slavs.

History

Map of the settlement of the Slavs in the VII-VIII centuries. Eastern Slavs are marked in dark green

Sources of

Very little is known about the early history of the Eastern Slavs. Among the reasons - the lack of its own written language (the Glagolitic alphabet was created around 863 specifically for the Slavic languages ​​by Byzantium) and the remoteness from the cultural centers of that time. Fragmentary information on the early history of the Eastern Slavs is provided by Byzantine, Arabic and Persian written sources, as well as archaeological data and a comparative analysis of the Slavic languages.

Very few original East Slavic (Old Russian) documents dating back to the 11th century have survived, and among those recognized by academic science there are none dating back to the 9th century. The most complete and reliable sources of ancient Russian origin are chronicles, the compilation of which began after the adoption of Christianity on the model of the Byzantine chronicles. The earliest known nowadays is "The Tale of Bygone Years" - a collection of chronicles compiled at the turn of the 11th and 12th centuries and including earlier Russian chronicles, oral traditions and Byzantine documents that have not come down to us. The text that preceded the PVL (the so-called "Primary vault") was partially preserved as part of the Novgorod I Chronicle. However, due to the fact that the focus of the chroniclers was primarily the history of the Old Russian state (the Rurik dynasty), the main information on the Slavs concerns the Glades and Novgorod Slovenes, while the data on the other tribes are extremely fragmentary.

The dated part of the chronicle begins in 852, although the entire chronology of the 9th-10th centuries. is conditional and may differ from the true one.

Ethnogenesis

Main articles - Gene pool of the Slavs, Ethnogenesis of the Slavs, Ethnogenesis of the Slavs according to archeology

The reasons for the expansion of the Slavs in Europe are discussed by researchers in the framework of hypotheses. Among the versions, the demographic explosion caused by a warming of the climate or the emergence of new farming techniques, as well as the Great Migration of Nations, which devastated central Europe in the first centuries of our era during the invasions of the Germans, Sarmatians, Huns, Avars, Bulgars and the Slavs themselves are most often voiced

Presumably, before the beginning of the Great Migration of Peoples, the Slavs were part of the population of the Przeworsk culture. In the west, the Slavs bordered on the Germanic and Celtic tribal world, in the east with the world of the Baltic and Finno-Ugric tribes, in the south and southeast with the Sarmatians. Some researchers believe that in this era there still existed a continuous Balto-Slavic continuum, that is, these peoples were not yet completely divided. At the same time, during the period of the expansion of the Krivichi in the Smolensk Dnieper region, the Tushemlinskaya culture, which previously existed in this region, about whose ethnicity archaeologists were divided in views, was replaced by a purely Slavic archaeological culture, and the Tushemlinsky settlements were destroyed, since the Slavs during this period in cities have not yet lived.

In general, during the era of Slavic expansion, in the 7th-8th centuries, many settlements appeared in Eastern Europe, which were not yet inhabited by the Slavs. The same Tushemli culture created a type of shelter-settlements that did not have a permanent population and served only as a shelter, a detachment, to defend against attacks. The cities of the Finno-Ugric tribes Merya and all, Rostov and Beloozero, served them as political centers, a place of residence for leaders and a gathering of militia. Staraya Ladoga appeared, apparently, as a fortified stronghold of the Scandinavians and from the very beginning was a fortress. Staraya Ladoga, Novgorod and Beloozero were the main strongholds for Rurik and his squad during the vocation of the Varangians.

Migration

The question of the ancestral home of the Slavs remains controversial (see Ancient Slavs). In the first millennium, the Slavs came into contact with other ethnic groups that moved across the East European Plain during the Great Migration Period. Between the 1st and 9th centuries, the steppes of the Northern Black Sea Region ("Wild Field") were crossed in the western direction by the Sarmatians, Goths, nomadic Huns, Alans, Avars, Bulgars and Magyars. In the Early Middle Ages, Slavic farmers, beekeepers, hunters, fishermen and shepherds spread widely across the East European Plain and by the 8th century began to dominate the region. In the VIII and IX centuries. the southern branch of the eastern Slavic tribes paid tribute to the Khazars, later came under the influence of the Varangians.

In the V-VII centuries. the Slavs spread widely in Europe; their numerous tribes were geographically divided into southern, western and eastern, which had different historical destinies. Eastern Slavs flooded Eastern Europe in two streams. One group of tribes settled in the Dnieper basin on the territory of modern Ukraine. Then it spread northward to the upper Volga, east of present-day Moscow, and westward to the valleys of the northern Dniester and Southern Bug through the territories of present-day Moldova and southern Ukraine. Another group of Eastern Slavs moved from Pomerania to the northeast, where they encountered the Vikings. Here they founded the important regional center of Veliky Novgorod. The same group of Slavs subsequently inhabited the territories of the modern Tver region and Beloozero, reaching the range of the Meri people near Rostov.

By the XII century, the territory of the Old Russian state from a conglomerate of Slavic and non-Slavic tribes, at different times subordinated to the Rurik dynasty, turned into an ethnically relatively homogeneous space. Further migrations of the ancient Russian people that developed in this era were still mainly directed to the northeast, where the rare Finno-Ugric population could not offer significant resistance to this process.By the end of the pre-Mongol period, Novgorodians and residents of the Vladimir-Suzdal principality mastered Zavolochye, the Slavic population of which quickly arrived after the southern Russian principalities came under the blow of the Mongol-Tatars. By the end of the Mongol-Tatar yoke, the Russian cities of Nizhny Novgorod, Khlynov, Cherdyn and Solikamsk settled on the Volga, Vyatka and in the Kama basin.

As a result of the political division of the ancient Russian nation after the Mongol-Tatar invasion, it was also divided ethnically into the Russian, Ukrainian and Belarusian peoples. Their migrations continued further until the 20th century. In the XVI-XVII centuries, the Russians settled the middle and lower Volga region, the Don basin, mastered the Middle and Southern Urals and Siberia, subjugating and partially assimilating the local population. By the 18th century. Russians and Ukrainians drove the Tatar population of the Northern Black Sea region to Crimea, settled in the basins of the Kuban and Yaik rivers, by the 19th century they penetrated the Baltic States, Finland, the Caucasus, Central Asia, Alaska and California.

In the 20th century, mass emigration from post-revolutionary Russia in 1917-1928, from the USSR and post-Soviet Russia led to the formation of significant communities of the East Slavic population in Western Europe and America, as well as their concentration (mainly Russians) in some other countries.

Early Middle Ages lifestyle

According to archeology, the early Slavic cultures include the Prague, Korchak, Penkovo, Kolochin and Kiev cultures, the earliest of which, Kiev, from the 2nd-3rd centuries AD. NS. was the northern neighbor of the more developed and multiethnic Chernyakhov culture associated with the state of Germanarich. Rare, few in number and short-lived settlements of the Slavs were located "in unusual topographic conditions: in low places, often now flooded during floods." The material culture of the Slavs of the early Middle Ages was extremely unpretentious even for that relatively primitive era. The Slavs lived in small square semi-dugouts made of logs with stone stoves, united in settlements, that is, the settlements were not fortified and suitable for defense. When the enemy approached, the Slavs, apparently, simply hid in the forests and reservoirs of their country, leaving their poor houses to be plundered. Pottery was limited to roughly stucco pots, metalwork was scarce and almost never buried in graves.

Such a description of the early Slavic culture, in accordance with archaeological data, agrees well with the written sources of that time, summarized by Gibbon (18th century) and other authors: they are honored if we compare them with the buildings of beavers; like these latter, they had two exits - one to land, and the other to water, in order to facilitate the escape of their wild inhabitants ... The Slavs owed their rough contentment not so much to their hard work as to the fertility of the soil, but to the fields they sowed wheat and poultry millet, they were delivered to them, instead of bread, coarse and less nutritious food "(that is, porridge). A rare and secretive settlement, which defended them better than any city walls, the Slavs in this era combined with partisan tactics and combat strategy. “They fought on foot and almost naked and did not wear any defensive armor except a heavy shield; weapons for the attack were a bow, a quiver with small poisoned arrows and a long rope, which they deftly threw from a distance and pulled into a noose at the enemy. In battles, the infantry of the Slavs was terrible with the speed of their movements, their dexterity and courage: they swam, dived and could stay under water for a long time with the help of hollowed reed tubes, through which they breathed air, so they often set up ambushes in rivers and lakes. "Perhaps it was this strategy of war and dispersal of its population among forests and reservoirs that turned out to be the most successful in the era of the Great Migration of Nations and created advantages for the Slavs that ensured their wide expansion in Central and Eastern Europe.

By the V century. on the site of the Kiev culture and in other regions to the north, east, west and south of it, a number of related cultures, such as Korchak, Kolochinskaya, and others, arise. in the basins of Chudskoye and Ilmen lakes, formed the culture of the Pskov long mounds. This culture was strongly influenced by the autochthonous Finno-Ugric and Baltic peoples, from whom it adopted a specific funeral rite and some features of ceramics, but in general the way of life of the Slavs changed little.

The ancestors of the Pskov Krivichi, with whom the culture of the Pskov long burial mounds is associated, were engaged in the V-VIII centuries. slash-and-burn agriculture, their almost square log semi-dugouts with stone stoves could still be located near the river bank, although high places, natural hills or artificial mounds, located mainly at a distance from rivers and lakes, were already chosen for burial grounds. A similar way of life at the first stage of their settlement in the same region (not earlier than the 8th century) was followed by the Slavs who belonged to the culture of the Novgorod hills, who are considered the ancestors of the Ilmen Slovenes. They were engaged in arable farming, raising sheep, cattle and horses. For a long time, two Slavic cultures in the basin of Lake Ilmen existed interlaced, converging slowly, which was recorded by the first Russian chronicler. The final transition of the Pskov Krivichi to the lifestyle inherent in the Ilmen Slovenes took place only by the 10th-11th centuries.

Among the Eastern Slavs, fortified cities apparently first appeared among the Ilmenian Slovenes in the 5th century (based on archaeological data in the town on Mayat). The first settlements among the glades and northerners arose in the region of Kiev and Chernigov by the 7th-8th centuries, which indicates at least a partial rejection of the previous strategy of scattered and secretive living among the forests. This is also evidenced by the fact that in the VIII-IX centuries. in all other East Slavic lands there were no more than two dozen cities, while only on the left bank of the Dnieper there were about a hundred. Ilmen Slovenes not earlier than IX century. experienced the influence of settlers from Scandinavia, who founded in the first half of the 8th century. his fortress Staraya Ladoga on the site of a previously existing Finnish settlement. The chronicler attributes the founding of the main Slavic city of this region, Novgorod, to 862. In the same era, settlements appeared on the territories of other East Slavic tribes (see Old Russian cities). So, the northerners who lived on the territory of modern Voronezh, Belgorod and Kursk regions, along with settlements in the IX-X centuries. built fortified settlements, mainly at the confluence of large rivers (see Romensko-Borshchev culture). In the 10th century, a fortress appeared not far from the later city of Smolensk (see Gnezdovskie burial mounds).

The early Slavic settlements, the creation of which is attributed to the tribal alliances of the Dulebs and the Antes, stand somewhat apart. Archaeologically, they are represented, respectively, by the Prague-Korchak and Penkovo ​​cultures. A number of such settlements of the Prague-Korchak (Zimino, Lezhnitsa, Khotomel, Babka, Khilchitsy, Tusheml) and Penkov (Selishte, Pastoral) cultures existed in the 6th-7th centuries. on a vast territory from the borders of modern Poland and Romania to the Dnieper. The Prague-Korchak fortifications were a plot of land surrounded by a wooden wall with one building, which formed part of the general wall of the fortified settlement. There were no agricultural implements in them, and the fortifications, apparently, were built for the collection and deployment of a military detachment. Penkovsky settlements could have up to two dozen structures inside the walls and were large for their time trade, craft and administrative centers.The center of the territory controlled by the Dulebs (Zimino, Lezhnitsa) was in the basin of the Western Bug; the geographical center of the Penkovo ​​culture falls on the Dnieper region, but the main fortress of the Antes (Selishte) was located in the western part of this area, near the borders of Byzantium (in modern Moldova). Early Slavic settlements were destroyed by the Avars in the 7th century, after which they were not built until the 10th century.

Formation of political associations

As the earliest of the known Slavic associations, one can cite as an example the Antsky Union - a political and military-tribal Slavic or West Balt association, consisting of the Antes tribes and existed from the 4th to the beginning of the 7th century (602).

Preserved information about the wars in the IV century of the Slavs with the Goths. The great migration of peoples from the 2nd half of the 4th century led to global migrations of ethnic groups. Slavic tribes in the south, previously subordinated to the Goths, submitted to the Huns and, probably under their protectorate, began to expand their area of ​​residence to the borders of the Byzantine Empire in the south and the Germanic lands in the west, displacing the Goths in the Crimea and Byzantium.

At the beginning of the 6th century, the Slavs began to make regular raids on Byzantium, as a result of which Byzantine and Roman authors started talking about them (Procopius of Caesarea, Jordan). In this era, they already had large inter-tribal alliances, which were formed mainly on a territorial basis and were something more than an ordinary tribal community. For the first time, the Ants and Carpathian Slavs had fortified settlements and other signs of political control over the territory. It is known that the Avars, who first conquered the Black Sea (Antes) and West Slavic tribes, for a long time could not destroy a certain alliance of the "Sklavins" with the center in Transcarpathia, and their leaders not only behaved proudly and independently, but even executed the ambassador of the Avar Khagan Bayan for insolence ... The leader of the Antes, Mezamir, was also killed during the embassy to the Avars for his insolence in the face of the kagan.

Obviously, the grounds for Slavic pride were not only complete control over their own and adjacent Slavic territories, but also their regular, devastating and mostly unpunished raids on the Trans-Danube provinces of the Byzantine Empire, as a result of which the Carpathian Croats and other tribes, apparently, included into the union of the Antes, partially or completely moved beyond the Danube, separating themselves into the branch of the southern Slavs. The Dulebs also expanded their territories to the west to present-day Bohemia and east to the Dnieper. In the end, the Avars subdued both the Antes and the Dulebs, after which they were forced to fight with Byzantium in their own interests. Their tribal unions disintegrated, the ants were no longer mentioned from the 7th century, and several other Slavic unions, including the glade, separated from the Dulebs, according to some modern historians.

Later, part of the East Slavic tribes (glades, northerners, radimichi and vyatichi) paid tribute to the Khazars. In 737, the Arab commander Marwan ibn Muhammad, during a victorious war with Khazaria, reached a certain "Slavic river" (obviously the Don) and captured 20,000 families of local residents, including the Slavs. The captives were driven to Kakheti, where they revolted and were killed.

The Tale of Bygone Years lists twelve East Slavic tribal unions that by the 9th century existed in the vast territory between the Baltic and Black Seas. Among these tribal unions are indicated glade, drevlyans, Dregovichi, radimichi, Vyatichi, Krivichi, Ilmenian Slovenes, duleby (later known as Volhynians and Buzhanians), white croats, northerners, catch, Tyverians.

In the 8th century, with the beginning of the Viking Age, the Varangians began to penetrate into Eastern Europe. By the middle of the IX century. they imposed a tribute not only on the Baltic States, which were the first to be subjected to regular invasions, but also on many territories between the Baltic and Black Seas.In 862, according to the chronicle chronology of the PVL, the leader of Russia, Rurik, was called to reign at the same time by the Chudyu (by the Finno-Ugric peoples inhabiting Estonia and Finland), by all and by both Slavic tribes that lived with them in the neighborhood: the Pskov Krivichs and the Ilmen Slovenes. Rurik settled among the Slavic villages in a fortress, near which Veliky Novgorod later arose. His legendary brothers received reigns in the tribal center of Vesi Beloozero and the center of the Krivichi Izborsk. Towards the end of his life, Rurik expanded the possessions of a kind to Polotsk, Murom and Rostov, and his successor Oleg by 882 captured Smolensk and Kiev. The titular ethnos of the new state became not any of the Slavic or Finno-Ugric peoples, but Russia, the Varangian tribe, about whose ethnicity there are disputes. Russia stood out as a separate ethnos even under the closest successors of Rurik, princes Oleg and Igor, and gradually dissolved into the Slavic people under Svyatoslav and Vladimir the Holy, leaving its name to the Eastern Slavs, who now differed from the Western and Southern (for more details, see the article Rus). At the same time, Svyatoslav and Vladimir completed the unification of the Eastern Slavs in their state, annexing to it the lands of the Drevlyans, Vyatichi, Radimichi, Turov and the region of Cherven Rus.

In addition to the East Slavic tribes, other tribes also settled on the territory of modern Russia, Ukraine and Belarus - such as the Mery around Rostov and on Lake Kleshchinsky or Pereslavskoye, Muroma on the Oka, Meschera, Mordovians to the southeast of the Mary, Liv in Livonia, Chud in Estonia and east to Lake Ladoga, narva on Narva, holes or em in Finland, all on Beloozero, Perm in the Perm province, yugra on the Ob and Sosva and Pechora on the Pechora river. Some of the above tribes have already disappeared, but some still exist today. These tribes had a great influence on the development of modern East Slavic countries, mixing their customs and culture with them.

East Slavic tribes

• White Croats - the vicinity of the city of Przemysl on the San River
• Buzhany, or Duleby (from the 10th century - Volynians) - the basin of the upper reaches of the Western Bug
• Vyatichi - the upper and middle Oka and the Moskva River
• Drevlyans - Ukrainian Polissya (chiefly in the Zhytomyr and west of the Kiev region)
• Dregovichi - region of Gomel, Brest and Minsk regions of Belarus
• Ilmen Slovenes - the basin of Lake Ilmen and the upper reaches of the Mologa
• Krivichi - the territory of the present Vitebsk, Mogilev, Pskov, Tver and Smolensk regions, as well as eastern Latvia
• Polyana - the middle course of the Dnieper, on its right bank
• Radimichi - the interfluve of the upper Dnieper and Desna along the Sozh and its tributaries
• Northerners - the territory of modern Chernigov, Sumy, Kursk and Belgorod regions
• Tivertsy - between the Dniester and Prut rivers, as well as the Danube, including at the Budzhak coast of the Black Sea on the territory of modern Moldova and Ukraine
• Streets - lands along the lower reaches of the Dnieper, the Southern Bug and the Black Sea coast

Religion of the Eastern Slavs

The Eastern Slavs had a patriarchal-clan system for a very long time, therefore they also had a family-clan cult in the form of veneration of ancestors associated with a funeral cult for a long time. Beliefs concerning the relationship of the dead to the living were very firmly held. All the dead were sharply divided into two categories: “clean"The dead - those who died of natural causes (" parents "); and on "unclean"- those who died by violent or premature death (after the adoption of Christianity, they included children who died unbaptized) and sorcerers. The former were usually revered, and the latter ("ghouls" - hence many superstitions associated with the dead) were feared and tried to neutralize:

• Honoring the "parents" - This is a family, and earlier (clan) cult of ancestors. Many calendar holidays are associated with it - Maslenitsa (hence the parental Saturday), Radunitsa, Semik and others. From here, perhaps, the image of Chur (Schur) appeared; exclamations such as “Chur me”, “Chur this is mine” could mean a spell calling Chur for help.From the cult of ancestors comes the belief in the brownie (housekeeper, householder, owner, etc.).
• "Unclean Dead"... Often these were people who were feared during their lifetime and did not cease to be afraid after their death. An interesting rite of "neutralization" of such a dead person during a drought, which they were often attributed to. They dug the dead man's grave and threw him into a swamp (sometimes flooded with water), perhaps this is where the name “naviy” (dead man, deceased) comes from, as well as “navka” - a mermaid.

More complicated is the question of the gods and deities of the Eastern Slavs. The most ancient were Perun, Veles and Mokosh.

Many researchers agree that then Perun became a princely god, but it is not known whether he was revered by the peasants. It is believed that after the adoption of Christianity in 988, the image of Perun began to be associated with Elijah the prophet. Veles, the "cattle god", could be the patron saint of cattle breeding and agriculture, and Mokosh - the patroness of women's work, spinning and weaving.

In the 980s, Prince Vladimir carried out a pagan reform in order to strengthen the state internally through the unification of local tribal cults. The prince singled out a single pantheon of pagan gods, headed by Perun.

“And the beginning of the princes Volodimer in Kiev is one, and put idols on the hill outside the courtyard of the teremnago: Perun is of wood, and his head is silver, and the mustache is gold, and Khrsa, Dazhbog, and Stribog and Simargl, and Mokosh. And I grub them, I am the gods, and I escort my sons and daughters, and I grub with a devil, and desecrate the land with my demands. And desecrate the land of Ruska and the hill with blood "

Of the other gods that are mentioned in the annals and some other sources, one can name - Svarog, Dazhdbog, Khors (solar deities), Rod and women in labor - whose etymology and origin are unclear.

Sometimes other deities and gods are mentioned in the literature, but some of them cannot be considered gods in the strict sense of the word (See Dying and Resurrecting God - The third stage is the beginning of the deification of the spirit of the grain, he is given a name, but he is mentioned only when celebrating that, or other ritual) - Yarilo, Kostroma, Kostrubonko, etc.

Other deities and gods are “the fruit of mistakes and fantasy” (V. N. Toporov) - Lada-Lado, Lel, Polel, Pohvist, etc. Many folklorists, linguists and ethnographers even use the term “armchair mythology”.

From the lower mythology, one can single out the devil - a force hostile to man, personifying the forest and the danger lurking in it; water - fear of water, midday - a field spirit in the form of a woman in white, who appears during the midday heat to those working in the field, as custom requires a break.

The issue of mermaids was controversial. Many considered her to be the personification of water, or the spirit of a drowned woman. The etymology of the word itself remained unclear. Today, the Latin origin of the name of the holiday Rusalii can be considered proven, from which the word "mermaid" originated, and the image emerged from the fusion of both water spirits, bereginas, watercreepers, etc.

Comments (1)

Notes (edit)

1. ↑ The Columbia Encyclopedia: Transcarpathian Region
2. ↑ The Columbia Encyclopedia: Ruthenia
3. ↑ Encyclopedia of Russian History: Carpatho-Rusyns
4. ↑ Encyclopedia of Rusyn history and culture: Carpatho-Rusyns
5. ↑ Platonov, S.F.Full course of lectures on Russian history - Pg., 1917.
6. ↑ Niederle, Lubor. Slavic antiquities. Moscow, 2000
7. ↑ Danilevsky I. N. Historical sources of the XI-XVII centuries.
8. ↑ Diba Yuriy. Slovenian and Lehitska group of words
9. ↑ Novoseltsev A.P. Khazar state and its role in the history of Eastern Europe and the Caucasus. - M., 1990
10. ↑ The original Russian chronicles did not contain an annual breakdown and dates, and later chroniclers had to calculate them retroactively. The dated part of the PVL begins in 852, to which the chronicler attributed the first known mention of the "Russian land" he found in Byzantine literature. The story about the Slavs proper begins in 859.
11. ↑ V. Budanova The Great Migration of Peoples
12. ↑ Shmidt E.A.
13. ↑ Tale of Bygone Years
14. ↑ The origins of the Novgorod statehood. Academician V. Yanin. Science and life.No. 1, 2005
15. ↑ According to archeology, Novgorod did not yet exist in the 9th century; it is believed that mentions of him in the annals refer to the so-called. Ryurikov Gorodishche, 2 km from the historical part of the present-day. Novgorod.
16. ↑ Shchukin M. B. The birth of the Slavs. - 2001.
17. ↑ Gibbon E. The history of the decline and destruction of the Great Roman Empire: The decline and fall of the Roman Empire: In 7 volumes - M .: TERRA, 1997. - Volume IV. - S. 503 - 504 .-- 624 p. - ISBN 5-300-00917-2.
18. ↑ ibid.
19. ↑ V. V. Sedov The culture of the Pskov long burial mounds // Slavs in the early Middle Ages. - M .: Research and Production Charitable Society "Archeology Fund", 1995. - P. 211 - 217. - 416 p. - ISBN 5-87059-021-3.
20. ↑ The Tale of Bygone Years Archived March 16, 2015.
21. ↑ Gorsky A.A.Political centers of the Eastern Slavs and Kievan Rus: problems of evolution // Domestic history. 1993. No. 6. P. 157-162. Archived September 30, 2008 at the Wayback Machine
22. ↑ Slavs on Don (Site of Voronezh State University
23. ↑ V. V. Sedov Slavs in the early Middle Ages. - M .: Archeology Fund, 1995 .-- 416 p. - ISBN 5-87059-021-3. , part 1.
24. ↑ V. Prokopensko. Military affairs of the Slavs. Archived January 31, 2009 at the Wayback Machine
25. ↑ side 94, T. 1 (A-B), Encyclopedia of History of Ukraine: in 10 volumes - Kiev: Naukova Dumka, 2005 p. - ISBN 966-00-0415-X.
26. ↑ Aleksakha A.G. The origin of the Slavs. Progressive reconstruction. Humanitarian Journal 2012-2014
27. ↑ "Anti", Novy Dovidnik of the History of Ukraine (Historical Glossary). .
28. ↑ See the articles Ethnogenesis of the Slavs, Germanarich (about the Goths with the Wends wars), Vitimir (about the Goths with the Ants).
29. ↑ This was the name of the Slavs by the Byzantines, in whose language the sounds "s" and "l" should be separated.
30. ↑ N. M. Karamzin. History of Russian Goverment. Vol. 1, ch. 1.
31. ↑ V. V. Sedov Slavs in the early Middle Ages. - M .: Archeology Fund, 1995 .-- 416 p. - ISBN 5-87059-021-3.
32. ↑ The PVL says: “And the Khazars found them sitting on these mountains in the forests and said:“Pay tribute to us“... And the Khazar elders said:“This is not a good tribute to this, the prince: we got it with weapons that are sharp on one side only - sabers, and these have two-edged weapons - swords. They are destined to collect tribute from us and from other lands.“.»
33. ↑ al-kufi Book of Conquests “Marwan and the Muslims in the Khazar country were successful and they even reached the lands located beyond the Khazaria. Then they raided the Slavs (Sakaliba) and other neighboring atheist tribes and captured 20 thousand families of them. After that, they went further and soon reached the river of the Slavs (nahr al-Sakaliba). " Cm. A. P. Novoseltsev Khazar state and its role in the history of Eastern Europe and the Caucasus. M., 1990., Chapter 5.1
34. ↑ Stringngolm A.M. Viking Campaigns. M., 2002. Book 1, ch. eleven.
35. ↑ See also: Propp V. Ya. Russian agrarian holidays
36. ↑ Tokarev S.A. Religion in the history of the peoples of the world. M .: Republic, 2005. S. 196-199.
37. ↑ Tokarev S.A. Religion in the history of the peoples of the world; Danilevsky I. N. Ancient Russia through the eyes of contemporaries and descendants (IX-XII centuries). M .: Aspect-Press, 1998.
38. ↑ Ibid.
39. ↑ Vasiliev M.A. Grand Duke Vladimir Svyatoslavich: From pagan reform to the baptism of Rus // Slavic studies. - 1994. - No. 2. - P. 38-53.
40. ↑ PVL (980) Cit. on: Danilevsky I. N. Ancient Russia through the eyes of contemporaries and descendants (IX-XII centuries) M .: Aspect-Press, 1998.
41. ↑ Some see them as ancestral spirits, others as birth and fertility spirits. The opinion of BA Rybakov about the main deity is doubtful. Tokarev S.A. Religion in the history of the peoples of the world. M .: Respublika, 2005.S. 201.
42. ↑ Danilevsky I. N. Ancient Russia through the eyes of contemporaries and descendants (IX-XII centuries) M .: Aspect-Press, 1998.
43. ↑ Vinogradova L.N. Folk demonology and mytho-ritual tradition of the Slavs. M .: Indrik, 2000.S. 7−15.
44. ↑ Klein L.S. Resurrection of Perun. Towards the reconstruction of East Slavic paganism. SPb .: Eurasia, 2004.S. 194
45. ↑ Tokarev S.A. Religion in the history of the peoples of the world. M .: Respublika, 2005. S. 200-202.
46. ↑ Zelenin D.K. Essays on Russian mythology. Pg., 1916.
47. ↑ Tokarev S.A. Religion in the history of the peoples of the world. M .: Republic, 2005. S. 204-206.
48. ↑ See add .: Propp V. Ya. Russian agrarian holidays

Literature

• V. T. Pashuto, B. N. Florea, A. L. Khoroshkevich. "Old Russian heritage and historical destinies of the Eastern Slavs". M. 1982.

Links

• Russians, Ukrainians, Belarusians. Features of mutual perception of the East Slavic peoples. Sociological research. SPbSU. 2007 year.
• Map of the settlement of the peoples of Europe in the 9th century.UNPK Oryol State Technical University
• The origins of the Novgorod statehood.Academician V. Yanin. Science and life. No. 1, 2005.
• The emergence of statehood among the Eastern Slavs.

The Eastern Slavs were one of the branches of a large Slavic community. Subsequently, they formed the Old Russian state (Kievan Rus) and gave rise to the population of modern Russia, Ukraine and Belarus. Therefore, the development of the Eastern Slavs, their way of life and way of life are of interest to us. And even more we are attracted by the spiritual and material culture of the Eastern Slavs. The latter is a complex of all spheres of life of our ancestors: their occupations, their leisure time, their beliefs, moral norms and much more.

Material culture of the Eastern Slavs

The main occupations of the Slavs.

Let's start with material culture. She, like many peoples, was originally tied to agriculture, cattle breeding and other occupations that somehow allowed a person to survive. The Slavs, settling over vast territories, mastered them, invented different ways of cultivating the land. The most popular were slash and burn and by the type of transfer. A little later, arable land appeared. Of course, the Eastern Slavs had the simplest tools of labor - a plow, a plow, a plow, a harrow, others. The better the land was cultivated, the richer the harvest was. Such a simple pattern gave a powerful impetus to the development of agriculture, and with it, cattle breeding.

As for the latter, it played a very important role in its time. Among the Eastern Slavs, cattle served as both a draft force and a source of meat and milk. It was also used as a vehicle. Among the other activities of "obtaining food" among the Slavs, hunting, fishing, and beekeeping are known. It's amazing how cleverly people at that time mastered nature, how quickly they tamed it!

Crafts.

Of course, crafts also took an honorable place in the material culture of the Eastern Slavs. They were distinguished by a wide variety: pottery, blacksmithing and metalworking, leather dressing, wood and stone processing. Women also had their own work: weaving, embroidery. We can say that agriculture and cattle breeding were the basis, the basis of the cultural pyramid of the Slavs. And crafts, in turn, have become its second layer, no less important. Indeed, thanks to them, the East Slavic culture began to differ from the cultures of other peoples. She has become unique, distinctive. The same patterns on wood and stone carvings, the same ornaments on embroidery, the same bizarre figures and metal details! It is from them that archaeologists and historians can say that these are undoubtedly cultural objects of the Eastern Slavs.

One of the most important aspects of any person's life is closely related to crafts - his home, his house. The dwellings of the Eastern Slavs evolved slowly but surely. At first these were dugouts, then semi-dugouts, and a little later (by the ninth century) the first huts appeared. The latter, as you know, were built without a single nail. But they were incredibly resilient, tough, and beautiful. The stove occupied an honorable place in the huts, the role of which is difficult to overestimate. She was not only a source of warmth in the house, but also a means for preparing delicious food. Those who have tried the concoction cooked in the Russian oven will definitely agree with this!

Life and economy.

And what did the Eastern Slavs cook? This, of course, depended on the two main occupations that have already been discussed - agriculture and cattle breeding. Various cereals and breads were prepared from the crops grown, soups were made from meat. It is not in vain that the saying "Cabbage soup and porridge is our food" has been going on since those times.

The next part of the pyramid should be called directly objects and things that were used by the Eastern Slavs. This applies to dishes, clothing, household items, various devices (spinning wheels, for example), weapons, jewelry and much more. Take clothes for example. From it, we can say a lot about a person. So, among the Eastern Slavs, she always covered most of the body, was neat and decorated with embroidery and patterns. In general, various kinds of ornaments and symbols were very common. Moreover, they performed not only the function of decoration, but also protection from everything bad.

It is very important to note that the Slavs have always been an unusually clean people. The women cleaned the hut, there was never garbage and dirty things in it. By the way, before many holidays, it was traditionally customary to throw away all the accumulated trash. The Eastern Slavs loved to visit the baths, swim. They have never had such, as in Europe, that people have not washed for years. Here it is, Slavic wisdom!

Male and female.

It is worth dwelling on weapons. In general, the Eastern Slavs had to fight with some neighboring peoples and tribes. Therefore, inventing weapons was a necessity. Used in ancient times, bow and arrow, spears, swords and shields. Yes, all this was very primitive, but the enemies also did not yet have anything more powerful and perfect.

And now about women's "tricks". The jewelry that archaeologists found during excavations were very diverse. They also wore them in order not only to decorate themselves and attract attention, but also to protect themselves from the evil eye and damage. By the way, some adornments were worn by girls as well, but basically they performed the function of a talisman in this case.

Traditional spiritual culture of the Slavs

Speaking about this issue, of course, we turn to paganism, as well as the Slavic-Aryan Vedas. The beliefs of the Eastern Slavs were similar to those that existed at that time among almost all peoples. What are the characteristic features of the spiritual culture of the Slavs?

• Polytheism, or polytheism. Belief in several gods, each of whom was revered and glorified. Basically, it was somehow connected with nature and natural phenomena, as well as land fertility and crops. The Slavs visited pagan temples (temples and sanctuaries), made sacrifices to the gods, and organized holidays in their honor. They also had wise men (priests) - mediators between gods and man.
• Deification of nature, cult of nature. This feature follows from the previous one. By the way, we have a lot to learn from our ancestors: they treated her incredibly reverently, like a living being.
• Ancestor cult, respect for elders. Among the Slavs, the older members of the family, and even more so the deceased, have always been the object of special respect. For the deceased, special memorial days were held, which have survived to this day. And during the existence of the tribal community, tribal unions always turned to the elders if a controversial issue or problem arose.
• The moral and moral values ​​of the Eastern Slavs included the following features: mercy, helping the weak, protecting the Motherland and Family, mutual respect and understanding in the family, preserving their honor (it was important for both girls and men), raising children in accordance with the laws Roda. These are far from all the features, but you can already see how highly moral the Eastern Slavs were. Even in the war with the enemy, when they took him prisoner, they treated humanely, humanely. They never exalted themselves above other nations and other people. After all, paganism and pagan culture assumed the equality of all people before nature, before God.

Thus, the culture of the Eastern Slavs is a unique phenomenon, a richest heritage. It is not surprising that today people are trying to revive it, restore it. After all, the new is the well-forgotten old, and in the past it is often possible to find answers to the questions that await us in the future. Therefore, we will not consign to oblivion this great culture, the culture of our ancestors - the Eastern Slavs.

About reviving Vedic traditions.

Russia is primordial.

1. Indo-Europeans. The historical roots of the Slavs.

1. Most of the peoples of Europe and Asia belong to the group

1)	Indo-Europeans
2)	samoyed
3)	Afrasians
4)	Kartvelian

Answer: 1

2. The ancestral home of the Indo-Europeans, scientists consider

1)	Central Asia and Kazakhstan
2)	Balkan Peninsula and foothills of the Carpathians
3)	Northern Europe
4)	Asia Minor and Palestine

Answer: 2

3. The main occupations of the Indo-Europeans were

1)	agriculture and cattle breeding
2)	crafts and mining
3)	weaving and pottery
4)	trade and maritime industries

Answer: 1

4. An example of the settlement of Indo-European pastoralists of the III millennium BC. serves

1)	Log culture
2)	Trypillian settlement
3)	Altai settlement
4)	The culture of the burial fields

Answer: 2

5. The eastern group of Indo-Europeans includes peoples

A)	Iranians
B)	nenets
V)	Mongols
G)	Tajiks
D)	Armenians

Answer: 4

6. The Western European group of Indo-Europeans includes peoples

A)	the British
B)	French people
V)	Italians
G)	Latvians
D)	finns

Answer: 1

7. The Slavic group of Indo-Europeans includes peoples

A)	russians
B)	French people
V)	Czechs
G)	Latvians
D)	Serbs

Answer: 3

8. In Slavic and Iranian languages, common words are

A)	axe
B)	dog
V)	ax
G)	boyar
D)	dog

Answer: 1

9. Are the following statements true?

A. Many deities among Indo-European peoples are similar to each other.

B. Slavic goddess Leda is comparable to the Greek goddess Lata.

1)	Only A is true
2)	Only B is true
3)	Both are true
4)	Both statements are wrong

Answer: 3

10. While settling on the territory of Europe and Asia, the Indo-Europeans encountered their ancestors

A)	ugrophinns
B)	Turks
V)	Egyptians
G)	Mongols
D)	Assyro-Babylonian

Choose the correct combination of letters:

Answer: 3

11. Establish a correspondence between the modern peoples of Russia and the language groups to which they belong. Enter the received answer in the table:

PEOPLES		LANGUAGE GROUP
1)	Mordovians	A)	Finnish-Ugric group
2)	Udmurts	B)	Turkic-Mongolian group
3)	Chuvash
4)	Buryats
5)	komi
6)	Bashkirs

Answer: AABBAB.

12. Earlier other peoples of Eastern Europe mastered the smelting of metal

1)	Urals
2)	pomors
3)	North Caucasians
4)	Krymchaks

Answer: 3

13. Which nations first invented sledges and skis?

1)	Urals
2)	Kalmyks
3)	North Caucasians
4)	Krymchaks

Answer: 1

14. Are the following statements true?

A. The peoples of the Slavic language group belong to the Indo-Europeans.

B. Indo-Europeans settled in vast areas from India to Western Europe

1)	Only A is true
2)	Only B is true
3)	Both are true
4)	Both statements are wrong

Answer: 3

15. The most likely territory, the ancestral home of the Slavic tribes, scientists believe

1)	Upper Volga and Dnieper
2)	Eastern Baltic
3)	lands along the Vistula and in the Carpathian region
4)	South of the Balkan Peninsula

Answer: 3

16. The earliest invasion of nomadic peoples, which forced the Slavs to move to the forest zone, was the invasion

1)	huns
2)	Cimmerians
3)	meots
4)	Scythians

Answer: 2

17. What tribes did the ancestors of the Slavs (Proto-Slavs) encounter in the middle of the 1st millennium BC?

1)	Huns and Uyghurs
2)	Cimmerians and Scythians
3)	vandals and lombards
4)	Cimbri and Teutons

Answer: 2

18. In the form of a fire-breathing serpent, the ancient Slavs represented

1)	steppe nomads
2)	Roman legionaries
3)	Vikings
4)	Byzantines

Answer: 1

19. Are the following statements true?

A. The nomadic Steppe posed a significant threat to the Slavic tribes.

B. Traces of ancient Slavic fortifications, protecting from the raids of nomads, were called Zmievy Shafts.

1)	Only A is true
2)	Only B is true
3)	Both are true
4)	Both statements are wrong

Answer: 3

20. The following statement is true.

1)	Slavic settlements were erected on heights and surrounded by a palisade
2)	The ancestors of the Eastern Slavs were Sarmatian tribes
3)	The Scythian state was formed in the North Caucasus and in the foothills of the Caucasus
4)	From the territory of the Greek colonies in the Black Sea region, predatory raids were made on Slavic settlements

Answer: 1

21. The neighbors of the Slavs were numerous Finno-Ugric peoples, which included

1)	Serbs, Croats, Slovenes
2)	Czechs, Slovaks, Poles
3)	komi, meschera, perm
4)	Kasogi, Alans, Vainakhs

Answer: 3

22.The main occupation of the inhabitants of the Proto-Slavic settlements was

1)	craft and trade
2)	agriculture and livestock
3)	mining of ores in mountain mines
4)	navigation and shipbuilding

Answer: 2

23. What type of dwelling house did the ancestors of the Slavs have?

1)	wooden house on stilts
2)	felt wagon
3)	semi-dugout with log walls and sod roof
4)	cave lined with animal skins

Answer: 3

24. Which of the grain measures was borrowed by the Slavs from the ancient peoples thanks to trade contacts?

1)	garnet
2)	pood
3)	amphoria
4)	lb.

Answer: 3

25. Large-scale movements of peoples across Europe in the IV-VII centuries were called

1)	Ancient colonization
2)	Great migration of peoples
3)	Great geographical discoveries
4)	Crusades

Answer: 2

26. Among the ethnic groups of Eastern Europe took part in the Great Migration of Peoples in the IV-VII centuries

A)	Slavs
B)	Greeks
V)	balts
G)	ugly
D)	francs

Choose the correct combination of letters:

Answer: 3

27. The beginning of the Great Migration of Nations is associated with the invasion of tribes in the IV century

1)	Manchus
2)	huns
3)	Teutons
4)	Polovtsy

Answer: 2

28. The largest unions of Slavic tribes that developed at the end of the 5th-6th centuries were the unions

1)	Drevlyan and Polyan
2)	Czechs and Slovaks
3)	antes and sklavins
4)	Croats and Serbs

Answer: 3

29. The tribes became famous for their campaigns against the Byzantine Empire, the capture of cities

1)	glade
2)	Slovaks
3)	antov
4)	Croats

Answer: 3

30. Tribal alliances of Sklavins and Antes developed to

1)	1st century
2)	3rd century
3)	4th century
4)	6th century

Answer: 4

31. The Slavic language group stood out from the Indo-European community of peoples to

1)	1-2 century
2)	3-4 century
3)	4th-5th century
4)	7-8 century

Answer: 1

32. What unites the series: Merya, Muroma, Perm, Komi, Vod, all, Em?

1)	Finno-Ugric peoples
2)	Baltic peoples
3)	Turkic peoples
4)	Slavic tribes

Answer: 1

33. Are the following statements true?

A. To restrain the onslaught of the Antes and Sklavins, the Byzantines erected border fortresses.

B. The rulers of Byzantium tried to buy off the onslaught of the Slavic squads with rich gifts.

1)	Only A is true
2)	Only B is true
3)	Both are true
4)	Both statements are wrong

Answer: 3

34. What information did the Byzantine authors convey about the Slavs?

A)	They love freedom and hate slavery
B)	They easily tolerate heat and cold and nakedness of the body.
V)	They fight on stunted, shaggy horses
G)	The highest happiness in their eyes is to die in battle
D)	Horses of the Slavs know how to get food from under the snow in winter

Choose the correct combination of letters:

Answer: 3

35. The foundation of the tribal union of the glades, inhabiting the middle Dnieper region, as well as Kiev, according to legend, is attributed to

1)	Romulus and Remu
2)	Theseus
3)	Kiyu, Cheek, Horevu
4)	Askold and Dir

Answer: 3

36. The first princes of the Polyan Union of Tribes were

1)	Rurik, Sineus, Truvor
2)	Askold and Dir
3)	Kiy, Chek, Horeb
4)	Rogwold and Tour

Answer: 3

37. Slavic colonization of Eastern Europe

1)	Accompanied by the complete extermination of the local population
2)	Wore a peaceful, assimilative character
3)	Has led to the displacement of the local population beyond the Urals
4)	Led to the complete absorption of the Slavs by the Finno-Ugric peoples

Answer: 2

38. In the process of forming statehood, the Eastern Slavs lacked the following factor

1)	Passage through the lands of the Slavs transit trade routes
2)	Resistance to Slavic colonization by local Finno-Ugric tribes
3)	Difficult natural and climatic conditions for farming
4)	Threat of attacks from belligerent neighbors

Answer: 2

39. The centers of crafts and trade Staraya Ladoga and Novgorod appeared in the lands

1)	Ilmen Slavs
2)	Radimichi
3)	Vyatichi
4)	white Croats

Answer: 1

40. In the middle of the 6th century, a new wave of nomads emerged from the depths of Asia, attacking Slavic settlements and torturing them -

1)	Alans
2)	Avars
3)	Kasogi
4)	buzz

Answer: 2

41.The capital of the neighboring Slavic alliances of tribes in the 7-9 centuries of the Khazar Kaganate was the city

1)	Bulgar
2)	Itil
3)	Constantinople
4)	Varna

Answer: 2

42. The ruler of Khazaria bore the title

1)	Tsar
2)	basileus
3)	kagan
4)	khan

Answer: 3

43. The state of the Khazar Kaganate was formed in

1)	Prykarpattya
2)	Altai foothills
3)	Lower Volga and Azov
4)	Trans-Urals and Western Siberia

Answer: 3

44. In the 10th century. Tops of the Khazar Kaganate were the only ones in Europe to accept it as an official religion

1)	Catholicism
2)	Judaism
3)	Buddhism
4)	paganism

Answer: 2

45. Select from the proposed list the city-centers of Khazaria

A)	Itil
B)	Sarkel
V)	Bulgar
G)	Tamatarha
D)	Constantinople

Choose the correct combination of letters:

Answer: 3

46. ​​The state of the Volga Bulgaria was formed in

1)	in the lower reaches of the Dniester
2)	in the middle reaches of the Volga and along the Kama
3)	in the Volga delta
4)	in the lower reaches of the Don

Answer: 2

47. The capital of Great Bulgaria, created by Khan Kubrat, formed in the 7th century in the Azov region, became

1)	Varna
2)	Fanagoria
3)	Evpatoria
4)	Itil

Answer: 2

48. Khan Asparuh became the founder

1)	Volga Bulgaria
2)	Danube Bulgaria
3)	Khazaria
4)	Turkic kaganate

Answer: 2

49.Khan Batbai migrated to the forests between the Kama and Volga and founded there

1)	Danube Bulgaria
2)	Khazaria
3)	Turkic kaganate
4)	Volga Bulgaria

Answer: 4

50. The capital of the Volga Bulgaria in the 12th century was the city

1)	Itil
2)	Bulgar
3)	Bilyar
4)	Sharukan

Answer: 3

51. Volga Bulgaria in the 10th century adopted the state religion thanks to contacts with Arab traders

1)	Buddhism
2)	Islam
3)	Christianity
4)	Judaism

Answer: 2

52. Indicate the territory where in the 9-10 centuries the nomadic Pechenegs were located

1)	Zaonezhye
2)	Transnistria
3)	Danube
4)	Zavolzhye

Answer: 4

Tasks of increased complexity.

1. What kind of people does the following passage from the work of Procopius of Caesarea tell about - "They easily endure heat and cold, and nakedness of the body, are brave and courageous in relation to their country, they are affectionate to foreigners, the highest happiness for them is to die for their fatherland." Write the answer on the line.

Answer: ________________________ (Antakh-Slavs)

2. Establish the chronological sequence of the struggle of the Proto-Slavs and Slavic tribes with nomadic peoples. Enter the result in the table.

A)	Avars
B)	Cimmerians
V)	Scythians
G)	Khazars

Answer: BVAG

3. Establish a correspondence between the concept and the definition. Enter the received answer in the table:

CONCEPT		DEFINITION
1)	kaganate	A)	The name of the Slavs among Byzantine authors
2)	quadruple	B)	Slavic fortified settlement
3)	settlement	V)	Grain measure of the Slavs, borrowed from ancient peoples
4)	anty	G)	The name of the state among some Turkic peoples
		D)	Trading place among the Pre-Slavs

Answer: WBA

4. Establish the correspondence between the occupations of people in ancient times with the types of economy to which they belong. Enter the received answer in the table:

CLASSES		FARM TYPE
1)	driven hunt	A)	Assigning farm
2)	cattle breeding	B)	Producing farm
3)	cultivation of cereals
4)	picking wild berries and mushrooms

Answer: ABBA.

5. Ancient Greek scientist Herodotus about the Scythians

Closest to the trading harbor of the Borysphenites ... inhabited ... are the Hellenic Scythians; followed by another tribe called the Alizones. They, along with the Hellenic Scythians, lead the same lifestyle with the rest of the Scythians, but they sow and feed on bread, onions, garlic, lentils and millet. North of the Alizons live Scythian farmers. They sow grain not for their own food, but for sale ...

To the east of these Scythian farmers ... the Scythian nomads live; they do not sow anything at all and do not plow ...

The so-called royal possessions go beyond the river Guerra. The most valiant and most numerous Scythian tribe lives there. These Scythians consider other Scythians to be subject to themselves ...

The rituals of sacrifices to all gods and at all festivals are the same for them and are performed like this: the sacrificial animal is placed with its front legs tied. The sacrificer, standing behind, pulls on the end of the rope and then plunges the victim to the ground. During the fall of the animal, the priest appeals to the god, to whom he makes a sacrifice. Then he throws a noose around the animal's neck and, by turning a stick stuck into the noose, strangles it. At the same time, no fire is kindled and no initiation or libation begins. After the victim is strangled, they strip the skin and start cooking the meat ...

The Scythians have many predictors. They guess with the help of many willow rods as follows. Huge bundles of twigs are brought and laid on the ground. Then the bundles are untied and each rod is laid out one by one in a row and then predictions are uttered. At the same time, the fortune-tellers again collect the rods one by one and fold them again ...

All agreements of friendship, consecrated by an oath, are made by the Scythians as follows. Wine mixed with the blood of the parties to the treaty is poured into a large earthenware bowl (for this, an injection of an awl is made on the skin or a small cut with a knife). Then a sword, arrows, an ax and a spear are immersed in the bowl. After this ceremony, long spells are pronounced, and then both the parties to the agreement and the most respected of those present drink from the cup.

Questions to the text:

1. What tribes of the Scythians does the author mention? List them based on the text.

2. How does the rite of sacrifice characterize the beliefs and occupations of the Scythians? Justify your answer.

3. What conclusions about the social structure of the Scythians can be drawn on the basis of the above fragment?

6. Fill in the gaps in the text:

“After being defeated by the Khazar Kaganate, part of the Bulgarians withdrew to the Danube, where the state of Bulgaria was formed in the Balkans in the 9th century. Another part moved to the Middle The Volga region - to the Volga and Kama, where in the 9th century it formed the Volga-Kama Bulgaria. They subjugated the local Volga-Finnish peoples, who dissolved among the more powerful Bulgarians, passed on to them their Bulgar language, but borrowed the local agricultural culture.

Until the 10th century, Volga Bulgaria was a small state dependent on the Khazars. Bypassing the Khazar Kaganate, she kept in touch with the Muslims of Central Asia, from where __________ began to penetrate into the Middle Volga. And in 922, Khan Almas made ___________ the official religion of the state. In the XI - the first half of the X century, the strengthening of Bulgaria took place. The Bulgar rulers extended their power to the entire Middle and Lower Volga. At the end of the 12th century, on the left bank of the Volga, at the confluence of the Kazanka River, the Kazan frontier fortress was founded, designed to protect the northwestern borders of Bulgaria. The Bashkir tribes that lived in the Southern Urals fell under the influence of Bulgaria. "

Answer: (Islam).

7. Name two steppe nomadic peoples with whom the Slavs and their ancestors had to fight. Name at least two consequences of this struggle.

Answer:

Response elements (other formulations of the answer are allowed that do not distort its meaning)
1. The following may be named as nomadic peoples: Cimmerians; the Scythians; avars; Khazars. Other nations may also be indicated.
Grade Guidelines	Points
Two peoples are named
One people named
Nations not named or named incorrectly
Maximum score
2. The main consequences may include: relocation of tribes to the forest zone; construction of defensive fortifications; the formation of strong tribal alliances; improvement of military strategy and tactics. Other consequences may also be indicated.
Grade Guidelines	Points
Two consequences are indicated
One consequence indicated
Consequences not specified or specified incorrectly
Maximum score
Maximum score for the entire task

1. Which of the Old Russian chronicles began with the words: "Where is the Russian Land gone ..."?

1)	Russian law
2)	New Chronicler
3)	Tale of Bygone Years
4)	Rogozhsky chronicler

Answer: 3

2. According to the chronicler of ancient Russia Nestor, the settlement of the Slavs across the territory of the Great Russian Plain began with

1)	Powislya
2)	Danube
3)	Asia Minor
4)	The baltics

Answer: 2

3. Select the geographical conditions and features of the formation of statehood among the Eastern Slavs

A)	vast territory inhabited by small tribes
B)	extended borders that do not have an insurmountable natural protection - mountains, rivers.
V)	branched river systems, which are the only means of communication between tribes
G)	the transition of some tribes to the threefields
D)	decomposition of the tribal community, settlement with relatives and newcomers, neighbors

Choose the correct combination of letters:

Answer: 1

4. Indicate the tribal unions of the Eastern Slavs in the given list

1)	mordva, merya, muroma, chud
2)	glade, drevlyans, dregovichi, vyatichi
3)	Torquay, Avars, Pechenegs, Khazars
4)	Yatvingians, Prussians, Lithuania, Livonians

Answer: 2

5. The closest neighbors of the Slavs in the northwest were tribes

1)	mordva, merya, muroma, chud
2)	komi, perm, votyaks, zyryane
3)	Torquay, Avars, Pechenegs, Khazars
4)	Yatvingians, Semigallians, Lithuania, Livonians

Answer: 4

6. Which of the tribes is superfluous in the above list

1)	Izhora
2)	Lithuania
3)	Korela
4)	pechora

Answer: 2

7. Establish a correspondence between the tribal union of the Eastern Slavs and their center. Enter the received answer in the table:

Tribal Union		CENTRE
1)	Ilmenian Slavs	A)	Polotsk
2)	Krivichi	B)	Staraya Ladoga
3)	northerners	V)	Chernihiv
4)	drevlyans	G)	Izborsk
		D)	Iskorosten

Answer: BGVD

8. Indicate the tribal unions of the Eastern Slavs in the given list

1)	mordva, merya, muroma, chud
2)	glade, drevlyans, dregovichi, vyatichi
3)	Torquay, Avars, Pechenegs, Khazars
4)	Yatvingians, Prussians, Lithuania, Livonians

Answer: 2

9. Establish a correspondence between the tribal union of the Eastern Slavs and the river along which they settled. Enter the received answer in the table:

Tribal Union		RIVER
1)	northerners	A)	Pripyat
2)	radimichi	B)	Sozh, Desna
3)	Vyatichi	V)	Dniester
4)	Tyverians	G)	Oka, Moskva River
		D)	Sula, Seven

Answer: DBGV

1. In the process of forming statehood, the Eastern Slavs lacked the following factor

1)	Passage through the lands of the Slavs transit trade routes
2)	Resistance to Slavic colonization by local Finno-Ugric tribes
3)	Difficult natural and climatic conditions for farming
4)	Threat of attacks from belligerent neighbors

Answer: 2

11. As a result of the Slavic colonization of the territory of the Great Russian Plain

1)	Finno-Ugric peoples were completely destroyed
2)	there was a mixing of the Slavs and the northern Iranian tribes of the Scythians and Sarmatians
3)	mixed Slavic and Finno-Ugric elements, assimilation was carried out
4)	Finno-Ugric tribes settled beyond the Urals

Answer: 3

12. Gnezdovo was a tribal settlement

1)	Radimichi
2)	Severyan
3)	Polyan
4)	Krivichy

Answer: 1

13. Which of the following river routes did not enter to the trade transit route "From the Varangians to the Greeks", which passed through all the lands of the Eastern Slavs?

1)	From Neva to Nevo-lake
2)	From Lake Ilmen to Lovat
3)	From the Moskva River to the Oka
4)	From the Dnieper to the Black Sea

Answer: 3

14. The section of the route "From the Varangians - to the Greeks" is

1)	From Nevo Lake to Volkhov
2)	From Kama to Volga
3)	From Yauza to the Moskva River
4)	From the Dniester to the Black Sea

Answer: 1

15. Which of the events is described by the chronicler in the quoted fragment: “The Khazar elders said to their kagan:“ That tribute is not good: we searched for it with a weapon, sharp on one side, - sabers, and these two-edged weapons - swords; will they someday collect tribute from us and from other lands ”?

1)	The calling of the Varangians by Novgorodians
2)	Liberation of the glades from the Khazar tribute
3)	Liberation by Oleg from the Khazar tribute of the northerners and Radimichs
4)	Igor's hike to the Drevlyans for tribute

Answer: 2

16. Choose the socio-economic conditions for the formation of statehood among the Eastern Slavs

A)	the growing role of individual families in economic life
B)	tribal union formation
V)	the location of the Slavic lands between Europe and Asia
G)	formation of a neighborhood community
D)	passing through the Slavic lands of transit trade routes connecting the countries of the West and the East - "From the Varangians to the Greeks" and "The Great Volga Route"

Choose the correct combination of letters:

Answer: 3

17. Among the grain crops grown by the Eastern Slavs were

1)	rice, maize, corn
2)	wheat, barley, rye
3)	beets, cucumbers, radish
4)	flax, hemp, cotton

Answer: 2

18. Which of the following conditions absent in the process of forming the state among the Eastern Slavs?

1)	Existence of extended external borders
2)	Passage through the lands of the Slavs transit trade routes
3)	Difficult natural and climatic conditions for farming
4)	Safe borders, no threat from neighbors

Answer: 4

19. "Ralo with a runner", that is, a wooden plow with an iron ploughshare, as well as iron sickles, earlier than other East Slavic tribes, began to be used

1)	radimichi
2)	Ilmenian Slavs
3)	glade
4)	Krivichi

Answer: 3

20. Before the appearance of metallic money in the lands of the Eastern Slavs, they were used as a means of exchange and trade.

1)	fishing hooks
2)	fur of fur animals
3)	Pets
4)	mountain gems

Answer: 2

21. Establish a correspondence between the methods of tillage and their characteristics. Enter the received answer in the table:

LAND TREATMENT METHODS		Traits
1)	Slash-and-burn system	A)	a section of the steppe was burned out and plowed, then thrown
2)	Deposit system (fallow)	B)	part of the field was sown, the other was resting under fallow
3)	Double-field crop rotation	V)	part of the field was sown in spring, part of the field - before winter, part was resting under fallow
4)	Three-field crop rotation	G)	the arable land was cleared by cutting and uprooting a section of the forest, after using it for several years, the site was thrown

Answer: GABV

22. Industrial crops grown by the Eastern Slavs included

1)	tobacco, opium poppy
2)	flax, hemp
3)	cocoa beans, sugar beets
4)	cotton, coffee

Answer: 2

23. The main activity among the Eastern Slavs was

1)	agriculture
2)	nomadic herding
3)	horticulture
4)	pottery

Answer: 1

24. The most common type of fishing in the lands of the Eastern Slavs was (-o, -a)

1)	bee-keeping
2)	salting
3)	collection of medicinal roots
4)	sea ​​animal prey

Answer: 1

25. What type of farming prevailed among the Slavic tribes living in the forest belt?

1)	fallow
2)	undercut
3)	double field
4)	threefields

Answer: 2

26. Specify wrong statement:

East Slavs

1)	knew how to extract ore in the mountain mines
2)	were able to extract ores from the bottom of lakes and swamps
3)	actively hunted fur animals
4)	engaged in fishing in rivers and lakes

Answer: 1

27. Indicate the type of agriculture, which in the 9th century passed the meadows living in the middle reaches of the Dnieper

1)	fallow
2)	undercut
3)	double field
4)	threefields

Answer: 4

28. Slash and burn farming system

1)	allowed to manage for a long time in one place
2)	preserved the role of the community in economic activity
3)	could not bring high yields
4)	made it possible for the households of individual families to stand out

Answer: 2

29. Three-field crop rotation system

1)	did not allow for a long time to farm in one place
2)	preserved the role of the community in economic activity
3)	constantly brought high yields
4)	made it possible for the households of individual families to stand out

Answer: 4

30. Select from the proposed list the types of activities common among the Eastern Slavs

A)	bee-keeping
B)	mining of swamp and lake ores
V)	nomadic herding
G)	arable farming
D)	marine fishery

Choose the correct combination of letters:

Answer: 3

31.The garden crops grown by the Eastern Slavs included

1)	maize, corn, soy
2)	cucumbers, cabbage, turnips, garlic
3)	tomatoes, potatoes, sugar beets
4)	capers, broccoli

Answer: 2

32. Arrange the methods of farming on the land according to the degree of complexity, starting with the simplest:

A)	double-field crop rotation
B)	slash and burn agriculture
V)	three-field crop rotation
G)	multi-field crop rotation

Enter the correct combination of letters:

Answer: BAVG

33. Note the correct statement revealing the importance of natural and climatic conditions in the formation of civilization among the Eastern Slavs

1)	The lands of the Slavs were located in an extremely favorable climatic zone, these conditions and vast fertile lands made it possible to get two harvests a year.
2)	The lands of the Slavs were located in mountainous terrain, which contributed in many respects to the cultivation of garden and horticultural crops, grapes, grazing livestock on mountain pastures.
3)	The lands of the Slavs were in the zone of risky agriculture, unfavorable for the farmer, there was a long winter, summer droughts or heavy rains happened.
4)	The lands of the Slavs generally did not give the opportunity to engage in agriculture, but there were many reserves of valuable metal ores.

Answer: 3

34. In the 8th and 9th centuries, the tribes of the Vyatichi, Radimichi, Northerners and Polyans paid tribute

1)	Varangians
2)	avaram
3)	Bulgarians
4)	Khazars

Answer: 4

35. Which of the tribal unions of the Eastern Slavs stopped paying tribute to the Khazars earlier than others

1)	northerners
2)	glade
3)	radimichi
4)	Vyatichi

Answer: 2

36. In the 9th century, the tribes of the Ilmen Slavs and Krivichi paid tribute

1)	Varangians
2)	Kasogam
3)	Bulgarians
4)	Khazars

Answer: 1

37. Which of the groups of trade goods did the Slavs usually pay tribute?

1)	wool, meat, leather
2)	honey, wax, furs
3)	seal oil, walrus bone
4)	fat, bristles

Answer: 2

38. Select from the proposed list the types of activities common among the Eastern Slavs

A)	fishing
B)	mining
V)	livestock breeding
G)	sea ​​raids and slave trade
D)	harvesting forest berries and mushrooms

Choose the correct combination of letters:

Answer: 4

39. What kind of domestic animals did the Slavs bred?

A)	goats
B)	bison
V)	sheeps
G)	yaks
D)	oxen

Choose the correct combination of letters:

Answer: 4

40. Establish a correspondence between concept and definition. Enter the received answer in the table:

CONCEPT		DEFINITION
1)	bee-keeping	A)	Crops planted in spring
2)	soon	B)	Valuable fur of a fur animal
3)	ralo	V)	Collection of honey and wax from wild bees
4)	spring	G)	Agricultural tool, type of plow
		D)	Agricultural season name

Answer: VBGA

41. Which of the tribes of the Eastern Slavs are we talking about: “In their forest and lakes, they did not know such agriculture as in the Dnieper region, but an extensive water transport network connected them with the countries of Northern Europe, with the Baltic coast, Scandinavia, the Dnieper road, with the Volga expensive. Trade, navigation, crafts, salt production, and fur trade developed here ”?

1)	Krivichi
2)	Ilmenian Slavs
3)	white croats
4)	Vyatichi

Answer: 2

42. In the villages of the Dnieper Slavs,

1)	yaks
2)	oxen
3)	bison
4)	goats

Answer: 2

43. An important economic activity of the meadows has become

1)	salting
2)	flax growing
3)	horse breeding
4)	smelting of ores

Answer: 3

44. Several times the Kiev princes tried to subjugate this people. For the first time he came under the arm of Kiev under Svyatoslav Igorevich, then Vladimir and Yaroslav the Wise pacified them. Harsh, rebellious and wild they lived in their forests along the Oka and the Moscow River. Who are we talking about?

1)	About Krivichi
2)	About Vyatichi
3)	About the streets
4)	About drevlyans

Answer: 2

45. Establish a correspondence between the types of community and their characteristics. Enter the received answer in the table:

Traits		TYPES OF COMMUNITY
1)	Arable land is clan	A)	Tribal community
2)	Only relatives live together	B)	Neighboring community
3)	Plots belonging to individual families are highlighted
4)	The role of princes and warriors in the life of tribes is growing

Enter the correct combination of letters:

Answer: AABB

46. ​​The earliest form of statehood among the Slavs was (a)

1)	federation of principalities
2)	tribal reign
3)	united monarchy
4)	boyar republic

Answer: 2

47. Which of the following signs are characteristic of the life of the Slavs during the formation of the neighboring community - Vervi?

A)	Land and land shared by all community members
B)	Communal land began to be divided into family holdings
V)	Along with personal plots, part of the land was used together
G)	Not only relatives, but also newcomers began to settle in the community
D)	The basis of commonality is consanguineous relations.

Choose the correct combination of letters:

Answer: 3

48. Are the following statements true?

A. In the era of the neighboring community, princes and warriors rise.

B. During the raids, prey and prisoners were captured, who were used as slaves.

1)	Only A is true
2)	Only B is true
3)	Both are true
4)	Both statements are wrong

Answer: 3

49. Establish a correspondence between concept and definition. Enter the received answer in the table:

CONCEPT		DEFINITION
1)	prince	A)	Leader of the people's militia
2)	voivode	B)	War chief, head of the tribal union
3)	youth	V)	Bypassing the subject population in order to collect tribute
4)	veche	G)	Junior vigilante guarding the ruler
		D)	National Assembly among the Slavs

Answer: BAGD

50. Women, children, servants in the house were named among the Slavs

1)	surname
2)	mahalla
3)	teip
4)	servants

Answer: 4

51. Establish a correspondence between concept and definition. Enter the received answer in the table:

CONCEPT		DEFINITION
1)	smerd	A)	A man who has lost his freedom
2)	slave	B)	Senior vigilante, adviser to the prince
3)	boyar	V)	Free community member
4)	howl	G)	Large farm manager
		D)	Participated in military campaigns, equipped himself for the campaign

Answer: WABD

52. The Great Volga Way connected peoples together

1)	Dnieper and Caspian
2)	Baltic and Black Sea
3)	Azov and Volga regions
4)	Baltic and Caspian regions

Answer: 4

53. The path "from the Varangians to the Greeks" passed from the Gulf of Finland to

1)	Constantinople
2)	Surozh
3)	Varna
4)	Itil

Answer: 1

54. Are the following statements true?

A. The first cities in the Slavic centers arise at the intersection of trade routes.

B. In the cities, merchants could stay under the protection of soldiers.

1)	Only A is true
2)	Only B is true
3)	Both are true
4)	Both statements are wrong

Answer: 3

55. Establish a correspondence between concept and definition. Enter the received answer in the table:

CONCEPT		DEFINITION
1)	Varangians	A)	A trading place that also hosted the common tribal festivities
2)	Pechenegs	B)	Warlike nomadic people of the Great Steppe, raiding Ancient Russia
3)	Churchyard	V)	Scandinavian warriors who made sea campaigns and raids from the sea to the coasts of European countries
4)	Veche	G)	The people of the Finno-Ugric group
		D)	Tribal meeting among the Eastern Slavs

Answer: WBAD

56. Are the following statements true?

A. The development of trade routes contributed to the unification of the Slavic tribes.

B. Crossings from the Don to the Volga and the lower reaches of the Volga were controlled by Byzantium.

1)	Only A is true
2)	Only B is true
3)	Both are true
4)	Both statements are wrong

Answer: 1

57. The oldest Slavic deity of the world and the universe was

1)	Genus
2)	Perun
3)	Horse
4)	Svyatovit

Answer: 1

58. What series of terms is characteristic of Slavic paganism?

1)	Priest, church, communion
2)	Pontiffs, temple, orgies
3)	Magi, temple, women in labor
4)	Druids, Valkyries, Valhalla

Answer: 3

59.The main female deity of the Slavic pagan pantheon was

1)	Demeter
2)	Isis
3)	Mokosh
4)	Juno

Answer: 3

60. Which of the statements wrong?

1)	Svarog was revered as the god of masculinity, the god of the sky, the father of other gods
2)	Velez was revered as the patron god of cattle, wealth, trade
3)	Stribog was thought of as the patron god of the winds, Slavic Aeolus
4)	Simargl was revered as the god of thunderstorms, war and princely cult

Answer: 4

61. Which of the gods are characteristic of Slavic paganism?

1)	Odin and Thor
2)	Baldur and Loki
3)	Svarog and Perun
4)	Jupiter and Neptune

Answer: 3

62. Establish a correspondence between the gods of the Slavs and the natural elements that they personified. Enter the received answer in the table:

GODS		ELEMENTS
1)	Perun	A)	fertility of the earth
2)	Svarog	B)	storm
3)	Makosh	V)	wind
4)	Stribog	G)	heavenly fire

Answer: BGAV

63. Are the following statements true?

A. Slavic paganism was based on the deification of the forces and elements of nature ..

B. Slavyanin inhabited the entire natural environment with spirits, magical creatures: waters, forests, meadows, arable land, a house and a yard ..

1)	Only A is true
2)	Only B is true
3)	Both are true
4)	Both statements are wrong

Answer: 3

64. The Slavs borrowed the veneration of the gods from the northern Iranian peoples

1)	Veles and Striboga
2)	Simargla and Horsa
3)	Svarog and Perun
4)	Svyatovita and Lelya

Answer: 2

65. In the period of the rise of princes, active military expeditions to neighbors, rises among other gods

1)	Veles
2)	Horse
3)	Perun
4)	Svyatovit

Answer: 3

66. Establish a correspondence between the deities of the Slavs and the natural elements that they personified. Enter the received answer in the table:

GODS		ELEMENTS
1)	women in labor	A)	evil, dark spirits
2)	ghouls	B)	spirit-patroness of the rest of the villagers
3)	noon	V)	goddess-patroness of fertility, embodied the feminine principle in nature
4)	bump	G)	forest echo spirit
		D)	the spirit of home, comfort

Answer: WABD

67. Select the attributes of the celebration of the day of Kupala among the Slavs.

A)	Lit candles, read candles and mirrors
B)	Weaved wreaths and let them flow through the water
V)	Held feasts and mummers' festivities
G)	Bonfires were lit, through which boys and girls were supposed to jump
D)	The girls danced in circles, they were wrapped in branches and poured over with water

Choose the correct combination of letters:

Answer: 2

Tasks of increased complexity.

1. Enter the name of the source from which the snippet is cited.

“In the same way, these Slovenes came and saddled along the Dnieper and sloped into a clearing, and the Drevlyans drove along the Drevlyans; and the friends were saddled between the Pripet and the Dvina, and drew Dregovichi (dryagva - swamp, swampy area); Some sadosha on the Dvina and narakosha Polochans, for the sake of speech, even flow into the Dvina, we name Polot, from sowing Polochans nicknamed. The Slovenian sidosha near the Ezer Ilmen, and was nicknamed by his name, and made a city and called Novgorod. And the friends saddled along the Desna, and along the Semsi, along the Sule, and skewed the north. And so the Slovenian language is undone, and the Slovenian letter is nicknamed the same "?

Answer: The Tale of Bygone Years

2. In the writings of which authors contain the following information about the Slavs?

“The Slavs were known as brave warriors. Cowardice was considered their greatest shame. They fought to the last drop of blood. Slavic warriors swam beautifully and could stay under water for a long time. They breathed through hollowed-out reeds, the top of which came out to the surface of the water. The weapons of the Slavs consisted of spears, bows and arrows smeared with poison, round wooden shields. Swords and other iron weapons were rare. "

Answer: Byzantine.

3. Answer the questions for the document.

Byzantine writer Procopius of Caesarea about the Eastern Slavs

These tribes ... are not ruled by one person, but since ancient times they have lived in the rule of the people (democracy), and therefore they consider happiness and unhappiness in life to be a common thing ... They believe that only God, the creator of lightning, is the ruler over everyone, and they bring him sacrifice of bulls and perform other sacred rites.They do not know fate and generally do not recognize that it has any power in relation to people, and when they are about to face death, whether seized by an illness, or who have fallen into a dangerous situation in a war, they make a promise if they are saved, immediately offer a sacrifice to God for your soul; escaping death, they sacrifice what they promised, and they think that salvation was bought by them at the price of this sacrifice. They worship rivers, and nymphs, and all sorts of other deities, make sacrifices to all of them, and with the help of these sacrifices, they also make fortune-telling. They live in pitiful huts, at great distances from each other, and all of them often change their place of residence.

Entering the battle, most of them go to the enemies with shields and darts in their hands, but they never put on shells; some do not wear shirts (tunics) or raincoats, but only trousers, pulled up by a wide belt at their hips, and in this form go to battle with the enemies ... They are very tall and of great strength. Their skin and hair color is very white.

Questions:

1. What information about the social structure of the Slavs is transmitted by Procopius?

2. What religious rites of the Slavs does the author describe? Please provide at least two descriptions.

3. Describe the military rites of the Slavs.

4. Establish a correspondence between the holidays of the Slavs and the rituals that are associated with them. Enter the received answer in the table. Keep in mind, one of the answers in the second column is redundant:

HOLIDAYS		Rituals
1)	Maslyanitsa (horse day)	A)	Swimming in the river, jumping over bonfires, weaving wreaths
2)	Ivan Kupala Day	B)	Burning a scarecrow of winter, skiing from icy mountains, taking a snow town, baking pancakes
3)	Kolyada (days of Svyatovit)	V)	Carrying out feasts, mummers' festivities, candlelight divination
4)	Perunov day	G)	Sacrificing a black bull to protect the crop
		D)	Incorporating the image of God into bread to protect livestock from disease

Answer: BAVG

5. Establish a correspondence between concepts and definitions. Enter the received answer in the table:

CONCEPTS		DEFINITIONS
1)	Temple	A)	A magical item that protects its owner from evil and misfortune
2)	Idol	B)	Place of departure of pagan cults
3)	Amulet	V)	A magical item designed to bring its owner good luck in life
4)	Mascot	G)	An image of a deity, made mainly of stone or wood, an object of worship

Answer: BGAV

6. Name two characteristic features of the pagan beliefs of the Eastern Slavs. Indicate three of the main Slavic deities and the powers that they personified.

Answer:

Response elements (other formulations of the answer are allowed that do not distort its meaning)
1. The main features can be named: Veneration of solar deities who patronize agriculture; The cult of nature, deification of the forces and elements of nature; Compliance of holidays with the cycle of agricultural work; Ancestor worship; Use of magic items, magic rituals; Worship of idols, arrangement of temples; A dichotomous worldview, which is characterized by the idea of ​​the world as an arena of struggle between light and dark forces. Other features may also be indicated.
Grade Guidelines	Points
Three or more features named
Two features are named
One of the traits is named, the traits are not named or named incorrectly
Maximum score
2. Among the main deities of the Slavs can be indicated: Svarog is the god of fire; Dazhdbog - the god of sunlight, the patron saint of agriculture; Perun - god of thunderstorms, war and princes; Veles - the god of cattle, wealth and trade; Stribog is the god of the wind; Simargl - god of roots and soil; Makosh - the deity of fertility; Other deities may be indicated.
Grade Guidelines	Points
Three deities and powers are indicated, personifying them
Two deities and powers are indicated, personifying them
One deity is indicated and the power it represents, deities are not indicated or indicated incorrectly
Maximum score
Maximum score for the entire task